god, right? i watched that a few weeks ago and got super depressed at how close it hit. but i dont think ill go as far as [spoiler]trying to kill my neighbour [/spoiler]. esp if its john c reilly.

Well, I don't have much interest in Hollywood's leading men - but any of em coulda kicked Cruise's arse (with less effort) in just about every role he's ever done. Cruise was only interesting in Risky Business (altho that was more due to Tangerine Dream), Rain Main (more due to Dustin Hoffman), and the Color Of Money (due to Scorsese & Newman). Actually, Cruise is the least interesting actor in Hollywood. And yet here we are, writing about his so-called work... tsk.

[spoiler]haha. right after the movie finished i made a big ass pot of vegetarian chili. been eatin it all day. edit: thought the previous statement deserved the spoiler treatment. anyways, since my last post i've sponsored a fishing worm.[/spoiler]


real time edit:

hey we found some common ground.

better than I expected.

This has been on tv a ton this past weekend and everytime its on I can't make myself turn it off. Fantastic movie with an even better soundtrack.

When he's in a role where he's willing to play the fool against his image (such as Magnolia), he's good. Everything else, meh.

Really? You break this out for someone who digs Forrest Gump? That's the post in this thread you took exception to?


Spouting lol face, sir. Spouting lol face @ THAT.

saw Notes on a Scandal over the weekend. Twas OK, I guess. I was expecting better. Interesting movie though. I think Judi Dench's character was almost too bizarre.

Kubrick used Cruise perfectly in EWS.

Saw the fighting polar bear movie yesterday.

It was entertaining. Better'n Narnia.

Der Tropfen, der das Fass zum Überlaufen bringt

Paris Je'Taime and You're Gonna Miss Me over the weekend. Surprised at how much I loved the first, really surprised at how much I didn't love the second.

I'm planning to see the first and felt the same way about the second. As far as indie rock docs about musicians with a mental illness, The Devil and Daniel Johnston, Dig, and New York Doll were much better.

I've been meaning to see Paris Je T'aime since it came out in theaters but never got around to it. The only "segment" I've seen is the Natalie Portman one directed by Tom Tykwer and seeing as how it was Portman and Tykwer of course I loved it.



Saw the full length of Cashback this past week. I loved the short film that was nominated for an Oscar a year or two ago. However, the full length just didn't do it for me.

thinner aka 'the white man from town gets a blowjob and a curse' (1996)

right so there was this stephen king flick from awhile back that I never saw and finally got around to checking out.

always dug Robert John Burke from the Hal Hartley flicks so I was set on seeing this even though the fat suits looked ridiculous.

I have no idea how this plot may vary from the book but a lawyer getting a curse cause he accidentally kills some old lady due to the fact that he was getting a blowjob while driving has to be one of the oddest plots I've heard of.

Joe Mantenga is doing his best overkill mobster guy and Kari Wuhrer plays some kinda crazy gypsy vixen which doesn't help the fact that this thing is so over the top.. its just silly.

Amazon has a sweet BOGO sale on select (100+) Blu-ray flicks right now:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=U...81&plpage=1

I grabbed Stranger Than Fiction and Casino Royale for $24.95 (free shipping).

Yup, that's it in a nutshell. The novel actually came from SK's alter-ego "Richard Bachman"--who tends to be more over-the-top in 'his' writing. Supposedly the makeup was the best that was available at the time in terms of "weight gain". I still want to see it.

Got this during the weekend.

Tonight!

Paris, Je T'aime: You know the drill, a whole bunch of directors make short films celebrating Paris and love. Anyways, some sections drag (The one where the old couple pretends to meet in a bar, the one where the old couple separates, and the one where the yuppie couple fight over him not being funny and Oscar Wilde shows up and disappears), but some of the scenes are so alive. There's Christopher Doyle's insane Asian hairdresser segment, Tom Tykwer's hyperkinetic segment on a relationship between a young American girl and a young blind guy. But, the two best is the story of how a kids parents met and are mimes and is completely alive and imaginative; and the amazing closing story by Alexander Payne where a middle-aged letter carrier from Denver visits and falls in love with Paris and recites it back in broken French (You probably won't get the full effect if you don't understand French). It's definitely watchable, and ocassionally transcendant.

