The "last movie I saw" thread

[Fiyero]

An Education, set in 1961 in the burbs an hour from London. A 16 year old attending an exclusive all-girls prep school has her sights set on Oxford, when she meets a thirtysomething, smooth-talking playboy. He thrills her by introducing her to adult society, taking her to the symphony and parties, whisking her off to Paris for the weekend, buying her clothes, Chanel and gifts, and all he wants in exchange is her virginity and ultimately her hand in marriage.

The acting was superb all around, including a surprise cameo by Emma Thompson as the headmistress. Being a period drama set on location and produced in Britain, it portrays a believeble glimpse into society 50 years ago, and how quickly her parents went from sternly insisting she spend her world studying for Oxford, to being thrilled at the idea of a quickie marraige to a suitor 20 years her senior. They even encourage her to drop out, as though she's hit the jackpot and Oxford becomes a mere afterthought.

However, Romeo turns out to not be as advertised, and as the regrets set in, it shows how different things were 50 years ago in terms of what people could easily get away with; the higher level of trust afforded to all people; and how much a person would put up with before widespread divorces became common. Ultimately, "an education" carries a dual meaning as the veil is lifted from her juvenile eyes.

[Green Lantern]

An Education, set in 1961 in the burbs an hour from London. A 16 year old attending an exclusive all-girls prep school has her sights set on Oxford, when she meets a thirtysomething, smooth-talking playboy. He thrills her by introducing her to adult society, taking her to the symphony and parties, whisking her off to Paris for the weekend, buying her clothes, Chanel and gifts, and all he wants in exchange is her virginity and ultimately her hand in marriage.

The acting was superb all around, including a surprise cameo by Emma Thompson as the headmistress. Being a period drama set on location and produced in Britain, it portrays a believeble glimpse into society 50 years ago, and how quickly her parents went from sternly insisting she spend her world studying for Oxford, to being thrilled at the idea of a quickie marraige to a suitor 20 years her senior. They even encourage her to drop out, as though she's hit the jackpot and Oxford becomes a mere afterthought.

However, Romeo turns out to not be as advertised, and as the regrets set in, it shows how different things were 50 years ago in terms of what people could easily get away with; the higher level of trust afforded to all people; and how much a person would put up with before widespread divorces became common. Ultimately, "an education" carries a dual meaning as the veil is lifted from her juvenile eyes.

I thought this movie was excellent too. There was some good discussion on this movie earlier in this thread and if you're interested, PaloAltoCougar had some interesting thoughts on it as well: http://cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=19130.

[UtahDan]

Saw How to Train Your Dragon with my kiddo over the weekend. Not bad for kid movie fare. Solid B. She was too little to understand much of it, but there just aren't that many things out for kids right now. In fact, nothing other than this.

[Fiyero]

I thought this movie was excellent too. There was some good discussion on this movie earlier in this thread and if you're interested, PaloAltoCougar had some interesting thoughts on it as well: http://cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=19130.

Wow excellent analysis, PAC. There was more that I wanted to write about Jenny having the wool removed from her eyes, and her Latin teacher being an intermediary between she and the stern headmistress ("once a girl has been spoiled, she must leave the school"), but mine would be repetitive and not nearly as well-written.

As for the gospel POV, the ending of Hot Tub Time Machine struck a cord with me. As much as I railed on its crudeness in the other thread, the ending made me think of how simple our mortal lives would be if time was not in the linear fashion that we know, but rather, "all things were before us."

Spoiler alert.

Towards the end, as the four friends are about to return from 1986 to 2010, one of them decides to stay behind and make different choices. He of course knew the future and the consequences of his actions, as well as popular inventions, film storylines, musical genres, outcomes of sporting events etc., and decided to beat others to the punch and prepare a wealthy, pampered future for himself.

The way things are now, with a veil over our eyes and our futures unknown, our capacity for growth is immensely higher than that of a person like Lou the self-made billionaire.

[Indy Coug]

I saw The Hurt Locker last weekend. Five thumbs up!

