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The Triplets of Belleville (2003) French animation that's basically Terry Gilliam directs Schmorky. No dialogue, weird as poo poo, very French and still loving good. I remember watching the first half a couple of years ago and never got around to watch it all until today. If you like animation even the slightest and want to watch a bizarre version of the french idea of Big Town, USA, go ahead. The animation is top notch, as is the music and it's strangely funny. Poor Bruno  4/5
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Aug 17, 2009 17:43
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Ponyo (2009) Just about the only interesting or remarkable moments in this movie are the early storm scenes that convince you that the mother is trying to kill herself and her child in an automobile accident. Otherwise Studio Gibli's trademark animation prowess is simply not enough to distract even a child viewer from the fact that the movie has zero plot and runs too long. Despite constant foreshadowing of great danger if Ponyo gets her ultimate wish, the stakes are never as high as advertised and the whole thing is solved deus ex machina at the end in a bewildering series of scenes that are heavy on evangelion-style japanese nonsense and light on resolution and accessibility to western audiences. 2/5 The Goods (2009) Another funny movie that only becomes very funny/unforgettable thanks to a Will Farrel cameo. The gags and characters get old 2/3rds through the movie and the ending is fairly banal, but if you like the other progeny of the cast from Anchorman et al. then you will like this one. 3/5
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Aug 17, 2009 20:55
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Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001): I remember watching it when it came out, and now I managed to catch most of it again and I didn't realize the movie was that good. It was the first attempt at a photorealistic CGI movie, basically made half of Hollywood poo poo their pants at the thought of all their actors replaced by computers, and has a decent storyline. Makes me sad that it didn't do well financially. 4/5 The Goods (2009): Will Farrell's Oh gently caress the dildo's back again! basically made the movie. Needed more of him. 3.5/5 logikv9 fucked around with this message at 22:08 on Aug 17, 2009 |
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Aug 17, 2009 21:09
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Body of Lies (2009, 3/4) Fairly intelligent popcorn entertainment, even if it's akin to a Pixies song in terms of pacing and a Godspeed! You Black Emperor song in terms of length. It has high peaks and low valleys, complete with an awkward romantic subplot and more than a handful of unnecessary characters. Still, to paraphrase Rilo Kiley, when it's on it's really loving on.
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Aug 17, 2009 21:38
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Chopper (2000): 7.5/10 I had never heard of this movie until a friend linked me a Youtube clip last week. It stars Eric Bana as a sort of short-fused pseudo legendary criminal who writes an autobiography while in jail. Bana has never really stood out to me, but he's really great in this role of "guy you like, but know you shouldn't, so you try and fail to hate him." His character is a monster, but he's so goddamn charismatic that you can't help but enjoy it when he's on the screen.
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Aug 17, 2009 21:55
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Capturing the Friedmans Documentary about a close knit typical family living in Greak Neck, NY, with a father who likes to play piano, teach computers, sing, and molest children (according to the police). It shows the rapid decline of the family throughout the trial and what happens afterward. 3/5 The Bridge Film the Golden Gate bridge for one year, capture 24 suicides, then talk to the families... this makes for one of the most interesting documentaries I have ever seen. 5/5 The Impaler John Sharkey, or "the Impaler", is a self described satanic priest / vampyr /descendant of Vlad. He wants to run for governor of Minnesota, and does in 2006... this is his story. At first, he seems like a bit of a dorky guy, but with some intelligence. Man, does that dissapear fast. The guy is completely insane, awesome! 4/5 Darkon LARPers and LARPing related things. Doc about the giant community of LARPers that start countries in a world called Darkon and act out huge battles on the weekend. Interesting look into their world. 3.5/5 American Movie Amazing. Completely blown away by this documentary. A regular mullet headed, beer swilling, joe has a dream to make films, and is trying to make a horror film with his friends. It takes more than 3 years, pot is smoked and beer is consumed... He wants to be a legend, he wants to be huge and rich and make movies, and even though everything possible stands in his way, he achieves his dream, at least in part. Darn it, if you aren't rooting for the guy in the end... 5/5 ZenMaster fucked around with this message at 00:55 on Aug 18, 2009 |
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Aug 18, 2009 00:01
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Couple film noir re-watches: Double Indemnity (1944) 3.5 stars Only misses out on being a full four stars because I really am underwhelmed with Fred MacMurray's performance. I've loved him in other films (he's terrific in The Apartment, for example), but he's really flat here, especially in the first half of the film. The movie is still excellent overall, thanks especially to Raymond Chandler's touch on the dialogue and Edward G. Robinson's scene-stealing performance. Odd Man Out (1947) 4 stars One of the more unique film noirs I've seen thanks to its setting. A lot of films in the genre could really take place anywhere, but the story and characters in Odd Man Out are so closely tied to Ireland that it can't be removed from there. The setting is also closely connected with the excellent cinematography. James Mason turns in an expectedly great performance, and the supporting cast is just packed with talented actors. When I first saw Odd Man Out a few years ago, I didn't much like it because I thought the story really dragged and it had none of the film noir staples I was expecting. While I still think the plot is more methodical than most films in the genre, I was more able to appreciate it on a second viewing for the way it fully develops so many secondary characters.
