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penismightier posted:One thing about The Searchers, someone pointed this out and it kinda haunts me: do you think Ethan killed Lucy when he found her in the cave? When he sticks his knife in the sand, that's an old way to clean blood from it. Aha, this isn't where I read that but it backs it up: http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2011/03/29/searchers-john-ford Geez, this thought didn't even cross my mind but now I feel ridiculous for not noticing it. That's amazing and while it's certainly left ambiguous, it's completely in character and adds a whole new dimension to the whole film. Also, I have to wonder what the audience reaction was like when Pawley kicks "Look" out of his sleeping bag. It made me drop my jaw but I can imagine audiences then laughing just like Ethan. Which is kind of horrifying to think about. TrixRabbi fucked around with this message at 21:33 on Feb 1, 2013 |
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Feb 1, 2013 21:28
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TrixRabbi posted:Also, I have to wonder what the audience reaction was like when Pawley kicks "Look" out of his sleeping back. It made me drop my jaw but I can imagine audiences then laughing just like Ethan. Which is kind of horrifying to think about. That's the most important moment in the film, it's what many modern critics point to as evidence of the film's racism, but they're way off the mark. It's the moment where you realize the depths of the hosed up society they're a part of. Even Marty, who's the heart of the film, blows up in racial and sexual rage, and after it costs her life he has a breakthrough of conscience and redoubles his efforts to save Debbie.
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Feb 1, 2013 21:32
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penismightier posted:That's the most important moment in the film, it's what many modern critics point to as evidence of the film's racism, but they're way off the mark. It's the moment where you realize the depths of the hosed up society they're a part of. Even Marty, who's the heart of the film, blows up in racial and sexual rage, and after it costs her life he has a breakthrough of conscience and redoubles his efforts to save Debbie. Yeah, I didn't get the sense that it was meant to be played for laughs, the feel of the scene just felt off. It was more bent up in frustration than it was in "haha, look at the Indian." I think by making Ethan so blatantly racist from the start is that it instantly separates the character from Ford or anyone behind the camera. We're observing Ethan, who is also cantankerous and a bit psychopathic. He's really not particularly likeable in any manner whatsoever, and by aligning blatant racism with him it's showing that the film itself isn't racist, it's a depiction of it. And while I can still envision a theater of people in 1956 laughing hysterically at that scene, I think it slaps you across the face, much the way it does Pawley, when we see her dead body. At the same time, I know some people who would today still look at Ethan and think he's the ideal man, which is ridiculous and sad to think about but whatcha gonna do?
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Feb 1, 2013 21:41
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The Celluloid Closet - Documentary about the history of gay & lesbian representation in Hollywood. This is a terrifically informative film that's a nice balance between historic footage and talking head segments, with a fine representation of talking heads -- writers and pundits like Susie Bright, Quentin Crisp and Harvey Fierstein, along with both gay and heterosexual film industry people (Tom Hanks, Whoopi Goldberg, Shirley Maclaine, Gore Vidal). There's some good bits about the history of Hollywood censorship and the Hays code, and how for example the novel upon which The Lost Weekend was based had to have a lot of gay subtext removed in the film (in the book, it's strongly hinted the protagonist is struggling with closeted homosexuality, but in the film it's simply "writer's block") -- similarly, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Gore Vidal talks about how there was a subtle but deliberate homoerotic element written into the relationship between Ben-Hur and Messala (Charlton Heston was not informed), and there is some good behind-the-scenes talk about Hitchcock's Rope. The film moves from the early comic relief element of the sissy/fairy (along with some great comments by Harvey Fierstein, who acknowledges the problematic aspects of the stereotype, but argues "negative representation is better than no representation"), how from there there was a trend where gay characters could be villains, and finally in the 1970s they could occasionally be sympathetic, though mostly only in tragic stories (like Philadelpha). I found this a tough film to watch in a single sitting, simply because there's so much information -- it's great information, and well-presented, but might feel a little dense to somebody less passionate about the subject matter (5/5 if you're interested in LGBT history, 4/5 otherwise). Groundhog Day - Rewatch. Such an enoyable film. I love how it never needs to explain its gimmick, it just breezily rolls with the concept. The way scenes are replayed in different variations is funny and sharp (in particular, the scenes with Stephen Tobolowsky as Ned the insurance agent), the cast is likable (somehow I'd forgotten Chris Elliot was in it), and it all strikes a great