Last Movie You Watched

[Tacenda]

I saw "Unbroken", and now want to read the book.  What an amazing spirit of the will to live.  And have heard that the abuse he took was far worse than what the movie portrayed, but they wanted a PG13 rating and left out the gruesome details I guess. 

[Garden Girl]

I just watched "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas."  I had seen it before, but I watched it again... story of a Nazi officer assigned to oversee one of the death camps.  He had his family with him... wife, daughter and son.  They lived on the outside of the fenced camp.  One day his son, about 9, was exploring near the barbed wire perimeter fence of the camp when he met a Jewish boy his age and they began talking, becoming friends... soon the German boy visited almost daily and was bringing him food.  The Officer's wife was opposed to the camps and soon was planning to leave... The story has a tragic, ironic ending... 

 

I am now watching "Lord of the Flies."  Seen this before also, but it's been some time and it is a classic.

 

GG

Edited January 5, 2015 by Garden Girl

[strappinglad]

I saw 42 this weekend (

Deborah had just posted about 3 films seen this weekend. Then you start with this statement. I thought," Boy, that was one serious marathon ! ":rofl:

[bluebell]

Deborah had just posted about 3 films seen this weekend. Then you start with this statement. I thought," Boy, that was one serious marathon ! ":rofl:

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

Hobbit 3 was my least favorite of the three. I enjoyed it fine, but it felt the least significant, almost going through the motions. And whereas I cared about the characters and their plight somewhat in the first two, at this point it was just resolving everything. And Thorin's "dragon sickness" and that Alfred guy were kind of dumb and tedious. And though the LOTR ending did seem to drag on forever, it seemed like this ending was almost rushed by comparison, considering all that had happened.

Any misgivings I have about this probably wouldn't matter if I had just watched the whole series at once. I'm sure the slower pacing of the first Hobbit film and the nature of this one would work better when seen as a whole. But regardless, I can't help feeling that it could have been a fantastic 2-part, 6 hour film event, but doesn't work as well as 3-part, 8.5 hours.

I think this is correct. It would have been a really really epic 2 part movie. Instead of a mostly good 3 part movie with the last movie being, at times, boring. A lot of it seemed like filler material. With only one or two good parts. I like the part with the evles and wizards battling the undead. I like the last scene too. The rest I could have done with out.

 

The other issue is that in the 2nd move the spent the whole time building up to the fight with the dragon. Then he dies in the first 15 mins of hte 3rd movie. Seems like a whole lot of hopla just to get to that point.

[Calm]

So my son is convinced thet set things up for a spinoff for Legolas. Anyone else think that's likely?

[Mola Ram Suda Ram]

So my son is convinced thet set things up for a spinoff for Legolas. Anyone else think that's likely?

Not really. But it could be interesting on it's own with a good enough back story and script.

 

I think all it did do was tie right in to the LotR.

Edited January 5, 2015 by Mola Ram Suda Ram

[Tacenda]

What a surprise when going in I had no idea what the movie "The Imitation Game" was all about. I'm not going to spoil the surprise but guarantee it will be well worth your time and money. It was the most satisfying movie I've seen for a very long time. I hadn't seen any trailers or previews, I wonder if the filmmakers intended to keep me and others in the dark somewhat.

[Garden Girl]

I'm getting complimentary HBO, Starz, and Max probably for the weekend... so tonight I watched Judi Dench in "Philomena" which was wonderful... a mother's lifelong search for her son, who was taken from her and put up for adoption...

She is a wonderful actress...

 

GG

[Deborah]

I've got so many of those HBO, etc movies set to record on my DVR, GG.

[thesometimesaint]

"How To Train Your Dragon 2". Not as good as the first. Well worth the watch, however. Kid friendly, but with scatological jokes, and innuendo.

Edited January 11, 2015 by thesometimesaint

[Garden Girl]

I watched, again, my favorite lawyer movie... "The Rainmaker" starring Matt Damon... I never understood the title in regard to the legal aspect until this time watching I caught a phrase about Damon being a "rainmaker" because he as an attorney he made the money "rain down." 

Anyway, it's a really good movie... really good.

 

GG

[Stargazer]

I think this is correct. It would have been a really really epic 2 part movie. Instead of a mostly good 3 part movie with the last movie being, at times, boring. A lot of it seemed like filler material. With only one or two good parts. I like the part with the evles and wizards battling the undead. I like the last scene too. The rest I could have done with out.

 

The other issue is that in the 2nd move the spent the whole time building up to the fight with the dragon. Then he dies in the first 15 mins of hte 3rd movie. Seems like a whole lot of hopla just to get to that point.

 

Well, you will have to talk to Tolkien about that.  The movie covered what happened in book to the Dragon, pretty accurately, although there was no conversation between Bard and the dragon before the dragon bought the farm.

 

And I don't understand all this negativity about Hobbit 3.  I thought it was the best of the three.  I also didn't mind the extra stuff that Peter Jackson added in, like with the love between Fili the dwarf and Tauriel the she-elf.  It all fit OK.

 

And the fight between the Orc boss and Thorin Oakenshield was just about the best fight of the entire trilogy.

[Kenngo1969]

I saw 42 this weekend (it's about Jackie Robinson) and was very pleasantly surprised.  It was interesting (and even held the interest of my 10 year old son who is all about football and nothing about baseball and who protested at the thought of watching a movie about it), touching, and even humorous.