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Aug 18, 2009 00:34
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NeuroticErotica posted:The Streetfighter (Ozawa, Laserdisc) - A little backstory for this film, when it was originally released it was given an X rating for violence, an R-rated version was made but had to cut out about 15 minutes of material for it. In 1995 the film was restored at the behooval of (Who else) but Quentin Tarantino by New Line, who then submitted it to the MPAA for a rating... and received an NC-17 for violence. New Line released it unrated.The only other film to go through a similar ordeal with the ratings board is Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch, so you know you're in good company. The Streetfighter is one of those films that's highly influential, everybody's heard of it, but few have seen it. There's mitigating factors, the transfer on the DVD is horrendous (thus finding the better transfer on laserdisc), the dubbing is awful and inconsistent (I think about three different voice actors play the voice of Chiba's Terry Tsiguri at different points), and today I don't think people have the same interest in martial arts as they did in the 70s. If you are region free, then I recommend this box set . It contains all three street fighter films with remastered picture and sound. The english dub isn't included though if that's really important to you. It's a great set though and pretty cheap.
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Aug 18, 2009 02:47
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Intentions of Murder, Shohei Imamura, 1964 (1/120) This is a movie about a lot of things. Infidelity, double-standards, the stifling roles of family and tradition, the desire for escape and the need for acceptance. Imamura isn't subtle about any of these; the themes take center stage over the characters for the most part, with the actors serving as stand-ins for the audience or a particular idea. The main character's son, for example, represents the audience at times, observing without affecting the scenes taking place, and telling the protagonist things we're thinking. Intentions of Murder is incredibly dense. Imamura uses a lot of storytelling techniques that I don't really understand, and I think it would take a re-watch or two to really begin to grasp what's going on. The beginning of the film suddenly stops and is presented through a series of still frames before suddenly springing into motion again. There are several flashbacks that are slightly confusing (on a thematic level, the plot is very straightforward), and a few hints of the supernatural that seem out of place. This is my first Imamura film, and I haven't done any research on his work, so there are probably several signature techniques that went over my head, but it's still a very good movie even without being informed about his work. As far as recommending Intentions of Murder to other people, it's definitely not a blanket recommendation. It's very long (2 and a half hours), and it's definitely not a movie that you can get much out of if you're not paying attention to it. I enjoyed the movie very much, but if you don't know what you're in for I can see it being a bit of an ordeal. I wouldn't call the film bleak, but it's pretty starkly realistic. Nobody's situation just changes, there aren't any triumphant moments, and there's not really a typical (hollywood) climax. I would give it an 8/10, but only recommend you watch it if you're already into this sort of film or putting out an effort to broaden your horizons.
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Aug 18, 2009 03:05
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Inside Rooms: 26 Bathrooms, London & Oxfordshire, 1985 - Another showcase for Greenaway's wit, eccentricity and obsessive numbering. The title is self-explanatory: 26 bathrooms, 26 letters ("D is for Dental Hygiene", "W is for Washing the Dog") in roughly 26 minutes. Greenaway demystifies the most private of rooms with a number of subjects discussing the history, aesthetics and philosophy of bathrooms. Most of the bathrooms are unusual in some way, although a few are quite ordinary. Greenaway's compulsive ordering creates a sense of anticipation (what will #15 be like?) and also serves to highlight the differences more than the similarities. Another fun and unusual piece, with another terrific Nyman score. Rating: 8 Creation - I really ought to dig into my Criterion set again and re-evaluate my position on Brakhage. Lately it seems like I'm watching his stuff more in the name of hoarding than genuine interest. It's a normal function of art to make the audience ask, "Am I being sold a line of horseshit here?" The problem arises when you begin to believe the answer is yes. Is there an artistry to this frenetically edited pile of nature footage (mostly glaciers and forests)? Or is it just another in an endless stream of hastily slapped-together home movies masquerading as art? At any rate, certainly not all Brakhage is equal. This one didn't annoy me like some of his work does, but I didn't get a whole lot out of it either. Rating: 6 Postava k podpírání (Joseph Killian) - I can't remember what prompted me to check out this short film by Pavel Juracek, but I'm so glad I did and now anxious to check out his other work. A surrealist tribute to Kafka, wrapped in an anti-Communist context. A man rents a cat, but when he tries to return it the next day, the cat rental shop has vanished. What follows is an epic struggle to correct the situation. Though not based on any Kafka story, all the familiar themes are there: paranoia, alienation, excessive bureaucracy, confusing architecture, uncomfortable self-awareness... even the odd rhythms mimic Kafka's prose. A couple of the more random elements were a little unnecessary, but other than that I was really bowled over. I'm now fantasizing about a deluxe edition of The Trial with this as a bonus feature (on Blu-Ray, naturally). Rating: 10
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Aug 18, 2009 05:19
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I was going to watch A Fistful of Dollars tonight, but Netflix send the old non-anamorphic DVD - it's virtually unwatchable on my 16x9 screen. Is it even worth trying to watch the film this way?
