Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group discussion
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Movies, DVDs, and Theater
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What MOVIES or DVDs have you watched? (PART FIVE - 2012) (ongoing thread)
message 951:
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Jackie
(new)
Nov 24, 2012 05:52PM
Went to see Life of Pi today, it was good. It was a unique way to tell a story. I enjoyed the visuals, although there wasn't as much as I has hoped. Mostly what I saw on the commercial. I hate that. I probably could have waited for the DVD.
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Arnie wrote: "I thought Michele Pfeiffer should have at the very least been nominated for an Oscar for "White Oleander"---without any make-up she was able to transform her face and eyes into a chilling conduit of evil."Yes, she was excellent. She did win awards and nominations but not for the Oscar. Here's the awards page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283139/a...
Arnie wrote:"I thought Michele Pfeiffer should have at the very least been nominated for an Oscar for "White Oleander"---without any make-up she was able to transform her face and eyes into a chilling conduit of evil."Yes she was excellent. She did win awards and nominations but not for the Oscar. Here's the awards page: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283139/a...
Jackie wrote: "I had hoped to like Showtimes's The Borgias, watched a one episode, hated it, found it mind-numbingly slow and I didn't care about a single character. I tried it again with the second episode (bec..."I was also struck by the 'slowness' and irritated. But my Netflix helping was, I think, 4 epis long, so in the course of watching it (to get my money's worth!) I kind of got hooked on the characters. These things are actually 'docudramas' though they're never referred to as such. Modern docudramas turn me off greatly, but I seem to gobble them down when they're 400 years old or so.
Jackie wrote: "Went to see Life of Pi today, it was good. It was a unique way to tell a story. I enjoyed the visuals, although there wasn't as much as I has hoped. Mostly what I saw on the commercial. I hate th..."Thanks, Jackie. I'm waiting for the DVD at Netflix. :) It's in my "Saved" DVD queue.
I watched the animated film Coraline last night. Not nearly as scary or creepy as I was led to believe.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327597/
Then Looper this morning. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1276104/
It was good...except for the new trend in blowing out my eardrums for background noise while the dialogue is barely audible. It really ruins a movie for me when I have to play with the volume throughout the entire movie.
Coraline is a pretty name. I had never heard of it before now. At Netflix, the movie Coraline is listed above a movie called: Le Toréador (L'Opera Francais) in which the protagonist is named Coraline.http://www.kultur.com/Le-Toreador-p/d...
"Adolphe Adam’s comic opera revolves around the trials, tribulations and misunderstandings of Coraline, her older, philandering husband Don Belflor and Tracolin, Corlline’s flute-playing lover. In one of the most memorable parts of the opera, the trio performs variations on "Ah! vous dirai-je, maman" (Ah! mother, let me tell you), which most will recognize as “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star".
PS-As for the noisy Looper, it makes you wonder if the director ever listens to his own movie.
Ah, a different movie. Funny how they both had lovers, Coraline and Don. This one was based on the book Coraline by Neil Gaiman; An adventurous girl finds another world that is a strangely idealized version of her frustrating home, but it has sinister secrets.
Interesting about the other movie you found, I never heard of the name 'Coraline' before and assumed Gaiman made it up. I learn the coolest things from friends!
I'm getting really fed up with the volume of the background sounds. It's called 'background' for a reason, why don't these directors understand that? It makes it most unpleasant to watch. I'm so glad I didn't see it in the theater because that effect is even worse there, they always blast the volume, bad enough on normal volume to hear thunderous background sound.
Jackie wrote: "... Interesting about the other movie you found, I never heard of the name 'Coraline' before and assumed Gaiman made it up. I learn the coolest things from friends!..."And I learn the coolest things from the Internet! :)
I recently donated $5.00 to Wikipedia, after I read about their drive for donations at the top of their home page. Lord knows, I used Wiki enough!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
jackie, my husband and I totally agree with you. Do the directors know the meaning of the word, BACKGROUND? I thought it was only old folks that have the problem of losing their hearing while listening to loud music etc.
Joy, thanks for listing the best sellers. I even looked back at January to see if there was any significant changes; not many. One good news here is that a popular used book store is not closing; they are enlarging.
