I rarely go to the actual movie theather as I don't want to be stuck watching something awful but, of course, I miss out on the big screen experience on great movies.
We were on vacation last week and watched two good movies: Julia and Julia and My Sister's Keeper. I really enjoyed both although the second is a major tear jerker.
I am looking forward to Sherlock Holmes and this week, we have Lost coming through Netflix!
January brings MI-5 season 7 and we are all looking forward to that.

DH really wants to see Avatar. I think it will be a Christmas present to him. He never asks for much.

We'll probably rent a few more over the holiday break. Redbox is a good deal at $1.00 per night and Hangover is finally out in DVD.

Although the reviews have been mixed, I really want to see Sherlock Holmes.
My DH is dying to see Avatar, so my neighbor and I arranged a "man date" for her DH and mine to go see it together sometime after Christmas.
I too want to see It's Complicated, Lovely Bones (although it won't live up to the book for me), and Precious.
I don't go to the theater too much. One of these years I want to see all of the Oscar nominees before the show!

One of these years I want to see all of the Oscar nominees before the show!

Wouldn't that be a treat!

A man date is a great idea! I should make a suggestion. ;)

Must see's - either in theater or DVD:

The Blind Side
500 Days of Summer (just came out today on DVD..I had DH go buy, I love this movie!)

Amusing:
The Hangover (DVD) Be sure and watch credits/photos at end.

Wait for HBO:
Did You Hear About the Morgans

Waiting/wanting to see:
It's Complicated
Precious
Sherlock Holmes

DS (24yo) said Avatar is great.

I want to see Up In The Air.

DH and I both want to see Sherlock Holmes. We've been big Holmes fans for ages (books, movies, etc.) and I think Robert Downey Jr. is a brilliant actor, although underrated. The last time DH and I went to the movies was probably 3-4 years ago. We try to weed the wheat from the chaff, hate feeling like we've wasted our money on drivel, so rather than be disappointed we very rarely take the plunge.

We go to the movies quite regularly. It's our 'date' that we can do during the day - lots of times, we are the only ones in the theatre! Love that! :)

DH will go see anything I tell him to - have read "Lovely Bones". The book was fantastic, and though I'm sure I'll be disappointed in the movie, I want to see it anyway. I'm too old for Avatar. Holmes may be alright. Don't want to see 'Precious'. Even though I'm sure it would be good, I think it would be too depressing. I like things on the lighter side, more like 'It's complicated'.

We went to see Avatar at the Imax last Friday and it was AMAZING! I not a Sci-Fi fan and was dreading the long show but once the movie starts it's not noticeable at all and goes by super fast. DH is on vacation for 2 weeks and we're going to go back to see it again.

Personally, I like the movie because of the messages it conveys and the scenery is absolutely gorgeous.

Holley, I've heard Precious is anything but depressing. It's all about hope!

Here is a link that might be useful: Precious reviews at Rotten Tomatoes

Definitely want to see It's Complicated. I just watched Julie/Julia and fell in love (again) with Meryl Streep. Have no desire whatsoever to see Avatar. I'm sure all my kids will want to see it, but it's not my thing. I'm not a big fan of the CGI type stuff.

Not so sure about Sherlock Holmes, maybe when it's out on DVD. And Precious will wait till it's on DVD, too. I also do not care to see that Morgan's movie. I do want to see Inglorious Basterds and Up in the Air...or whatever that new George Clooney movie is.

Natal, I've seen Precious and it depends on how you like your endings as to whether you find it depressing or not. I don't think I would watch it again, however the acting was very good.

I'm a lapsed moviegoer. My favorite are matinees; you don't have to fight crowds, price is cheaper and it used to be my sanity saver when the kids were younger. I'd slip out on a weekend and those few hours of peace and entertainment saved my life! As the kids got older, and my week at work got busier, the weekend is now my time to just relax at home and NOT go out. Movie attendance has definitely suffered.

However, Graywings, I saw Up in the Air this weekend. Excellent movie, definitely adult in the true sense of the word. By that I don't mean smutty but theme; a bittersweet ending as well. George Clooney was amazing-an Oscar nomination worthy performance.

I've been back and forth about seeing Precious. I also tend to prefer light and entertaining to dark. I won't go see The Lovely Bones for example. Read and loved the book but that theme is about the darkest possible!

I can't wait to see It's Complicated. There is a great NYT Sunday magazine article about Nancy Meyers, who also made Something's Gotta Give and Holiday. Link is below. Interesting piece that also delves into the psychology of her fans. Like many of us on this forum, I'm definitely in her target audience. Of course aside from the plot and actors the scenery is the star. And in a nice Hollywood-meets-Gardenweb-reality twist, there is a kitchen renovation in IC that figures in the plot! All that plus the great Meryl and Alex Baldwin. Hoo baby. Can't wait.

Avatar-no interest whatsoever. I never see action/adventure, horror, or fantasy movies. Just never :).

Ann

Here is a link that might be useful: Nancy Meyers Article

I am having Christmas at my house this year and we are all going to see "It's complicated" on Chistmas Day.

....Jane

Today is our 28th wedding anniversary. It's been a tradition to go see a romantic comedy on the day since the beginning. DH and I picked up DD2 (who lives close by) and DD1 (visiting from CA) this afternoon to go see It's Complicated. Such a funny movie! Loved the house. Loved the story line. Great movie!

We saw Avatar 3D last night, completely 100% full theatre...applause at the end...it was amazing. And I was *completely* skeptical. Re his 'derivative' storylines/references: I'd say that there's a way to read this film that makes the archetypal storylines *necessary* and completely appropriate...I was waxing rhapsodic about it last night but won't bore you all with it :) As our very good local critic said, for better *and* worse, we all now live in a post-Avatar world.

