Last Movies You Have Rented

[John]

Originally posted by Zhora
Oh my God! John! I did too, and I thought I was the only one. Wow. That's cool, man. Somehow, I feel redeemed.

What's really bad is that I'm a huge Kevin Spacey fan, so I gave it three tries. I just could NOT get into it.

Pushing boundaries for the sake of pushing boundaries doesn't impress me.

[Mdrio9]

I liked Brotherhood of the Wolf too. It was more explicit than I thought it would be...typical French movie! It was a litle long, but I liked the story. It's always good to see some nice violence.

John, have you seen The Life of David Gale? It has Kevin Spacey, so I was just wondering. I think it looks pretty entertaining. Spacey usually gives a good performance. Or, how about K-Pax? I never saw that either.

[fluff]

I've been waiting months to see The Life of David Gale.
Wouldn't you just know it? My local theatre isn't showing it.
Sooooo typical.

[Mdrio9]

Is your theater small? Or does Canada get newly released movies at later times?

[phat32]

Originally posted by John
I hated American Beauty - it's like Titanic for me. Everyone raves about it, and I just don't get why.

But, that's why there are so many movies out. Everyone has one they like.

I couldn't agree with you more about Titanic, John, but I respectfully disagree with you (and Zhora) about American Beauty.

I wasn't captivated by the story or the themes. The "disconnectedness of the modern family" and "suburban hell" are theses we've seen before on celluloid. In fact, it's been done better. (See Todd Haynes's Safe, which stars Julianne Moore as a housewife who suddenly finds herself allergic to, well, everything. This is, bar none, one of the most disturbing films I have ever seen.)

American Beauty's stock rises, for me, in the strong performances of the principles--Kevin Spacey's "Lester Burnham" is part Willie Loman, part William Foster (Falling Down with Michael Douglas). Thora Birch is brilliant as daughter Jane, a performance on par with her role in Ghost World.

I don't find American Beauty to be shock for shock's sake. I consider most A.M. radio personalities to be "shock for shock's sake." I consider Natural Born Killers to be very much shock for shock's sake. (I despised the film, by the way. One of my bottom five.)

In its own way, American Beauty demonstrates the modern man's fear of his own ineffectiveness as capably as the speaker in T.S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.

This film captures the plight of the modern person who discovers he's defined by nothing more than an occupation he despises, like Bartleby, from Melville's Bartleby the Scrivener.

Did I just get all "college master's thesis"? Perhaps. Do I believe that if we're going to talk film, let's talk film? Absolutely.

If someone wants to post a message and say, "Okay, Mr. Smarty-Pants, so you went to college"--even in jest--please don't. Some people smarter than I pointed out some stuff I should read, I read them and I thought about them. That's all. Anyone can do the same.

I wouldn't have made the references I had if I didn't think a group as literate and intelligent as the FoRT community would understand.

...And on a lighter note, good use of a "Deep Thoughts" quote in your sig, John! I think the one about Disneyland is my favorite.

[hazyshadeof]

Interesting connection to Bartleby phat. To me, the thing that I liked most about American Beauty was indeed the characters (especially Spacey's). It wasn't about the shock to me - in fact, not much of the movie shocked me. It was about the awareness that Lester comes to over the course of the movie... the journey he takes... and the irony that comes with his death. It's one of my top ten, and probably always will be.

[broken_pryncess]

we just watched swimfan - which was alright. i loved american beauty and the bare wench...uh, i mean, the blair witch project. as for titanic or the life of david gale? i can do without kate winslet. my husband has this strange fascination with her, and titanic was the first thing i saw her in and i liked her alright, so we watched some of her other movies (heavenly creatures, hideous kinky, holy smoke...) oh my god! she sucks like i could not believe! i'll never look at her the same after watching her pee on herself in holy smoke... ??? who thinks of this stuff, anyway? lol

[kuifje75]

"Le Pacte des Loupes" was an okay movie: the chracters were very interesting, but the monster seemed out of place. It was a weird mutant wolf with shields and so on. Whatever... I did like the Indian character, Manu though. I agree it was a bit too long.

American Beauty: I liked it.

I just watched another Audrey Tautou film: "Pretty Devils." It was pretty good, although I am starting to get tired of Audrey's characters. It seems that she plays the heartbroken dazed lover in every one of her films. She needs to start accepting more diverse roles. The movie itself was good, mostly because I thought the story was good.

[MollyRose]

Watched "Auto Focus" last night which I liked okay. I was a big Hogan's Heroes fan, and I also like Greg Kinear and Willem Dafoe, but the movie dragged in a few spots. the accompanying documentary about Bob Crane's murder would have been interesting if they had cut it in half, and I could have done without all the prolonged close-ups of his bashed in head.

This weekend we'll watch "Igby Goes Down" and "Roger Dodger". Love Campbell Scott and I'm hoping to run into him at the Taos festival next month since he'll be there getting the big achievement award.

[StevieM]

I read the book White Oleander and couldn't imagine them fitting all this "stuff" into a movie.
They did it quite well.
Great acting but, I can't imagine it being very good if you hadn't read the book.
A lot was left out.
That and The Bourne Identity were the last -
I fell asleep -I did not like T.B.I at all