quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:
Has anyone seen "3:10 to Yuma"? It is a Western. It is the other movie I got last week from Netflix. Looking for a "Yea, it's worth watching." or "Nah, I wouldn't bother." kind of opinion.

I've not seen the movie. (I'm way behind on movies--- always am.) But... I listened to three women at the gym today... they were raving about the movie-- saying it is a "can't miss."
I don't know these women at all, but thought I'd pass along their opinions.

This one will come from left or right field - it certainly isn't center field.

So far, I've only watched portions, but I love watching a DVD I requested as an interlibrary loan. It's called Three Nights with the Canadian Brass. For all you musicians out there, it's a must see.

I got it because I have seen and laughed through Hornsmoke a one act horse opera written by Peter Schickele - sometimes known as P. D. Q. Bach. I wanted to share the experience with some friends so I requested the DVD.

After we watched it once, they asked if we could watch it again. (Hornsmoke is on the first of the three evenings).

After the second viewing, we decided to see what else we could find. A Tribute to the Ballet will have you rolling on the floor. I guarantee.

Linda

Absolutely, positively, 100% worth watching. I think I commented on it earlier in the thread somewhere. I classify it as a psychological thriller set in the Wild West...not a "western" in the traditional sense. Have you seen/Did you like "Unforgiven"? 3:10 reminded me of it in the way it didn't pander or slow down to explain every single stupid little thing (a big pet peeve of mine with movies).

Plus, Christian Bale brings the hotness.

Has anyone seen "3:10 to Yuma"? It is a Western. It is the other movie I got last week from Netflix. Looking for a "Yea, it's worth watching." or "Nah, I wouldn't bother." kind of opinion.

Ok, I found my old post, and thought I'd update. I agree with Denise (?) about Lust, Caution. It was well done, it was good, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it, per se.

I saw Juno, and liked it. It was well done. It showed that teenage pregnancy is difficult, and showed that it was a difficult thing to do. It wasn't quite 'wrapped up in a little bow", but it ended nicely, I thought.

I saw Sweeney Todd. Very well done! (very gory, but there was only one bit that had me going *gag*) The music was fantastic, but it does confirm my doubts about the British School, that they had my sister's class sing about it at age 9 or 10! Extremely bloody, but good fun! Johnny Depp has an amazing voice.

My friends and I watched "Into the Wild" on DVD last night. We all loved it, though it hit 2 of us (who had similar kinds of childhoods to the guy in the movie) more emotionally than the others.

It reminds me of "Brokeback Mountain" in terms of the physical beauty of the film. I was SO impressed with Sean Penn (who directed) because I don't think he has a great deal of experience directing and he did a really lovely job.

For those who haven't read the book, it is a true story of a kid right out of college who gives up his possessions and bums around the country preparing for his Big Alaskan Adventure. The people he meets along the way are all touched by his passion for living an authentic life free of the materialism and hypocrisy of people like his parents, even though they may feel he is a bit naive and idealistic.

Highly recommend both the book and the movie.

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
Not to mention... nearly everybody is thin and attractive.

My family like something from "Little Miss Sunshine". Parents disagreeing (in front of the kids) about the slightly pudgy kid eating ice cream. Family members in the psche ward. Grandpa doing heroin in the bathroom. Kids with dreams that are not attainable. And the good parts, too.

"Little Miss Sunshine" is one of my favorite movies!

Jill

Not to mention... nearly everybody is thin and attractive.

My family like something from "Little Miss Sunshine". Parents disagreeing (in front of the kids) about the slightly pudgy kid eating ice cream. Family members in the psche ward. Grandpa doing heroin in the bathroom. Kids with dreams that are not attainable. And the good parts, too.

Denise-
I totally agree, tv/movies so often present the "perfect" side of life that we all deep down know is not true but still wish for. That may be why I grew up wondering why my mom and dad were not like Mr. and Mrs. Brady and why wasn't I greeted every day after school with a plate of cookies and a cold glass of milk by our live-in maid?

I do like Tyler Perry's movies. They portray real-life issues in relationships, whether they are family or romantic relationships. It is not always the boy-meets-girl, fall in love, get married, have 2.5 children(because that is the statistical average per household, ), and live happily-ever-after. don't get me wrong, they are still movies and have a lot of unrealistic stuff in them, but seem to deal with some real-life issues. And Madea, one of his main characters(that he plays himself), is hysterical!

