What is the last movie you saw? and rate it.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

The US and China aren't there either, but since Switzerland is in the middle of what I imagine Europe to be I assumed it would have been swallowed up by the EU by default. I thought Norway was in the EU, come to think of it. Turkey and Israel seem a little far from Europe in my naive map of that part of reality and Iceland is in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.

The movie did present an interesting idea that if Britain were not in the EU it would be prosperous because it wouldn't have a self-serving bureaucracy manipulating it. That may be true for all I know and it is as good a reason to leave the EU as the justification the US made to leave Britain a couple centuries ago. And doesn't Scotland keep trying to leave Britain? Maybe social mood today favors decentralization?

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Switzerland isn't in the EU because constitutionally it is neutral, a fact that kept it out of European and two World Wars. So while others were squandering their wealth fighting each other, Switzerland prospered. Even if Germany had wanted to incorporate it into the 3rd Reich, strategically it would have been too costly because Switzerland is surrounded by mountains and easily defended.
It is probably the only true democracy in the world because the government cannot pass major legislation without a referendum; this gives the public a whip hand over their elected representatives: would that we had such a system in the UK.
Scotland has only recently been in a position to seek withdrawal from the UK since the Scottish Nationalists' became the governing party in Scotland.
Social mood does favour decentralisation but, because there is no Swiss referendum system to defend it, governments have carte blanche to impose globalisation on their citizens.

I forgot about those mountains. That makes their country a natural castle.

I don't know much about Brexit, but it seems like a general problem. The benefits derived from having a bureaucracy babysit you so you don't hurt yourself have to out-weight the joy of not having a back-seat driver telling you every turn to take. It's a tough choice. Generally I favor making my own mistakes.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

Switzerland isn't in the EU because constitutionally it is neutral, a fact that kept it out of European and two World Wars. So while others were squandering their wealth fighting each other, Switzerland prospered. Even if Germany had wanted to incorporate it into the 3rd Reich, strategically it would have been too costly because Switzerland is surrounded by mountains and easily defended.
It is probably the only true democracy in the world because the government cannot pass major legislation without a referendum; this gives the public a whip hand over their elected representatives: would that we had such a system in the UK.
Scotland has only recently been in a position to seek withdrawal from the UK since the Scottish Nationalists' became the governing party in Scotland.
Social mood does favour decentralisation but, because there is no Swiss referendum system to defend it, governments have carte blanche to impose globalisation on their citizens.

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This sums up the situation beautifully.

I saw "Art School Confidential": http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/art_..._confidential/

Again Rotten Tomatoes and I do not agree, but I can see why they trashed this.

The story is about a young man, Jerome, who goes to art school because he falls in love with the nude model in the school's brochure and he wants to be the Picasso of the 21st century. He meets the model, but she doesn't like his realistic drawings of her. Instead she falls for a taller, perhaps more handsome (but I have no clue what goes through a female mind when it comes to male beauty) and dangerous looking student whose work is more primitive. Everyone likes this guy's work because their inept teacher who spent 25 years learning how to draw triangles liked it.

There's a serial killer in the area and ultimately the incompetent police catch someone. They get the wrong guy, but that doesn't really bother anyone in the end.

Jerome has two roommates. One of them is gay and the other is a moron. Typical, but uninteresting, things happen to these two characters. There are a lot of goofy art students in his classes to help pass the time.

The more I try to describe this movie the more my rating of it drops so I better stop here.

Score: 6/10

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation..._(Switzerland)

Here's an Australian view that agrees with BREXIT the Movie.

https://youtu.be/8f6v7ZwKw_s

Duplicated post.

How is it that Britain retained the pound? Shouldn't you be using the euro if you are in the EU? It looks like you are half out of the EU already.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

How is it that Britain retained the pound? Shouldn't you be using the euro if you are in the EU? It looks like you are half out of the EU already.