^ good summation. I Agree with the weak picks, and the strong ones. Another one of my favorites was the EMT and the Parking Garage Janitor. And obviously the Cohen's one.

I'm anxious to see that. Anyone seen Before the Devil Knows You're Dead yet? Sounds intriguing, or is it just hype?

okay, so i should have seen that years ago. really excellent and it wasnt just porn stuff like i thought it was. very very funny. but magnolia was about 50000 times better.

How are you just now seeing Boogie Nights, wtf.

right?

every time i tried to watch it i would fall asleep. which doesn't really bode well, becuase i never fall asleep through movies, especially ones by my favourite director....


and ia lso thought it was going to be just some weird trashy movie about porn stars and blah blah blah i dont really care to watch that. so i didnt.

Reign Over Me

This movie tries too hard, not just with the plot, but also the acting and music placement, which is disappointing, because I usually give bonus points to any films with vinyl lps or that have counseling in them. Plus, the changing of spelling in the title from "O'er" to "Over" irked me a little. Didn't Adam Sandler play this character before, the semi-crazy guy with rage and impulse control issues?

Journeys with George

I was surprised at how "well," in general, and "likeable" Bush came off in the early parts of this documentary, coinciding with the time prior to his being the frontrunner in the 2000 election. It was all downhill after that, though. I also was unspurprised at how well and easily the Bush handlers were able to manipulate the accompanying media entourage with groupthink and individual birthday celebrations.

Zodiac

This movie was really intriguing, and I did further Google research on the subject after viewing.

Jindabyne

The themes of Responsibility vs. Circumstances vs. Displacement of Blame were sort of interesting to think about, although not full-out captivating.

That Reign Over Me is horrible.

One day I spent 10 minutes with someone coming up with similes for how sad he is in that movie.

They're fairly different so there's not much point to compare. BN is certainly a lot funnier.

well in that case... I was being defensive upfront, b/c I liked 28 Weeks Later quite abit, at least as much as the original, but I was preparing myself for a final stroke which has rather miraculousy not come.

see, if you agree with me, then everything's different.

Nah, no narcissism here...

okay, so i should have seen that years ago. really excellent and it wasnt just porn stuff like i thought it was. very very funny. but magnolia was about 50000 times better.
[/quote]

in what parallel reality is this statemet even close to true?

no, i feel like i compare apples to oranges (apples are way better, more variety) so you are wrong. boogie nights is definitely much funnier, but magnolia definitely wasnt trying to be a comedy.

I wasn't a fan.

Rescue Dawn

Really good. Herzog is just brilliant. It felt like I was watching a movie made in the 1970's.
See this movie today

Let's hear some of them.




Durn.

There's a lot to recommend it--Hoffman is fantastic, Tomei is fantastically naked, there are a couple scenes that work really, really well. But there's a remarkably bush-league technique that's employed to shift timelines and p.o.v.'s that's jarring at best, and the non-linear format doesn't add anything to the film's impact. Worth a look, but it's overrated as an alleged return to 70s form for Lumet.

I'm in.

I just got from netflix her newer movie...friends with dog. I liked this one a lot.

If they're showing the original, theatrical version, I could sort of agree. Not a great movie, to me, but certainly entertaining and, at times, affecting - so long as one ignores how awfully Jenny treats him right up until she needs a place to die.

What shows on most cable stations and also on the two disc DVD, however, is a reedited cut with way too much extra footage in it, which dilutes what little I really enjoyed about this movie.

