Movies

Suengmina · Post by **Suengmina** » November 8th, 2007, 8:45 pm

A little bit ago, I saw the documentary In the Shadow of the Mood about the moon landings, it was extremely interesting and well done. What really struck me was Kennedy saying that by the end of the decade the United States would make it to the moon, using science and technology that hadn't been invented yet. That's not really something you see now. I don't know how widely released it was, but I'd recomend it if it's playing nearby.

catchpenny · Post by **catchpenny** » November 9th, 2007, 10:34 pm

Does anyone know what happened at the end of (I think it was a 1940s movie)Rebecca? I heard a radio version a few years ago, and right when ------ is burning, the station cuts in with call letters. I heard it again today, thinking to myself, "I will hear the rest of it". I now know the call letters of this particular station. I went on to Amazon to read reviews and out of 130 some odd reveiws, no spoilers. What's the point of writing a reveiw if you don't include spoilers? Anyway, I could recomend most of the movie. The part I didn't see (excuse me, hear) probably wasn't worth it any way. Just watch the movie most of the way through and then stop before you see the last five minutes. A. Hitchcock was in some way attatched to this movie. I think he was the director, for anybody who wants to know. Those of you who didn't, why did you read this?

Suengmina · Post by **Suengmina** » November 10th, 2007, 8:44 am

catchpenny wrote: I went on to Amazon to read reviews and out of 130 some odd reveiws, no spoilers. What's the point of writing a reveiw if you don't include spoilers?... A. Hitchcock was in some way attatched to this movie. I think he was the director, for anybody who wants to know. Those of you who didn't, why did you read this?

I'd have to say that I think that reveiws are better without spoilers, let you see if a movie's worth watching, without giving the end away, but I can imagine that in your situation it wouldn't be helpful.
Here's Wikipedia's page for it, which contains thet end, and obviously, spoilers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebecca_%28film%29#Plot

catchpenny · Post by **catchpenny** » November 10th, 2007, 9:28 am

This is true. But what is the point of sulking if you can't rant? Thanks for the link.

Suengmina · Post by **Suengmina** » November 10th, 2007, 12:00 pm

catchpenny wrote:But what is the point of sulking if you can't rant?

That is very true!

catchpenny · Post by **catchpenny** » December 22nd, 2007, 4:31 pm

I thought I'd post to bring this to FNH's attention, as it is along the same lines as your post.

Gesine · Post by **Gesine** » December 22nd, 2007, 4:40 pm

Has anyone seen The Golden Compass yet?

catchpenny · Post by **catchpenny** » December 22nd, 2007, 8:33 pm

I heard a terrible review of it, if that helps any. The reviewer said the plot was confusing, and they didn't introduce or develop the character very well. I don't go to movies because there are a thousand things I'd rather spend the money on. I do listen to reviews, though. If it is a bad review, I pat myself on the back. If it is a good review, I probably wouldn't have liked it any way. In this way I get along swimmingly, and I don't spend money.

kayray · Post by **kayray** » December 22nd, 2007, 10:49 pm

Gesine wrote:Has anyone seen The Golden Compass yet?

We saw it. Dan and Henry LOVED the book and LOVED the movie. I liked the book and liked the movie. I do think it would be confusing for those who hadn't read it. The costuming and general look of the whole movie was perfect (STEAMPUNK to the max, beautifully done), the acting/writing/directing was fine, it moved along nicely, and felt very true to the book. Great cast. I'd recommend it if you liked the book. It does end rather abruptly, before the ending of the book, so be prepared for that.

DSayers · Post by **DSayers** » December 23rd, 2007, 1:24 am

I am somewhat embarrassed but must confess that I thoroughly enjoyed ENCHANTED.

I guess I am not alone, since 93% of the professional movie critics (that's 120 out of 129 on Rotten Tomatoes) favorably reviewed it.

My advice: don't be a snob, go see it.

After all, Susan Sarandon is the evil stepmother!

-denny

Chrisczech · Post by **Chrisczech** » December 23rd, 2007, 5:57 am

I'm not sure this would qualify as a 'movie' in the States, but I just got the dvd of "The Bronx Is Burning", the mini-series that aired on ESPN last summer. It's not so easy to get hold of in the UK, but it is SUCH a good film.
John Turturro is excellent as Yankee manager Billy Martin, and Oliver Platt plays George Steinbrenner very well indeed.

At 6 hours, it's quite long, but split into 8 episodes, it tells the story of the Yankees bid to win the world series in 1977, set against the backdrop of political frenzy with the Mayoral election, looting during the power blackout, and the Son of Sam serial killings.

Well worth seeing.

Gesine · Post by **Gesine** » December 23rd, 2007, 6:29 am

kayray wrote:
Gesine wrote:Has anyone seen The Golden Compass yet?
We saw it. Dan and Henry LOVED the book and LOVED the movie. I liked the book and liked the movie. I do think it would be confusing for those who hadn't read it. The costuming and general look of the whole movie was perfect (STEAMPUNK to the max, beautifully done), the acting/writing/directing was fine, it moved along nicely, and felt very true to the book. Great cast. I'd recommend it if you liked the book. It does end rather abruptly, before the ending of the book, so be prepared for that.

I've seen it. I loved the books, too. The costumes, settings etc in the film were spectacular, as you said, and a good illustration of the book. Agree about acting/directing. The only problem, in my view, was the shortness of the film - the individual events didn't have enough breathing room about it, and so the whole thing seemed rather rushed, and at times under-developed. Still, I liked it and would like to see it again just for the sets and costumes.

I read one bad review in Rolling Stone - I often see eye to eye with that reviewer (Peter Travers) but this one I didn't understand at all - he talks about lacking chemistry between Kidman and Craig - that may well be but in this film they didn't have a single scene together!

BlueMoonJ · Post by **BlueMoonJ** » January 2nd, 2008, 6:18 pm

I also love the books, and I thought the movie was a pretty good adaptation. Granted, it was too short, and the plot was kind of choppy, but the casting and characterization were wonderful. The girl they got to play Lyra was amazing. In general, the script was pretty good, too. Even so, I have to wonder what I would have thought of it if I hadn't read the books, because, knowing the story, I probably filled in details from the book that weren't actually there.

My biggest complaint would be that Lyra just seemed to have it too easy. The use of the alethiometer (which by the way, was never called the golden compass in the book) was never fully explained, so it seemed as if anyone could read it, and she seemed to come up with one brilliant idea after another without really having time to think.

Gesine · Post by **Gesine** » January 3rd, 2008, 1:22 pm

Amazingly, the film caused a huge debate here, with almost daily newspaper article rants, because some people are worried that it'll corrupt their children (apparently the author said the books are about 'killing God' - that sort of thing doesn't go down well in a Catholic country). Any of that in the US?

BlueMoonJ · Post by **BlueMoonJ** » January 3rd, 2008, 1:52 pm

A lot. For those who haven't read them, what I would says is, while the books do concern religious corruption, I feel they've been pretty misunderstood. It's hard to explain, but the books really aren't about killing God. That came from an interview where he was saying how surprised he was that everyone was trying to ban J.K. Rowling and no one even noticed his books. It would be like Rowling saying, "My books are about pagan rites and devil worship." That's my opinion anyway.

But, yeah, we had a lot of controversy here. We never had debates in the papers, though, just one bad review that called it an adventure movie, which really isn't what it is. But that's probably not true of everywhere in the US--our paper never reports anything.