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Aug 18, 2009 05:28
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Egbert Souse posted:I was going to watch A Fistful of Dollars tonight, but Netflix send the old non-anamorphic DVD - it's virtually unwatchable on my 16x9 screen. Is it even worth trying to watch the film this way?
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Aug 18, 2009 06:04
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Frontalot posted:You can't fix this with your TV options? My old one had a CROP/ASPECT RATIO feature that I utilized on the old non-anamorphic Raging Bull DVD. I actually put it on crop mode and that's why it looks terrible. The jaggies make the image pulse and it has terrible compression. Maybe it's because I'm so used to proper 16x9 DVDs and BluRay, but this looks like poo poo.
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Aug 18, 2009 06:14
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Julie and Julia (2009) I'll get out of the way my negative right away: Amy Adams, adorable as she is, was my least favorite person in this movie, or rather, her character was. Julie was just so whiny, bitchy, and crazy, that I couldn't work up the sympathy that was really needed. I felt bad for her husband, who, by all accounts, really is one of the nicest people ever, and completely understood why he temporarily left her, though other than that, I enjoyed the fact that it followed two relationships with people who really, truly loved each other. That being said, I enjoyed the performances of Stanley Tucci and Chris Messina, both playing loving, accepting (for the most part) husbands, and was surprised that Jane Lynch could do serious (after seeing her in Role Models, Arrested Development, and Party Down, I knew she was funny), though she was neigh unrecognizable, but the real star of this movie is Meryl Streep. Her Julia Child was immediately lovable, hilarious, and just drew you in to her story, and I found that every time a scene came along with her, I became instantly more interested, and remained so until Julie came back. I just wish that this was a movie all about Julia Child, because 2 hours of Meryl Streep playing that role would most certainly be more worth the time it took than what I saw. Also, I realize this is the problem of the story itself, not the film, but the ending was very anti-climactic, and I just wish I got a bit more closure than some text. Of course, at 2 hours, it's already running a bit long for what it is. All in all, certainly not a bad movie, and Meryl Streep gives one of the best performances I've seen from her, which is really saying something. 7.5/10
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Aug 18, 2009 06:25
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Orphan (Jaume Collet-Sera, 35MM) - So, for a while I was really not interested in going to see this movie. I got really sick of seeing the billboard everywhere, seeing the girl at every bus stop and wall in LA, the trailer was awful... but I kept hearing about it and hearing about it. Then somebody pointed out to me that the director also did House of Wax and then I was sold. Now, lemme digress for a minute, I keep seeing hate for House of Wax everywhere, and while it does take a little bit to get started, that movie is pretty intense. A lot of people skipped on it because of Paris Hilton, but that movie uses Paris in the best way that you possibly could. Anyways, Orphan just proves one thing - Collet-Sera is one of the few remaining people who really knows what a thriller is. I got into this movie quickly and I stayed in it, which is hard for these types of films to do usually. What's really interesting about Orphan is that while it has the whole "murderous kid living in your home" plotline that we've seen off and on for a while, it's second storyline is about a woman who has problems in her life, problems with her marriage, problems everywhere, get all of them thrown back at her all at the worst time possible. It's kinda like a Vonnegut technique where she just gets everything possible thrown at her and it just gets worse and worse. It helps that the woman is played by Vera Farmiga who's definitely one of the best working actresses today, she put on a powerhouse performance in Running Scared, and does so here as well (there's like half a dozen Running Scared references in this movie, too, which helps). Orphan is a really playful movie, it takes a lot of horror and thriller tropes and turns them on their ears, playing with expectations in some pretty interesting ways. Usually these films do it once or twice (which in itself makes it a trope) but Orphan just switches on and off in a way that really plays with expectations. Sometimes it's played to great humor, other times great effect. One more thing: The female child actors in this movie are phenomenal. Absolutely incredible. The best I've seen since Let The Right One In... I really enjoyed this movie in a way that I haven't enjoyed a thriller in quite some time. 8/10 NeuroticErotica fucked around with this message at 08:27 on Aug 18, 2009 |
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Aug 18, 2009 08:03
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NeuroticErotica posted:Then somebody pointed out to me that the director also did House of Wax and then I was sold. Now, lemme digress for a minute, I keep seeing hate for House of Wax everywhere, and while it does take a little bit to get started, that movie is pretty intense. A lot of people skipped on it because of Paris Hilton, but that movie uses Paris in the best way that you possibly could. Thanks for this - I also dug House of Wax, despite some of its flaws. I'll be trying to check out Orphan now. District 9 - Because I only see movies in theaters that I'm really interested in, I pretty often find myself disappointed when they don't live up to my own hype. Maybe I just need to temper my expectations more, but I didn't find this one to be the genre instant classic that the internet and most reviews would lead you to believe. The interesting, if on-the-nose, concept gets hurt by some budget issues (a massive corporation in charge of everything can only hire 3 soldiers?) and massive plot holes. I still enjoyed it, but its flaws are just as prominent as its virtues. 3/5 The Thin Blue Line - My third Morris and my favorite so far. 4.5/5 morestuff fucked around with this message at 13:39 on Aug 18, 2009 |
