Now Playing: What did you see at the movies?

[WitchyPoo]

I really want to see that.

The last few days I've seen three movies and am going to another today. I've seen Juno, I'm Not There and No Country For Old Men. I loved all of them. Cate Blanchett is fucking amazing. I can't see her not winning the Oscar.

[bklynred]

lpatrice, why isn't it eligible? And is it overly depressing (Diving Bell)?

WitchyPoo, is I'm Not There something I can get into without being a total Dylan devotee? It's not playing near me but I've been dying to see it (I guarantee I'll have to see it solo).

[lpatrice]

bklynred said:

lpatrice, why isn't it eligible? And is it overly depressing (Diving Bell)?

WitchyPoo, is I'm Not There something I can get into without being a total Dylan devotee? It's not playing near me but I've been dying to see it (I guarantee I'll have to see it solo).

bklynred

It isn't eligible apparently because it was more of a joint US/French production. Part of the problem is that the director is American and the French submitted a different pic for their countries Best Picture selection. I believe there is more to it than that, but that is the short version.

Back to the movie, it is nothing short of amazing. It will make you laugh, cry, recoil - but somehow still leave the theater in wonderful spirits. It was better than anything I've seen that came out in 2007 IMO. The acting was top notch, the cinematography and direction were superb. It was just fantastic overall - I can't believe it did not get any acting nods.

And I can be pretty jaded, I was all prepared to hate this movie. Because I was disappointed by all the other hyped up movies this past year: Atonement, Michael Clayton, Juno, NCFOM, etc. But again I loved, loved, loved, it. And to finally answer your answer, not overly depressing at all. If you do see it please let me know what you think.

[WitchyPoo]

bklynred said:

WitchyPoo, is I'm Not There something I can get into without being a total Dylan devotee? It's not playing near me but I've been dying to see it (I guarantee I'll have to see it solo).

The movie is full of his music, either the original recordings or other people singing his songs. So, if you can't stand the man it may be an issue.

If it's just that you don't know much about Dylan than I think the film can be enjoyed regardless. The characters are facets of Dylan and named after influences of his or characters he's created. There are several storylines weaved together. Each character is filmed in a different way.

It's a great piece of film that I say can be enjoyed even if one isn't Dylan educated. I happen to be a huge Dylan fan so it made my hairs stand up on many occassion.

[satellite]

I saw Untraceable over the weekend. It was totally formulaic and what I had expected. I was annoyed because I thought I'd still be paying matinee prices at 4:10 on a Saturday.

It did kind of hit you over the head with the "evils of a voyeuristic society" theme, but as one reviewer said the movie is also putting butts in seats with it's own elements of torture porn. The director could have cut away and let us imagine some of the more gruesome moments.

One thing I did find oddly refreshing- they made one of the suspects an actual creepy guy who happened to be gay instead of doing the "Silence of the Lambs" thing coding the guy as gay in a femme-y homophobic type of way. This suspect had been fired from his job for setting up a hidden camera in the mens room, and had his basement "wall of crazy" plastered with photos of male models and from gay porn mags. He also had stacks and stacks of adult DVDs. Like they could have substituted in a straight guy and had the same movie.

[Deleted]

I rented 3:10 to Yuma and while Christian was hot, there was something about the way Russell Crowe played the bad boy that made me not want to look away.

I also finally went to see Enchanted. Loved it till the climax which completely derailed the film. I didn't understand why the stepmom was so hard up on hurting the girl when her way out was to promote the love affair between the girl and mc. dreamy. Still, Amy Adams was sooo great. I fully believed her character.

[Smilla]

As I posted in its own thread, I saw There Will Be Blood over the weekend, and just...didn't love it overly much. Except from a metaphysical perspective. DDL gave a great performance, but the entire film was heavily weighted toward showcasing his brilliance, which hurt the quality of the movie overall. Also—there was something just not. quite. right. about the pacing, which is still irritating me three days later.

[sardonictart]

I saw Definitely, Maybe last night, and I loved it. It's not cheesy, not cliche and very character driven. The gentleman that I saw it with loved it too. I highly recommend it...plus Ryan Reynolds. Eeee! My only complaint is that we never get to see the blessed torso.

[Deleted]

I agree on the Definitely, Maybe enjoyment, sardonictart. The previews looked hopelessly cheesy but it was getting good reviews, so I decided to suck it up and see it. And gosh darn it, I thought it was great... so much less cliche than most romantic comedies, and all of the casting was perfect.

The theater was pretty packed and everyone seemed to have a pleasant buzz when they left. I think it could definitely be a sleeper hit.

[Deleted]

I watched Jumper yesterday and am torn between liking it for what it was and wondering if they cut out huge chunks of the movie will all the exposition. I do know I found most of the characters (barring Jamie Bell and Samuel L. Jackson's hairdo) to be annoying as hell.