Author Topic: So, You're Going to the Movies...? (Read 23913 times)

DKT · **on:** November 19, 2009, 08:02:53 PM

With two kids, both my wife and I working, time is pretty limited. When we do get to go out, it's seldom to the movies because we just want to hang out and talk. (Mellow nights at home? Netflix and DVR are our friends.)

That said, there a TON of movies that have come out this year that I'd like to see (some, sadly, no longer in theaters), and I think I'm going to actually go to the movies Thanksgiving weekend.

What's worth seeing that's out now?

Movies I'd like to check out I know of:
Men Who Stare at Goats
The Informant!
Where the Wild Things Are
Paranormal Activity (my wife's not a huge horror fan, but I might see this with a friend...)
The Road
Red Cliff

I am kind of curious about A Christmas Carol, but I probably won't see that unless I hear from a lot of people that it's a) Spectacular, and b) not a stupid Jim Carrey slapstick comedy (as some of the previews have led me to believe it is)

Further off in the Distance:
The Lovely Bones (really, REALLY want to see this one. Excellent book and Peter Jackson, yadayada)
Avatar
Up in the Air
Invictus

NOT interested in seeing New Moon. Fine if you love it, nothing personal, but if it's one or two movies, that's not going to be it!

Bdoomed · **Reply #1 on:** November 19, 2009, 08:08:12 PM

I saw Where the Wild Things Are...
it was mehh. more specifically, it was cute, but that was about it. It got pretty damn boring and I hated the logic used (ie. little kid logic... i dont like it)
I haven't seen The Men Who Stare at Goats but I want to, tho it only got a 54% on rotten tomatoes... i dunno...

that's all I know of from that list

Talia · **Reply #2 on:** November 19, 2009, 08:25:58 PM

I enjoyed 'Paranormal Activity.' Its very much in a similar vein to 'Blair Witch Project,' but better done, I think, and with a healthy dose of just average everyday life mixed in.

And I personally am very keen to see 'The Road' - the book was excellent, though very, very GRIM.

Listener · **Reply #3 on:** November 19, 2009, 08:59:37 PM

The Box was very suspenseful. I was impressed at how much I liked it.

You could always go see New Moon.

*pause*

*pause*

PFFFFBWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Sorry.

DKT · **Reply #4 on:** November 19, 2009, 09:03:52 PM

Quote from: Talia on November 19, 2009, 08:25:58 PM

And I personally am very keen to see 'The Road' - the book was excellent, though very, very GRIM.

Agreed. I loved that book. Hope the movie's up to snub. (As is Lovely Bones.)

Alasdair5000 · **Reply #5 on:** November 19, 2009, 10:33:50 PM

Oh Dave, you're playing my tune!:)

Except of course, films tend to lag getting over here from your side of the pond. Regardless, fun stuff I've seen recently:

Taking Woodstock-Very gentle, very relaxed comedy based on the events around Woodstock being put on. Worth it, entirely, for Demetri Martin's star making turn in the lead, Emilie Hirsch doing his best Jack Black impersonation (With actual emotional weight to it too) and Liev Schreiber in a dress. That last one in particular, he's excellent in this.

The Men Who Stare At Goats-I would love to see but when I tried, I ended up spending fifteen minutes being The Man Who Stares At The Immobile Queue In Front Of Him Until The Movie Starts. Catch that on DVD I think.

Pirate Radio-Known as The Boat That Rocked over here. UTTERLY ramshackle in terms of plotting and pace but...it's Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Nick Frost, Chris O'Dowd and Rhys Ifans just riffing off one another for a couple of hours. Very charming, very funny and podcasters will, I think, get as much of a kick out of the last few minutes as that bit in Pump Up The Volume where he's been taken off the air and suddenly Everybody Knows plays and the kids are all like 'WWOOOOOO!' and then they arrest Christian Slater but he won't do time and even if he does Samantha Mathis will wait for him.

Or that might just be me.

Tomorrow, I MAY go and see 2012. I'll let you know what I think:)

MacArthurBug · **Reply #6 on:** November 19, 2009, 11:48:22 PM

Eagerly awiating the replies to this- with the hubs doing the deploy thing I watch movies at home too. But there IS a lot out that looks good, and I could use a movie night away from the girls.

DKT · **Reply #7 on:** November 20, 2009, 12:06:52 AM

2012? Oh, somehow that managed to slip my mind...

Pirate Radio does look like ~~buckets~~ oceans of fun! Forgot about that one. I could see both that and Taking Woodstock very much appealing to my better half.

Sandikal · **Reply #8 on:** November 20, 2009, 01:41:46 AM

Trust me. Wait for "The Men Who Stare at Goats" to come out on DVD.

wakela · **Reply #9 on:** November 20, 2009, 02:17:37 AM

The Informant! is getting good reviews, but I thought it was so-so. I had listed to the episode of This American Life where they talk about the same story, and it was much more interesting. The movie was a little too silly, and I think tried too hard to date itself. And I think it's the only movie I've ever seen where the music was annoying enough to be distracting.

