Seen any good films lately?

Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Classic. The rest of his films suck though.

"I challenge you to name me a decent Matthew Broderick film!" Election? Ladyhawk's quite good too. Last good film I saw was Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind. Classic Studio Ghibli stuff.

Saw the new Pirates movie on Saturday. Johny Depp surpassed his last performance. He's such a hunk... *swoons*

If you want a mystery, try 'Hidden'. It's still got me 'at it' months later. My Irish ex, said 'Some films entertain you at the time, some entertain for a time after'. 'Hidden' is just such a film. If this were an American film people would be talking about the new Hitchcock. DO NOT SWITCH OFF as the credits roll. If you look at the centre of the screen, two people meet in a crowd scene. And I thought OK, what the fuck's going on there? And I still don't know! Of course-it's Hidden.

Ooh, styx, I take it you mean 'Cache' as it's called in French...? I saw that recently and am still scratching my head about it. I watched the credits as far as the flight attendants let the credits go, and I don't remember the 'two people', so maybe they cut it off before that. But the film takes 'French film' to a different level... Just watched 'Syriana' last night on DVD. Wow. Really moving, but bleak, film, and I think makes a good effort to present a *fairly* objective look at varying perspectives, although the main thrust is of course 'oil'. Clooney is great, as always. Great film for political science buffs. FBDO is a CLASSIC. It's BRILLIANT. I also liked 'Ladyhawk'; where's ol' Rutger Hauer these days?

I've seen a few good ones, mostly on TCM. One that had me hypnotised was 'Phone Booth', The suspense was painful. Another was 'Sudden Impact', I'm not a great fan of Clint Eastwood, as I don't think he's an actor anyway, just a celebrity, but this movie was his best effort since 'Play Misty for Me'. At least, of the ones of his I've seen. A scary one on a couple of nights ago was 'Copycat', with Sigourney Weaver. If you want baffling movies you need to watch anything by David Lynch, the most recent one I've seen is 'Mulholland Drive'. It's totally incomprehensible to normal mortals. So much so that there's a website dedicated to unravelling the story. The site is almost as much a cult these days as the movie. Although I agree in general that Clooney makes decent movies, I recently bought 'Solaris' and had to turn it off after 15mins. The 'background' music is the real star of the movie, at least it SHOULD be as it's played at such a high constant volume I couldn't hear the dialogue. I know I'm a little on the deaf side but that movie is ridiculous.

I watched Solaris, as well (I didn't turn it off, but I am still a little perplexed by it); the soundtrack is brill and I listen to it when I'm chillin' (the kids think the music is 'scary'). I even went so far as to buy the origninal book by Stanislaw Lem (I think it's Stanislaw) ; I bought it three years ago, got a third of the way through it, and still don't understand it any better for having sufficient time to stew over it. I think my favourite Clooney movie just has to be 'O Brother, Where Art Thou'; then again, anything done by the Cohen Brothers will automatically be on my fave list somewhere. I prefer Clooney when he's doing A) humourous films or B) serious poli-sci stuff (Good Night/Good Luck; Syriana, etc.). I just hated his 'action hero' phase with that godawful film about nukes on a train. I *used* to really like Cage, despite his stupid action man stuff, which is appalling; however, more and more often he is just choosing piffle films. He's down there now with Bruce Willis.

Ha, I loved the Big Lebowski, but you have to understand certain...ah...nuances of American culture to really get the humour...Ladykillers was quite funny, although I thought Hanks was an odd choice for the lead character. I never did like Lynch stuff, much like I never liked anything by Oliver Stone. Just too OTT.

Cohen Bros! Brill! O Brother was a fantastically original I thought it was based on Homer’s Odyssey...that wouldn't make it all that original, would it?

There are no original stories Fozzy. Cohen Bros. brilliant. Dennis Hopper and David Lynch a filmic marriage made in hell. I am typing this one-handed and listening to my ex who's extolling thr virtues of The Da Vinci Code. Very Difficult. But watch Hidden, it is a fucker. And that final scene, where...............

Of course - it's hidden.

I haven't seen any films at all lately, what with having been a prisoner in my own home for 3 years (child). But I saw Spiderman last night and it was quite good. Well, the first half was, then it got silly. In the days when I was a free person, I remember 'L'Appartement' being a good little number thriller wise, if you're OK with foreign films. (Who said, "I can't stand films with subtitles, if I want to read I'll go to a library.....?") Or, '3 Colours Blue' is a fine fine film. "Oh Brother where art thou" is/was a hoot.

I’ll concede to “original adaptation” – work for you?

Okay.

Saw Atomised last Friday at the Curzon. Massive Houellebecq fan so expected disappointment. I got it wrong. What a movie! It made me quite emotional. The guy that plays Bruno (who's been in other German films I've seen - I think maybe Run Lola Run - but I can't remember his name / be bothered to google it) anyway, he's absolutely incredible. A truly dominating performance. I can't recommend the film enough. Saw Superman too. Well cast, well acted, no plot, too long. Got fidgety halfway through. Saw it the day after Atomised so was never going to be that impressed.

I love The Big Lebowski, also. Ben Fact #72: I nearly ended up "Lebowski" on here, and not Enzo.

No, no, it wasn't intended as condescension, Peps; what I mean is, there are some things (like bowling tournaments) that Americans might find the *extra* humour in, as bowling is a sport of a particular ...um... social strata, generally speaking. A bit like Brits understanding Vicky Pollard in Little Britain much better than Yanks normally would (unless they've lived for several years...)

Living for several years always helps when one is trying to understand social differences, apart from breast feeding which I guess everyone understands from day 1.

Can't talk about Cohen bros. films without mentioning my favorite, as well as one of my favorites of all time: Fargo. Delicately put about bowling, AG. Nice.

Whatever...

'(unless they've lived for several years...)' perhaps I should insert the words...'in Britain'. So solly; brain thinks faster than fingers type. And Peps, that's *exactly* what I mean, you know, the whole Vicky Pollard and bowling thing.

There was no need to explain yourself, I was taking the piss, but then you know that.

I recently saw Hostel and can honestly say that it was the first time in at least 15 years that a movie gave me a real shudder. When it dawned on me what the premise of the film is.... well it gave me chills (alas not multiplying).

I just saw the first two Mission Impossible movies....they're actually very good movies. To keep up the "Decent M.B Movie" challenge, I would say "The Cable Guy"- that actually managed to combine humor and creepiness.. Another good one I saw was The Greatest Game Ever Played--I actually got teary-eyed (although that's not really a first :o))

My parents also saw Crash and they said that it was really good...finally a decent movie with a rap star