What was the last movie you saw?

[Jestak]

Out of Sight is very possibly the best film adaptation of Elmore Leonard, quite an accomplishment when one considers the length and distinction of the list that includes Jackie Brown, Hombre, Get Shorty and a slew of other good movies. While there's a crime plot--and a pretty good one in itself--the core of the film is the impossible romance that arises between bank robber Jack Foley (George Clooney) and US Marshal Karen Sisco (Jennifer Lopez). They meet when she interrupts a prison breakout which Jack is part of; Jack's partner gets the drop on her and they bond in the most unusual of circumstances--locked in the trunk of her car. Clooney gives one of his best performances, and J. Lo proves that beneath all the hype, she is in fact quite a talented actress. They're supported by a terrific cast: Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle, Albert Brooks, Catherine Keener, Dennis Farina, and cameos from Samuel L. Jackson and MIchael Keaton (reprising his role as Ray Nicolette from Jackie Brown). I very highly recommend this one.

[Dovrebanen]

The Time traveler's wife.
Not really sure if I liked it or not. First of all, the time changing gets way too confusing and messes with everything I take for granted. Like past, present, future. How can he be there at that age and so on... So that kinda got me off track with the story itself, which I'm sure was romantic and sweet and all. Confusing sums it up for me. Seems I'm more likely to accept vampires and wizards than time traveling

Oh I hated the movie version of The Time Traveler's Wife. I would urge anyone who has seen the movie and hasn't read the book not to be put off reading the book because of the abysmal movie. They literally took the book and changed it into a sappy romance which completely missed the nuances and subtlety of the story. I read the book before I saw the movie but even so, I got confused watching the movie trying to work it out! The movie just frustrated me.
Trust me, the book is so much better and really worth reading. I cried at the end when I finished reading it and I don't often cry at books.

Thanks! I have the book, but I haven't read it yet. And I didn't particularly want to either after the movie. What I missed from the movie was her reasoning for wanting to be with this man. Because let's face it, it's not something to be taken on lightly. And I wanted to see more emotions and thoughts on the situation. And some things about the time traveling just didn't make sense at all, and just made it all very unlikely even if you accept the basic concept of the movie. And the movie was a little sad in the end, but I really wasn't taken by the story at all so I was very far from crying... But I'll give the book a chance now

Last movie... Couples retreat. It was just okay. Easy entertainment. With Vince Vaughn you can really get anything... It wasn't too bad.

[Jestak]

After the success of Seven Men From Now (which I wrote about in this thread a while back), produced by John Wayne's Batjac company, Randolph Scott and director Budd Boetticher teamed for five more Westerns produced by Scott's own Ranown company. Tonight I watched Ride Lonesome, maybe the best of the "Ranown" Westerns. Ben Brigade (Scott) captures wanted murderer Billy John (James Best), who has a large bounty on his head. On the way to Santa Cruz, he falls in with a pair of likable outlaws, Boone (Pernell Roberts) and his young partner Whit (James Coburn in his feature debut), and with Carrie Lane (Karen Steele), the widow of a stagecoach station manager. Boone and Whit know that if they can bring Billy John in, they will get an amnesty for their past crimes. Brigade, however, is less interested in his captive than in Billy John's brother Frank (Lee Van Cleef), who did Brigade a grievous wrong many years ago. Like all of the Scott-Boetticher Westerns, this is a good story (script by Burt Kennedy)--not complex or epic, but tightly paced and austere. Scott is his usual solid hero, Steele is an attractive heroine, and Roberts, best known for his TV work ("Bonanza," etc.), turns in the best film performance of his life.

[BlueCitrus]

Last movie I watched was Sleepover. It came out several years back, but I kind of love it. It's more aimed at like 12-13 year olds (the characters worry about starting high school) but still really amusing. I watch it every time it's on.

[Jestak]

Tonight I watched a pair of entertaining Buster Keaton shorts. In The Goat, Buster runs into a series of misadventures when he's mistaken for the notorious criminal Dead Shot Dan. In Cops, he contrives to get the entire police force of a city after him. Both films feature some innovative comic action sequences. Joe Roberts and Virginia Fox, regular Keaton collaborators, appear in both films.

