We went to go see "Walter Mitty" last night. I was all prepared to not like it, assuming that Ben Stiller was going to be one of this Casper Milquetoasts that gets walked all over for 2 hours. But I was wrong!

He only gets all walked over for about 30 minutes. Then he mans up and gets the job done!

I liked this movie. Ben Stiller did a great job. And the ending was really clever.

I give this movie 4 out 5 stars.

sexton said:

RodeoSchro said:

What did you read about it that made you realize it was so great?

Most notably that the movie is the origin of this term: http://en.wikipedia.org/w...mon_effect

Interesting!

I saw this technique used in an episode of "All in the Family". It works great in comedy, too!

RodeoSchro said:

We went to go see "Walter Mitty" last night. I was all prepared to not like it, assuming that Ben Stiller was going to be one of this Casper Milquetoasts that gets walked all over for 2 hours. But I was wrong!

He only gets all walked over for about 30 minutes. Then he mans up and gets the job done!

I liked this movie. Ben Stiller did a great job. And the ending was really clever.

I give this movie 4 out 5 stars.

It's really nice! My boys didn't expect to like it because it wasn't a kids movie as such (ie. it was going to have too much talking and love stuff) but they were kind of awestruck. It's spectacularly filmed. We were in stitches at the Benjamin Button old man baby LOLOLOL.

We also enjoyed Pacific Rim again last week

No (2013)

A witty, bracing, well-scripted movie. It speaks to current issues, and the power of advertising as the language of the human mind.

1/2

12 Years A Slave 7.5 / 10 Harrowing story and well acted.

Secret Life Of Walter Mitty 7.5 / 10 Really enjoyable feel good family movie.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) - A chronicle of Nelson Mandela's life journey from his childhood in a rural village through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa.

Good efforts by Idris Elba and Naomie Harris--better than the movie itself.

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013) - Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial in a case that has gripped the nation and the world beyond, three young artists or the society they live in?

It's nothing remarkable in terms of style, but the subject is fascinating. Has dJJ seen this film yet? 1/2

[Edited 1/16/14 14:01pm]

Nebraska - 5/5!!

The Punk Singer (2013) - A look at the life of activist, musician, and cultural icon Kathleen Hanna, who formed the punk band Bikini Kill and pioneered the "riot grrrl" movement of the 1990s.

I Kathleen Hanna. 1/2

Mud, 5 minutes ago.

3.75 out of 5

The Act of Killing (2012) - A documentary that challenges former Indonesian death squad leaders to reenact their real-life mass-killings in whichever cinematic genres they wish, including classic Hollywood crime scenarios and lavish musical numbers.

This is one of the more bizarre documentaries I've seen--like a David Lynch idea except it's all real, tragically. 1/2

Clerks II

I have my problems with Kevin Smith and it was corny, but it was funny. Avoid if you have a problem with crude humor.

sexton said:

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer (2013) - Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial in a case that has gripped the nation and the world beyond, three young artists or the society they live in?

It's nothing remarkable in terms of style, but the subject is fascinating. Has dJJ seen this film yet? 1/2

[Edited 1/16/14 14:01pm]

Good documentary. I stumbled upon it on TV a couple of months ago, having not been overly enamoured with Pussy Riot up to that point, but was impressed at how they came across, especially in their statements in court.

The Hunt - 4/5 A lie may destroy an innocent person. The lack of skepticisim & a few other plot short-cuts bothered me a little, but this is a very tough drama, adult in the best sense of the word & very much worth watching.

I watched the last 15 minutes of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" on TV last night. So many questions!

Like, did anyone know Caesar could talk? He spoke perfect English to James Franco at the end, even though he has no lips (Caesar, not James Franco). James Franco looked surprised but I don't know if James Franco was surprised because Caesar could talk, or maybe because he found out someone smoked all his weed? Anyone know?

Then, working backwards, who was the black guy that went down with the helicopter? It seemed like he should have known no ape was going to pull him out. And what if one did? My gosh, we just saw all the humans get decapitated by the apes! Did he think he was going to be different? He should have just kept quiet and waited for the apes to leave. And then when that one ape pushed the helicopter over the bridge, dude should have seen THAT coming. He should have bailed out of the helicopter. At least that way, he would have had a chance of surviving the fall. But no - he had to go down with the ship - literally.