balance between mischievous and good-hearted. (4.5/5) The Secret World of Arrietty - Studio Ghibli adaptation of "The Borrowers", about a family of tiny inch-high people and their adventures trying to survive, hidden on the edges of the human world. Miyazaki wrote the screenplay but did not direct; it's not top-tier Ghibli, but visually it's still better than 95% of the animation out there, with some lovely visual design. It just didn't WOW me, but given the cozy mood of the story, that's probably okay, and there are a handful of neat visual moments, and some of the painted backgrounds are beautifully detailed and composed (the dollhouse in particular). I watched the UK dub, which I'm told is better than the US dub by Disney; the voice work was fine, though it was a little weird having a very British story populated by characters named Sho and Hara. Also it didn't feel like there was much explanation for why the antagonist (the housekeeper) had it out for the little people; the rest of her character/personality didn't support this. This would make a cute "date movie"; it's well-crafted if not exceptional (3.5/5) Wreck-It Ralph A visually terrific movie with a surprising amount of depth, which I found simultaneously charming and deeply unpleasant. The eye candy, writing, and voice acting are all great, with all kinds of clever pop culture nods. This is a mythic movie -- the characters aren't people, they are archetypes that embody a specific predetermined role within the microcosm of a game-world that is bleakly deterministic and inflexible. The inhabitants of these worlds are a bit like the deities of Greek mythology; we can be fascinated by their stories, we can even see our own experience reflected in them, but their existence is so elemental and specific that we don't really empathize with Hermes or Hephaestus -- they simply are what they are, like the stars moving through the sky. There is a healthy message in the story, that we can only change the world by changing how we perceive it, but there's also a recognition that little REALLY changes; even when the imposter Candy King was exposed, it didn't mean mean much to the other inhabitants of the Candy Rush world other than Vanellope -- if something didn't directly relate to driving fast or eating candy, it simply didn't matter. The commercialism (especially all the candy product placement) was interesting too; it highlights how these imaginary worlds aren't just created to entertain, they are created to take the audience's money, and are willing to be relentlessly emotionally manipulative (like the Laffy Taffy coaxing along Felix and Calhoun's romantic feelings in the swamp). I was also a little unnerved by the subtext of the Christ-like Felix (who, remember, was "Felix Jr.", who came into the world with his father's magic hammer to "fix things") getting married to the most authoritarian and xenophobic manifestation of military power. And Ralph, his big reward in the end is he, the grubby retro guy living in the dump, gets to occasionally sneak peeks over the top of the fence at the spunky young princess in candyland. SO MUCH CREEPY SUBTEXT. (4/5) h_double fucked around with this message at 00:09 on Feb 3, 2013 |
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Feb 2, 2013 23:59
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I also just watched Wreck-It Ralph just now, and I didn't see almost any of what you described. Though I was aware before going in that this project started out life as a Fix-It Felix Jr movie about living up to your famous parent's reputation before deciding to change the main character. This had to be an improvement, as the original concept sounds a bit too much like a sympathy tale for those who are born into good fortune, whereas Ralph is an undesirable among the elite social class living in the condo. I thought the film was okay. But if you're going to rip off Chuck Jones and do the whole "they're just like us and they're at work" routine like the Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog cartoons, keep in mind that what made that work is that Warner's Ralph and Sam are both aware that they're just doing their job. The condo dwellers seem to really hate Ralph for doing his thing even though everyone seems self-aware that they're just filling their ordained roles.
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Feb 3, 2013 01:02
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Craptacular! posted:I thought the film was okay. But if you're going to rip off Chuck Jones and do the whole "they're just like us and they're at work" routine like the Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog cartoons, keep in mind that what made that work is that Warner's Ralph and Sam are both aware that they're just doing their job. The condo dwellers seem to really hate Ralph for doing his thing even though everyone seems self-aware that they're just filling their ordained roles. Yeah, the Ralph & Sam cartoons are a good analogy, where the joke works precisely because they shrug off their rivalry the instant they're off the clock. I felt like there were some mixed signals going on in WIR, because on the one hand "make the best of what you've got" is a good message, but when it's paired with a rigid caste system, it becomes a more ominous "you should be happy with your lot in life." Suck it up, because the basic order of things doesn't change (which of course is literally true in videogames -- which ties into both their mythic and their commercial nature -- but it's kind of a weird message to identify with more broadly).
