Alexander. That is crazy. You are not going to have any brainpower left by the time you hit 25. But it sounds like you’re having fun.

If you want to boil J&J down to a five star rating, I’d go with 3.5.

The passive movie watcher in me enjoyed it quite a bit, but the little bastard nit-picker inside kept pulling out things that didn’t work so well and I was left with one of those feelings that it could’ve been a lot better.

Alexander, I love Le Corbeau, but I’m dying to hear what you made of Thirst. Me and Sam have a little disagreement on this score and you can be the tie breaker.

Don’t feel bad, Joel. My list of movies I’m supposed to love but haven’t warmed up to is long and embarrassing. Alexander’s recently watched The Leopard is among them.

This one is one of the all time classics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And beneath all the fantastic humor, how perceptive you are!!!!

Alexander, thank you for mentioning Thr3e. I have to admit I kind of love the fact that this movie exists, but only because it’s so absurd in light of Adaptation.

But that’s incomparable.

My weekend film-viewing consisted of…

Friday: Thirst at the Bridge Theatre in San Francisco–the same theatre in which I saw Let the Right One In, and the only theatre I know of in the entire Bay Area to feature the Korean film; Obsession (De Palma); Carrie (De Palma); Mr. Soft Touch, a weak Glenn Ford-starring light melodrama; and Alias Nick Beal, a delightful noir starring Ray Milland. I have seen the De Palmas and John Farrow numerous times.

Saturday: Le Corbeau, which I had not seen in a great, long time; Notorious (yes, that film, Daniel); the wonderful Kiyoshi Kurosawa picture, Cure; De Palma’s The Fury; Dressed to Kill; Marked Woman, a disposable but okay 1930s Warner Bros. melodrama starring Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart.

Sunday: The Leopard yet once more; De Palma’s Scarface; De Palma’s Body Double; De Palma’s The Untouchables; De Palma’s Raising Cain; Thr3e, an astonishingly rote, pedestrian knockoff of Se7en from a couple of years ago (HUGE SPOILER FOR WHO WHO WANT TO SEE THR3E SOMEDAY): the novelist and screenwriter[s] apparently watched Adapation and thought the idea of one person being the hero, killer and girl all at once through multiple personalities was a wonderful one. Followed this with a late night excursion to see Orphan.

Monday, since we’re on Tuesday now: K-19: The Widowmaker and Shattered Glass (seeing Orphan put me in the mood to see more Peter Saarsgaard when he was ascending as a star), followed by De Palma’s Carlito’s Way and Mission: Impossible, capped off at around 4:00 am with the recent French film The Legacy (thank you, Sundance).

I’m also reading The Plague by Camus once more and I’m finding it more unnerving than before.

I want to finally sleep again sometime soon but first–In the Loop!

Just had to say it again, as I’m pretty sure it’s come up in the WC every week for like the last month. And I still haven’t seen it.

Back from gallivanting in Boston and NH. Is anybody familiar with Boston, besides k? That place has really changed quite a bit in the last few years, construction-wise. Anyway, good times visiting friends and then a beautiful weekend and wedding at a house on Lake Winnipesaukee.

On the way back to the airport we had a few hours to kill and, naturally, went to the movies. It was great fun going to the Kendall Square Cinema in Cambridge again. We saw Afghan Star, which was a much more straightforward story than I expected but still an interesting glimpse into contemporary Afghan culture.

Then our flight was delayed and connections were a mess and we “slept” in the airport in Atlanta. Nice airport, too loud at night.

I’ve tried to avoid your comments on The Cove and Cold Souls here, Craig, but I’m a little dismayed at the sense you didn’t particularly enjoy the latter. I was hoping it would be a little gem to kick off the fall. I still need to see The Cove and In the Loop.

I thought you might have enjoyed J&J a bit more than it sounds like you did, but any regular movie-watcher would be forgiven for getting annoyed at the fractured storytelling. Kind of inspiring about blogging, though, eh?

K Bowen, I’ve been quietly curious about The Time Traveler’s Wife and will take your experience into account.

Forgive me my red blood. But Warren was unbelievably hot in that. Lee Grant and Jack Warden are both terrific. I really dig Goldie Hawn as well. She’s a real adult woman in that film – clear eyed, mature. It’s a million miles away from some of the ditzy blondes she has played.

From the moment Jill finds that earring in her bed, she’s steeling herself for the conversation that she knows she has to have with George. She really needs to have all of the details on the table because then she’ll know that he’s “incapable of love” and she’ll be able to stand it.

