The "last movie I saw" thread

[jay santos]

I hadn't done much research on this film, other than it was highly rated, so I had no idea what to expect. I would classify this as a character film and I like character films. Dialog, acting, and cinematography are all brilliant. I especially loved the performance by June Squibb (mother/wife). She had me from the opening scene ("I never knew the son of a bitch even wanted to be a millionaire! He should have thought about that years ago and worked for it!"). I laughed to tears when she told the greedy relatives to eff themselves and again when she recalled that she made a mistake on who lived in the home with the compressor in the barn. Another favorite part was when Woody and son were discussing why he married mom.



That is a small excerpt. I wish they had the entire conversation on IMDB. It was great.

Also loved the ending. Was curious to see how they would wrap up the story. What they did was perfect. Great flick.

I really liked that film and the ending was just beautiful.

Spoiler for spoiler:

This cynical POS cried real tears watching that old guy drive through town with that truck and his son ducking down to give him that moment... ah. heart tug.

[PaloAltoCougar]

And Alexander Payne is on a roll. Also did The Descendants, Sideways, and About Schmidt.

Your review caused me to go back and find what I wrote about it when it first came out. Sorry to quote myself, but as long as we're discussing the movie....

Nebraska
It won’t appeal to a mass market, but I liked it a lot. Among Alexander Payne’s movies (including Election, Sideways, About Schmidt, The Descendants, etc.), this is probably closest to About Schmidt, but it’s unique, and not just because it’s in B&W. Bruce Dern’s character is convinced he’s won a million bucks because of a Publishers Clearinghouse-type form letter. His son (Will Forte) is compelled to drive him from Montana to Nebraska to claim his nonexistent prize, stopping along the way to visit relatives who are somehow boring and fascinating at the same time, and occasionally hilarious. As has been noted by dozens of critics, Dern’s performance is great, and the rest of the cast, especially Forte, is very strong as well. Dern’s character is named Woody Grant, an obviously intentional reversal of Grant Wood, the painter of American Gothic. And this film is, in many ways, a cinematic presentation of that iconic painting. In the film, you’ll see elements of derision, respect, banality, depth, heartland values, etc. A lot of laughs, but overall it’s serious stuff. Our small group has been discussing the thing at length, which most movies we see don’t impel us to do. Highly recommended for Payne admirers, but not for everyone.

[Paperback Writer]

And Alexander Payne is on a roll. Also did The Descendants, Sideways, and About Schmidt.

Alexander Payne has a gift for capturing the setting in his films, IMO, the setting becomes another actor. One can see this with Hawaii and The Descendants and the wine country of southern California and Sideways. Payne grew up in Omaha, and captures the setting of Nebraska perfectly. In addition to the setting, many of the actors in the supporting cast reminded me of parents of friends and others I knew growing up.

[Commando]

Alexander Payne has a gift for capturing the setting in his films, IMO, the setting becomes another actor. One can see this with Hawaii and The Descendants and the wine country of southern California and Sideways. Payne grew up in Omaha, and captures the setting of Nebraska perfectly. In addition to the setting, many of the actors in the supporting cast reminded me of parents of friends and others I knew growing up.

I can get behind this. His portrayal of Billings, Montana is chillingly accurate (not caricature, not condescension- just vibe.), and by way of geographic proximity sort of catches the feel of SE Idaho, too- which has never been done (Napoleon Dynamite notwithstanding) .

[Pelado]

These could both be copied over to the Amazon Prime thread:

The Last Legion - Colin Firth, Ben Kingsley - misses whatever mark it was going for

The Great Debaters - Denzel Washington, Forrest Whitaker - Based on a true story of the 1935 debate team from all-black Wiley College in Texas. They take a few liberties, of course. Their big match against the defending national champions was not against Harvard, but against Southern Cal. Also, it uses composite characters and misrepresents the topics argued as well as how the debates are argued. Looking past all that, it was a mildly enjoyable flick.

[Joe Public]

The Equalizer - It felt like Man on Fire meets Taken in some respects. If someone's simply looking for a guy movie with fighting scenes, this fits the bill.

The Judge - I can see why it was largely panned, but I'm a sucker for stories that involve small towns in the Corn Belt and for references to Northwestern Law. I didn't come away feeling like I'd wasted my time.

The Skeleton Twins - Like Commando mentioned about Will Forte, I thought Bill Hader was really good with the serious stuff. I was expecting the movie to be lighter than it was just because Hader and Wiig (and Luke Wilson) were the stars. There were plenty of funny lines, but it was closer to The Squid and the Whale than anything comedic.

Automata - Did Melanie Griffiths go to Kenny Rogers' plastic surgeon?

St. Vincent - It was OK. Naomi Watts stole the show with a spectacular acting job as the Russian lady.

Transformers: Age of Extinction - I saw the first movie and the last 15-20 minutes of the third movie. My general proclivity for Marky Mark notwithstanding, I would rank this one below both of those.

[HBCoug]

50 Shades of Gray. Valentine's Day. Worse than you would expect. Don't regret seeing it for a second.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Nightcrawler. Outstanding.

[SandYFan]

Nightcrawler. Outstanding.

I watched a full minute of that trailer before realizing it wasn't a Marvel movie.

[Donuthole]

American Sniper. Supremely manipulative. Bushels of on-the-nose propaganda surrounded by a completely fabricated plot line. The entire time I couldn't help but feel like Bradley Cooper's character was probably a bazillion times more likeable than Chris Kyle. Also, what was with that fake baby?

[clackamascoug]

American Sniper. Supremely manipulative. Bushels of on-the-nose propaganda surrounded by a completely fabricated plot line. The entire time I couldn't help but feel like Bradley Cooper's character was probably a bazillion times more likeable than Chris Kyle. Also, what was with that fake baby?

Congrats, you're the first person I've seen give a thumb sideways review. Having read the book but not seeing the movie because the book didn't move the Earth for me, I too wondered if it was all a manipulation of perspective. I imagined that Chris Kyle was like one of those missionaries that everyone hated because he was always on and never let up. Killin people and loving every minute of it.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Congrats, you're the first person I've seen give a thumb sideways review.

You haven't been paying attention to this thread.

[Dwight Schr-ute]

You haven't been paying attention to this thread.

Not to mention his directions. If that was a "thumb sideways" review, I'd love to read something Donut thumbed down.

[BigPiney]

American Sniper. Supremely manipulative. Bushels of on-the-nose propaganda surrounded by a completely fabricated plot line. The entire time I couldn't help but feel like Bradley Cooper's character was probably a bazillion times more likeable than Chris Kyle. Also, what was with that fake baby?

Agreed, the movie was meh.

I saw Wild. Stupid movie. I can't decide which was worse, the movie or the book.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Nightcrawler. Outstanding.

I don't think Jake Gyllenhaal has been given enough credit for his performance. Although Carell was good in Foxcatcher, I think I'd have given JG an Oscar nomination ahead of him. That may be the toughest category this year, though.