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Aug 18, 2009 13:29
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District 9 (Blomkamp, 2009) You know, I liked this a lot. I've read the District 9 thread and people have been pretty tactful in pointing out flaws of the film. I thought it was very well-done and although the big action sequence at the end did seem a bit overlong, I felt District 9 did a great job building up to it, giving it a nice emotional jolt. It felt pretty realistic and it was, as I mentioned before, an emotional story for me. I don't think it's total genius, but it's something a bit different for a mainstream movie and I can appreciate that Blomkamp really tried (and succeeded, through my eyes) to tell a story on a wide scope that wasn't filtered down to the masses. I felt the action was tasteful, and I had a really good time in the theater watching it. 8/10 Songs From the Second Floor (Andersson, 2000) I recently saw "You, the Living" and was captivated by it, and I'd been wanting to see Songs ever since. I just watched it and now consider Andersson a director to watch from now on. People plod around and discuss how miserable they are and how difficult it is to be alive. Through an ashy filter and sterile facial expressions and malnourished-looking figures, Andersson again depicts his dry and dreadful and often humorous satire of human life. While the vignettes weren't as engaging for me as they were in You, the Living (there were some points where it got pretty darned slow), Andersson makes up for it by the filming. It's one of those movies where the camera is a character, and he uses it brilliantly to give his film universe life. His shots seem to have the same approach every time, but it's such a refreshing way of filming that it doesn't matter. He has so much depth and care in each scene, almost always having a very large open room with doorways and/or other areas of the scene in plain sight. Andersson has this knack for having multiple scenes going on at once, using the depth of field wonderfully, and these scenes eventually meet up. It's a fine way of giving the viewer a lot of things to look at and take notice of and, more importantly, a fine way of filling in this world of misery and making it seem cyclical and natural. I love when directors use the entire scene in their arsenals. Gorgeous wide shots, plenty of laughs, and a really haunting shot to end it. I recommend both this and You, the Living to people who are looking for a new director to check out (not "new" in terms of his directing lifespan, but new in terms of movies from this decade that have gone overlooked). He has quite a style that's hard not to appreciate. 8.5/10 P.S. It's hard to give out numbers for movies. These scores can change constantly. Brodeurs Nanny fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Aug 18, 2009 |
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Aug 18, 2009 20:45
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a sharp thing posted:I recommend both this and You, the Living to people who are looking for a new director to check out (not "new" in terms of his directing lifespan, but new in terms of movies from this decade that have gone overlooked). He has quite a style that's hard not to appreciate. Try to get your hands on the shorts World of Glory and Something Happened, you should like them both.
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Aug 18, 2009 20:50
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NeuroticErotica posted:Orphan
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Aug 18, 2009 22:14
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The Signal 3/5, this one reminded me of a off-beat japanese movie called Cure, unlike the cryptic asian flick The Signal works more on a face-value level as a refreshing gory flick, leaving some wasted potential with it's premise, but in the end it's a fun flick.
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Aug 18, 2009 23:01
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The Chronicles of Riddick (2004) This is a notional sequel to Pitch Black (2001), which is a dumb but entertaining jump scare monster flick. Seeing it does not exactly prepare you for The Chronicles of Riddick which is Metal. As. gently caress. Seriously, this may be the most metal film ever made. The film starts with a voiceover about Necromongers and the Underverse and planets with names like Crematoria and this is behind images of these guys marching around in more metal-tone plastic body armour than a box of Warhammer miniatures or six GWAR cover bands and there are grimacing skulls over everything and I think even the gargoyles on the buildings have gargoyles. Whenever anyone talks for more than about half a minute (which doesn't happen often; explosions and lasers and poo poo often interrupt longer conversations) you expect them to suddenly break into a bunch of wicked guitar licks or introduce Ronnie James Dio or something. This is a dumb, dumb film. I was giggling like a schoolgirl before the opening narration had finished and it just gets more and more ludicrous from there. Most of the dramatic moments are accomplished in the form of one-on-one gladiatorial combat that looks a bit like two kids banging action figures together. Only with more special effects. A lot more special effects. Every time a special effect farts three or four more special effects come squirting out. It's like what you'd get if you took Casshern (2004) and tried to make it look more like a Black Sabbath album cover, and it's about two gratuitous green screens away from turning into polychromatic screen vomit like Speed Racer (2008). But. As dumb and overproduced as it is, it has an idiotic charm somewhat like a cheesy '80s action flick. It's not a good film, but there's something to be said for it's unrelentingly over-the-top fervour that I can't say I quite `appreciate'...but it's something that a lot of the big, dumb special-effect-saturated Hollywood action films lack.