Nina wrote: "... One good news here is that a popular used book store is not closing; they are enlarging."That IS good news, Nina.
IMO, it's not easy to get used to reading a book from a screen. We are so accustomed to holding a book in our hands that it's a hard habit to give up. One of the appealing aspects of a book is that I can see exactly how far I've read. Somehow, knowing only page numbers isn't the same.
I just watched The Dark Knight Rises http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/It was very good, not too bad with the background noise. A lot of familiar faces in the cast. Good story.
Jackie wrote: "I just watched The Dark Knight Rises http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1345836/It was very good, not too bad with the background noise. A lot of familiar faces in the cast. Good story."
Wow, The Dark Knight had a huge cast! Who played the character of The Dark Knight?
[BTW, Jackie, I didn't receive a notification about your post (#963).]
I recently watched the 1st disc of "Game of Thrones". Below are some questions:
1. ---> (view spoiler)
2. ---> (view spoiler)
There were too many characters for me to keep track of. In the bonus feature they tried to explain all that, but it was still confusing.
Joy, Christian Bale plays Batman, and he is one actor I really cannot stand. I wish someone else played the character. Colin Farrell would be a good choice, I think. The cast was amazing, so many actors I know from other series/movies. And Joseph Gordon Levitt was fantastic, there's something about him that I always like him, ever since he was a kid. Cute, endearing. I will watch him in anything.GOT spoilers:
(view spoiler)
And that's not the half of it, Joy, there is literally a hundred pages of just characters in the character list in the books. This is a series that it's much better to read, you get more familiar with the characters and it doesn't seem like there's so many.
The first season was well done and stuck mostly to the book but the second season was disappointing, they went away from the books on so many plotlines. It's gonna be a problem is later. They claim to have read the books but if that's so then they wouldn't have messed with perfection, and they wouldn't have screwed up the plotlines so badly that I have no idea how they're gonna get back on track, back to where it's supposed to be.
Jackie, thanks for answering my questions. I didn't realize that the Dark Knight was Batman. :)I looked up Joseph Gordon Levitt at IMDb.
He played the part of "Dougie" in Family Ties (TV series) in 1988.
That's probably where I remember his face from. Yes, he's very appealing.
https://www.google.com/search?num=10&...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0330687/?r...
As for Game of Thrones, I don't know whether I'll watch much more of it. But at least now I have an idea of what it's about. Thanks for answering my questions. I can't believe that the movie portrayed that violation of morals so openly. But perhaps a lot of the viewers didn't realize (view spoiler). I had to guess because things were so confusing to me.
Too bad about the second season. Probably many of the viewers who didn't read the book won't realize that the movie wasn't true to the book.
I thought it was clear who they were. Jaime is introduced as Cersei's brother when they arrive at Winterfell. More shocking to me is that Jaime pushed a child out the window. I don't care who screws who, but harming a child, no, that is too much.I hated Jaime with a passion...until I didn't. Somewhere along the line, I started caring about him. Most of us feel this way, it's a testament to the awesome writing abilities of GRRM.
Jackie wrote: "I thought it was clear who they were. ..."I agree with everything you said. Joy, it was a key point just to make the reader/viewer hate the golden pair. Later on, they gain depth & Martin masterfully twists our understanding of them, especially Jaime. Cersei is too much. Nothing could possibly redeem her at this point, at least in my eyes. Still, she manages to gain some depth.
I liked Bale as Batman. I thought it was pretty good. I think I like him better than Keaton.
Jackie wrote: "I thought it was clear who they were. (view spoiler) I don't care who sc..."Those first introductions in the movie went right by me. I couldn't take it all in, especially with the strange names. Some of those names are hard to hold onto. It would be easier if they were named Mable and Mortimer. LOL
I'm finally getting things straight as to the author, George R.R. Martin (one look at his picture and you can't forget him LOL), and his 4 books which are part of: A Song of Ice and Fire
Just for the record:
A Song of Ice and Fire includes the following novels:
A GAME OF THRONES
A CLASH OF KINGS
A STORM OF SWORDS
A FEAST FOR CROWS
GR description:
=====================================
George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has become, in many ways, the gold standard for modern epic fantasy.