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The Euro is fundamentally a German currency i.e. A revamped Deutsche mark foisted on to the European populace without it having a vote on the matter; even the German public were against it but Helmut Kohl, in cahoots with Brussels, brought it in anyway. The UK obtained an opt out and retained the pound.

I didn't know that about the origins of the Euro. Very interesting, Emil.

If you go to this link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_and_the_euro you will see that Sweden opted out of joining the Euro (along with the other countries on the map in the above link coloured in yellow). I am also a member of the Nej till EU Movement. Unfortunately Wikipedia only has this in Swedish. Converting to the Euro was rejected in a referendum held in 2003.

I was able to click something in Google that translated the page. The map is interesting. Apparently there are a lot of complex relationships.

If Britain is not part of the Euro although in the EU, what is its obligation to countries such as Greece that are having financial difficulties? The US has a similar problem with Puerto Rico at the moment. I suppose this inability to pay debt will just get worse.

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Originally Posted by Dreamwoven

I didn't know that about the origins of the Euro. Very interesting, Emil.

If you go to this link - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_and_the_euro you will see that Sweden opted out of joining the Euro (along with the other countries on the map in the above link coloured in yellow). I am also a member of the Nej till EU Movement. Unfortunately Wikipedia only has this in Swedish. Converting to the Euro was rejected in a referendum held in 2003.

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Well it's a bogus Deutsche mark by default because Germany is easily the most economically powerful country in the EU and in seeking to extend its power, it was able to use its industrial muscle to bring other states within range of its economic hegemony: something that's been going on since Bismark unified Germany in 1871.
In some respects Germany is a victim of its location because, being at the heart of the continent and technically superior to its neighbours, it automatically seeks to extend its power beyond its natural borders: hence two World Wars and the EU.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I saw "Art School Confidential": http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/art_..._confidential/

Again Rotten Tomatoes and I do not agree, but I can see why they trashed this.

The story is about a young man, Jerome, who goes to art school because he falls in love with the nude model in the school's brochure and he wants to be the Picasso of the 21st century. He meets the model, but she doesn't like his realistic drawings of her. Instead she falls for a taller, perhaps more handsome (but I have no clue what goes through a female mind when it comes to male beauty) and dangerous looking student whose work is more primitive. Everyone likes this guy's work because their inept teacher who spent 25 years learning how to draw triangles liked it.

There's a serial killer in the area and ultimately the incompetent police catch someone. They get the wrong guy, but that doesn't really bother anyone in the end.

Jerome has two roommates. One of them is gay and the other is a moron. Typical, but uninteresting, things happen to these two characters. There are a lot of goofy art students in his classes to help pass the time.

The more I try to describe this movie the more my rating of it drops so I better stop here.

Score: 6/10

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This account of the film is probably funnier than the film itself.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I was able to click something in Google that translated the page. The map is interesting. Apparently there are a lot of complex relationships.

If Britain is not part of the Euro although in the EU, what is its obligation to countries such as Greece that are having financial difficulties? The US has a similar problem with Puerto Rico at the moment. I suppose this inability to pay debt will just get worse.

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I don't know. Bailouts of failing EU economies are made by the IMF and European Central Bank in accordance with the European Commission but I should think that the UK wouldn't be expected to contribute to casualties of the Euro zone.

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Originally Posted by Emil Miller

Well it's a bogus Deutsche mark by default because Germany is easily the most economically powerful country in the EU and in seeking to extend its power, it was able to use its industrial muscle to bring other states within range of its economic hegemony: something that's been going on since Bismark unified Germany in 1871.
In some respects Germany is a victim of its location because, being at the heart of the continent and technically superior to its neighbours, it automatically seeks to extend its power beyond its natural borders: hence two World Wars and the EU.

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I didn't realize the central role of Germany and that it went back to the late 19th century, but the EU didn't occur in a vacuum, so it shouldn't have surprised me. I can see why people would want to exit the EU. It gives them a chance for more autonomy.

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Originally Posted by Danik 2016

This account of the film is probably funnier than the film itself.

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Thanks! I did watch the movie all the way through. It generated a few grins.