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Aug 19, 2009 01:34
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Classroom with a Pig: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9BKVBBpQ74 (trailer) This film doesn't actually have an English language title, so if you want to search for it you'll have to use ブタがいた教室 (buta ga ita kyousitu). My primary interest in this film is how it can be used for language instruction at the undergraduate level, but outside of that I think it's a pretty unusual and interesting flick. The premise is that the teacher of a Japanese middle-school shows up at the beginning of the year with a baby pig and tells his class that it will be the students' pet for the year, after which they will decide whether to eat it or pass it on to their juniors. The first half is about taking care of the pig, while the second features many debates about what to do with the pig. The child actors are particularly impressive during the debate sequences, and, suffice to say, there was not a dry eye in the audience at the screening I went to as we watched the kids pour their hearts out trying to make their case to save their beloved pet. There's a bit of moralizing and lots of cute, sappy scenes with the kids and the pig, but I think the film actually has a pretty strong point about the responsibility of a decision of that scale. The Magic Hour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RqyiSKMGPo (trailer) If you like film-related in-jokes then this is pretty much the movie for you. It's about a lowly hood who tries to get out of a jam with his boss by pretending to be friends with a powerful, scary hitman, which he does by pretending to be a film director casting the role of a (wait for it) powerful, scary hitman. Thus he gets an unknowing actor to fill the role and back him up as he meets with his boss. Hilarity ensues. The filmmakers probably go a bit overboard with the film-related jokes at times, but quite a bit of it is really clever. If you've seen 'Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald' or 'Uchoten Hotel' it's by the same director, and done in the same screwball style as those films. Very funny, very stupid. K-20: Legend of the Mask: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8P5rqavPTec (trailer) This film is basically a catalog of references to American comic-book films from the past ten years or so. The main difference is that those films have huge budgets, famous actors, and competent directors, whereas this is basically a steaming pile. Still, the way it constantly reminds you of the more expensive Hollywood films through the endless references seems to make some kind of unconscious point about the comparative wealth of the American industry and the relative lack in Japan (although Japan is experiencing a bit of an upswing right now). The similarities between the villain of this film and the film-version of The Shadow also beg the question of orientalism in Hollywood's appropriations of East Asian cinema. Dare I say this film expresses something of the geopolitical relationship between America and Japan? Still, it sucks.
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Aug 19, 2009 04:03
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vertov posted:The Magic Hour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RqyiSKMGPo (trailer) Welcome Back Mr. McDonald was pretty enjoyable. I'm gonna check this one out. La femme mariée de Nam Xuong - Anh Hung Tran's student film. A young mother cares for her infant son while her husband is away on some sort of vague mission of violence. Like all his work, the compositions are stunningly beautiful and the film has a languid, peaceful pace, even though the subject matter has a disturbing undercurrent. Unfortunately, I couldn't quite figure out what the subject matter was. Tran's message here is perhaps a little too subtle for me (the short was not subtitled, but there was very little dialogue, so I don't think that was the problem). Very nice to look at with some stuff to think about, but a bit too oblique. Rating: 6 La pierre de l'attente - Tran's second film is a lot like the first, in certain superficialities. Tran Nu Yen-Khe (Tran's own achingly gorgeous spouse, who's in all his films) as the wife, Lam Le as the husband, and a baby, and mostly taking place in a small dwelling. But beyond that, they're quite different. It opens with onscreen text relating a classic folktale, and the film is a modern retelling of that tale. It's both a poignant story and a comment on the fates of boat people, and while it doesn't do a spectacular job at either one, it's satisfying enough. Lovely images once again. Rating: 7 FitFortDanga fucked around with this message at 17:39 on Aug 19, 2009 |
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Aug 19, 2009 05:10
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The French Connection, 1971 A The entire movie is more or less one long chase. It starts out a bit slow, but once it gets going it really sucks you in. Gene Hackman and Roy Schneider play cops trying to crack down on a pending drug deal. Hackman won an Oscar for best actor, and deservedly so. His character is obsessive in his pursuit, and more or less amoral. Also has one of the greatest car chases ever put to film.
