Finally saw Finding Neverland last night. I almost didn't recognize Dustin Hoffman.

Unfortunately my rental service hasn't been great recently, they've just sent me stuff picked apparently randomly from my list rather than from the top 5... which is why we watched 'Gothika' last night, something my teen daughter ordered. Not bad, though, for its genre. Halle Berry is very very good, but Charles S.Dutton is more wooden than my sideboard.

'Les Enfants du Paradis' is next, but the old German 'Muenchhausen' will have to wait until Lovefilm finally cough up the Gilliam 'Adventures of Baron M.' to go with it!

Yesterday was for about the 10th time "Night of the Shooting Stars" (La Notte di San Lorenzo) directed by the incomparable Taviani brothers. As usual, I cried at certain scenes. One of the best film scores I've ever heard. I have a question about one aspect of the plot. Possible spoiler: Did anyone else wonder about the betrayal by the priest....?

I'm also looking forward to getting shipped Murderball and The Squid and the Whale.

I also rewatched a DVD I own, 'Running on Empty', and mourned again over the great loss of talent that was River Phoenix. This movie remains one of my all time favorites.

Saw a preview of the new M. Night Shamaylan soon to come out, which looks both interesting and scary.

Pat

Saw "The Devil Wears Prada" on Saturday. I liked it but expected it to be funnier. Meryl Streep is great, as usual. I can't say that it was a totally enjoyable film though because the characters were so mean and despicable.

Also saw "Prairie Home Companion" which I loved and posted a thread about it. Great film!

Pat

Pat

I then watched a borrowed DVD of Corpse Bride. Here too the story was simple, but the reason to watch was the visuals. Actually, I found the extras about the making of the movie more interesting than the movie itself.

In the pipeline are The Searchers so I can see how bad of a movie it is, and Tristram Shandy because I'm curious as to how they filmed this unique and curious novel. Guilty pleasures follow in the form of Ren and Stimpy DVDs.

Pat

Pat

I’ve seen Rumor Has It as well. WARNING TO OTHERS – MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD. Did you consider it gross when Anniston’s character went directly from thinking this guy was her dad to having sex with him? That gave me such heebie-jeebies that I had trouble enjoying the rest of the film. But Shirley McClain can always be counted on to steal the show, as she did here with very little screen time. She’s still one of my favorite actresses.

The acting and writing is excellent but the violence is difficult to watch so I usually have my eyes closed during the violent scenes. The language doesn't even phase me at this point. When you hear a word so often it loses whatever effect it is meant to have.

Sin City
The 40 Year Old Virgin
Mr & Mrs Smith
The Package
Kung Fu Hustle
Serenity
King Arthur (well, part of it)

Overall, nothing really stood out except "Sin City" for its sheer visual impact. "Serenity" was neat and well written but I didn't really expect anything less from the creator of Buffy! "The 40 Year Old Virgin" was quite funny but, as usual with a lot of today's dime-a-dozen comedies, a lot of the laughs derives from schadenfreude as the characters are either humiliated or embarrassed (unwittingly). Still, it was quite funny.

"Mr & Mrs Smith" was ok. Lots of gunfire, lots of (what passes for) witty banter between the two main characters as they dodge bullets. Entertaining but........ that's it. ;-)

"Kung Fu Hustle" was kind of weird. It was like watching a live action animated feature. It was as if I was watching a kids' anime, a Road Runner cartoon, and a Jackie Chan movie all rolled into one!

"Yeesh!"

Unfortunately, I didn't watch 'Firefly' when it was on TV. But, after seeing 'Serenity', methinks I'll have to seek out the series on DVD!

Paula --

'Sin City' was like watching a comic book (or, more accurately, a graphic novel!) come to life. Of course, the movie WAS a "graphic" novel in more ways than one! It's funny butthe lighting, the shadows, the camera angles, all of these things were used so beautifully to create the look, feel, and ambience of a comic book. A masterfully shot movie. Graphic as heck but masterfully done! ;-)

Oh, and Elijah Wood was creepy as hell in his role as Kevin. Man, those glowing glasses in the dark will haunt me every time I walk in the woods at night! (I thought it was Tobey Maguire ....)

This movie sure ain't for the faint of heart (or stomach).

What have I seen lately? Nothing really noteworthy. My daughter wanted to rent Sky High, so we watched that with her. She loved it, which has reminded me to look for some of those old Disney movies with Kurt Russell. Thought she might like some of them since she liked Sky High so much.

Pat

Beautiful film; until then I didn't know Bill Murray could act. He used to just do the one character, whether in 'Ghostbusters' or 'Groundhog Day'. From the trailers seen before, I didn't expect 'Lost in Translation' to be so funny (although it's kind of sad/funny, if you know what I mean...)

Have got 'Sunset Boulevard' and 'The Red Shoes' on rental; just waiting for my film addict daughter's return and then we'll get ready for the discussion!

Pat