If this was truly representative of his work, then I can appreciate how one would wonder what the big deal is about Scorcese (one would walk away with talented - yes - greatest living American film maker - ???).

Many excellent films have been listed already. I'd recommend that Taxi Driver and Goodfellas are excellent entry points.

Happy Feet got very good reviews here in NY. Its also playing at the Lincoln Center IMAX theater, so I may take the family in to see it there.

The reviewer at the NY Daily News said that Happy Feet made "Cars look like its standing still".

Scorcese's films have never really interested me that much until recently and even those last two I wasn't a hundred percent sure of. I just sort of rented them for the hell of it thinking the previews for them looked cool. His films have always seemed not for me for whatever reason so if I do end up seeing another film of his it will probably only be The Departed and nothing earlier than that and even that one only seems mildly interesting to me. Frankly I'd be more thrilled to see the latest Frank Darabont film if he ever makes one again because The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, and The Majestic are some of the greatest films I've ever seen in my life right up there with Antwone Fisher, Sling Blade, Monster's Ball, Schindler's List, Kill Bill 1 and 2, Saving Private Ryan, and the Harry Potter films.

I was just going to suggest that we change the name of the thread. We needed a place to discuss movies here. Thanks.

With apologies to Michael Hovey, I have changed the title of this thread, since it has morphed into a discussion of movies in general. Hope everybody's OK with this.

That's fine with me. I mostly just wanted to bring attention to some movies I thought were excellent this year but were going pretty much unnoticed as far as I could tell. The last time I checked I think Flags had only made a little under 50 million and End of the Spear I think only managed to make around 15 million or so before it left theatres. When a movie like Saw 3 can gross almost 40 million in one weekend there's something terribly wrong here I think.

Great titles mentioned by Marty but how can we forget "The King of Comedy"?!

CLASSIC!!!

Rick A.

Saw Curious George for a whopping penny on the tv yesterday afternoon and surprisingly really enjoyed it. At times the colors were almost too bright for me but after awhile I got used to it and I suppose it makes sense since it is a kid's movie. Anyway, it was just really fun, really cute, and quite funny too. I definitely wasn't expecting too much but I walked away quite pleased.

Watched The Sentinel on DVD last night with the family. It actually was pretty good. Nice turn by Michael Douglas. A little bit of an outlandish finish and it reminded me of a "24" episode but it was good fun.

Finished off my "C" movie weekend by watching Click yesterday, another surprisingly good film. By the way, is it me, or has Adam Sandler been in more mature movies since Punch-Drunk Love or what? First it was 50 First Dates then it was Spanglish and now this. Even Mr. Deeds which technically came out before Punch-Drunk Love seemed to be a bit more mature than his earlier films. Maybe being a husband and father himself has helped him out some lol.

Saw Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone from beginning to end for the first time in exactly 4 and a half years yesterday afternoon on tv, and after having seen all 4 Potter films so far I came to appreciate the first one even moreso than I did all those years ago when I first saw it at home. The Harry Potter films in my opinion are simply wonderful and each one gets better than the last. I've now seen the first one twice, The Chamber of Secrets three times, The Prisoner of Azkaban twice, and The Goblet of Fire only once, though as soon as I own that one this Christmas you can be sure I'll be seeing it many more times after that. By the way I have never read the books, only seen the movies, so I have no clue as to whether or not the books are better, but for me the films are magical enough.

I have not read the books, and only saw the first one, which didn't work much for me (too much of a children's movie for my tastes)...however, now that the actors are aging and my understanding the stories are also becoming more adult (which I find intriguing - that the stories' arcs become more mature as the actors and audiences age), I'm tempted to revist the first and follow up with the sequals.

Michael, your thoughts on the films pretty much sealed it. Thanks for the inspired recommendation!

You're very welcome! It's true that the first one is very childlike in places but for a children's fantasy film what do you expect lol? Anyway, if you do decide to see it again you may find that it's a bit more grown-up than you initially thought it was and from then on each film gets decidedly darker still and even more grown-up though still enough of the sweet moments between friends to make them all worthwhile in my opinion. I just love these films and can't wait until the Order of the Phoenix comes out because I'm sure it will not disappoint for one second.

I can tell you both the books (which are stupendous) and the films (which are getting better) take on increasingly adult themes and get progressively darker. It is remarkable to me how closely Rowland mirrors the development of a child with the themes of her books. Give 'em a try. (and check your PM please)

Michael, my thanks too. Your thoughts have rekindled my enthusiasm for the movie.

