MOVIES: Recommendations and Reviews

[Dardedar]

DAR
I have been meaning to do this for some. I like to watch good movies and hate wasting time watching crappy ones.

If you haven't heard, a good way to get an idea of the critics consensus on a movie is to go to: rottentomatoes.com

The higher the tomato count, the better.

So to start things off, a movie we watched the other day and really liked:

WALL-E

And it got 96% fresh on the tomato scale.

I don't think I have seen anything bad from Pixar.

***
If you had to pick one, or two, or three of the all time best Freethinker type movies, which ones would you recommend?

We saw The Golden Compass the other day. It was very good I thought. Critics didn't like it though, only 41% on the tomato meter.

I would say The Crucible would be one of my favorites to recommend. It's so good, and of interest to freethinkers, we could show it at a meeting.

[tmiller51]

I saw WALL-E today, I liked it too. I've heard some say it's weak for a Pixar film but I thought it was much better than Cars.

As far as other freethinker type movies I'm not sure, I don't see a lot of movies anymore. What about Contact (written by Carl Sagan)? If you haven't seen Idiocracy, I recommend it. I think the WALL-E movie borrowed a lot of ideas from it.

[Dardedar]

DAR
We saw:

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

The other day and I must say I loved it. And it got 88 tomatoes.

[Ranana_Medo]

The movies are prtty much unfixable, even if all the directors and movie makers do have a change of heart. they just mutilated the first movie too much.

[Betsy]

perhaps a freethinker movie lunch would be fun - watch a movie and discuss afterward. I used to have a boyfriend who was in a group that met every Friday for lunch (at someone's office, lunch was served) and they'd watch a movie - 30-45 minutes at a time - then analyze it, comparing it to Bible stories and, you know, praying and stuff. I joined him while they watched the movies "Signs" and "Gattaca." Anyway, it might be fun to do the same thing, only from the freethinker perspective on analysis...

[Doug]

The Men Who Stare at Goats

Based on the book by the same name. Darrel did a report on this for the FF a few years ago. The U.S. government spent tons of money, over a number of years, "training" alleged psychic warriors for military.

Even the trailer for the movie is hilarious (at the link). And it has A-list stars: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Jeff Bridges and Kevin Spacey.

[SherryH]

I saw "Men Who Stare at Goats" recently.

It was . . . okay. Not nearly as funny as the trailer made it appear (but then that's the purpose of trailers, right?) I thought the script was fine, but something about the general atmosphere/direction detracted from the fun. I'm really not sure why, although I keep trying to figure it out. Clooney was great as usual, Ewan McGregor was okay, Jeff Bridges knocked it out of the ballpark, and Spacey was adequate. Still, I just didn't enjoy the film nearly as much as I thought I would. When it starts popping up in the future on television, I'll stop and give it another look-see, but I'm not going to seek it out. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the soundtrack.

I'd give it a B-.

[tmiller51]

Relating to this topic, I ran across this list today:

DRAMATIC PRODUCTIONS OF INTEREST TO ATHEISTS AND FREETHINKERS

Partial list:

Agnes of God - Psychopathology in a convent.

Angel Baby - Lust, jealousy, hypocrisy and fakery among tent-show revivalists in the 1950s. Starring Salome Jens, Henry Jones, and very young George Hamilton and Burt Reynolds. Similar to Elmer Gantry but not as trenchant.

Apostle, The - Study of the Pentecostal sub-culture. Robert Duvall stars in this character study of a semi-literate, quasi-psychotic preacher in the Deep South. Unfortunately, the character is too shallow to be very interesting. Long on preaching, short on plot. The premise seems to be that even though a religion may verge on insanity, it nevertheless does some good.

At Play in the Fields of the Lord - Greed, parading as self-righteousness, leads to destruction of South American Indians, just as it did to those in North America. Tom Berrenger, Daryl Hanna, John Lithgow. Good anthropological study.

Bedazzled - Satire about Satan, starring Dudley Moore and Peter Cook.

Bible Salesman - Documentary by Fredrick Wiseman.

Black Robe - A Jesuit missionary tries to convert the Indians in 17th century North America. The resulting culture clash suggests that Christian mythology is just as primitive as that of the natives.

Blinded by the Light - One of three films about cults, with almost identical plots. A young man is captured by a cult, brainwashed, and then deprogrammed.

Candide - By Voltaire. Play about the foolishness of "faith" - made into a musical.

The Cardinal

Cool Hand Luke - A man in the Bible Belt is arrested for being an unbeliever.

Crimes and Misdemeanors - A morality play by Woody Allen about the nature of good and evil, which examines and rejects the claims of theism.

Crucible, The - By Arthur Miller. Ostensibly about witches of Salem, but used as a metaphor for McCarthyism.

Dark Habits (or Dark Hideout) - By Pedro Almodovar. Spanish, with English subtitles. Wicked satire about a woman on the lam, who hides out in a convent full of wacko nuns.

Deconstructing Harry - Woody Allen, playing the role of a neurotic author, has personality clashes with everybody - particularly with his Jewish family, since he identifies himself as an atheist.

...

Tim

[kwlyon]

I thought luke was arrested for cutting the tops off of some parking meters.....

[tmiller51]

Yea, that's what I remember too. I'll have to watch it again, I saw it a long time ago.

[Dardedar]

Going back to Dudley Moore, Wholly Moses is a favorite:

"Wholly Moses! is a 1980 Biblical spoof similar to that of Monty Python's Life of Brian. Dudley Moore, between star-making performances in 10 and Arthur, plays Old Testament-era idol maker Herschel, whose life and adventures seem to parallel that of the more famous Moses, all the while being misled to think HE is the prophet of God."

[Dardedar]

By the power invested in me, I hereby declare:

The Invention of Lying

to be Freethinker Movie of the Year.

Somewhat flawed in delivery, the only hint I will give is... imagine if Moses were to try his thing today.

[Dardedar]

We watched An Education last night. We really liked it and can recommend it. Old fashioned, solid film making. The lead actress Carey Mulligan was fantastic and won:

"a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Additionally, Mulligan was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance."

94% fresh on the tomato meter. See some of the reviews too.

[Dardedar]

Wonderful awarding winning short film:

Validation

"Validation" is a fable about the magic of free parking. Starring TJ Thyne & Vicki Davis. Writer/Director/Composer - Kurt Kuenne. Winner - Best Narrative Short, Cleveland Int'l Film Festival, Winner - Jury Award, Gen Art Chicago Film Festival, Winner - Audience Award, Hawaii Int'l Film Festival, Winner - Best Short Comedy, Breckenridge Festival of Film, Winner - Crystal Heart Award, Best Short Film & Audience Award, Heartland Film Festival, Winner - Christopher & Dana Reeve Audience Award, Williamstown Film Festival, Winner - Best Comedy, Dam Short Film Festival, Winner - Best Short Film, Sedona Int'l Film Festival.

16 min.