[Viking]

I thought this movie was excellent too. There was some good discussion on this movie earlier in this thread and if you're interested, PaloAltoCougar had some interesting thoughts on it as well: http://cougaruteforum.com/showthread.php?t=19130.

we were disappointed by the movie. my super smart wife leaned over to me and called the ending near the outset of the fling...it was pretty predictable and perhaps hollywood could give us some movies that don't have a "surprise" in the form of a mate who is actually hitched (ala up in the air, another disappointment).

abrazos rotos was great

[Viking]

we were disappointed by the movie. my super smart wife leaned over to me and called the ending near the outset of the fling...it was pretty predictable and perhaps hollywood could give us some movies that don't have a "surprise" in the form of a mate who is actually hitched (ala up in the air, another disappointment).

abrazos rotos was great

I just read PAC's analysis, which was far better than the movie itself!

[Green Lantern]

we were disappointed by the movie. my super smart wife leaned over to me and called the ending near the outset of the fling...it was pretty predictable and perhaps hollywood could give us some movies that don't have a "surprise" in the form of a mate who is actually hitched (ala up in the air, another disappointment).

abrazos rotos was great

You might want to experiment with the Spoiler tags for those who have not seen either movie.

To me, it's not so important whether the ending is a total surprise in these kinds of movies (it's telegraphed from the very beginning that this suitor is not exactly who he appears to be) but whether the character arc feels honest and meaningful. The true nature of the protagonist's suitor mainly serves as a means for her own personal growth, which I thought was handled beautifully.

[Jacob]

Saw How to Train Your Dragon with my kiddo over the weekend. Not bad for kid movie fare. Solid B. She was too little to understand much of it, but there just aren't that many things out for kids right now. In fact, nothing other than this.

I also watched Dragon this weekend. I enjoyed it more than any kids movie in a long time. I'll definitely rank it above, UP, Wall-E and Dreamworks other recent offerings.

[MarkGrace]

To me, it's not so important whether the ending is a total surprise in these kinds of movies (it's telegraphed from the very beginning that this suitor is not exactly who he appears to be) but whether the character arc feels honest and meaningful.

I would agree. I've often used the argument "it was predictable" in a derisive fashion against a movie I didn't really care for, but when my wife did the same against a movie I liked, I started to reconsider the idea of predictability.

Is it a movie's job to be unpredictable? Is a movie inherently bad if it is predictable? Did the search for unpredictability ruin M. Night Shyamalan's career?!

I've seen predictable movies that were great, and unpredictable movies that were terrible. Like GL said, I think a lot of it depends on how natural the execution is. But deriding a movie based on predictability is something that we've gotten used to, and I still do it all the time.

[Blueintheface]

Red Boxed 2012 last night. I wonder if the movie would have only been marginally better had I watched it on the big screen?

[Hsaru]

I think that predictability becomes troublesome when it is predictable because it is overly formulaic, or that the characters are just cardboard cut outs who are just there the to advance the predictable plot.

Just because you can predict the outcome of a movie within 10 minutes does not make it a bad movie, if the characters and the way the movie gets to that outcome is predictable and boring then the movie is probably not very good.

Shutter Island and An Education are good recent examples of pretty good movies that many people could probably predict the ultimate ending but it doesn't take away from the quality of the movie.

[Fiyero]

My favorite line from An Education:

(After her parents urge her to drop out of prep school, forget about Oxford and marry the wealthy suitor): "All that Latin! All of those essays! What was it for?Why didn't you just send me to nightclubs looking for a man? It would have been much more fun!"

[Green Lantern]

I think that predictability becomes troublesome when it is predictable because it is overly formulaic, or that the characters are just cardboard cut outs who are just there the to advance the predictable plot.

Just because you can predict the outcome of a movie within 10 minutes does not make it a bad movie, if the characters and the way the movie gets to that outcome is predictable and boring then the movie is probably not very good.

Shutter Island and An Education are good recent examples of pretty good movies that many people could probably predict the ultimate ending but it doesn't take away from the quality of the movie.

Good points. And those are two of the movies I'd use as excellent examples.

[BoylenOver]

"The King of Kong": great documentary. So many different layers to the story, and it's about something seemingly ridiculous.

"She's Out of my League": Jay Baruchel and Eve Alice are charming as the leads, but ultimately you've seen this story in every R-rated rom-com.