I figure there should be a thread where people can pop in and just let others know that they FINALLY saw a movie that they should have years ago without making a new thread for it. Hopefully it will compel others to go back and appreciate already-seen movies or help others make the leap into finally acquiescing themselves. I imagine it would be kept around fairly regularly even if I’m the only one posting. I’ve been making a habit of going back and watching movies that I should have when it first came out given the lack of quality films as of late.
My inspirations for this thread? Two gwenyth paltrow flicks - Talented Mr. Ripley and Shakespeare in Love. Didn’t care much for her in the late 90’s but now I’m super attracted to her. Haven’t seen Iron Man 2 yet, so it’s curious as to where this crush manifested.
a) Talented Mr. Ripley - Good golly there were some attractive people in this movie. The aforementioned Paltrow played the part of the fit, attractive preppy gf perfectly. Jude Law played the douchey spoiled preppy yachting fanatic perfectly as well. Damon was a little off, but i think that was intentional. The homosexuality maybe played a role in it. Kinda wished Kate Blanchett played a more pervasive role. Introducing her and then hiding her for an hour wasn’t the best use of that character but I could see how having her around in the sailing town would be very complicated. Maybe he spent the day in Rome with her after getting ditched by Jude Law and Philip Seymore Hoffman at the record store? Anyway, great movie and I highly recommend it.
b) Shakespeare in Love - I’m not an emotional guy but this movie made the room dusty. Plus there were boobies. gratuitous nudity is always welcome, especially if it’s from a nice wholesome girl like gwen (or katie holmes?). Very original screenplay. The historical tie-ins were fun as were the not-so-subtle allusions to other Shakespearean works. I also liked the leading man Joseph Fiennes on the big screen, and also enjoyed Enemy at the Gates. It’s weird why he’s decided to be a recluse, acting-wise but I respect him for it. Ben Affleck was a bizarre choice though. I’m guessing that was a Hollywood power move trying to cash in on the “hot” actor of the time. I will say that sometimes the kissing was overdone. Love is love, but the burning passion that Shakespeare had with Gwen was a little over-the-top.
I, too, never thought much of Gwyneth Paltrow when she was the It Girl of the Nineties™, but ever since I saw her in the original Iron Man, I’ve had a serious thing for her. Must be that flawless ivory skin and those singularly beautiful eyes combined with the red hair. Good god, she doth make me weak in the knees!
Talking to myself, but I enjoy it. 2 weeks ago i saw 12 monkeys for the first time since 1996ish. I did not remember any of it, except it was super confusing for me (i was 10?) and that I did not like it very much. In retrospect, now as an adult the theme of inevitability and fate seemed obvious but I don’t know how much of that was just my latent subconscious talking and how much of it was me figuring it out on my own. I did like how the pieces fit together, though the believability of an answering machine tape surviving, tracing the phone number of that machine, etc. was a bit of a stretch for me. I also didn’t know why Bruce Willis had to take that last shot. I also didn’t know why there was no backup plan for if Bruce missed the shot. I mean, firing a gun off at an airport is a SUPER HARD task even pre-911.
i will be watching Sliding Doors in the near future, if i can find a copy of it.
I finally got around to watching Cop Land. It seemed a bit on the short side, I think it could have used another 20-40 minutes. There was so much going on in the film, it had epic ambitions, but just not enough running time to flesh things out. Stallone was pretty good as the dim-witted sheriff.
I started seeing a guy who’s obsessed with 2001: A Space Odyssey. My dad and my brother are into it, but the two times I remember them watching it when I was a kid, I remember falling right asleep.
So one night this winter I finally watched it (thanks Netflix Watch Instantly!) with the intent of a) Staying awake and b) Not trying to love it just because Dude loves it.
I was actually totally blown away by the movie and now it’s in my top 10 list. Of course, I am never going to be one of the “what does it all mean?” type fans who puts a lot of time and effort into discussing the movie…I don’t care that much. But I thought the story was great and I could not believe how amazing the FX were - for 1968!! Almost 10 years before Star Wars!
i’ve only seen “forbidden planet” while under the influence and i have no idea what that movie is about. it scared the bejeezus out of me though. is it worth a viewing without substances?
yes. absolutely. saw it last night. fantastic flick. one gripe though, jeanne triplehorn’s character was strangely unbelievable. her dialogue was forced and she just seemed out of place. i hope that’s not what british people feel when there’s a brit cast in american movies. and again, paltrow delivers though sometimes the real-to-life banter is too real-to-life. too many um’s.
IMHO, the best Science Fiction film ever made. Critics say that “it’s just Shakespeare’s The Tempest tricked out in Science Fiction Drag.”
But they’re wrong. Great flick. There is a LOT hidden in the dialog – they really took care constructing this future. And Gene Roddenbery clearly strip-mined it to make Star Trek.
Never saw it in the theatres and finally bought it on DVD a couple years ago.
Finally got around to watching Black Hawk Down and was expecting a lot.
I ended up hating it and never finished it. The characters were so over the top stereotypes of soldiers it was ridiculous. Josh Hartnett as the intellectual one who doesn’t like to goof around with the frat boy types but rather pose with a book in a corner :rolleyes:.
And I know in real life the mission was a botched clusterf*** but they made everyone look totally inept and stupid at their jobs in the movie. Hostiles with rocket propeled grenades sitting in every window and you’re going to hover your chopper in between buildings at an intersection?
It made me feel like the girls in The Descent were better at making decisions.
Absolutely. Even if it did rip off a lot from Shakespeare, where better to rip off from? And the attention to detail is just astounding. Every prop, every set, every line of dialog looked like it must have had pages of discussion behind it, to make it just so. I only finally got to see it myself a few months ago-- It wasn’t available on Netflix for the longest time.
Oh weird, I just watched this last week for the first time. It was very funny and the acting was quite good.
I also saw A Streetcar Named Desire for the first time this week (I’ve been spending my summer vacation with the Netflix Instant Watch Queue) and…
First of all, wow… Marlon Brando. If I’d have known he was that hot I would be much more well-versed in the classics by now.
Second of all… wow, what a movie. At first we (my husband and I) weren’t sure what to make of it. But then we spent that night lying awake in bed discussing it, and I realized, this is a really good, thought-provoking film.
The characters were so believable, and as reprehensible as Stanley was, you could totally see why he hated Blanche because oh my god that bitch would drive me crazy if she was living in my house. At first I thought Vivan Leigh was a shitty actress but then I realized her character was an actress, in the psychological sense, and the fakeness suddenly made sense. My husband is a clinical psych student so we spent the evening trying to figure out what her diagnosis was. In the very least she was textbook Histrionic Personality Disorder.
Also I thought it was so unique the way the actors’ bodies were posed throughout the film. It wasn’t exactly realistic, but intentionally symbolic, which I really liked. It gave the film more of a stage feel then a movie feel (as well it should be, considering it’s based on a play.)
Finally… you mean there’s actually a literal streetcar named Desire!!!
My husband and I both felt that was a bit of a letdown. And right at the beginning of the movie, too. Oh, well.
I sort of saw Singing in the Rain. It was actually my son, in the lead role, in his school play, not that I’m bragging on him or anything, and I didn’t even know he could tap dance, but now I’ve got a hankering to see the Gene Kelly version, so I probably will.
I just saw Fight Club - something I’ve been meaning to see for years and years. Mostly because people have compared me to the Marla character. Now that I’ve seen it all I have to say is :dubious: .