Prompted by the exhilarating discussion in another thread, I thought we should have our own dedicated catch-all movie thread, as seen through the eyes of some great, intelligent music lovers.

These don't have to be music-related but could be.  Otherwise, give us your highs and lows, recommendations and warnings, pithy quotes and heart-rending sonnets.  Anything to keep us mutually engaged during the long winter days.

On that note, I recently saw "The Devil And Daniel Johnston".  A fascinating portrait of an unusually talented, yet tainted individual.  I'll never think about mental illness quite the same way again.  Great film.  The music is good too, but I'm not as floored by it as some though not sure why...but I'm working on it.

I also saw "The Cabin In The Woods".  Alternately funny, scary and gross, so typically I liked it a lot.  Really hoping there won't be a sequel.

 

 

I'm stuck recovering at home so I'm falling prey to one of my lazy habits. Watching "bad" movies  that are heavily censored for TV. Just saw Rounders starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton. The movie was nothing special for me, but John Malkovich has an unusual role with an unusual Russian accent that I found very entertaining.

Also caught part of Fargo and really enjoyed it. I don't think the movie is as great as its hype was at the time it was released, but I usually find something to like in a Coen Brothers film. I especially love the scene at the end with Marge in bed with her husband and her positive take on her husband's painting being chosen for the 3 cent stamp. In a movie with so much villainy and violence, it is a touching, life-affirming ending.

In the 'guilty pleasures' department, I recently watched 'Live Free or Die Hard' with my wife.  It's the 4th and most recent Die Hard movie.  We both enjoyed it as mindless entertainment.

I call movies like this 'cartoons' because they're totally unrealistic and while there may be a lot of violence, you can't take it seriously, like watching Sylvester the Cat get pulverized for the thousandth time.  Some of the action scenes are so outlandish and phony that I'm laughing like a fool.

Some of my classics in the 'cartoon' category are Tango and Cash, Death Wish 3, and The Last Castle.

Duplicate post

In response to Hfxsoxnut's comment:

I love the Die Hard series. One of my guilty pleasures is the Blade movies. I have a running joke with my wife that when she is out of the house she often comes back to "catch" me watching one of them. She hates them.

In response to devildavid's comment:

LOL.  I'm the same way about the Underworld films.  Great, innovative action sequences.  Very stylish and of a piece.  Limited, if any, plot or character development.  (Mrs. Matty has the same reaction as your wife.)

Digging deeper, I also recently watched the latest Robert Downey 'Sherlock Holmes' flick.  I kind of liked the first one, but this was tedious and just boring.  I don't think there was any meaningful dialogue in the last half.  Just awful, and I'm a big Holmes fan.

 

Well if it's a free for all, the wife and I recently saw the recent movie "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". A very well put together film, but you really do have to pay attention.

It was very enjoyable to watch it again the next day to confirm our theor(ies) about it.

Sort of like the way "Usual Suspects" played out at the end, but spread across the whole film.

 

 

 

 

We re-watched for the howevereth many times "The Men Who Stare At Goats." I know it's gotten a mixed reception, but good lord I think it's hilarious.

Added bonus: And one scene contains the ONLY accurate depiction of people tripping that I have ever seen on TV or film.

 

 

 

Tried to watch the older Depp movie about John Dilliginger. Usually really like the guy's acting but I had to leave half way through. Can't stand film noir or anything related to it.

 

 

 

Also, Peter Brook's adaptation "The Mahabharata". Ordinarily, Hindus recite/perform this over lengthy celebration. 28 days sticks in mind. He does his best to condense into three films, about 3h each. It is the mythic story of the cyclical nature of creation, in their view.

It's been the subject of debate for obvious reasons: Here he takes an ancient sanskrit text and tries to translate it into something understandable to our culture. Moreover, he only has time to put about 5% of the full text on screen for obvious reasons. What is left can be very powerful and very thought provoking, if you let it.

My parents weren't sure how it would go over but they showed it to me perhaps in fifth grade. If you haven't seen it, you should. And perhaps so too should your kids....

The narrator, one of their Gods, informs a proxy for the viewer in the beginning (a boy who is to take down the story to bring out to the world) that if you listen closely, you will be changed by the end.

