Does anyone else hate those annoying movies that come out around Christmas time and all seem to have the same essential plot (or lack of same)? You know, movies like Elf, the Santa Claus movies, and, most recently, Fred Claus. They seem to generally make a lot of money, but I can't think who would like to watch them.

Teenagers hate them, adults only go to them on sufferance, and I know that when I was a toddler (if that's who they're marketed to), that I disliked them as well. My theory is that parents think that their children will enjoy these "family films", and that they bring the kids to control them for an afternoon. i can't see any other way that these movies can make so much money.

Yeah, I definetly agree with you that there is hardly any plot to them. Why should I wnt to see something that has a little bit to do with Christmas(I'm not ignoring other religions, it's just the main type of movie of the type that people are currently discussing) just because it's around Christmas time? I would rather watch a movie that contains actual plot during the winter season. Maybe they do make them for the people who want to see 'family films' with their entire family, although the majority of people don't really enjoy them. (Sorry if you're in the minority, nothing against you. It's just how I feel, and I could be wrong...)

I partly agree; all the Christmas movies do sort of start to blend together after awhile. And yes, some of them are rather...strange. But personally, I know that certain Christmas movies are sort of traditions in my family; for example, we always watch Elf the day after Thanksgiving, and end up watching it at least 10 more times before New Years with my extended family. Surprisingly, it's still funny, because of things like how my younger cousin can quote the funny lines of the movie and speaks the lines along with the actors. The movie The Santa Clause is also another favorite in my family; it's the first "real" Christmas movie we ever watched together (by real I mean not Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or A Charlie Brown Christmas.) And who can forget classics like It's a Wonderful Life? I guess I'm just saying that other people may have different holiday traditions around Christmas time than you do, and maybe strange movies are one way of celebrating the holidays.

On the other hand, movies with plots. I'm kind of excited for The Golden Compass, though I don't know who I'm going to get to see it with me. My entire family (except my Dad) has tried to read the book, and all of them thought it was a horrible book, sadly. So hopefully I'll be able to get someone to go with me.

Another movie I'm looking forward to is Atonement, based on the book by Ian McEwan. It's rated R, so I'm not going to recomend it to anyone since I don't really know how old most of you are. Anyway, I'm excited because we read the book in AP English 12 for summer reading, so I know the basic plot and think it sounds like a good movie. However, it's only in limited release right now, and sadly this limited release doesn't include my local movie theaters. Oh well...I can wait a few weeks or so until it gets here.

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Originally posted by Sean L.:
Thinking back to Comic Con - Kathy, did you see The Man From Earth? ... It was apparently chosen as one of the Comic-Con movies or something, so I'm curious if you had caught it.

Nope, sorry. The Comic-Con has its own film festival, and that may be what they were mentioning, but I've always been too busy going to the Con to sit in the film festival. And this year I cut my attendance down even more, due to health issues--I didn't even make it to the Pushing Daisies presentation. (sigh).

I don't mind the xmas movie thang. I think they keep trying to recreate a runaway hit like Home Alone but have no idea how to do it.

My traditional Christmas-movie-on-tv is Miracle on 34th Street. I highly recommend Connie Willis's essay in Miracles if you wish to know why it is the superior Christmas movie to It's A Wonderful Life . I also end up watching those Rankin-Bass specials. Must be the anime fan in me, given that all the stop-motion animation for Rudolph, etc. was Japanese.

So, I saw Sweeney Todd and I'd go on a huge long thing about it that would probably just confuse all of you because I'd be talking about the stage show as much as the movie, so I'll skip all the "where it was different" bits, and just say that I really loved it. It was totally cool, and incredibly blood-drenched and spattered and about ten people walked out, and I had the greatest time. Totally loved it.

If you really like horror flicks, and you really like musicals, this is totally the film for you. I'm really happy that the film was a decent version of Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, which wasn't easy since they easily cut a third of the show.

Oh, and I saw The Water Horse which was very silly and a lot of fun but not anything particularly special.

And since I've been sitting about watching flicks on tv, I finally caught this weird Disney superhero thing called Zoom which was actually pretty fun. Tim Allen as an ex-superhero who's training a bunch of kids. There was a definite X-Men ala Nickelodeon vibe about it that was charming.

Also saw The Bridge to Terabithia which I quite liked, (the bully bits reminded me a little of SYWTBAW) and was sort of amazed that Gabor Csupo had never directed live action before. (He's the Csupo in Klasky-Csupo, the company that made Rugrats). I'm really looking forward to The Secret of Moonacre, now.

Oh, and I saw a silent movie on TCM called The Red Inn where Marion Davies, under the direction of Fatty Arbuckle, was showing that there was at least one woman out there who could do physical comedy to equal Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin, and Harold Lloyd. Total blast.

Yes, my tastes are very odd, and I'll watch just about anything.

I'm curious, has anyone out there seen 10000 B.C.?

My boyfriend and I went to see it about two weeks ago, and we both thoroughly enjoyed it. It was good fun. We went in expecting nothing, and came out thoroughly entertained. However, we have heard from some of our other friends that they thought it was really bad. If you've seen it, what were your reactions?

I saw the trailer and thought it was gonna rock. I was disappointed. A lot.

Same thing happened to me with Vantage Point... though better than 10,000 BC, it still looked better.

A completely different kind of movie, but I had a really really great time with Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day. And after all those British actors starring in American tv shows, it was fun to see American actors in a little British charmer. And as a Pushing Daisies fan, I gotta love anything with Lee Pace in it. And his British accent isn't half bad. Must be all that time with Anna Friel.

