What movies have you seen recently?

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I saw Ice Age: Continental Drift yesterday and I laughed really hard.

Ice Age 4

Brother Bear

This movie was recommended to me by a friend. I'm sorry to tell her, but I hated it. A lot of the scenes looked ripped directly from Balto and The Lion King, and the characters were annoying. I didn't even bother finishing it. Disney I am disappoint.

Battle of the Bulge

Movie about the German offensive that could have changed the course of World War II.

IMDB link to "The Fairy"

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WA2dGqu5cmc[/youtube]

The Fairy is a lightweight, silly comedy about a hotel night clerk and a fairy. It is a very visual comedy with a lot of physical gags and surreal situations. it is much like their previous film "Rumba" which I also highly recommend. If you like Jacques Tati's films, you might enjoy these.

"The Turin Horse"

IMDB link to The Turin Horse

I was just reading an interview with the director Bela Tarr where he said he didn't want to bore people. My immediate thought was "Too late for that!"

"The Turin Horse" is worth watching for a certain kind of audience. In many way's it is a very good film, but it's definitely not for everybody. You have to understand that the film is two and a half hours long and only contains 28 shots. Each shot goes on for an average of over 5 minutes. Some last longer than 7 minutes. This does not make for a quickly paced, brisk style of story telling.

Now of course the camera moves throughout each shot so there is a kind of editing that exists in the shot, going from wide to close up to medium shot etc. But it's not like the story is terribly complex either. The film occurs over a number of days wherein the same mundane daily routines are shown over and over again. They are shown from different angles and with different intents from the characters and this variation does create some interest in the story, but there's a point at which I start to think, "hey, you know, it would be really nice if something actually happened."

Now I like a slowly paced film as much as the next weirdo, but I do recognize there is a potential for over doing it. Sometimes I suspect some film makers see a slowly paced film getting good reviews and decide that "well, if I make an even slower paced film, why, I'll get even better reviews!" Sometimes I think there are reviewers who think if a film is utterly painful to watch, it must be good. Sort of like figuring medicine has to taste bad for it to be good for you. While there are things about "The Turin Horse" that I feel make it worth watching, I also think it owes its audience a warning that they must be willing to put up with a glacially slow pace before they plunk down their money. I mean, this film makes "The Tree of Life" look like fast paced action.

The photography is very beautiful with rich black and white. The whole film has a very nicely played dark and oppressive mood and building sense of doom that works well in the end. The extremely repetitive music fits the film well (although it kind of sounds like Laurie Anderson with severe depression.) I felt the narration sounded a bit canned and I felt whoever read it could have done a better job (although it's a bit hard to tell because in Hungarian.) I think the film might have worked a bit better for me without the narration. (Kind of like the original release of "Blade Runner")

Anyway, the trailer is a rip-roaringly paced edit of the film.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNkN_xCXozw[/youtube]

just back from batman

Three Stooges

I liked the movie better than I thought I would. Those three guys did a good job being Moe, Larry, and Curly. I saw a bunch of old gags and jokes that I remember from their shorts.

Raging Bull

Biographical sports drama film about Jake LaMotta, the middleweight boxer.

"Harold And Maude" when I first saw this film in the mid1980's, I identified with Harold. Watching it again, I identify much more with Maude. I feel the ending is a bit unsatisfying because Maude's character is not sufficiently developed for it to make sense that she does what she does at the end.

"Vera Drake" another really good Mike Leigh film. I would say the one thing that bothers me is that after being arrested, Vera does little more than cry in every scene. While it might have been a valid choice between the director and the actor, it results in her character kind of dropping out of the story from that point on. On a side note, it's interesting seeing many of the actors Leigh uses doing roles that are very different characters from the roles they usually play. (Ruth Sheen plays a fairly awful person and Eddie Marsan is calm and likeable)

Men in Black III. I was planning to watch it but got canceled because it wasnt playing in the theater I was in.

Last movie I acutally watched: Hangover pt 2 (using movie switch method)

The Big Year

Dolphin Tale

The Warrior - a nice movie about family and brotherhood. It was really good.

Kelly's Heroes

Not to be confused with Hogan's Heroes. This is a World War II movie with Clint Eastwood. I rather enjoyed it.