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Streets of Blood (2009) attempts to depict the lawless streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, but it serves primarily to spotlight the squalid careers of co-stars Val Kilmer and Sharon Stone. Kilmer, an ambiguously good/bad/who cares cop, partners with a typically incoherent 50 Cent as the protagonists driving an uninteresting double-cross/conspiracy plot. Stone, playing a psychiatrist, prattles to her patients in an impenetrable Louisiana patois, but this doesn't matter because her scenes are completely superfluous, save one. Stone visits the office of Droopy Dog character actor Barry Shabaka Henley, here amusingly named Captain Friendly. The conversation isn't nearly as interesting as the backdrop: Friendly's office contains numerous bizarre wall hangings one wouldn't expect to find at the precinct. He also has a giant book on his desk that reads "Police Officers." Also, a seemingly accidental flatulent noise resonates during one of Stone's lines. Because of this lone scene's considerable entertainment value, I'll give it a charitable 1/5. p.s. Genre fans might be curious about the violence/sex content of any police thrillers. In this one, you get a few unremarkable shootouts, shot in a jittery fashion (and, in flashback, with jarring color filters). There's plenty of nudity, but it's provided entirely by crack-whore characters, one of whom simulates fellatio on a rifle. Dubious as a date movie!
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Sep 1, 2009 04:28
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Garbage Day, that sounds like the best movie ever. A bunch of washed-up (no pun intended) stars in a crime movie about Katrina aftermath?
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Sep 1, 2009 10:51
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Garbage Day posted:one of whom simulates fellatio on a rifle. Sold!
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Sep 1, 2009 11:13
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Inglourious Basterds - This is going to end up being one of those movies where the movie is successful because of how it was marketed, but also hated because of it's misleading marketing. That said, when the movie ended I thought it was pretty good overall, and the more I thought about it- the more I liked it. It's a lot like Kill Bill in the way that the movie succeeds not because of it's story, but because of it's cast of characters. While at times they can be a bit cartoonish, silly and a bit unnecessary they serve their purpose and the story moves on. The movie is really just a series of great scenes one after the other. I'd also argue that this is probably Tarantino's funniest movie since Pulp Fiction. Overall it's not a masterpiece but still really good. If I could have changed anything it's that Brad Pitt should have been re-cast, as he can get distracting in a movie filled with unknowns. (That's not to say he's bad) The climax could have been a little bigger I think, or at least a better 'final film' at the cinema. That was a little underwhelming. ***.5/****
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Sep 1, 2009 15:59
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Garbage Day posted:Streets of Blood (2009) attempts to depict the lawless streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, but it serves primarily to spotlight the squalid careers of co-stars Val Kilmer and Sharon Stone. Kilmer, an ambiguously good/bad/who cares cop, partners with a typically incoherent 50 Cent as the protagonists driving an uninteresting double-cross/conspiracy plot. In the next couple of months, Kilmer is starring with: Armand Assante and Eric Roberts (The Steam Experiment) Cuba Gooding Jr. (Hardwired) Kris Kristofferson and Hilary Duff (Provinces of Night) His only legit, theatrically-released job in the last four years is Deja Vu. What happened, Val?
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Sep 1, 2009 16:30
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Dancing Potato posted:In the next couple of months, Kilmer is starring with: It was Kiss Kiss Bang Bang actually.
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Sep 1, 2009 16:36
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The Dinner Game The Netflix description intrigued me, and I gave it a whirl, and am absolutely happy I did. The film is hilarious and expertly paced. A group of rich men hold a weekly dinner in which they all invite one idiot and then proceed to make fun of all of the fools they have invited. One of the men, a rich publisher named Pierre, is looking to invite someone to the dinner party. He finds Francois, a matchstick model maker and general oaf. When Pierre hurts his back and cannot go to the party, Francois decides to nurse him back to health and refuses to leave. Francois proceeds to completely turn Pierre's life into a living hell... in an innocent, hilarious and oafish way. 5/5 Coraline Amazing, great story, blew Nightmare Before Christmas away, in my opinion. I thought the quality of the animation suffered from time to time (during pan shots seemed to be the trouble areas), but the film was truly creepy and funny at the same time. A great Neil Gaiman fantasy. 4/5
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Sep 1, 2009 17:12
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The Damned United (2009) This just came out on DVD and I couldn't wait to watch it again. On a second viewing, it still stands up as one of the best films of this year. Now I hate football, or soccer if you prefer. I hate it with a burning passion and would rather work in a mine than watch a match. That said, there have been two films this year with the football connection, and they've both been bloody superb. Michael Sheen plays the cocky, self-assured Brian Clough as the film explores two episodes of his life in parallel, quite literally his rise and fall. The first charts his huge success as manager of Derby County along with his assistant manager Peter Taylor (Timothy Spall). Driven by his rivalry with Leeds United manager Don Revie (Colm Meaney, sporting a surprisingly accurate accent), Clough takes Derby from the bottom of the second division to the first, making them equal rivals with Leeds. Does any of that make sense to you? It didn't to me, but the film is very friendly to those not football savvy and deals in the emotional truth of the situation rather than the football itself. It is in fact a character driven piece with Sheen (who thankfully gave up a career in professional football to take up acting) on top form. One particular scene shows Clough, terrified about his first top division match, staying in his office as the match commences. Windows at the top of the office let in light from the stadium grounds and the windows are darkened by the celebrating fans as his team build a solid victory. Pure cinematic storytelling that keeps the football in the background and the men behind the football in the foreground. 