Martin, dubbed the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine, has created a world that is as rich and vital as any piece of historical fiction, set in an age of knights and chivalry and filled with a plethora of fascinating, multidimensional characters that you love, hate to love, or love to hate as they struggle for control of a divided kingdom.
It is this very vitality that has led it to be adapted as the HBO miniseries “Game of Thrones.”
===============================================
Jim wrote: "... Joy, it was a key point just to make the reader/viewer hate the golden pair. Later on, they gain depth & Martin masterfully twists our understanding of them, especially Jaime. Cersei is too much. Nothing could possibly redeem her at this point, at least in my eyes. Still, she manages to gain some depth. ..."Jim, sounds like the characters have a lot of depth written into them. I don't think you can get that from the movie, at least not on the first disc of the first season. (That's the only one I've watched.)
The actress who played Cersei, Lena Headey, certainly was beautiful.
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0372176/
She looked more beautiful as a blonde in the movie:
https://www.google.com/search?q=cerse...
5 books, with 2 more to go. Though, I wouldn't be surprised if he writes 10 in total...if he lives that long. With 5+ years between books, he has me worried.A Dance With Dragons is the latest in the series.
One disc will not give you much of an idea of what AGOT is about, it's just laying foundation at this point. I hope you finish the first season, it's quite good.
Cersei is very beautiful, but she uses that beauty as a weapon, masterfully. Headley looks very different from brunette to blonde. She's gorgeous either way.
Jim, so true about Jaime and Cersei. I still hate her but there's so much to her character, I can surely sympathize with her but I would never do the things she's done.
I didn't like Keaton or Clooney as Batman. Kilmer was better than those two and Bale is better than them all in the role. I just don't like him and would rather someone else was in them. Then I'd go to the theater to see the films.
Tom Hardy got so jacked up for the film, I barely recognized him!
Jackie, I didn't realize there was a 5th AGOT (Game of Thrones) book.What is it about Christian Bale that you don't like?
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&a...
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000288/
What happened to our "Coming Soon" topic? I tried to go there and was told it doesn't exist.Anyway, I wanted to mention the following movie coming soon:
"Hyde Park on Hudson" (2012)
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Hyde-Par...
"When the king and queen of England visit U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt hoping for support on the eve of World War II, Roosevelt must deal with his official duties as well as the competing interests of his mother, his wife and his mistresses."
Cast: Bill Murray, Laura Linney, Olivia Colman, Samuel West, Elizabeth Marvel, Elizabeth Wilson, Eleanor Bron, Olivia Williams
Director: Roger Michell
Genres: Comedy
Bill Murray "plays President Franklin D. Roosevelt as he manages an affair with a distant cousin (Laura Linney), a visit from George VI of Britain and the crippling effects of his polio."
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/02/mov...
Should be interesting. Will release on Dec. 7.
GR has a bug & some topics are occasionally AWOL.
Jim wrote: "GR has a bug & some topics are occasionally AWOL."Thanks, Jim. That explains it. I see that the topic is available now. So I'll copy and paste my post there (about Bill Murray's new movie).
I just got a message from Goodreads about the same thing happening in another group, it's fixed now. It was a site-wide problem so Coming Soon should be fixed now also.Christian Bale, I don't like his looks for one, weird teeth and that mole. Usually I'm not interested in what a celeb does in his personal life but he's a jerk to crew members and after he beat his mother up, I have nothing for him.
Jackie wrote: "I just got a message from Goodreads about the same thing happening in another group, it's fixed now. It was a site-wide problem so Coming Soon should be fixed now also. Christian Bale, I don't li..."These computers really add stress to our lives. Glad the missing topic has been re-instated. Today I made an order online which was supposed to get free shipping but the promotion code for that wasn't working. More aggravation! Had to phone in the entire order. That led to more complications! First of all, they were so busy with the free shipping customers that they couldn't handle all the calls and there was a long waiting period on the phone. I complained that they should know they need to hire more staff for these busy days! Second of all, for some items, they offer reduced prices online, but not by phone! A-a-rgh!
