What's the last movie you've seen?

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Chinatown

It was a good movie, I enjoyed it more than I expected to.  Chinatown had good plot, featured strong performances by Jack Nicholson and John Huston, and it is probably my favorite Polanski film (although I haven't seen Carnage yet).  That said, I don't think it was a truly great movie either and would argue that it is a little bit overrated.  However, I'd certainly still recommend it, especially to fans of film noir.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Hud 5/5
 
Great movie, especially the writing and Paul Newman's performance (I would argue the best of his career)!  The film does a good job of delivering its message about the importance of integrity in a way that is neither contrived nor heavy-handed.  I think being shot in black-and-white adds to the film's effectiveness, I can't imagine it in color, for some reason.  Highly recommended.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

The Master - I really wanted to like it, but I am not sure that I can really give a "like or dislike" opinion on it.  On the one hand, the acting was great (Joaquin Phoenix in particular was phenomenal and may well win Best Actor for his performance).  Additionally, there were a number of interesting (if under-explored) themes that each dominated a certain portion of the film (as a result, there were many great scenes in the film even if the film's parts were greater than its whole).  However, the plot lacked a clear sense of direction and I am still not sure what exactly the movie was supposed to be about (it felt like it didn't really commit to any specific theme or themes).  That said, it was always engaging and I am glad that I saw it.  At least between The Master and There Will Be Blood Paul Thomas Anderson seems to be finally delivering on his potential as a film-maker (I thought Boogie Nights was awful and extremely overrated while Magnolia could've been a good movie if Anderson had been able to decide which movie he wanted to make, although it too is rather overrated).  There Will Be Blood is easily Anderson's best work, but I'd give The Master 4 stars out of 5 (though it would be 3 out of five were the acting not so strong).