The movie I saw last night with my daughter was "Burying the Ex": http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/burying_the_ex_2015/.

I've seen it before. Rotten Tomatoes thought it was rotten, about 1.5 stars out of 5. What is worse, even the normal viewers on Rotten Tomatoes thought it was rotton. I gave it 5 stars (since I saw it twice and enjoyed it both times) which would convert to a 10/10 score here. What made me start questioning my sanity was my daughter thought it was stupid as well.

The movie is about a young man, his half-brother and his girlfriend. The half-brother wants to use his brother's apartment to bring girls for overnighters but the girlfriend doesn't like him. She is very sweet, but there is some (mild) social dysfunction going on and the young man at his half-brother's urging agrees to break off their relationship. Unfortunately she dies in an accident before he can tell her the bad news. She is buried, but unfortunately he promised before a bobble-head Satan doll while she was still alive that he would be with her "forever" and so the girl dug herself out of the grave to make him keep his promise on the forever part.

The mystery is how can one make an entertaining movie out of a plot like that? I think they succeeded, but apparently I'm in the minority.

Sorry, Yes/No. After watching the trailer I side with your daughter and the rest of the crowd. This ex looks like a milder version of Carrie.:D
But there seems to be a kind of dark humour in it. Maybe that´s what you liked about it.

It is dark, but in a stupid way.

I just finished another movie, "Bewitched": http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bewitched/ This one scored even worse than "Burying the Ex", but I liked it more.

This is a story about a witch (Nicole Kidman) who wants to live a normal life and so she lands in Hollywood and becomes an actress in a TV series called "Bewitched" which is a remake of an old TV series. She knows she can snap her fingers and get whatever she wants, but she wants a particular guy (Will Ferrell), the male actor in the TV series, to want her of his own free will. Since he is rather self-centered she doesn't know how to do this and so she gives up trying and then the magic starts.

I'd rate this 10/10.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

I didn't realize the central role of Germany and that it went back to the late 19th century, but the EU didn't occur in a vacuum, so it shouldn't have surprised me. I can see why people would want to exit the EU. It gives them a chance for more autonomy.

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Not just general autonomy but crucially over control of the economy. The euro is a failed currency and I can't see that changing. Perhaps the range of economies is too wide too make a single currency viable.

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Originally Posted by Dreamwoven

Not just general autonomy but crucially over control of the economy. The euro is a failed currency and I can't see that changing. Perhaps the range of economies is too wide too make a single currency viable.

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I suppose the euro is useful for tourists who don't have to exchange currency when they travel. The US uses a single currency over all of its states and I suspect that is what the EU wants to do with the euro.

I don't know what failure would mean for a currency. I do think the dollar will strengthen, the euro and other currencies will weaken, commodities will get flushed right down the toilet and the global stock markets crash. I'm a bear expecting a multi-decade long period of deflation caused by debt. That is the main reason I would think it is a good idea not to be in the EU when that crash occurs. Should such a crash occur the EU might not survive anyway. There will also be problems with US debt. The state I live in is heavily indebted.

If the crash doesn't occur, there are other benefits from autonomy that "Brexit the Movie" emphasized. In general people like to be, and should be, as autonomous as they are able to be. My children don't want me taking care of them forever. Older people don't want to be babysat by their children so they don't hurt themselves either. On the other hand we all need help at times.

Love and Friendship. Hilarious and very good.

The trailer on Rotten Tomatoes looked pretty good for "Love and Friendship": http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/love_and_friendship/ They even gave it high ratings.

In going through some movies I saw many years ago in search of something funny I found "White Chicks", a Wayans team film: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/white_chicks/ The Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it a 15% although the hoi polloi rated it at 55%. I gave it 5 stars just because. (My daughter also thought it stunk. My wife looked at the cover and refused to even consider checking out the trailer.)