[Jestak]

The Tourist had a lot of potential--it has a terrific-looking cast, a hot new director, and a nicely romantic Hitchcockian scenario--but in the end I found it to be less than the sum of its considerable parts. The titular tourist is a community college math teacher, Frank (Johnny Depp), who is taking a train to Venice, when out of the blue, Elise (Angelina Jolie) sits down with him and starts chatting him up in a very friendly way. Of course, Frank reacts the way any heterosexual male would if Angelina Jolie started acting like she wanted to be his best friend. But it won't be smooth sailing for the two--there's the small matter of why half the police of Europe (with Paul Bettany more or less in charge) seem to have Elise under some kind of surveillance. And then there's the sinister Shaw (Steven Berkoff), who desperately wants to have a chat with Frank.

Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck made the brilliant film The Lives of Others (an Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film a few years back), but there's nothing distinctive about this one. It kept my attention, but in a routine sort of way. The plot is twisty--Christopher McQuarrie of "Usual Suspects" fame co-wrote the screenplay--but there's nothing truly original. I like both lead actors as individuals, but they seemed a little lacking in chemistry.

[Jestak]

Tonight I watched Starter for Ten, an engaging British romantic comedy. Brian Jackson (James McAvoy) is a working class lad who heads off to college (or perhaps I should say "to university") during the Thatcher era in England. Smart but socially awkward, Brian is the sort of guy who, had he lived in the US, would have lived to watch "Jeopardy," and been able to answer every question. This talent comes in handy; Brian becomes the star of his school's "University Challenge" team. However, he is less adept at handling the two potential romantic entanglements he encounters: Alice (Alice Eve), the aspring actress who is also on the University Challenge team, and Rebecca (Rebecca Hall in her film debut), the lefty activist who has a different cause every week. Dominic Cooper and Benedict Cumberbatch show up in supporting roles. There's nothing all that unconventional here, story-wise, but there are very sincere and believable performances from all three leads. I liked it.

[Tornado]

I just saw the latest version of Jane Eyre. It's the sixth adaptation I've seen, and it wasn't a bad one, especially since they condensed such a large and complex story into two hours. That's always a challenge, and I thought it was one of the better ones, although I didn't think the chemistry between the two leads was quite right. Mr Rochester was suitably brooding and compelling, but his romantic scenes with Jane seemed to fall flat sometimes. Jane's performance was spot on; one of the best I've seen. Three out of five stars.

[Edwards Ragazza]

I just saw the latest version of Jane Eyre. It's sixth adaptation I've seen, and it wasn't a bad one, especially since they condensed such a large and complex story into two hours. That's always a challenge, and I thought it was one of the better ones, although I didn't think the chemistry between the two leads was quite right. Mr Rochester was suitably brooding and compelling, but his romantic scenes with Jane seemed to fall flat sometimes. Jane's performance was spot on; one of the best I've seen. Three out of five stars.

Can't wait to see that movie. Never read the book or watched the original.

I just watched the remake of Arthur. Never saw the original I would give it 3 stars. My husband told me the original was better.

[Jacobs-girl]

I just saw the latest version of Jane Eyre. It's the sixth adaptation I've seen, and it wasn't a bad one, especially since they condensed such a large and complex story into two hours. That's always a challenge, and I thought it was one of the better ones, although I didn't think the chemistry between the two leads was quite right. Mr Rochester was suitably brooding and compelling, but his romantic scenes with Jane seemed to fall flat sometimes. Jane's performance was spot on; one of the best I've seen. Three out of five stars.

I want to see this! Did you see the 2006 version (the BBC mini-series)? That is my favorite JE adaptation as it's the most faithful to the book and I think Toby Stephens (Rochester) and Ruth Wilson (Jane) are great so I'm not sure this latest version will match my liking of the 2006 version, but I'd like to see it anyway.