I’m watching Grindhouse: Planet Terror. I had originally read great things about it, but then it tanked in the boxoffice. (50 Mil worldwide gross, 53 Mil budget from the The Numbers web site.)
I assumed people didn’t understand the concept.
Basically though, it just sucks. A by-the-numbers zombie movie. At least so far.
I usually insist on finishing everything I rent. I’m thinking about hitting the eject button.
The only thing I have rented recently is 3:10 to Yuma. It was awesome.
I watched War about a month ago, but kind of fell asleep on and off throughout.
It was really one of those movies that you had to see with an appreciative audience, kind of like Rocky Horror.
3:10 to Yuma - already saw this in the theater and enjoyed it the first time, but the second time it made me fall asleep.
Waitress - charming and quirky treatment of dark subject matter. As a whole it almost works, but not quite. Great performance by Keri Russell, though.
Eastern Promises - definitely above average but not great.
Six Feet Under Season 4 - Better than season 3, but one episode is still giving me nightmares. I miss Arthur and am growing tired of Brenda and Nate.
Tale of Two Sisters is getting buzz as a “brilliant” horror film, but I spotted two of the main plot devices early on, earning points from my teenage daughter. “Dang, Mom!” she blurted in admiration as Plot Point #1 was revealed exactly as predicted.
“Seen a lot of horror films,” I said modestly.
It wasn’t a bad movie, it’s just that if you’ve been watching horror/ghost/haunted house movies for 35 years, you won’t see anything particularly groundbreaking.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: Long, but worthwhile. Why is Casey Affleck considered the supporting actor in this?
**King of Kong: ** 5 stars, but I suspect it isn’t a pure documentary.
**This is England: ** Meh. A social commentary staring a bunch of jumbled characters with little purpose.
**The Bicycle Thief: ** A 1949 Italian movie about a poor man who tries to keep his family alive in post war Italy. Considered groundbreaking at the time for using ordinary people for most of the roles. I thought it was decent.
I am 2/3 of the way through the Bourne films, which I’m enjoying – though I’m apt to tune out and focus on my knitting during the car chases, etc. Kind of the opposite of musicals, where you pay less attention to the plot development than the physical stuff that comes between. 
You folks who liked The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford might like the book – it’s by Ron Hansen, who also wrote a novel about the Daltons – Desperadoes.
My last movie was Lucia, Lucia, a Mexican movie about a woman whose husband disappears. She gets a ransom demand and enlists the help of an older neighbor and a younger (very hot) neighbor. It’s part comedy, part thriller, part romance, which could have been a mess but it really works. It reminded me of Amelie in its look. The story was good but the way it was filmed made it even better – very watchable.
I watched Death at a Funeral last night. I was really looking forward to it. I like British comedies, this has gotten great reviews and it has several actors in it that I enjoy watching: Matthew MacFadyen, Alan Tudyk and Peter Dinklage, among others.
I was so disappointed. It was mildly amusing in a few places, and that’s it. Mostly it was contrived and dull. Lots of other people seem to be raving about this, but it just did nothing for me.
Two more I’ve recently watched…
Dragon Wars: D-War - Wow… So bad… Like really, painfully bad. The acting was bad. The script was bad. The direction was bad. The goofs were stupid and obvious (after establishing the heroine was 19 the movie cuts to her drinking beer in a bar). But also really, really entertaining for people who enjoy cheesy movies. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I recommend it, but there are comedies that are meant to be funny that aren’t as funny as Dragon Wars.
Right At Your Door, on the other hand, was just bad. I’ve been watching a lot of these low budget terrorist attack movies lately and they all manage to disappoint. I think because they are all so desperate to have a “Gotcha!” moment that the filmmakers forget everything leading up to the “Gotcha!” should be entertaining too.
Finished The Lookout yesterday. It was great-Joseph Gordon-Levitt gave an amazing performance. Children of Men and Gone Baby Gone are my remaining two rentals. Hoping to get through one tomorrow, another on Monday, maybe.
Pan’s Labyrinth. Be warned, though, although a completely wonderful film, it’s quite unsettling, even horrific in parts, and by the end you’ll be emotionally drained: it’s quite gruelling. Looks absolutely gorgeous, though.
I just finished Shortbus, finally, I’ve had it from Netflix for about a month. I just don’t have time to watch movies right now. It was really good, but not quite as good as I expected after reading the threads about it here. I think the thing that surprised me the most is how smoking hot Bitch was in that movie - I’ve seen Bitch & Animal live several times, and hung out with them after a show once, and she was never that hot back in the day. She looks about 10 years younger in that movie.
Next up is The Magdalene Sisters. One of my professors has been telling me to watch it for the last year or so, so since I’m taking Irish Lit with her this semester I went ahead and bumped it up to the top of the list. Hopefully I’ll have time to watch it before the end of the semester.
I’ve got **Return to House on Haunted Hill **, but unfortunatly this is not the version with the cool “choose your own path” feature. Only on Blu-Ray and HD 
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I’ve watched Quills, and that is a dark, dark movie that actually makes the Marquis De Sade likeable. And it made me want to punch Michael Caine in the face, which shows how good he was in this one. Watch it, but be prepared.
I’ve been meaning to get Manhunter; any good?
I just watched Stardust and am kicking myself that I didnt make more of aneffort to go see thisin the cinema. I loved every minute of it… so much so that Ive watched it 3 times since last friday!
Just watched another Mexican movie, Herod’s Law, from 1999.
It’s a dark comedy/political satire. Very watchable. Nice use of color and music, and great scenery.
Yeah, we rented it last night: huge fun, and we were both grinning like fools by the end. I wish I had caught that one on the big screen.
We’re currently watching Mythbusters, Season 1. My husband’s enthralled.
Quote from Walloon: Lady Sings the Blues: This surprised me. I assumed it was Berry Gordy’s vanity production for Diana Ross. But it’s a real movie, with an intelligent screenplay. And Diana Ross is no amateur in the acting department in her movie debut. The movie has little relation to the real Billie Holiday’s life, but no matter, the real Billie Holiday invented a lot about her life too.
I saw this in the late ‘70’s. Who knew Richard Pryor could act? Also, the music is bitchin’.
Finally, Yllaria, where did you get dvd’s for the Connections series? I’d love to have them.
Mirrormask - I rented it because it was recommended here and it well deserves another. It was wonderful. The only regret I have is that my girlfriend and I didn’t watch it on my much larger screen at home.
Nightwatch - My dad once said that after the first 30 minutes of a movie you should ask yourself if you really care what happens to the characters, if not then turn it off. I did that so 30 minutes is as far as I got. I saw enough, however, to get that it was a much less creative version of Highlander with Russian dubbed vampires.
I’ve been messing around with my new Netflix account and discovered the members movie lists. There’s a member named Mr. Nuff and his list of 5 star movies matches my own 95% of the time so that speaks highly of the few he rated 5 stars that I haven’t seen.
Revisiting. . .
The Assassination of Jesse James. Proof that any movie that is three hours long and boring will be given a pass by the critics.
The Kingdom. Oh, this is interesting, a CSI-style drama set against a backdrop of religious and political tension. Oh, wait, there’s no Hollywood formula for how to end such a picture so we’ll just give ya 30 minutes of car chases and gun battles.