Summer is a big time for new movies. Heck, it can be a big time for old movies. What movie, new or old, would you like to see this summer that you haven’t already seen? Toy Story 3? The A-Team? How about finally getting around to watching Driving Miss Daisy or Gandhi or Killer Klowns From Outer Space?
33 comments:
well last night I finally watched Crazy Heart. Music was fabulous (T-Bone Burnett, Buddy Miller.) Jeff Bridges did a great job as a Merle Haggard/Kristofferson kind of character.
Jed, I've been meaning to catch up on the last "Harry Potter" and I haven't seen "Valkyrie" yet. Scott's been trying to give me a "to do list" as well, which includes "In The Loop."
We just took the kids to see Toy Story 3 this weekend, so I can cross that one off the list (it was great, by the way).
I'd like to see The A Team, Harry Brown (with Michael Caine) looks promising, The Blind Side, Surrogates, and How to Train Your Dragon to name a few. A couple that haven't come out yet: The Expendables and I'm really looking forward to the Voyage of the Dawn Treader (it will be out sometime in December).
TJ
TJ, I hear really great things about "Toy Story 3" -- I really liked Toy Story 1 and 2. I hear (from the other day) that "The Blind Side" is really good as well.
I'm also very tempted by the ads I'm seeing for "Despicable Me" which looks like it could be fun.
Andrew - I will vouch for Valkyrie; very nicely done! I also did a DVR on Sunday of the SciFi channels' miniseries on thePhantom. Don't know how this will stack up, but I absolutely loved the comic strip and thought the Billy Zane movie made for great summer time pop corn munching (also a young Catherine Zeta Jones).
99% of my movie watching is done in my own theater so nothing released this summer will be viewed.At least the sound system and seating is state of the artplus you can hit the pause button. I recently picked up MGM and HDNet movies while dumping HBO and SHO. Thenew channels have some great obscure titles. I'm anxious to watch the 10th man with Anthony Hopkins. Looks like an interesting premise and excellent cast.
Jed, I was hoping for more from The Phantom. It was little too slow for me. I like the Billy Zane version too, fun summer flick, though I never read the comic books.
I tend to watch movies at home as well these days. I just don't enjoy going to the theaters anymore -- too much noise, not as comfortable as home, and too expensive. I'd rather wait until the come to HBO or on NetFlix.
In terms of new movies, I am also content to wait. When you have Netflix and a Blu-Ray player, why bother spending 10 bucks on a whim? The summer movie season doesn't excite me as much as it did 10 years ago but Toy Story 3, The A-Team, Inception, and The Expendables are all on the "to watch" list.
As far as catching up with older films, I went through another 80s phase on Netflix: Red Sonja, the Conan films, Predator 2, Hudson Hawk, The Adventures of Ford Fairlane, Red Heat, Commando, and Tango & Cash were all on my list last month. I won't go into detail for each film but I will say Commando and T&C were both hysterical! Action-packed, quotable dialogue, and fun to watch. Are they Shakespeare? No... but they were time well spent. And I even kinda liked Hudson Hawk. (ducks flying objects)
I also just watched Sherlock Holmes... pretty fun movie. I've got 2012 and The Invention of Lying at home right now.
Scott, "The Invention of Lying" was just awful. Horrible movie.
"Conan" was a great movie, "Conan 2" not so much -- great soundtracks! (Which, by the way, will be the subject of Friday's 1:00 pm question.)
"Commando" has some of my favorite quote to use all the time. "You said you'd kill me last!" "I lied."
Several of these movies are on that guilty pleasure list you keep wanting to see. I just haven't had a chance to finish it yet.
Scott, P.S. I agree entirely about the value of seeing it at home versus blowing a huge amount at the theater. Around here, ticket prices are closer to $20 than $10. For that, I can own the movie on DVD.
Your warning about "Lying" has been taken under advisement. :-) I also got a new temp job so I will be chiming in on that soundtrack column late Friday night (as opposed to, say, 1:02 in the afternoon!).
Re: Commando, people quote Predator and The Terminator films but for me, all the fun quotes are in this one, including this little bon mot.
(I guess I'm a sucker for well-delivered profanity!)
Scott sold me on "Dinner for Schmucks".
"The Expendables" looks fun.
I want to catch "Robin Hood" before it is gone. Still like Crowe.
Any thoughts on "The Book of Eli"?
And in terms of classic movies, I caught up with a bunch, including the original 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Italian Job, The Odd Couple, and most of the Road to... movies.