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Aug 19, 2009 07:20
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Frontalot posted:Yeah, I had a blast watching this. It's one of my favorite moviegoing experiences from 2009; I expected a halfway decent thriller, and what I got was far beyond that. It's sort of like the horror-thriller answer to The Hangover, which I also saw with slightly muted expectations only to color myself surprised. If you haven't seen House of Wax, then you really need to. You also need to watch the alternate opening, which is one of the coolest kills I've ever seen, which is really sad to see it regulated to a DVD feature. I can't tell you how much I was just not enthused to see it - literally every bus stop and billboard had the awful one-sheet on it. I had a friend in from Canada because he had some meetings and he couldn't believe the level of saturation that LA has suffered under Orphan's reign. It's so off-putting (This is one of the many reasons I really don't want to see District 9), and what's worse is that it's so ineffective. Nobody's going to see Orphan, which, right now, is definitely one of my top films of the year. Really beyond Medicine For Melancholy and Star Trek (which I loved far more than I should) and Humpday, there's nothing that's really stood out for me, let alone blow me away like Orphan did. Orphan = Sleeper Hit '09. Go see it y'all. Liberty Valance posted:The French Connection, 1971 A The best part of this movie is during the final chase when he goes up onto one of the EL-Train's platforms, you can prove Billy Friedken's guerilla style because one of the horn-rimmed glasses wearing beehives turns to her friend and mouths "Is that Gene Hackman?". It's beautiful.
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Aug 19, 2009 09:21
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I really wanted to see Orphan, but I stupidly moused over a spoiler around here when it came out so the ending is ruined for me (kind of drives me nuts how caught up everyone is on talking about the ending of every movie around here, but that's a separate issue). Is it still worth seeing even if I know that? On topic for the thread, I just re-watched the Man With No Name trilogy. To be more precise, I re-watched The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly and actually watched the other two for the first time. Since so much has been said about them here and elsewhere I don't have much to add other than they're all 4 star movies/10 out of 10/whatever. For a Few Dollars More is probably my favorite of the three, but all of them are amazing. I'm going to try to work my way through Duck, You Sucker and then a bunch of the films from the western primer thread eventually.
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Aug 19, 2009 09:57
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Kentucky Shark posted:I really wanted to see Orphan, but I stupidly moused over a spoiler around here when it came out so the ending is ruined for me (kind of drives me nuts how caught up everyone is on talking about the ending of every movie around here, but that's a separate issue). Is it still worth seeing even if I know that? I've been thinking about how a few things worked out after the spoiler like how she didn't want to go to the dentist and it feels like it's really setup for a rewatch knowing the outcome. A lot of my friends didn't like the third act reveal, but I went with it and loved it.
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Aug 19, 2009 10:34
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The last two movies I've watched are Sunshine and The Thing. It's the first time I've seen either of them, and neither disappointed. With Sunshine, I picked it up because it's directed by Danny Boyle and stars Cillian Murphy. I thought they were a great combination in 28 Days Later, and it really worked again here. What I liked most about Sunshine is that it really focussed on the science side of the sci-fi. It reminded me of reading old Arthur C Clarke novels in some regards - rather than try to create villains, in large part the problems they encountered were completely believable. I even thought the completely bizarre fifth crew member actually worked within the context of the film, being nicely foreshadowed by the Psych officer whispering 'what can you see?' as the Captain was about to be annihilated by the sun's rays. I found the entire film incredibly satisfying. I'd rate it 8/10, but for someone less into sci-fi that might drop to a 6. As for The Thing... anything I can say about it has already been said. It is the single most tense film I have ever seen. I can quite honestly say that I jumped out of my seat when the doctor lost his hands. Definitely a 10/10, one of the best horror films I've seen.
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Aug 19, 2009 11:13
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Kentucky Shark posted:I really wanted to see Orphan, but I stupidly moused over a spoiler around here when it came out so the ending is ruined for me (kind of drives me nuts how caught up everyone is on talking about the ending of every movie around here, but that's a separate issue). Is it still worth seeing even if I know that?
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Aug 19, 2009 14:43
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Cool, I'll try to check Orphan out today or tomorrow, since it looks like it's leaving theaters by me this Friday.
