Philotic Web

My family and I have been watching the development of this movie every step of the way. I am so excited there are no words. Just tears.

So...if I can swing it, I should try to get tickets to see it on Broadway in Chicago? It will be here in November/December.

Um...yes. Do everything in your power to get to the show.

Fireflies in the Garden cemented for me the fact that, although the movies change and the character's name changes, Ryan Reynolds plays Ryan Reynolds in pretty much all his movies. I suppose it's a great thing that he is so damn likeable to me or I'd probably be bothered by this.

With that said, people should see this movie. Willem Defoe is a scary, scary man, I found the family dynamics to be pretty believable for a severely dysfunctional family (though I also feared there'd be some aunt on nephew action a few times...), the cinematography was pretty great, and it had a good soundtrack. Only warning is, it's pretty sad throughout but ends on a hopeful note.

Just rewatched for, like, the twentieth time, Scott Pilgrim with my friend who had never seen it.

Sweet baby Jesus I love that movie.

Mirror, Mirror was surprisingly fun and the animation at the beginning of the movie was gorgeous. This is a movie that would completely change my life if I were a lot younger when I first saw it. I'm glad I gave it a chance. :)

I just watched that on the plane! It was fun and I liked it, but I found the ending where it suddenly turned into a Bollywood movie a bit strange.

Just rewatched for, like, the twentieth time, Scott Pilgrim with my friend who had never seen it.

Sweet baby Jesus I love that movie.

Mmm. I need to watch that again.

I just watched that on the plane! It was fun and I liked it, but I found the ending where it suddenly turned into a Bollywood movie a bit strange.

I thought that was one of the best parts! But yes, strange.

I just watched that on the plane! It was fun and I liked it, but I found the ending where it suddenly turned into a Bollywood movie a bit strange.

I thought that was one of the best parts! But yes, strange.

Exactly! I was preparing to shut it off when that part started and I was confused, then a little more in love with it. It goes along with my "Every great* movie has a group dance or a musical number in it."


*And by great, I mean by my 80s standards.

Which is also why 13 Going on 30 is a spectacular film. Well, that and Mark Ruffalo.

I saw the old movie, Summer School, for the first time the other day. All I have to say is that Kirstie Alley has always been obnoxious and it was very cool to see Andy Garvey from Little House (okay, no one else probably knows him) as one of the students.

So, The Dark Knight Rises...

I'm too lazy to write an actual review, so I'll just jot down some random first impression thoughts:

Non-Spoilers:

- I can't say where I'd rank it among the trilogy. It's much too soon after just one viewing to compare it to its predecessors which I've watched several times of the years.
- That being said, it definitely didn't suck! It takes a bit longer to build to the really exciting parts than TDK did, and in that sense its more like BB. There's a bit of a wait before Bruce suits up for the first time, and I found that I minded this a little whereas in BB I didn't mind at all. Probably because in BB I was as fascinated with him becoming Batman as I was with him actually being Batman.
- Once the action starts it is the most epic film in the series.
- To the comic geeks: part of the reason why this trilogy is so awesome is because Nolan takes themes and elements from the modern classic Batman comic stories. BB borrowed from "Year One". TDK has elements from "The Long Halloween" and "The Killing Joke". TDKR continues this tradition, borrowing from "Knightfall", "The Dark Knight Returns", and even "No Man's Land". Nolan has done his homework, and it shows.
- Also, Nolan (and Bale & Hathaway of course) did a great job of capturing the allies/lovers/enemies relationship between Batman and Catwoman.
-Bane's distorted voice is badass, but as has been a concern of fans since the trailers were released, it does make some of his lines unintelligible.
- Could have used more Commissioner Gordon.
- Joseph Gordon Levitt's character John Blake is really the break-out star.
- I was actually worried about how this film/trilogy would end, and that's unusual for me. Without spoiling anything I will say that I was quite satisfied when the credits began to roll. My thanks go to Nolan and the studio for not trying to milk this interpretation of Batman for more money. This is to my knowledge the first series of superhero movies that actually tells a complete story and character arc.


SPOILERS:

-Well, the big questions... Does Bruce Wayne Die? Is the whole point of Joseph Gordon Levitt's character, John Blake, to take up the Bat mantle? No, and yes (or at least probably). I had predicted no and no, but as I said above, I'm quite satisfied.
-Bane breaks Batman!! The actual breaking over the knee right out of "Knightfall". Again, fans of the comics will appreciate that.
- Nolan you sly bastard; finding a way to work in "Robin"?! Well played.
- Rumours since the time of her casting kind of spoiled that Miranda Tate was actually Ra's al-Ghul's daughter, Talia, but I was still surprised by both the presumed and actual revelation of Bane's origin. I fell for the former because of Nolan's aforementioned references to Batman canon, in which Bane was in fact born and raised in a Hell of a prison before managing his own impossible escape.