Alla I've seen 10,000 B.C. and as you said, I came in thinking it was going to be dumb but then afterwards I was like WOW! I thought it was really good. I almost cried towards the end!! I liked it a lot.

The other movies I've watched lately are The Other Bolyen Girl, August Rush, Becoming Jane and my sister are going to go see Shutter this weekend. I'm pretty excited. It's supposed to be wicked scary.

So, I saw Iron Man and Marvel-fangirl-squee'd my way through a great deal of it--especially the after-the-credits cookie. I'm just so happy that they managed to get as much of the comic into the flick as they did. Lotsa fun.

I now consider seeing Speed Racer, Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, and (of course) Wall-e. Is there anything on the schedule you're looking forward to? Hellboy II? The Dark Knight? Kung-Fu Panda? Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants II? Or are you waiting for the winter flicks like Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince (11/21) and Inkheart? (Jan '09)

I am a MAJOR Indiana Jones fangrrl, and IMHO, unless they majorly booger it up (think the Alien movie-which-officially-shall-not-be-named), that will be the hot movie of the summer. Not to mention that Shia LeBoeuf looked quite presentable. Too bad we couldn't have Sean Connery in there too, but three generations of the Joneses might bring on heart attacks.

I saw Iron Man last week, and was pleasantly surprised. Overtones there of Lord of War with Nicholas Cage, but the superheroics as well. The easter egg at the end I loved -- someone had some inspired casting there, and a bit of foreshadowing too! Due to family commitments, I didnt get to see and probably won't see Speed Racer, although I hear that if you liked the cartoon, the movie will not disappoint.

I saw Iron Man too!! I thought it was amazing!! I love Marvel too so it was awesome. I'm looking forward to Sisterhood movie! I hope it's as good as the book. I'm looking forward to see The Dark Knight (tear *RIP HEATH*) I'm going to cry when I see that. Harry Potter and Twilight are on my list for winter movies.

I personally can't wait until Prince Caspian comes out.

I read that book soooo many times...I just hope the movie is accurate to the book. Though I somehow always Prince Casipian as being younger than the trailer showed...and Reepicheep maybe a bit bigger...but besides that, it looks good.

Much as I'm looking forward to all the other flicks, it's Wall-e I'm most excited about. Big Pixar fan, and this is the first time that Pixar's going to be doing an SF movie. On top of that, I'm an oldtimey original-trilogy Star Wars geek, and the fact that it's all robots R2D2-piping-and-whistling their way through their dialogue--performed by Ben Burtt(!!)--just fills me with fangirl squee.

Ben Burtt is the guy who slapped together the hum of a film projector motor and the crackle and sizzle of vacuum tubes sizzling in the back of an old tv and made the lightsaber sound. It was his breathing through scuba gear that made Darth Vader's breath. He's the man.

I can not wait till Prince Caspian comes out. Does any one know the date it is coming out? I love the Alex Rider books, so I was so exited when I heard they had made a movie Stormbreaker. Has any one watched it? I have heard that it is a collection of the first five books, but I am not sure. Does any one know? Thanks!

I also can not wait for the Inkheart to come out. I read that they are making two movies out of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows .

It is great to hear what every one else is watching!

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I can not wait till Prince Caspian comes out

Yep, it's out now! I saw it last Saturday, it's OK. I was a little bit disappointed, but my mom liked it even better than the first one, so I guess it just depends on who's watching it...

So has anyone else seen the new Indiana Jones yet? If so, what did you think of it?
I have to say that I really enjoyed it . One of the most fun movies that I've seen in a loooong time, if not ever, but I know that some of my friends didn't enjoy it as much as I did.

Prince Caspian comes out next week here I can't wait.

Yeah, I saw it. It was amazing! I'll tell you the full story. My grandmother called us up on Saturday, and asked if we wanted to see the new Indiana Jones movie. I, who hadn't seen any of the other movies, accepted, but since it turned out that our American relatives were coming over, we had to move it over to Sunday. So, that night, after eating dinner with them, we all went back to the house, and watched the first movie (the DVD version). We were planning on watching all three, but there wasn't enough time, so I ended up seeing only the first one, and the fourth one the next night. You could say they were the perfect movies for me, with action, adventure, puzzles and comedy (some).

I've actually seen a lot of movies lately. I liked Prince Caspian pretty well, although it's been ages since I read the book so I couldn't remember most of the plotline or if there were any major changes.
I also saw Kung-Fu Panda. I know, a total waste of money, but it was actually quite cute and extremely fun. See it with someone hyper.
I thought Indiana Jones was rather stupid. Aliens?? And evil ants??? Then again, I've never seen the other Indiana Jones movies, so I can't exactly judge.
I went to see The Dark Knight last night. Dressed up as a fairy with my friends. It was hilarious, people thought we were crazy. Anyway. Heath Ledger was entirely amazing, and I'm so sad that he's dead because his performance was terrifying and the Joker was definitely the best part. He made the movie. The plotline left a little to be desired. Oh well. I'm not big on action movies, I went mostly for Heath Ledger anyway. And cause we decided that the best fairy movie was Batman. It was also slightly annoying cause the kid sitting next to us talked really loudly through the whole thing and laughed obnoxiously at everything.

I also REALLY want to see Mamma Mia. I know. I feel guilty for even saying that, but it looks hilarious and really fun. By hilarious I mean unintentionally of course.

I saw Prince Caspian too. I thought it was a good movie, but they totally screwed the plot line to get it where it is. They added the attack of the castle, got rid of the whole happiness-y part, and made Caspian too old. Plus, where did the whole Caspian-Susan thing come from!?!

... Well that was pretty negative.