recent-ish movies
Anne of the Thousand Days: 1969 movie starring Genevieve Bujold and Richard Harris. One of the more interesting portrayals of Anne Boleyn that I've encountered. Generally excellent all around, but I particularly liked the first half with Henry's "courtship" of Anne, as I don't think I've seen anything else manage to be completely sympathetic to Anne (and portray Henry VIII so possessive/creepy) while still maintaining her shrewdness and ambition and not portraying her as a victim. Also, pretty pretty technicolor.
The Avengers: Didn't live up to the hype for me, but I didn't really expect it to. It needed to be shorter than it was, IMO, as aside from the action scenes and some of the character introductions, I thought it was on the slow side, but largeyl entertaining enough. Good thing the last hour was one very long action scene? The Dramatic Death felt rather fake, and fandoms love of Hawkeye and is actor mystify me. (And I say that liking the character in the comic books.) Still not feeling Woobie Loki at all, and while I'm very fond of Hiddles as an actor, my favorite Loki scenes was Hulk playing Whack A Mole with him. Black Widow was handled better that I really expected, and I'd like the Maria Hill Show.
Baazigar: I only watched about half of this revenge drama before something happened that made me stop watching (If you've seen it, you probably know what.) I found it largely entertaining until then, but it's really mostly noteworthy (and so getting a mention, even though I didn't finish it) for being the first movie in which Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan costarred, and because, during one musical number, Kajol fantasizes about SRK cosplaying Zorro. I'm very happy that bit happened before I had to stop.
Brave: I was really looking forward to this one until the trailers started focusing on unfunny (imo) comedy with dudes and emphasizing that the heroine got along swell with her dad and that her mother just Didn't Understand. There...was a fair bit of both, but I really liked it. I can't help but feel that most of the scenes with Merida's brothers and her suitors and their fathers were there because Pixar was scared we wouldn't watch if we weren't reassured there were lots of funny dudes hanging around, but they were secondary enough that I could ignore them when needed. My one big beef is something I knew about and that I'd have a problem with going in, which is that, because of the curse, Elinor is deprived of her voice for a lot of the movie. (I also feel there was a much stronger emphasis on Elinor learning to accept Merida's POV than Merida learning to accept Elinor's, but it did better at that than I expected going in.) But still, very good movie overall.
The Cabin in the Woods: Too busy being convinced it's clever to actually be clever, or to live up to the premise. Some interesting parts, but I largely found it on the dull side, and the fact that the characters were meant to be walking tropes didn't make their being walking tropes any more interesting. It got more interesting for a while in the last third, but had a silly ending. But I'm glad I watched it just to see what people were talking about. Though it should be mentioned that (1) the movie was geared to slasher!horror, which is a subgenre I don't care for, while I love gothic!horror to bits and (2) it had Topher from Dollhouse as the obligatory Joss insert, which would have greatly interfered with my enjoyment even if I'd loved everything else.
Coraline: Mostly a pretty good adaptation of the book. While Tim Burton's stuff does tend to look the same, his look was a good choice for this, particularly the creepy parts. I was indifferent about the movie seeming to think it was absolutely necessary to add a boy for Coraline to interact with, because while the unnecessary addition was annoying, he really didn't do much. But then I got to the ending, and his role there gave the ending a very sour taste.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: My first movie for both Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. (Who I gather is not related to Rosalind Russell?) The main theme is "overies before brovaries" with a side of "materialism is ok" and about the eternal BFF-ness of a golddigger and shameless hussy who are also a hit showgirls act. The best part is either Jane Russell's character lamenting the fact that a hunky olympics team is off limits to her, or her Marilyn Monroe impression. I'm not sure which. I think most on my list who would like it have already seen it.
House at the End of the Street: Pretty solid gothic movie, despite the tragic lack of ghosts or psychic powers. I didn't see the later twists/reveals coming, which was nice, and I liked how they handled the mother/daughter aspect and how the mother's reservations made sense and were pretty smart, even though she'd clearly made a lot of mistakes in the past, and I feel most movies would have made her flaky. In fact, off the top of my head, this and Dark Water are the only horror movies I've seen where there's a central mother/daughter relationship that's both positive and central to the plot. (There are others I can think of where there's a mother/daughter relationship that's important to the plot-such as The Ring or Snow White: A Tale of Terror, but while that aspect is part of my fondness for those movies, those relationships are twisted and far from positive.) IIRC, it wasn't particularly popular, but I liked it.
John Tucker Must Die: For some reason, I always had it in my head that I wouldn't be a big fan of this movie. No idea why. Basic premise is three girls who hate each other learn they were all dating the school stud at once and team up with a "plain" wallflower (though even when they're trying to play her as "unnoticable," it's Hollywood and so Brittany Snow just looks like a very pretty if stereotypically blonde girl with less makeup and not-great hair) to destroy his public image. Some awkward parts, but mostly about the four girls becoming friends and a bit of deconstruction of the "all girls like bad boys" trope and women hating each other over men. (Also, for some external awkwardness, Dan from Gossip Girl plays Brittany Snow's love interest and she played Lily in a flashback episode so there were a few "stop crushing on your stepmother!" comments.)
