[Illuyankas]

A Muppet Christmas Carol or nothing, infidels.

[Slow Ben]

Illuyankas said:

1355182206[/url]' post='1017136']
A Muppet Christmas Carol or nothing, infidels.

Word.

The Jim Carrey Scrooge is, maybe, the 4thbest. Behind Muppets, 1951 version, and Scrooged.

[polishgenius]

Best Christmas movie? It's obviously Die Hard. Followed closely by Tokyo Godfathers.

[worry]

I've already watched Muppet Christmas Carol once this month, and it won't be the last time. Also bought it for my cousin's kid. Will watch Emmet Otter a few times too probably.

[Jakovasaurus]

Bad Santa



For family friendly I like the classics, one of my favorite being Scrooge ----> link

[Jakovasaurus]

Django Unchained soundtrack streaming online > http://music-mix.ew....ndtrack-stream/

[QuickTidal]

JACK REACHER...

bad.

slow, predictable with only 3 action setpieces, one of which was a two second bar fight.

I expect much better from a book series which is supposedly so good.

[QuickTidal]

THIS IS 40...eh, more "slice of life" than the comedy they are peddling it as. It certainly doesn't have the structure of a comedy, more of a film that's not entirely sure what it wants to be. And no one is really all that earnest in it....and both Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann's characters come across as overly mean a lot of the time...and the resolutions to the various conflicts are treated kind of like an afterthought in the final 5 minutes...and nothing is TRULY resolved.

Oh and biggest laugh from the trailer (Paul Rudd with his shorts hiked up making fun of his daughter chatting online)...not in the movie. I hate when cutting room floor stuff ends up in the trailers. If it ain't in the movie, DON'T put it in the trailer.

But hey, Megan Fox is still hotter than hell.

EDIT: the more I think about it, the less I liked it.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 24 December 2012 - 09:24 PM

[Aptorian]

Watched a bunch of films over Christmas

The Expendables 1 + 2 - As a fan of 70s to early 90s action films I can see the appeal of these films but as stand alone action films they are laughable. I am curious if they are intentionally made to ape the style of old school action films, because that is what they feel like, only they have none of the charm of the old films. Or maybe I'm just in my 30s now and more well equipped to see the gaping holes in the plot and the terrible writing and acting. They have their moments but both films feel like a wasted opportunity. The fact that Van Dam didn't get more screen time in the second one and the deplorable dialogue and character they gave him is especially saddening. I really, really wish somebody would resuscitate his career.

Total Recall (remake) - A strange film. The plot was like the orginal film but for some reason it didn't jive with me. I actually fell asleep watching the last half. Still it had some great action scenes. Also, I think it may have had the best female bad guy since the Transporter 2. That woman stole every scene she was in.

In Time - I didn't like the Bonny and Clyde story the movie turned into but I think the time stuff may be some of the best sci-fi I have ever watched on TV. Frankly it is the most thought provoking stuff I've seen in ages. Any one who likes sci-fi should watch this film.

True Grit - Wow. This was one hell of a great western. Probably one of my favorite films of all time. Maybe the best western I have ever seen? Nah, that's still The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but man does this movie have great characters. It's a slow film, with a straight forward plot, but every scene with every actor draws you in. I don't know who the girl was in that film but I hope she makes a career out of that film because she stole every scene.

The Social Network - A strange film. The fact that it based on "real events" and supposedly tells the "true story" of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook had me kind of weary all the way through. One scene Zuckerberg is portrayed as a near autistic social retard, the next he is some kind of master manipulator who makes all the puppets dance to his tune. I get that this is because different witnesses are telling different stories but man, I'd be pissed if I was Zuckerberg and I watched that film. In fact I don't think there's a single central character in that movie who isn't made out to be an asshole or incompetent. I will say though if it really is true how Zuckerberg just threw his friend and benefactor under the bus, the guy is a scumbag. A brilliant, stinking rich genius, but a scumbag no less.

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 25 December 2012 - 07:36 PM

[amphibian]

Aptorius, on 25 December 2012 - 07:35 PM, said:

True Grit - Wow. This was one hell of a great western. Probably one of my favorite films of all time. Maybe the best western I have ever seen? Nah, that's still The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but man does this movie have great characters.

Have you seen The Proposition or The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada? I would rank the latter as my personal favorite Western of all time.

[worry]

Indeed, Three Burials is so so so so good. I've never decided on a favorite Western (and have plenty of gaps in what I've seen), but that's a solid contender for sure, as non-traditional as it is.

Hailee Steinfeld, btw, is playing Juliet in the upcoming film version of Romeo & Juliet. I don't necessarily think the world needs another R&J movie, but if I was an actress her age I'm sure it's one of the dream roles of a lifetime. She's also gonna be in the Ender's Game movie.