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Aug 19, 2009 17:25
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Wrong Turn 2: Dead End This movie came very close to being a disaster. It's almost exactly what you'd expect from an ultra low-budget horror flick, only less: The bad guys don't really constitute a credible threat to the protagonists, said protagonists are all annoying as Hell, and the setting is boring. But it did do one thing very right, and it probably saved this flick from being complete tripe. That thing's name is Henry Rollins. I don't know if you're familiar with the scope of Henry's work, but he's done music, he's done Stand-up (I don't know if you can call it comedy, he doesn't really tell jokes), and he's dipped his toes in movies, but I think this is his only headlining role he's ever had. And let me tell you, he is just a blast to watch. He's gone on record multiple times to say that he is not an actor, just a guy who happens to have been in some movies, so his acting chops are not entirely up-to-snuff. Henry's role in his movie is a retired army Colonel who hosts a Survivor-like reality show. His portrayal ultimately devolves into a Bruce Campbell-like Horror Hero with facepaint and various weapons. His army background lends him some credibility to being a killing machine, but it's the man himself who really sells it. That Henry Rollins never became an action hero is a travesty, because he's got a kind of raw charisma that's hard to find nowadays. Whenever Henry isn't on camera, the movie is fairly tame. The protagonists are nice to look at which doesn't really hurt I guess, but that's standard fare for any horror movie. There are a couple of uncomfortable scenes, but it's mostly just blood and guts to be had, as well as some gross-out moments. Is this a brilliant horror masterpiece? Not even remotely, but it is fun to watch. I will give this movie a bit more credit than it probably deserves for putting Henry Rollins in the role that he may have been born to play, and for not being completely terrible. If you've run the well dry on Straight-to-DVD movies at the local Blockbuster, and you've got a fridge full of beer, you might as well pop this one in. 3/5
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Aug 19, 2009 17:47
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Just watched Vampires: Los Muertos and Crank back to back. Vampires is a pile of wank really, but i can't help but keep watching it, mainly because of the wierd Christopher Walken-like vampire woman and some vaguely amusing action scenes. probs 2-3/5 being generous. Crank is loving awesome, it knows its never going to win any oscars, it knows all it has to rely on is action scenes, so it does those superbly, and leaves the story behind stranded in the desert. Simple revenge/DOA plot brought to life by a spectacularly angry Jason Statham. 5/5 for pure funtertainment
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Aug 19, 2009 22:08
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My Name is Bruce (2007) Bruce Campbell plays a distasteful version of himself and is mistaken for his character from Evil Dead. Kidnapped and pitted against a terrible asian stereotype monster, Campbell must find a way to channel his now legendary persona and save a small town. This is complicated by the fact that every actor, including Bruce, is loving terrible. The script plays like a high school drama class' improv night and Bruce looks like he is trying to take his career back down to the gutter after the success of Bubba Ho Tep. Aside from a few nice in-jokes about the B movie business and a pleasant theme song that gets run into the ground in between every scene, My Name is Bruce is lovely lovely lovely 1/5
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Aug 19, 2009 22:13
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District 9 (2009) 2 stars Huge letdown for me. The basic setup was interesting and there are a few different directions you could go with it, but they pretty much took the most boring approach by turning the last hour into a mediocre action movie. The first half wasn't all that spectacular either, since the political allegory was hamfisted and barely explored, but it at least had the potential to be something different. I give it props for an interesting premise and some terrific special effects, but I can't say I really enjoyed it much at all.
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Aug 19, 2009 23:15
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Apocalypse Now Redux- I've never seen Apocalypse Now in any other form, and unfortunately Netflix doesn't have the normal cut, but despite the lengthy digression at the French Plantation and the unneeded Playboy bunny scene, it is still very very good. Even after seeing Saving Private Ryan I found it quite intense and hosed up at times, and the scene near the end where the boat crew lands at a river bridge looks like something out of Dante's Inferno. Special note: watch this after having your Wisdom Teeth out/some other surgery, while still doped up on sleep gas, it's loving nightmarish. 9.5/10 Braveheart- Mel Gibson needs to direct more movies. Please. All of my movies for this post were at least 3 hours long, and with all of them I never felt truly bored, but this is the only one that moved so fast it felt like a typical one, and I can finally see why people call this such a manly movie--you've never said "gently caress yeah!" until you say it after Gibson rides into his enemy's bedroom on a horse, steps up onto his bed, and whirls a ball and chain around his head to splatter blood everywhere before jumping out the bedroom window on the horse; not to mention the time after that where his political enemies are discussing him being on a revenge rampage, frightened to see who he goes after next, when a body tumbles from the rafters to land on their tabletop. It's not quite a Great Movie, but it's pretty awesome. 9/10 Heat- The only flaw I felt this one had was that some of the characters and subplots, like Pacino's family, never got a good wrap up; it is incredibly appropriate that it ends as it does with the shootout between Deniro and Pacino, though. Not much more I can say about this one. 9/10 JFK- I've seen a lot of people give Oliver Stone poo poo online, so I've stayed away from films by him in the past since I don't enjoy angry liberal rantings, but I wish I had ignored such people. The politics aside (and I didn't find them too extremely liberal, though maybe now that Iraq 2 happened people are more willing to point fingers at the arms industry than they were on its release), this is a beautiful looking film full of great dialog bits (Sutherland's monologue, which I believe runs for at least 10 minutes, is great, as is Costner's ending speech in the court), the fun of watching a broad and well-cast host of actors performing (I never thought I'd see Tommy Lee Jones as a foppish Southern homosexual, or Joe Pesci as a cross-dresser) well, and the sheer