GatewayRedbirds.com

Just a few movies that I've watch the past few weeks. Anyone have any good ones they've rented recently?

Iron Man - Normally not really a big fan of comic book movies but I thought this one was really well done and really enjoyed the movie. Looks like a pretty good sequal is on its way at some point.

Deception - Not a bad movie but then nothing really great either. Your typical thriller that has a couple plot twists that can be predicted fairly easily. Still not a bad movie and plenty of nice looking half naked women

An American Crime - The star of Juno goes from that movie to playing a really great role in something totally different. Based on a true story that ends up being very disturbing. Pretty darn good movie but pretty damn sad as well.

Charlie Bartlett - Again, not a great movie by any means but fairly entertaining. The kid in the movie will probably be getting more roles in bigger movies as he seems to be a pretty good actor.

Humboldt County - a movie written and directed by my two best childhood friends from St Louis, now showing in I think 8 cities (and will be at a film fest in St Louis on nov 15) - a med student who hardly cares about being a med student follows a girl to the pot growing enclave of Humboldt County, CA, and learns that there's more to life. A nice heartfelt humorous drama.

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I didn't have time to catch it when I was in Austin but to my surprise, it's available up here in Chicago through Comcast OnDemand. Awesome. I'm gonna watch it.

Elegy: I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. Ben Kingsley's performance is one of the best I have ever seen. The film moved me profoundly. Penelope Cruz is outstanding and gorgeous (as always).

Man on Wire: a documentary about a French tight rope walker who snuck into the world trade center in the 1970's and walked a high wire between the two towers. Wonderful, beautiful film.

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Horror's Not Dead.com

There's a gaping hole where the review of The Hottie and The Nottie should be.

It's like a hole in world knowledge. It needs to be filled. I need to be drunk to get through that movie.

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Horror's Not Dead.com

Watched "The Deer Hunter" for the first time last weekend. the movie is 30 years old now.

great actors - including younger Deniro, Streep. the actor who was "Fredo" from the Godfather played the same great role in this film.

Overall, the movie was a bit of a disappointment. because


Glad I've seen it now though.

Ginza Geisha (ginza cosmetics) (9/10) / Mother (8/10) - two really great older 1950s japanese movies... recently attended a japanese film festival that focused on mikio naruse and saw both of these.

A Hen in the Wind - I'm a big fan of Ozu, but this is easily my least favorite Ozu movie that I've seen. It had some interesting and intense moments, but the movie was just too melodramatic and mysognistic for my taste. (5/10)

Harmful Insect - More recent Japanese movie about a girl struggling to deal with her suicidal mother and her solitude at school. Liked it a lot. 8.5/10

Shara (7.5/10) / The Mourning Forest (6.5/10)- Naomi Kawase was also a featured director at the festival and attended. She is mostly known for making documentaries, but has also made a few features recently as well. I preferred Shara, which is about a boy who has to deal with the disappearance of his twin brother. "The Mourning Forest" won lots of awards at Cannes a couple of years ago, but I found it to be a little lacking once they got into the forest.

The Days (3/10) - New Singaporean movie that is about troubled youth getting caught up in gangs. Really juvenille take on a genre that has been covered much better a million times before. The movie was based on the director's real life story growing up, and that's probably part of the problem. Just not enough happened in his life that was all that compelling for an audience to want to sit and watch for 2 hours.

The Band's Visit (8.5/10) - Really charming Israeli movie about an Egyptian police band that goes to Israel to play a concert. They end up in the wrong place due to a variety of incompetencies and are forced to spend the night in the homes of various gracious villagers.

Falafel (6/10) - Interesting little Lebanese movie about a night that gets out of hand for a young Lebanese guy. A little disjointed, but worth a look.

Wonderful Town (9/10) - Loved this Thai movie by a first-time director. A Bangkok architect arrives in a small town to supervise a hotel project and takes up a tumultuous relationship with the pretty owner of the hotel he lives in. Deliberately paced that builds up to its unpredictable and shocking conclusion. My kind of movie.

Happy-Go-Lucky (6.5/10) - Mike Leigh's latest has its charms but the lead character is so bubbly that she is more irritating than anything. If you love the character you will probably love the movie, but I find people who are overly giddy to be a turn-off.

Frownland (5/10) - Crazy, crazy movie. No idea what to make of it. But it gets 5 points just for its liberal use of snot. If you can tolerate Julien Donky Boy, you might enjoy Frownland.

Waltz with Bashir (7.5/10) - Really fascinating documentary/animation hybrid film from Israel. It's based on Israel's war in Lebanon in the 1980s and features interviews and re-enactments (all animated) with parties and soldiers involved in a massacre that occurred. I need to watch it again because I watched it in France and the language of a documentary is more complicated than that of a feature film, so I think I missed some of the details the first time around. Has anyone else seen this? arnie k? I'd love to hear what others think of this movie, especially Israelis.

Back Soon (6/10) - Cute but ultimately forgettable Icelandic movie about a chain-smoking pot dealing poet living in a small town full of eccentric characters.

Wall-E (6/10) - It has some really nice moments and the basic premise is fascinating. Unfortunately instead of devling more deeply into the possibilities of the plot, the movie more or less becomes a typical action film of good vs. evil. A decent movie that could have been a lot better if they had veered further away from Hollywood conventions.

Love for Share (8/10) - Fascinating Indonesian movie that covers three women's stories about being involved in polygomous relationships. A really progressive and feminist (and pretty well-balanced) look at the situation of married women in a Muslim country where tradition is coming into clash with modern evolving values.

Watched The Cleaner this past Sunday. It was very enjoyable! Samuel L Jackson (what movie is bad with him in it!), plays a former cop who now cleans crime scenes. A few parts were predictible, but thought this was done pretty well! I'd recommend it.

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GO CARDS!!!

I've seen that one too. Wasn't too bad at all. Your typical Sam Jackson movie, which in most cases isn't a bad thing.

Good point. Don't worry Sigh, I let him know when we met up in Austin two weeks ago that GRB demands answers.

Also, good point G. Keenan - Humboldt County is available from the On Demand network. I'm stoked that my good buddies (and fellow Parkway North alums) have done so well. There's a baseball related news note on these guys that I'll post sometime soon, but for now I can only hint at it. Something about a few evenings in a summer month.

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