I certainly was. I think it aimed me straight at the path of developing a philisophical mind that never stops trying to find different angles on the same questions and/or finding the next question to ask.

One bit stuck with me the most:

- The last illusion (can Yhudistria still be right, given what the phrase 'the last illusion' is supposed to mean?)

 

 

 

 

 

"The Hobbit". Oh, I'm on the fence; haven't seen it. On the one hand, it sounds like this time he didn't so much make sh!t up as he pulled it from various appendices and unpublished (or posthumously published) stuff.

On the other hand, I already know that stuff. And "The Hobbit" is by far my least favorite of Tolkein's works because it genuinely was written for children. It only scratches the surface of Tolkein's preferred themes of honor, sacrafice, and the absolute necessity of duty without regard to result (that latter point very much a part of the Bhagavad Gita contained in The Mahabharata) - virtues that feel sorely missing in a lot of modern society.

I'll probably just see it on Blu-Ray. No need for theatres.

 

 

 

In response to MattyScornD's comment:

re: Holmes.

 

You know there was a guy on ..... oh damn I'm forgetting the channel. Might have been PBS.The show was "Mystery" and they did quite a number of things including Homles, Poirot, Cadfael, and any number of others.

Talking a few decades ago. Slick black hair. He died not too long ago, too young. He did an outstanding Homles, I thought.

My impression from trailers and from what I read is that this new Holmes isn't...well...Holmes. He's more of an action hero with a working brain. Was that your impression?

No recent films for me, but I watched (for the first time ... I'd never seen it) "Dark Passage" with the ever-gorgeous, sultry, Lauren Bacall, and the real-life love of her life, and leading man, Humphrey Bogart.

Great flick.   Of course, the premise of the film by today's standards, and the plastic surgery scenes (so funny) are about as realistic as watching "Elf" (watched that too over the holidays, as I needed some comic relief real bad).   Bogart's recovery from plastic surgery (he is running from the law) is priceless.   

I love film noir, and this film is spoken in the narrative as told by Bogart's character, Vincent Parry.   It's very good.   Lauren Bacall's belief in his innocence is pretty crazy, and her wealth, sophistication and knock-out beauty are all part of the riveting aspects of the film.  Just loved it.   So far removed from today's film-making, you have to suspend disbelief when you watch older movies, but it's a good mental exercise, and well worth the trip back in time.  

In response to WhatDoYouWantNow's comment:

You might be thinking of David Suchet, who's one of my favorite Poirots.

Yeah, these movies are what you get when you cross a steampunk superhero and Guy Ritchie, I guess...and not nearly as good as it might sound.  Some may disagree.  Though knowing me, I'll probably still give the next one a sporting chance.

OTOH, the more recent BBC show "Sherlock" (very clever, good actors) and the surprisingly watchable "Elementary" on CBS seem to keep the Homes spirit alive into the 21st century using modern technologies.

 

In response to MattyScornD's comment:

You might be thinking of David Suchet, who's one of my favorite Poirots.

With the immaculately curled mustache? Yes.

 

 

But there was also a Sherlock Holmes with slicked black hair. A fuller head of hair than the Poirot I was thinking of.

It may have been Jeremy Brett. I think it was. (Tried to drag a picture over from google images but it wouldn't post)

 

 

Just watched - True Romance and Jackie Brown. Both GREAT movies (IMHO) Tarantino wrote True Romance and wrote and directed Jackie Brown. The guy just writes a great story - MOST of the time, the exception being those two grindhouse movies he did.

I liked Tinker Tailor too WhatDoYouWantNow, agreed - you must pay attention from beginning to end. It was one of those movies that can't be interupted by someone talking in your ear while you watch it. I watched "Munich" again - the Olympic murders of the 70's. A good underated Spielberg movie.

Some have mentioned "guilty pleasures" I call them bubble gum for the brain - like an Austin Powers movie. Every once in a while I like a horror movie like The Thing, Hostel or Dawn of the Dead. I watch them more for the special effects than the story.

