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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8164
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 05:09 pm: | 
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Notes on a Scandal
Delicious. Almost searing in its psychological and emotional insight, and yet still enormously entertaining - peppered throughout with very drôle black humour and compound wicked ironies, especially regarding the ploys of emotional vampires, and their self-serving displays of empathy. My only complaint - and it's a wee one - was that the tale never really moved me, which I guess goes with its tabloid subject and thriller execution. Nevertheless, there were tragedies large and small here and I sort of wished I'd been allowed to feel more for these characters - I guess it was enough to understand how they ticked. And yet those words, those lovely, incisive words that Marber gave a seasoned pro like Dench to chew on, particularly in her narration, which was among the best V.O. work I've ever heard in a film. The tone was exactly right: intimate and confidential without reaching for significance or sounding apologetic.
In retrospect, Notes on a Scandal wouldn't quite have landed among my top 5 for the year, but the ace performances by Dench, Blanchett, and Nighy surely would have made the cut, along with Marber's superb screenplay...because this was exactly what a really well-crafted psycho-thriller page-turner feels like to curl up with and read.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7043
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 06:46 pm: |
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Doc, you've surprised me. I would have guessed that film wouldn't have been your cup of tea. I like it when when folks around here surprise you. Seriously.
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8166
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 07:37 pm: |
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Even Philip Glass' customary droning score couildn't ruin that one Carlo.
Dramatizing the sutleties of dark grey interior states is always so hard, and I admire any work that can do it so well, especially within the framework of situations that aren't naturally cinematic. But yeah, it kind of surprised me too how much I liked this film - I just really admired the solid trooper effort and classy patina given to such tabloid sleazy material. Even the scenes with the kid were handled honestly.
And not to put too fine a point on this, but there have not been many female stalkers portrayed on screen, and among those that have, they've tended toward the loony-cartoony and violent (i.e. Fatal Instinct). This film rather cagily delved into the underlying psychology of such lonely obsession.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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Monterey Jack (Monty)
Movie Star
Username: Monty
Post Number: 3382
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 10:22 pm: |
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The Great Mouse Detective (1986): Cheery Disney adaptation of Eve Titus' Basil Of Baker Street looks into the baseboards of 221 Baker Street, circa 1897, and finds a scale-model rodent doppelganger of the famous Scotland Yard detective Sherlock Holmes, Basil (Barrie Ingham), who answers the plea of a distressed little girl, Olivia (Susanne Pollatschek), who's looking for her father (Alan "Scrooge McDuck" Young), who's been abducted by Basil's arch-nemesis, the criminal mastermind Professor Ratigan (a deliciously theatrical Vincent Price), who's scheming to use Olivia's pop to overthrow the mouse monach. Now, with the help of his stalwart, if bumbling, assistant, Dr. David Q. Dawson (Val Betting), Basil hopes to string together the available clues, rescue Olivia's father, and foil Ratigan's dastradly plot. The debut for the veteran Disney directorial team of John Musker and Ron Clements (who would help revitalize the Disney brand name in the 90's with The Little Mermaid and Aladdin), The Great Mouse Detective obviously doesn't scale those heights of creativity, but it's an engaging adventure with plenty of excitement along the way, culminating in a showdown between Basil and Ratigan as they fight to the bitter end amidst the gears of Big Ben (in one of the earliest uses of computer animation in a Disney film, which now looks rather rudimentary and crude). One could quibble about some of the film's odd anachronisms (rodent-sized guns?) and some questionable content (including, I sh*t you not, a torch song number with scantilly-clad chorus mice!), but it's hard not to get into the film's sense of fun. A minor, but winning, entry in the Disney canon. B+
The Jack Bauer Power Hour Has Recommenced
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C.J. (Thief)
Movie Star
Username: Thief
Post Number: 3336
Registered: 07-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 - 11:26 pm: |
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Has it ever happened to anyone that you watch a movie and you end up thinking "Meh, it was ok" but after further thinking you end up enjoying it more?
Last night I saw Babel and even though I knew it was a good film, initially I didn't think it deserved all the praise it had received. But upon further thinking and discussing about it with my wife I found out lots of things, and layers the film offers that make it much better. I will probably write more about it later.
JUST MARRIED! -- If you see me posting, my wife must be working.
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Space_dog (Space_dog)
Key Grip
Username: Space_dog
Post Number: 903
Registered: 09-2004
| | Posted on Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 09:06 am: |
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Jesus Camp - I recently read that the directors are going to do a follow up on the kids in five years. It will be interesting to see if they will still be shilling for God or if they made their first trip to rehab between the time of the film was made and when they are teenagers. I find people like Becky Fischer quite detrimental to Christianity because they show very little compassion for anyone other than for themselves. They are too caught up in being judgemental as opposed to showing compassion and helping out the less fortunate. The scary aspect of this film is that the children in this film are used as propaganda pieces for creeps like Becky Fischer. They know young children are malleable and are easily swayed. What this woman does to them certainly can be construed as brainwashing. Jesus Camp truly is one of the scariest horror films I have seen in decades because it is real.