Bdoomed · **Reply #10 on:** November 20, 2009, 07:18:34 AM

Quote from: wakela on November 20, 2009, 02:17:37 AM

And I think it's the only movie I've ever seen where the music was annoying enough to be distracting.

damn what was that movie called... with Leslie Nielsen... I wanna say 2001: A Space Travesty... the background noises and music in that movie made it next to impossible to hear dialogue for most of the movie.

DKT · **Reply #11 on:** July 09, 2010, 08:34:00 PM

Resurrecting this thread because, I can't find one anywhere else here that states how wonderful Toy Story 3 is. I really, really enjoyed it, and so did my daughter.

Another great outing from the Pixar gang.

goatkeeper · **Reply #12 on:** July 09, 2010, 08:55:09 PM

Predators baby! Woohoo!

DKT · **Reply #13 on:** July 09, 2010, 09:24:29 PM

Quote from: goatkeeper on July 09, 2010, 08:55:09 PM

Predators baby! Woohoo!

Yeah, I admit, I really, really want to see that one.

Although, for me this year's must see is Inception.

Alasdair5000 · **Reply #14 on:** July 09, 2010, 09:28:38 PM

Quote from: goatkeeper on July 09, 2010, 08:55:09 PM

Predators baby! Woohoo!

HELL yes!

Also Inception CANNOT turn up fast enough.

Also also:

US Remake of Let The Right One In, which has some seriously good people attached to it so I'm hopeful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjavOLdPk1c

Never Let Me Go, which looks very Children of Men

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXiRZhDEo8A

The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin script, David Fincher direction, WOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esw8F5_GE9s

The Sorceror's Apprentice, Nick Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, GIGANTIC METAL EAGLE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VZllR44gdA

Scott Pilgrim vs the World, appears to truly be an EPIC OF EPICNESS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0HUH_JZKKQ

Resident Evil: Afterlife, I actually REALLY like this series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYFY8d8HRDo

Easy A, I'm a sucker for good teen movies and this looks Mean Girls level good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DL7W6pEuAW0

The American, George Clooney does phenomenal work, pretty much constantly now and this looks refreshingly nasty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ywmoXZwkA0

And finally, Red, Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, Mary Louise Parker, based on the Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner graphic novel about what happens when the CIA go after their retired assassins. I think I love this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci6US-MfUcI

DKT · **Reply #15 on:** July 09, 2010, 09:33:51 PM

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World just might be the other must-see.

Red does look funny. I saw the preview a couple nights ago.

Oh, also Despicable Me looks insanely good, but I'm not sure if my daughter's ready for it or not...

May also catch Avatar when it gets rereleased in the fall.

I dunno, though. That'd be like five movies in four months. A new record for me in fatherhood.

Talia · **Reply #16 on:** July 09, 2010, 10:12:31 PM

I am baffled and annoyed they are remaking 'Let the right one in' because its "too foreign" or something. WTF. The original was wonderful, I do not understand the need to Americanize it. Maybe Hollywood thinks we're too dumb to read subtitles.

*angry grumbling*

Swamp · **Reply #17 on:** July 10, 2010, 12:38:29 AM

Quote from: DKT on July 09, 2010, 08:34:00 PM

I can't find one anywhere else here that states how wonderful Toy Story 3 is. I really, really enjoyed it, and so did my daughter.

Another great outing from the Pixar gang.

All four of my kids and I really enjoyed it. It was fun to watch my kids' reactions. My youngest girl was very worried at a perilous part and could barely hold still. My oldest daughter (the emotional one) cried near the end. I gotta admit, that part got to me a little, too. Of course, we all laughed multiple times. It good to know the creativity isn't gone at Pixar.

Faraway Ray · **Reply #18 on:** July 12, 2010, 12:37:01 AM

FWIW, if you haven't seen "Lovely Bones" yet, I wouldn't bother. It's not horrible, just sort of 'meh'. My father wanted to see it for some reason and I ended up tagging along. I'd go into further detail, but if you're insistent on seeing it, I wouldn't want to spoil anything.

I just saw "Predators" today. Better than "AvP" and "AvP: Requiem", but the predators are still not quite where I'd like to see them. They've gone from these pants-crappingly frightening aliens to just another nifty monster for people to fight. "Predators" restores a little bit of the glory, but not enough for my taste. The pacing was a bit slow in the beginning, and it felt like they forgot to write in any characterization until the last half of the movie. Worth a watch if you're a Predator fanboy (like myself), but not necessarily worth a visit to the theater.

