The "last movie I saw" thread

[Donuthole]

I recorded "A Solitary Man" thinking it was the Coen Bros. "A Serious Man". When Michael Douglas first appeared on screen, I thought: Michael Douglas in a Coen Bros. film, eh? This could be interesting. After about 10 minutes, it was clear it was not a Coen Bros. work, so I paused and googled to figure out my error.

Still, "A Solitary Man" wasn't terrible. It was actually enjoyable in parts (and slow in others). DeVito was good in his minor role, and Eisenberg was good in his prototypical nerd-lacking-self-confidence role. Also, Imogen Poots has a rad name and a radder body. Douglas was sort of "meh" though. I didn't really find myself liking him by the end of the movie (which was probably part of the writer/director's goal) and I was admittedly a little disappointed that

Spoiler for spoiler:

he didn't die.

[Coach McGuirk]

Conspiracy - 2001 HBO movie on a 2 hour meeting that decided the fate of the Jews in occupied Germany. Notes were found from one of the attendees and are the only known record. The movie is interesting from a historical standpoint and moves about as fast as one can expect for a movie that takes place in conference room setting. Amazing how many high ranking Germans who were not convicted of war crimes and lived to the early 80's.


Rio - It's ok. Kids liked it well enough, but it is no animated classic, to be sure.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Radio Bikini doc from the 80's about two atomic bombs detonated at Bikini Atoll, one above and one below the surface of the water. The doc follows months before with hearings in congress to a couple weeks after the second bomb detonated. The story centers around the Bikinians who were basically removed from their country and told we would be dropping bombs on it, and an enlisted man who died in 1983 from cancer caused from his exposure to the radiation.

The doc was up for an Oscar in the 80's and deservedly so.


Streaming available on Netflix

I caught this on Netflix based on your recommendation. Very good.

My FIL used to tell how he and his dad used to prospect for Uranium deposit back in the 50's in Southern Utah with geiger counters. One week they went to a new spot and thought they had found the mother lode. Hot spots everywhere. They went back a few weeks later and there was nothing. Later they learned that there was a nuke test in Nevada at about that time and they were picking up fallout.

[Viking]

Saw "Rio" with the girls tonight. Cute. Captures the spirit of our adopted hometown well

[MarkGrace]

Scream 4

[creekster]

Hanna, with Saoirse Ronan. It was pretty silly if you thought about it too much, but I didnt think too miuch and enjoyed it anyway.

Spoiler for SPOILER!!!!!:

I think it would have been better if Hanna wasnt genetically engineered and if Blanchetts character wasn't made to look so evil. This would have created more ambiguity and thus made it more suspenseful. Even so it was pretty good.

[HuskyFreeNorthwest]

Limitless. I am not as intelligent or sophisticated as most of you, but I thought it was fun. DeNiro wasn't the over the top crap sandwich he has been in most things for the last 10 years. Bradley Cooper is awesome.

I kept thinking of Flowers for Algernon during the movie, cue the obvious. Good ending also, not the typical Hollywood sum everything up with a bow on top.

Did I already say Bradley Cooper makes me question my sexuality? I probably shouldn't admit that though.

[LiveCoug]

Rented Tron Legacy on PPV last week and recorded to watch later. Watched it last night and lo and behold, with 30 minutes left, it died on me. Guess we had a storm last week that ruined my recording... Oh well.

[LA Ute]

Source Code

Saw it for girls night out. At the end of the movie, one of us was asleep, one was sitting forward in her chair, engrossed, one was outright sobbing, and one was somberly contemplative.

Roger Ebert calls this movie "Hard" sci-fi, as opposed to other scifi movies which appear to be just war movies taking place in the future. This one attempts to come up with an explanation for a fantastical event.

Vera Farmiga-- I dont know what it is about her, I dont think she's particularly beautiful, but I just cant look away. she has real screen magnetism, in a soulfull, translucent skin sort of way. Molly Ringwald had the same sort of charisma, although it disappeared when she turned 18. Anyways, Farmiga does a great job in acting with her head and shoulders, since that's all you see of her in 95% of the movie.

Lots of hidden comments:

Spoiler for Lots o' hidden comments for this movie.:

The director also did the movie Moon, which was recommended by you Cuffites. Source Code is Moon with a viable screenplay (unlike Moon, which had a listless, meandering script. Themes that are repeated include:

1. The protagonist is a shadow of his former self (clone, the last vestiges of the brain of a dead person)
2. There are problems in the mirage that manifests itself as reality to the protagonists, little tweaks in the matrix.
3. The protagonist's actual self (clone, brain stem) is repeatedly and cold bloodedly used by the big corporation/military to meet a goal larger than the life of our hero.
4. The protagonist repeatedly plays out the same life over and over, sometimes the same way, sometimes with a little variation, and is trapped and beyond the redemption of ever going "home" and ending the cycle. (See the Matrix geek posts for this theme in the Matrix Movies.)

The code sign for mission control is Beleaguered Castle. I wonder if it has anything to do with the solitaire card game, especially since the call sign includes playing cards.

My wife and I saw it last night. She fell asleep (not a sci-fi fan) but I was riveted. Very interesting movie. I will watch it a second time, someday (probably not with my wife, but with my sci-fi loving son).

I agree with you about Vera Farmiga. Some people are just wonderful to look at on screen.

[oxcoug]

Just watched Transsiberian w/ Emily Mortimer, Woody Harrelson and Ben Kingsley. Mortimer was phenomenal.

The plot has some gaps but I loved it - great location shooting in Siberian and a taut, mostly plausible train thriller.

[MarkGrace]

Never Let Me Go

[Katy Lied]

I kept thinking of Flowers for Algernon during the movie,

I believe that Flowers for Algernon was a major influence on the screenwriter.

[thesaint258]

Limitless. I am not as intelligent or sophisticated as most of you, but I thought it was fun. DeNiro wasn't the over the top crap sandwich he has been in most things for the last 10 years. Bradley Cooper is awesome.

I kept thinking of Flowers for Algernon during the movie, cue the obvious. Good ending also, not the typical Hollywood sum everything up with a bow on top.

Did I already say Bradley Cooper makes me question my sexuality? I probably shouldn't admit that though.

I saw this last weekend. I thought it was a fun movie too, but I thought it wrapped up too quickly.

[Surfah]

I watched Get Him to the Greek last night. Pretty lewd and crass but I laughed quite a bit. I actually thought that Diddy made the movie.

[San Juan Sun]

Just got back from "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" 2. Very enjoyable for the kids, and I liked it too.