10/10 My science fiction challenge contines with Sunshine (2007) The best science fiction raises questions about humanity. Sometimes, it raises harder questions about divinity. This certainly doesn't have the impact of 2001, but then that is the template against which all "eyes on heaven" sci-fi will be compared. However, this film still gives us something new. In this case, the divinity is represented by the sun itself. The closer we get to it, the closer we are to God. And it is very ambiguous about God's intentions, is He trying to destroy humanity and therefor restarting the sun and saving everyone is against His will? Or was it a test and this was part of Hs plan all along? I think this kind of exploration falls apart slightly in the face of an audience who aren't open to it. Atheists will find some sci-fi apologist reason for events and devout catholics (for example) may be appaled by the questioning of God's will. Personally, I don't know. It all washed over me a little strangely, leaving only questions that have been asked a million times before. That's not to say this isn't a good film. Boyle manages to impose a sense of tension on preceedings an the cast all brilliant (especially the scenery chewing Cliff Curtis). All in all, a solid film, but I think this one could divide people rather than spark debate, which I assume was its intention. 8/10
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Sep 2, 2009 01:23
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Rain (Ivens) 4/5 - Short experimental doc from the 20s from Joris Ivens. A lot of water-based shots and the last half of the film most of the shots are filtered through water (reflections in canals and puddles and shots through rain soaked windows) to provide a sort of blurry perception of the world. It was nice to see Holland in the 1920s and made me nostalgic for Amsterdam.
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Sep 2, 2009 02:16
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AVPR - Alien Vs Predator: Requiem (2007) Requiem n (ˈre-kwç-əm also ˈrâ- or ˈrç-) 1 : a mass for the dead 2 a : a solemn chant (as a dirge) for the repose of the dead b : something that resembles such a solemn chant 3 a : a musical setting of the mass for the dead b : a musical composition in honor of the dead (from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary) Why did I post that? Well, I just wanted you to know that the title is completely meaningless. Not just because the word "requiem" has nothing to do with anything in the filom, but also because the Aliens and Predators are completely arbitrary. So are the humans... And all the events in the film. It's a just a series of things happening to people we don't care about for no reason until it stops. There's absolutely nothing positive to be gleaned from this tripe and the message is quiote simply that sometimes hosed up poo poo happens and unless you're geographically in the same location, you won't even know about it or give a poo poo either way. I give it a generous 1/10. Good thing I followed it up with Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) lest I develop a hate for all of cinema. Zathura is exactly the kind of light-hearted family entertainment I needed to wash away the taste of AVPR. It is basically just Jumanji in space, but it's just so much fun I couldn't help but love it. The two young leads are superb and have a great chemistry. It's great to see kids carrying a film like this and I imagine these two will probably pop up again in later life as pretty impressive character actors. The film is a rollercoaster ride of defective robots, hungry Zorgons and meteor showers. Brilliant fun all round and aside from a strangely inappropriate joke about incest, very good family friendly entertainment. 8/10 Also, because it wasn't available for the drive in, I went ahead and watched McBain (1991) without you. Jealous? You should be... 175,000/10 
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Sep 2, 2009 23:10
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The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) Scorsese's portrayal of Jesus' life, seen from a very different perspective than actually in the bible. All emphasis is on him as a human being, with all faults, insecurities, self-hatred and temptations. He's struggling with god and himself, he doesn't want to be the chosen one and is unsure what god wants him to do and if he's strong enough to do it. This results in an interesting and fascinating character study, also the interpretation of the role of Judas is interesting. Although it's almost three hours long and quite slow, I was never bored. If you're a diehard catholic you might have some problems with a few scenes, but in no way does the movie make fun of Jesus or religion. It just shows a different, more human intrepretation of Jesus, and I'm glad I finally watched it. 9/10
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Sep 2, 2009 23:38
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Mike_V posted:Rain (Ivens) 4/5 - Short experimental doc from the 20s from Joris Ivens. A lot of water-based shots and the last half of the film most of the shots are filtered through water (reflections in canals and puddles and shots through rain soaked windows) to provide a sort of blurry perception of the world. It was nice to see Holland in the 1920s and made me nostalgic for Amsterdam. Rain is one of my favorite of the "City Symphony" films - there is just something calmly soothing about it. Mind if I ask where you saw it? I saw it in film school and wouldn't mind getting a hold of a copy.
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Sep 2, 2009 23:47
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ProfessorClumsy posted:Good thing I followed it up with Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005) lest I develop a hate for all of cinema. I watched this movie while hanging out with my little sister thinking it would be a pretty dumb kids movie. I also thought the movie was a ton of fun and well worth watching.
