Current box office recommendations.

[Godder]

I see this thread as being somewhere for people to post recommendations about movies currently at the box office, with an optional review. I'd say that good recommendations would be synonyms for good (e.g. OMG so good!), neutral (e.g. DVD rental) or bad (e.g. OMG soooooo bad!).

One important thing: NO SPOILERS. If you want to discuss specific things about particular movies, start another thread with a spoiler warning in the title. Remember, there are plenty of foreign members of TMD, and their release schedules may not be the same as the American release dates.

So, let's hear it! What's on that's good, and what's on that's terrible? Tell us so we can plan and budget accordingly for the good stuff, while avoiding the dross .

[Klep]

Well I don't know what's still in large theaters, but here goes for movies I've seen in the past couple months.

Aeon Flux- Either you will like it or hate it with the firey passion of 1,000 suns.  I'm not sure why this is.

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe-Mandatory viewing.  I don't have the words to adequately describe how happy it made me to see this film.  In addition to telling the story flawlessly, there are a great few minutes at the beginning which marvelously capture the terror and heartbreak of the London Blitz in WWII.

Good Night and Good Luck-See this if you get a chance.  It's a good look at the Red Scare and the insanity sparked by McCarthy.

Jarhead-All dressed up and nowhere to go.  The movie spends the entire time building up to a point it entirely fails to make. Jake Hardnametospell does a great job, but the script fails him in the end.  I understand the book has the same problem.

The Legend of Zorro-If you liked the first one you'll enjoy this.  Enjoyable popcorn flick.

Doom-Same as above.  It was actually substantially better than I thought it would be.

Domino-Decent story executed poorly.  The scriptwriter wasn't up to the task and the director desperately wanted to prove something to somebody with his schizophrenic camerawork.  That said, you do get to see Kiera Knightly's boobies, if that's of interest to you.

Serenity-Anusien saw this what, a dozen times or more?  It's very good, but give me a break.

The Aristocrats-Hilarious.  Watch for Bob Saget's telling.

[Clown of Tresserhorn]

Rent - A must see if you love musicals. I am a bit biased cause I absolutely LOVED the musical (big rent-head). The movie starts kinda slow (although the performance of "seasons of love" was hot), but it picks up very fast. I've waited 5 or so months to see the movie (saw the preview during bewitched) and I'm definitely not dissappointed.

[nataz]

lion, witch, and the wardrobe:

meh, I'd wait for it on DVD. I honestly had really high hopes for the movie, but thought that it was kind of slow, and full of random plot holes. It works a lot better if you go into it aware that C.S. Lewis was writing an allegory for the bible/chirst, because then you can kind of make up your own background to fill in said holes.

My favorite quote from my G/F durring the movie, "Stop bitching already, you can't rationaly explain [any one of many things I can't tell you cause it would be a spoiler], you have to take it on faith, just believe." (she went to a christian school for 8 years, heh)

on the plus side though, the kids are adorable, the CGI effects are decent, and the "war" is interesting to watch.

Think of it like a LOTR lite, or an animated Passions for kids.     

[combo_dude]

Narnia is just out in England, I went last night. I thought that there were only two real problems with the film:

1. Too many cliches. Way, way too many cliches. Whenever the kids were about to do something, there'd always be some irritating little cliche thrown in just before they go and do it.

Which leads me nicely on to point 2: Am I the only one who found Lucy's character incredibly annoying? In the book I thought she was quite sweet in her own way, but in the film she (and Edmund, to some extent) really pissed me off.

Other than that, though, the film is excellent - as Klep said, the narrative is flawless, and some of the voices are very entertaining (and Jadis is pretty damn scary at times, too). And although the lion CGI is a bit dodgy at times, this is more than offset by having Liam Neeson in it - and that's the only dodgy bit.

Overall, I would definitely say you should go and see it.

[Klep]

@nataz: You can't spoil a 50-year-old story.

@combo_dude:  It's likely that things you saw as cliched were quite fresh when Lewis wrote them 50 years ago.

[nataz]

I hadn't read it, and was unaware of what was going to happen in the movie.

I'd say this is significantly different then something like King Kong.

[Klep]

I'd say this is significantly different then something like King Kong.

Not really. Frankly speaking, if you never read this book, then your childhood is missing something.

[Shock Wave]

Walk the Line. Great flick.

[forests failed you]

'walk the line' is definately the deckest film out right now.

[Anusien]

Serenity.
Ownage
7 times and counting

[jpmeyer]

Deck is mad the fin.

[Smmenen]

Capote was really good.  That's all I can recommend. 

[VonDouche]

I haven't seen many of the movies out right now, but the newest Potter was good (not as good as PoA in my opinion, but thats just my opinion), and Walk the Line was AMAZING.  I cannot stress to you how great the film was for me.  If you have not seen it, I definitely recommend it to you.  All of those actors played the part of a lifetime.