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Feb 3, 2013 01:20
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It's implied that the Nicelanders are just douchebags. In the background we see heroes hanging out with villains like Chun-li walking with Zangief. I think this point was lost somewhere in the script because the catalyst of the plot is that no one invited Ralph to the 30th anniversary. Ralph was an outcast, a minority in his own game. He had to work twice as hard to get the respect of his peers. I liked how his position didn't change in the end. He won the respect of his peers but he was still content to live in the dump because that's who he is. All he wanted was to be treated as an equal and he got it in the end. It was a humble ending and I appreciated that facet. al-azad fucked around with this message at 05:28 on Feb 3, 2013 |
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Feb 3, 2013 05:02
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Spoiler tags.
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Feb 3, 2013 05:08
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Some rewatches (except for the last one) Batman Begins - 9/10 The Dark Knight - 9/10 Inception - 10/10 GoodFellas - 10/10 Lawrence of Arabia - 10/10 The Fox and the Hound - 7/10 The Fox and the Hound is very good. Nice animation, good vocal performances, but just threadbare. It just doesn't have much to it.
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Feb 3, 2013 20:55
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Egbert Souse posted:Batman Begins - 9/10
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Feb 3, 2013 23:35
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Egbert Souse posted:The Fox and the Hound is very good. Nice animation, good vocal performances, but just threadbare. It just doesn't have much to it. Not unless you're five years old; then it feels like the whole movie is designed to make you sob.
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Feb 4, 2013 05:56
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I didn't think anyone would want to hear more ramblings on already immensely popular movies. Got to add another film in the mean time. Batman Begins The Dark Knight A refreshing update to the Batman myth, followed by one of the best sequels ever made. The biggest strength of Nolan's Batman films is the way the plot hooks in. Even after a few viewings, I'm still at the edge wanting to see what happens next. This is high quality filmmaking at work. Add in the excellent cast and incredible visuals, this is finally more into the noir mood the 1990s cartoon captured so well. There's occasionally some small, stupid moments (the fat cop at a falafel stand in Begins and the chatterbox SWAT guy in TDK), but they sort of work. Inception - One of my favorites of the last few years. This accomplishes one step in science fiction that is ruined too often - instead of explaining something impossible, it's simply shown. No one cares how a dream machine works, however plausible. It's amazing how by just showing what happens in the dream state, I didn't have a single "not buying it" moment. GoodFellas - Absolute perfection in cinema. Every performance, every bit of dialogue, every shot. The cinema element is so much fun, it's easy to be taken in by the sheer horror of the events that happen in the film. Lawrence of Arabia - Finally got around to seeing it on Blu-Ray after seeing a 4K showing last year. Another perfect movie, but an enigma compared to some. Anastasia (1997) - A bit of an odd film, but incredible animation and art design! I'm not totally sold on the idea to integrate a really bizarre subplot with Rasputin amongst a really well done main plot, but it sort of works on a surreal level. Sort of like 1930s Max Fleischer surreality, but I can't say it's appropriate. Keep your ears open for J.K. Simmons doing a verse of one of the songs. 7.5/10
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Feb 4, 2013 05:57
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Amour I am pretty conflicted about this film, and was hoping there was some discussion about it here or in Current Releases, but sadly there is none. WHich is weird because this film got Oscar nominations for both best film and best foreign film. Anyways the story is quite simple: married couple in their 80s living alone in paris, wife suffers a stroke and the husband must take care of her as she slowly detiriorates and eventually dies. The perfomances are outstanding, from early on you really do feel like this is a couple that has known each other for their whole life. Riva's perfomance is heartbreaking and at times humiliating, and she gets bonus points for doing a nude scene at loving 85 years of age. I hope she gets the Oscar. At some point the husband basically sums up the whole movie when talking to his daughter about her mother's condition: "it goes from bad to worse until it suddenly ends". It's a hard film to watch, both because of the subject matter and the static, lingering takes. The film is relentless, there is no sentimentality, no hope that things will better, and there is no cozy message to take home. Just like real life. It's not by any means an entertaining movie, but it depicts a sad truth about human existance (and portrays an aspect of love that is rarely approached in film) with such sincerity and skill that I feel like this a movie no one can pass.