Like he could even remember a minute fraction of all that…

joel’s right. Julie is sublime. ALWAYS. She’s fantastic in the film. But she’s absolutely electric in her scenes with Warren. I love the very last sequence with them together.

Jill was wrong about George. He could fall hard for someone. But It just wasn’t her. However, Jackie was practical and she had waited a long time for Lester to be free from Felicia. As bad as I feel for George, Jackie did the right thing.

The ending’s perfect. Most people don’t really change. And George got exactly what he deserved.

Just to clarify…

Although I find Warren unbelievably attractive in his earlier work, I am certainly willing to give him his due as an artist. Just because he’s gorgeous doesn’t mean I don’t take him seriously.

I totally agree with everyone in this thread who adores him.

Truthfully, there are better actors. But Warren possessed such incredible star quality and exceptional charisma that it hardly matters. What far outweighs that are his considerable talents as a producer and director.

Warren Beatty had an amazing impact on 20th century cinema. It’s entirely possible that some of the unforgettable films that he’s been in might not have been made without his guidance and influence.

Everybody talked about the chicks. They should really have been discussing the career.

He accomplished an enormous amount. It’s something that shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Also: Huge fan of Heaven Can Wait. It was probably the first Beatty movie I saw in a theater. My folks took me. The movie theater is now a Circuit City I think…or whatever has become of Circuit City now that they went under.

Anyway, it’s light, but almost perfect. Effortless and wholly entertaining.

KB, I hate to dump on a well-intentioned documentary, but in the end whether I agree with its argument or not, I don’t think it did a great job of making its case. And frankly, if you want to think rationally about it, more damage is caused to the earth from beef production than dolphin killing. I acknowledge that as a meat eater. Plus, if more people saw how cows were treated before, during and after slaughter… but I digress.

I’m curious about Time Travelers even though everything about it except the cast shouts “this is not your cup of tea”

You know Matthew, as I said above I went in assuming the Julie Powell/Amy Adams part would be empty, but I was surprised at how much there was to it. I’m not sure if it could’ve stood on its own or not, but I wish it had been developed more.

I enjoyed the film, although I thought Streep’s portion was much more compelling and should have been its own film. Adams is fine but there’s not really much to her side of the story, it felt more like a typical romantic comedy set up.

I had to yank this out of my review b/c it didn’t flow, but it’s right on. I didn’t think that much of the film. And the whole thing didn’t bother me as much as everyone else. Ultimately, it’s not pretty but it’s food production. IT’s not supposed to be pretty. Some cultures eat dogs. Some eat dolphins.

Beautifully said.

I seemed to notice that the more vulgar and hilarious the line, the more they slowed down and enunciated their words, which was appreciated and probably not just for comedic effect. If you’re an alpha male ponce and you’re going to destroy someone verbally, you want to make sure everyone within earshot gets the full meaning of it.

Joel and Craig, you’ll likely find the accents in The Thick of It tricky at times too – particularly the Scottish ones of Peter Capaldi and Paul Higgins. Both of whom have the most hilariously scabrous lines.

‘I wish my weekends weren’t so busy these days’. It’s not easy having a life.

Hedwig, I got to PE late like you and I liked it, although my comments were in a random Watercooler thread. I think the storytelling is erratic and I can concede some of the criticisms, but I really enjoyed it. I look forward to seeing it again, although I’m not sure if I will get to it in a theater or not because it’s shedding screens here fast. Blast, I wish my weekends weren’t so busy these days.

I didn’t comment, because I don’t want to be a buzz kill and try and talk you out of it. Loving a movie is a wonderful thing and there’s a lot to like about PE…I just wish I also fell in love with it.

I saw Crimes and Misdemeanors for the first time yesterday, speaking of Allen. I watched it with my parents (who were big Allen fans back in the day, but hadn’t seen this one), and we all loved it. That one’s funny too, and not just the ‘funny’ half of it.

I’m curious about In the Loop

I saw Public Enemies at last last week, and reading back the watercooler from the monday after its release, I liked it a lot more than, well, all of you, except maybe Dorothy and Ryan. I loved it, really, and I want to see it again. I’m still mulling over why I loved it, because I agree with many criticisms leveled against it. My first attempt at reviewing it is on the blog.

The other movie the parents and I still plan to see is Tell No One, though i don’t know if it’ll happen. I’m curious though.

Is there anyone else who can’t wait for the start of Mad Men season three?

(giggle)