Which movie did you watch today and how would you rate it?

[hurtinbuckaroo]

The Ice Harvest

A dark comedy film noir starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. Cusack and Thornton's characters steal $2M from a mob boss on Christmas eve. From eluding the hitman from the mob to double crosses and a twist at the end, it was a pretty good film that kept my attention quite nicely. Directed by Harold Ramis, it was good to see John Cusack in something other than a stinker.

I had never heard of this movie before and caught it on Showtime. Pleasantly surprised.

7/10

Have you seen ‘Grosse Point Blank’? Another non-stinker starring Cusack.

 

[bilby]

Christmas is in fucking December. Why are we discussing Christmas movies in early November??

'cause it's after Seven Days in May Day and we've traded in poles for reindeer. Its post scary time.

And because of your use of profanity you're not allowed any more Snickers.

You don't have to go cry in your beer bilby.

Profanity? I am an atheist, and don't accept the existence of such a category. I am also Australian. I merely used standard Aussie punctuation.

 

[Patooka]

Christmas is in fucking December. Why are we discussing Christmas movies in early November??

'cause it's after Seven Days in May Day and we've traded in poles for reindeer. Its post scary time.

And because of your use of profanity you're not allowed any more Snickers.

You don't have to go cry in your beer bilby.

Profanity? I am an atheist, and don't accept the existence of such a category. I am also Australian. I merely used standard Aussie punctuation.

This seems appropriate:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjBfhVV_u8E[/youtube]

RE: Christmas. Fuck me sideways with a rusty railspike I'm glad I don't work in retail anymore. Christmas point of sale had to be up immediately after Halloween and Hot Cross fucking Buns by the second of fucking January.

 

[ZiprHead]

The Ice Harvest

A dark comedy film noir starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. Cusack and Thornton's characters steal $2M from a mob boss on Christmas eve. From eluding the hitman from the mob to double crosses and a twist at the end, it was a pretty good film that kept my attention quite nicely. Directed by Harold Ramis, it was good to see John Cusack in something other than a stinker.

I had never heard of this movie before and caught it on Showtime. Pleasantly surprised.

7/10

Have you seen ‘Grosse Point Blank’? Another non-stinker starring Cusack.

Grosse Point Blank is one of my all time favorite movies.

 

[angelo]

Die Hard. the 1988 original starring who else but Bruce Willis and the beautiful Bonnie Bedelia as his wife.

As action movies go, this is among the top movies Willis starred in. The plot which I imagine is well known to most film aficionados is that a New York cop takes on terrorists who have taken over his wife's office tower building.

Highly rated by most film critics at the time and it still is. 9/10

More notably, it debuts a certain Alan Rickman who plays a very good villain.

Agreed. Rickman was/is brilliant.

 

[angelo]

If you haven't seen this gem, do yourself a favour and watch asap! 9/10 in my humble opinion. I still have wet dreams after all these years about the beautiful and delicious Liv Tyler.

 

[TSwizzle]

House of Usher, 6/10; A 1960 movie adaptation of the Edgar Alan Poe "The Fall of the House of Usher" story. A very small cast that stars Vincent Price, Mark Damon, Myrna Fahey and Harry Ellerbe. The story takes place in a dilapidated house that sits on barren grounds surrounded by a swamp. Vincent Price plays the role of insane brother determined to keep his sister from leaving the house to marry her suitor. The sister has a seizure (catalepsy) and the mad brother declares her dead and buries her in the family catacomb knowing that she is still alive. It's an enjoyable film in the style of old school horror movies. Mark Damon went on to become one of the most successful and prolific movie producers in Hollywood.

 

[angelo]

Vincent Price made many similar in style movies that never failed to enthrall. Brilliant actor.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Vincent Price made many similar in style movies that never failed to enthrall. Brilliant actor.

Isn't Price a one-trick pony... like Jack Nicholson?

 

[angelo]

Vincent Price made many similar in style movies that never failed to enthrall. Brilliant actor.

Isn't Price a one-trick pony... like Jack Nicholson?

You've gone too far in describing Nicholson as a one trick pony! I have yet to watch a bad Jack Nicholson movie. He's one of the best all time actors of the century!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Vincent Price made many similar in style movies that never failed to enthrall. Brilliant actor.

Isn't Price a one-trick pony... like Jack Nicholson?

You've gone too far in describing Nicholson as a one trick pony! I have yet to watch a bad Jack Nicholson movie. He's one of the best all time actors of the century!