[nataz]

I think walk the line was really good if you are a cash fan. I really like cash, and they did a good job portraying him in the movie. But if you don't really care about cash, then the movie is going to hold a lot less significance for you.

It won't be quite as amazing when you see shots that are almost perfectly modeled after famous pictures and videos of Johnny. You won't be anywhere near as excited when Phoenix starts to sing "cocaine blues" at Folsom prison, or when you hear the duets sung by him and witherspoon.

Everytime Phoenix got on stage to sing, and said "hello, I'm johnny cash" i got all goosebumpy. He didn't really look like cash, but he managed to feel like cash.

regardless if you love cash or not, the story is a good one. childhood struggles, personal demons, true love, raw talent, etc, all make for a good story. But I think the best part was walking out of the movie, and feeling like they did the life of the man in black justice.

[knickers]

Narnia is just out in England, I went last night. I thought that there were only two real problems with the film:

1. Too many cliches. Way, way too many cliches. Whenever the kids were about to do something, there'd always be some irritating little cliche thrown in just before they go and do it.

Which leads me nicely on to point 2: Am I the only one who found Lucy's character incredibly annoying? In the book I thought she was quite sweet in her own way, but in the film she (and Edmund, to some extent) really pissed me off.

Other than that, though, the film is excellent - as Klep said, the narrative is flawless, and some of the voices are very entertaining (and Jadis is pretty damn scary at times, too). And although the lion CGI is a bit dodgy at times, this is more than offset by having Liam Neeson in it - and that's the only dodgy bit.

Overall, I would definitely say you should go and see it.

Have you ever watched the TV series?
I thought Georgie Henley (who played Lucy in the movie) did a spectacular job. If you ever watched the TV Series, you wouldn't like Sophie Wilcox (Lucy) much. I found her a bit annoying.

I thought this was an excellent movie, and the CGI was amazing.

Throughtout the movie I found myself getting really mad at Edmund Pevensie. lol

Pride and Prejudice was a fairly good movie too ... It had a certain wit to it, Mr. Bennet, and Elizabeth were extremely funny. I never read the book, nor did I see the TV series, but my fiance said the movie was done close to the book (according to her).

Serenity was not disappointing. It was a very good movie, and it was nice to actually get to know the Characters a little better (because I didn't feel that FireFly was long enough to get to know all the characters).

[BigMac]

Ever since i saw the trailer in the cinema for Narnia i wanted to go. I still need to wait 2 weeks before it is here but i cannot wait. I even got my girlfriend so far that she is willing to come, even though she loathes everything about fantasy. I am sure that after this movie she will think differently.

I have no reference to the story but the animated version. I never read the book and i never saw the tv series. I just know it made a huge impression on me as an animated movie. So i am assuming it will make an even bigger impact on me now.

I do not get the chance to go to movies that often anymore but the one with Dunst and Bloom (Elisabethtown) was not that bad. Had some nice scenes (even for a chick-movie) and especially Susan Sarandon puts down a real good show. I would not be surprised if she would get nominated for an oscar for this onefor best supporting actor, perhaps even win it. As for the story, it is a bit thin and predictable. Still i was able to sit it out and feel enjoyed afterwards.

[Matt]

I read all those Narnia books once, the one I liked was the one where they sailed to the edge of the world.

[Klep]

I read all those Narnia books once, the one I liked was the one where they sailed to the edge of the world.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  That was my favorite as well.

[combo_dude]

I read all those Narnia books once, the one I liked was the one where they sailed to the edge of the world.

Voyage of the Dawn Treader.  That was my favorite as well.

I need to reread the Narnia books - I'm generally a big, big fan of epic as a genre, and I don't remember half of these because I read them too long ago. Apart from Voyage, which others (although I'm planning on reading them at least roughly in order) do you think are good?

[Machinus]

Dawn Treader is obviously the best, but seriously just read all of them. There are only seven!

[Nefarias]

I don't have too much time, so perhaps I elaborate later, but for now:

The Ice Harvest: Very disappointing. Cusack and Billy Bob should be good times, but this movie was ass on ice.

Just Friends: An okay little date movie or something, but you shouldn't go in expecting much, and that's prettyy much what you get.

Harry Potter: obv. excellent

[Jacob Orlove]

Harry Potter: obv. excellent

I didn't think it was all that great. Sure, it was decent, but they cut both too much and not enough; the scenes just weren't cohesive enough for me to say it's a good movie.

[jpmeyer]

That was the problem that I had with it, too.  Because they cut out like almost everything not related to the tourney, it made it seem like the movie took place over the course of a month, rather than a year.

[Dozer]

Harry Potter: obv. excellent

I didn't think it was all that great. Sure, it was decent, but they cut both too much and not enough; the scenes just weren't cohesive enough for me to say it's a good movie.

