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Yeah I thought The Hurt Locker was good but not earth shattering. Each set piece is great, but with little story or narrative to string them together it just feels like a collection of great set pieces. Loved the sniper battle. I enjoyed Generation Kill, a mini series by creator of The Wire which is also about the experience of soldiers in Iraq, much more.

“Old Dogs” - not a great film - but emits a continual outburst of humour. Maybe a few too many infantile moments - but if you need a good belly laugh, this is it - 7 out of 10.

I meant to take the kids to see it in the holidays, never got around to it. I like brainless silly humour now and then, with a touch of slapstick. “Evan Almighty” is a family favourite of ours. So the scene (from the shorts) with the guy singing all out of love to the Ape, now that’s class!

“Where the wild things are”  proved to be very surprising indeed. Definitely not for young children, this film delves into our dark inner emotions. Truly thought provoking - and ‘beautiful’ on so many levels. This film will really impact on you long after you’ve seen it - and you’ll want to get it on DVD later on. 8 out of 10.

It was one spooky kids movie! Not at all what I was expecting, and really haunting. The kids are still a bit concerned about the monster that….

(spoiler alert!)

(spoiler alert!)

...... lost his arm. “Oh, that was my favourite arm!” And then they just put a stick in his side to replace his arm? That’s a kind of disturbing scene for the kids. A quite exhausting movie in some ways… very other worldly, in an almost “Barren Munchausen” or “Brazil” kind of way, but for kids.

Finally made it to the movies again last Saturday - we saw “The Lovely Bones”. And it ended up that another 8 folk from our congregation also had the same idea on a rainy afternoon - but with varied responses to the film judging from our conversations on Sunday.

We absolutely LOVED it. It is so SURREAL - and for anyone with an artistic bent, this film should have you in raptures. Brilliant story-line - totally engrossing - incredible acting - the CGI special effects are amazing - to say the least ! It didn’t seem like 135 minutes had passed because we were so engrossingly caught up in the tale.

Some friends had read the book ( whereas we hadn’t ) - and so their reactions were less than our enthusiastic ones. We personally thought that reflecting on it through a Christian perspective of the afterlife and judgement brought an interesting angle to the discussion.

I have avoided any details of the film itself - because if you get to see it, the less you know in advance, the greater the impact it will have upon you. Afterwards, I commented that it was the sort of film that, after experiencing it, I didn’t want to see another film for a while in order that the visual impact didn’t fade away quickly and was allowed to linger in my emotions and memory for a little while longer.

It’s towards the end of it’s cinematic run, but well worth trying to track it down somewhere on the big screen. For me “The Lovely Bones”  is a rare cinematic treat - and I unhesitatingly rate it 10 out of 10.

Wow Kevin, that’s quite a review! I’ll take the wife out soon.

Hi Dave,

Did you ever see Jim Carrey’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MInd” ? If you thought that was surreal - which it was - well this one “ups the ante” - and then some.

It’s still at GU ( now Event cinemas ) at Bondi Junction and George St, city - but only until Wed.
Only Hoyts showing is at Wetherill Park ( 10.30am Wed).  Also Check out Manly Cinemas, and United Collaroy.  However, it looks like Roseville Cinemas may be showing it for another week -  check it out here :  http://www.rosevillecinemas.com.au/sessions.asp

Dave, here’s an interesting montage of 60 movie posters for films coming in 2010 :

http://www.govindas.com.au/page/side_12.html

This site is for Govinda’s Restaurant & Movie Room at Paddo. I haven’t been there yet - but it certainly looks interesting ! Check out their site for details of an interesting way to experience the cinema. I see that “The Lovely Bones” is set for a future ( unknown ) date.

Haven’t visited this thread for a while, so here’s a few more of my ratings for mainstream films:

Crazy Heart - 8.5/10.  Won the Oscar for best actor and I can see why.
The Time Traveler’s Wife - 8/10.  Great acting but then again I like both their leads Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams.
The Road - 7.5/10.  Some very suspenseful scenes kept me on the edge of my seat.
From Paris With Love - 7/10.  A bit like Taken but not as good.
Mao’s Last Dancer - 7/10.  Fairly gripping but short of extraordinary.
Shutter Island 6.5/10 - Meh.
Edge of Darkness - 6/10.  Meh.
Up In The Air - 5/10.  Overrated depressing movie.
Where The Wild Things Are - 4.5/10.  I know some people really enjoyed it but I found it low-budget boredom!  Maybe it’s because I’m not a kid anymore haha!

Saw ‘The Hurt Locker’ the other day.  I rate it 8.5/10.  Better than Avatar, but not as much fun.  Good ending, which is important.  If the ending is disappointing (as many/most are) it undermines the whole movie.
 
Has anyone seen ‘Alice in Wonderland’?
P.S. I see I differ from Arthur & Luke in my opinion of The Hurt Locker .