And the whole helicopter scene was AWESOME! Some police dude mowing down apes with a hunting rifle! But how come his popgun killed apes from hundreds of feet away, yet when that one SuperApe jumped 50 feet onto the helicopter, he got shot about 10 times with a huge pistol and it had no effect? And what did SuperApe think was going to happen when he killed the pilot? Could SuperApe fly a helicopter? Was there some Ape Pilot Training that SuperApe was involved in earlier in the movie? There must have been - that is the only explanation that makes sense.

So why did the apes kill all the policemen and then leave? And how did they get to the jungle so fast? WHERE THE HECK WAS THIS MOVIE SET? I figured it was NYC or San Francisco because of the bridge, but I am not aware of jungles within a few thousand miles of either city. And how did James Franco get there? How does James Franco get anywhere?!?

I am glad I got to watch an ape on a horse charge 500 gun-shooting policeman. They all missed him! But I was SO MAD that they didn't show what happened to the horse. I am assuming that the next movie - coming out July 11th! - will focus more on this Ape - Horse Alliance.

The best part about the 15 minutes that I saw was the fact that I identified James Franco, while my daughter said no, that wasn't James Franco. But it was James Franco! Chalk one up for dad!

Rating = Incomplete, but gets a mandatory two stars at least for having James Franco in it. Actually, it gets a mandatory three stars for having an ape riding a horse.

RodeoSchro said:

I watched the last 15 minutes of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" on TV last night. So many questions!

Like, did anyone know Caesar could talk? He spoke perfect English to James Franco at the end, even though he has no lips (Caesar, not James Franco). James Franco looked surprised but I don't know if James Franco was surprised because Caesar could talk, or maybe because he found out someone smoked all his weed? Anyone know?

Then, working backwards, who was the black guy that went down with the helicopter? It seemed like he should have known no ape was going to pull him out. And what if one did? My gosh, we just saw all the humans get decapitated by the apes! Did he think he was going to be different? He should have just kept quiet and waited for the apes to leave. And then when that one ape pushed the helicopter over the bridge, dude should have seen THAT coming. He should have bailed out of the helicopter. At least that way, he would have had a chance of surviving the fall. But no - he had to go down with the ship - literally.

And the whole helicopter scene was AWESOME! Some police dude mowing down apes with a hunting rifle! But how come his popgun killed apes from hundreds of feet away, yet when that one SuperApe jumped 50 feet onto the helicopter, he got shot about 10 times with a huge pistol and it had no effect? And what did SuperApe think was going to happen when he killed the pilot? Could SuperApe fly a helicopter? Was there some Ape Pilot Training that SuperApe was involved in earlier in the movie? There must have been - that is the only explanation that makes sense.

So why did the apes kill all the policemen and then leave? And how did they get to the jungle so fast? WHERE THE HECK WAS THIS MOVIE SET? I figured it was NYC or San Francisco because of the bridge, but I am not aware of jungles within a few thousand miles of either city. And how did James Franco get there? How does James Franco get anywhere?!?

I am glad I got to watch an ape on a horse charge 500 gun-shooting policeman. They all missed him! But I was SO MAD that they didn't show what happened to the horse. I am assuming that the next movie - coming out July 11th! - will focus more on this Ape - Horse Alliance.

The best part about the 15 minutes that I saw was the fact that I identified James Franco, while my daughter said no, that wasn't James Franco. But it was James Franco! Chalk one up for dad!

Rating = Incomplete, but gets a mandatory two stars at least for having James Franco in it. Actually, it gets a mandatory three stars for having an ape riding a horse.

White Dog (1982): A trainer attempts to retrain a vicious dog that's been raised to kill Black people.

Total B movie but interesting. 2 1/2 out of 5.

Sinister...


totally stupid... Hard to pay attention to because I found it boring!

Not at all scary!

.
sp edit.

[Edited 1/20/14 18:09pm]

I just sat through "Hunger Games Part 2". Please pray for me.

