# What movies are you watching? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 22, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376 "2008-03-22T21:51:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/1 "2008-03-22T21:51:50Z")
Just finished The Scarlet Pimpernel. It was OK. I found it to drag in some places and the man who played Percey was annoying (but I suppose he is supposed to be.) Jane Seymour is stunning. Just finished Teenage Mutant Turtles. Dull, dull, dull. In the exercise queue: Gattaca. For tonight (maybe) I Am Legend. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/2 "2008-03-22T21:56:48Z")
In the last couple of days, _Stardust_ and _No Country for Old Men_. Next up: _Dawn of the Dead_, unrated version. I haven’t seen either of the Dawn movies. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/3 "2008-03-22T22:01:11Z")
Just finished _Liar Liar_, a comedy which has some of my favorite courtroom dialogue ever: Jim Carrey: Your Honor, I object! Judge: And why is that? Carrey: This testimony is devastating to my case! Judge: Overruled. Carrey: Good call! I watched _Primer_, a low-budget time-travel head trip of a movie, a few days ago, and need to watch it again to figure it out. Just got _Galaxy Quest_ from the library, an old favorite I wanna see again. Just love that movie. “By the Hammer of Grabthar… what a savings.” The best Star Trek movie ever, some have said. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2008, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/4 "2008-03-22T22:10:10Z")
Last few I’ve watched: _No Country for Old Men_: Good. Borderline great. What it lacked - and I’m not the type that would normally say this about a movie, but this one needed it - is 2 or 3 more big laughs. _The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters_: Amazing. Hilarious and captivating from start to end. Inspired me to download Donkey Kong on my Wii. My high score so far is about 44,000. The guys in the movie are over a million. _I Am Legend_: I am underwhelmed. The cgi was bad and unecessary, and I am NOT the type who says “the cgi was bad and/or unecessary” about every movie. I didn’t even notice it in Spider-Man 1 for example. Will Smith was good as usual and the concept was cool, but the ending was waaayyy too rushed IMO. Could’ve been a good 20 or 30 minutes longer. _Eagle Vs. Shark_: Good quirky comedy. I might call it great had I not already seen Napoleon Dynamite. This one is a little too similar, but still worth a look. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/5 "2008-03-23T01:45:20Z")
I just finished watching 30 Days of Night. The production was stellar, the acting fair to good. Danny Huston is in it. I’ve seen him in The Proposition, and I’m thinking I should find more movies with him. This is England. The young star is a gem, the villain of the piece is well-played as well. The film does a fair job of placing you in early 80’s Great Britain and manages to distinguishe the hooligan skinheads from the National Front skinheads. The music is fantastic. It’s either ska or bluebeat, but I’m not that conversant so I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Penchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Penchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penchan)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/6 "2008-03-23T03:05:05Z")
The SO and I just finished _Stranger Than Fiction_ for the seventh or so time. Before that, we watched _Curse of the Golden Flower_ which was a drag. Before that we watched _Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon_. We’ve been watching pretty much whatever’s on the boob tube. We caught some good flicks like _Eat Drink Man Woman_ and interesting ones like _The Queen_. But there are days when there’s nothing on but _The Wedding Singer_ which we have watched at least twenty times. We’re pretty picky about our movies at the rental store, but we’re pretty lazy too so whatever’s on tv tends to be what we watch. Go fig. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/7 "2008-03-23T05:43:49Z")
So far this weekend, it’s been _Atonement_ (I won it on the radio) and _No Country For Old Men_. The former I enjoyed for it’s beautiful English scenery and wrought emotion, the latter scared the crap out of me. I’d like to see what others have said about both of them, but no search, goddammit. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/8 "2008-03-23T05:54:51Z")
Last saw No Country for Old Men [enjoyed it], next up this coming week should be The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and [4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1032846/) ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/9 "2008-03-23T06:38:17Z")
