My parents rented The Last Kiss tonight because it said "Hilarious!" on the DVD case. I have no idea in what mindset that movie could be considered "hilarious!" unless the reviewer just finished watching a double-feature of Schindler's List and Requiem for a Dream. Two hours of relationships falling apart! LAFF RIOT!

Other than that, it was a Zach Braff movie scripted by Paul Haggis, which pretty much should tell you anything else you need to know about the movie.

I should've just gone to bed.

ETA: Just watched Brick, and damn if I'm not developing a serious crush on Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

Just watched Little Miss Sunshine. I loved it, and I really didn't expect to. Alan Arkin was brilliant, the little girl that plays Olive is adorable. >>>And the stripper routine at the talent show damn near had me falling out of the La-z-Boy.<<<

It managed to be quirky funny and still have a heart. I was impressed.

I watched The Black Dahlia last night. It was interesting. I really liked Hilary Swank and Mia Kirshner's performances but wished that someone other than Scarlett Johansson had played Kay Lake. They needed someone a little bit older for the role. It was entertaining but I still prefer L.A. Confidential.

I recently rented Shadowboxer with Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. First off, Mirren is - i just love her. And Cuba was different from anything I had previously seen him in, anyway. Basically, Mirren and Gooding play a stepmom and a stepson who are killers for hire. They are hired by Stephen Dorf to kill his wife and when they see she is pregnant they can't do it. They then take mother and baby on the run and become a family. Of course, more complications ensue.

I know the casting of this movie threw some people off but it actually worked. It was a very strong cast and the chemistry was there. Even between Monique(nurse) and Joseph Gordon Levitt(doctor) who play lovers that help Mirren with the baby.

Inversed, I saw Brick a few months ago and I enjoyed it. Levitt is just a top notch actor. I know he likes doing indie films to surround himself with folks who love the craft first and money second but I can't help but feel he could do more if he didn't look eternally 18.

I also saw The Black Dahlia recently and I thought it was terrible. Josh Hartnett and Scarlett Johansson were woefully miscast, and it seemed like Aaron Eckhart was in a completely different movie than everyone else. The story was interesting at first, but really lost me by going off on wild tangents.

Just watched The Constant Gardener.... wow. I had heard enough about it at the time it came out to sort of know what to expect, but I really didn't know what to expect.

I feel like I need to go donate money somewhere.[/guilt]

Now every time I see those pharmaceutical company ads on tv touting their la-*test*-('") miracle drug, I always remember this film. My guess is the reality's a hell of a lot worse than the movie portrays.

There was a quote at the beginning or end of that movie from John Le Carre, the author of the book The Constant Gardener:

I thought there was more to the quote, but that's all I've been able to find so far. *shivers*

Yes, it was horrifying, wasn't it? And all the way through the film I kept expecting a final showdown where he >>denounced the drug companies, and everything was made shiny and happy, but then the funeral - and the epistle (non-canonical)...<< That last shot of the movie was utterly chilling.

boutros boutros kitty et al, I watched The Constant Gardener last night (via the library) and what a thought provoking movie indeed.

It's amazing how big pharma use Africa as fertile ground for unchecked clinical trials. What's more amazing, is reading -from you guys- that the movie is actually tamer than what the reality really is!

Changing the subject, I loved the music, esp when Tess was walking around the markets.

Waking Ned Devine was our New Year's Eve movie.

Very cute and funny, although I'm glad I didn't see the "tell EVERYTHING" trailer before we watched it.

Ooh, that was great fun, wasn't it? Especially the opening sequence when Ian Bannen was watching the littery on telly.

Wordplay. Fantastic. Love. Learned all about crossword puzzles, saw Jon Stewart being his lovely spazzy self, other assorted people doing crossword puzzles. Yay!

Why We Fight. A good solid documentary, not as interesting as Wordplay and not as well-edited, nor did it "flow" as well, but still very depressing and interesting.

Joyeux Noel. Ho-lee crap, did I cry buckets at this film. The entire thing, pretty much, was weeping ridiculously. Along with some good lines. "You don't need to invade Paris to come round for a drink!"

My boyfriend and I watched From Hell. I thought it would be fun because of my Johnny Depp crush and his Heather Graham crush. But it was really stupid. I normally love Johnny but he looked like he was sleepwalking through the whole thing. And the less said about Heather Graham's "English" "accent," the better.

What makes it worse is, I think Heather Graham's accent was supposed to be Irish.