How many characters has he played? Peter Sellers, Christian Bale, Merryl Streep play(ed) lots and lots of characters. Nicholson... what 2 or 3?

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

You've gone too far in describing Nicholson as a one trick pony! I have yet to watch a bad Jack Nicholson movie. He's one of the best all time actors of the century!

How many characters has he played? Peter Sellers, Christian Bale, Merryl Streep play(ed) lots and lots of characters. Nicholson... what 2 or 3?

Actually, the range of characters he's played is extremely large. Are you trying to say that you can't get past Jack Nicholson to appreciate the characters?

 

[ZiprHead]

Nicholson was the definitive Joker until Christian Bale. Playing an OCD writer in As Good As It Gets was excellent. The Departed, The Shining, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, A Few Good Men. All considered great acting performances.

There's no accounting for taste but you're probably going to be in the minority position on this one, Jimmy.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

You've gone too far in describing Nicholson as a one trick pony! I have yet to watch a bad Jack Nicholson movie. He's one of the best all time actors of the century!

How many characters has he played? Peter Sellers, Christian Bale, Merryl Streep play(ed) lots and lots of characters. Nicholson... what 2 or 3?

Actually, the range of characters he's played is extremely large. Are you trying to say that you can't get past Jack Nicholson to appreciate the characters?

I'm saying that he seems to play the same general character a lot, Mr. Self Absorbed Man. One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest, As Good As It Gets, Schmidt, A Few Good Men all generally share the same character mentality.

Yes, he has played other roles, Chinatown, Batman, but I've found him to be a bit repetitive. Kind of like watching Robin Williams in several of the films where he plays the same Awakenings character... over and over and over. Which is why I liked his performance in that episode of Homicide because he stepped out of that damn character and showed his capabilities.

Nicholson is a great actor, but one of the best all-time actors seems a stretch to me.

 

[prideandfall]

Nicholson is a great actor, but one of the best all-time actors seems a stretch to me.

he's one of those actors who doesn't really "act" so much as just shows up and reads his lines and is distinctive and charismatic enough to make it work. there's nothing wrong with that, there is a long list of "actors" who just show up and line read, and as long as the part is right for who that person is, it works fine.
jack nicholson, morgan freeman, tom cruise, paul rudd, about 50 character actors, gwenyth paltrow, michael fassbender, jennifer lawrence, on and on.
really, it's a much shorter list of who actually does *act* most of the time.

 

[Ford]

Nicholson was the definitive Joker until Christian Bale. Playing an OCD writer in As Good As It Gets was excellent. The Departed, The Shining, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, A Few Good Men. All considered great acting performances.

There's no accounting for taste but you're probably going to be in the minority position on this one, Jimmy.

I don't think there's any real question about Jack's acting ability, but to be honest by the time he got to playing the Joker (or his dual roles in the criminally misunderstood "Mars Attacks") his stardom had become such that he couldn't really lose himself in a role anymore. He put in great performances, but you never really forgot you were watching "Jack Nicholson" on the screen.

 

[angelo]

Nicholson was the definitive Joker until Christian Bale. Playing an OCD writer in As Good As It Gets was excellent. The Departed, The Shining, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, A Few Good Men. All considered great acting performances.

There's no accounting for taste but you're probably going to be in the minority position on this one, Jimmy.

I don't think there's any real question about Jack's acting ability, but to be honest by the time he got to playing the Joker (or his dual roles in the criminally misunderstood "Mars Attacks") his stardom had become such that he couldn't really lose himself in a role anymore. He put in great performances, but you never really forgot you were watching "Jack Nicholson" on the screen.

You obviously haven't watched The Postman Always Rings Twice. A 9/10 gem, along with Jessica Lange.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

The Innocents. Both of them.

The Deborah Kerr one gave me nightmares when was a kid, and I can see why, now. It's creepy.

The French one is also well worth a look.

 

[spikepipsqueak]

Border: Watch this. Really. I can't say much as I would give too much away. It's not pretty but it's interesting.


Also, What we did on our holiday. This is pretty. How dare Billy Connolly be in a film and not notify me?

Both 8 but for very different reasons.

 

[hurtinbuckaroo]

Nicholson was the definitive Joker until Christian Bale.

No one had played the part before him except Cesar Romero, and no one played the part after him, except in voice-overs for animation, until Heath Ledger (not Christian Bale), so that's not exactly a high bar.