Dead is the new alive
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KidLawless (Kidlawless)
Cinematographer
Username: Kidlawless
Post Number: 1143
Registered: 07-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 08:48 pm: |
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Caught 300 last night. This had the potential to be a great guilty pleasure but instead, was a tedious and actually rather boring experience despite some very impressive fight scenes. Fans of Sin City will immediately recognize the style of the film-that is, most of it was shot with live actors in front of bluescreen and the rest was added later with computers-but any similarities between the two end there. Sin City was vastly superior to this. Might appeal to the under 21 crowd but I was so unimpressed. Overall: D.
When the going goes weird, the weird turn pro.
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Kathy (Kk1024)
Cinematographer
Username: Kk1024
Post Number: 1820
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 11, 2007 - 10:10 pm: |
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I saw 300 also and went with a party of 12 (boys are home for college break). Imminently forgettable and lesser Sin City. I was also talking on the kill the audience board, that I usually block out the audience noise. The 10:40 PM Saturday night crowd was loud and the theatre was packed. Realized during the preview that I'm not going to like Grindhouse either, but I bet I see it.
Didn't even recognize Rodrigo Santoro who I loved from Love Actually and Nicole's Chanel commercial as Xeres.
Kid - I think it appeals to the young 20s crowd. Even the girls seemed to like it. One took her dad back to see it the next night.
No grade. |
AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7044
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 01:47 am: |
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I actually liked 300 better. AAAARR.
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8180
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 02:59 am: |
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I tittered a lot during 300, mostly at the blatantly homoerotic subtext. You see, you have yer hyper macho testosterone-oozing washboard ab 'back door' leather boys (Spartans) determined to defend their 'narrow channel' from intrusion by all those ostentatiously bejewelled and pierced fashion bunnies (Persians) whose slender and fey God-Queen required 'kneeling down' worship and subservience...and slaves. I mean, who did they think they were kidding with this stuff...the thing practically dripped of gay s & m buddy bonding fantasy.
And of course, equally amusing throughout was the anything-but-Greco accents...making it clear that the Spartans must have descended directly from the Celts, primarily the Scots. This proudly anachronistic element actually endeared me to the film somewhat because when I was growing up all this sword and sandal matinee fodder was typically cast with Shakespeareans slumming for a buck, so you heard high Brit almost exclusively. At least in this updating and reworking of the genre we got some hearty burrs and brogues, a little Euro-trash parisienne from the villain, and even some Oz and Kiwi from the ranks. It was enormous fun listening to all the t-shirt slogan dialogue ("Spartans always _____", "Spartans never ______", "Spartans only _____") delivered in with this festival of ludicrous accents.
And finally, in the staging of the action we've now witnessed the final cross-over between movies and video games...in terms of aesthetics and content, theres's no longer any pretense of distinction. Visually, this was pure PS3...right down to the slo-mo lunge and decapitate choreography and discreet motion enhancement applied to every blood spatter.
The whole thing just existed in this bizarre fantasy world of neo-fascist, sexually dissembling contradiction - freedom fighters trained from childhood to be anything but free, challenging barbarism with equal or worse barbarism, and craving a "good death" above all else (Taliban, anyone?) In the troubled world of 2007, 300 was the porniest possible wallow in every stupidly destructive notion undermining peace and civility. The ancient history lesson gleaned here was minimal to inconsequential; however, as a snapshot of the failing modern righteously militaristic zeitgeist, it was perhaps the perfect, lies-within-lies, arrested adolescent vision.
Pop entertainment doesn't get much more goofily psycho than this. And yet, it was funny.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7045
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 02:00 pm: |
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Yes, wasn't it fun? The only thing that disturbed me seriously in all the hilarious subtext was that some might read a racial thing into it as well.
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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Kathy (Kk1024)
Cinematographer
Username: Kk1024
Post Number: 1822
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 03:12 pm: |
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Admittedly the film had a gay porn feel, but I think all these ripped macho men in short pants things do. Actually ripped macho men in long pants aren't much better, but...
Gerald Butler has a Scottish burr, and the blonde guy from LOTR and VanHelsing is from OZ. He was really pathetic in his final monologue, BTW.
The problem here lies, many don't see this as arrested adolescent vision or maybe my problem is that I am so bothered by what I think is arrested adolescent vision guiding public, world policy.