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Sep 2, 2009 23:59
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Voodoofly posted:Rain is one of my favorite of the "City Symphony" films - there is just something calmly soothing about it. Mind if I ask where you saw it? I saw it in film school and wouldn't mind getting a hold of a copy. It's on the Avant-Garde: Experimental Cinema of the 1920's and 30's DVD set. I agree, it's a wonderful short... that set has a lot of terrific stuff on it (like The Coquille and the Clergyman).
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Sep 3, 2009 00:42
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The Last House on the Left(1972)- N/A I can FINALLY apply my experience with Salo to anther movie! I didn't actually finish Last House thus I didn't give it a rating. While I was watching it I just realized that it was in many ways similar to Salo, a voyeuristic snuff film with (from my view) little social merit. It is certainly better than Salo but it was too close for comfort. I had the distinct feeling of deja-vu, and I had no interest in going down that road again. Antichrist- 4/10? 5/10? 6/10? I really don't know how to rate this film. I found it to be of very good quality, a bit too dark (as in lighting) but still very good quality. I was rather surprised by the subject material, as in I thought it would be a whole hell of a lot more of a mind gently caress than it was. This is not to say the film is "easy" because it has probably beyond any shadow of a doubt two of the most brutal scenes I've ever witnessed, but it is to say that the actual story isn't nearly as complex as I was expecting. There are aspects that I wish I understood further, and perhaps upon further viewings I could put all of it together. Yet I have very little interest in actually pursuing another viewing of the film. So, in conclusion Antichrist is certainly a watchable/interesting film but also a difficult one that won't be for most people. SpitztheGreat fucked around with this message at 04:19 on Sep 3, 2009 |
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Sep 3, 2009 03:36
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SpitztheGreat posted:The Last House on the Left- N/A Did you watch the original or the new version? Just curious.
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Sep 3, 2009 03:42
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Green for Danger I'm not big on mystery, but I do enjoy a good "whodunit" movie from time to time. This British thriller from Sidney Gillat is a nice surprise. The plot twists around into so many assumptions until the last minute. There's some clever red herrings thrown around and the setting of the hospital works well. Alistair Sim steals scenes as Inspector Cockrill. Gillat co-wrote The Lady Vanishes, so this has the same slick plotting that runs along well. Well worth seeing!
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Sep 3, 2009 04:06
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ClydeUmney posted:Did you watch the original or the new version? Just curious. The original, I should add that to the post.
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Sep 3, 2009 04:15
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High Noon- This was interesting to see after watching High Plains Drifter, but I think I would have enjoyed it more had I watched it first. All in all, it's a good character study that builds up to a confrontation and ending that's perhaps a little too quick for my liking; I also have to take issue with the weaker acting of some of the side characters, such as the hotel manager and a "kid" who looks about 20. Still worth a watch, more so if you like Westerns. 8/10 BookWars- A documentary made by a New York street book seller, funded solely by his money from selling books, and basically just covering the various booksellers lives and why they do what they do. Pretty interesting, as it shows a host of people with very big personalities (one is a Russian who barely speaks English who fled from his country for some unknown reason years back and survives by his book selling, etc.), and it also shows what they do after the day ends and they pack up shop. I do take issue with its flower power "down with the Man" stance on practically everything in life, as many of the booksellers espouse views that aren't too different than stoner college students. Technical issues--mostly the barely-there budget's fault--also mar it. 7.5/10 Darkon- Another documentary, this time about a group of people who costume roleplay in a Dungeons & Dragons setting and perform in huge fake campaigns for fantasy land. As nerdy as it sounds, it's quite funny just for the awkwardness of its cast, and sustains interest in the way it shows how the game seems to consume their lives. Some good mock epic fantasy shots, too--I just wish it had gone even deeper, as it could've easily filled 2 hours. 8/10
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Sep 3, 2009 05:03
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Inglorious Basterds- 5/5 Tarantino's best work since Jackie Brown and quite frankly a return to form; and it's great to see a movie that is not afraid of being multi-language. Zodiac- 4/5 I honestly thought it would be a boring Seven, not the better movie. Don't know if it was CGI or due to the digital format but the nights looked eerily beautiful and bright, almost hyper-real(?). Long Weekend- 3.5/5 Saw this at a movie festival, a beautiful looking movie with some interesting undercurrents to the plot, not just environmentalism, or our inconvenience to nature, but also, if not mainly, pro-life; want to see the original now Dead Walkers- 1/5 This was show before Long Weekend, an hilariously bad cliché zombie short in a western setting, it felt like a 12 year old origin story about his badass zombie bounty hunter Les Yeux Sans Visage- 4/5 I think I saw it mentioned here, this is a pretty good old french thriller shot in black and white, and I think if redone today it would loose some of it's beauty achieved in the old format and even though good gory make-up has been done since the early 20th century, it's still surprising to see it on a oldie Overnight 3/5 gently caress Troy Duffy Honest Thief fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Sep 3, 2009 |
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Sep 3, 2009 21:59
