Gyroscopic nightmares of spinning compass dials from Plymouth Rock

It wasn't that book.  It was a reference to the beginning, though I admit I'm almost inclined to agree with whatever you say when you display the little winking smile.

I recently watched the silent film the passion of Joan of arc on YouTube . The film only deals with the portion of Joan's life that concerns the trial and (spoiler) her death. No matter what your feelings are about the religious aspects of Joan's life, she accomplished some amazing things only to be royally screwed by the people she helped. This film is so freakin dramatic that it's frightening .

Thank you! I recommend Robert Bresson's version: "The Trial of Joan of Arc"(1962). It's totally different. But it lingers about in my mind much more 

We're over a hundred-thousand views in this thread! Pretty amazing!

And it started 8 months ago still going strong.  You felt the pulse of the cinema verite of chess.com!  :)

 

Runner Austria 2011?  not in imdb but soon to be made into a Hollywood movie.

Based on a true story of an Austrian world class marathoner who also robs banks.  There's the problem.  The writers made the fatal mistake of telling half a documentary and half a story.  Just out of prison, he hooks up with a woman.  Oh, she's an old flame.  No, wait, she's more than that.  What are they?  The writers fiat a deep relationship--because it's true--but as a fictionalized story, she simply jumps in out of nowhere.  We don't know how deep their relationship is, what kind of relationship it is (girlfriend, fiancee, old friends who become lovers), etc..  So, we don't know how to define their feelings for each other.

A side note.   The moment she appeared on screen, I predicted correctly we'd see her boobs within 20 minutes.

Second, he commits a violent murder.  Okay, this happened in real life.  But nowhere in the story is there evidence that he is violent.  He just holds up banks without hurting anyone.  We're *told* afterwards he's cracking under the pressure of being pursued, but we're not shown how that leads to violence, a la Taxi Driver.

Third, and biggest problem.  He's unlikable.  You don't care about him.  In a documentary, that's interesting.  In fiction, that's fatal.

 

Maybe, shocker, Hollywood can improve it.  

The Hunger Games(2012)

 The movie is about two hours and fifteen minutes long. I made it through about 70 minutes of it. The camera work was just unbearable for me. The shakey, hand-held type of camera work that has been getting worse and worse over the past decade or so. Besides that, the film doesn't show any character development whatsoever. Which is fatal, because a film like this should have many moments of emotion, since it's premise is kids killing kids for a State-run TV show afterall. Yet another bad film, making a ton of money.

The movie is garbage. The books are okay, though.

And the kids in that film did not look like they were starving.

I agree...Hunger Games (2012) was a great disappointment. Personally, I knew I would not have liked it, and would have preferred to wait for my free copy...but my niece and nephew insisted, so I had to take them.

I am pumped to see the Avengers (2012) though...being a comic collector, it is pretty cool to see characters you love be brought to life. Of course this is a true fanboy movie...and should be judged as such...

...it is incredulous that internationally it has already grossed $270M, and domestically $200M...

That is the least of that movie's problems.

That one is great. I did not care too much for the other Marvel movies but The Avengers is awesome.

What are the ten best films based on a comic mag, jesterville?

I haven't seen many films that are based on the comics(as far as I know), but I liked the first Spiderman, and V for Vendetta. 

Hi trysts,

My personal best movies based on a comic mag would be...in no particular order-

- Road to Perdition

- 300

- V for Vendetta

- Hellboy

- Men in Black

- Batman Begins

- The Dark Knight

- Ironman

- Spiderman 1 and 2

- Thor

- X2

- The Incredible Hulk

I am not into boxing at all,

but my pick is, Million Dollar Baby, that last scene, captured me, the love of a "grandfather-like figure"

Thanks, AnnaZC!

@Jesterville: Thanks for the list! I didn't know that Road to Perdition was based on a comic mag.

I love vampire movies, but not the Twilight type genre,

 

"Let me in" tells the tale of a young outcast that is constantly bullied in school, finds solace and friendship in his new mysterious neighbor.

The new friend turns out to be vampire.

I don't know that I've ever seen a great vampire film, though I haven't seen many. There must be a great vampire film, though, because there has been soooo many of them. Just like the zombie genre, I watched the classics: Nosferatu and Night of the living dead. Both are creepy. 

It just seems that vampires and zombies are great metaphors, so there must have been some great films using those metaphors to their fullest potential.

MY WIFE AND I ARE FANS OF TURNER CLASIC MOVIES. I AGREE THAT THE OLDER MOVIES ARE MORE TO A ADULT TASTE