I wouldn't worry about racial subtext, it will play as the good Judeo-Christian West versus the vile Muslim East even though the Battle predated both Christ and Muhammad. |
AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7046
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Monday, March 12, 2007 - 06:26 pm: |
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I noticed black and white a lot more than West vs. Mid East.
Re. arrested adoloscent vision: this is why I say yes to comic books and no to graphic novels. This is why I didn't like Sin City. It took itself way too seriously for a film that was basically a male teenage wet dream. So why did I like 300? Good question. Maybe because it took itself so seriously that it was funny. Maybe because it wasn't actually taking itself seriously at all, a la Starship Troopers. Maybe because there was an actual story arc instead of the flat sameness that characterized almost all the story lines in Sin City. Dunno. I'll have to think about that. Anyway, the movie is probably around a B-
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8182
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 12:10 am: |
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Actually the better half of my double-bill yesterday was Zodiac.
This one was indeed a compelling oddity, but not for many of the esoteric and overly-analyzed reasons cited by the reviewer Jeff linked. I thought it was just a bang-up good procedural, with all the frustrating dead ends, hiding-in-plain sight clues and bafflingly overlooked connections, plus those inevitable "Aw shit" near misses that no doubt go with capital crime investigations conducted over months, and in this case, years. And as that investigative work droned on so inconclusively and frustratingly over such a long period, we also got to see - for a change - how the process itself can wear on (and wear down) otherwise smart, diligent, and committed pros. I just loved how Fincher handled everything - from the matter of fact brutality of the actual attacks to the mundane piecing together of details by the newshounds and cops. Rarely have I been so acutely aware of that kind of group think effort as someone's day job, or nightime obsessive hobby...which, as implied here, simply gets handled better, yielding more productive results some days more than others.
Also Fincher's peculiar character design (where everyone was basically a hair off supporting), was certainly interesting - even remarkable - although not for the abstract thematic reason asserted by that reviewer, but simply because it allowed the film to drift where (and to whom) the next significant accumulation of clues or break in the case might be found. That specific lack of a traditional, sustained-engaged main character kept me in considerable suspense throughout...I'd forgotten just enough about this case that I could never be sure "Will they or won't they nail him, who will the Zodiac turn out to be, and who will figure it all out?" I suppose just like that average Jane reading the paper who ended up deciphering the Zodiac's symbols, it seemed like any of these unusually strong supporting characters could suddenly emerge with some key clue in the case. That no one ever quite did, despite a brief shared epiphany near the end, was just wonderfully controlled storytelling.
As for the production itself, until it was mentioned in the review that this picture was shot on HD video, I had no idea. Oh sure, a handful of shots seemed to suggest some kind of digital enhancement, but lots of filmed works do these days. So if it was really all video, then "wow"...ya sure caught me. And along the same lines, the period detail - every bit of it used in passing, never dwelled upon - was, to these eyes, flawless. With many long takes of otten fairly wide expanses of streetscape, my eyes had a little time to roam and assimilate, and I could not detect any major gaffe with the trappings here...the cars, the signage, the pre-restored buildings, the TVs (and even newsclips and commercials) all seemed bang on. And narry a fuss was made about any of that stuff in context...except for one really good joke about the spotty proliferation of 'cutting edge' facsimile technology in the early to mid 70s.
Overall, Zodiac is the best picture of the year so far, with Downey's expertly tossed-off supporting performance sure to remain high on my list regardless what else crops up down the line. No mystery why it's tanking at the B.O. though - movie masses want this stuff to clip along at a brisk, sure pace, feature one clearly know-it-more sleuth-hero, and neatly tie everything up by fadeout. This one stubbornly refused to do so, and the result was unconventionally better cinema.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7048
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 03:16 am: |
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I just saw Zodiac as well, and while I'm still digesting it, I would say it's more of an involving picture than it is an engaging one. More later.
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8184
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 10:08 am: |
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Considering the fare lately, plus the usual approach to material like this, I'll take "involving"...although I'm not quite certain what distinction you're making with "engaging". If you meant "Was I moved?"...well, no, not deeply (after all, it was a procedural). but I did feel connected to the frustration of these characters, as well as their bitter, fed up arc of involvement with a case that had occupied far too much of their time for too little just closure.
It was what it was though. I simply liked how Zodiac played and especially how it played around the edges. Perhaps not the most satisfying movie-movie, but neverthelesss an involving cinematic experience. I guess thethemes are as important or unimportant as you want to make them...but to me, the piece was just fascinating as psycho/social/emotional study.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7049
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 01:57 pm: |
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Yes, I'd go along with all that. I was never bored. I was interested throughout. But I never cared that much about the characters. I don't think the film would have worked with a conventional Hollywood character arc, but just a smidge more mystery in the first half and a smidge more obsession in the second might have solved that problem. But I loved how intelligent the film was, absolutely.