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Feb 4, 2013 06:23
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Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 The Dark Knight Returns: Part 2 is officially one of the best Batman movies ever made. Much like Part 1, it does justice to its source material, Frank Miller’s game-changing four-episode mini series about a veteran 55-year-old Batman coming out of retirement in a bleak future spawned from the eighties. Changes were made from the comic book, so there is no inner monologue, which has been compensated by added dialogue, while some scenes are better played out in animation than they were as panels on pages. Certain details were omitted, but the Joker is presented as psychotic as he was in the original story, Superman is a good soldier of a Reagan-like US president, and Carrie Kelley takes her role as the new Robin seriously. Batman is equally bitter and idealistic, even without the inner monologue, and the epic fight between the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel is as good as, if not better than the comic book version. Fans of the original story will be pleased, casual Batman fans will be entertained, and fans of quality movies will be pleasantly surprised. TDKR: Part 2 features more action, violence and blood than any other Batman title, animated or live action, and has kept its essence of a satirical and twisted take on the human condition and the vigilante who kept on believing he can fix people. To quote Abed from Community: ‘This is definitely the darkest timeline’, but there is a light at the end of the Batcave. ★★★★☆ I write quick reviews about most of the movies I see, if they're worth writing about, and publish them on my Tumblr, so it's not all just pretty pictures and artwork.
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Feb 4, 2013 15:29
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What Did the Lady Forget? Shed No Tears American Splendor Abhijaan (rewatch) Let's Do It Again Woman is the Future of Man Pitfall (rewatch) Cronos Torment (rewatch) Cooley High
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Feb 4, 2013 16:46
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The Informant! (2009) - In a word, zippy. This movie takes what could be a very boring story and tells it excellently with a great performance from Matt Damon and a cast full of stand up actors. 8/10 Synechdoche, New York (2008) - Like most of Kaufman's films, this one is an ouroboros, looping back in upon itself endlessly as it carries on. It's up to the viewer to decide how much of this film is "real" or merely takes place within its own reality - the titular fake city. 9/10
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Feb 4, 2013 16:59
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babypolis posted:Amour I mentioned it in the "great movies you don't want to re-watch" thread, which kind of sums up my feelings. It's beautifully filmed and acted, it's also quietly harrowing and relentlessly sad. It's a really courageous film -- this kind of aging and decay isn't easy to think or talk about, and everybody involved clearly had a lot of guts to tackle it in such an emotionally honest and authentic way. Haneke is one of my favorite directors, in part because his films usually are so boldly uncomfortable, but even the horrific Funny Games is more rewatchable than this, at least to share with other people and discuss. Amour is so pointedly focused and packs such an emotional wallop, I guess I COULD think about it in terms of specific shots or recurring motifs, but I was too stunned by its emotional weight to approach it like that reflexively.
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Feb 4, 2013 17:37
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I'm glad you liked this. I blind bought this from a thrift shop not knowing a thing about it and loved it. If you're at all interested in Pekar's comics the only one I've read is "Our Cancer Year" but it's pretty good and you can get through it in an afternoon. And you mention that the film is very meta, but it never feels like you're having it bashed over your head. What do you think about some of the more existentialist and overall postmodern moments? There's the fact that Pekar started a comic that's about his life, and then the filmic blending of comic and reality. But then there's that delirious moment when Pekar is recovering from chemo where he asks Joyce if he's real or if he's just a character in a comic book. And it really begs that question, when you are your own art do you lose a part (or all) of yourself to it?
