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– Mitch
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Why is that a flaw? They’re great screenwriters and the fact that they’re a couple makes the film feel much more heartfelt and realistic.
Characters overstay their welcome, notably Maggie Gyllenhal and Josh Hamilton as a “spiritual” couple who like to keep their kids close. The scene goes on for ten minutes too long and, much like the entire film, is too pretentious for it’s own good. As the dinner scene with these characters progresses, one hopes and wonders if Verona put in a call for The Joker to make another appearance. So does an overlong scene with Burt’s (John Krasinski) parents played by Catherine “Mrs. McAllister” O’Hara and Jeff “Harry Dunne” Daniels.
I get that the film is trying to play off of this motif of showing what kinds of parents Bert and Verona (Maya Rudolph) could end upbeing but the script gets too wrapped up in it’s own pretentiousness and lets these scenes run on far longer than they need to. The audience this film is targeted for isn’t going to miss the point so there’s no need for it. Also bland during this time is how Mendes simply shoots the scenes, seemingly taking his cues from the Brett Ratner School of Film making. No, this film probably wasn’t striving for a cinematography award but I can’t help but think Mendes and director of photography Ellen Kuras couldn’t come up with something less lazy. He’s above this, and we do deserve better from a man who beautifully handled the shootouts in Road to Perdition.
~ Flare
I enjoyed it because it’s all about the self-doubts of all these characters. I agree that the hippie scene goes on a bit too long, but I don’t think it’s pretentious.
(This is my 900th post!!! Awesome!!!) 
Understood, Dragon.
I watched The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. I thought it would be awesome, but I think the only part of it I found epic would be that one line everybody seems to love…
[spoil]You shall NOT pass![/spoil]
Trying to give LOTR a chance, so I’ll be watching the second one tomorrow.
Just watched a few movies just now.
Mcabe & Mrs. Miller - Robert Altman gives us a wild west where the real adventure was in business, not shootouts. Quiet & confident. RP
True Romance - Ah. the early 90s, when pop culture dialog and over the top violence seemed cutting edge. It’s fun but a little ridiculous. M
[i]Friday the 13th /i - Meh…best T&A of the series but one of the worst endings. It wasn’t scary, the deaths were okay, and it had 3 beginnings? RW
~ Flare
WOW. I haven’t visited this thread in a while. We’ve seen tons of stuff. To name a few, My Life in Ruins was pretty good, although not as good as My Big Fat Greek Wedding, also with Nia Vardolas, then we saw Departures, which won for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars this past year - it’s really, really good. We also saw L’Heure d’Êté (Summer Hours), although I must say, from the trailers, it was a dissappointment.
One movie that just came out on June 19th, is called Victoria Day. It’s a Canadian film, so I don’t know what anyone would have heard of it if not in Canada. It is a great film though. We covered it extensively, with director and cast interviews, so that was fun. We’re seeing My Sister’s Keeper, so that should be our next review on Friday…
In terms of DVD releases, we finally watched He’s Just Not That Into You. It was kind of too long, and slightly boring in my opinion… Then we saw Fanboys, which kind of came and went, but Star Wars fans would probably really like it. For a small film, it was quite well done. It’s kind of silly in parts, but it also has it’s really nice moments, so it’s worth checking out.
We also saw a movie now on DVD called Ce qu’il Faut Pour Vivre, or in English, The Necessities of Life. It is really good, and took home a lot of Canadian Genie Awards - beating out Canadian blockbuster Passchendaele in several major categories, in fact.
Another DVD we watched recently that are now available to buy are, One Week, which is a great Canadian film. Then this week, just yesterday actually, we did DVD reviews of Crossing Over, and Inkheart. Crossing Over, I didn’t find that good, but Inkheart, which I had originally seen in theatres, is quite well made - see current signature.
Only a few hours to a day have passed since my last moviepocalypse update, and now more signs are showing up already?!
Hitman 2 in 2010.
cinemablend.com/new.php?id=13691
Taken 2 in development.
cinemaspy.com/article.php?id=2681
Bale talks Terminator 5, TDK sequel.
cinemaspy.com/article.php?id=2682
(Note: The links seem not to be working for my browsers. It might be just me, but if it’s the same for you guys, please give me a note.)
Also, MTV has just greenlit a Teen Wolf remake and Paramount Pictures is remaking 1979’s Meatballs. Ugh. 
