[MystGirl]

Originally Posted by joosel

La Vie En Rose
Great movie about the tragic life of Édith Piaf.
Just watch it, lots of _quality_ music in this one

EXCELLENT movie. I just rented this recently. One of the best foreign movies I've seen all year.

[Jelena]

I just saw Spike Lee's Inside Man. Great movie. The original plot got me hooked in front of the TV even though I hadn't planned on watching anything.

[undeaf]

One hour photo.

I don't want to spoil it, but let me just say, I kept thinking it was getting very lame, but then realized it wasn't really.

[kuze]

Vicky Cristina Barcelona
I was rather forced into this one, but surprisingly, I didn't regret it. It is a nice love story with strong, even though somewhat cliched characters and a nice resolution. A little lenghy, a little rough, but a good movie overall.

[Trader]

Raumschiff Surprise which is a German sci-fi comedy, it takes off Star Trek and Star Wars (particularly The Phantom Menace), as well as The Fifth Element, Back to the Future, The Time Machine, Independence Day, and A Knight's Tale.I am surprised the makers of Star Trek havent kicked thier butts for copyright infringement. It is pretty funny especially the outakes at the end.

[Melanie68]

The Darjeeling Limited



I really liked this. Often quite funny and it did make me uncomfortable at times, especially seeing how dysfunctional the three brother's relationship was.

[Lucien21]

I've watched quite a few movies when I was off over Xmas. Some of them the best films I've seen all year.

Burn After Reading - Facre from the Coen brothers highlights some A-list celebrities have huge fun with a hilarious script. George Clooney as a lethario US Marshall, Brad Pitt as a dense gym trainer in particular are great in a weird story of stupidity and spys.

Let the Right one in - Swedish horror film about a very pale effeminant 12 year old boy who is being hideously bullied at school who meets and befiends his new neighbour. (A 12 year (more or less) old "girl" who happens to be a vampire). She teaches him to stand up to the bullies and protects him and a weird romance grows. Stunningly beautiful and creepy film set in the cold winter in Stockholm. This is my favourite movie of the year. The ending is utterly superb from a weird camera angle under the water in a swimming pool. http://www.lettherightoneinmovie.com/ - There is a US remake due this year from the director of Cloverfield, but they will cock it up and make more like that pish Twilight.

The Wrestler - New film from Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain) http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thewrestler/. Mickey Rourke is superb as an over the hill ex pro-wrestler, struggling to make ends meet 20 years after his fame. Now working in a local supermarket and fighting in small time events at the weekend in the hope of regaining his 80's glory, struggling to connect to his daughter who hates him and a stripper (the superb Marisa Tomei)who is also feeling washed up. I predict Rourke will win this years Oscar for this film, Bruce Springsteen could win for his excellent theme song as well.

Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle switches drugged up Edinburgh for a sweet story set in India. A young boy grew up in the slums ends up on Who Wants to be a Millionaire India and gets all the way to the final question captivating a nation. He gets arrested for cheating, and asked to prove how he knows every answer. The flashbacks chronicles his life of homelessness, torture, prostitution, how he meets and falls in live with a street girl and how he knows the answers. Genuinly uplifting movie and Boyles best film since Trainspotting. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- Brad pitt again in David Fincher's latest masterpiece. Pitt is Benjamin Button who lives his whole life backwards. Born an old man and progressivly gets younger as the film goes on. It is a superb pice of makeup and SFX that make Pitt de-age throughout the movie although this isn't a SFX type film. It's kinda like a modern day Forrest Gump (it's written by the same guy) chronicling American history through the eyes of an extraordinary man. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are superb. http://www.benjaminbutton.com/

[Trader]

Originally Posted by Henke

El Orfanato (The Orphanage)

A good movie. It has been compared with El Laberinto del fauno (Pan's Labyrinth) probably because Guillermo del Toro is involved in both. I must say that I like El Orfanato better.