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Feb 4, 2013 17:42
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I watched The Grey Saturday. Was with some friends, and remembered it was a favorite around here. I didn't like it at all. It played like a really sophomoric effort to me. Everything seemed forced, the narration, the flashbacks, all of it. But what really sealed the deal for me was the pacing. It just kept repeating the same scene over and over again. Liam suggests what they do next, the angry guy says something angry, They fight about what to do next, someone tells a sappy emotional story about something they love from their life, that guy dies. Repeat. My overall impression was that everyone involved in the movie had aspirations of it being a thinking man's thriller, but no-one had the skillset to pull it off with any amount of success. I had to apologize for my movie choice to my friends. 2/5
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Feb 4, 2013 22:46
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Kull the Conqueror posted:Not unless you're five years old; then it feels like the whole movie is designed to make you sob. This is how I feel about Grave of the Fireflies. I've never seen anyone else complain about it, so I've always been hesitant to say this cuz I didn't wanna sound contrarian.
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Feb 4, 2013 23:02
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Jack Does Jihad posted:This is how I feel about Grave of the Fireflies. I've never seen anyone else complain about it, so I've always been hesitant to say this cuz I didn't wanna sound contrarian. Anyone who says GotF doesn't make them well up is clearly lying or a replicant.
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Feb 5, 2013 01:55
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al-azad posted:Anyone who says GotF doesn't make them well up is clearly lying or a replicant. It's clearly a tearjerker, it just happens to be one of the finest crafted tearjerkers ever made. There's nothing inherently wrong with a movie being manipulative, and it definitely earns it though the characters.
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Feb 5, 2013 02:03
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Warm Bodies 3/4 Altogether a solid film, well directed, well acted, no glaring problems except maybe driving home the moral point a time or two too many at the end. Does smething original with the zombie genre which I didn't really think was possible. The lead also has a Karloff Frankenstein's monster thing kind of going on, if you are a fan of that.
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Feb 5, 2013 02:17
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al-azad posted:Anyone who says GotF doesn't make them well up is clearly lying or a replicant. It didn't make me tear up, and I think it might be because I was expecting the most soul-crushing movie of all-time so I was really prepared for something even worse. This isn't me trying to be a manly man either, I'm definitely a giant baby. So it's good to know I'm not alone either.
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Feb 5, 2013 04:05
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Air Pockets (Educational, 1924) A felonious detective, an oblivious inventor, and a victimized investor are tangled together in this dream-like slapstick comedy. Also featuring airplanes, racism, and a fat lady. 3/3. The Quakeress (Broncho, 1913) A Quaker is cruelly banished from a Puritan town, discovers the town is about to be attacked by Indians, and must decide whether to warn them. Co-starring Charles Ray and something of a trial run for his 1915 film The Coward. 3/3. The Mysterious Black Box (Selig, 1914) A comedy/drama about a man caught cheating on his wife where the comedy and drama mix about as well as oil and water. 1/3.
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Feb 5, 2013 04:33
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al-azad posted:Anyone who says GotF doesn't make them well up is clearly lying or a replicant. Nope. Grave of the Fireflies is a hugely manipulative film that didn't affect me in the slightest. It constantly screams "Are you crying yet?" So you know I'm not lying, I cried at the end of About Schmidt.
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Feb 5, 2013 23:44
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Chronicle B+ Magic Mike B Dick Tracy B- Nine C- A nice downward trend this weekend.
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Feb 6, 2013 00:18
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Magic Hate Ball posted:Chronicle B+ All of them would be great.
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Feb 6, 2013 02:10
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caiman posted:Nope. Grave of the Fireflies is a hugely manipulative film that didn't affect me in the slightest. It constantly screams "Are you crying yet?" So you know I'm not lying, I cried at the end of About Schmidt. It’s your birthday. Someone gives you a calfskin wallet. How do you react? Magic Hate Ball posted:Nine C- Nine the musical or 9 the animated movie?
