Let's Talk Movies v.16! (Sci-Fi, Oscar Bait, Horror, Golden Oldies...It's All Good!)

[agalisgv]

Lautner's acting left much to be desired--I agree. But when even Sigourney Weaver and others look stilted in certain scenes, I tend to think it's perhaps an issue with script and direction.

But just to put it in perspective, Lautner's acting in Twilight was far superior to Abduction. So, um, yeah...

Thanks for the info re dream house. We were going to see it today, but i wanted to hear back from others first to make sure it wasn't a stinker. I had the sense that the big plot twist was already revealed in the trailer. Shame, but still seems interesting. It's not gory is it? Me no like gore.

[Buzz]

Nope not gory at all and best not say more before I spoil you more.

[PeterG]

October movies notes and trailers...

Fireflies In The Garden might finally be getting a release in the theatres, after x number of years. Maybe if they had bigger stars than Julia Roberts and Ryan Reynolds they could have gotten this one to us quicker! Actually, it's probably a movie that got stuck in limbo because of studio or legal problems. Which probably means the movie won't get promoted and end up in the sale rack at your local DVD store (umm...do they exist anymore?) How the mighty have fallen... (((Julia Roberts)))

Also, "The Double" (Richard Gere, Topher Grace and Martin Sheen) that was to come out in September, might get a release date on October 28th. Oh how the might have fallen 02... (((Richard Gere))) (Is there a "Pretty Woman" curse happening here? Should we ask the careers of Laura San Giacomo, Amy Yasbeck and Hector Elizondo? )


The trailers:

Oct 5 – Hell And Back Again (documentary about soldier returning from Afghanistan)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Hzz4iTwSsI

Oct 7 - Real Steel (action with Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly and Hope Davis)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei5l3r1dV4I

Oct 7 - Texas Killing Fields (crime drama with Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7woppidfvtc

Oct 7 - Blackthorn (western with Sam Shepard, Stephen Rea and Eduardo Noriega)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FMZDtpMFqk

Oct 7 - Dirty Girl (comedy drama with new cast and William H. Macy and Milla Jovovich)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qy3eAiB5UPo

Oct 7 - The Ides of March (drama with Ryan Gosling , Paul Giamatti, George Clooney, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Marisa Tomei)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=McCt-_yYLpo

Oct 7 - The Way (adventure drama with Martin Sheen, Emilio Estevez and Deborah Kara Unger)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hy54CpKeqk

Oct 14 - Footloose (Julianne Hough, Dennis Quaid, Andie MacDowell and Kenny Wormald)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtjI6OHVk00

Oct 14 - The Thing (horror with Joel Edgerton and Mary Elizabeth Winstead)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Txjm94GnrPA

Oct 14 - Father of Invention (comedy drama with Kevin Spacey, Heather Graham, Johnny Knoxville, Craig Robinson and Virginia Madsen)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znE5tTpHTM4

Oct 14 - Trespass (thriller with Nicole Kidman, Nicolas Cage and Cam Gigandet)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rolBdc_mjs

Oct 14 - The Skin I Live In (Pedro Almodóvar drama with Antonio Banderas)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EolQSTTTpI4

Oct 14 - The Big Year (comedy with Owen Wilson, Jim Parsons, Steve Martin, Joel McHale , Jack Black, Dianne Wiest and Angelica Houston)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCBAP2wId5M

Oct 14 – Fireflies In The Garden (drama with Julia Roberts, Ryan Reynolds, Emily Watson, Hayden Panettiere, Willem Dafoe, Carrie –Anne Moss and Ioan Gruffudd)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l5e2x6D4xwA

Oct 14 – Chalet Girl (comedy with Felicity Jones, Ed Westwick, Brooke Sheilds and Bill Nighy)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87Ocy8J0RYM

Oct 14 – The Woman (horror with new cast)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsUxrMyWXeI

Oct 21 - Paranormal Activity 3 (horror mystery)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90r3CnPI0AM

Oct 21 - The Three Musketeers (action adventure with Orlando Bloom, Milla Jovovich, Christoph Waltz and Ray Stevenson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQd3MwT2fAM

