What MOVIE(s) have you been....seeing? watching?

No, Ghostbusters was a riddle wrapped in a Twinkie.

The Big Short: An angry comedy, if that makes sense, about the housing market crash of 2008 and the few people who saw it coming and made a fortune. Breaks the fourth wall a lot and has some amusing asides where different celebrities explain what they're talking about in a way that is sort of understandable. Quite entertaining overall for a subject that should have made my eyes glaze over. Christian Bale gives a unique performance as a financial guru who is a little bit of a burnout and doesn't seem to fit in the corporate mold, but is obviously on a different level with his analysis. Steve Carrell and Ryan Gosling are also great.

Also watched Christmas Vacation on Christmas Day night, and eh, it doesn't hold up well. A few funny moments, but pretty weak as a whole. Comedy is so hard to do at all, but it's especially hard to work as well outside of its own era. Suffice to say that Chevy Chase yukking it up is not as amusing as it may have once seemed. I'll stick to A Christmas Story and Elf for Xmas comedies. Those are utterly delightful (!) time and again.

Silence of the Lambs holds up incredibly well, though. Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins are both so amazing, and the story is gripping throughout.

We watched Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back and it pretty much just solidifies my stance that SW is a fun gem of a movie that needs nothing else and ESB is a plotless collection of scenes.

Grudunza wrote: The Big Short: An angry comedy, if that makes sense, about the housing market crash of 2008 and the few people who saw it coming and made a fortune. Breaks the fourth wall a lot and has some amusing asides where different celebrities explain what they're talking about in a way that is sort of understandable. Quite entertaining overall for a subject that should have made my eyes glaze over. Christian Bale gives a unique performance as a financial guru who is a little bit of a burnout and doesn't seem to fit in the corporate mold, but is obviously on a different level with his analysis. Steve Carrell and Ryan Gosling are also great..

The book is really good, so I am curious about the movie. It is all based on a true characters, so that should make it a bit more interesting.

Mad Dog wrote:

ROLL TIDE! (meow)

Oh, and saw "The Spectacular Now" with the wife. Great story, teen angst and all that. Kept waiting for the predictable twist of fate for the protagonist and it never came, happily. Good date film.

I LOVE that movie. Did u lose your shit when she gets hit by the car?

Hateful Eight: A lot to like in various moments and characters, but I didn't really love it as a whole. It seems like an obvious knock to say it's too long for what it is, when it's a three hour movie, but I actually liked the very slow-paced first half or so a lot better than the later part, so it wasn't necessarily the slow pacing. There's a particular section about 2/3 into the film that seemed unnecessarily long for what it ends up showing you, where I think a montage or quicker scene would have been better. That broke me away for too long from where things had been building, and then couldn't quite return with the same momentum. The plot was intriguing early on, but had a pivotal moment that kind of felt like a cheat. And also some unexpected moments that played well, so that was good. Reminded me most of Reservoir Dogs, in terms of Tarantino work, but Reservoir Dogs was much more efficient, while covering some of the same dramatic points and paranoia/tension. The score was wonderful, and the cast was excellent. To say that Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell had some great moments and dialogue feels like a "well duh" kind of thing, but I especially liked Bruce Dern in his role as an old Confederate general, and Jennifer Jason-Leigh as the captured criminal on her way to be hanged.

Grudunza wrote: Hateful Eight: A lot to like in various moments and characters, but I didn't really love it as a whole.

Did you see it in Panavision?

No, and to be fair, the intermission (part of the 70mm version) may have helped in terms of appreciating the piece as a whole, whereas "Act 2" coming right after "Act 1" seemed to throw things off a bit for me from the momentum of where it was heading.

I had made some vague plans to drive to Portland on Monday with a friend to see it in 70mm, but he couldn't commit, so I just saw it locally last night. Turns out Tarantino was at that theater that day hanging out and answering questions. Anyway...

Thinking about it more, this film also reminds me of the opening interrogation scene and tavern scene of Inglorious Basterds. And those may be the best scenes of any Tarantino film. But here, stretching it all out and not paying it off as well.