The World Beyond BetterMost > The Culture Tent
Resurrecting the Movies thread...
MaineWriter:
--- Quote from: garycottle on March 03, 2008, 02:07:47 pm ---Has anyone seen In the Valley of Elah?
I watched it yesterday and I thought it was very good. It was about a man, played by Tommy Lee Jones, who sets out to investigate the disappearance of his son. The son is a soldier and he goes missing soon after returning from Iraq.
The film examines how patriotism can sometimes lead us to make bad decisions, and it looks at the effects war has on the young people who are forced to fight. And it also explores the love parents have for their children and what a shock it can be for them when they learn their kid might have serious flaws.
Ultimately, I think In the Valley of Elah is about confronting the truth.
--- End quote ---
In the Valley of Elah got okay reviews when it came out but lots of praise for Tommy Lee Jones, who was nominated for an Oscar for his performance. I didn't see it because it was directed by that Haggis guy, who directed Crash, and I don't like his movies.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it, Gary.
L
MaineWriter:
--- Quote from: garycottle on March 03, 2008, 02:21:36 pm ---Here's a few more films that I've seen recently on DVD that I would recommend:
Michael Clayton
Great World of Sound
Gone Baby, Gone
Eastern Promises
Two Days In Paris
The Namesake
Rocket Science
December Boys
3:10 to Yuma
Once
--- End quote ---
Of the movies on that list, I really enjoyed Once and 3:10 to Yuma. I really wanted to like The Namesake, because Monsoon Wedding (same director, Mira Nair) is one of my all time favorites. I thought The Namesake was good, but not great and that was a disappointment.
L
MaineWriter:
--- Quote from: garycottle on March 04, 2008, 08:11:28 pm ---Leslie, why do I get the feeling that I'm a the glass is half full type of person, and you're a the glass is half empty kind of person? :laugh:
--- End quote ---
In general, I think I am a glass half full person, but when it comes to movies and books, that's the wrong yardstick to use.
Books: if a book doesn't pull me in quickly, I very rarely plow through it. People who say to me, "Oh keep going, it will catch you by page 160..." sorry that doesn't work for me. I need to be caught by page 10. This is probably part of the reason I never took a literature course in college. I knew there would a problem with must read/can't plow through.
If I like a book, I am likely to read and re-read it over and over. My "pendulum" swings all the way the other way.
Movies (in the theater): I think long and hard about going to see a movie in a theater. I read reviews and want to make sure it is a movie I want to see. If, in that case, I don't care for it, I am sorely disappointed. Probably my best/worst example of this is "The Family Stone." That movie got good reviews (from some reviewers) and I loathed it. In fact, it is one of my all time WORST movies. Even so, in the movie theater, I very rarely walk out. I stick it out til the end....painful. LOL
Most of the time, though, I do a good job about picking movies to see in the theater, probably because of my advance research.
Movies...on DVD/HBO/TV: I can be a little more reckless here. I'll watch something I heard about but that didn't meet my "gold standard" for the theater. In this case, it is more like a book: if it doesn't catch me quick, I turn it off. On the other hand, there are many movies I enjoy and watch all the way through. If I really really like something, I'll watch it endlessly, just like I'll read a book repeatedly.
This all applies to fairly new movies. Historical films or films that are new to me, I am willing to give a try, and am often wildly surprised. That is how I discovered "Wages of Fear" (1953) a few months ago.
This is probably way too much information and way too analytical for you, isn't it? Oh well, it gives you an idea of how my mind works and why it is hard to reduce me to a half full/empty glass. LOL
L
serious crayons:
--- Quote from: garycottle on March 04, 2008, 08:11:28 pm ---Leslie, why do I get the feeling that I'm a the glass is half full type of person, and you're a the glass is half empty kind of person? :laugh:
--- End quote ---
Either of those is fine. It's the people who see the glass as empty who annoy me.
When it comes to movies, I'm a glass-is-just-about-full person. I'll see almost anything. And what I won't see in theaters, I'll definitely see on DVD. With the exception of violence-for-the-sake-of-violence movies, like Saw, or anything where it's all about the car chases and explosions and gun battles (though I'll even make an exception here if they're fairly well done, like that most recent Die Hard).
Which brings me to the movie I saw on Sunday: Vantage Point. I haven't posted anything because I'm not sure I have anything worth saying about it. It was an interesting concept, it held my interest, there were suspenseful moments ... but, ehh. In the end, kind of a car-chase-explosion-gun-battle kind of movie.
I've decided that Dennis Quaid, like Kevin Costner and Nicholas Cage, is an actor I like in light, fairly cheerful movies and don't really like in more serious dramas or action roles. What are some other examples of this? And who is the opposite? I'm tempted to say Russell Crowe -- I don't think I'd like him in anything too light.
--- Quote from: MaineWriter on March 04, 2008, 08:38:58 pm ---Probably my best/worst example of this is "The Family Stone." That movie got good reviews (from some reviewers) and I loathed it.
--- End quote ---
I had the same experience. I believe we've both ranted about the terribleness of TFS before.
belbbmfan:
--- Quote from: MaineWriter on March 04, 2008, 08:38:58 pm ---In general, I think I am a glass half full person, but when it comes to movies and books, that's the wrong yardstick to use.
Books: if a book doesn't pull me in quickly, I very rarely plow through it. People who say to me, "Oh keep going, it will catch you by page 160..." sorry that doesn't work for me. I need to be caught by page 10. This is probably part of the reason I never took a literature course in college. I knew there would a problem with must read/can't plow through.
If I like a book, I am likely to read and re-read it over and over. My "pendulum" swings all the way the other way.
Movies (in the theater): I think long and hard about going to see a movie in a theater. I read reviews and want to make sure it is a movie I want to see. If, in that case, I don't care for it, I am sorely disappointed. Probably my best/worst example of this is "The Family Stone." That movie got good reviews (from some reviewers) and I loathed it. In fact, it is one of my all time WORST movies. Even so, in the movie theater, I very rarely walk out. I stick it out til the end....painful. LOL
Most of the time, though, I do a good job about picking movies to see in the theater, probably because of my advance research.
Movies...on DVD/HBO/TV: I can be a little more reckless here. I'll watch something I heard about but that didn't meet my "gold standard" for the theater. In this case, it is more like a book: if it doesn't catch me quick, I turn it off. On the other hand, there are many movies I enjoy and watch all the way through. If I really really like something, I'll watch it endlessly, just like I'll read a book repeatedly.
This all applies to fairly new movies. Historical films or films that are new to me, I am willing to give a try, and am often wildly surprised. That is how I discovered "Wages of Fear" (1953) a few months ago.
This is probably way too much information and way too analytical for you, isn't it? Oh well, it gives you an idea of how my mind works and why it is hard to reduce me to a half full/empty glass. LOL
L
--- End quote ---
hehehehe
I agree about the books. I have a number of books that I have started and never finished. I used to feel guilty about that, like I hadn't tried hard enough. But now, I feel, if I don't care about the characters from early on in the story, I'm not going to keep on reading.
Same with movies, I read a lot of reviews so I pretty much know what to expect before I go see a movie. Of course, that's no guarentee. I saw Juno on sunday. It was ok, but I couldn't see what all the fuss was about. It had a few funny moments, but the foul language got old after about 15 minutes.
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