Listener · **Reply #19 on:** July 12, 2010, 04:58:11 PM

If you haven't seen it yet, I really liked the new "Karate Kid". It was a little slow from the end of the first fight to the scene where Dre runs away from the gang, but I found it to be a worthy applicant to the KK continuum. It also isn't a remake, not to my mind.

Definitely worth the money. Even better because we had free passes.

Bdoomed · **Reply #20 on:** July 12, 2010, 05:40:02 PM

I saw Predators yesterday. I enjoyed it, there were many cool deaths to watch, etc. All of the character development seemed to happen right as a character was about to die... which is lame... but whatever, it's an action movie. What really stood out to me though was Topher Grace, because I'm currently going through That 70's Show on Netflix. There was a good amount of Eric Foreman in his performance, which was awesome for me. There were also a few homages to the first movie, which was nice, however one of those homages was shittily executed in my opinion... lame. All in all I'm happy I saw it, and I would definitely recommend it... but only if you are bored. This is not a movie to pick over seeing other movies out right now... except Twilight. But if you aren't going to see it in theaters, I definitely say rent it when it comes out on DVD.

DKT · **Reply #21 on:** July 12, 2010, 05:40:44 PM

Quote from: Swamp on July 10, 2010, 12:38:29 AM

Quote from: DKT on July 09, 2010, 08:34:00 PM
I can't find one anywhere else here that states how wonderful Toy Story 3 is. I really, really enjoyed it, and so did my daughter.

Another great outing from the Pixar gang.

All four of my kids and I really enjoyed it. It was fun to watch my kids' reactions. My youngest girl was very worried at a perilous part and could barely hold still. My oldest daughter (the emotional one) cried near the end. I gotta admit, that part got to me a little, too. Of course, we all laughed multiple times. It good to know the creativity isn't gone at Pixar.

Dude, my daughter boo-hooed during the end of Toy Story 3. And I'm not ashamed to say I had a pretty good lump in my throat at the end of it. Pixar is just genius.

Quote from: Faraway Ray on July 12, 2010, 12:37:01 AM

FWIW, if you haven't seen "Lovely Bones" yet, I wouldn't bother. It's not horrible, just sort of 'meh'. My father wanted to see it for some reason and I ended up tagging along. I'd go into further detail, but if you're insistent on seeing it, I wouldn't want to spoil anything.

Yeah, since I initially posted about that, I read a lot of reviews that felt similar to the way you did. I loved the book, and I love Peter Jackson, but said reactions to the movie have deterred me. I may see it at some point, but it's not in my top 100

Also, Listener - I keep hearing surprisingly good things about the new Karate Kid. Would very much like to check it out at some point. Probably before I see Lovely Bones, at this point

Talia · **Reply #22 on:** July 12, 2010, 06:14:40 PM

You couldn't pay me enough to see Karate Kid.

*shudder*

I'm just vehemently opposed to the thing in principle. Bleh.

MCWagner · **Reply #23 on:** July 12, 2010, 09:56:24 PM

My landlord (and good friend) took his two kids (6 &

to see Toy Story 3. The youngest started getting a little antsy with the ending and the pit of fire, at which point, he tells me, "I wanted to lean over and say 'don't worry Ethan, it's only a movie. It's all gonna be OK' except I really wasn't sure it was all gonna be OK!" Really awesome movie.

Quote from: Talia on July 09, 2010, 10:12:31 PM

I am baffled and annoyed they are remaking 'Let the right one in' because its "too foreign" or something. WTF. The original was wonderful, I do not understand the need to Americanize it. Maybe Hollywood thinks we're too dumb to read subtitles.

*angry grumbling*

I can see the reasoning, even if I don't agree with it. The Swedish film was just too damn slow for Hollywood to accept that it would play anywhere but in the arthouse circuit. Subtitles were an additional stumbling block/straw on the camel's back. As much as I wish otherwise, I'm betting the remake will be rife with more gore, some CGI, more action in the action scenes, and a complete inability to direct children in a realistic manner.

DKT · **Reply #24 on:** July 12, 2010, 10:37:08 PM

Quote from: MCWagner on July 12, 2010, 09:56:24 PM

My landlord (and good friend) took his two kids (6 & to see Toy Story 3. The youngest started getting a little antsy with the ending and the pit of fire, at which point, he tells me, "I wanted to lean over and say 'don't worry Ethan, it's only a movie. It's all gonna be OK' except I really wasn't sure it was all gonna be OK!" Really awesome movie.

When I was a kid - probably the age my daughter is now - my dad took me to see ET. At the end, when ET "dies" I broke down and sobbed. SOBBED. In the movie theater. I asked my dad if ET was going to come back to life. He shook his head and said, "No, I don't think so." And I sobbed more. Then ET came back to life and I sobbed and yelled at my dad for lying to me.

My poor dad.

The next movie I remember seeing with him (just the two of us) was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. I must've given him some serious emotional scars over that one!