When thinking about these old comedies, "White Chicks" and "Bewitched" have some similarities besides the irrelevant one that Rotten Tomatoes thought they were both rotten. "White Chicks" was written by men (Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Michael Anthony Snowden, Marlon Wayans, Andy McElfresh). "Bewitched" was written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, females. There are many touching moments in "Bewitched". In "White Chicks" those sweet moments probably lasted under two minutes accompanied by mushy soundtrack so you wouldn't miss them, but quality is better than quantity. "Bewitched" makes men look stupid, but endearing. "White Chicks" makes women look stupid, but irresistible. And so far I can't think of any similarities except that I gave them both 10/10.

I see your ratings are about as meaningful as mine, YesNo, since I give almost everything a 7 or above, lol. Also love your comparison of "White Chicks" and "Bewitched," two rather lame comedies. I did enjoy your breakdown of the male/female perspective of the two movies.

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Originally Posted by YesNo

"White Chicks" was written by men (Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Michael Anthony Snowden, Marlon Wayans, Andy McElfresh). "Bewitched" was written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, females.

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Another important difference:. In 'White Chicks", the leading women were played by men, whereas in Bewitched, they are played by women. :)

Yeah, in "White Chicks" those FBI agents had to go deep undercover. They are both lame comedies. That is probably why I enjoyed them.

I'm thinking of re-watching "Scary Movie 3".

I never really got White Chicks... One Wayan movie I did love as a kid was a Damon Wayans film, Major Payne. I still advise people to break a finger when I am tired of listening to them complain about some ache or another. The Major Payne way.

Talking about re-watching movies, I have been watching movies I loved as a kid and hoping my son will love them too. Look who's talking movies and just last weekend I watched Turner and Hooch, I love dog movies.

I watch John Hughes teen movies every now and then, Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink and 16 Candles, Ducky is one of my favourite Hughes character.

I think John Hughes did "Home Alone" also. That was pretty good and it is the one I remember. My daughters went to the high school featured in "The Breakfast Club". I can't remember what that film was about. I'll have to watch it again.

Yeah he did "Home alone" and the first "Beethoven", at least maybe more, both very good family movies. I think he also did "Ferris Bueller's day off". I read an interesting review of that movie once where it was speculated that the whole movie was Ferris' friend Camerons imagination.

Pride + Prejudice + Zombies: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pri...e_and_zombies/

This is another one that Rotten Tomatoes thought was rotten, but I was able to finish it. Admittedly it didn't make a lot of sense.

Score: 6/10

A Tale of Love and Darkness- Moving and poetic account of the childhood of Amos Oz based on the memories of the writer! Nathalie Portman´s debut as director.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WOwnykhrAI
Score:10/10

What language is this in - Yiddish?

I suspect it to be modern Hebrew, DW.
The written signs that appear are similar to these ones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew
I don´t think it is Yiddish because Yiddish is a bit similar to German.
I managed to identify just three words:
Adam= man
Eden= paradise
Ima= mama

Bergman - Autumn Sonata

Pretty devastating, I found it better than Cries and Whispers but that's an unconventional ranking I think.

9/10

Yeah, they are both pretty devastating. Cries and Whispers is more meaningful to me, probably because of a cancer death I was close to when I was younger, but I don't see how you could rank them except on that sort of subjective basis.

Mr. Right: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mr_right_2016/reviews/

I especially loved how Anna Kendrick delivered her lines in this movie. This is an action-romcom. It is right up there with "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Spy", and "Knight and Day".

Score: 10/10

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Originally Posted by Danik 2016

I suspect it to be modern Hebrew, DW.
The written signs that appear are similar to these ones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Hebrew
I don´t think it is Yiddish because Yiddish is a bit similar to German.
I managed to identify just three words:
Adam= man
Eden= paradise
Ima= mama

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You are right about that, Danik.

I looked up Yiddish in Wikipedia, and was surprised to learn that in the far-east of Russia is an oblast that has Yiddish as its main language: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yiddis...onomous_Oblast

I remember seeing Cries and Whispers, a very depressing film: but a good one for all that.

