Anyone seen any good movies lately?

WinterWitch

Member
We have been wanting to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie and I'm kind of curious about the movie War Horse. I didn't think I would like the first Sherlock Holmes movie, but was pleasantly surprised., so it's on my "must see" list. Anyone got any opinions on either movie or another movie to recommend? Thinking about seeing one tomorrow or Monday.
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
We have been wanting to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie and I'm kind of curious about the movie War Horse. I didn't think I would like the first Sherlock Holmes movie, but was pleasantly surprised., so it's on my "must see" list. Anyone got any opinions on either movie or another movie to recommend? Thinking about seeing one tomorrow or Monday.
I saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie on Thursday. Let's just say I really want to see it again. It was amazing (except for what they did to Rachel McAdams).
 

Joe

New Member
You should watch Hugo. It's amazing and has more oscar nominations then anyother movie this year.
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
You should watch Hugo. It's amazing and has more oscar nominations then anyother movie this year.
I really want to see that movie. There are a number of movies I want to see, actually, but I'm so busy with school right now. I just need to work in the time...
 

RLynn

Active Member
Yesterday evening I watched Adam's Apples, a 2005 Danish flick, sort of a paradoxically serious black comedy about a clash between a neo-Nazi and a pastor.
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
I finally saw X-Men: First Class. Loved it. Lots of things to watch for in the evolution of the characters, and how it relates to the original trilogy. Same prologue, I noticed, that they used in the very first movie. Quite intriguing.
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
X-Men: First Class rocked!!!!
But I recently saw a film that I whole heartedly recommend. It is called Agora with Rachel Weisch.
She plays the scholar Hypatia who really lived in Alexandria during the time when Christians were now in favor
and were starting to persecute the pagans. The film is beautiful, with an enigmatic feeling that really transports you
back to an ancient time. Members of this forum would love it because it deals much with the sad death of the worship
of the gods that we love to talk about.
I ordered the movie from Amazon.
 

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
X-Men: First Class rocked!!!!
But I recently saw a film that I whole heartedly recommend. It is called Agora with Rachel Weisch.
She plays the scholar Hypatia who really lived in Alexandria during the time when Christians were now in favor
and were starting to persecute the pagans. The film is beautiful, with an enigmatic feeling that really transports you
back to an ancient time. Members of this forum would love it because it deals much with the sad death of the worship
of the gods that we love to talk about.
I ordered the movie from Amazon.
I think I saw that! Is that the movie where Rachel Weis "discovers" the paths of the sun, moon and earth? I enjoyed the movie.
 

RLynn

Active Member
¶Agora is fun! Fairly early in the film I started wondering where it was headed regarding planetary motion, and sure enough, Hypatia came up with Kepler's theory that the orbits were elliptical with the sun at a focus. (Of course, a circle is just a degenerate ellipse in which the two foci coincide and become the center, so circular orbits were a reasonable first approximation.)
¶The Christians certainly were an unsavory lot, for the most part. Understandably the Pagans thought they were scum. In Agora they looked as if they really had the "holy smell." (According to one of my professors, the "holy smell" could be attributed to Christians being averse to using the public bathing facilities. John Wesley, who proclaimed that cleanliness is next to godliness, came along much later. :))
¶By the way, it is now known that Ptolemy's theory of cycles, epicyles, epi-epicycles, etc., has a degree of legitimacy, since any smooth curve can be described by a Fourier series. The individual terms of a Fourier series represent cycles, so the series itself represents an infinite superposition of cycles, which are precisely cycles, epicycles, etc. Ptolemy used only the first few terms of the series, but his astronomical predictions were remarkably accurate.
¶As was noted by Einstein, in describing a physical system, any point can be taken as the origin of a coordinate system. In the geocentric theory, the Earth is taken as the origin, and the resulting equations for planetary motion are valid but very complicated (except for the earth, which just sits there at the origin). By taking the sun as origin, the equations for planetary motion become simple ellipses. In the mathematical derivation of Kepler's laws from Newton's laws of motion and gravitation, it is truly wondrous how the equations simplify when one converts them to polar coordinates with the sun at the pole (origin)!
 

LegendofJoe

Active Member
Agora had many interesting moments, but I would not exactly use the word "fun."
I recommended it, but make sure you are in a good mood when you see it.
You may want to through yourself out of a window by the end!:(:mad:
 

RLynn

Active Member
¶I watch too many European films, which often have tragic endings.
¶I loved the scenes in which Hypatia was unraveling the secrets of the universe, and they were interspersed masterfully between the less inspiring scenes, although I thought the various riot/mob scenes were pretty good for this type of movie.
¶The final scenes were only too predictable once the ruffians gained the upper hand. I despise (and fear) culture clashes in which one of the opponents is unwilling to live and let live regarding cultural/religious differences. That is why my votes in the coming election will exclude anyone whom I think plays footsie with those who would like to rewrite history in such a way that all of our Founding Fathers magically (and absurdly) become religious fundamentalists. It is a dangerous mentality for national leaders, because (among other evils) at some point it could be used to justify repression of those who are not so inclined. Even now the know-nothing revisionists are influencing textbook selections for the public schools. At the very least, this is the stuff of stomach ulcers and sleeplessness for true educators.
¶Yes, the ending of Agora was extremely unpleasant, but it is indicative of the unthinkable horrors to come when the new religion becomes dominant.
¶End of rant. :mad:
 

Rhonda Tharp

Active Member
[quote="RLynn, post: 8872way that all of our Founding Fathers magically (and absurdly) become religious fundamentalists. It is a dangerous mentality for national leaders, because (among other evils) at some point it could be used to justify repression of those who are not so inclined. Even now the know-nothing revisionists are influencing textbook selections for the public schools. At the very least, this is the stuff of stomach ulcers and sleeplessness for true educators.
¶End of rant. :mad:[/quote]

Next time I serve on a curriculum committee in Austin, I will use your quote!
 

RLynn

Active Member
The fluffy, feel-good family movie The Good Witch provided needed therapy after Agora. Moreover, Catherine Bell is nice to watch as the witch Cassandra Nightingale. ;)
 

Myrddin

Well-Known Member
I just saw Black Swan. Amazing. It`s interesting how it just goes deeper and deeper into Natalie Portman`s mind, and how reality shifts around her, getting darker as she starts to lose it. Ah, loved it!
 
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