Many years ago I used to see almost every movie that was released but in todays world most of the movies are too weird for my taste.

I would like to see The Queen---I also heard the Illusionist was a good movie.

I did get my DH to go see Boynton Beach Club---we both liked it.

Florence

Sigh, your post just reminded me how far behind we are in our movie watching. My husband and I are huge film buffs but we are on a budget so we can't go see everything in the theater anymore. Mostly we've just been watching the free films at the cinematheque on campus. I've discovered a Godard movie that I really like called "A Woman is a Woman", a Hungarian movie called "Werckmeister Harmonies" that is very slow moving and absolutely beautiful, and they are just about to start their martial arts movies which I am looking forward to. We've also rented a lot of horror movies this month in honor of Halloween. The best was called "The Devil's Backbone" and is a Spanish/Mexian film directed by Guillermo del Toro. It's a not too scary ghost story in which the humans are the ones to be afraid of.

"The Departed" is a remake of the Hong Kong movie "Infernal Affairs", so if you liked "The Departed" you should see "Infernal Affairs". "Infernal Affairs" is a very good movie.

I haven't seen any of the others on your list Diane, but they're on our list too. I've seen "Old Boy" which is part of the same series as "Lady Vengence" but I haven't gotten the courage to see that one yet.

I'm looking forward to see those you listed Diane. Last Friday we saw "The Last King of Scotland" with Forrest Whitaker as Idi Amin, the Ugandan dictator. Wow, talk about *tense*! Great movie, don't miss it.

I didn't know "The Departed" was based on another movie. Thanks for the tip athenainwi!

The theater where I saw The Prestige last night has $5 admission all day on Tuesdays! They need to upgrade their seats, though, no rooms with "stadium" seating. But it is 5 minutes from work.

Yes, I did see Infernal Affairs, very good!

I had heard of Oldboy, I need to see that one. They are part of a trilogy, just like me to work backwards!

Ah, I think "Last King" is next up at the movie theater in my town (it is the local "art house"), so I'll get to see it this month! Love Forrest Whitaker (he should have won the Emmy for "The Shield", but TV is another topic...).

Diane, Casino Royale? Is that starring the new "man" and is it a remake of the original?> Who else stars?

Carla

Saw The Departed last weekend. It was fantastic! Alec Baldwin was fantastic, Mark Wahlburg was fantastic, Matt Damon and Jack Nicholson were, guess....fantastc, although Jack does put it on pretty thick! And, I absolutely love Leonardo DiCaprio. The entire ensemble was GOOD.

A few weeks before that we saw Little Miss Sunshine. Go see it! I guarantee you'll leave with a big smile. It's funny, weird, sad, deep, all really good stuff.

So maybe this weekend we'll see another one....or two.

Yes, Casino Royale is the new Bond with the new 007 (how James Bond came to be 007), Daniel Craig. Craig was very good in Layer Cake and Munich and maybe he can clean up well enough to be Bond. Not my first choice, but c'est la vie.

The first CR was pure fun and spoof with Peter Sellers, David Niven (suave!) and a host of other big names from that era.

I am curious as to why Pierce Brosnan quit or stopped getting the part. I liked him.

Carla

I believe Pierce Brosnan thought he was getting too old for it. Anyway, he quit, he wasn't fired. I really liked Daniel Criag in Layer Cake so I'm looking forward to the new movie. Oh, and a bit of trivia - the original Casino Royal was not part of the official Bond studio franchise and the movie was made by another studio, which is why it is a considered a spoof rather than part of the Bond lexicon. My husband is very happy that they are finally doing a proper version of the film as he says the book is rather good.

Um, just in case anyone else is thinking of renting Old Boy, I have to warn you that it is a very disturbing movie. I think Diane can handle it since you've seen Lady Vengence but I really can't recommend it to anyone. But if you do like the kind of movie then I'll recommend a film called "Three...Extremes" which is three short films by the best directors of the Asia Extreme movement. The Miike short is beautiful and not nearly as nasty as most of his full length films.

Can someone tell me a bit about Layer Cake before I rent it.

Thanks,

No problem Carla. Layer Cake is a crime movie sort of like Goodfellas or the Godfather. Daniel Craig plays a criminal who is trying to make enough money on his last job to get out and retire. Of course, everything goes wrong. It is a violent movie and deserves its R rating. It is an exciting movie that also takes its time to thoroughly explore the motivations of the characters and has a very good ending.

We saw "The Departed" last night, and I completely agree with Diane and Susan, great film! I was impressed by how Leonardo DiCaprio has grown as an actor, really good performance. And the rest of the crew really good also. I was cringing a lot, it's quite violent, but the violence is central to the story.

I watched "Prime" with Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep on cable last night. It's a farcical premise but they pull it off, make it work, and bring it to a believable ending.

I enjoyed it.

MichaelAT