I hated it for that very reason. It was so crammed, yet incohesive that it offered neither anything well-crafted for people who didn't read the book nor anything even remotely resembling the finesse of the book for the readers. Not recommended.

Pride and Prejudice was better than I thought. Some great acting, comical moments and all the pride and prejudice that you could ever want, beautifully orchestrated for the wide screen.

Serenity disappointed me a little. I am a big fan of the series and I didn't like the fade to the background that most of the side characters did, as well as that unforeseeable death -- I felt really cheated. The movie has some funny moments, but much less of the underlying bite the series has, which is sad. The reason why River is so important does not convince me; for that, the Alliance shouldn't have gone to that much trouble. It doesn't really come together flawlessly. That being said, it's still a great movie for any fan like me!

I'm going to see Narnia tomorrow after just re-reading the books. It's still great, live fantasy with the eternal struggle of Good vs Bad. I hope the movie is just as good; I don't mind cliches or christian motifs, because the old rivalry Good vs Bad will always be a major part of fantasy literature regardless of which angle it takes. Also, you only see the links if you already know about Christianity. You can just view it as a cliche black-and-white (and a little grey) fantasy story. It's not as elaborate as Nochnoi Dozor (I only read the book, didn't see the movie) for example, but still a classic.

/edit: Just came back from Narnia. I was impressed! Exceeds expectations. Even though some of the landscape effects are odd and kinda off, the animals are superb. The movie sticks very close to the book and makes all those little quirks visible. Convincing actors bringing off the role of "child becomes hero" very well (for example, the way Peter holds his sword), a Great Lion (wins every fight, guaranteed) and extremely stylish villains (ohhhh, that queen, especially during battle) made for an excellent evening of entertainment.

BTW, there are Midget warriors on the side of evil, and none of them even tries to stand up to Aslan. It's not even close! Even if you upgrade the Midgets to experienced evil fighting little people and the Lion to Aslan, Midgets don't have a friggin' chance. No way they'll ever knock out as much as even a tooth from him... I would so love to see the animators of "Narnia" rigging up a Midgets vs Lion fight. Anyone got connections?

Dozer

[Nefarias]

Harry Potter hate

Yeah, I agree with all the negative criticism. I guess I'm just too much of an HP nerd to let that get in the way. I left wishing for much more, but I was glad that I got something. The first 200 or so pages of the book took place in the first 5-10 minutes of the movie. I was okay with cutting a bunch of stuff out, as that is necessary with any book to movie transition, but I didn't like how they changed how things actually happened (removing the Winky story arch, Neville giving him the gillyweed). Those in turn led to more confusion, such as Snape's confronting him about stolen gillyweed---are we to assume that's how Neville got it?--- (and yes, that scene served an entirely different purpose, but whatever), and the "whole Barty Crouch thing." Meanwhile, a thirty page chapter (Yule Ball) takes up some twenty minutes without actually contributing to the story and contributing very little to character development. On the surface it seems like this scene is important, but Harry's previous confrontations with Cho get across the whole puberty thing, which is what the scene's all about. I feel like this would be very confusing and have a lot of holes if my knowledge of the book hadn't filled in those holes for me.

Anyway, the graveyard scene was totally sweet.

Since my last posting, I've also seen Narnia. I was never much a fan of the books, and the movie did very little for me. It just didn't have that epic a feel. From what it sounds like, this was geared more towards fans of the book and less towards a mass audience (unlike see above), which is good, but I'm personally a part of that mass audience. The animals were really well done though, except maybe the fox. It was okay, but to me it was thoroughly average.

[Jacob Orlove]

Actually, Crouch said he gave Neville the Gillyweed, in that whole "exposition for no reason" scene at the end.

I assume the extended version of the movie on DVD is going to be pretty good.

[Revvik]

Yesterday was Chronicles of Narnia and King Kong (12:01 showing, I feel like such a tool).
Narnia was great, despite the 'little British kid actors' thing.  Never read the books, but I honestly can't wait to see / read about more of these.
King Kong was fantastic, even with Jack Black in it.  I swear, get a minor actor from one good starring role and you'll find out the lethal dose comes far too quickly.  Although long, it was entirely badass.  I'll neglect to mention anything specific.

[jpmeyer]

King Kong, in addition to being probably the best remake that I can remember seeing, was also the fastest 3.5 hour movie that I've ever seen.  Also, Jack Black was born to utter the phrase "Will there be boobies?"

[Klep]

King Kong, in addition to being probably the best remake that I can remember seeing, was also the fastest 3.5 hour movie that I've ever seen.  Also, Jack Black was born to utter the phrase "Will there be boobies?"

I agree with everything JP just said, but want to add that this movie was Peter Jackson's baby, and it really shows.  Every second of film is crammed full of his love for the subject.