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[Nix]

I've been watching a lot of movies lately. What have you seen recently?

Here's some of what I've seen in the last few weeks (not all for the first time, of course):

12 Monkeys (reminded me a lot of La Jetee)
No Country for Old Men
Dogma
Children of Men
The Men Who Stare at Goats
The Truman Show
Robin Hood (with Kevin Kostner)
The 7th Voyage of Sinbad
Pulp Fiction

[HöllenKobold]

I finally got around to watching Blade Runner last week. It was .

[deathtotheweird]

I rewatched the Lord of the Rings movies a few days ago. they're so good. I saw them all in the theatre long ago but haven't actually sat down and really watched them since, so it kinda felt like watching them for the first time.

[Nikica]

I watch one movie in a month or something like that. Recent things I saw are No Country for Old Men and (500) Days of Summer, both very good movies.

[s0]

Finally got around to seeing Lost Highway recently. It was great.

[BubblePipeMedia]

Funny, I just recently rewatched it. Interesting film. Kind of unrelated, but if I wanted abstract mystery, I'd prefer to read some Sam Keith Comics.

[Richard Kain]

I saw X-Men: First Class in the theaters recently. It was decent, but got a bit hammy in parts. There's a quick cameo in a montage sequence that had me laughing hard. And Kevin Bacon was delightful as a villain. (really looked like he was having fun with the role)

Just yesterday I re-watched the Sherlock Holmes movie. It was still quite entertaining. It broke from the more traditional Holmes films, but had an appealing take on the character, and some excellent chemistry between Holmes and Watson. Hopefully the sequel will have a better mystery plot.

[dangerousday]

Watched Scott Pilgrim last week, along with Inglourious Basterds, both for the first time. Loved both of them.

[Theophilus]

I've been watching the Bourne series for the first time in the past few days. It's excellent.

[laserdracula]

Chungking Express and 2046.  I'm really digging Wong Kar-Wai's style.

[NathanielEdwards]

Finally got around to seeing Lost Highway recently. It was great.

I'm a huge Lynch fan but I can't say I really understood that one on my first (and only, thus far) viewing. Didn't stop me from enjoying it or anything, but still. Mulholland Drive on the other hand I felt like I understood after thinking about it for a night or two.

[s0]

If you're having trouble understanding Lost Highway, reading this might help you a bit, particularly about Goethe's version of the story. There are some definite parallels. Note that the character of Mephisto (the devil) is usually depicted as wearing white, kabuki-like makeup in theater/film adaptions.

@laserdracula: Awesome, I love Wong Kar-Wai!

[HöllenKobold]

I really need to get my hands on more Lynch stuff.

@laserdracula I have a 2046 poster that covers half my wall.
Even though I prefer Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love over it.

[cystem glitch]

I am surprised by how much I dislike David Lynch movies. Except for Eraserhead, and to some extent Lost Highway and the one where Dennis Hopper sucks gas out of that tank and is really into pabst blue ribbon, I find them to be fairly shitty and I get nothing out of them. They seem to hint at a depth that they do not actually offer.

There were two genre movies I had been looking forward to for a long time and got to enjoy recently in theatres: Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins and Hobo with a Shotgun. Both executed their simple ambitions most excellently. 13 Assassins seemed to be somewhat reigned in in "Miike-like" moments, but I loved when the old samurai, paragon of honor and wisdom, is called in to go on one last mission and he starts to get the shakes - like a junky being offered a hit years after being forced to quit cold turkey only the drug is violence. Hobo with a shotgun was light on acting power, requiring Rutger to carry the whole film, but there were some real knee slappers for one liners. They were like cotton candy though and dissolved too quickly in the flow of the movie after having been enjoyed, the only one that really springs to mind is the finale. The police arrive and will shoot if our bum hero doesn't throw down his titular shotgun, but instead of complying he let's fly at the big bad guy, "You and me are going on a car ride to hell. You're riding shotgun!" punctuated with a shotgun blast decapitation, then our hero's immediate death in a hail of bullets, roll credits.

The last movie I saw was 'Blank City', a documentary about the underground film scene in New York in the 70's and it was alright. Not as good as the similarly talking head laden Burroughs documentary I had caught a few months ago, which reminded me how influential he was on some of the most important artists of the last century and kind of helped re-awaken my own urges.

Also, my niece is staying at my house and we watched My Neighbor Totoro which has started her on a Miyazaki kick and that has me pretty psyched. A question to anyone who loves Miyazaki, she is 9 and doesn't have the longest attention span but does love the cute and the fantastic - should I lead next with Spirited Away or Kiki's Delivery service? I believe she has already seen Howl's Moving Castle with her mom but we might re-watch that too.

[cystem glitch]

also as a little anecdote shortly after watching My Neighbor Totoro we rented Toy Story 3, which was the 2nd time watching it for both of us, and when it got to the point where we see that little girl's toys and Totoro was snuck in there my niece went kind of apeshit. Thanks Pixar!

[emacs]

Saw Super 8 today.  It was okay...

[Pineapple]

I recently watched Four Rooms and Armageddon.

[s0]

Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins

I was sold on 13 Assassins the moment I read they weren't using any CGI for the special effects.

If it comes to some festival in my vicinity, I'll be sure to see it.

[superflat]

should I lead next with Spirited Away or Kiki's Delivery service?

If it were me, I'd start with Nausicaa or Laputa.

[PowRTocH]

I am surprised by how much I dislike David Lynch movies. Except for Eraserhead, and to some extent Lost Highway and the one where Dennis Hopper sucks gas out of that tank and is really into pabst blue ribbon, I find them to be fairly shitty and I get nothing out of them. They seem to hint at a depth that they do not actually offer.

I agree.

Hobo with a shotgun was light on acting power, requiring Rutger to carry the whole film, but there were some real knee slappers for one liners. They were like cotton candy though and dissolved too quickly in the flow of the movie after having been enjoyed, the only one that really springs to mind is the finale. The police arrive and will shoot if our bum hero doesn't throw down his titular shotgun, but instead of complying he let's fly at the big bad guy, "You and me are going on a car ride to hell. You're riding shotgun!" punctuated with a shotgun blast decapitation, then our hero's immediate death in a hail of bullets, roll credits.

I agree.

And I haven't seen 13 Assassins but it looks pretty good.