Jill

quote:

Originally posted by GoingSkiing:
[...]
I think that "Romantic Comedies" are some of the worst for girl's/women's psyches... (and most of us don’t think twice about the message they send). The whole notion that the guy is a jerk… meets the perfect girl… completely changes in 3-4 weeks and becomes the perfect guy and they live happily ever after… Or the “Pretty Women” kind of movies… Or the movie where the nice guy is engaged to a b---- and meets the heroine and sees the light and dumps the b---- and they live happily ever after.
[...]
Watch a steady diet of that… and then listen too much to the radio and the “I’ll ALWAYS love you… because you NEED me and I NEED you” songs… and you’ve got one messed up view of relationships.

But if 50% of movie romances and marriages ended in divorce… that would be pretty depressing. So these movies are a cultural fact of life… but I still think that they mess us up.

I agree with you 100% and you can add to that the romance novels. And yes, I did mean to call them novels . I am talking about the well written ones that actually have a plot & story line, not the trashy two-bit "bodice rippers" that give romance a bad name.

quote:

Originally posted by jillybean:
She said, mom, do you really think that watching ONE movie is going to make me want a baby?... is pretty mature for a 14 yr. old girl and I believe has a good enough head on her shoulders to not think having a baby at her age would be glamorous.

I think that she is right. I was thinking about this... and I was 34 and was pretty clueless about the realities of having and living with a baby 24/7.

And even movies that give a "bad" message are a good opportunity for a conversation.

I think that "Romantic Comedies" are some of the worst for girl's/women's psyches... (and most of us don’t think twice about the message they send). The whole notion that the guy is a jerk… meets the perfect girl… completely changes in 3-4 weeks and becomes the perfect guy and they live happily ever after… Or the “Pretty Women” kind of movies… Or the movie where the nice guy is engaged to a b---- and meets the heroine and sees the light and dumps the b---- and they live happily ever after.

Even Atonement…(SPOILER WARNING, sort of…) she treats him like dirt most of his life, and even worse while they are away at college… they “suddenly realize” they are in love/lust… have 90 seconds of what looks like some really uncomfortable sex (but I suppose that if you are REALLY, REALLY in love... you don't notice the bookcase grinding into your bony back... or your legs don't get tired or cramp having sex while standing on a library ladder… and you aren’t thinking the whole time, “It is probably ok… I probably won’t get pregnant if we have sex standing up. Yes. I’m sure this is ok… probably… maybe… who am I kidding?… I know this isn‘t ok! OMG… no wait… it is ok… we are standing up… I‘m pretty sure it is ok” or “I hope he doesn’t think I’m a slut…” or “I really love him… what if I say it and he doesn’t say it back… and if he says it back… it is probably because he wants to keep having sex… he probably doesn‘t mean it… It is too soon to say it… aghhhh, he probably thinks I‘m a slut” or you don’t have the urge to say out loud, “OWWW!!! STOP!!! This hurts… Stop NOW!!! I have to go find a tube of KY jelly… I‘ll be right back:”)… but all the achingly romantic movie thoughts is her head are interrupted when her little sister walks in on them and interrupts them… and they experience a love that transcends war, prison, class, family turmoil, and even death… challenges that are insurmountable for most of us.

Watch a steady diet of that… and then listen too much to the radio and the “I’ll ALWAYS love you… because you NEED me and I NEED you” songs… and you’ve got one messed up view of relationships.

But if 50% of movie romances and marriages ended in divorce… that would be pretty depressing. So these movies are a cultural fact of life… but I still think that they mess us up.

Jill,
I don't think that Juno makes it seem like having a baby is no big deal. It really messes up her life and creates some major problems for her. Just because it isn't an overly dramatic, heartwrenching, lifetime movie network take on the subject doesn't mean it doesn't take the subject seriously.
I would second the suggestion that you watch it together and talk about it afterward. There is a sex scene in it that you may not consider appropriate, I don't know.

Linda,
I LOVE imdb.com! I did not realize though that you could set up a movie list-thanks for the tip!
Another employee for the co. I work for who lives in the South and I instant message each other a lot and for a while we would just type in random movie quotes and have to guess the movie/tv show. I'm sure our boss would be thrilled to know this is what we do with our time, LOL! Imdb.com is an invaluable tool in the movie/tv trivia challenge, haha!