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Originally Posted by Pompey Bum

Yeah, they are both pretty devastating. Cries and Whispers is more meaningful to me, probably because of a cancer death I was close to when I was younger, but I don't see how you could rank them except on that sort of subjective basis.

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Yes, when I looked up reviews for Autumn Sonata (I like to read reviews immediately after I've seen a movie) most of the reviewers were comparing it negatively to Cries and Whispers, which I gather he made in the same period, and the subject is obviously pretty similar.

I actually avoided Autumn Sonata because it seems to be one of his more B-side movies and I don't really like the look of the ones where the characters all wear... 70's style pants suits and other Abba looking clothes, but the movie spoke for itself in about five minutes.

Fellini - 8 1/2

5/10 - Didn't really like it honestly.

I'm not much of a Fellini fan either. La Dolce Vita maybe for nostalgia's sake, but I think his films in general are dated in a way that Begman's are not. I mean, Bergman's detractors will say his are, too, but there's always been a group that's not comfortable with movies like that. Fellini's films are dated (in my opinion) because they deal with form rather than substance. It's the same pit postmodernists fall into today (again in my opinion) with their Warholian icons uber alles. But today's eternal icons turn soon into tomorrow's worthless Soviet bric-a-brac. Or maybe--nostalgia at best.

The Abba pants suit remark had me laughing so hard I had to pee. Yes, I guess those films were from that era. Cries and Whispers (which obviously isn't set in the 70s) came out when I was in Middle School and Autumn Sonota when I was in college. Those color Bergman movies are a little jarring. In the black and white ones, the tones (and usually the music) are soothing even when the story becomes horrific (or sometimes there is no music, which intensifies the horror). But in the later movies, the color itself can be oppressive. I haven't seen Cries and Whispers for a long time, but I still remember those bone-white women who lived in this blood-crimson universe. The colors themselves were unnerving (even if the music could still soothe).

Hey Clopin, did you ever see Jean-Luc Godard's A Bout de Souffle (also known as Breathless, but never never never never confuse it with the godawful Richard Gere remake)? I think you might like it.

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Fellini's films are dated (in my opinion) because they deal with form rather than substance. It's the same pit postmodernists fall into today

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Somewhere Lykren's nose just twitched. But yeh the only other Fellini movie I've seen is Satyricon and I was lukewarm on that one as well. 8 1/2 seemed pretty self indulgent but maybe I'm just sensitive to movies or storylines which star the artist struggling to be the artist and it's all created by an artist. I think these types of movies walk a fine line between profound and annoying. If you've seen Adaptation that's an example of this sort of trope that I actually enjoyed.

I saw a couple other movies lately since I've had trouble sleeping and they aren't really helping but:

Bela Tarr - The Turin Horse - 8/10

I've heard horror stories about this being a three hour meditation on potatoes and I think I spent about five minutes skipping around trying to find a spoken word to test if my subtitles were working (they were) so I was prepared for that kind of thing. I usually don't find movies boring if I have pretty pictures to look at and this was... not really boring, despite being about three hours long. I liked it but I probably wouldn't recommend it to anyone who wants stuff to happen in their movies. And it was quite pretty in a very stark kind of way.

Tarkovsky - Stalker, Nostalghia - Don't feel like rating/10

Aside from Andrei Rublev (which I loved) I dunno how to judge these Tarkovsky movies. I think I'm biased towards them because I like Russia so much, but they are very beautiful even if I don't always understand the significance of what I'm being shown. I had seen Stalker before around the time I first started getting into "art" films and found it pretty dull but I enjoyed it a lot this time, probably now my expectations are different. I think when I first started watching these movies (and reading 'literature' for that matter) I was sort of expecting big philosophical monologues and dissertations on life and meaning, etc and of course that's not really what you get from most artists in any genre... though funnily enough the first author I really liked was Dostoyevsky and the first filmmaker was Ingmar Bergman.

Oh and yes, I've seen Breathless, the only Godard film I've seen. I enjoyed it but didn't love it or anything.