Oct 21 - Martha Marcy May Marlene (thriller with Elizabeth Olsen, Hugh Dancy and John Hawkes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERREgOobLOs

Oct 21 - The Mighty Macs (sports drama with Carla Gugino, David Boreanaz, Ellen Burstyn)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_VXhJCetwc

Oct 21 - Margin Call (thriller with Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanely Tucci, Demi Moore, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Penn Badgley and Kevin Spacey)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DqFRsPrns

Oct 21 - Revenge of the Electric Car (documentary looking at the resurgence of interest in electric vehicles, featuring Danny DeVito, Stephen Colbert, Tim Robbins, Jon Favreau, Anthony Kiedis, Adrian Grenier and Arnold Schwarzenegger)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkRIu5a6Sb0

Oct 21 – Snowmen (family film with Ray Liotta, Christopher Lloyd and Bobby Coleman)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUq8VS6aa9U

Oct 21 – Oranges and Sunshine (drama with Hugo Weaving and Emily Watson)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA0LrxAtLeo

Oct 28 - Sleeping Beauty (drama with Emily Browning)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sIGo9z2JDU&ob=av3e

Oct 28 - In Time (thriller with Justin Timberlake, Cilliam Murphy, Amanda Seyfried, Alex Pettyfer, Matt Bomer and Johnny Galecki)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdadZ_KrZVw

Oct 28 - Johnny English Reborn (comedy with Rowan Atkinson, Gillian Anderson and Dominic West)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXQSfSu1Y0s

Oct 28 - The Rum Diary (adventure drama with Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart, Giovanni Ribisi and Richard Jenkins)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YUx36yLLug

Oct 28 - Like Crazy (romance with Felicity Jones, Anton Yelchin, Jennifer Lawrence, Alex Kingston and Finola Hughes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ZV-bwZmBw

Oct 28 – Anonymous (drama with Rhys Ifans, David Thewlis, Vanessa Redgrave, Joely Richardson and Derek Jacobi)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PaliLAQT8k

Oct 28 – All’s Faire In Love (comedy with Christina Ricci, Matthew Lillard, Cedric The Entertainer and Ann-Margaret)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkWY6Qdm058

Oct 28 – Janie Jones (musical drama with Abigail Breslin, Alessandro Nivola, Elisabeth Shue, Frances Fischer, Brittany Snow and Frank Whaley)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHS0JTwdHls&ob=av3e

[Buzz]

Of those here are the ones I want to see:

The Woman
In Time
The Thing
Three Musketeers
Texas Killing Fields

[nursebetty]

Just saw 50/50 and really, really liked it. In fact I would go back and see it today. The youngest guy on 3rd Rock From The Sun was in it. That was a sitcom I had almost forgotten about and some probably never heard of. I liked him then and now. It was a warm and funny and slightly sad look into the world of cancer and imperfect people. I say slightly because I do cry in movies and not everyone does.

[Rex]

Just saw 50/50 and really, really liked it. In fact I would go back and see it today. The youngest guy on 3rd Rock From The Sun was in it. That was a sitcom I had almost forgotten about and some probably never heard of. I liked him then and now. It was a warm and funny and slightly sad look into the world of cancer and imperfect people. I say slightly because I do cry in movies and not everyone does.

Joseph Gordon Levitt is an amazing actor. I saw him in Mysterious Skin and was so impressed.

[Vash01]

Joseph Gordon Levitt is an amazing actor. I saw him in Mysterious Skin and was so impressed.

He was also in Inception.

[PeterG]

Joseph Gordon Levitt is an amazing actor.

You know that if Joseph Gordon Levitt is in a movie, it will be good. (Or if it's not good, it will be interesting!)

[oleada]

I love pretty much love everything Joseph Gordon Levitt has done. (500) Days of Summer is one of my favorite movies, and as Rex said, he does a great job in Mysterious Skin. And after watching some clip about how he cries when he watches Dumbo, I'm pretty much sure that we're soulmates.

[DarrellH]

I saw 50/50 a few weeks ago in an early showing. It was wonderful. JGL is a terrific actor.

[BigB08822]

I am not another JGL fan. He is really good and I feel certain he has an Oscar or two in his future. He is also can sing quite well and speaks French pretty fluently.

