The holiday in movies

[sigma7]

Well, got caught up on some movie-watching over the frighteningly-brief break:

-- Hot Fuzz: Very yes. Entirely fun, needs a second watching.
-- Stardust: Muchly enjoyed, even DeNiro.
-- The Simpsons Movie: ...Meh. I'd heard conflicting opinions as to its quality, and I found it to be...about equivalent to an overlong but good episode of its current run. Certainly not of the caliber of its mid-'90s seasons. Worth the rent, but not the new release cost.
-- Spider-Man 3: The completeness kicks in. Yes, I feel the need to complete the trilogy, and...maybe I should've fought that feeling. About 20 minutes in, all the characters are replaced with idiots, and I found myself watching the DVD player timer more intently than the movie. Fail.
-- Blade Runner: I first saw this movie in 1997 (shut up) and immediately thought it could be released in the theatres that moment. Ten years later, I'm sticking with that feeling. A lot of what it popularized (maybe not "invented") is now cliché, or at least familiar, and yet it's rarely done as well.
-- Ratatouille: Classic Pixar, of course -- excellent animation and timeless storytelling.
-- Bender's Big Score: This is how you do the TV-show-turned-movie trick, kids. It's not Shakespeare, and the time-traveling-causality gets a little woogy in spots, but the plots and characters are well-crafted enough to hold it together. And it's consistently funny. (And, in one sequence, adorable.) And it's got a heart to it. Pleasantly surprising.

At some point, I'm going to have to watch The Matrix: Revolutions as part of that completeness urge again. I'm not looking forward to it.

Comments

[paradisacorbasi.livejournal.com]

Haven't seen Hot Fuzz yet. Plan to though.

I feel the same way about Stardust, though Claire Danes threatened to pull the bottom out from under it for me.

I haven't watched the Simpsons Movie because I lost my affection for that show around the time it went syndicated.

Spider-Man 3: Yeah, it's very sad.

Ratatouille was better than I expected.

Not much a fan of Futurama, but this review is making me curious.

And the icon is always a pleasure to see. Always.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

The funny thing about Bender's Big Score is how utterly saturated it is in the show's continuity and mythos -- off-handed references from up and down the show's run aren't just integrated, they fit perfectly. Compare and contrast with The Simpsons Movie in which such efforts just seem ham-handed (no reference to Spider-Pig intended). It even includes a reference to "Jurassic Bark," the episode that has to be one of the most heart-wrenching animated endeavors of all time....

I'm curious as to how a non-fan would react to the flick, as everyone I know who's seen it already has been either a die-hard fan or at least intimately familiar with its continuity....

[jkgriffin.livejournal.com]

The Jurassic Bark part was one of the best parts for me. That one episode got to me so bad I couldn't bear to ever watch that ep again. So I nearly cried when I saw Fry spending time with his dog.

I've seen Bender's Last Score now with some non-fans. While they didn't get nearly as much out of it as I did (being hard-core), even the least enthused person admitted she liked it.

It still tickles me no end that Al Gore does his own voice work.

Haven't seen Stardust or Spider-Man 3. I've been moderately interested in Stardust, so I think it just moved up the Netflix list. Matrix 3 really is that bad, but I know the feeling. I will probably break down and curse at SM3 one of these days.

re Hot Fuzz and Blade Runner - dead on. Except I first saw Blade Runner in the 80's. It's one of those movies I always stop at and watch. Even though I've had the DVD for years. It's just that good.

[iamstillthemoon.livejournal.com]

HOT FUZZ IS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!

[missmiah.livejournal.com]

Somehow (it's a long, convoluted story) we came out of the holidays with the three disc Hot Fuzz special edition thingy and I am SOOOOOO looking forward to watching all of that.

I haven't seen the movie itself since my initial viewing, but I remember enjoying it considerably - especially for a buddy cop movie, which is a genre I don't particularly care for in general.

[rainfletcher.livejournal.com]

Huh. New Year's Eve, bored beyond belief at work, I ended up watching the third X-Men movie in much the same way. I've owned it for months, but just never got around to it, mostly because of some bad press. And yeah, I was whelmed.

In the same pile of Superhero Movies I Picked Up But Still Haven't Watched are Spider-Man 3 and Batman Begins. Based on your review (certainly not the first negative view I've read), maybe I should start with ol' Bruce.

[sigma7.livejournal.com]

I certainly found X3 to be a potential franchise-killer, for a variety of reasons, and honestly, faithfulness to the original storylines didn't even occur to me. Bad story, bad developments, OH HAI I STAND ROUND FOR ONE HOUR WIT FENIX FORS DOIN NOTHIN LOL, why is Angel even in this movie?, jump in parabolic arcs and not straight lines for God's sake.... Even Ellen Page as Kitty couldn't save it, and that's a hell of a disclaimer.

If Superman Returns had been a groundbreaking reimagining of the Superman mythos, I'd forgive Singer for bolting, but it wasn't, so I don't.

However, I did enjoy the hell out of Batman Begins, despite the Katie Holmeyness. I need to break out Unbreakable and watch it, finally -- haven't watched it since I got the collector's edition, but I enjoyed it much on first viewing.

[solaine.livejournal.com]

Ratatouille made me very happy.