RED: Extremely entertaining movie about retired CIA agents who have a hit put out on them. Bruce Willis reminded me of the Hudson Hawke movie, which, off the top of my head, is the only movie of his I've ever really cared about. (I'm sure if you listed a bunch off, there'd be more that I liked, but...) and who doesn't love Helen Mirren as a retired MI:6 agent? Though I spent the first half ofthe movie mostly thinking "Poor telephone lady!" Incidentally, there needs to be fic out there in which all the unrealistically badass retired CIA agents get together. (John Reese and Eliot Spencer would be invited too, they'd fit in well.)
Rurouni Kenshin: Yes, the live action RuroKen movie now exists with subtitles. Well, fansubs, at least. Hopefully, it'll get released in the US before long. (I mean, it's RuroKen, so I kinda assume that's a given?) Largely faithful despite rearranging things and bringing in plotlines and characters a lot earlier than in the manga and not quite managing enough of the lighthearted tone at times (there needed to be a lot more "Oro"-ing, guys.) and pretty well cast. My one problem is that Kaoru's role seems downplayed somewhat. Mostly, I think, because they brought in Megumi much earlier, and that's a trade off I can live with (Extra Megumi is so very hard to live with. Just so very hard. Really.) but instead of initially introducing Kenshin and his story mostly through Kaoru's gaze, Kaoru doesn't show up in the movie until after several plotlines that don't show up for a bit in the manga have been introduced. Also, fantastic fight scenes and soundtrack. I'm lazy, anyone know if sequels have been greenlighted yet?
The Three Musketeers (2011): Considerably more entertaining than I was expecting. I actually rather dislike the book, but it's usually interesting to see what different movies do with it. This one ditched Constance's fate (not the first) and disposed of the icky backstory for Athos and Milady, which helped a lot with me. I think this is the first time I haven't hated Athos. I suspect that's more MacFadyen than anything else. Still hated D'Artagnan. I have such fears that Lehrman is going to be taking over these "young warrior" roles for a few years. On a semirelated note, Orlando Bloom and his exceptionally teased hair may have been having a little too much fun in this movie. I could not at all recommend it for writing or acting (except for the "Enjoying yourself ever so much" thing that some of the actors had going) but it was certainly fun to look at in its colorful and giddily anachronistic way, and did better with the female characters than some other versions.
The Avengers: Didn't live up to the hype for me, but I didn't really expect it to. It needed to be shorter than it was, IMO, as aside from the action scenes and some of the character introductions, I thought it was on the slow side, but largeyl entertaining enough. Good thing the last hour was one very long action scene? The Dramatic Death felt rather fake, and fandoms love of Hawkeye and is actor mystify me. (And I say that liking the character in the comic books.) Still not feeling Woobie Loki at all, and while I'm very fond of Hiddles as an actor, my favorite Loki scenes was Hulk playing Whack A Mole with him. Black Widow was handled better that I really expected, and I'd like the Maria Hill Show.
Baazigar: I only watched about half of this revenge drama before something happened that made me stop watching (If you've seen it, you probably know what.) I found it largely entertaining until then, but it's really mostly noteworthy (and so getting a mention, even though I didn't finish it) for being the first movie in which Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan costarred, and because, during one musical number, Kajol fantasizes about SRK cosplaying Zorro. I'm very happy that bit happened before I had to stop.
Brave: I was really looking forward to this one until the trailers started focusing on unfunny (imo) comedy with dudes and emphasizing that the heroine got along swell with her dad and that her mother just Didn't Understand. There...was a fair bit of both, but I really liked it. I can't help but feel that most of the scenes with Merida's brothers and her suitors and their fathers were there because Pixar was scared we wouldn't watch if we weren't reassured there were lots of funny dudes hanging around, but they were secondary enough that I could ignore them when needed. My one big beef is something I knew about and that I'd have a problem with going in, which is that, because of the curse, Elinor is deprived of her voice for a lot of the movie. (I also feel there was a much stronger emphasis on Elinor learning to accept Merida's POV than Merida learning to accept Elinor's, but it did better at that than I expected going in.) But still, very good movie overall.
The Cabin in the Woods: Too busy being convinced it's clever to actually be clever, or to live up to the premise. Some interesting parts, but I largely found it on the dull side, and the fact that the characters were meant to be walking tropes didn't make their being walking tropes any more interesting. It got more interesting for a while in the last third, but had a silly ending. But I'm glad I watched it just to see what people were talking about. Though it should be mentioned that (1) the movie was geared to slasher!horror, which is a subgenre I don't care for, while I love gothic!horror to bits and (2) it had Topher from Dollhouse as the obligatory Joss insert, which would have greatly interfered with my enjoyment even if I'd loved everything else.