I saw The Orphanage and loved it, I agree about Pan's Labyrinth, I got the feeling I was missing something like a hidden story under the one that I was looking at.

[DustyShinigami]

@Lucien:

Some of the films you've mentioned sound interesting. I'll have to look into them. Especially Let the Right One In. Can't fathom why someone's remaking it when it was only done last year.

[kuze]

Probably because it is an instant classic. I saw it a while back as well, and it became my favorite movie of the year (with Waltz With Bashir being a close second).

[DustyShinigami]

Where did you guys see it anyway?

It doesn't seem to be on in cinemas anywhere in the UK, it isn't out on dvd in America or the UK and i have a bad feeling it won't be out over here either. Too bad, because i want to see this movie now. I hope i haven't got to suffer with this bloody american remake.

[Crunchy in milk]

Resident Evil: Degeneration.

Any random episode of Robot Chicken has a deeper, more sensible plot AND more natural looking animation.

[Henke]

Originally Posted by Alucard

Where did you guys see it anyway?

It doesn't seem to be on in cinemas anywhere in the UK, it isn't out on dvd in America or the UK and i have a bad feeling it won't be out over here either. Too bad, because i want to see this movie now. I hope i haven't got to suffer with this bloody american remake.

It premièred the same date in the US as in Sweden. The Swedish DVD release is in March, don't know when the international DVD release is but it shouldn't be far away. I recommend reading the book while you wait, it's great. They will soon start filming another book by the same author which is something to look forward to as well.

[DustyShinigami]

According to the IMDb it's coming out in the UK on the 10 April. I'm not sure how reliable that info is though.

[MystGirl]

Originally Posted by Lucien21

I've watched quite a few movies when I was off over Xmas. Some of them the best films I've seen all year.

Burn After Reading - Facre from the Coen brothers highlights some A-list celebrities have huge fun with a hilarious script. George Clooney as a lethario US Marshall, Brad Pitt as a dense gym trainer in particular are great in a weird story of stupidity and spys.

Let the Right one in - Swedish horror film about a very pale effeminant 12 year old boy who is being hideously bullied at school who meets and befiends his new neighbour. (A 12 year (more or less) old "girl" who happens to be a vampire). She teaches him to stand up to the bullies and protects him and a weird romance grows. Stunningly beautiful and creepy film set in the cold winter in Stockholm. This is my favourite movie of the year. The ending is utterly superb from a weird camera angle under the water in a swimming pool. http://www.lettherightoneinmovie.com/ - There is a US remake due this year from the director of Cloverfield, but they will cock it up and make more like that pish Twilight.

The Wrestler - New film from Darren Aronofsky (The Fountain) http://www.foxsearchlight.com/thewrestler/. Mickey Rourke is superb as an over the hill ex pro-wrestler, struggling to make ends meet 20 years after his fame. Now working in a local supermarket and fighting in small time events at the weekend in the hope of regaining his 80's glory, struggling to connect to his daughter who hates him and a stripper (the superb Marisa Tomei)who is also feeling washed up. I predict Rourke will win this years Oscar for this film, Bruce Springsteen could win for his excellent theme song as well.

Slumdog Millionaire - Danny Boyle switches drugged up Edinburgh for a sweet story set in India. A young boy grew up in the slums ends up on Who Wants to be a Millionaire India and gets all the way to the final question captivating a nation. He gets arrested for cheating, and asked to prove how he knows every answer. The flashbacks chronicles his life of homelessness, torture, prostitution, how he meets and falls in live with a street girl and how he knows the answers. Genuinly uplifting movie and Boyles best film since Trainspotting. http://www.foxsearchlight.com/slumdogmillionaire/

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button- Brad pitt again in David Fincher's latest masterpiece. Pitt is Benjamin Button who lives his whole life backwards. Born an old man and progressivly gets younger as the film goes on. It is a superb pice of makeup and SFX that make Pitt de-age throughout the movie although this isn't a SFX type film. It's kinda like a modern day Forrest Gump (it's written by the same guy) chronicling American history through the eyes of an extraordinary man. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett are superb. http://www.benjaminbutton.com/

Burn After Reading is great. You can't go wrong with the Coen brothers.

