Resurrecting the Movies thread...

[Meryl]

I got to see the German film "The Lives of Others" last weekend.  What a good movie!  I can see why Anke and Chrissi have been rooting for it to win awards, and it did win the Oscar for Best Foreign Film over "Pan's Labyrinth," surprisingly.  It's quite a different film from PL, although both deal with political oppression.

The main character works for the government in East Germany before the fall of the Berlin Wall.  He's assigned the job of spying on a playwright and his actress girlfriend, looking for evidence of subversive ties with the West.  As he comes to sympathize with his subjects, he finds himself looking for ways to protect them and plays a dangerous double game.  It's very well written and acted, and it makes you ever so happy to live in a country that has freedom of speech!  The ending is perfect.  It won't play in many theaters here, but when it comes out on DVD, it's definitely worth renting.

[ednbarby]

Meryl, I watched "The Lives of Others" this past weekend, myself.  EXCELLENT.  I agree with all you've said.  The acting across the board was extraordinary.  What a wonderful film.  And the last line, as they say, is like a shot to the heart.

Now that I've seen it, I guess I can live with it winning those awards over "Pan's Labyrinth."  It is truly a A+ movie.  One of the few perfect ones I've seen in recent times.

[opinionista]

WOOHOO!!! Forest Whitaker won the Best Actor BAFTA!! Go Forest!!

The BAFTAs sure have great taste - remember thay gave the statue to Jakey last year?

 

I finally saw The Last King of Scotland and I have to say, Forest Whitaker's performance is beyond outstanding. I was so impressed. Too bad they gave too much movie time to the scot guy. He didn't do it that good.

[saucycobblers]

I finally saw The Last King of Scotland and I have to say, Forest Whitaker's performance is beyond outstanding. I was so impressed. Too bad they gave too much movie time to the scot guy. He didn't do it that good.

I felt the same - I think he overdid the cocky new boy act a little. It didn't need to be that strong (or irritating) in the beginning to show his journey over the course of the film.

I hope the Oscar means we'll see more of Forest on our screens from now on 

[ednbarby]

I actually quite liked James McAvoy in that role.  But then again, I'm an American, and we don't get to hear nearly enough of that particular accent, IMO.  Or at least I don't.

[delalluvia]

I'm dying to see 'Amazing Grace' simply because of my man Ioan Gruffud. 

The cast looks outstanding and I love the era.  Haven't made it yet, though.

Did go see 'Bridge to Terebithia' which is based apparently on a famous children's book, which I didn't know.  My friend who is a teacher and up on those kind of things took me, and it was very well done.  The children were excellent actors and very convincing, the adults played with dignity and not mocked and it was truly emotional. 

The previews are somewhat misleading.  What they show is mostly just to sell the story to the kids and get them in the theaters.  It's the least of the story.  Thumbs up! 

[opinionista]

Meryl, I watched "The Lives of Others" this past weekend, myself.  EXCELLENT.  I agree with all you've said.  The acting across the board was extraordinary.  What a wonderful film.  And the last line, as they say, is like a shot to the heart.

Now that I've seen it, I guess I can live with it winning those awards over "Pan's Labyrinth."  It is truly a A+ movie.  One of the few perfect ones I've seen in recent times.

I finally went to see it and I have to say it is one of the most touching movies i have ever seen. That oscar was well deserved.

[delalluvia]

The Shooter   5/10

The plot was conventional and formulaic, but points for the sidekick being ethnic, the woman actually able to use a gun and of course, points for Marky Mark's obligatory shirtless scenes, worth the price of admission alone.

Amazingly, the plot is politically balanced, showing neither support nor contempt for our current administration.

But all you pacificists and our lovely European fans, be warned it is a strictly gun culture American shoot 'em up.  In one scene, we learn that the valued memento mori of one character is a rifle left to them by a dead loved one. 

[mvansand76]

I get you, oilgun.  Yes, he was overall pretty black and white, I agree.

I, too, am not a fan of the fantasy genre.  For example, I couldn't care less about The Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter movies.  I saw the first installment of both and didn't feel the need to continue.

I dunno...  Something about this movie just grabbed me.  Maybe because I can relate to using one's imagination to get through terrible times.  But I can also understand why it's not universally appealing.

Hey!
I just saw Pan's Labyrinth and I was so amazed. It's such a disturbing movie. I don't know why the movie grabbed me like it did, but by the end I was crying more than I have ever cried over BBM. The violence was definitely too much and I had to close my eyes several times (The Oh-no-they-are-not-gonna-show-that-are-they-oh-shit-yes-they-are moments). It was refreshing to see this movie also because of the actors, they were incredible, the little girl and Mercedes were so good. Spain does have some amazing talents! Anyway, I am still trying to figure out why it grabbed me like it did....

[ednbarby]

I'm glad you got to see it, Snavel.  It's something I urge everyone here to see - it and "The Lives of Others" were by far the most moving films I've seen in the last year.  Like it did you, "Pan's Labyrinth" really got a hold of me.  It haunted me for a long time afterwards.  I had a vivid imagination as a child, too, and actually wrote a fairy tale once about a girl who sees the reflection of the sky in big puddle and gets mezmerized by it, bends down to see it more closely, and gets pulled into another world on the other side of it.  But never in my wildest imaginings did I conjure up anything like Pan or the pale monster (yikes) or the giant toad.  It was all beyond magical.  Put all the LOTR and Harry Potter crap to shame, if'n you ask me.  (OK, so I've only seen the first LOTR and Harry Potter movies and was underwhelmed by both of them...)

I saw a good one today - "Hot Fuzz" - made by the guys who made "Shaun of the Dead."  Wonderful satire.  Some very gross violence in that one, too, but it somehow wasn't as disturbing as Pan's because it was so surreal, ironically enough.