Re: the Road movies, I get the idea (a nice diversion for wartime audiences) and I know Hope and Crosby are talented beyond belief but I didn't think the movies were that funny. Maybe I had to be there. :-) And my love of the Marx Bros. and Stooges is well-documented so it isn't anything against old comedies and "schtick."
The other films... all great. The Odd Couple... sheer elegance in its simplicity. The Italian Job... was Michael Caine ever not cool?
Thanks, Ponderosa. I hope Schmucks is good. I haven't seen Eli yet but it's on the list.
Scott, Cool, I hope it's a good temp job? Maybe polishing precious stones? ;-)
Let me know what you think about Lying. I wanted to like it, but it was just the kind of movie that wears you down with its unpleasantness. And I'm not even talking about the politics, it was just tiring and annoying.
Regarding your quote, I prefer this one: Arnold.
Ponderosa, I have to say that in all honesty, I really think Crowe is a great actor. He's impressed me in everything he's ever done. He's kind of a jerk as a person, but as an actor he's really good.
Sounds like Scott should work in movie marketing! LOL!
"The Expendables" looks like fun, but I'll wait for it to come to HBO.
I haven't seen "Book of Eli". I've largely lost my taste for apocalypse films.
A-Team was great fun!!!
Book of Eli was amazing - deep.
Robin Hood was good (don't overthink it)
Still haven't managed The Blind Side (glad to hear I'm not the ONLY one) or even Facing the Giants (enjoyed Fireproof)
I think I want to see Knight & Day - who should I pretend is playing the lead, Matthew M perhaps? Despicable Me feels like it could make it, but I am concerned of disapoinment, don't know why...
For some bizarre reason we got off on Gypsy in class today and now I'm itching for Mame and His Girl Friday.
Not planning on watching GWTW ever, ever again! (couldn't help myself)
Scott, I love the Marx Brothers (but not the Stooges), but I also don't care for the "Road" movies.
It reminds me too much of the humor you get on late-night television, where most of the laughs come from just liking the host. I don't like that kind of humor, I think it's lazy.
rlaWTX, I really like "His Girl Friday" -- very enjoyable.
I suspect that "Despicable Me" could be disappointing, but I'm hoping it isn't. In fact, I'm finding that most of the modern cartoons -- with a couple of Pixar exceptions are not enjoyable anymore. I've got an article on it, but just haven't finished it. I don't like the fact that they've abandoned "cartoon physics" and are instead basically making animated-real films. They're also relying on celebrity instead of writing. Very sad.
"Knight and Day" could be fun, because Cruise usually delivers a decent movie. I wouldn't call him great, but he's dependably entertaining.
Call me crazy, but I'm really starting to think that you're a Matthew M. fan?
I was thinking of seeing Killers before it ran out.
But I see a lot of new movies so....
Individualist, I figure I'll see that when it hits cable.
Scott - I have to concur with Andrew. I saw "The Invention of Lying" as one of the inflight movie and thought it was truly dreadful. I blow hot and cold on Ricky Gervais (his anti-semetic empty suit Brit money man from the studio in For Your Consideration was spot on.) He really missed the mark on this one--bad script in my opinion.
BTW, thanks to you, my copy of the entire series "Thriller" is ordered. . . . that probably speaks as much as anything to what I'll be watching.
Andrew - watched the Phantom movie event tonight. It did develop slowly, but I kind of understand that since it was a backdoor pilot. It sort of honored the original franchise while trying to make it relevent to today's younger audiences. I could see this as being another guilty pleasure of mine in much the way "Witchblade" was, assuming it gets picked up.
Jed -
Noted, and your welcome!
For the room -
Funnily enough, I haven't bought any DVDs or Blu-Rays in a while. I have an Amazon.com credit that I'll probably use around the holidays (or when I get a permanent job - whichever comes first).
However, I'm still not saving any money (figures!) since the specialty record labels are releasing vintage movie scores left and right, including never-before-released stuff and expansions of existing scores.
Film Score Monthly just released James Horner's complete score for Star Trek III. It's amazing how much material was left off the original LP (for space reasons, obviously). For more info about all this stuff, click here.
Jed, I could see it forming a decent series, so I'm withholding judgment at the moment. I liked some of the actors and I liked the cinematography. I just thought it was a little slow. But presumably, a series would have a quicker pace. So I will definitely check it out.
On Gervais, I'm like you -- sometimes he hits it, sometimes he misses. This one was a bad miss.
Scott, I'm telling you. . . find a job handling valuable items. Then e-mail me, I'll fill you in on part 2!! ;-)
I've got a lot of soundtrack stuff on my computer. The one I'd like to get but never could was The Black Hole -- great stuff!
