So I feel like there should be a thread to put thoughts on movies that you've seen recently but aren't new - and therefore don't belong in the 2010 thread - and you don't feel like devoting a whole new thread to each. And voila, here it is. I'll start us off. [b]The Living Wake[/b] (2007) [img=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_EABuPIKLAtM/TH29OeeTBuI/AAAAAAAADYo/9uTSTlkJ2rc/s1600/Living+Wake+Poster.jpg] This is a small indie film that is currently streaming on Hulu. It's a dark absurdist comedy about a self-styled genius and drunkard, K. Roth Binew, who finds himself diagnosed with an unnamed disease that will kill him at a very precise moment. Knowing this, Binew and his "biographer" and essentially manservant (played by Jesse Eisenberg) have a day to set up and invite the people of his life to his "living wake," as well as try to find some sort of meaning to explain life. Style-wise it's a very good low-budget imitation of Wes Anderson, only more...absurd, and more poorly acted. I felt like I could have liked the film. There was a core vision there that I could have enjoyed, and also it reminded me at least a tiny bit of the movie [i]Big Fish[/i] (which I love). However, there was just too much standing in the way. The (over)acting from the main character (played by Mike O'Connell) was intensely irritating. K. Roth Binew is meant to be bombastic and self-important, but that shouldn't mean constant shouting and a horribly affected manner of speaking. If anybody else had played his part I think I could have liked the movie more. As for Eisenberg's role, well, the affected manner of speaking was there too, so I can only assume that it was meant to add to the impossible to place era and location or some such. Other than that, his understated acting was a very, very welcome relief from O'Connell's performance. The movie's meant to be a comedy, but to be honest there really wasn't very much humor that didn't fall flat. There were a few good comedic moments (the scene with the liquorsmith - which btw is my now preferred moniker for purveyors of alcohol - and the scene with the librarian are particularly what I had mind, if any of y'all ever watch it), and maybe even one surprisingly poignant scene that reminded me that there was a little bit of a charm and a quirk hidden somewhere in there. Ultimately, however, most of what it sets out to do it fails at. Flashbacks are poorly executed, different styles of acting were working against each other, the comedy could have worked but didn't due to such a poor lead performance, and the two musical numbers - aside from feeling out of place in the first place - fall completely flat. [b]Amélie[/b] (2001) [img=http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y133/KArbendZA/amelie.jpg] This particularly movie is very well spoken of, so I wasn't surprised that when I watched it for the first time it didn't reach quite the heights that everybody had told me it reached. I find, however, the long I think about it, the more I like it. Amelie is sweet and imaginative and has a childlike fascination with all sorts of wonderful things, and her quest to improve the lives of others and finally to work up the courage to meet the object of her affection is so joyful and whimsical you can't help but enjoy watching it and feel at least a little bit uplifted after watching it. The acting is great; Audrey Tautou, who plays the protagonist, comes across very likable, and is able to be extremely expressive and emotive without ever saying a word. In fact, I felt like the movie could have worked almost as well running on narration alone and not having any dialogue. All the supporting cast members fill their roles admirably as well and the whole movie feels vibrant with these characters inhabiting it. Visually it's just as rich and vibrant as the people who inhabit it (or is it vice versa), and the editing is clever and very well done. And the soundtrack! Oh man. I want Yann Tiersen to write the score to my life, holy cow. I can't stop listening to it. There's more movies I've seen recently but I'll leave it at that for now.

Thank ya, Bela Lugosi. I was just thinking we needed this thread a few days ago. :P Anywayzzzzzzzzz... [b]Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)[/b] It was...decent. The concept was interesting and it had some funny moments. At the same time, though, it felt like the film was going off of the first draft of the script or something. The dialogue and wit was there, but the characters felt like run-of-the-mill dudes you'd see in those bad movies they play on Comedy Central. They were just so flat and uninteresting. The humor was funny, but in more of a "Oh, that was clever" sort of way. I don't remember laughing too much. I liked the film for what it was and t=what it set out to do, but the end-result was only a decent flick that could've been mistaken for a student film. [b]M. Hulot's Holiday (1953)[/b] I really, really, really don't understand the appeal of this film. Granted, I like the character of M. Hulot (you have to adore his weird mannerisms) and the quirky way that the film was made, but this film didn't really click with me at all. It's sort of a silent comedy, and I can dig that as a fan of Buster Keaton's films, but this movie just felt so detached. I just didn't really care about what was going on. Nothing made me connect with this film on an emotional level whatsoever. There was nothing to love and nothing to hate - it was just sort of there. However, I've heard from a bunch of other Tati fans that this film isn't his best work either. I'm still going to check out [i]Mon Oncle[/i] and [i]Playtime[/i], but I'm probably going to be a bit more hesitant about those films. [b]The Haunting in Connecticut (2009) [/b] I hate white people and I hate that my friend talked me into watching what I already knew was garbage. [b]Passing Strange (2009)[/b] I had to re-watch this to get the above movie out of my head. I adore this film so very, very much. Everything in it is just so wonderful - Stew's music, the dialogue, the characters, Spike Lee's direction, its intelligent lyrics and story, its ending, etc. I just love it sooooo much. This film grabs me and touches me every time I watch it. It can be melancholy, funny, satirical, and intelligent whenever it likes and it never misses a beat with me. It's an "intellectual arcade" as they say in the film. [b]The Office: Season 5[/b] (because I like discussing ongoing tv show experiences too?) It's still really funny and well-written, but I can see the show going downhill from here. Some of the characters feel more ilke caricatures of their former selves and the show's "this-could-totally-happen-in-a-real-work-place" jazz is dying if not already dead. It's still entertaining and witty, but I'm kinda sad about the aimless writing at the moment. [b]Skins: Volume 1[/b] Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know about the whole MTV craze the remake's getting. I'm just watching this - the original British version - because my friend recommended it to me. I've only watched a 1/3 of the show so far (three episodes out of nine), and I can say that it's only decent so far. The writing and cinematography are pretty good, but some of the characters like Tony and Jal feel more like walking stereotypes than anything else. I understand what the show's trying to do by denying hedonism as a lifestyle by showing the lifestyle's victims in full-force, but it's been done better by films like [i]La Dolce Vita[/i] or [i]Requiem for a Dream[/i]. Still, it's interesting enough that I'll probably finish the first season for the sake of the well-written characters on the show like Cassie and Sid.