 

Next up.........."Zero Dark Thirty"

 

In response to yogafriend's comment:

Yoga if you like the old B&W films like "Dark Passage" and want a good laugh I suggest watching "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid". A movie that's pieced together from a lot of great older films and inserting Steve Martin and Rachel Ward as interacting characters to those old movie clips. I thought it was pretty funny even in B&W. Have a laugh! ;)

Some of the movies I'm looking forward to seeing this year:

 Zero Dark Thirty : Going Friday to see it.The story of the search for Bin Laden

OZ,the great and powerful:The trailers look really good.It also has Mila Kunis in it.Big +

http://io9.com/5960460/new-trailer-for-oz-the-great-and-powerful-has-us-wondering-is-the-wizard-sleeping-with-all-the-witches-of-oz

Iron Man 3:Yeah,I'm a little geeky with super hero movies

http://io9.com/5954054/first-iron-man-3-trailer-the-fall-of-tony-stark

Star Trek-Into darkness : A little geeky about Sci-Fi too

http://io9.com/5969074/new-star-trek--into-darkness-trailers-shows-lots-and-lots-of-death

Man of Steel: A new darker Superman.A must see for me.

http://io9.com/5967518/the-first-full+length-man-of-steel-trailer-reveals-jor+el-and-general-zod

This post has been removed.

In response to RockScully's comment:

Yah, I like how the dialogue moves the movie. That the actors become the charachters he's written versus actors trying to play the part. Say what you will but, the guy can write a great/entertaining script. His soundtracks are an un-credited charachter in all his movies too. IMHO

In response to RogerTaylor's comment:

Thanks, Rog.  I've never seen it, but certainly have heard of it.  Sounds hilarious.   Always looking for a good comedy.   :)

Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid is a classic.

I love movies almost as much as music... Some movies I suggest that may have slipped by

 

In Bruges

The Way of the Gun

Snatch

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (Sting is in this movie for music fans)

Before The  Devil Knows Your Dead

 

Just so many good ones

Some good movies that have come out within the past year:

The life of Pi - Nice story with a lot of great scenery.This movie far exceeded my expectations for it.I had heard that it was a religious movie,but that's not the case.It was a spiritual movie.

Argo - One of the years best movies.I was engrossed from the moment the movie started.Alan Arkin played a great role in it.Very interesting movie,I'd highly recomend.

Skyfall - Maybe the best James Bond flick ever.

Abe Lincoln:Vampire hunter - I didn't think it was a horrible movie and the idea of Lincoln hunting vampires was just quirky enough to make it interesting.Leave your brain at the door

Looper - A great Sci-Fi movie.It's not a explosion/laser shooting type of movie,but more of a movie you have to think about.It was different than what I expected but I enjoyed it thoroughly.Starring Bruce Willis 

Dark Knight rises and Avengers - Just freaking awesome.

Expendables 2 - Action,action,action!Another movie you shouldn't think about,you'll enjoy it more.

Django unchained - Loved this movie.I've seen it 3 times already. 

In response to leafswin27's comment:

Good choices.

'The Way Of The Gun' is a great sleeper.  I love crime flicks with a sense of humor and was drawn to this as the director also wrote 'The Usual Suspects', an all-time fave.  TWotG is one of Del Toro's more overlooked performances, I think.

"Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" is another great tongue-in-cheek noir flick.

 

 

 

I plan on watching a classic movie on DVD today. It is a movie I can't believe I haven't already seen on TV but for some reason I never have. It's one of those movies that as a film lover I feel that I have to see before I die. I may or may not like it, but it is one that has always been in the back of my mind as a must see. It is A Streetcar Named Desire.

Does anyone else have any movies like this? Movies you consider a must see before you die? (Even if you have already seen them).

I'll report in later on my reaction to this film.

DevilDavid,"A streetcar named desire" was a classic movie.Brando and Karl Malden played excellent roles in it.

Some of my must see movies that I've seen include :

To kill a Mockingbird

12 angry men

Casablanca

War of the worlds

Animal Crackers(Love the Marx Brothers)

Rebel without a cause

 

In response to mrmojo1120's comment:

Nice list. I have seen all of those at one time or another in my life. Caught part of "Rebel" last night on TMC. I also love the Marx Brothers. I have a DVD box set of their best films. I'll have to watch some of them soon.

Some films I consider must see are:

Citizen Kane

Patton

Star Wars

Rear Window

In response to leafswin27's comment:

 

Before The Devil Knows Your Dead - GREAT under rated movie - I love Marisa Tomai(sp?) and Phillip Seymor Hoffman