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Here's some films I have seen recently, on both DVD and in theaters: The Time Traveler's Wife- Girlfriend made me see this. I thought it was pretty creepy, to be honest, that some middle-aged guy was using his time-traveling ability to go back to the past and basically make his future-wife love him, starting at the age of 8 or so. It's an average film that does not explore all of the possibilities of time travel, but as it's based on a book I'm assuming that the book doesn't entirely explore the whole thing either. One of the questions that was never answered in the film was is a dead fetus time-traveling all over the place now, after it essentially disappeared from the woman's womb? It's a disturbing thought, but not out of the question. 5/10 Tyson- An interesting documentary, told almost entirely from Mike Tyson's viewpoint using direct interviews that make up most of the film. If nothing else it shows a side of Tyson almost no one knows about. His words, however, do make it pretty clear that he was never taught about how he was supposed to treat women. Unfortunately his childhood was a complete mess, so it's not entirely surprising. Frequently Tyson comes off as a predator, in the way he talks about women throughout the interviews. Clearly this film, which Tyson was very involved in, is supposed to try and reshape his legacy as a former champion boxer who raped a woman, went to jail, and then bit Evander Holyfield's ear off in a fight. I don't know how much it accomplishes, but we do get to see that Tyson is a more thoughtful person than he was portrayed for years in the media. Was released before his (I believe) youngest daughter died tragically in an accident this past spring. 8/10 The Goods- A middle-of-the-road comedy by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell, the kings of big-time comedies over the past 5-6 years or so. Does not work as well as it could, probably because Jeremy Piven is not a great lead actor, at least in this case. As others have mentioned, is helped significantly by Will Ferrell's excellent cameo, as well as performances by Charles Napier as a crazy racist Vet, Ed Helms as an overconfident car salesman who happens to be in a 'man band', and a few other small roles that stand out. Honestly I was too disturbed to laugh that much at Kathryn Hahn's character trying to have sex with Rob Riggle (formerly of The Daily Show), who plays a 10 year old with a hormone problem that makes him look 30. That was too wrong, even for me. Thankfully this sub-plot almost disappears about 1/2 way into the film. 6/10
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Sep 4, 2009 01:11
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Nine Queens (2000) Argentinian movie about two con artists who find an opportunity to con some big money, but as these things go, trust issues and a series of accidents complicate things greatly. One conman needs the money for his father; the other, his mentor, has money issues of his own. I thought this movie was interesting in that it wasn't very stylized. The two main characters come off more as sleazy bums than slick jet-setters. The movie doesn't end quite the way you'd expect, and somehow after it was over, I felt like I should have been able to predict the end, yet I wasn't. I had a little trouble with the movie's pacing, but overall every scene seemed to either serve a purpose to the plot or to establish the characters' tics or the film's overall themes. Not a bad way to spend two hours, but I probably won't remember poo poo about this movie in a month. I'll be watching its American remake, Criminal, soon to compare. 3.5/5
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Sep 4, 2009 10:23
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ProfessorClumsy posted:Also, because it wasn't available for the drive in, I went ahead and watched McBain (1991) without you. McBain rules. People getting shot, people getting shot off roofs, people getting torched, people getting torched and shot off roofs. shooting a firearm through your own pressurized cockpit window to kill a fighter pilot is a kickass move too. best quote: Walkin: lets all go...........out on the deck.
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Sep 4, 2009 17:09
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Four Friends - Arthur Penn's nostalgic story of three guys and a girl (although it's really 80% about one guy, 15% about the girl, with just a little time for the other two guys) going through the 1960's. There were a few things I liked. I liked how it felt kind of like a John Irving novel. I liked the lead performance by Craig Wasson. I liked the personal nostalgia I felt from the locations (the Indiana Dunes, and the East Chicago neighborhood was very similar to my best friend's Hegewisch neighborhood that I visited so often growing up). And I liked the rotating narration... which unfortunately was completely abandoned by the second half. But there were two big things I didn't like. Primarily the script, which has a tremendous amount of forced dialogue (oh lord, how I hate scenes where a character angrily admits being in love with someone he or she doesn't want to be in love with), and tries too hard to tie the characters' lives into contemporary events. In the same category is the character of Georgia, who is very poorly written. She's half Magic Pixie Girl, half every stupid 60's cliché you can think of. She's annoying, and the way Danilo keeps pining for her makes him seem more pathetic than anything else. I was enjoying the movie for a good hour or more, but after the while the subpar writing wore me down. Rating: 6 Money From Home - I think at this point the only reason I'm still watching Jerry Lewis movies is out of a sick compulsion to finish what I started. This one is pretty stupid (oh joy, more ethnic humor) but the interplay between Dean & Jerry works very well and it's sort of fun in that "brain off" way. Rating: 6 My Dinner With Andre (rewatch) - Now I wish I had scooped this one up when all those Criterion sales were going on. It's a movie I always find rewarding to revisit every few years. Every time it sucks me right in to that conversation and gets the thought juices flowing. I think there's a cynical attitude sometimes with films like this where the viewer says "oh big deal, they didn't say anything I hadn't already thought of before". Which may or may not be true, but it's often valuable to return to those thoughts and see where they take you. And I've said it before but I'll say it again: Satie's "Gymnopedie" on the soundtrack will always score extra points with me. Rating: 9 Wavelength - Having suffered through La Region Centrale, I was really dreading this. I had my witty, scathing review already written in my head, involving Michael Snow boring people at parties with his ideas for an experimental film about a 45-minute zoom shot. But I actually liked this one. It's a lot more than just a zoom shot, there's several unexpected surprises. The slow, determined movement of the camera and the incessant, rising electronic drone on the soundtrack create a sense of impending doom, and even more so when the rhythms falter or get thrown off. Not for everyone, but I would totally watch this again. Rating: 7 Memories of Underdevelopment - The Cuban revolution from the point of view of a bourgeois writer, who stays in Havana almost out of spite. The film's style is kind of a New Wave/semi-documentary hybrid... seemingly quite influenced by Godard, particularly Breathless and Contempt. Like Godard, it gets rather wordy at times, and not having any knowledge of the Cuban revolution (or very much political theory) I was a bit lost at times. I wasn't quite sure where Alea's sympathies lay: was I supposed to like Sergio or not? I couldn't tell, but perhaps this adds to the film's complexity. Interesting and well-done, but as someone who generally likes to keep politics out of his movies (or at least on more of a subtext level) it wasn't really my bag. Rating: 7 FitFortDanga fucked around with this message at 17:20 on Sep 4, 2009 |