On a lighter side, Mission: Impossible IV is in the works, but J. J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company is involved. But still, do we need a 4th?
Back to the dark side - Universal has just greenlit a project that revolves around a yet-to-be-released Mattel Toy. Really!!?? Oh, jeez, help us! 
~ Flare
I’ve tried talking about this with friends, but none of them go to the cinema enough to care. So I thought I may as well try it here…
Does anyone feel as though the movies this summer just seem to have lacked any real excitement? I could be in the minority, which I would fully accept but nothing seems to be grabbing my attention much. I went to see Star Trek, which was a fairly entertaining watch in itself. But after leaving the cinema it kind of became forgettable for me. I suppose there wasn’t anything for me that warranted a second viewing in it.
But beyond that, I’ve just found it extremely hard to get excited about any of the movies coming out this summer. And the summer is supposed to be the time where you get your entertaining movies from, which don’t have to be these great works of art but have a decent story and fairly exciting visuals to settle and make you feel like a kid once more. It seems to lack that.
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen does nothing for me because it is essentially robots fighting. I saw the first on television and hated it, I refuse to pay money for anything Michael Bay is involved in and would rather not waste my time on it.
I’m not too sure what the point iIm trying to make is. But I think it’s a mix of two things. The first is that all of the “big” movies seem to have been released right at the beginning of summer and there are still two months left which appear to have nothing to offer. On a small aside, I’m aware of everything that’s coming out within the next few months.
But the main problem to me, seems to be the lack of anything replacing what has ended. Last year, or the year before to be much more precise…all of the big movies seemed to come to and end. Pirates of the Caribbean had run its course, as did Spider-Man, etc…and there was nothing to take its place.
While I’m not a huge fan of the last two POTC movies, they did still have a sense of excitement to them which I couldn’t quite put my finger on. They felt like something you actually wanted to be a part of, and they had a real sense of adventure and escapism to them.
I can’t help but feel as though this year’s movies have lacked that kind of excitement. I dunno, it’s been hard to put into words or express correctly how I feel about the current situation.
Do you have any thoughts on the matter?
P.S. Up doesn’t count because it isn’t out until October. 
Glad I’m not the only one, Mark-E. I told you guys it would happen. It’s here now; the moviepocalypse. Even summer blockbusters are distasteful now. What a disaster!
I would really love to talk more about it, but I’m in a rush.
~ Flare
Well, I just came back from seeing The Hangover, and though it might not be some massive summer effects-laden blockbuster, I still really, really enjoyed it. A comedy has to be very good (or very crude, either way) for me to actually laugh at it, and I was laughing throughout. The plot sounds quite basic but there are a few twists and turns in there, and the three main friends that we follow throughout have a real spark between them that makes the humour that extra bit more amusing. A good eight out of ten for me!
Moviepocalypse update: Best Picture nominees doubled - from 5 to 10.
comcast.net/articles/enterta … US.Oscars/
~ Flare
Oh, no. God, no, no, no, no, no.
You all know what this is, right? If not, here is a teaser of what it is:
youtube.com/watch?v=e0ZjjMBXMpk
And here is the logo:
Please, oh, please, please. I loved this show. Please don’t.
I think I heard an explosion somewhere in my mind when I saw the title.
~ Flare
P.S. That kid’s ugly. So not an Aang.
Ha-ha. I might still see the movie though; can’t judge a book by its cover.
Yeah, but, c’mon, I still miss the once cheerful, cutesy Aang from the series. That was practically what the whole series was about for me - transiting from a comfort zone and stepping into the harsh reality. I think the initial happy nature of the series is too light for M. Night Shyamalan, who’s more capable of directing movies with a dark, grim look. It’s like having Tim Burton directing Toy Story.
~ Flare
The teaser looks good if you ask me. Even though a lot of the casting choices are questionable, I think the adaptation will be at least good. It seems faithful enough.
From watching a failed attempt at Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, I don’t think I could trust previews anymore. They’re only advertising the good stuff while hiding away the bad ones under the mat.
But, I guess that’s a different story with M. Night… even though he didn’t do very well, either, with The Happening.
~ Flare
I heard at the website they show wallpapers of the movie. But I X’ed out of the website since the music is creepy. I know, sounds dumb. But I always look at NOTHING that’s scary. So I’m not used to the kind of music playing in it. Can someone just send them to me?