Paprika

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Amberly

Write Up.

I think Watching Perfect Blue the other day prompted this. I must see if I can find Millennium Actress somewhere, I need to revisit that one. Also I think there's one or two of his films I have never seen. Perhaps I should save them for a rainy day. Good thing it's winter.

Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Myself

I have no idea why the thought of watching this suddenly popped into my head. But it did and I watched it. I didn't think I'd remember any of it as I must have been very young when I first saw it but I remembered quite a bit.

Amazing fashion. Just, wow. David Newman does a really cool 90'stastic comedy score too.

One thing I don't remember was David Duchovny being one of the bad guys. I remember him from Beethoven but, obviously I watched that a great deal more than this.

What a ridiculous premise and how far they go with it is also very amusing. And you know what, Christina Applegate is just great in this. A fun little nostalgic romp.

The Amazing Spider-Man

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Amberly, Louisa

Another comic book movie. Yeah it's was pretty good too, but I still feel somewhat superhero-ed out, especially with Sam Raimi's series so fresh in mind.

Andrew Garfield, great. Emma Stone, wonderful. The film looks incredible, and the few moments it goes to full IMAX frame are nice too. It's relationship drama heavy but that's where the film shines, all the elements are there it's just too hard for me to get excited over, I've seen it all before. Some of it almost scene for scene.

Mark Webb handles the drama just fine. The younger characters all feel much more natural. Unfortunately everything that realistic and dramatic is completely at odds with the more comic book fantastic elements. It feels like two different styles of film smooshed together.

Both styles are perfectly enjoyable though, even if they don't fit together too smoothly. And it's certainly a set up from the last instalment from the franchise.

Not Suitable for Children

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

A similar scenario to Friends with Kids, only we never get as far along in the process, focusing more on the conception idea and using a testicular operation as a ticking clock. And very different characters.

What this film has going for it are some really great central performances. Sarah Snook makes a big impact and Ryan Kwanten is gorgeous as ever. Ryan Corr as the comedy relief didn't really do anything for me be the appreciative audience seemed to like him.

I wished this cinema had turned up Cabin in the Woods this loud when it screened there, the 4 times I've been it has been unbearably quiet whereas this was so loud it distorted and made dialogue hard to hear in the mix. The subwolfer even caused the middle of the screen to ripple noticeably.

Problems with the sound aside, the film was very enjoyable little drama with some light comic moments.

The Cabin in the Woods

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Louisa, Amberly, Bri

Non-Spoiler write up here.

Slightly more in-depth write up here.

Have you seen it yet? Coz it's pretty great you know.

Drop Dead Gorgeous

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Tyler, Jordan, Amberly

Just delightful. Always love catching up with this dark little comedy. Such a great cast! A whole bunch of people before they broke out big too. And it got away with the whole mockumentary thing because at the time it was made it wasn't done to death yet...

Plus how can you not be charmed by that Minnesota accent? Hilarious.

Monte Carlo

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler, Jordan, Amberly

Write Up.

Well I've seen it twice now. Never really though that might happen but it did. And yeah, I think I was rather delirious the first time I watched it, but it was still enjoyable enough a 2nd time.

Kiki's Delivery Service

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler

A bit of Hayao Miyazaki to cap the night. Kiki's one of those meandering stories, like many of Ghibli's films, that if you had to describe the plot you'd get into trouble. But it's a coming of age story with a little bit of magic thrown in for good measure. And very pretty scenery.

Now I've lost track of how many dubs there are of this and what the difference is between them all. We watched the most recent english dub and it's pretty good too. Always a pleasure to catch up on, it's a title I haven't seen for a while that's not normally in the higher rotation of my Ghibli collection but shouldn't be overlooked because it's just as enjoyable as there other stuff.

Perfect Blue

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: No
Watched With: Jordan, Tyler

Write Up.

Good stuff.

The Awakening

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

An alright British ghost movie. Been watching a lot of those lately.

It certainly looks handsome and has a nice cast. But it failed to really get me in that haunting mood and the end didn't have much of an impact either. Still, any excuse to see Dominic West naked again.

Snow White and the Huntsman

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Michael

Write Up.

Spent the morning look at fx breakdowns and interviews about this one. So much cool looking stuff in this film.

Margaret

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Tyler

This film has taken a very long time to get here. Shot in 2005 with an overly long running time, the studio refused to release Kenneth Lonergan's cut and got Martin Scorsese in to edit it down, after some big legal drama behind the scenes. So finally they have released the short edit on our screens, although it's still 150 minuets long. I'd heard some very divisive things about the film after having seen this cut I'd be very interested to see the director's cut, which should be out later, to see what is missing.

In the interim, producers Anthony Minghella and Sydney Pollack have sadly both passed away. But it's amazing we can still see new work they've had a hand in, along with everyone else involved. You'd think with a cast that includes Mark Ruffalo, Matt Damon, Allison Janney, Jean Reno, Kieran Culkin and Matthew Broderick it'd be an easy sell. Not so though.

The film I did see was fascinating. An outstanding cast and a considerably younger Anna Paquin just rips into the material. Her character is immensely frustrating but also very sympathetic. And the people around her are equally complex, as is the situation she faces. It's certainly not going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's like a great little indie drama drawn out to almost operatic proportions. The settings are intimate but the scope of the themes are huge. I wouldn't even know where to begin trying to discuss them.

I'm definitely going to need to sit down through this one again and I'm glad to hear the even longer cut will be made available. For now though this has left me plenty to mull over. It's one that has stayed in my head these few days after. If you're prepared to go the distance it's definitely one to watch out for.

That's My Boy

IMDB
First time viewed: Yes
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Stacy

Adam Sandler has become a joke himself lately. His family films have all been hard to bare but for some reason make a boatload of money. Thankfully he's returned to the r-rated antics that made him a star. It's still nothing to write home about but it's a step up from recent efforts.

Sandler's annoying voice shtick is balanced out by all the good will I have towards Andy Samberg. I was also interested to see Sean Anders get behind the director's chair again after doing some good and not-so-good studio writing gigs. I was a big fan of Sex Drive and the way they did their unrated dvd version is even more hilarious. But this one amounts to just another run-of-the-mill comedy. It's not terrible but I didn't get much out of it.

This one goes to some weird places too. Why is James Caan in this? Vanilla Ice? Oddly enough I found Milo Ventimiglia to be the funniest person in the film. But his plot line is pretty out there.

Ultimately it's pretty forgettable but at least it's not Jack and Jill.

Paranormal Activity 3

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan

Write Up.

I find this one more successful than the 2nd part. But still it's a pretty empty experience, especially without that opening weekend crowd.

The Woman in Black

IMDB
First time viewed: No
Current Release: Yes
Watched With: Jordan, Kim, Tyler

Write Up.

Suspenseful horror films are always so much more fun to see with people who still manage to get scared.