[Elianna]

There is already a favorite movies thread here, but I was interested in hearing people's opinions of more modern movies.

Adam and I have recently seen two: The Bourne Ultimatum, and Stardust.

Short reviews:
TBI was hard to judge: We arrived at the theater right as it was starting, on opening weekend, so we sat in the first few rows, and that made it very hard to see. I kept getting dizzy from trying to follow the action shots, that I missed much of the movie. I was rather disappointed though, as I don't really remember an ultimatum in it.

I really enjoyed Stardust. It's pretty much in keeping with the book, although there were several noticeable differences. The whole thing is based on a "children's" novel by Neil Gaiman, so you can imagine it as NG-light. It's a basic light-hearted fantasy, and my only real complaint was that Claire Danes seemed to be channelling Gwyneth Paltrow. All in all, I quite recommend it, if you approach the movie as it was intended.

In that movie, I saw a preview for "The Seeker", which seems to be based on The Dark is Rising series of books by Susan Cooper. I'm both excited and apprehensive!

[Fluffy]

Bear in mind that in Spain movies might come way later than America (althou internet has helped on this matter, and they try to translate to make full world release at the same time now)

I watched Transformers The last, and I didn't like it much. Special effects are good, there is enough action, but it is teenage-oriented, and I felt disapointed jsu the same way as with Aliens vs Predator: Why do they have to give humans an important role?, they aren't suposed to have one, they shouldn't have one at all.

Gonna watch Bourne in a couple hours, they said lots of action, at least won't bore.

[jtfanclub]

I saw both films.

The Bourne Identity was amusing, although the people who wrote it have NO clue about technology. Do they have any idea, for example, how easy it is to trace the location of a cell phone? You don't even need to call somebody- a cell phone constantly sends out a 'here I am' signal to all of the local towers, in case you get an incoming call. 911 can get this down to a couple of blocks...the NSA should have no trouble getting it down to a couple of feet. Rumors that the NSA has orbital "anti-ICBM" lasers capable of tracking and assasinating people via their cell phone signals are, of course, completely untrue.

Anyhoo, once you completely suspend your disbelief, the movie was fun, except there is one fight in Tangier which ends with Bourne and the bad guy fighting in a room. The camera was basically put on a wire and spun. I literally got motion sickness from it. If you get motion sickness, either look away for the duration of that fight or take a dramamine before you go. Not as good as the latest Bond flick, but far better than most of the previous ones.

I loved Stardust. I hadn't read the book, but I'd already figured out most of the plot turns long before they happened...which is just fine by me, for these sorts of fairy tales. Extremely funny, not overlong, and I especially liked how the hero is a completely self-absorbed little bastard, not your classical hero at all. It's interesting in that there's a double-story...the actual fairy tale, and the 'boy grows up' story, and some things what are unimportant for one part are crucial for the other.

[pbleighton]

I saw both movies, and liked them.

Bourne was the same cailber as the first two, it had no wasted moments.

I was impressed by Sytardust, it was, for me, better than the reviews. Of course, for a guy my age, having Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert DeNiro it it helped a lot

Peter

[hrothgar]

I liked "Stardust", but nearly as much as I was expecting to. I thought that Michelle Pffeifer was great. The rest of the cast was decent. This is weird, because I normally love Claire Daines. (Amy thought that Satrdust was decidedly "Eh", and this was from someone who loved the book)

The Bourne Ultimatum rocked. Action packed, though not much to think about.

From my perspective, the most interesting thing about TBU was the previews accompanying it. It seems VERY clear that Hollywood has turned against the war in Iraq. (There were a pair of Meryl Streep movies dealing with very Iraq specific themes)

[jdonn]

My favorite movie of the past year (other than the Simpsons, which I wouldn't recommend since if you like that you already know) was 300. I loved the action scenes in that movie, and the fact that they packed a ton of them in but still managed to build the story around it. To me the Bourne movies are good but not really that memorable, I enjoy them and then never have any sort of desire to see them again or even talk about them with people later. I'm not sure what quality they lack to me, but there is some sort of intangible that I think is missing.

[Al_U_Card]

The same reason why the most recent Harry Potter movie left me indifferent. Tragedy and realism must be credible. If the outcome is certain and the good guy will win no matter what (à la Bruce Willis or Harrison Ford) then you do not invest yourself into the characterizations as much (if at all when they manage to get them developed during the story as opposed to just showing one special effect after another).

[mike777]

Potter 4 stars out of 4
Transformers 3 stars
Die Hard 4 stars
Mighty Heart 4 stars
Stardust 3 stars
Bourne 3.5 stars
Invasion 1 star in the running for worst movie of the year along with Sunshine and Bug

Just got back from seeing Superbad. 3 stars.
A deep retrospection on the conflicting feelings of love, friendship, and growing up
I know it sounds like a chickflick but I think guys who enjoy a thoughtful serious movie can enjoy some parts of the movie. Catch the reference to Orson Wells for you movie buffs.