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Sep 4, 2009 17:17
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FitFortDanga posted:Memories of Underdevelopment - The Cuban revolution from the point of view of a bourgeois writer, who stays in Havana almost out of spite. The film's style is kind of a New Wave/semi-documentary hybrid... seemingly quite influenced by Godard, particularly Breathless and Contempt. Like Godard, it gets rather wordy at times, and not having any knowledge of the Cuban revolution (or very much political theory) I was a bit lost at times. I wasn't quite sure where Alea's sympathies lay: was I supposed to like Sergio or not? I couldn't tell, but perhaps this adds to the film's complexity. Interesting and well-done, but as someone who generally likes to keep politics out of his movies (or at least on more of a subtext level) it wasn't really my bag. Rating: 7 I'm think I come to the same outcome as you, but for different reasons. I would have enjoyed a more direct exploration of the politics and cultural energy in the air, especially the doubt, fear, and excitement that the character and director seem to share. For me, the film tried to stay too far aloof, especially the second half, and seemed more interested in artistic navel gazing. I think Alea purposefully kept the politics subdued in order to paint a more 'balanced' and cerebral approach, but to me it just seems muddled in most places. You can't ignore the politics in a film like this, and I think it would benefit significantly with a strong, charged political voice, even if that voice was fractured or unsure of where it stood. It has also been about ten years since I last saw Memories, so maybe this is just my twenty year old "fight the power" view.
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Sep 4, 2009 19:30
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FitFortDanga posted:Wavelength - Having suffered through La Region Centrale, I was really dreading this. I had my witty, scathing review already written in my head, involving Michael Snow boring people at parties with his ideas for an experimental film about a 45-minute zoom shot. But I actually liked this one. It's a lot more than just a zoom shot, there's several unexpected surprises. The slow, determined movement of the camera and the incessant, rising electronic drone on the soundtrack create a sense of impending doom, and even more so when the rhythms falter or get thrown off. Not for everyone, but I would totally watch this again. Rating: 7 Did you turn the soundtrack off halfway through the film? Because to me that's about where droning tone became earsplitting high pitched squeal leading to seething hatred for the film. I'd love to hear an argument for how that furthered any goals Snow may have had for the project. A Touch of Zen - 8/10 I can't think of much to say about this, it's a seminal wuxia film and it holds up pretty well. It's unnecessarily long for such a simple story and yet I can't say I was bored, the trampolines are obvious but the fighting is still fun to watch and the rest of the visuals are really nice. The Naked Prey - 8/10 White men go hunting in Africa, a tribe gets angry at them, most sympathetic white man (if any of them can be considered sympathetic) becomes the naked prey, gets chased through desert and jungle for nearly the whole film. That summarizes the whole film except the ending and yet that chase that makes up most of the film is an incredible piece of work that kept me on edge all the way through. The commentary on Africa is a typically mixed semi-enlightened end of colonialism view that acknowledges problems yet can't really be objective, but unless you're looking for a film to preach its views to you it works out well. As various events occur questions are raised about colonialism, about human nature, about life and death, and while no answers are forthcoming the film is a great lens through which to think about them. Dances With Wolves - 8/10 This gets some pretty harsh criticisms and while they're not entirely undeserved they are mostly overblown. It is long and underdeveloped but it's not boring and Costner does a really good job acting, a long stretch of the film is carried solely by him out alone on the frontier with a horse and a sporadically appearing wolf. It's technically proficient but hardly ever outstanding outside of some nice landscape shots. The film's message, that Indians got the shaft and the white man sullied nature, is obvious but the film's single mindedness in that regard is reasonably effective. Basically what I'm saying is that the film is clearly Oscar bait, but it's well made Oscar bait and while there are plenty of better more challenging films than it, on its own it's still quite good. Criss Cross - 8.5/10 Noir. That single word should be all you need to go and watch this. It's not especially deep and doesn't break any ground in the genre but it's an excellent distillation of the conventions, both visual and narrative. A lot of fun to watch, riveting and the ending, while pat, is wonderful. Angels and Demons - 6/10 Not so much a bad movie as a completely useless one. I've seen many films that could be described as 'paint by numbers' but this may be the most blatant one, every action so obviously sets up the next one, every mystery is just obscured enough to make you wonder but never makes you care, the timeline of the film is set up about 15 minutes in and is followed slavishly with a rinse and repeat sequence of actions, all tied up with a twist ending that has no purpose I could discern. Hanks kept me interested and the pacing is energetic enough to keep things going but all that means is you won't turn it off until the end, making sure you waste over two hoursof your life. The DaVinci code was similar but at least it had some semblance of variety, enough that I enjoyed it as a silly action/mystery. Easy Living - 8.5/10 Written by Preston Sturges and his influence is obvious all over the film. It's a screwball comedy and it has some issues with coincidences and pratfalls (don't they all?) but it shines where it's most important, it's really funny. The film is full of smart snappy dialogue and because it's so fast paced and the situations are all put to good use the flaws are easy to overlook. Also Jean Arthur is so dreamy, I'm sure that helped too.