You asked for it:

[12:36] <Vegas> okay, how fucking long is Reign Over Me?
[12:36] <Vegas> because it's seriously worn out its welcome over the last twelve hours.
[12:37] <Vegas> and the third act is completely so not ever going to happen it's just ridiculous
[12:43] <Vegas> I've lost people too. But that doesn't mean movies should get away with being paced horribly, or having a guy pull a GUN on a COP after 9/11 and NOT GET SHOT, then fucking RELEASED.
[12:43] <Vegas> that's...NOT going to happen.
[12:44] <theremin-at-work> hahah....the one thing any good drama needs is a courtroom scene.
[12:44] <theremin-at-work> and Vegas, the cop didn't shoot because there was a black man in the way
[12:45] <Vegas> it's just, it starts out pretty okay, then just gets annoying
[12:45] <Vegas> and then goes from annoying to bad, then from bad to cloying
[12:45] <Vegas> WE GET IT, HE'S REALLY REALLY SAD.
[12:47] <theremin-at-work> how sad is he?
[12:47] <theremin-at-work> he is SO SAD, he might need professional help
[12:47] <plAnt> Heh. This sounds like why I can't stand Morrissey, other than in small doses.
[12:47] <theremin-at-work> he's so sad, fresh baked cookies don't cheer him up.
[12:48] <Vegas> oh wow! Now I'm at the courtroom scene, and the lawyer is RYAN FROM THE OFFICE!
[12:48] <Vegas> now this movie is just hilarious.
[12:48] <theremin-at-work> he's so sad, 21 Grams looks to him for a pick me up
[12:48] <Vegas> sorry to spoil this, but I consider these to be more warnings than spoilers.
[12:48] <theremin-at-work> he's so sad, it's like it's raining in his heart, and they don't even make umbrellas that small.
[12:49] <Vegas> he's so sad, it's like someone is kicking him in the grief bone with a steel toed boot.
[12:50] <theremin-at-work> he's so sad, if he got rabies, and they had to shoot him, you'd be happy his pain is over.
[12:50] <Vegas> they're arguing in court about a lamp.
[12:50] <Vegas> okay, I'm changing my netflix rating. I just don't know whether to change it to one star or five.
[12:50] <theremin-at-work> he's sadder than africa.
[12:51] <Vegas> he's sadder than a baby with AIDS and no lollipop.
[12:51] <Vegas> fuck him.
[12:51] <theremin-at-work> he's so sad he's unable to interact with people on an emotional level.
[12:51] <theremin-at-work> oh, that's a lot of people, nevermind.
[12:51] <Vegas> he's sadder than me after seeing I spent two and a half hours of my short life watching this.
[12:52] <Vegas> okay, it's now one.
[12:52] <Vegas> one frakkin' star.
[12:54] <theremin-at-work> he's sadder than the fat chick at prom
[12:57] <theremin-at-work> he's sadder than a guy who lost his whole family on 9/11
[12:59] <Vegas> he's sadder than 50 Cent watching the Notebook.
[13:00] <Vegas> he's sadder than goth porn.
[13:00] <Neil> The Saddening
[13:00] <Neil> starring Sadam Sadler
[13:00] <Vegas> lol
[13:01] <Vegas> he's sadder than Saddy McSadderson

later.....

[13:30] <reverend> now, toss some sarcasm about my grammar mistakes this way
[13:31] <chewy> if sarcasm was electricity i could sell it back to the grid and not work a square job
[13:32] <theremin-at-work> if the power of sarcasm could be harnessed, I would have enough power to make Adam Sandler happy again.

*no longer sad*

These all cracked me up. Well done sir.

Personal favorites:

So, I was going to post this one on this blog I have with someone else about hilarious shit that people say in this chatroom.

aintitblog.blogspot.com

But, unfortunately, I found out an hour ago that the other person died.

Please see my other thread for advice, etc.

3 episodes in and I'm hooked yet again.

The Wire

halfway through the first season. I'm hooked. Too early to delve into the wire thread, though.

The Golden Compass

Overrated, undernourished. Coulda been great but has some serious gaps in the pacing. Key plot points get reduced to a mere sentence in favor of erratic character development + showy (yet flawed) CGI. In other words - it ain't at the LOTR level it so desperately aspires to be. Pity, cuz it looks like an interesting story, and on the whole I didn't mind the movie as a bit of 'at-the-end-of-the-day-oh-what-the-hell-why-not?' entertainment. I'm curious as to how much footage will be added to the DVD release...

Stardust was better, IMO.

Awesome. Time to rewatch the first two... guess I should've done that first.

The stuff of IM legend.