help people avoid bad movies (and watch good ones)

[El Diablo]

mike,

Great recommendation on Go. That is an excellent movie and comes on cable all the time. Also has a great soundtrack.

[Aloysius]

[ QUOTE ]
Little Miss Sunshine:

I thought this really missed the mark. It's the type of movie I really should like, but something didn't click. Everybody was slightly too unlikeable, I kinda just wanted bad things to happen to them. Also kinda felt like I've seen the same movie before, just with a different plot, characters and setting.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it had its moments (some really solid acting, esp. Collette, imo), so probably liked it more than you, but for the most part agree. Felt very contrived and the "middle-American quirkiness" felt forced and not very organic.

Actually this past network pilot season, there were alot of family-oriented half hours and one hours with similarly "quirky and dysfunctional" tone to LMS and failed in the same way. It's like TV screenwriters have a dartboard with different character quirks / mental issues, pick a couple randomly, and develop a premise around it.

-Al

[Aloysius]

Factory Girl - would recommend not watching it, unless you are a huge Edie Sedgwick fan or want to know more about her. Siena Miller is very capable, and Guy Pearce was not a bad Andy Warhol, but the screenplay was just a meandering, unfocused mess. The Bob Dylan arc (played by Hayden Christiansen, eerie resemblance imo) was in particular poorly handled.

This is a shame because Sedgwick had a really interesting life (didn't know much about her before watching it last night). She was close with 2 of the biggest cultural icons of her generation. She comes from American aristocracy and became a fixture of the 60s counter culture. It's very easy to see how one could execute a cohesive, smart screenplay - think the writers and director tried to do too much.

The DVD extra interviews with people who knew her is much more interesting than the movie.

-Al

[Ship Ship McGipp]

I thought Little Miss Sunshine was great.

[El Diablo]

Dibs/Al/Ship,

I also thought Little Miss Sunshine was great. However, I just caught a few minutes of it the other day and didn't feel like watching it again. Don't feel like it has much repeat viewing potential.

[Chump Change]

4 movies everybody should see:

1. Six Degrees of Separation

2. Bent

3. The Crying Game

4. Somewhere in Time


Most people have probably seen 'The Crying Game' but if not, definitely check it out. Plus, number 4, 'Somewhere in Time' might look suspect but it will blow your mind. It's the only movie i've ever re-watched immediately after watching it the first time.

[LetsGetItOn]

Some movies i saw recently

Disturbia - Got my heart racing on some parts but had alot of leaks definitely worth seeing though.

Chuck and Larry - Got pretty bad reviews but I thought it was very entertaining and I laughed more than a few times, big fan of both Kevin James and Adam Sandler so I might be a bit biased.

In the Land of Women - Why I was watching this? Not sure really. Was kinda dull like a bad version of Garden State. Also, the writers of this think softcore pornography have scripts like classic hardcore pornography does which is simply untrue. I'd pass watching this.

The Warriors - After hearing a bunch of my friends saying this is like the best movie ever and seeing a BBV thread about it decided to borrow it from somebody. The whole vibe of the gangs marching is cool and whatnot but fight scenes were lame and I was sick of looking at that latino chick that could pass for a tranny. What was up with those baseball fury guys anyways? They seem really cool and stuff then they get their ass beat in the least flattering fight scene ever. 6/10

[2mb]

Some movies I've seen recently that I recommend:

Fight Club
An office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression.

Great movie about changing your life and social values. Fantastic acting of Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Go and watch it if you haven't.

Mullholland Dr.
After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesic, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.

I really liked this movie. It has some great plot twists, and because it doesn't give you any answers it leaves you with a bit of a strange feeling after watching. But after I read some explanations the next day on the internet, most things made sense. Really worth watching and paying close attention.

The Girl Next Door
A teenager's dreams come true when a former porn star moves in next door and they fall in love.

This one's very different, but funny and moving at the same time. Great chemistry between the main characters, young guy Matthew (Emile Hirsch) and the hot girl next door, Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert).

American Beauty
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation for his daughter's attractive friend.

Great movie about changing your life and our perspective of success and beauty. #34 in the IMDB Top 250, a must-see. Best viewed when you're alone.

So that's it for now, maybe I'll add some more later. I hope this motivates someone to watch them.

[Dids]

I think American Beauty is one of the more overrated movies out there. It's just really trite. It's not really bad, it's just very "there" and not nearly as convention challenging as some folks seem to think.

[tsearcher]

[ QUOTE ]
I think American Beauty is one of the more overrated movies out there. It's just really trite. It's not really bad, it's just very "there" and not nearly as convention challenging as some folks seem to think.

[/ QUOTE ]

I couldn't agree more. The suburbs are boring. Guys wack-off in the shower. Middle age man has mid-life crises. Big time [censored]-phobe is actually gay. Pretty standard, nothing real ground breaking. Mildly entertaining, but that was all.

It was nice seeing pretend High School girls naked.