[polishgenius]

Aptorius, on 25 December 2012 - 07:35 PM, said:

True Grit - Wow. This was one hell of a great western. Probably one of my favorite films of all time. Maybe the best western I have ever seen? Nah, that's still The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but man does this movie have great characters. It's a slow film, with a straight forward plot, but every scene with every actor draws you in. I don't know who the girl was in that film but I hope she makes a career out of that film because she stole every scene.

Hailee Steinfeld was brilliant but I found the love for this film at the time strange, I thought it was pretty weak - very half-arsed Coen stuff.
No Country for Old Men is a better Coen Western...


As far as the greatest Westerns go; well, I'm massively remiss in not yet watching the Dollars trilogy (and quite a few other classics of the genre) but from everything else I've seen, Once Upon a Time in the West is an astonishingly brilliant film, and it's got to be up there.

The other two legendary mainstays would be Unforgiven, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

Beyond that, got to echo the love for The Proposition (I'm less sold on Three Burials. No Country would be my favourite modern Western, unless one counts Drive which takes lots of Western tropes and themes but sticks them in a Noir setting).


Of course, that's just in film - the greatest Western ever is Deadwood, obviously.

[polishgenius]

So Jack Reacher was good. Okay, so there was one moment in particular where Cruise's unsuitability to the role became an issue (a plot point reliant on his size), but otherwise he sold the character in the film, even if it wasn't necessarily true to the character in the book, and the rest of it was very well done. I liked how measured it all was.

[Zanth13]

Django Unchained was a great movie and go see it.

Plenty of over the top action/violence/blood.

Maybe one comedic scene the went to far but was totally worth it

and a Super Racist Samuel L. Jackson.... damn good movie.

Christoph Waltz's acting alone makes the movie a must see, he did his role perfectly... I just cannot stress that enough.

Jamie Foxx was great as well, if a bit flat.

[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 27 December 2012 - 06:15 PM, said:

So Jack Reacher was good. ...

Gah, can't agree. Thought it was awful. I've never read the books, but as a movie standing on its own, feh.

Cruise was being Cruise, everyone else was phoning it in except Duval who looked like he was having fun, the 'big bad' did nothing but sit around and talk with a menacing accent... not worth your dollars or time.

[polishgenius]

Abyss, on 28 December 2012 - 08:48 AM, said:

Cruise was being Cruise,

Cruise is always being Cruise, even in Colatteral when he's being a charming but deadly psychopath working for a shady group with no concern or understanding of the feelings of others. He's an average actor but (imo) a great screen star.


I thought Werner Herzog was great, though shamefully underused.

[McLovin]

Saw LINCOLN. What a great film.

[McLovin]

Saw THE CAPTAINS, William Shatner's interviews with all the other actors who've played the Captain on a Star Trek series (Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, Scott Bakula, and Chris Pine). Cheeseball in an Inside-the-Actors-Studio way, but oddly fun to watch. I had no idea Avery Brooks was a tenured professor at Princeton.

[amphibian]

McLovin, on 28 December 2012 - 01:34 PM, said:

Saw LINCOLN. What a great film.

It's a really good film, but I don't think it's a great film. There are brilliant performances from Daniel Day Lewis and many others (Sally Field, Gloria Reuben, Tommy Lee Jones, James Spader, John Hawkes, Tim Blake Nelson, David Stathairn and more). The scenery, locations and shots are terrific. The political discussions and manipulations are exactly what I want to see.

However, the film largely minimizes the black people who were huge parts of the emancipation, abolition and minority rights movements. It makes the white people look like angels sent from heaven to save the downtrodden, which is so far from the truth as to be ridiculous. That's a serious problem. It also told us relatively little of Lincoln other than that he was an exceptionally strong willed man who did the right things and had a crazy wife and rebellious/smart/jerkish kids. It also completely left out how Lincoln picked a lame dude as his VP (Andrew Johnson) because he needed someone easily dominated and someone who could bring a modicum of votes his way. Those are problems with an epic biography. Maybe an extended version would fix things.

I predict it wins three Oscars anyways.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 31 December 2012 - 01:40 AM

[QuickTidal]

LES MISERABLES...wow, just wow. Tom Hooper may be walking off with more Oscars...The entire cast (who sang live on set, and the final audio cut is not embellished at all, impressive and brave choice!) are just phenomenal...but Anne Hathaway steals the show...I'm not afraid to say I got a bit misty during her I DREAMED A DREAM solo...and I'm not at all ashamed of sobbing uncontrollably during the ending (I honestly thought I'd be okay, but when Fantine sings to Jean ValJean about "putting his burden down now"...gods...like a little kid I wept)...Jackman, Crowe, Redmayne, Seyfried, Samantha Barks.....all bring the heat to their characters. Sumptuously filmed, lovingly realized and beholden well to the score...easily one of the best films I saw in all of 2012 (even though I saw it on the first day of 2013)

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 02 January 2013 - 12:54 AM