That's all the comes to mind at the moment. I hope others here will see it soon so we can discuss.

DKR SPOILERS

Happily for me, I totally forgot the Marion Cotillard playing Talia al Ghul was spoiled. Also, I was so caught up in the moment that I never had a chance to think, "Didn't Ra's just have the one daughter?" So, that stab took me completely unawares. It was fantastic.

My only real complaint is: "Hmm. We have twelve hours to live. I think I'll go paint the bat symbol on the bridge in gasoline, then trail a line down to the ice, and hope that A) the ice doesn't break and B) they don't just kill Gordon outright.

Yeah, I pretty much thought the same thing about the symbol.

Oh my gosh, you guys, Dark Knight Rises. It was perfection.

Jason, I totally agree with lots that you said. All the comic references were pretty sweet. I had not heard at all that Talia was in this, so that completely blindsided me - I pretty much had my jaw on the floor. I really thought that Bane was going to tell Bruce that there wasn't a trigger at all.
I LOVED Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. Her costume was awesome (with the goggles* that looked like cat ears) and there were no (well, maybe one) cheesecake shots of her ass/boobs/etc in a skin-tight suit. She was just..wearing it. Like a person would.
For a Batman movie, there was actually surprisingly little actual Batman in it. John Blake was a great addition, and while I did like the "Robin" thing, it was maybe a little tacked on. I think his real name should have been Tim Drake instead.
Not that much Alfred, either!
I only had a couple of nitpicks (and I seriously loved this movie) - why on earth would cops a) all go into the sewers together and b)line up on a street army style to fight the bad guys? That doesn't really seem like the best use of cops.



*I wrote "goggles" as "googles" about twelve times just there. Damn you google.

Hahaha, when the symbol happened, I whispered to my friend in my best Batman rasp "That took, like, three hours. I hope you appreciate it."

Also the Bat Helicopter lost my suspension of disbelief a little. Stealth fighters stay stealthy because they break line-of-sight by being so gosh-darn fast. The Bat stayed within city limits the entire time, so it wouldn't really be hard to keep track of it.

But man, you guys are all exactly how I was about Talia. Briefly wondered what the deal was with Bane being Ra's son, completely forgot that I knew Talia was in this movie, then BAM. Backstabbed! None of my meatspace friends were quite as blown by it.

John Blake was a great addition, and while I did like the "Robin" thing, it was maybe a little tacked on. I think his real name should have been Tim Drake ]

Yeah, I was expecting him to say that his legal name was either Richard (Dick) or Tim, even though his history doesn't match that of either of those characters. Either way I think it was a nice little gag by Nolan since he had previously said that he would not have Robin in his films.

Hahaha, when the symbol happened, I whispered to my friend in my best Batman rasp "That took, like, three hours. I hope you appreciate it."

As Ra's said back in "Begins", Bruce really did take his advice about theatricality a bit too literally. That was one of my favourite lines in "Begins", by the way. I love the way Neeson delivers it.

I unironically loved the new Conan the Barbarian.

It was camp, it was over-the-top, it captured perfectly the spirit of pulp fantasy, and the filmmakers (seemed to) know enough about their source material to include some Lovecraftian nods. I LOVED how they fought their way past the superfluous tentacle watch-monster, left all the other prisoners behind, and got to their goal only to find it wasn't there anymore and they had to turn around and go back. Instead of feeling like a plot hole or writer carelessness, it just fit. It was hilarious.

Plus, you know, Jason Momoa and Ron Perlman.

I just saw Total Recall. Just have to report that I thought there was a definite (although very brief) "enemy's gate is down" moment! Anyone else see the movie and know which scene I'm talking about?

The new one? I haven't, and I wouldn't remember if you meant the old one anyway, but if you've seen both, what did you think? One better than the other? Both bring something to the table?

I meant the new one. I have seen the old one but not in several years. I didn't remember a whole lot of similarity between the two films, other than the "Rekall" business which will implant you with whatever memories you want. But I also don't remember the old film very well so maybe there was more to it than that. From what I thought of this one, and remember of the last one, they are both similar in that they are your garden variety sci-fi/action movies that are funny to watch and visually impressive without really having any depth or serious academic quality or anything.