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Sep 4, 2009 19:45
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Nixon - The only Oliver Stone film I wasn't completely irritated by, and would go as far as to say that I thoroughly enjoyed. Beautiful cinematography, I think it was the same DP who worked with Scorcese on Casino and Goodfellas. Here, Oliver Stone's style of editing actually brings an interesting element of paranoia instead of just being aggravating. You can see how Stone sympathized with Nixon, showing a side of him not too many people were aware of. I must admit, much of the film I wasn't entirely sure what was going on due to not being well versed in that era of history. I'd like to read more and come back to this film, I would go as far as to say it's Stone's best.
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Sep 4, 2009 19:50
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Peaceful Anarchy posted:Did you turn the soundtrack off halfway through the film? Because to me that's about where droning tone became earsplitting high pitched squeal leading to seething hatred for the film. I'd love to hear an argument for how that furthered any goals Snow may have had for the project. I can't say what Snow's intentions were, but it definitely added to the feeling of dread. It builds a lot of tension (maybe, as you felt, too much tension).
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Sep 4, 2009 20:13
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Criminal (2004) This was so close to Nine Queens that I wouldn't be surprised if someone just took the script, translated it (if they didn't just write down the subtitles off the DVD), and changed some names and places. The fact that the credits showed two writers absolutely astounds me, since neither of them were the writer of Nine Queens and only a minimum of effort was put into changing the script in any way. In the last half of the movie, half the lines were the same as the original. In any case, that doesn't necessarily make it a bad movie. I still didn't like it as much. There was only one scene that I thought benefited from changing. The opening was less plausible for its change in setting, and the ending, while wrapping the film up tighter than in Nine Queens, also seemed like it would open more plot holes. Plus, it seems like Buenos Aires made for a better (or at least more interesting) place for these sorts of con jobs than Beverly Hills. It was still an all-right movie, but I thought the original was much better. 3/5
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Sep 5, 2009 01:56
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (rewatch)- I enjoyed this film a lot the first time, but didn't get what made it great until I watched it the second time last night: it manages to cast a human portrayal of Jesse James that's neither all good nor all bad, make us feel first revolted at then bad for Robert Ford, capture his band of outlaws as more than just cardboard characters, showcase some incredible shots (never before have dust and shadows seemed so much like living things, characters in of themselves), great dialog, and a powerful score. And while at first, I thought it was just a good character study, I noticed more on view #2 that Jesse essentially represents the "Old West" of myth and his killing at the end seems to be the last word on that time (one must note all of the outlaws settling down, the half-built towns, James' complaints about he doesn't feel right any more--it all seems to point toward the end of that age and the beginning of the civilized world we know today.) Also, though I noticed some of it before I didn't realize how consistently present the dark humor (Dick Liddle being shot and the look Wood gets, for instance), but it makes it even more interesting. Overall, a very finely crafted movie with lots of painstaking detail in it, though I did feel it moved a little too slowly around the 1:40 to 2 hour mark. 9.5/10 The Searchers- Another Western, as I've been trying to get through all the big ones in the last few months, and my first ever John Ford or John Wayne movie. Nice choice, I think, as it showcases the stunning environs of Monument Valley, let me know that John Wayne truly could act (and do it well), and its influence on the films of Scorsese and others is interesting to see. Like others, I did feel the comedy was overbearing and tried to ignore it. 9/10
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Sep 5, 2009 03:52