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Feb 6, 2013 03:39
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The musical.morestuff posted:All of them would be great. Chronicle I kept missing this for some reason so it's nice to finally catch up, and nicer to really dig it. The Current Releases review isn't wrong about the silly pretenses to get more cameras in on the action, the blogger girl in particular was pretty ridiculous (not to mention a plot cul-de-sac) but it does fit the high-school setting. Everyone always seems to be staring at you in high school, and maybe there's a reason found footage films are always "made" by younger people. I'm a fan of short films and Chronicle is very economical about doling out its plot, which grows out of a crushing domestic drama in a weirdly natural way, and once it gets rolling manages to brush the typical genre fixings without plodding old ground, balancing wish fulfillment with a creepy Carrie-esque spiral of power. The two elements connect in the film's best scene when downtrodden Alex, to teach some tailgaters a lesson, wipes a car off the road and nearly kills the driver, but is more concerned that his newfound friends are mad at him than with the consequences of his powers, which leads, organically, into further plot developments. This is really the film's biggest strength, taking what could be a trite, potboiler sci-fi story and just doing it really well. Nitpicks: Alex's cousin reads and spouts off philosopher soundbites, which leads to a realization on Alex's part that feels really forced. Teenagers repeating things they read isn't unusual, I just wish they hadn't relied on it to push the story forward because it wasn't necessary. Also I wish the film had ended on that shot of the camera flying over the ocean, it was so gorgeously unlike anything else in the film. B+ Magic Mike Another film I kept missing. For some reason Soderbergh always makes me feel kind of reticent, like his films are homework, and I'm not sure why this is because the only film of his that I haven't liked is Schizopolis and to be fair to it I was barely awake. But of the films of his I've seen Magic Mike feels the loosest and, at the same time, plays closest to a lot of typical plot points. When he's investigating the world of strippers it's a really interesting film but it does a lot of stumbling when it gets to the personal relationships which play out as if they're struggling to be unique. Sometimes they succeed but there's a lot of student-film-type dialogue that gets in the way of all the nifty econo-political themes. Nevertheless Soderbergh reigns a close, eerie tone that keeps the film going, a kind of yellowy-green wash that in the hands of a lesser director would look ridiculous. Also the only other film I've seen Matthew McConaughey in is Killer Joe and that made his character in this really, really creepy. B Dick Tracy I could swear we had a thread on this, or was it Movie of the Month? The internet tells me it was hyped beyond all belief and then failed, which doesn't surprise me given that it seems to be all but absent from pop culture (the only knowledge I had of it before just a while ago was of Sondheim's score and the poster art, which was on the VHS tape my cousins owned, and it fascinated me as a kid). It also doesn't surprise me because it's a very uneven, distant film and I kept getting the feeling that Warren Beatty and pals weren't entirely sure how to play things. Al Pacino didn't bother me as much as Beatty himself did (actually I thought Pacino was great). What was he doing here? His Tracy is like this weird, alien creature, which would make sense in a sort of Brady Bunch Movie way, but the rest of the cast is really kooky in a slightly different way so he manages to clash with a world that's already strange and unfamiliar. The pacing is also shot to hell (which isn't helped by the overwhelmingly static cinematography, done on purpose to aid the comic-book feel but it slows everything way down) and nothing has any gravitas or comedic momentum. Things just kind of happen, and then more things happen, which I understand could be a translation of the comic strip's style but why would you copy that of all things? However, what the film isn't is ugly. It's so entertainingly good-looking (I'm thinking about picking up the Blu-ray just because it looks so good) that I found myself entertained at times in spite of the film. And that's frustrating, to say the least. B- Nine When I first heard of Nine, the stage musical, my question was: why make a musical of 8 1/2? 