Denise-thanks for asking your son about Juno. That is probably the typical response from a teen boy. I've thought about it and I've talked to dd about the movie. She said, mom, do you really think that watching ONE movie is going to make me want a baby? She has no boyfriend, really expresses no interest in having one, and is pretty mature for a 14 yr. old girl and I believe has a good enough head on her shoulders to not think having a baby at her age would be glamorous.

I'm not sure who suggested it, but I do think watching Juno myself first is a great idea. That way i can gauge the appropriateness of it. There are also other movies/tv shows that she watches, and these are PG-13 rated, that show some pretty risque stuff! There was a video on a Teen Nick channel(i believe it was anyway) and it was a girl about dd's age dancing around her bedroom in her underwear, and then her boyfriend comes in and they are playfully tickling each other etc ON the bed! I was like, excuse me? what is this? Certainly NOT appropriate!

Jill

quote:

Originally posted by SheriaVa:
Period movies (for me) tend to be long (over 2 hours) and slow moving. Did you find that to be true of Atonement? I really want to like it but I am not the biggest fan of period pieces.

I'm not a big fan of period pieces either but it was well done, and the 2 hrs (was it really that long?) didn't bother me. If you rent it you can take a break if you get tired, but I don't think you will.

I asked ds what he thought of Juno. He was somewhat non-commital.

How did it portray teen preg? His answer sounded like a question... like, "As hard?"... (Is that the right answer you are looking for, Mom?)

Do you think that a teen girl watching it could maybe think that being pregnant isn't so really bad?
"How should I know... I'm not a girl".

But what would be your guess?
"Really... I'm not a girl. I don't know what they think."
I tried.

Jill,

You might try visiting www.imdb.com

You could search for the movie through a number of keywords including "middle East". You could also watch trailers.

You could also start a "my movies" list and even manipulate it from "wish" to "seen" when appropriate.

And, you can access this site from any computer, so you don't have to be home to check things out!

Linda

quote:

Originally posted by D in St Pete:
I really enjoyed "The Kingdom," Jill. As someone in the type of environment you'll encounter in the first part of the movie, I thought it was nicely done.

That's good to hear, D, because I seem to recall that it was not well reviewed by critics when it came out in the theatre. I didn't bother with it in large part because of that. I don't think critics' opinions are the be-all-and-end-all, but I do know certain critics who tend to have similar opinions as me, so I do tend to pay attention when they either really praise or really pan a movie. Also, I tend to use metacritic.com a lot, which is a compilation of MANY critics and an average of their scores. There may be a few buttheads in the crowd who will give all lowbrow movies an F, for example, but if 60 movie critics give a movie an F, you can be pretty sure it sucks.

I'll go put The Kingdom on my Netflix queue now.

I really enjoyed "The Kingdom," Jill. As someone in the type of environment you'll encounter in the first part of the movie, I thought it was nicely done.

It was directed by the guy who directed the movie "Friday Night Lights," and who got the tv series going; I really enjoy the way he frames dramas as if you're there watching.

It's one of those that kinda started, and then pulled me along fast enough that I wanted to just catch a breath! But in a good way. Working around those guys, I'll say Jason Bateman nailed his part, too.

It's definitely got action, especially in the latter portions, but was paced a lot like a murder mystery, if that makes sense. Jennifer Garner, who annoys me for some reason I can't verbalize, was good in it as well, and the main Saudi supporting character (can't get to imdb to look him up from work) was really, really, really good.

I'd love to hear what you think of it after you see it.

It's not The Kite Runner, although I'd like to see it but can't imagine it would compare to the book-loved the book. I am thinking it might be The Kingdom, which actually is an action/drama. It is not Babel either, just went and watched the trailer. I might go to Blockbuster this afternoon and just wander around and see if I can find whatever movie it was. I just started a list of movies I want to see so I don't drive myself nuts thinking about it like I am right now.

JIll

quote:

Originally posted by Brie:

quote:

I rented Atonement last weekend. I thought that it was good. It is done very well. I ended up turning on the subtitles as I had trouble catching a lot of it and the accents.

We did the same thing!

I was really glad that I had rented it on DVD and wasn't watching pay for view! It would take me half the night to figure out how to turn on the subtitles on the cable TV. I've also really enjoyed watching the "Extra" stuff on DVD's like the directors commentaries or the making of this film.

I watch a lot of DVD's in Tahoe, as we don't have tv reception or cable. I watch stuff that dh and ds would either hate... or isn't appropriate for ds. I think that they wouldn't be interested in Attonement...