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8 1/2 (rewatch) This is not just a film about filmmaking and I hate when it gets pigeonholed as such. It's not an "idea" picture either, and it's drat well valuable beyond its brilliant aesthetics. That Guido is a filmmaker lends the film a certain meta/indulgent quality, but really the story would have worked if he were any sort of artist. Guido loses his artistic self because he steadfastly refuses (or is unable) to do the one thing that the great artist must always do: tell the truth. Guido's equal parts abhorrent, deceitful, gut-wrenching, charming, amusing, and fantastic rejections of his true self build to a climax where he finally really, truly feels something (after that brilliant scene with Claudia), creating one of the most touching, satisfying, uplifting, and yes organic endings to a film I've ever seen: a breath two hours in the making. 10 Breathless (also a rewatch!) Another film about characters who can't make connections, Breathless does it in a more post-modern-I don't see you and I don't care kind of way, which doesn't always work for me because the characters aren't always engaging. The famous "We should have been talking about each other" line at the end doesn't hit as hard as it should, feeling like a tagged on moral rather than a natural progression of the events before. Still, it's expertly paced by the constant jump cuts, there are some great scenes (love the car chase) and the film is still fresh in a technical sense, despite being robbed blind by every director worth his or her salt. 8 The Conversation (sadly, not a rewatch) This reminded me a lot of Apocalypse Now in that Coppola imbued the journey with so much poetic subtlety that certain "big" events towards the film's ending (although I loved the ending itself) ended up feeling cliched. That Hackman was so in tune to his character, Harry Caul, let me shrug off some of these inconsistencies, but they still bothered me. 8.5 Easy Rider (rewatch) I love the gorgeous outdoor shots (especially those purple canyons) and for a film that has a "gritty" reputation it's quite beautiful. Hopper, and whoever edited for him do a fine job with the episodic pacing, mainly through the use of the film's brilliant rock score (what a comfort it is when we're finally on the road again to the tune of Hendrix or Dylan), and some neat tricks (the jump cut flash forwards). Fonda and Hopper do a fine job as the leads, but ultimately I keep coming back to Easy Rider for one main reason: Jack Nicholson. I simply adore his performance - Jack's classic cockiness is present but he also gives his character, George, a certain naivete and vulnerability that as an actor, he's slowly lost along the years that's just so fresh (if that makes any sense, since this was Nicholson's first big role). In a film that occasionally falls into cliche (although not to the level that it's critics would have you believe), Nicholson is never just Nicholson - he lives in that drat movie. 9 Yeah, someone can skewer me for not liking Breathless as much as I perhaps should, but my opinion hasn't changed after three viewings, whereas 8 1/2 gets better every time I see it. What a monumental movie that is. edit: promise to finish the Shakespeare thread at some point but I just moved out to California and I'm a bit busy at the moment! T-Bone fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Sep 7, 2009 |
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Sep 5, 2009 09:24
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Halloween (2007) I'm almost at a loss for words on this one. This was a loving long film. 116 minutes or thereabouts may not seem long for a film, but for a slsher film with nothing new to say, it's really loving long. Half an hour in and a ten-year-old Michael Myers has just carved up most of his famiy and I'm left wondering why we needed a thirty minute prologue to remove all the mystery from our movie villain, but that aside we can get on withthe story now... An hour in and Michael Myers has become the strongest man in the world because that's what happens when you spend your time sitting in your room making papier mache masks. He manages to escape from the mental asylum in which he is held by manipulating the one weakness of its staff, that they are all evil rapists who love to deliberately piss off murderous psychopaths. I'm sure anyone who has such a job would be deeply offended by the movie, but that aside... Can we get on with the story now? Gee, Rob Zombie is going to have to move fast to tell the story of the oiginal Halloween in thirty minu... THERE'S ANOTHER loving HOUR OF THIS poo poo LEFT? Wake me up when the bad guy is obviously not dead. That said, Zombie does fairly well at capturing the "He's behind you" style of horror from te original and the final chase sequence works quite well in a down an dirty kind of way (inconsistencies with Malcolm McDowell's eyeballs notwithstanding). 2/10 Professor Clumsy fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Sep 13, 2009 |
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Sep 5, 2009 12:54
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In The Realm Of The Senses - Yeah, I get it. It's an existential plight, how achieving ultimate pleasure is impossible in this life. It's a point I don't agree with, and I feel like only a total sociopath would. This film is not 'beautiful', it is a bad porno. Last Tango In Paris said so much more about sexuality without having to show us the characters loving every 3 minutes. I felt sick after watching this, after being subjected to such pessimism and ugliness for what felt like hours. Avoid.