interest in how Garrison mentally pieces together the conspiracy from what he's heard. I think what really makes it stand out for me is the sheer passion in it, the conviction that something is desperately wrong with established order; Kennedy was not the only killed, American innocence itself was lost that day. I can also say it never bored me, despite being 3+ hours long. 10/10 Nixon- After seeing JFK, I had to see Stone's other president movie, and while I didn't like this one as much as JFK--it lags at times, and lacks the driving force of the conspiracy narrative JFK had--I still liked it quite a bit. It has quite a lot of nice cinematography, again a great cast (Bob Hoskins as J. Edgar Hoover is perfect), again some strong dialog, and a flawed but sympathetic portrayal of Nixon that was interesting after seeing him cast as a monster so many times. Also, Anthony Hopkins is incredibly effective at becoming the character despite being English, and serves to lend the entire film a Shakespearean tragedy bend. 9/10 Undertow- Interesting film that reminds me of Night of the Hunter and William Faulkner stories; a character based thriller with an odd sense of humor. Has some crisp direction that mimics 70s films without being corny or self-parody. 8/10 I've been pretty lucky this week, movie quality wise, though I notice I've spent 16 hours watching movies this week and don't know if I can sit through another 3 hour movie for Kingdom of Heaven. Still, if it means I won't have to watch another movie like Coalition or Next that's fine with me. timeandtide fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Aug 19, 2009 |
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Aug 19, 2009 23:18
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Safety Last! - A classic film that I wish I liked this more than I did. It's odd how many people know the famous scene from this of Lloyd dangling from the hands of the giant clock, but know nothing about the film around it; I certainly would put myself in that category. The plot concerns a young man who goes to the city to make his fortune, but just can't do it; he comes up with a plan to bring customers to his store by having a friend scale the massive building. Needless to say, things don't go according to plan. Here's my problem with Safety Last! - it's not that it's not well-made, or even impressive. There's no way to watch the building scaling and not be impressed by the daring and ingenuity on display. The problem is that it's just not that funny, and really not that entertaining. Lloyd plays a perfectly fine everyman, but it's not that engaging of a persona; it's not the stoic befuddlement of Keaton or the mischievous charm of Chaplin, and the absence of someone like that leaves what feels like a major void. Again, it's certainly not bad, and it's a hell of a technical feat, but I really left it more admiring the accomplishments than the film itself. 3/5
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Aug 20, 2009 03:26
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timeandtide posted:Apocalypse Now Redux- I've never seen Apocalypse Now in any other form, and unfortunately Netflix doesn't have the normal cut, but despite the lengthy digression at the French Plantation and the unneeded Playboy bunny scene, it is still very very good. Even after seeing Saving Private Ryan I found it quite intense and hosed up at times, and the scene near the end where the boat crew lands at a river bridge looks like something out of Dante's Inferno. Special note: watch this after having your Wisdom Teeth out/some other surgery, while still doped up on sleep gas, it's loving nightmarish. 9.5/10 I did exactly that the first time I saw and was goddamn terrified.
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Aug 20, 2009 04:04
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Watchmen - I read the graphic novel, but that was 20 years ago. I can't remember much of anything about it, not even if I liked it. And I've managed to avoid most discussion about the movie. So I went in with a clean slate, no preconceptions, no expectations, just a desire to give it a fair shot. Besides nitpicky things (Rorschach's voice, a truly horrible sex scene, the worst Nixon impersonation/makeup ever), my only big problem is the compulsive need to underscore everything with a meaningful pop song, news report, photograph, graffiti scrawl. It's okay once in a while, but here it's done so often (and not particularly well) that it starts to elicit groans. But other than that, it's fun. Not as fun as, say, Sin City, which was more gleeful and inventive with its over-the-top sex and violence. Superhero movies usually aren't my bag, even ones with a heavy dose of irony, but I was able to put aside my prejudices and just go with the flow. I didn't love it, and the messages aren't as thoughtful as they're clearly meant to be, but I had a decent time with it. I dunno, maybe I'm trying too hard to be nice now. Rating: 7
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Aug 20, 2009 04:40
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FitFortDanga posted:I dunno, maybe I'm trying too hard to be nice now. However, I didn't like Watchmen nearly as much as I thought I would, either. This, coming from someone who was a clean slate when it comes to Watchmen, as I've never read the graphic novel. It just took way too long to arrive at its destination, with so little payoff; it has the same "complicated" moral that The Dark Knight had, and it was a year late. At first, I thought this was an issue from the timing of the source material; since Watchmen (the graphic novel) came out some 20 years before The Dark Knight, it would get the originality vote, but after reading about the differing endings, it seems like Watchmen (the movie) really did rip off The Dark Knight, even though the screenplays were floating around at roughly the same time. It would be interesting to see a filmed version of the original ending because, as it stands, Watchmen is wholly underwhelming. It may not be fair to compare it to The Dark Knight, but it's hard to appreciate a film that comes in the shadow of another film that did it better. It's my same complaint with The Illusionist and The Prestige; the former is a decent movie but it just pales in comparison to a similarly staged film from the same summer.
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Aug 20, 2009 05:17
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bad movie knight posted:It may not be fair to compare it to The Dark Knight, but it's hard to appreciate a film that comes in the shadow of another film that did it better. It's my same complaint with The Illusionist and The Prestige; the former is a decent movie but it just pales in comparison to a similarly staged film from the same summer. This just makes Christopher Nolan seem like an rear end in a top hat.
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Aug 20, 2009 05:36
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