They finally fixed the free shipping promotion code but I had already had my fill of aggravation by then. Computers! You can't live with 'em and you can't live without 'em!
Didn't know all that about Bale. What a shame.
Right now, I HATE computers. Detest them. I'll hate them worse tomorrow when management gets over the shock of not having email most of the day.I did a regular Microsoft update to the email server today - Exchange 2010 on Server 2008, if it matters - at 5:30am. It worked just fine for the test after the reboot. Then quit. First guy gets in about 6:30am, has problems with the address book. I rebooted the server & all seems fine. Again, tests all worked fine.
10am comes around & someone tells me email isn't working. Thus begins Hell Day. I fiddled, rebooted, got it working again - for 3 - 4 minutes. After 30 minutes of looking & fiddling, I decide I have no idea what's wrong, so I call the guy that built the server. He fiddles for several hours. finally tells me to call Microsoft.
I spend 20 minutes getting through to a tech who tells me to try elsewhere. She deals with Server 2008, not Exchange 2010. Spend another 20 minutes getting a service call in - call back from the tech within 2 hours. I get the call in about 30 minutes, but he's Indian with a THICK accent. Knew his stuff apparently because he gets it fixed, but his explanation makes no sense, when I could understand it.
Mostly, he blamed the antivirus vendor, which I doubt very much. I think it was just his way of insuring they got $260 for breaking my server with their updates. Jerks.
In the meantime, I keep having people asking me if email is working. My boss actually stood in my doorway for 10 minutes while I'm trying to work through part of the problem with one of the techs. Like that is making things go faster? Really?
I'm finally all done & find out that part of an upgrade we did to an unrelated system is having issues. I go in the back to check on that & find out that the configurations we put in for the workstations were all reset to their original config. How did that happen? The programmer says the antivirus program did it, of course.
Do you see a pattern here?
Tomorrow I'm going to walk in & my boss & the owners are going to want a meeting to find out how we can never have this problem with an update again. No, they haven't told me yet, but I know management. The fact that we've never had this bad of an issue in over 5 years will count for nothing. They'll tell me we just can't do updates any more, I'm sure.
:sigh:
The F.D.R. coming soon movie sounds interesting. I have to say today set a record as far as temps go. It was seventy three. More like spring;not winter yet, but not even autumn was this warm. And no rain in sight.
I once walked out of the house as I didn't want to be under the same roof as my computer but it eventually turned into a love/hate relationship.
Jim wrote: "Right now, I HATE computers. Detest them. I'll hate them worse tomorrow when management gets over the shock of not having email most of the day. I did a regular Microsoft update to the email serve..."Jim, you have my sympathies on that! Stuff like that really scrambles the brain! I worry about my sons working in similar tech circumstances. The trouble-shooting is probably the worst part of the job. And there's plenty of trouble to shoot! :)
Nina, yes, it's definitely a love/hate relationship we have with our computers!
My grandson who recently visited put about fifty movies on my computer; so far, I have only watched one of them and truly enjoyed it. "Alice in Wonderland" was a bit crazy but sometimes that is just what I need.
Was it the one with Johnny Depp? That was good.
Thanks for mentioning it. I've moved it to the top of my Netflix queue.Alice in Wonderland (2010)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Alice-in...
Cast: Johnny Depp, Mia Wasikowska, Helena Bonham Carter, Anne Hathaway, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, Alan Rickman, Barbara Windsor
Director: Tim Burton
"This movie is: Imaginative, Feel-good."
Yes, I like to feel good!
Waking up takes all the fun out of sleeping. -Anon
Oh, my aching bones! :)
Jim wrote: "Was it the one with Johnny Depp? That was good."Yes, I thought it was fun to watch.
The Odd Life of Timothy Green http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462769/A childless couple bury a box in their backyard, containing all of their wishes for an infant. Soon, a child is born, though Timothy Green is not all that he appears.
This was good, better than expected. A nice family film appropriate for all ages. It's nice to have movie like this now and then.
Thanks for your comments, Jackie.I've put "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" (2012) in my Netflix queue. It says there's a long wait.
Here's the Netflix description:
=============================================
"When Cindy and Jim Green are told they can't have a baby, they bury a box filled with wishes for their dream child. That night, a mysterious young boy appears who brings magic to their lives -- and to the entire town of Stanleyville."