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Sep 5, 2009 18:37
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Synecdoche, New York (Blu-Ray) - This is probably the strangest movie I have watched so far. It's basically the ultimate everything/nothing movie. I wish I had the ability to detangle all the thoughts running through my head after watching it but I'm not that talented. I'll need to watch it again in the future. 8.7/10
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Sep 5, 2009 19:41
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Melvin Goes to Dinner (2003) Having watched the poo poo out of every episode of Mr. Show, I could tell that what Bob Odenkirk wanted to do but didn't get as many chances as he'd have liked was more subtle humor. He wanted to do material more character-driven, more melancholy-as-humor and stuff like that. Since this is the first thing he directed and he was fresh off Mr. Show when he began, Melvin Goes to Dinner is probably a culmination of that. The problem with this movie is that it's going to be difficult to make a movie about talking. This movie felt to me like a late 20s/early 30s Breakfast Club. But most of the conversation is the kind of stuff that comes up when you have dinner with a bunch of people who don't all know each other and you've all knocked back a few. The mundane setting really holds the movie back and makes it so that you don't always see how the movie is funny. Even the cameos by David Cross, Jack Black, Laura Kightlinger, and Jerry Minor feel more weird than funny. Still, somehow, it's never boring. The fact that the setting and the actual on-screen action is so largely mundane at the same time makes it easier to relate to the characters. The fact that there are some big revelations at the end also make it interesting. The pervasive feeling of ennui that suffuses all of the characters is aided by Michael Penn's soundtrack. This is the first I've heard of his work, and it sounds about how you'd expect from the "different" Penn brother and anyone who'd be married to Aimee Mann. In any case, I think the film makes more sense overall as a drama than a comedy, even though it does have some awkward moments that turn into comedy. The actual duty of laughter falls on Kathleen Roll as an awkward waitress. Also, the vast majority of the movie being talk does seem like an attempt to prod viewers into talking, like that last part of The Boondock Saints that everybody's talking about. In any case, I wouldn't call it a "funny" movie and it's certainly not a life-changing one, but it's still a good movie. 4/5 EDIT: HOLY poo poo! That's the Progressive commercial girl! Flo! She looks completely different in this movie. CloseFriend fucked around with this message at 23:25 on Sep 5, 2009 |
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Sep 5, 2009 23:19
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Gran Torino - I put off watching this for a while. My friend, who is something of a snob, said it was bad. All my other friends loved it. What I had heard about the film gave me a nagging curiosity, so I rented it just so I could get it over with. The first half hour into the film, I didn't think I was going to make it. Walt's grand kid's behavior at the funeral is absurdly over the top (they wear jerseys, one texts on a phone). They aren't real kids, they're caricatures of what a screenwriter would think an old person sees kids as. And I found it odd that none of Walt's kids seemed to even notice their mother is dead. As the film went on (and after a few cigarette breaks), I started getting more and more into it. Walt is a pretty entertaining character, and how his relationship develops with his neighbors is kind of endearing. It's an entertaining film, but not a good one. It is too flawed. There are many scenes that should have never even been filmed, let alone cut from the final product. (There is a scene were Walt tries to teach his Asian neighbor how to talk like a man. Apparently men are supposed to comment on each other's ethnicity all the time and talk about their cars, otherwise they're gay.)
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Sep 6, 2009 01:09
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BrandoButter posted:It's an entertaining film, but not a good one. It is too flawed. There are many scenes that should have never even been filmed, let alone cut from the final product. (There is a scene were Walt tries to teach his Asian neighbor how to talk like a man. Apparently men are supposed to comment on each other's ethnicity all the time and talk about their cars, otherwise they're gay.)
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Sep 6, 2009 05:05
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FlamingLiberal posted:Yeah, but I think that was done on purpose, to show that he doesn't have all of the answers, which is pretty clear throughout the film as we see Walt deal with the death of his wife, and his lonely existence. Walt's imperfections were established way before this scene. And if, as you say, they're trying to show how Walt doesnt have all the answers, why is it shown in the construction site office (another stupid scene that didnt need to be in the film) that Walt's 'lesson' paid off? Gomorra - I'm not sure what the consesus on this film is around here, but man was Gomorra hyped up by critics. It's a good film, it's realistic without being too annoying about it (except for the 'gritty' camera work which seems to be so popular in independent films today.) But I fail to see what is so groundbreaking about it. I've seen plenty of other films (and better films) that have shown the life of crime stripped of all glamorization. But it's not bad, it has some interesting characters and sub plots (my favorite being the one with the two dopey kids who think they can take on the Camorra.) BrandoButter fucked around with this message at 05:32 on Sep 6, 2009 |
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Sep 6, 2009 05:24
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BrandoButter posted:Walt's imperfections were established way before this scene. And if, as you say, they're trying to show how Walt doesnt have all the answers, why is it shown in the construction site office (another stupid scene that didnt need to be in the film) that Walt's 'lesson' paid off?
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Sep 6, 2009 05:43
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A Cat's Tale (aka Cat's: The Movie) This is an unusual, but interesting film. A filmmaker shot footage of her cats over a few years in order to edit into a narrative. Very low budget, to the point it's shot entirely in what seems to be standard MiniDV and all post-dubbed narration. Sort of in the vein of Milo & Otis. The third-person narration for the animals gets tiring sometimes, but it's still a neat film. As a guy who has four cats, I guess I'm a pushover for cute felines. Strangler of the Swamp Z-grade PRC shlock, but a fairly good z-grade PRC shlock. It's quite well photographed, has Charles Middleton as a ghost, and Blake Edwards is one of the stars. Almost plotless, but worth seeing as something to riff MST3K-style or just as a z-movie - it's only 58 minutes long. And yes, it does have a strangler in a swamp. Peeping Tom I saw this a few years ago for a film theory class, but I forgot how enjoyable this film is. Not only a complete deconstruction of the nature of cinema, but it's nearly perfect as a thriller. A lot of great touches such as a sympathetic psychopath (instead of making him just evil), spiffy photography, and what amounts to be an endless hall of mirrors into film theory.
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Sep 6, 2009 06:13
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