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

[Janine]

Orson Welles' "The Stranger" for the third time this summer--amazing film! Track down this very intense gem.

I have it and love it. That is the one with the clock, right? Let me know - if so that it the one I came across by accident in a dollar bin. Great film!

[Big Al]

I recently watched a collection of three works by the astonishingly great but somehow completely unknown (even among the most ardent of film buffs) auteur Evgeni Bauer, who was sort of Russia's equivalent to D.W. Griffith. The three films presented on the DVD (entitled "Mad Love: The Films of Evgeni Bauer") were "Twilight of a Woman's Soul," "After Death" and "The Dying Swan," and they are three of the most literate, fascinating and symbolically rich works that I have ever seen, unrelentingly dark and hauntingly beautiful portraits of obsession, death, insanity and doomed love, accentuated by absolutely fantastic orchestral scores, which are moving, sad and eerily dissonant. Bauer possessed a mind-boggling mastery of the medium, and he was so far ahead of his time (on a thematic level as well as a technical one) it is hard to believe so few people have ever heard of him (I wonder if Hitchcock was a fan, because "After Death" seems a lot like a percursor to "Vertigo"). "Twilight of a Woman's Soul" is great, though the storyline is a little ordinary, but the other two are among the finest films ever committed to celluloid; they are worth the price of admission for the stunning dream sequences alone.

[Big Al]

Begotten (E.Elias Merhige, 1991): ...But there is absolutely no question as to why few people have heard of this film. I'm not completely sure what to make of it; admittedly I've never been much of a fan of avant-garde cinema. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy symbolism and experimentation, but generally when they are confined within the boundaries of conventional plot structure (although strangely enough my attitude is the opposite when it comes to documentaries, two of my favorites being "Lessons of Darkness" and "Man with the Movie Camera") rather than floating in free-form abstraction. Still, I think that cinema should be a challenging, visceral experience, and in this regard "Begotten" is certainly a success. Though I had no problem whatsoever watching it, I realize that not everybody is as desensitized as I am, and so I should go ahead and point out that this is not a film for the squeamish, as it contains graphic violence and nudity (including a rape scene), grotesque deformities and numerous scenes of some kind of pain and suffering. Even the visual style here might be stomach-churning to somebody who isn't used to this kind of thing; the film is presented in pure black and white without any half-tones (which is evidently a very arduous and painstaking thing to accomplish), and as a result the style of the film is nightmarish, and many of the images are ambiguous and difficult to make out, though they typically give the impression that something sick and depraved is happening, which almost makes it ("fear of the unknown") even scarier.

First and foremost, this appears to be an allegory steeped heavily in paganistic religious symbolism (the three main characters are "God killing himself," "Mother Earth" and "Son of Earth") but it is so esoteric that I simply have no idea what the filmmaker is trying to say. Is this a criticism of religion? Or a denouncement of the cruelties of humanity? Or perhaps even an examination of the dangers of childbirth? But it probably doesn't matter, as the key here is really emotional impact, not intellectualism. "Begotten" is comprised of a series of graphic, taboo-defying sequences that, due to the inherent nightmarish qualities and surreal aesthetics, feel like a purely natural thematic progression, rather than an attempt to simply "shock and disturb." It's sort of difficult to describe, a statement to which I am sure the people who have seen this (all 40 of them) would attest. Many of these scenes are quite effective (specifically the opening disembowlment), but the problem is that throughout most of the film's almost unbearable 80-minute run-time, absolutely nothing happens, and boredom and lack of interest begin to set in very quickly. If Merhige had crafted a short film which featured a random collage of only those and similar scenes (I think randomness and lack of linearity would even add to it as a recreation of a nightmare), then this could be a truly haunting experience, that kind that permanently sticks to a person's psyche. Instead, it plods on and on, only occasionally showing the audience anything of interest. All aspiring avant-garde filmmakers should take note of that: brevity is the key.

[TEND]

Pineapple Express - 10/10
The best movie I have seen all year so far. It is so stupid. It is just great. I especially liked the last scene. If you've seen it, you know the scene.

Yay, somebody who recognizes the random hilariousness of the Pineapple Express. I don't even smoke pot and yet laughed from start to finish, one of my favorites of the year.

[John Goodman]

Empire of the Sun

I saw it to see why Christian Bale won an award created solely for his performance and was left underwhelmed. The conditions of the POW camps shown in the movie were absolutely amazing compared to what they were actually like and the movie felt like it could have ended about six different times. I did like John Malkovich in the movie though.

6.5/10

[Equality72521]

Nims Island

I'll give it a 5/10. It was good, and Gerard Butler was a hottie, but the movie just wasn't my cup of tea.

[Domer121]

Mama Mia~~~~ 4 of 10.... it was too cheesy for my tastes....
Though Colin Firth was great

[LadyWentworth]

Yay, somebody who recognizes the random hilariousness of the Pineapple Express. I don't even smoke pot and yet laughed from start to finish, one of my favorites of the year.

I don't see how a person couldn't/wouldn't like it. It is great! Thus far it is #1 on my list for 2008. It is hilarious! I would seriously like to see this nominated for Best Comedy at the Golden Globes! It deserves it, I think.

Tropic Thunder - 8.75/10
When it is good, it is very good. When it isn't, it isn't bad, but it is only OK in my opinion. There are some really good lines in there. There are some very good moments. I particulary like the beginning of the film with the "trailers". My favorite being Robert Downey's. That was pretty funny. It was a good movie, I guess, but I was a little disappointed.

[R.A]

The Wings of the Dove

mm, well..... 7 out of 10...

I liked the music, the customs, the heroes But it's so tragic at the end but a pretty tragic end, though I couldn't comprehend it.. I think if it is with another end, I'll rate it 10/10

[Shalot]

I just got around to watching The Dark Knight and I am glad I got to experience it in a theater. It was excellent.

11/10

Why So Serious?

[Pensive]

City of God: 9/10
Heer-Ranjha: 7/10

[caesar]

Little Miss Sunshine - 8/10

[Bakiryu]

The Waterboy 8/10

It was hilarious. I ♥ Adam Sandler.

[Poetess]

Anna`s Storm
5/10

[LadyWentworth]

Henry Poole Is Here
9.75/10
One of the better movies that I have seen this summer.