I liked the Twilight books but haven't seen the movie yet, but Let The Right One In sounds quite interesting. I'd like to check out the Swedish version before the American remake hits our theaters. (some American remakes of foreign films are ok, but some aren't so great)



I just watched a movie called Transsiberian last night. An American couple is taking a train through Siberia on a vacation, and they come across a young couple, who's not what they appear to be. The young man in the couple is hiding heroin in some wooden dolls he's carrying. Apparently the train line they are on, has become a popular drug traffic route. The young man dies under interesting circumstances and eventually a "detective" played by the always brilliant Ben Kingsley shows up and becomes suspicious of his death and the American couple. There are some good plot twists and turns in this movie, with a nice haunting Russian winter setting as the background. Very good movie. Woody Harrellson is great as the naive and unsuspecting husband who's wife is keeping secrets from him on the train.

[Squinky]

Originally Posted by MystGirl

I liked the Twilight books but haven't seen the movie yet...

I saw that movie. It was so terrible, it was almost entertaining. Thank goodness I didn't pay to watch it. Ugh.

Then again, I thought the book was pure, utter trash, so your mileage may vary.

[rlpw]

Originally Posted by Squinky

Then again, I thought the book was pure, utter trash, so your mileage may vary.

Amen Kiddo.

And I loved Burn After Reading simply due to the fact that I could not for the life of me keep up with the plot changes fast enough to figure out the ending. That is very refreshing.

[Ninja Dodo]

I saw Verhoeven's Zwartboek over christmas. It left an impression... maybe partly cause it hit a little close to home (some in my family were involved in the Dutch resistance) but regardless... an interesting film. At the end you don't know whether to be more horrified by the nazis or the behaviour of your own countrymen after the liberation...

Also saw the second Arn movie, Riket vid vägens slut. Good movie. It managed to successfully distill the books without losing too much of the story and even if you haven't read them I think the film stands on its own merits pretty well. In a way Guillou has sort of created a founding mythology of Sweden somewhat like Tolkien did for England, though without the fantasy... it's a bit like the Steven Saylor style of taking history and filling in the blanks.

Also saw Fanny & Alexander which I'm ashamed to admit is the first time I've ever seen a Bergman movie. Very interesting. Really explores the characters and does so with great visual flair and an eye for detail. I shall have to watch some more...

[Jelena]

Originally Posted by Ninja Dodo

Also saw the second Arn movie, Riket vid vägens slut. Good movie. It managed to successfully distill the books without losing too much of the story and even if you haven't read them I think the film stands on its own merits pretty well.

I read the books right away when they were released and loved them. I never thought a film would do them justice and after having watched the first one I felt I was right. Perhaps I should watch the second film and see if it works better.

In a way Guillou has sort of created a founding mythology of Sweden somewhat like Tolkien did for England, though without the fantasy... it's a bit like the Steven Saylor style of taking history and filling in the blanks.

Guillou did thorough research before he wrote the books. For instance the home of Arn as a child: Arnäs is based on a real location called Aranäs.
Forshem church is a real church which above the entrance has a stone relief of a knight handling over the keys of the church to God. And above the knight there's a Knight Templar's cross. Guillou got inspired by the relief and started thinking about events that could lead to a Knights Templar building a church in Sweden during the 1100s.

Also saw Fanny & Alexander which I'm ashamed to admit is the first time I've ever seen a Bergman movie. Very interesting. Really explores the characters and does so with great visual flair and an eye for detail. I shall have to watch some more...

I'm not a fan of Bergsman's but Fanny Alexander is fantastic.

[RLacey]

Die Hard 4.0 (or Live Free or Die Hard)
Deeply implausible and totally dumb. And good fun, though not a patch on the first or third entries in the series.