<p>Someone had asked about Gran Torino earlier. I saw it yesterday with my husband who is a huge Clint Eastwood fan. I thought it was very good. Clint in the beginning of the movie was a little wooden (his character is supposed to be this way) but I loved the way the story evolved. I would definitely recommend it. Still need to see Milk and Slum Dog and for laughs only, Paul Blart - Mall Cop. I love Kevin James. Agree with others on Marley and Me - boring movie with tearjerker ending; it was, however, a very good book.</p>
<p>Has anyone seen that you tube comparison of Forrest Gump and Benjamin Button? Hysterical.
The promo is - in a very deep movie announcer-type voice - “If you have to see one one Forrest Gump movie this year, make it Benjamin Button.” It then goes on to compare their mothers, their childhood and grown-up girlfriends, their time on the bayou, their war experiences… so funny</p>
<p>I definitely enjoyed Revolutionary Road though it is clearly not the feel good movie of the year. Brilliantly acted though by Kate Winslet, Leonardo DiCaprio, and the supporting cast. </p>
<p>I hope to see Milk, Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button if only because I have a bit of a quest to see all the Oscar nominees.</p>
<p>I’ll probably try to catch Synechdoche when it hits DVD.</p>
<p>@primetimemom and calmom - OH NO! A movie that actually realistically depicts some of the horrors that go on in the world! I think that was the point of the movie. Awareness. I think the producers/director wanted to show to viewers the huge dichotomy in India, both the slums, and the towering hotels and luxury buildings that stand right next to them. It’s quite saddening.</p>
<p>Not all movies are for pure entertainment purposes. The good films are the ones that are made to provoke the mind, or realize something that you hadn’t before.</p>
<p>@wharfrat2 - Just to warn you, Synecdoche is a love it or hate it movie. If you like Charlie Kaufman’s movies, you should love it, though.</p>
<p>@primetimemom and calmom - And I apologize if that sounded rude. >_<</p>
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<p>That’s why I figured DVD or PPV. That way if I can’t get into and bail, I’m only out a couple of bucks.</p>
<p>We saw Slumdog Millionaire last night. Wow, what a great movie. Really well done and touching.</p>
<p>I have also heard good things about Zach and Miri Make a Porno. Anybody seen it?</p>
<p>My son and I did go see Revolutionary Road while he was home on vacation. It was very good, but didn’t even begin to compare to or capture the book – which I’ve read a couple of times, and think is one of the best (and saddest) novels ever written about post-war American life. If I hadn’t read the book, I probably would have liked the movie more. Kate Winslet was wonderful; I thought DiCaprio’s performance fell a little short. Even though it’s obviously a very difficult role, I never quite bought that it was a person up there on the screen, rather than an actor doing a performance.</p>
<p>I saw the Wrestler last night. Good film, but painful- not your typical holiday movie. Watching someone who won’t (or can’t) give up wrestling and the toll it takes on the rest of his life is almost a Shakespearean tragedy. From the middle of the movie, it’s pretty apparent how it’s going to end, but like a car accident, you can’t look away.</p>
<p>It made me think back to when Chris Benoit was in the news and question how much of the Wrestler is fiction, and how much of it is just changing the names of the people involved.</p>
<p>Darren Aronofsky can’t make a bad film.</p>
<p>I *really *want to see Slumdog Millionaire. Unfortunately it is not showing in our small town or the nearby towns. Debating driving to the city (200 miles round trip) and combining seeing it with going for a nice Indian meal. Not this week though as it is going to be icy roads according to the forecasts. Hope it is still on the next week.</p>
<p>You must live in the middle of nowhere, sadly.</p>
<p>Because I think Slumdog Millionaire changed to a wide release this week, so it should be playing a lot more theaters than a month ago, when I saw it.</p>
<p>Really liked Slumdog Millionaire and Benjamin Button (as did DH). Have also seen Revolutionary Road which I thought was very well acted but definitely not a a “feel good” movie. Seven Pounds was good but also sad. One that I haven’t seen mentioned here but thought was good is Doubt. I thought Meryl Streep was great in it.</p>
<p>Saw The Wrestler this weekend. Loved some things about it - disappointed in others, but so glad Mickey Rourke got a chance to do this movie.</p>
<p>PackMom - I thought Doubt was phenomenal, but look what you’re working with… Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman. I have to say, though, I find it interesting that Hoffman’s Oscar nomination is for best supporting actor. He was the male lead role as far as I’m concerned.</p>
<p>Re: Revolutionary Road. One review I read said “… back together again, that fun couple from the Titanic!..”
Having read the book, I thought the irony was pretty funny.
My D saw it the other night. When Leonardo did the beach scene, she said the whole audience gasped because it was filmed at a beach in our town on the CT coast.</p>
<p>There are a bunch of theaters in our neck of the woods. D1 and I wanted to see Milk, and could only find it in two-- neither close. Is it already gone from wide release?</p>
<p>I stand corrected-- Milk is only playing at one theater here on LI. Are AA-nominated films sometimes trotted out again before the Oscar broadcast??</p>
<p>Saw Slumdog this weekend. Took me a little while to process, but I think it is a great movie. The music, the story and the cinematography all fit together so well. I don’t think it is sentimental at all, that little hint of sentimentality I thought was a nod to Bollywood, just like the scene over the credits. Kind of a magic realism in film.
The more I thought about it, the deeper I thought it was - lots of stuff about the changes of modernization in India, and the role of (or disruption) of life by/in religion.
Also a theme of preservation of innocence - all that and it was actually entertaining, too, though sometimes hard to watch.</p>
<p>I’m from the home of Forrest Gump, and somewhere in the back of my mind. I’m thinking there was an article in our paper with an interview of Winston Groom that said he was inspired by F. Scott Fitzgerald… maybe I’m making that up???</p>