8 1/2 is already a musical, isn't it? But then I heard the score and, gradually and unwillingly, fell in love with it because it's not trying to be 8 1/2. It loves the source material so much that it wants to celebrate it in another medium in its own way and it mostly succeeds, and that's really the best that can be asked of a musical adaptation of a film (see also the just-as-loving A Little Night Music). That makes a film adaptation of Nine a curious thing, because whoever was behind it had to have loved Nine, the musical, enough on its own terms to want to bring it to film, which would make it a weird cousin of Fellini's masterpiece, and thus would have to work double time to justify its own existence. But I get the feeling that Rob Marshall didn't really want to make a film of Nine, and it's easy to get the feeling that Rob Marshall doesn't really want to make musical films at all. Nine, the film, not only throws out half of Nine, the musical, but adds back half of 8 1/2. We find Guido again putting slutty makeup on his ditzy mistress, Guido again watching screen tests, etc., and we find the film gliding clumsily on the good faith of Fellini's ghost. What of Nine that stays gets a lot of the usual Marshall treatment - every song is non-diagetic, so everyone gets a number prancing around on Guido's half-finished film set as if Marshall is so distrusting of the concept of people singing that he must find any possible way to distance the singing from the film's action, even when it means making a number nonsensical (the gorgeous My Husband Makes Movies) or even more unnecessary than it was onstage (Folies Bergère). As if that's not enough the musical numbers are slashed into a thousand pieces - not only does Marshall distrust singing but the momentum and arc of the songs themselves and the choreography that goes with it (Be Italian is really aggravating on this front). Occasionally the film comes together (Guido running away to the hotel, only to be followed by his entire crew, is a great sequence, as are the final moments), but Fellini hangs over everything. He could turn despair, distrust, and indecision into a cinematic masterstroke, but Marshall just makes a big mess. edit: I got annoyed writing that so I'm downgrading it. D+ Magic Hate Ball fucked around with this message at 08:07 on Feb 6, 2013 |
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Feb 6, 2013 07:51
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TrixRabbi posted:Little Dieter Needs To Fly I love this movie too - it might be my favorite documentary - but, well, it's not all true. Allegedly, a few of the things Dengler says and does in the interviews were suggested to him by Herzog (including the jellyfish scene you mention), as he does sometimes. It used to piss me off but it doesn't really bug me anymore - the true details about the story are still nuts. Still, yeah, loving amazing movie.
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Feb 7, 2013 18:40
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Faces is my first foray into John Cassavetes's body of work, and I already know I want to see more. I've got a soft spot for melodrama, and it's pulled off exceptionally well here. The feeling of despair throughout the whole thing is almost oppressive, and yet it's what kept me drawn in. Everyone felt natural, and I loved how well shooting the film in near-constant close-ups was done. 9/10
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Feb 10, 2013 04:20
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I just finished Madeo by Bong Joon-ho and wow. It started off a little slow, but once it picked up, I was hooked. It was beautifully shot, well-acted (Kim Hye-ja was spectacular) and the story was riveting. A Korean neo-noir. You fully expect the mother to exonerate him of his crime, and then ultimately find out he did do the crime in the first place. And she ends up killing a witness to cover it up. Then he's exonerated and the wrong man goes to jail. And at dinner he basically admits to his mother why he placed the body in the position he did. These developments blind-sided me. This one gets an A from me, unquestionably. Bong Joon-ho never disappoints, but I think this might be his best movie.
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Feb 10, 2013 16:20
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Y Signal posted:Faces is my first foray into John Cassavetes's body of work, and I already know I want to see more. I've got a soft spot for melodrama, and it's pulled off exceptionally well here. The feeling of despair throughout the whole thing is almost oppressive, and yet it's what kept me drawn in. Everyone felt natural, and I loved how well shooting the film in near-constant close-ups was done. 9/10 What a great movie. I really need to rewatch that and his other stuff. Criterion has a really great box set with all his major works.
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Feb 11, 2013 04:20
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Deliverance A+ Gun Crazy A+ Fishing With John A Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (1979) A Re-Animator B+ Floating Weeds B She's Gotta Have It B The Plow That Broke The Plains B Neshoba: The Price of Freedom B- Warm Bodies B- 7 Plus Seven B- Amistad C+ Fantômas - À l'ombre de la guillotine C+ I know Fishing With John is technically a cable TV show, but I decided to treat it like a miniseries.
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Feb 11, 2013 04:38
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TrixRabbi posted:Deliverance A+ Who doesn't like Fantomas??