I’ve been trying to catch up on movies I missed out on last summer, as well a re-watching _No Country For Old Men._ I really like this movie, but except for the Tommy Lee Jones monologues, I’m not sure if it has the repeat-viewing likeability of _O Brother…, The Big Lebowski,_ or _Raising Arizona_. **Alice** , the CS thread for _No Country…_ is [here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=443426) Just rented _30 Days of Night_ and really enjoyed it (major plot holes notwithstanding). The guy playing the head vampire was fantastic (“God?” _:looks around, looks up at the sky, looks down at victim with almost-pity:_ “No God.”) _Death At A Funeral_ was my kind of humor. Peter Dinklage as the upset gay lover was priceless. _Mr. Woodcock_ was a movie with some potential, but they went for the cheap laughs and ruined it. Still, Billy Bob was a treat in it, much like he was in _Bad Santa._ _Live Free or Die Hard…_ Eh. It was a _Die Hard_ movie. Lots of 'xplodey bits, lots of gun-fu, lots of tough-guy dialogue. What more can you say? _American Gangster_ was an outstanding story, and Denzel very easily could’ve taken an Oscar for Best Actor (not to say that Javier Bardem didn’t earn it; he rawcked!). Russell Crowe I didn’t buy so much, and I think he actually diminished the movie somewhat. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/10 "2008-03-23T08:18:20Z")
Finally got around to seeing Babel on HBO this weekend…good film, but not quite sure why it was nominated as Best Film…it was just better than OK. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/11 "2008-03-23T08:46:11Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Last few I’ve watched: _The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters_: Amazing. Hilarious and captivating from start to end. Inspired me to download Donkey Kong on my Wii. My high score so far is about 44,000. The guys in the movie are over a million. [/QUOTE] Just so’s you know, the Wii Donkey Kong is an emulation of the NES/Famicom DK, not the arcade-- it’s missing one of the arcade’s levels (pie factory screen, IIRC), unfortunately. I’ve picked up 40 or 50 DVDs in the last week or so, as several rental places nearby have gone out of business, liquidating their stock for ridiculously low prices. (Got 20 documentaries for under a dollar apiece, and the most expensive buy was a new copy of Across the Universe for $3.) Finished off Enchanted yesterday (a really cute film, and Amy Adams is pretty easy on the eyes), finally got around to seeing The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (interesting film, though a little disappointing in light of the many “brilliant! inspiring!” type reviews I’d read over the years). Mayor of Sunset Strip, a documentary on Rodney Bingenheimer, is next on the slate, and at some point when my brain wants to shut off, I’ll probably finally watch Stealth. I know it’s a crummy movie, but hey-- Jessica Biel will surely take my mind off the plot. ---
**Author:** ![ToeJam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@ToeJam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ToeJam)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/12 "2008-03-23T08:53:40Z")
I will be watching all the special features from the _Clerks 2_ DVD, and then will end up watching the film with the Director’s commentary at some point soon. I really love the fact that Kevin Smith adds tons of extras onto his DVDs; it’s the major reason I end up buying DVDs, just for gobs of special features. That film will probably be followed up later in the week by _Grosse Pointe Blank_ (Another one that I’ve seen before and remember enjoying), and then _High Fidelity_ (Which I’ve never seen). ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/13 "2008-03-23T10:33:21Z")
Lately, I’ve been having actor film-fests, either from what’s on my shelves or what I’m renting from Netflix. During this past week, it was a rented Peter Firth-fest: Equus, Tess, and Joseph Andrews. Yesterday, it was an off-the-shelves Kirk Douglas-o-rama: The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, Letter to Three Wives, The Bad & the Beautiful, and finally Spartacus. Today, it’ll be Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca, Spellbound, and Notorious. Previously, I’ve done Bette Davis and Dana Andrews, and upcoming fests will include Alec Guiness and Maggie Smith as I move into more modern movies. ---
**Author:** ![stegon66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@stegon66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stegon66)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/14 "2008-03-23T13:35:23Z")
Last six films I’ve watched: Wong Kar Wai’s _My Blueberry Nights_ (not great, but very enjoyable, R3 DVD) _1860_ (Italian historical drama from 1933, R2 DVD) Miklos Jancso’s _The Round-Up_ (Hungarian historical drama from 1965, R2 DVD) _No Orchids for Miss Blandish_ (controversial Brit noir from 1948, R2 DVD) _Slipstream_ (Anthony Hopkins goes all Lynchian, R1 DVD) _Southland Tales_ (self indulgent crap from _Donnie Darko_ director Richard Kelly) ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/15 "2008-03-23T14:30:46Z")