Well what a busy year it has proved to be - with little time available for our favourite treat of a cinema outing. Our celluloid drought since January has only been broken by viewing “The Blind Side” ( even more impressive than expected ) and ( on the other side of the ‘niceness’ spectrum ) “Law Abiding Citizen” ( Gerard Butler ) and   “Edge of Darkness” ( Mel Gibson ) - both films are edgy and very well written - with suspense held until the end.

We still cannot believe that we are among the few who have not seen “Avatar”. Well, tomorrow is the night to fill that void. Greater Union (Event Cinemas) have brought back “Avatar 3D”  for a week at most of their Sydney screens - and the most that you will pay is a bargain $12 !!!

Iron Man 2 was quite good, a fair balance of robotic action and good acting.  7.5/10.

Well “Avatar 3D” certainly lived up to all the hype. Literally blew us away.

Also caught up with “Book of Eli” - another great performance from Denzel Washington. Also interested to see that girl from TV’s “The 70’s Show” ( Mila Kunis ) turn out to be such a strong young actress - we’ll be seeing more of her soon I’m sure. An interesting tale with many aspects that Christians will ponder on throughout the film until it’s conclusion.

We were also happy to catch an advance screening of “Letters to Juliet” on the weekend. [Arthur might like to be warned that some might call this a “chick flick” - however it’s more than that.]  The story is set in the city of Verona, home of the star-crossed lover Juliet Capulet of “Romeo and Juliet” fame. The female lead Sophie is played by Amanda Seyfried - who also played another ‘Sophie’ in “Mamma Mia”. To us, the other main ‘star’ in the film is the countryside around Verona- it is so beautiful and you get to see lots of it. Beautifully photographed, this film has certainly captured the romance and beauty of this wonderful Italian region. That’s part of the appeal of so many movies set in Europe - they take you to places that one will probably never get to see in real life. Highly recommended - especially for those who want to impress the wife !

I would be interested in seeing both the Book of Eli and Letters to Juliet then.

If you need to see “Avatar” in 3D again, it is STILL being shown by Greater Union/Event cinemas at most of their Sydney cinemas until next Wed. for the special price of $12.

Also, Arthur,  “The Book of Eli” has a well deserved MA15+ rating - so that should assuage your thirst for plenty of action in addition to the cerebral challenge of the story line. Enjoy !

Just gotta get my CFA studies complete first (exam first weekend of June).  Hopefully it’s still in cinemas then.

I guess Avatar in 3D would be cool. It was all effects and sod all storyline IMO.

Looking forward to the DVD of this little known sci-fi classic from 1950 coming out soon :

What’s worse than Flying Mormons from Mars ? ......

Jehovah’s Witnesses From The Black Lagoon
Purpose Driven Popes from Beneath the Sea
The Emergent Menace from The Great Beyond
Your Worst Life Now… Forever Trapped at Hillsong Church
Beware of the Flying Mormons… they are more dangerous than the Flying Nun !

I’ve seen a lot of average and ordinary movies lately, but liked the old Swedish (?) movie As It Is In Heaven.  Superb acting, singing and character development - 8/10.

Echoes of the Rainbow was a moving Chinese film about the struggles of two brothers living in post-WWII Hong Kong. 

Excellent acting was featured, and I see why it got four wins in the recent HK Film Awards.  The kid steals the show - 7.5/10.

I had a few spare hours recently and took time out to see Ben Stiller’s new movie “Greenberg” on the big Vmax screen. ( It’s mostly only being screened once a day at cinemas - now I know why. )

I consider myself very tolerant of most movies - but found this despondent personality/character driven drama to be quite tortuous. Now Ben Stiller has certainly revealed himself as someone willing to step outside his normal comedic roles - but the actual storyline required lots of attention to stay seated. Indeed I actually considered exiting very early on - something I can’t recall feeling in decades. I guess I wasn’t expecting something so depressing at times.

The on-screen revelations of a suicidal character who loathes even himself ( whilst emotionally hurting those closest to him )  at times certainly took it’s toll on this viewer. “Critics” will obviously warm to this arthouse-style movie - indeed I notice that Margaret Pomeranz gave it 3 and 1/2 stars - whilst David gave it 4 stars !

I definitely would NOT recommend this film to anyone - especially anyone suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts ! The next film I see will HAVE to be an hilarious comedy - I just couldn’t sit through such another low viewing experience.

‘Inception’ is good, but now I need to see it again to get all the bits I missed…

Hi Ros,

Yes we’re looking forward to seeing it too - on the BIG Vmax screen this weekend. Also still need to catch up with Shrek Forever After, Toy Story 3, Karate Kid and Killers. Life has been so busy of late - mind you we did get to see 3 performances of the Cumberland Gang Show a fortnight ago ! BTW did you hear about Dave Shaw’s “Combantrin” promotion ? Ask his mum - I’ll know she’ll be proud ;)

Hi Kevin,
I’ve heard that Shrek Forever After is bad, and Toy Story 3 is good.  Next on our list is ‘The Special Relationship’ (Blair/Clinton). 
3 performances of the Gang Show is certainly comitment!  I haven’t heard about ‘Combantrin’, but I know Dave Shaw is quite a showman.