<p>^^^What about multiple African countries, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan, Serbia/Croatia, Lebanon, Gaza, Mexico, etc? There are movies about most of these countries, too, where you have “the constant backdrop of damaged people”</p>
<p>parent1986–maybe. Go see the movie, let me know what you think! 
I was thinking of Serbia/Croatia and Rwanda afterwards as good comparisons.</p>
<p>* Possible, but there just aren’t a lot of countries or points in history where the constant presence of damaged people–here, Holocaust survivors–can be easily used as a backdrop*</p>
<p>Must not see a lot of films set outside of north America?</p>
<p>Oh EK, you are so, so totally wrong about that! :)</p>
<p>We saw Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter, yesterday. It was very good. And not too gory, either. I was hesitant to see it because decapitations freak me out, but really, there were less than expected, and the gore was not gratuitous. I did not see it in 3D, but there were not a lot of heads flying at the screen. I loved the history and the characters were wonderful. I highly recommend it!</p>
<p>While no longer in the theaters, and I missed it while I was, The Big Year was on cable last night. OMG, I LOVED this movie! True, I am a birder, but even a non birder will enjoy this movie. Highly recommend!</p>
<p>Don’t bother with Prometheus - the plot is full of holes you can drive through and the supposed scientists all behave like idiots. An interview I read afterwards with Ridley Scott cleared up some things that made no sense, but not really in a good way.</p>
<p>Your Sister’s Sister was ok. A bit slow, IMO, and only 90 min long. But I LOVED LOVED LOVED The Intouchables. Do not miss this movie!!</p>
<p>^^^Oh, gosh, the scientists in Prometheus. Unbelievable!</p>
<p>I watched Margaret last night and plan to watch it again with my daughter when she’s home in August. It is very long and messy, and it confounds your expectations again and again. It is full of rich characterizations and riveting scenes.</p>
<p>My wife and I (and everyone else, it seems) loved Moonrise Kingdom. My wife hates to watch things twice; there are only 6-7 movies in existence that she is willing to re-watch after having seen them once. (They include The Philadelphia Story, ET, Victor/Victoria, Enchanted, Pret a Porter, and Everyone Says I Love You. It’s an eclectic list.) Except for The Fantastic Mister Fox, she has never liked a Wes Anderson movie. As the credits came on for this one, she instructed me to make certain we bought the DVD as soon as it was released.</p>
<p>We also liked The Intouchables a lot, but stuck in the back of our minds was the thought that it may have seemed saccharine and uncomfortably stereotyped if the characters had been speaking English and living in New York.</p>
<p>I watched Like Crazy on DVD a couple of weeks ago. Along with Before Sunrise, that would be a great film to watch with your teenage child, to have a chance to discuss love and sex. It shows two college students falling madly (and adorably) in love, and then struggling over a period of years as 20-somethings to be true to each other and themselves, as, inexorably, their lives take them in different directions. It’s very sad and very accurate, and kind of an alternate sequel to Before Sunrise.</p>
<p>As recommended in the Andy Griffith has died thread…I just watched A Face in the Crowd (1957 B&W). It is his film debut along with the debut of Lee Remick. This film is powerful and amazing for its time. Patricia Neal stars along side Andy Griffith. How he was passed up for an Academy Award nomination for this role is beyond me. He certainly had the chops for dramatic acting. He had me hook, line & sinker.</p>
<p>Couldn’t find the film on NetFlix, but my (amazing) public library had a DVD.</p>
<p>This story (power and the effects it has) is as timely today as it must have been in 1957.</p>
<p>Sorry to read the negatives on Prometheus. Too bad! My DH will drag us to see anyway though.</p>
<p>We just saw the latest Woody Allen movie, “To Rome With Love,” and it was enjoyable–pretty funny. The cast was excellent (although I thought Woody was sort of a caricature of a caricature of himself.)</p>
<p>Recently saw Moonrise Kingdom, which I enjoyed–except for that one scene where the young couple is “making out.” Is it just me? These young actors were signed up for this by their parents?!? I found it creepy and bordering on child abuse/molestation. Ick–it really made me squirm. I could never watch this movie again unless I skipped that scene. </p>
<p>Also, has anyone seen the movie “Melody” (1971 - British–with Mark Lester and Jack Wild who were in Oliver)? Very similar story set in London. Old BeeGees music. If you liked Moonrise Kingdom, you’d really like this one, too.</p>
<p>Did anyone see Monsieur Lazhar? (I haven’t read all pages of this thread.) My son recommended it, and I’ll probably see it soon.</p>
<p>Has anyone seen Knuckleball, a new documentary about baseball starting pitchers?</p>
<p>I saw To Rome With Love last week (Woody Allen’s latest film). Thought it was wonderful. He has topped himself (in my opinion) by managing to take his dialog writing style (which is quite unique) and have several characters speaking in Italian! It works and is quite a feat. The film is actually 4 stories rather than just one. He is a great storyteller and I thoroughly liked this film.</p>
<p>Just got back from The Intouchables. DH and I really enjoyed it…would recommend. </p>
<p>DH and I (ages 50&53)) appeared to be the the youngest in the theater (Fri. afternoon matinee). So when older character asked the younger one “Do you like Michelangelo?” and the reply was " I like the other turtles better.", I was the only one who laughed out loud.</p>
<p>Just came back from To Rome With Love. I was really glad to see a film that these seperate characters and not have overlap at all. It is horrible cliche and has been too overused recently. I loved both the American characters (especially Ellen Page and Woody Allen) and the Italian characters and thought it was a great mix. </p>
<p>Everyone has an opinion on Woody Allen - I find that you usually love him or hate him. I am fully in the love camp. He knows how to tell a story (which is usually a little oddball and crazy) and writes so wonderfully. I see many nominations in his future for this one.</p>
<p>To Rome With Love accomplished one thing for me - I’d love to visit Rome again. It is such a beautiful city and I fell in love with it when I was there for a mere three days.</p>
<p>Great short film (29 minutes) about cholera in Haiti. Baseball in the Time of Cholera. It was in the TriBeCa Film Festival this year. Very touching, beautiful, heartbreaking. It is now available to watch online. <a href=“http://www.undeny.org%5B/url%5D”>www.undeny.org</a>. If that address gets blocked, just google the title, it should be the first result.</p>
<p>Another thumbs up for Moonrise Kingdom. Loved how quirky it was and how well developed every character was in the movie. I just love movies like this! Plus the dc indie movie theater is a really cool theater - they serve real food, beer/wine/cocktails and real butter on the popcorn.</p>