Saw to Rome with Love, one of Woody Allen's better movies, not one of his best, but definitely a solid double/triple.

I really liked Rome With Love, laughed out loud several times!

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen was a cute story, fun to listen to (British and Scottish accents, woo), appropriately positive/uplifting while being just a smidge quirky, which is just enough to make the positive/uplifting be tolerable. The one quibble I had was with Ewan McGregor and his wife not really bothering to try to work out their differences; even though they seemed pretty fundamentally wrong for each other towards the end, I didn't get that impression at all before. They were bored, it can happen in marriages/relationships...why not try something?

Avengers: Overrated? Yes.

Some fun moments but I thought the best parts took about 30 minutes to get to and were touch and go after they made their appearance.

I just saw LOOPER.

Excellent. I can't say much more except that you should ALL see it. Great Time Travel Noir!!!



BTW, the science in the new "Total Recall" was execrable!

* If you really dropped an object through the center of the earth, YES, it would come out the other side without the addition of any energy (assuming frictionless/lossless). However, it would take about 45 minutes.
* If you dropped an object through the center of the earth, and it relied on it's own potential / kinetic / potential energy transfer, you would BE IN FREE FALL THE ENTIRE TRIP.
* If you wanted to make the trip in 18 minutes, you'd have to accelerate all the way down, and decelerate on the way out. In other words, your gravity vector would be exactly reversed from what was shown.
* If you're doing this on a daily basis, you're NOT carrying cell phones and loose change and car keys in your lap. I'd love to have the sweep-up job after a day's commuting, though!
* Remember how the copter thing landed on the TOP of the shuttle car (building) just before the descent. Why did it miraculously appear on the BOTTOM of the shuttle car (building) when it came out the other side? (what's on top when you're heading down is on the bottom when you arrive. The copter was on the TOP, regardless.

This is, of course, allowing for a tunnel to exist that goes through the center of the earth....I gave them that one.

This is, of course, allowing for a tunnel to exist that goes through the center of the earth....I gave them that one.

As long as they pay for its construction with a credit card. They'll get points!


Yesterday i saw by accident, "Held up" (2010).
By accident because i meant to dow... acquire the 1999 movie with Jamie Foxx, which i had been strongly recommended to watch by my friend, despite the low ratings it gets in every single review site.

Anyway, "Held up" (2010)... it lacks a coherent story, script, whatever you want to call it. It doesn't make much sense, but it has fun moments. I was laughing quite a bit because i was in company and decided not to be obnoxious, so i consciously reduced my thresshold of enjoyment. But i would never ever think of watching it again.
The plot, so to speak, is that there is this frustrated comedian who works as a clerk in a bank, and spends the day hating his life and snarking at her boss and the customers. Until a couple of robbers come to rob the bank. When they were about to escape, they bump onto another pair of robbers who had come to rob that bank, so their escape becomes nonviable. And the clerk falls in love with one of the robbers, as it becomes a hostage situation for several days.

Saw "Lars and the Real Girl" last night. Twas beautiful and sweet and funny and well worth watching. I wish people really were so kind.

Favorite moments:

1} The doctor taking Bianca's blood pressure.
2) Lars losing the scrabble vs. VFW fight. And the lecture he gets from the VFW lady about her not sitting around all day at his beck and call.
3) When Lars announces Bianca is dying and, alone with the doctor,.Karen demands, "How could you let this happen?"

If played with any hint of a smirk, any of those moments would have been awful, but the actors just nailed them all.

I haven't seen Lars and the Real Girl since theaters but I enjoyed it too. Also loved your #3

Also I saw Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" this weekend and loved it. He is certainly an acquired taste, but brilliant just the same.

I love Lars and the Real Girl. My husband doesn't like the movie because he thinks it's unrealistic that people would ever be that nice. Sigh, boys.

Boothby wrote:

This is, of course, allowing for a tunnel to exist that goes through the center of the earth....I gave them that one.

As long as they pay for its construction with a credit card. They'll get points!

Enough points to build a SPACE ELEVATOR!!

This is, of course, allowing for a tunnel to exist that goes through the center of the earth....I gave them that one.

As long as they pay for its construction with a credit card. They'll get points!

Enough points to build a SPACE ELEVATOR!!

That's good for big thinking... but let's think even bigger!

Looper is indeed awesome. Absolutely excellent sci-fi.