Good thread, Courtney. I started a movie journal on here ages ago but eventually abandoned it as there wasn't much interest. Now we seem to have a few more people who enjoy the discussion, so I'll post some stuff later. [quote]I hate white people[/quote] .....should I leave?

[b]Ikiru (1952)[/b] [img size=150]http://www.filmforum.org/archivedfilms/ikiru/ikiru_02.jpg[/img] One of acclaimed director Akira Kurosawa's best-loved movies - this is the third of his films that I've seen (the other two being [i]Seven Samurai[/i] and [i]Rashomon[/i]) and I think it's not only the most accessible but also my favorite thus far. Mild spoilers ahead. Takashi Shimura, a sympathetic if not familiar face, stars as Watanabe, an aging desk jockey who discovers he has only months before he succumbs to stomach cancer. He can't save his crumbled relationship with his son and he can't think of a single thing he's accomplished in the 30 years he sat at the same job protecting his position. A novelist he meets in a bar first shows him the night life and tries to help him live it up in clubs and partying. Then, he strikes up a relationship with a young co-worker which makes him happy for a time until she gets the creeps and calls it quits. Finally, he decides that he's going to use his soul-stealing job to make a difference in the time he has left. The story is almost a Japanese [i]It's A Wonderful Life[/i], certainly a melodrama but without the exuberance of Capra. This is a steady, somewhat drawn-out tale with a lot on its mind about morality, family, and bureaucracy. Of the three Kurosawa movies I've seen it's the most accessible to western audiences, showing a lot of American post-war influence on Japan. It's not terribly subtle about its ideals and spends a good deal too much time outright discussing them, particularly in the final act that just doesn't have enough story to run out its 50 minute length. That said, there are some surprising turns of narrative, a lot of great direction and editing, and strong performances throughout. [b]Tropic Thunder (2008)[/b] [img size=150]http://www.filmofilia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/robertdjr.jpg[/img] It may be Ben Stiller's movie, but make no mistake: this is Robert Downey Jr's show. To be Oscar nominated for a role in a ranchy action-comedy is pretty big feat anyway; but forgetting that for a moment, Downey plays an Australian method actor playing a black man who never breaks character. The setup is something like [i]Galaxy Quest[/i], in which television actors had to be real astronauts. Here, film actors have to be real soldiers when their war movie goes wrong in ways too complicated to explain. The movie's satirical meta- quality is one of it's best features. The fake trailers introducing the characters are a highlight, and frankly the movie never again reaches the heights of its opening scenes. Downey keeps it afloat while actors like Stiller and Danny McBride do their usual schtick, others like Jack Black and Bill Hader are wasted completely, and a juicy supporting role is giving to Tom Cruise, finally embracing his inner nutcase. The movie is flashy and funny enough to be entertaining, but also nasty enough to be off-putting to a lot of people. It's at its best when it's making clever jabs at the film industry (and surprisingly I didn't hate Matthew McCownoogaheya as Stiller's agent obsessed with the TiVo clause in the actor's contract) but collapses too quickly into physical gags and tasteless jokes. Occasionally these are over-the-top enough to actually be hilarious (the kid stabbing Stiller's neck near the end and the way he deals with it, for instance) but it's just not consistent. Some funny, some missed opportunities. Best line: "Ain't nuthin but a thang." I lol'd hard. Another link to [i]Galaxy Quest[/i]: Downey Jr.'s character is named Kirk Lazarus; Dr. Lazarus is the character on the Galaxy Quest tv show played by actor Alexander Dane, played by real life actor Alan Rickman. Btw have Rickman and Downey ever done a movie together? Because both those guys are dynamite.