Um okay, maybe I have seen bits and pieces of LoA, although I have no clear memory of the film. That clip however is quite familiar. I remember trying that same trick as a child. Now as an adult I can do this bit with a match quite easily and without pain due to frost bite on my hands as a kid, and somehow that scene is still clear in my mind. Hmmm. I'll have to rent the film and watch it to see how much of it I remember.

KP, you're so right. 
Davina, what a classic scene. Short, but important.

That and the fact (which isn't shown in the film but clearly mentioned in the book) that he was sexually aroused when being beaten. 

No, it isn't but I was very surprised to read it in a book published in 1922 by a man who was very secretive about his private life. 

I've already seen 100+ movies this year, I think this might turn out the be the most fruitful year movie-watching-wise yet. Saw OBLIVION a few days ago. There were some artistically majestic vistas and great soundtrack, Olga was as cute as ever but other than that it was pretty much just a melting pot of other movies (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY, MOON, THE PLANET OF THE APES, THE MATRIX etc) and it didn't have much identity of its own. A watchable movie but nothing compared to DISTRICT 9 for example. When it comes to scifi-films, I'm putting my bets on the upcoming INTERSTELLAR, AVATAR 2, ELYSIUM and PACIFIC RIM.

Watched my all-time favourite movie from childhood again last night...

Robin Hood: Men in Tights!

Will forever be a classic, to me.

*Trying to keep this spolier free so it might seem a bit vague* Olympus Has Fallen (cert. 15 in UK). This has a premise a little like Die Hard. It is a well constructed film with clearly defined characterisations. There are one or two corny bits (why are Generals always idiots?) however I really liked it. It is violent but this is necessary to the plot. The plot itself is not too complex, which is sometimes a downfall with such films. The SFX are astonishing as is the general stunt work and fight co-ordination. The motivation for the protagonist is really well established before the 'incident' which allows him to redeem himself. Not the usual bad guys either. The attack happens in real time, exactly 13 minutes and is brilliant.

The intense violence as paced well between calmer, quieter scenes. There was a also a good sprinkling of humour throughout. The part that made me and girlie laugh aloud was the main character saying to the baddie about playing a game of f*** off. 'You start' cue cutting off phone.

Oh and  Gerard Butler is wonderful in it (only once, right at the end, when he is really, really cross can you hear his real accent slip out). You can totally believe that he is the character in this film and Nike similar films his character is not a 2-D cut out.

Just finished watching Brideshead Revisited (2008) and was really moved by it. It is available on BBC I-player (for those of you with access). It has a strong cast with  Matthew Goode and Ben Whishaw, Emma Thompson, Hayley Atwell and Michael Gambon etc. my confession though, I actually thought that Hayley Atwell was Rebecca Hall the whole way through.

It got mixed reviews, apparently. I guess that is because there was an excellent 11 part TV adaptation back in the 1980s however I think any comparison is going to be a little unfair as they only have 2 hours for the film.

If you like well-written, beautifully filmed and well-acted drama then I can actually thoroughly recommend you watch this.

Mell92 wrote:

Where The Wild Things Are: Confusing, but nice.
Memoirs of a Geisha: Wish I'd watched that sooner! Awesome.

 
Oh, yes!  Memoirs was gorgeous, wasn't it??   And WTWTA... well... uh, at first I was curiously apprehensive when I heard about it, wondering how in the world they could make a feature-length film out of it, but hopeful, since I loved Sendak's work.  And yes, it was very well-made (of course, considering they worked with Henson's Muppet Studio), but awfully..... depressing?   Oh well...

Of course Leo is