"Okay"???? That movie is GENIUS.

...Or maybe I just have a thing about John Cusack plus Jeremy Piven equalling eternal happiness.

Minnie Driver's not too bad, either.

Agreed, mrinsouciance. GPB and Circle of Friends are the only things I don't totally hate her in. The soundtrack to Grosse Pointe is awesome, and I'm pretty sure it's the last thing Dan Ackroyd has been in that didn't suck. I love that movie.

I rented the first disc of The Sopranos, since I've never seen any episodes, and apparently that's un-American to some people. I avoided it like the plague initially, because it was so hyped I couldn't stand it. I've only watched the first episode so far, which I thought was ok, but I really hate Lorraine Bracco's character. She drives me crazy, and I spent the whole time on edge waiting for her to show up on-screen. I think it's left-over hatred because Karen was the most annoying thing about Goodfellas, and I spent the whole movie wishing she'd get whacked. I can't decide if I'm going to keep watching or not.

I also rented disc 1 of Undeclared, which I haven't seen since it's original airing. I remember liking the show a lot, but I forgot just how funny and awesome it was. And the nicknames from the TWOP recaps kept coming back to me, Shaggy, Heath, etc.

IMO, Lorraine Bracco settles into the role and finds her footing, and Dr. Melfi gets a lot more interesting, as the season goes on, but yeah, I wasnt a fan in the beginning. But stick with it. Cause I really do believe its worth the hype.

Don't worry, aficionada, you're not the only one who wasn't wild about Grosse Pointe Blank. It was okay for me as well.

I saw Notes on a Scandal last night. It was super intense and kept on building until the big climax near the end of the movie... and then kind of petered out, which was a little disappointing. Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett gave fantastic performances, and now I really want to read the book.

LOL! I'm not one of the cool kids, if you've noticed! I was very tired when I started watching it and dozed off mid-way through.

I loved the music, but, I found the story, dare I say,...unbelievable?

I rented The Queen. That movie was great! So engrossing. I am not a royalist/monarchist; I don't know much about the Royal Family, so James Cromwell's performance was an eye opener as to how Prince Philip is! I also found fascinating and remarkable and sad that she would get all worked up over the stag, whom she doesn't know, but not over her ex-daughter in law!
Well, on the one hand, animals are beautiful,...but, it seemed to me there are some problems if you can't connect with people but do so w/animals.

I also rented Bad Santa - I was laughing out loud. Mind you, the story didn't make sense but I found it funny nonetheless.

A little French film called The Chorus, which is like Dead Poets Society but with less melodrama. It had its sappy moments, but I really liked it.

Also, a tiny indie called Come Early Morning with Ashley Judd. This is a freakin' fantastic film about a somewhat screwed up southern girl with daddy issues trying to figure out who she is. Very simple, but beautifully acted. Directed by Joey Lauren Adams--the Amy of Chasing Amy fame.

Fast Food Nation: I was expecting a satire along the lines of Thank You For Smoking, so I was a little disappointed. The storylines meandered away from the main movie topic at times, which kept it from being a good film. There were a lot of actors involved that seemingly popped up out of nowhere: Bruce Willis, Ethan Hawke, Avril Lavigne, etc. Also, I feel dirty for thinking that Wilmer Valderrama was kind of hot in this.

Same here. I was expecting something funny and sarcastic.
But my misguided expectations aside, it was just not a good movie. Greg Kinnear is set up as the main character, then disappears half way through. And it was boring.

I rented Wolf Creek and Hard Candy this weekend. One is about a serial killer who preys on backpackers/campers in the Australian Outback, and the second is about a 14 year old girl who turns the tables on a pedophile. They were both very good, but I must say, I found Hard Candy the more disturbing of the two.

I didn't think it was boring, but it definitely hadn't figured out what the story was it was trying to tell. I get that the resolution at the end was that there was no resolution, that things will suck and you can't really change them. There were some nice bits in there.

Brewster McCloud: It’s a shame “the Master” passed before he could record a DVD commentary for Brewster McCloud, because I would like him to explain WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!

What would be the first of a long string of being billed as "From the Director of M*A*S*H*" Uh, Bud Court hangs out in the Astrodome, builds wings and strangles people. Michael Murphy plays a cop named Shaft.

Finally stumbled on a more disturbing remnant of the early 70’s than Sid and Marty Croft. It has that wierd feel of the time when you used to think Taco Bell was real Mexican Food orgoing to Six Flags was a big deal.

In addition to the normal dating of a director given enough rope to hang himself with and the Hippy-Dippy psychodelia there’s the absolute reverence Altman genuflects upon the Astrodome. Now it’s a leaky rust bucket that destroyed Earl Campbell’s knees.

This has to be the only movie that uses an AMC Gremlin in a car chase… without irony.

Naturally being out of print and absolutely incoherent, Brewster’s been canonized as a work of genius. My new favorite Altman Acolyte flight of fancy courtesy of IMDB’s boards “Brewster McCloud scene staged in Jackass: the Movie.”

It took forever for me to get this from Video Station, someone had this two weeks past due. Some scary fucker out there.

Kiiiiiiind of the point. :P

I rented A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints last week, and I'm still trying to process it. I don't know if I'd call it good, exactly, but I think it handily accomplished what it was trying to, and I found it very affecting. Great performances all around. I should probably read the book now.

Pop quiz kai?

Heh.