=================================================
Cast: Jennifer Garner, Joel Edgerton, CJ Adams, Ron Livingston, Dianne Wiest, Odeya Rush, Rosemarie DeWitt, Lin-Manuel Miranda, M. Emmet Walsh, Lois Smith, David Morse
Genre: Family Dramas, Children & Family
This movie is: Emotional, Heartfelt, Feel-good
I re-watched the first couple of episodes of "The IT Crowd" & "Soap" this week, two comedies that never fail to tickle me. While the former got stupid after a while, Soap continued to keep me chuckling through 4 seasons. Its sudden cancellation was one of the worst decisions a network ever made, right up there with Firefly. Leaving Jessica where they did & never resolving it just sucked. Benson, a spin-off, gives us another glimpse, but that just made it worse, IMO.
Jim, I felt the same about The IT Crowd, funny at first, then stupid. I wasn't home much during the Soap years but when I did see it, it was hilarious, so ahead of it's time. I don't understand why they cancelled it. I know it was popular. And what's even more stupid is to go on with a spin-off. I don't understand these idiots who run the networks, they make the dumbest decisions. Don't even get me started on Firefly. The Most Awesome Show Ever. I asked for it for my upcoming birthday next month, even though Science Channel re-airs it every now and then. I don't want to be dependent upon their schedule.
Have you ever watched 'Peep Show' ?http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387764/ Stupid name but really funny, it's based on the premise that with roommates one is always responsible and the other is a complete screw up. Short seasons, about 6 episodes. These two guys are so funny, they also have another skit filled comedy in the tradition of Monty Python called That Mitchell and Webb Look http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0499410/ Same short seasons, as is typical of British shows.
Joy, Timothy Green just came out on DVD a few days ago.
No, I've never watched the Peep Show. Just tried to see if I could DVR it, but it's not showing up. I'll see if I can't check it out at work where I have a better Internet connection. Hulu or something probably has it.I never cared for Monty Python. Fell asleep watching it with one of the prettiest girls I ever went to a drive-in with. She loved it.
:sigh:
Yeah, what's up with cancelling a show that is so popular that it generates a couple of spin-offs that even reference it? They must do their thinking with their heads firmly lodged in their colons.
BBCA airs Peep Show but not right now. The new season starts in January in the UK, we'll get it in the summer, probably. You'd have to find the earlier seasons elsewhere.I meant the Mothy Python half hour TV shows, they're very different from the movies.
I have agree, Jim, and if I ever meet one, I'll be sure to kick their head up into their colons, just so they're anatomically correct, lol
Ah, we don't get BBCA, I don't think. 120 channels of garbage...
Jackie wrote: "Joy, Timothy Green just came out on DVD a few days ago."Yes, I realize that. So that's why there's a long wait at Netflix. I don't mind waiting.
PS-I'm still trying to finish watching my Netflix DVD of Tom Jones. I'm too busy with Xmas stuff these days.
The kids had some comedies, so I tried them...without success. About 20 minutes of each and I had enough. Ted with Mark Wahlberg http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1637725/ and The Watch http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1298649/ with Ben Stiller. I don't understand why comedies are so idiotic; it feels as if a 12 year old writes them all.
I like Ben Stiller but he's so silly sometimes.The kids are the theaters' best audience. So they market to the kids a lot.
Theater audience is definitely targeted for kids/teens/young adults. I watched Paranorman tonight, animated. It was good, a little slow in the middle, but the end was good. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1623288/
It's funny how I tolerate comedy in animated movies but not live action.
Jackie, Do you think my grands would like ParaNorman?PS-Neflix says: "This movie is: Dark, Imaginative, Scary".
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/ParaNorm...
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Glens Falls (NY) Online Book Discussion Group
Books mentioned in this topic
Harvey (other topics)A Dance with Dragons (other topics)
A Song of Ice and Fire (other topics)
Coraline (other topics)
Ironweed (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Mary Chase (other topics)George R.R. Martin (other topics)
Neil Gaiman (other topics)
Janet Fitch (other topics)
Yann Martel (other topics)
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