What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[BillyG]

Martins extended x trip and the astonishment with the fish are integral to the plot!

[Matt]

THE REF (aka HOSTILE HOSTAGES)

We did our annual Christmas viewing of it this evening. This is what happens when you get the right script in front of the right actors: pure gold. Good God is this a great comedy.

[Ben Thomas]

This time last year, I said I was gonna watch that.

Hey Matt, I'm gonna watch that.

[Ben Thomas]

Martins extended x trip and the astonishment with the fish are integral to the plot!

Ugh, that goddamn ecstasy sequence... Also, all the stuff with the dead bodies in the mansion. In fact, anything that is a Martin Lawrence subplot. Shave a good 20 minutes out of the runtime.

[Matt]

This time last year, I said I was gonna watch that.

Hey Matt, I'm gonna watch that.

I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

[Ben Thomas]

Men in Black 3

Not offensive, but I didn't raise a smile even once. Individual actors were fine - Brolin, Stuhlbarg, Hader - while Tommy Lee Jones looked like he was fulfilling a contractual commitment and Will Smith's schtick feels past its shelf life and oh so tired. Even the effects were all over the place. Bits of the Lunar Max and Cape Canaveral sequences were very nice, but that gyro-bike chase was ugly as hell - Iron Sky had more impressive effects.

The overall experience was just uneven and forgettable. And that ending on the beach with the kid is fucking awful. There's really no point for this film to exist and no point for anyone to care about it. That's about the worst thing you can say about a film in my book.

[Abraham Smashington]

Brolin was great though.

[IggytheBorg]

I ahd little desire to see this. Even less now. But seeing Brolin as the young K inspired what little desire I did have.

[Ben Thomas]

I'd rather see Brolin do his dirty moustache routine from American Gangster than a half-assed TLJ impression. So delightfully sleazy.

[Matt]

Brolin was the best part of AMERICAN GANGSTER.

[Ben Thomas]

Again, a film I saw again recently and was really overlooked thanks to coming out in the banner year for film that was 2007. There's A LOT to like in that film.

[Martin]

Brolin killed in MiB 3.

[PHEDG]

Best Brolin role? Still Llewelyn Moss?

[Matt]

JEREMIAH JOHNSON on blu ray.

One of my favorite films, and it's a really nice looking blu ray. The outdoor photography was always outstanding, but the blu ray seems to make it a lot more detailed and vivid looking.

As to the movie itself...well, I think I love it because it speaks to the loner in me. I can relate to the desire to simply disconnect from society and find a new life in the wilderness.

Recommended.

[Ben Thomas]

Seeking a Friend for the End of the World

Hmmm, worryingly similar in places to a little script I've been working on for a couple of years... However, this is pretty much a straight up comedy for the most part, which I did not expect. The first 20 minutes are brilliant and then Knightley enters the picture. In fairness, she doesn't kill this one outright, but she is an incredibly limited actress and even when I like her in a film I find myself commending the effort more than the achievement. Again, its a lazy thing to say, but Emily Blunt would have owned in this film.

All that to one side, I found the film surprisingly affecting and it manages a nice balance between the comedic and dramatic aspects of the situation without betraying the overall believability - there are loopholes if you want to look for them and it all seems a little too easy for the main characters (Adam Brody's totally dead, right?) but largely the scenario is treated logically by the filmmakers. The main reason to see the film is for the wonderful performance from Steve Carell. A couple of lingering looks too many excepted, the man doesn't put a foot wrong. I've got a lot of time for Carell, he has a tendency to lift whatever projects he's in (I'm ignoring Evan Almighty) and he seems a bit more picky than some of his Apatow-verse buddies.

The Bourne Legacy

Expectations were very low, so I rather enjoyed it. Its too damn long and is at its weakest when trying to straight up mimic the kineticism of Ultimatum, but I appreciate the effort to create a smart, logical expansion of the Bourne universe. Renner's really good and playing a completely different kind of character to Damon. And Weisz, well, regardless of the merits of her performance, she looks better in her 40s than most women look in their 20s. Seriously, that woman is painfully beautiful.

Ultimately, yes its a let down, because it's aligning itself with a pretty classic trilogy and there is no one action set-piece in this film that can compete with the best of any of the preceding 3 films. The character that they introduce in the final act is frankly ridiculous, the bike chase is all over the place and the 'finishing move' was both completely impossible and vaguely humorous in execution. But for what could have been a cheap, cynical cash-in, a lot of thought went into this, so I can't right it off completely. They should probably leave it there now though.