[RLacey]

Cinderella
Not exactly my favourite Disney film. It suffers a bit from not really going beyond the extremely well known story, most of the songs are rather old-fashioned, and the characters are all one-dimensional.

The mice are cool, though.

[Melanie68]

The absolutely original story that Cinderella was based off of was kind of gruesome.

Spoiler:

One of the stepsisters cuts off the heel of her foot so she can fit it into the glass slipper.

[RLacey]

Well, yes. Funnily enough, I was actually writing about some of the more gruesome versions of fairy tales just this afternoon.

But when you strip away the interesting gruesome bits, you're not left with much.

[Endosanity]

Watched:

Fido: Felt like I was watching a really dark themed Disney original movie. It's worth watching but probably nothing I'd buy anytime soon.

[Henke]

I saw Death Proof and Planet Terror but now I saw the European versions (although they were shown directly after one another because it was a film festival). I thought they were much better then the american versions. The films loses much of their impact when they are cut down. Great movies both of them.

I also saw Hot Fuzz. Rather funny although the ending was a bit to long.

[stepurhan]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Cinderella

Watched a performance of the Rossini opera last night. Didn't buy a programme because I knew the story. Turned out that the story in the opera is radically different and I spent the night enjoying the music but fairly confused.

Originally Posted by Henke

I also saw Hot Fuzz. Rather funny although the ending was a bit to long.

Enjoyed it immensely as a mickey take of American cop movies with a British feel. The extras on the DVDs are nothing short of astounding (includes the director's first cop film which if 45 minutes long AND comes with a making of film) but it's worth getting on DVD just so you can watch it with the fact track filling in all the background and references in the film.

[ATMachine]

Beowulf
A quite solid movie which I liked perhaps more than it deserves. The use of performance capture to digitally enhance the actors was a very risky choice, but it pays off in spades. The oddest thing about the technology is how natural it looks--instead of being creepy or off-putting as in previous movies (I'm looking at you, Polar Express) the characters seem so real you could almost forget they're a blend of people and pixels. If this film is any indicator of future technology, we may soon be building an expressway across the Uncanny Valley.

Also notable in this regard is how the digitalization process allowed for damn realistic aging effects on the characters, while using the same actors. In live action most likely there would have to have been a second actor hired to play each character who survives into Act III, which is 30 years later.

The acting is pretty good, surprisingly for a film in which all the actors stood around in front of bluescreens while wearing spandex bodysuits and dots on their faces. There are several cheesy lines, notably how many times Beowulf says "I AM BEOWULF!" plus a few others, but the actors pull them off pretty well on the whole. Anthony Hopkins is excellent as usual, and Ray Winstone makes a suitably gruff Beowulf. Crispin Glover is only really seen briefly, but brings in memorable mannerisms and a distinct style of speaking that sounds more like the Old English of the original poem.

Speaking of which, anyone who says "The movie is unfaithful to the poem!" is completely missing the point--the writers wanted to suggest that the poem is a not-entirely-truthful retelling of the events in the movie, which owes its existence to movie-Beowulf's Faustian bargain. It's not meant to be the same, and it's something of a commentary on the nature of stories, which is to be expected from the likes of Neil Gaiman.

(There are a few plot changes unrelated to that motif, notably how much time passes between Acts II and III, and where the latter takes place, but they really do help to better support the structural themes of the film. And yes, I just split an infinitive. Sue me.)

[RLacey]

Peter Pan
Another Disney film. And much more enjoyable than Cinderella (mostly because it has a more detailed plot). It also seems more in keeping with the later Disney films to me; I actually think it has a more modern sensibility to it than, say, The Jungle Book.

That's almost it for now as far as me watching Disney films is concerned; I only have Bambi left from my recent acquisitions. At least until I get home and watch Alice in Wonderland...

[lumi]

No Country for Old Men - solidly put together. It was engaging from start to end, and I can't really think of any criticism about it.

[kuze]

Sopranos - all of it. Good show, I favor HBO series lately. The final scene was great, the I really liked some of the interpretations I found on the net.

[Giligan]

The Siege. Great thriller but a bit predictable at the end.

[RLacey]

Finally, after eight weeks, I found time with the person I was watching it with to finish Kenneth Branagh's film version of Hamlet.

It's not a perfect film, but it is a very good adaptation. Well worth watching.

[Henke]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Finally, after eight weeks, I found time with the person I was watching it with to finish Kenneth Branagh's film version of Hamlet.

It's not a perfect film, but it is a very good adaptation. Well worth watching.

But why did he switch to the 19th century? But I don't like Hamlet that much. Macbeth is Shakespears best work IMO.

[lumi]

Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban - the Harry Potter world hasn't gotten tiresome, but each movie has some minor issues that probably weren't issues to kids. The enmity between Gryffindor and Slytherin is childish. Why does Hermione have something as powerful as a time traveling trinket? I'd have thought Harry would have left he foster parents before the second movie.

The acting has been great in all the movies, but I think the direction changed for the better with Cuaron. Looks like the next two have different directors, so nothing is set. I wonder how many more dark art defense teachers there will be...

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Charlotte Gray

"Charlotte, a young Scottish woman, who has studied in France, is living in London during World War II. Within weeks she both falls in love with a young pilot and is recruited by the Secret Service to act as a courier for the French Resistance. However her mission behind enemy lines becomes a personal mission to find her lover who has been shot down. Assigned to a Communist Resistance group she encounters acts of betrayal from sometimes unexpected sources, but meets the violence of war and her own disappointment with hope.... "

[Jatsie]

I just watched Elf on TV, it was cute. It's not the most Christmassy a film's ever made me feel, but still entertaining.

[RLacey]

It may yet prove to be a mistake to watch the Pixar films out of order, but I've started with The Incredibles. Which was great. Though perhaps slightly too long. Great, though.

[Merricat]

I think The Incredibles is a very tidy film--a well- made mid-life comedy, although a touch too long, as you say. Brad Bird is funny in an anti-Shrek-sequel sort of way. I like that.

[stepurhan]

Nightwatch

Stunning visuals. I especially liked the way the subtitles were used for enhanced visual effect. Changing colours. Fading in out in different ways. Large font to show the force when a particular character shouted. All very nice.

Good story and tone overall as well. Possibly a bit overly dark and depressing for most people's taste. Absolutely loved the ending.

[Ninja Dodo]

The Incredibles is my favourite Pixar film - love the characters - followed closely by Toy Story. Finding Nemo also really resonates with me for some reason. Never liked Bug's Life that much though. Too much like Three Amigos with ants.