[Elianna]

Thanks for reminding me Josh! I knew that I had been dragged out to another movie, and forgot what it was.

I actually enjoyed "The Simpsons" movie. I don't think that it's for people who aren't already fans, but I grew up watching that show, and thought that the movie was enjoyable. It was like a long episode, but I found that it didn't drag as much as I was expecting it to.

I liked the end credits, where they had a picture of the characters that each actor voiced. It's interesting to stick around for.

If they do another one, I hope that they include Sideshow Bob. And his brother!

[fred]

The Simpsons was the only movie I have been to in at least a year. I agree with Elianna's comments. I really enjoyed this movie, but I have been a fan of the TV show for a long time.

At the theatre there were big posters advertising The Golden Compass which will be released late this year. This will likely be the next movie I see.

Fred Gitelman
Bridge Base Inc.
www.bridgebase.com

[nickf]

I also saw the simpsons a couple of weeks ago and have been a fan since it premiered in the late 80s. But it was no more than just a long episode. I felt a bit like Homer did in the opening scene.

nickf
sydney

[Gerben42]

Currently living in Germany I don't go the cinema really, can't stand the dubbing, so I'm waiting for the DVDs mostly, or chances when I'm abroad.

On my last memorable cinema visit I saw "Black book" which is about a Jewish lady in the Netherlands during the 2nd World War. Very intensive.

With colleages I went to the Bond movie but I was missing the English a lot. Otherwise it was nice to see.

[mike777]

granted I have seen very few German themed movies the last 12 months.
1) night train to munich(1940) .....4 stars
2) Lives of Others.....3 stars
3) The good german 2,5 stars
4) pans labrytnth(franco/spain) 3.5 stars
5) munich 2 stars

[Elianna]

Adam and I netflixed a German-Hungarian co-produced film called "Gloomy Sunday". It was interesting, the basic plot was about a guy who wrote a song, which people suspected caused suicides. (It was playing when a lot of suicides were committed.)

It was pretty touching. Not something to watch with the kids, though. Lots of pictures of the main woman naked. She also had two boyfriends (each knew about the other, of course), and all three seemed ok with the arrangement, which is rather wierd to modern american sensibilities.

[keylime]

Invasion is just awful. Me thinks Nicole Kidman needs to fire her aides and get a group of people that will not suggest such bad films (she's had a string lately).

On a positive note, we haven't heard much news from her and hubby Keith Urban, which is a good thing.

[Fluffy]

Elianna, on Aug 22 2007, 03:17 PM, said:

The Bourne Ultimatum.

I was rather disappointed though, as I don't really remember an ultimatum in it.

This upset me as well, since you said it I was lookin if I could see one. Of course I didn't, not in the movie, but in the spanish trailer there is one!, Bourne is at the phone and says: Beware, I remember everything.

They changed the dialog for the trailer to fake an ultimatum

[Al_U_Card]

Doesn't there have to be an "or else" to make it an ultimatum? Then it also has to be the last one.....

[Elianna]

Al_U_Card, on Aug 23 2007, 10:20 AM, said:

Doesn't there have to be an "or else" to make it an ultimatum? Then it also has to be the last one.....

Yea, as I think of it, an ultimatum goes: "Give me your lunch money or I'll tell Mom that you hit me".

I agree that the secondary definition is "a final proposal or statement of conditions." (Random House dictionary online), but I wouldn't interpret this as meaning the last movie.

It's like they wanted to say "The Ultimate Bourne", but then realized that it's not in keeping with the other movies, and so changed it, but it bothers me.

[jmc]

Stardust- I enjoyed it as much as the book, though I felt the movie forgot a few fun characters and details from the book.

Simpsons- I am an occasional tv episaode watcher but not a big fan. I was etra impressed by the movie and really enjoyed it.

Matt Damon Action Movie- I can't bring myself to call this the actual title name. These books were based on a trilogy by Robert Ludlum. While the first movie had some relation to the first book, the second movies stand totally alone with no relation to the first two books. This is very disapointing. The plot line also turns Jason Bourne into a confused former assassin/murderer. In the books he is a US agent who begins my trying to hunt down a European assasin. He losses his memory and forgets who he is. Movies 2 and 3 continue the plot. The books describe a US trying to do its international duty and hunting down bad guys. The movies describe the US assasinating Americans, Europeans, and others. Robert Ludlum is rolling over in his grave. Shame on the makers of these movies and shame on his family for selling them the titles without protecting his work. I have not been so disapointed with a movie since they made "Memoirs of a Geisha" with an all Chinese cast in China. IT WAS ABOUT JAPAN!

jmc

[Fluffy]

Al_U_Card, on Aug 23 2007, 06:20 PM, said:

Doesn't there have to be an "or else" to make it an ultimatum? Then it also has to be the last one.....

Well, Bourne always said something like this: leave me alone or.....

I don't remember fully what he said on the trailer, but I had that impression at least.