You're very welcome too Federico! Glad to hear I'm not the only one on here who loves Harry Potter. The films anyway lol.

Happy Feet continues to be a hit. Now at 3 weeks at #1 box office.

Guess people like a good family film over everything else that gets released this time of year.

Saw The Pursuit of Happyness on Sunday and really enjoyed it. Will Smith gave a heartwarming, extremely believable performance about a guy who couldn't get a break but who never gave up and just kept on perservering through everything so he could provide a better life for himself and for his son. And his real life son Jaden practically stole the show away from his dad in another excellent and totally believable performance. The whole movie is great and never gets boring despite the relatively slow pace. This is another film I urge everyone to go see if they can.

I have to admit I'm surprised that folks think the Harry Potter movies are getting better -- my wife and I have the opposite impression. But we think it's because the books, which get larger and larger as the series progresses, are increasingly difficult to distill into two-and-a-half hour films without a lot of chopping. I know it's less consumer-friendly, but I wish they'd consider longer films that remain truer to the books.

That being said, we've really enjoyed all of the films and are certainly looking forward to the next one(s)!

I don't know if I think the movies are getting consistently better. I think in general the first one was the weakest. They do mirror the books in taking on the concerns of growing children but I would have to agree with you that a lot of what makes the books so strong is their detail which is lost in the films.

I don't know if it is commercially viable to make the films longer. The do have to put a lot of 11 year-old butts in the seats. Art loses to commerce I guess.

For the longest time I too considered the first Harry Potter film to be the weakest by far but then I saw it again and don't think that way anymore. Now in my opinion it's The Prisoner of Azkaban that's the weakest by far since that one doesn't hold up as well to repeat viewings I think. For the record The Goblet of Fire and The Chamber of Secrets are my two favorite Potter films with The Sorcerer's Stone coming in third and The Prisoner of Azkaban coming in last. I'm definitely looking forward to The Order of the Phoenix though and hope it breaks the streak of the odd numbered films not being quite as good as the even numbered ones.

Right now I'm torn between wanting to see three more films on the big screen but only being able to afford one of them. Apocalypto's one of them mostly because I loved Gibson's last film The Passion of the Christ, and Blood Diamond and Letters from Iwo Jima are the other ones. I'm almost positive I'll decide on Letters from Iwo Jima to see mostly because I loved Flags of Our Fathers so much and would probably enjoy seeing another film like that from the opposite viewpoint, but at this point I'm not entirely sure lol. All three films sound good to me so when the time comes I'll just have to make my choice then. At least I'll be able to rent the other ones though whenever they show up on DVD.

The people on this site have such a broad range of interests I would love to read what you all thought were the best movies you saw this year.

I saw 64 films this year, I'm guessing some of you saw more, and I still didn't get to see a few that were supposed to be great. I haven't gotten to Volver yet and Letters from Iwo Jima, Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth have not opened here yet. But I did get to see a pretty broad range of movies. This is my list of the best that I saw, in order:

1.Half Nelson
2. Shortbus
3. Little Miss Sunshine
4. The Departed
5. Babel
6. The War Tapes
7. Marie Antoinette
8. A Prairie Home Companion
9. Flags of Our Fathers
10. The Queen

The very best movie I saw this year was not made or released this year, Melville's Army of Shadows, if it comes near you or is released on DVD I urge you to see it. It is an under-appreciated great film.

I've gotten hooked on going to the movies to the point that it's second on my list of vices, after CD collecting. Working in Manhattan gives me access to lots of theaters, and I'm not above taking in the occasional "unauthorized double feature" (sneaking into a 2nd movie at one of the big multiplexes).

As usual, the studios have jam-packed the last 2 weeks of December with a bunch of films I want to see (Pan's Labyrinth, Good Shepherd, Notes on a Scandal, Dreamgirls, Venus, Rocky, Letters from Iwo Jima, Painted Veil, etc.) But here are the top movies I've seen so far, not necessarily in order after #1:

Cars (#1 so far)
Little Miss Sunshine
Flags of Our Fathers
Casino Royale
The Devil Wears Prada
Curse of the Golden Flower
The Queen
The Illusionist (liked it more the 2nd time)
Jet Li's Fearless
Nightmare Before Christmas (3D) (cheating a bit here)

I'm a big fan of animation, saw a bunch of fair-to-good features this year, but Cars totally knocked me out. Funny, heartwarming, and visually stunning.