This past week I’ve watched [**I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Okay**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0497137/). I had high hopes based on a couple of message board reviews and some previous experience with Chan-wook Park’s work (very hit of miss with me). This was a definite miss. Stupid rather than funny; just abyssmal. I had better luck with [**Tazza: The High Rollers**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0875025/). I really like movies with swindles, double crosses, etc. This was prettty good! I didn’t like it quite as much as Dong-hun Choi’s previous **The Big Swindle** , and it was a bit long, but certainly very enjoyable. Also, I watched the first 3 episodes of the Korean TV series [**Stairway to Heaven**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0457542/). (It was a free teaser DVD.). All I can say is Oh. my. God. I’m already an emotional wreck and it’s only the first 3 episodes. I have to see the whole thing b/c this is shaping up to be a great story. The 2 “bad” people so far are absolutely despicable and I really hope they get their come-uppance while our romantic leads end up together. But with 20-odd more episodes to go, I’m sure they are in for a wrenching time. I can already see why this was one of the highest rated Korean TV dramas ever. Also re-watched a favorite: [**Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169222/). This is one whack gangster/heist movie! There are some really quirky characters and events in this one. You laugh out loud and then shake your head in disbelief. Starts off rather disjointed but it all comes together before too long. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/16 "2008-03-23T17:28:13Z")
[QUOTE=Student Driver] Just so’s you know, the Wii Donkey Kong is an emulation of the NES/Famicom DK, not the arcade-- it’s missing one of the arcade’s levels (pie factory screen, IIRC), unfortunately. [/QUOTE] Gah! Bastards! I was already pissed because it doesn’t save the high score - which is why I said "about "44,000. Where/how can I play the arcade version, apart from dropping $800 for a cabinet on ebay (yes, I already checked :D)? ---
**Author:** ![Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Eleanor\_of\_Aquitaine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/17 "2008-03-23T17:37:18Z")
We’ve been watching old James Bond movies with the kids on Friday nights. I haven’t seen them in years, and we’re all enjoying it. We also just watched the first two Terminator movies with the older kid (his first time seeing them) while the younger one was off with his grandparents. I enjoyed the new sci-fi movie \*\*Sunshine \*\*a few weeks ago, and was really disappointed in **Death at a Funeral** , which I had been looking forward to. I have **Becoming Jane** queued up to watch soon, and **No Country for Old Men** , and **I Am Legend**. ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/18 "2008-03-23T17:56:00Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] Gah! Bastards! I was already pissed because it doesn’t save the high score - which is why I said "about "44,000. Where/how can I play the arcade version, apart from dropping $800 for a cabinet on ebay (yes, I already checked :D)? [/QUOTE] Not directly from Nintendo, but… There are arcade emulators available, most of which are variants on MAME, that run on a variety of platforms-- pretty much any platform or OS capable of running code. I run MAME32, which has a built-in GUI. After that, one puts the proper ROM files into the MAME’s ROM subdirectory, launch MAME, run the game. There’s a bit of stuff regarding “parent” versus “child” ROM sets; for a basic overview of the entire MAME concept, check out the FAQ and such at [mamedev.net](http://mamedev.org/). MAME runs Donkey Kong quite well. Where to get ROMs-- well, there are some legal ROM images, easily found at the above site. Donkey Kong isn’t one of them, of course, though. I do believe that discussing how one would look for such ROMs is against the SDMB rules… ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/19 "2008-03-23T18:32:02Z")
Ahh, yes. I could do that. I have a controller and keyboard emulation software. I was hoping to play on my bigscreen, though. But thanks. I’ll probably do that. There’s a DK cabinet in a downtown restaurant that my wife and I frequent that recently stopped working. If it’s still broken the next time we go I’ll offer them a hundred bucks for it. I have a friend who fixes them. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2008, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376/20 "2008-03-23T22:09:40Z")
Last Night, desperate for a GOB-fix, I succumbed to Lets Go To Prison; I had a few beers and it passed the time in a moderatley entertaining way. Didnt scratch my GOB-itch, though. Since I’ve been a bit pissed off lately, I’ve been trying to cheer myself up with “entertaining” movies, Like Kung-Fu Hustle, team America and Planet Terror. however, I feel like I need a meatier movie, so tonight if I’m not too tired, I’m going for The Devils Backbone. I’ll let you know how I get on. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-movies-are-you-watching/442376.md?page=2)