Coraline: Mostly a pretty good adaptation of the book. While Tim Burton's stuff does tend to look the same, his look was a good choice for this, particularly the creepy parts. I was indifferent about the movie seeming to think it was absolutely necessary to add a boy for Coraline to interact with, because while the unnecessary addition was annoying, he really didn't do much. But then I got to the ending, and his role there gave the ending a very sour taste.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: My first movie for both Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell. (Who I gather is not related to Rosalind Russell?) The main theme is "overies before brovaries" with a side of "materialism is ok" and about the eternal BFF-ness of a golddigger and shameless hussy who are also a hit showgirls act. The best part is either Jane Russell's character lamenting the fact that a hunky olympics team is off limits to her, or her Marilyn Monroe impression. I'm not sure which. I think most on my list who would like it have already seen it.
House at the End of the Street: Pretty solid gothic movie, despite the tragic lack of ghosts or psychic powers. I didn't see the later twists/reveals coming, which was nice, and I liked how they handled the mother/daughter aspect and how the mother's reservations made sense and were pretty smart, even though she'd clearly made a lot of mistakes in the past, and I feel most movies would have made her flaky. In fact, off the top of my head, this and Dark Water are the only horror movies I've seen where there's a central mother/daughter relationship that's both positive and central to the plot. (There are others I can think of where there's a mother/daughter relationship that's important to the plot-such as The Ring or Snow White: A Tale of Terror, but while that aspect is part of my fondness for those movies, those relationships are twisted and far from positive.) IIRC, it wasn't particularly popular, but I liked it.
John Tucker Must Die: For some reason, I always had it in my head that I wouldn't be a big fan of this movie. No idea why. Basic premise is three girls who hate each other learn they were all dating the school stud at once and team up with a "plain" wallflower (though even when they're trying to play her as "unnoticable," it's Hollywood and so Brittany Snow just looks like a very pretty if stereotypically blonde girl with less makeup and not-great hair) to destroy his public image. Some awkward parts, but mostly about the four girls becoming friends and a bit of deconstruction of the "all girls like bad boys" trope and women hating each other over men. (Also, for some external awkwardness, Dan from Gossip Girl plays Brittany Snow's love interest and she played Lily in a flashback episode so there were a few "stop crushing on your stepmother!" comments.)
RED: Extremely entertaining movie about retired CIA agents who have a hit put out on them. Bruce Willis reminded me of the Hudson Hawke movie, which, off the top of my head, is the only movie of his I've ever really cared about. (I'm sure if you listed a bunch off, there'd be more that I liked, but...) and who doesn't love Helen Mirren as a retired MI:6 agent? Though I spent the first half ofthe movie mostly thinking "Poor telephone lady!" Incidentally, there needs to be fic out there in which all the unrealistically badass retired CIA agents get together. (John Reese and Eliot Spencer would be invited too, they'd fit in well.)
Rurouni Kenshin: Yes, the live action RuroKen movie now exists with subtitles. Well, fansubs, at least. Hopefully, it'll get released in the US before long. (I mean, it's RuroKen, so I kinda assume that's a given?) Largely faithful despite rearranging things and bringing in plotlines and characters a lot earlier than in the manga and not quite managing enough of the lighthearted tone at times (there needed to be a lot more "Oro"-ing, guys.) and pretty well cast. My one problem is that Kaoru's role seems downplayed somewhat. Mostly, I think, because they brought in Megumi much earlier, and that's a trade off I can live with (Extra Megumi is so very hard to live with. Just so very hard. Really.) but instead of initially introducing Kenshin and his story mostly through Kaoru's gaze, Kaoru doesn't show up in the movie until after several plotlines that don't show up for a bit in the manga have been introduced. Also, fantastic fight scenes and soundtrack. I'm lazy, anyone know if sequels have been greenlighted yet?
The Three Musketeers (2011): Considerably more entertaining than I was expecting. I actually rather dislike the book, but it's usually interesting to see what different movies do with it. This one ditched Constance's fate (not the first) and disposed of the icky backstory for Athos and Milady, which helped a lot with me. I think this is the first time I haven't hated Athos. I suspect that's more MacFadyen than anything else. Still hated D'Artagnan. I have such fears that Lehrman is going to be taking over these "young warrior" roles for a few years. On a semirelated note, Orlando Bloom and his exceptionally teased hair may have been having a little too much fun in this movie. I could not at all recommend it for writing or acting (except for the "Enjoying yourself ever so much" thing that some of the actors had going) but it was certainly fun to look at in its colorful and giddily anachronistic way, and did better with the female characters than some other versions.