Wow, what a bad movie. I hated every minute of it. Talk about depressing! I thought I was at an Alanis Morrissette concert - that's how depressing that movie was.

I must confess that I did not see "Hunger Games Part 1" so maybe I missed all the fun times, jokes and hilarity. Because there was NONE of that in "Hunger Games Part I WANT TO SCRATCH MY EYES OUT".

But do you want to know what the worst part of "Hunger Games Part WHAT THE F*** IS GOING ON?!?" was?

IT HAD NO FREAKING ENDING!

So, like what? Jennifer Whatshername gets sort of killed and then it turns out all the bad guys are really good guys, and now IT'S ON, BABY! Holy crap, what a letdown!

They should have started "Hunger Games Part HOW DID ANYONE FIGURE OUT JENNIFER WHOSIS CAN ACT, BECAUSE SHE WAS SO BAD IN THIS MOVIE THAT I WANTED MY MONEY BACK" with the war. I could have got behind that. But this? I haven't felt so cheated since I watched "The Village" or maybe that one "Star Wars" movie. You know, the one where nothing happens except to convince you to spend your money on another "Star Wars" movie? Yeah, that one.

(EDITOR'S SIDEBAR - Don't try and sell me any crap that any of the last three "Star Wars" movies were any good. We all know that only that very first one is still worth watching today.)

If you're only going to see one "Hunger Games" movie, go see the next one. SPOILER ALERT - I made my daughter - the person responsible for dragging me to this snorefest - tell me how all this crap ends. Yay, the good guys kind of win in the end! There - now you don't have to watch ANY of these ridiculous movies.

You will be proud of me for one thing, though. Some teenage girl on the first row decided that the start of the movie was a great time to begin what ended up being a 45-minute texting session. Well, about 5 minutes into that display of modern-day rudeness, I went down and asked her to shut off her phone. She looked at me like I'd just called her mom a bad name, but then she got up and stood against a wall for 40 more minutes.

Looking back on it, she probably was the smart one.

The Croods (2013) - After their cave is destroyed, a caveman family must trek through an unfamiliar fantastical world with the help of an inventive boy.

I didn't find the adult appeal to be very high. 1/2

It wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. I wanted it to move me and make me feel sorry for the kids and cry, but nothing.
2/5 stars

tinaz said:

Sinister...


totally stupid... Hard to pay attention to because I found it boring!

Not at all scary!

.
sp edit.

[Edited 1/20/14 18:09pm]

I actually watched that as well last night, & I thought it was quite good & pretty unnerving in parts - at times it almost got to the level of a horror version of Blow-up. it dealt out a few too many jump scares & cliches (is there a horror movie that doesn't?), & I didn't think it stuck the landing at the end, but I'd rate as being a big cut above most of these kinds of movies.

Blow-up/Blow-out edit.

[Edited 1/21/14 4:43am]

Wolf of Wall Street

C

2 out of 5

Man, this was almost stylized porn. This movie doesn't get made w/o the names Scorsesse and DiCaprio attached to it. DiCaprio's performance was really good, esp. the physical aspects of it associated with drug use (w/o giving to much away), but I was like dag, can I get a MOVIE to go with this sex, nudity, and drugs?! Too long also. Overhyped for sure. Goes to show u Scorsesse can do no wrong!

Contracted(2013) B+

[Edited 1/22/14 11:13am]

neko said:

Mud, 5 minutes ago.

3.75 out of 5

better than i expected.

I agree with the rating you give it more or less.

Le tableau / The Painting (2011) - Finished and unfinished characters leave a paining in search of the missing painter.



Very good story with great animation. 1/2

Angel Heart (1987) - Private investigator Harry Angel is hired to find missing singer, Johnny Favorite which leads him into a world of mysticism and voodoo.

I hadn't seen this since it was released in the cinema. I thought it wouldn't age well, but it still holds up somewhat. 1/2

[Edited 1/24/14 17:02pm]

Last night I watched "Good Fellas". It was good, fella!

It has everything - mobsters, guns, knives, murder, beatings, cocaine, murder, Ray Liotta voice-overs, and more murder. Can't believe it took me this long to watch it!

I give it 4.5 fat Paulies out of 5 fat Paulies.