 

I also found that it was beneficial for my boys to watch as they don't have much of an understanding of the American history with racism or why it's still relevant today.

Perhaps you (or someone else) might find this of interest:

 

https://greatgourdini.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/living-up-to-american-ideals/

[bluebell]

Perhaps you (or someone else) might find this of interest:

 

https://greatgourdini.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/living-up-to-american-ideals/

 

Thanks Ken.  Good blog.

[Kenngo1969]

Thanks Ken.  Good blog.

Thank you.

[Grudunza]

Calvary is pretty good. A priest is threatened during a confessional to be killed the following week, and that looms over him while he deals with the various (often dark and troubled) issues of people in his small Irish town. Great understated performance by Brendan Gleeson, as the one faithful person among a world of sin and doubt and hostility. Language and subject matter are definitely of the mature variety, so be warned.

[Tacenda]

"Selma" is the behind the scenes leading up to the blacks getting the right to vote.

Glad we know now that the color of our skin DOES NOT determine superiority!

Such a beautiful film, that everyone should see. I was sad our scouts didn't put out the flag honoring Dr. King, in the past they did. Did anyone else's scouts put up flags?

[VideoGameJunkie]

I bought a 2 disc blu ray combo of Ben-Hur and Ten Commandments and have a lot of movie to watch.

[Garden Girl]

I rented "The Judge" starring Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr., playing estranged father and son.  Duvall is a judge of some 40 years, Downey is a hot shot lawyer.  Downey is called home for his mother's death/funeral... but is called on to stay because his father is charged with murder (hit and run).  Really good movie... well acted... suspense, family dynamics,

Duvall is really starting to show his age, but what an actor.  He is a favorite.  Downey is very good also.

 

GG

[Stargazer]

"Selma" is the behind the scenes leading up to the blacks getting the right to vote.  No, it wasn't.

Glad we know now that the color of our skin DOES NOT determine superiority!

Such a beautiful film, that everyone should see. I was sad our scouts didn't put out the flag honoring Dr. King, in the past they did. Did anyone else's scouts put up flags?

 

In regard to the bolded sentence, no, it isn't about that. The right to vote regardless of race was stated in the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870.  However, in many places, especially in the Old South, state governments placed many legal roadblocks (such as the poll tax) which were intended to limit Black suffrage.  The film involved the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which did away with those roadblocks by means of involving the federal government in the enforcement of the 15th Amendment within the states.

 

The interesting thing about the Old South and voting is this: after the Civil War, those who had rebelled, including some Confederate soldiers and the members of the Confederate state governments, temporarily lost the right to vote or hold state or federal office.  As a result, some of the earliest Congressmen from the former Confederate states after the Civil War were black (and Republican).  Once all the whites in the South got back all their citizenship rights, that little excursion ceased.

 

I haven't seen this film yet, but I plan to, soon.

[Stargazer]

I rented "The Judge" starring Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr., playing estranged father and son.  Duvall is a judge of some 40 years, Downey is a hot shot lawyer.  Downey is called home for his mother's death/funeral... but is called on to stay because his father is charged with murder (hit and run).  Really good movie... well acted... suspense, family dynamics,

Duvall is really starting to show his age, but what an actor.  He is a favorite.  Downey is very good also.

 

GG

 

Duvall played an old retired Marine Gunnery Sergeant in the movie "Jack Reacher".  He did a darned good job of it, too.

[Tacenda]

In regard to the bolded sentence, no, it isn't about that. The right to vote regardless of race was stated in the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, ratified in 1870. However, in many places, especially in the Old South, state governments placed many legal roadblocks (such as the poll tax) which were intended to limit Black suffrage. The film involved the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which did away with those roadblocks by means of involving the federal government in the enforcement of the 15th Amendment within the states.

The interesting thing about the Old South and voting is this: after the Civil War, those who had rebelled, including some Confederate soldiers and the members of the Confederate state governments, temporarily lost the right to vote or hold state or federal office. As a result, some of the earliest Congressmen from the former Confederate states after the Civil War were black (and Republican). Once all the whites in the South got back all their citizenship rights, that little excursion ceased.

I haven't seen this film yet, but I plan to, soon.

I left out saying...the ability to register to vote in Selma, Alabama. It was an extremely racist area and their governer, George Wallace, was not helping. Nor was President Lyndon Johnson until Dr. King led the March from Selma to Montgomery and spoke at the capital in Washington raising public awareness leading up to that.

Great history lesson for me to watch, it filled in a lot of blanks for me since I didn't remember much from any of my history classes.

[Garden Girl]

I rented "Dawn of the Planet of the Apes."  This continued the story of the ape "Caeser" 10 years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes.  In that movie, a large number of the apes from govt research labs in San Fran had escaped across the Golden Gate Bridge to the No Calif wooded area... Subsequently a disease pandemic had killed off most of the humans in the U.S. but the apes were immune so as large numbers of humans died all over the world, the apes thrived in their northern CA home.  Finally a small group of humans in this movie comes across some of the apes and Caeser...

It's actually quite a good movie with a real plot and believable characters, events, and plenty of action... The way it ended leaves room for a possible sequel if done right...

 

GG  

Edited January 25, 2015 by Garden Girl

[sdc999]

In case I've missed it, has nobody seen American Sniper?  What a good movie.  War is definitely ugly.  Not sure it was for the 6-8 boy with his family that sat next to us.