<p>It does look good but dark. i havent even seen Iris.
( Murdoch)</p>
<p>Saw Django today. Fantastic! Disturbing at times, but laugh out loud funny at others.</p>
<p>Quentin Tarantino at his best!</p>
<p>I LOVED the bag scene. Funniest scene of the year.</p>
<p>re: Amour (the movie in the link posted by BunsenBurner) – I didn’t see it, but an employee of mine did. We often compare notes on films and usually agree. He said he kept wondering “why did the New York Times give this such a rave review?” He said it was slow, boring, some scenes that went on forever, needed editing. I thought he objected because the subject matter was depressing – he said it wasn’t that – it just wasn’t a good movie. But that’s just one person’s opinion.</p>
<p>On the lower end of the culture spectrum, I am now renting movies using this completely insane system – every movie I rent has to have a star in it that was in the movie I just saw. So: Double Jeopardy then JFK (Tommy Lee Jones in both) then Trapped (Kevin Bacon in both JFK and Trapped) then Monster (Charlize Theron was in Trapped and Monster). I’ll see how far I get. I suppose if one of the stars didn’t make more than one movie, I could always move down to the crew. I’m sure the guys who are “best boys” worked on more than one film, right?</p>
<p>S1 rented “Lawless” for us to watch last week. Wasn’t expecting a movie about a family of moonshiners to be anything special but turned out to be really good…and it was based on a true story which made it even more interesting.</p>
<p>Also watched Winter’s Bone (rented from Amazon movies)…not a happy movie but well done.</p>
<p>
Agreed–watched this because Jennifer Lawrence was so good in The Hunger Games–her character’s situation is even more dire in Winter’s Bone!</p>
<p>We finally saw Lincoln and after all the middling reviews describing it as dry, static but “good for you” cinema I was unprepared for how completely engrossing I found it to be. The film flew by, I was sad to see it end. I realized afterward that part of what I really liked about the film is that the filmmakers flattered me – they assumed I had a reasonable attention span, a functioning brain and at least some grasp of American history. Very refreshing.</p>
<p>yes, DDL was amazing but it was Sally Field who slayed me.</p>
<p>
I thought she was good, too–for once, her shrill, somewhat annoying demeanor was a perfect fit for the character.</p>
<p>I think she caught what must be a strange challenge to be married to a genius who belongs in large part to * the people * and history and not to her.</p>
<p>I liked Sally Fields in the part too, I thought you could see both what the original attraction had been and how she’d gone over the edge. I went just after reading the mostly negative review in this thread and was pleasantly surprised that while I thought that review wasn’t all together wrong, I got swept away by the story and enjoyed the movie. There were some hokey things - like the beginning - when you wished someone other than Spielberg had been directing, but mostly I really liked it - and I definitely learned something from it. Not too surprising since I last had anything to do with US history in 1970.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great recs! I just read the entire thread and am going to make a lengthy addition to my Netflix queue, as we are staying in for New Year’s Eve. For a Christmas gift (at my suggestion!), my kids are taking their grandparents and great Aunt (ages 81-86) out to lunch tomorrow and then to the matin</p>
<p>Saw “Les Miserables” a second time, with a slightly different bunch of relatives. This time I can say that I loved it. So glad I went twice - it allowed me to see the film as a movie, without the inner monologue ticking off all the differences from the show/concert versions. It also helped to sit in the last row - the close-ups didn’t seem quite as enormous.</p>
<p>I liked all the actors even more on a second go-round, and had the opportunity to appreciate Aaron Tveit’s fine work as Enjolras. We discussed Russell Crowe’s performance quite a bit afterwards. The guys with us thought he was excellent. This is a movie that cost more than $60 million to make. It’s plausible that one of the reasons Crowe was cast (other than being an A-list actor who wanted the part and won an Oscar working with the screenwriter previously) was to enlarge the target demographic a bit. (If having Wolverine in the lead wasn’t sufficient :)). </p>
<p>I loved Daniel Day-Lewis in “Lincoln,” and there were a lot of great performances in 2012. But our family is going to be Team Jackson for the Oscars this year. Really, I can’t think of another star who could have come close to playing the lead so well. </p>
<p>And what a great ending.</p>
<p>^^^ Agreed that Aaron Tveit did an excellent job as Enjolras! Hopefully, this role will get a wonderful singer and actor more mainstream exposure and recognition.</p>
<p>I also enjoyed Eddie Redmayne, Samantha Barks and Anne Hathaway in their roles. I would not have cast Russell Crowe, but he did not bother me as much as I thought he would – except for his missing passion during Stars and Javert’s Suicide.</p>
<p>I think Samantha Barks’ waist deserves a special Oscar.</p>
<p>^^^ I noticed that too!</p>
<p>She is TINY!</p>
<p>I meant to type in #592 that my family and I would be Team Jackman for the Oscars (and I’m pretty sure I did, but I don’t want to get all paranoid about autocorrect on this thread).</p>
<p>So what does everyone have to say about the previews this season? I love previews and never get annoyed, no matter how many are shown. BUT I would like to ask if the world really needs another movie in which Tom Cruise saves humanity (“Oblivion” - the producers are brave picking that for the title).</p>
<p>And “The Great Gatsby” preview is still freaking me out. It just looks like a … cartoon. And I wonder why the release was delayed from December until May? I hope they aren’t trying to find a way to make the soundtrack even louder.</p>
<p>And “The Great Gatsby” preview is still freaking me out. It just looks like a … cartoon. And I wonder why the release was delayed from December until May? I hope they aren’t trying to find a way to make the soundtrack even louder.</p>
<p>You arent the only one. I know I read it a long time ago, but the preview had me wondering if it was the same book.</p>
<p>However - I did like the version of Romeo & Juliet that starred Leo & Claire Danes, but Gatsby is hardly as classic. ( & frankly, I think Leo has played so many mature characters- as opposed to the beginning of his career, that he seems too old)</p>
<p>Maybe they want the theatre release to coincide with DeCaprios current movie release on dvd?</p>
<p>From the preview, it looks like Baz Luhrmann has Moulin Rouge’d Gatsby. Ick. One critic said seeing Moulin Rouge was like being trapped in an elevator with a marching band. I have to agree, and the thought of bringing that sensibility to Gatsby makes me ill. The book is a favorite of mine and even thought the critics didn’t like it, I’m very fond of the 1974 movie. So that’s one preview that didn’t have its intended impact. (By the way, I think Dicaprio is aging badly–he has the kind of face that’s adorable in youth but verging on the creepy in middle age. Poor dear.)</p>
<p>I can’t remember any other the many other trailers I saw in December. Not sure if that says more about me or the movies.</p>
<p>We tried to see Not Fade Away – it was sold out. Anyone see it yet?</p>
<p>Previews I Have loved:</p>
<p>The new Star Trek Movie out next summer (and I don’t even like Star Trek)
World War Z - also due out next summer</p>