Oh, and btw: the audience was about 60% full-grown adults, plenty in their late 50s-60s, attending without kids...I was quite surprised. But it's *really* not just an average CGI/sci fi movie. Seriously. I'm a retired professional in the field (in dramaturgy and criticism) and I don't go to most of those kinds of films, but Avatar is different. I wasn't really interested, but "Fantastic Mr. Fox" wasn't around close enough and our 12-yo-DD was really pushing for it, so we went. As we left the theatre afterwards, I gladly said I was mistaken in my original refusal to go.

Happy Anniversary Allison! That's a neat tradition!

Dh hit Blockbuster a few days ago and rented a few. He watched and returned Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Said it sucked! Last night we watched a good political thriller ... State of Play. Tonight it's Grey Gardens.

Hmmm...my kids went to see Avatar today and I was sure they'd love it, but they really didn't like it.

pesky, what didn't they like? I'm curious...there's so much in it, and so much is...not new, shall we say...but I felt it was an aggregation/popularization of a lot of ideas to add them up to something new.

On Christmas night, our family split up --- 1/2 went to Avatar and 1/2 went to Nine.

My husband said Avatar 3-D was exactly like Dancing with Wolves, but animated. Same story line. That group did like the technology, though. It was also $13 at a theater which normally charges $8 per movie. My sister ended up with a headache after 2 1/2 hrs wearing the 3D glasses. Bottom line - they'd seen the story before.

Nine was really good. Clever execution of the story through real life and dream sequences. My 15 year old niece liked it, but wouldn't see it again. I thought D. D. Lewis did a great job acting. Photography was neat in that the dream sequences were filmed with a cloudy type lens. I'd see it again.

I saw It's Complicated yesterday with my SIL, niece and daughter. Both girls,who are 21 and 18 YO respectively, liked it a lot. As my daughter said "more than I expected to". My SIL and I loved it but then that's no surprise; we are her target audience.

As Allison said, great visuals (I would kill to have her Before kitchen!), wonderful acting and a nice well thought out plotline.

I may go see Young Victoria this week, though the reviews are somewhat tepid. Not much else out there I'm interested in.

Ann

I haven't seen It's Complicated, but like the fact that it features "older" actresses. In fact Meryl Streep is 11 years older then Alec Baldwin.

Kids' comments on Avatar:

- pocahontas x fern gully + apocalypto divided by 3/4 the cheese of a michael bay film = avatar. talk about this years biggest letdown.

- it was a fervent mix of every one of James's movies, apparently it was cool only if you watched it in 3D. But there comes a point where expenditure doesn't justify a poorly constructed screenplay.

- I enjoyed it... it was pretty. Sure it was predictable.... but damn, it was pretty.

Thanks, pesky. I figured it would be the retread-narrative issue...it worked my nerves a fair bit, definitely (although I have to admit I've never seen Fern Gully--now that I read the synopsis I'd say I definitely agree. Wow.) Maybe it's just my wish to rationalize that made me able to see how the retreads were reborn by the particular plot structure, with the interaction of actual hard science (represented by Sigourney Weaver, one of my favorite actors -- gotta give him credit for putting an older woman in a position of rational authority rather than a man--means a lot to me as I enter menopause) rather than fairies, and a multinational/multiplanetary corporation that's above the law. The story that's most cited so far in reviews I've read is Dances with Wolves, and I can really agree on that one as well, with small twists.

Despite the retreadness, I found myself thinking that Cameron is simply, undeniably, a brilliant guy and I wanted to thank him for doing what he did. Every aspect of the world is so completely thought out, and the technology so significant that I decided that criticizing the dramaturgy would be meanspirited, ungenerous, would be demanding too much of just one person (that's just me, and I'm realizing my opinions are colored by nearing 50 rather than being an insistent young critic as I was earlier). Of course Cameron is arrogant, etc. but he has *inarguably* moved film ahead drastically by his passionate imagination.

Even if you don't carfe about football, I strongly recommend The Blind Side. It's a terrific film, and I had been prepared to dislike it, but I loved it.

Avatar is Dances With Wolves, but it's very cool to see.

I'd rather have hot pokers shoved in my eyes than see a Nancy Meyer film. I can catch screen grabs of the house on blogs.

We'll be seeing Avatar on Wednesday.

I'm hoping it's not an amalgamation of all of his films. I'd take Idee's hot pokers if I had to sit through Titanic again. Thank goodness I saw that so long ago or it would have ruined Revolutionary Road.

The Hangover was pretty funny, in a crude sort of way, and I heard that Sherlock Holmes has been turned into an action flick. :(

We also started watching State of Play (Russell Crowe, Ben Affleck -who is not my favorite actor) last night. Looked like it was going all political and preachy, so we turned it off, intending to return it unfinished today. After DH went to sleep, however, I finished watching it and loved it. Can't wait to watch it with DH this evening; he'll be pleasantly surprised. Crowe does the grubby look better than anyone else! And Helen Mirren does a nice job as the cynical newspaper publisher.

We'll probably rent Avatar, as I don't care for huge flashy dashy images on a big screen. Don't see how James Cameron could surpass Terminator 2, my all-time favorite action movie.

Crowe does the grubby look better than anyone else!

Yes he does! ;)

Watched Grey Gardens last night. It was excellent! Now I have to rent the documentary.

Here is a link that might be useful: State of Play trailer

Crowe doesn't do too bad of a job with a drawl, either.

He and Mark Strong stole this movie.

Here is a link that might be useful: Body of Lies

parma, a little laugh...when the top Na'vi (sp?) warrior jumped onto an invading copter and got shot off, as he fell down into the thousands of feet of air below, I thought "well, guess that's the Jack-drowning moment in this one" :)