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Feb 11, 2013 04:44
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penismightier posted:Who doesn't like Fantomas?? Eh, more like a B+/C-. And I definitely plan to finish the other four. It's enjoyable in a lot of areas but it's pace has aged terribly and that's really my major complaint. There's a lot that could have been trimmed here and there. Also, I noted this in the Netflix thread but Fantomas is a massive dick. The way he laughs about how an innocent man is going to die in his place is insane. I get the feeling, especially with that ending, that things are going to pick up from here and I'll probably give it a whole grade after I finish them all. Talking it out definitely gives me more of an appreciation for all the good in it. It's just that slow, early editing. Deliverance A masterpiece. After hearing so much about this film for years, and knowing that my dad refuses to ever watch it again, it's really amazing to finally get around to it and find that it exceeded my expectations. One of the most grueling takes on the man vs nature conflict I've seen but I feel like it's so much more than that and I can't quite unravel it all just yet. Consistently nerve-wracking, a constant atmosphere of dread. The entire cast is fantastic but Voight stands out for sure. Gun Crazy I need to get this on blu ray. It's a stunning film. I'm still amazed by that long take in the backseat of the car (which apparently was filmed guerrilla style and a bystander thought the bank had actually been robbed). I'm also intrigued by a lot of the framing. There's times where closeups, Bart especially, are partially out of frame. There's a scene near the end when he's on the porch and he backs up into the house and his forehead barely reaches the middle of the frame. I think I like this more than Bonnie and Clyde. Nosferatu At first I felt like Herzog was holding back. He created a very faithful remake of Murnau's take on Dracula, but it seemed very note for note. But the differences slowly creeped in and by the time that Dracula gets to Wismar it's all Herzog's film. There's so much I love about this from the long shots of the rats (which reminded me of the monkeys in Aguirre), Lucy's long walk through the plague ridden city, the dark twist ending. Re-Animator I just finished this an hour ago and it's finally capped off an 8 year long procrastination. I first heard about this film in middle school, and am only now seeing it (I'm 21 and a Junior in college for reference). It's hard to live up to the hype built up in my head for this movie but it does a drat good job of coming close. I really want to call out how amazing that opening credits sequence is and how well it sets the tone in a Hitchcock-esque manner. The gore manages to be incredibly effective and Jeffrey Combs as Herbert West is perfect. Also, that scene between Megan and Dr. Hill in the morgue (you know the one) is one of the most horrifying things I've ever seen in any film. The climax is also joyfully anarchic. The middle doesn't have as much going on as I expected it to, and it's incredibly eighties, but it doesn't really drag at all either. Not the movie I had in my head, but a drat good one nonetheless. Floating Weeds I love that fifties technicolor. My introduction to Ozu, it took some getting used to the pace and style of it, but once I did it clicked well. It manages to feel theatrical and true to life at the same time. She's Gotta Have It A surprisingly fresh take on the romantic comedy, of course I wouldn't expect any less of Lee. Also serves as a fantastic denouncement of the "male ownership" idea, tackling three different kinds of unhealthy mindsets. I really want to track down some of Bill Lee's music too because his score is astounding. The Plow That Broke The Plains I initially saw a clip of this in one of my film classes and decided to track it down in it's entirety (it's on Youtube). An entertaining historical record with some really great shots of the plains. I also really liked the narrator and his way of shouting, it gave it a news reel quality that works for the film. Amistad Like with Fantomas the C+ doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the film. I think Amistad does a lot of things well, part of it being it's brutal depiction of slavery during the flashback scenes. The scene on the slave ship where the slaves are being fed slop reminded me of a moment in Elie Wiesel's Night where he describes the Nazis throwing the starving Jews pieces of bread and watching them fight for it. Djimon Hounsou's performance is spectacular, especially considering it's all in Mende. However, it's far, far too long. The courtroom sequences tend to lose their steam a lot and it doesn't seem to have as much of a tender hand from Spielberg as something like Schindler's List had. Hopkins is good as Quincy Adams but not Oscar worthy (although we all know that the Oscars love sentimental monologues).
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Feb 11, 2013 05:43
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That Obscure Object of Desire (rewatch) An Artist in Him Lola (rewatch) Night and Day The Burmese Harp (rewatch) Fires on the Plain (rewatch) I've Heard the Mermaids Singing Anzukko Blazing Saddles (rewatch)
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Feb 11, 2013 17:02
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The Dead A Manhunter A Night Of The Living Dead A- Little Dieter Needs To Fly B+
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Feb 11, 2013 20:07
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Magic Hate Ball posted:The Dead A This, if it's the Huston film.
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Feb 11, 2013 21:05
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