Does anyone know how to tell when a movie will leave theaters? I want to see Straw Dogs but with the huge assignments/tests I have this week I think I would be best off waiting another week to go see it. I assume it will still be in theaters next weekend but with my luck, it wont.

[Allen]

Joseph Gordon Levitt is an amazing actor. I saw him in Mysterious Skin and was so impressed.

Mysterious Skin is such an amazing movie, but I have a really hard time getting through it. It's one of the few movies that I cry every time I see it. JGL was amazing in that movie, quite possibly his best performance. I also love him in Brick.

[Wyliefan]

I don't expect The Three Musketeers to be all that great, but I'm going anyway. Matthew Macfadyen, the things I do for you . . .

Oh, and I've got to Netflix the first Johnny English so I can go see the second. I love Rowan Atkinson.

[Vash01]

Just finished watching The Terminal. Very improbable, but great entertainment. Tom Hanks carried the movie as always, and the supporting cast was good too.

[Karina1974]

The combined miniseries (not "mini" at all actually, probably longer than many actual failed planned series) is ASTONISHINGLY faithful to Wouk's books, which are each long and complex. I have never seen anything else even come close.

Of course they would be, considering that Wouk co-wrote the screenplays for both WOW and WAR. Dan Curtis even says in the Making Of WOW that when there was a question about anything, he would say to Wouk that the book was the Bible of the miniseries, and they would go by the book.

I saw the network broadcasts, and the one thing that was even mildly softened during those telecasts in the early 1990's (on over-the-air network TV) was when Natalie was ready to service a German prison guard to save the life of her young son, who also witnessed her actions. Even then it was only bits of filthy, racist, sexist commentary by the guards that were obscured (not bleeped really), but if even if you hadn't read the book, her crawling across the floor on her knees towards the soldier really conveys the intent of the scene and how utterly desperate she was to do anything to protect her child. I was floored that they let that in, but it really was essential dramatically to show that bit of horror to illustrate the dehumanization of the camps (and the amorality of those who ran them).

I finished watching War and Remembrance on Thursday, and I took the DVDs back to my parents' house (both DVD sets I watched for WOW and WAR belong to my father, who also has both books in 1970's-era printings). He and I started discussing my thoughts about WAR (I had watched WOW several times, but this was my first viewing of WAR).

We ended up watching the scene where Aaron is talking to the Theresianstadt Jews about Job, during the clandestine temple service. There are only two times in my life when I have seen my father cry. The first time was at the memorial-burial 18 years ago after his mother passed away suddenly (my grandfather passed away 2 years before that). Tonight was the second, when we watched that scene. He said that scene, as well as some others from WAR, should be required viewing for every high school student (and even younger to a certain point).

I really want to read the books now.

[Buzz]

I LOVED those series! But Natalie is the most annoying character ever written. LOL

[PeterG]

Does anyone know how to tell when a movie will leave theaters? I want to see Straw Dogs but with the huge assignments/tests I have this week I think I would be best off waiting another week to go see it. I assume it will still be in theaters next weekend but with my luck, it wont.

Straw Dogs debuted at #5, then fell to #9 and with four new movies opening this weekend, it might fall out of the top 15. It's taken in less than 10 million in 10 days, so it looks like a flop. I like the-numbers.com for box office stats. If something is still in the top 10, I know the local theatres will still be playing it for a few weeks. If you live in a big city, it'll probably play a few more weeks and if you have only a few theatres available...get thee to a theatre!!!

[Vash01]

Just got back from seeing Moneyball. Loved it!

Saw the trailer of JEdgar. Looks like an interesting movie, with Leo in it.

[PeterG]

I am not another JGL fan.

Why do you not like him?

[Rex]

You know that if Joseph Gordon Levitt is in a movie, it will be good. (Or if it's not good, it will be interesting!)

Mysterious Skin is such an amazing movie, but I have a really hard time getting through it. It's one of the few movies that I cry every time I see it. JGL was amazing in that movie, quite possibly his best performance. I also love him in Brick.

The subject matter is so vile and so disturbing, it's hard not to get through that movie without feeling something.