Speaking of Star Trek, I've been watching Krull and I was amazed how much like Star Trek II the effects and soundtrack were. In fact, they're identical. Then it turns out both movies were done by the same people.
Valuable items, huh? :-)
Something tells me I'll be talking more about this on Friday but composer James Horner has been accused (literally for years) of ripping himself off as well as ripping off classical composers, most notably Prokofiev.
Battle Beyond the Stars -> Star Trek II -> Krull -> Aliens, etc. There are also sections of Star Trek III that sound very much like cues from Prokofiev's Romeo & Juliet. And even as I watched Avatar, the music reminded me of Titanic.
If you have some time to kill, watch this.
Trust me, if The Black Hole is ever given the deluxe treatment, I'll let you know!
Note: regarding Krull's visual effects, they might look similar but the film was made in the UK with British technicians, whereas Trek II was done in the States. Trek II's FX were done by ILM while Krull's FX were supervised by the late Derek Meddings (a veteran of three Superman films, several Bond films, and those Gerry Anderson shows like Thunderbirds).
Scott, That's interesting about Horner, because the more I listened, the more I literally expected to see the Enterprise come sailing through the shot! It was very, very similar.
Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.
As for Krull, the effects may have been different people, but somebody was peeking over somebody else's shoulder. Even the credits appear to be in the same font!
I plan to catch up on a bunch of John Wayne movies I got in the mail this week!
Some day I'd like to see The Ghost Breakers. With a line like this it can't be all bad.
USArtguy, That is one of my favorite lines from film! ". . . you mean like Democrats?" But I haven't seen the film.
Anon, John Wayne is still listed by a majority of Americans as their favorite actor. He's not my favorite, but he's up there.
Andrew: Matthew ever since A Time to Kill, don't love all of his movies, but I do love that drawl... :-)
I like Rosalind Russell, an interesting looking actress with some humdinger parts: Mame, Gypsy's mom, Friday, The Women (which is an excellent movie! first time I saw that I was impressed with the subject matter for that time period - and Mary's choice in the end is one I'm sure many women understand! heck - her whole journey... -- haven't seen the remake, don't intend to...)
rlaWTX, I thought Russell was a great actress who really had some incredible roles. She should definitely be mentioned in any discussion of the great actresses.
Like you, I like Matthew M, though I have to say that I've rarely liked the movies he's chosen.
Andrew - you said you get comments left on old posts so here we go. I watched The Invention of Lying. While I'm a fan of Ricky Gervais and Louis C.K. (and Tina Fey even though she has about five lines)...
...this might've been one of the most depressing movies I've ever seen. I can't even put my finger on it. I'm not a religious man so I wasn't exactly offended by the Moses/Jesus stuff but from the scene when the mom dies till the end, I pretty much had a frown on the whole time (except for one line about mansions that made me chuckle).
There were a few good ideas - the absence of lying, genetic compatibility and marriage, the purpose of God - but it doesn't really coalesce into anything. And considering my own life journey over the last few years (grandparents getting on in years, quarterlife funk, the fear of being alone), this was the last movie I should've rented! I thought the best scenes were 100% dramatic scenes: the death of the mom and Jennifer Garner telling the little fat kid that everything would be fine. But on the whole, it left a bitter taste in my mouth. One wonders what Frank Capra might've done with the idea.
Now excuse me while I watch another movie to cheer up. Maybe Schindler's List. :-)
Scott, Yeah, I also found it depressing, but not even in a good way like how some films are depressing but cathartic. This just pissed me off watching it as each of the scenes pointlessly ground on getting more and more unpleasant.
And as I said above, that's not even a political issue for me, it was just a brutally unpleasant film. Not only were each of the characters nasty, abusive and unappealing -- and not even in a good way like comedies often use such characters to create funny situations -- but the whole story struck me as angry and yet timid.
It was like they had this good idea with a lot of promise ("no one can lie"), so they thought of the most controversial thing they could do with it ("let's push atheism and make fun of religion") but then they wimped out and they ended up just blurting the idea out without any thought or development and they were afraid to follow up with it or follow through with it. In fact, by the end, I'm not even sure they weren't promoting religion -- though the writing was so unclear that I honestly can't be certain.
It's like a film with the start of a lot of jokes but none that ever get finished, and a bunch of controversial ideas that they ran away from the moment they spit them out. Add in the constant extreme nastiness of the characters, and what you get is a pretty horrible, unpleasant movie.
It's too bad too because I think the concept itself was fantastic. It certainly deserves to be done again by a much better writer.
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