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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AdamL (Adaml)
Cinematographer
Username: Adaml
Post Number: 2059
Registered: 08-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 04:59 pm: |
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quote:Yes, I'd go along with all that. I was never bored. I was interested throughout. But I never cared that much about the characters.
Sounds like The Good Shepherd. |
Jeff Vorndam (Jeff)
Cinematographer
Username: Jeff
Post Number: 1041
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 05:02 pm: |
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That's good comparison --both are intelligent, psychologically-driven, lengthy films without slam-bam setpieces or send-em-home-with-a-grin finales. They don't pander, in other words.
You want to be fooled.
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Nicola_D (Nicola_d)
Key Grip
Username: Nicola_d
Post Number: 679
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 06:58 pm: |
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Hmmmm. Would that make one a "panderee" if one would like to be moved emotionally? A GREAT film should do both IMO. Otherwise, a good film. |
Kathy (Kk1024)
Cinematographer
Username: Kk1024
Post Number: 1824
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 07:02 pm: |
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I believe that also Nicola. I also agree that both films mentioned held the audience at arm's length from the characters and to me that was a flaw.
Good films at best. |
Monterey Jack (Monty)
Movie Star
Username: Monty
Post Number: 3386
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 10:27 pm: |
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In Theaters:
300: Visually dazzling hunk of testosterone-laden hokum vividly captures the look of Frank Miller's beautifully-rendered (if slight) graphic novel, and even adds some welcome backstage political intrigue to the narrative, but what's that compared to all those yummy, slo-mo shots of decapitated heads and blood spurting like a sanguinary Jackson Pollack painting? Maybe I just haven't outgrown this kind of thing yet, but 300 tickled my inner 13-year-old something fierce, and director Zack Snyder (who made the smashing Dawn Of The Dead remake three years back) stages the film's outrageously violent battle sequences with technical gusto. Nowhere near as involving as Sin City as a narrative, but as sheer visual kinesis, I had a high old time. B+
-On DVD:
A Good Year: Clumsy, leaden bit of whimsy with a seriously miscast Russell Crowe as a successful a$$hole businessman who learns of the death of his estranged uncle (a wasted Albert Finney in flashbacks) and who travels from London to the French vinyard where he spent the better part of his childhood (Charlie And The Chocolate Factory's Freddie Highmore plays his younger self, and I never believed for a second that this scrawny, bespectacled runt could ever possibly mature into Crowe) with intentions of fixing the old place up and selling it for yet more financial gain, but who (you guessed it) ends up falling in lov with the place all over again, as well as a comely local lass (Marion Collitard). While director Ridley Scott's last "light" film, Matchstick Men, had an excellent script and fine performances, A Good Year sputters along with charmless storytelling and poorly-staged slapstick (yes, we're actually treated to the sight of a dog peeing on Crowe's leg). Not even Scott's trademark yummy visuals can save this misguided bit of wannabe screwball. Here's hoping for something better with the next Scott/Crowe joint, American Gangster, later this year. C-
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8186
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - 11:43 pm: |
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Re: comparisons between Zodiac and The Good Shepherd.
Yoiks! I think I had a birthday during The Good Shepherd...at least it left me feeling like I was at least another year older. Actually, I would cite that movie as a particularly egregious example of needless distension of every mundane, barely germane moment. Methinks it was a case of an actor-turned-director turning on his adopted craft for the sake of showcasing his native love. I mean, how many scenes would a savvier director have cut into later and out of sooner? The accumualtive effect was positvely funereal...and if that was actually De Niro's intent, then his success was stunning, but still stunned. He managed to bore the living shit out of me even during otherwise good scenes and sequences (of which there were, or should have been, many more), because on the whole it was a solid script.
On the other hand, Zodiac had a deliberate pace that felt just right to me given Fincher's intricately and oddly stitched character tapestry. It seemed if he wanted us to intently observe and process the accumulation of facts and disjointed theories these folks had as a test of our own deductive faculties, and a mirror, I suppose, of how far we would have taken this thankless, bungled at every step investigation. Whatever the creative inspiration or practical explanation, that methodical, studied ordinariness of process played very well in context. Great directors have a nose for this stuff - of what kind of pace will work for a given subject and approach. Fincher is a great director; De Niro is not.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7053
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 01:17 am: |
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quote:He managed to bore the living shit out of me even during otherwise good scenes and sequences (of which there were, or should have been, many more), because on the whole it was a solid script.
While I generally agree that The Good Shepherd was needlessly distended, I do think that some of this effect was (for better or worse) intentional. He made a conscious effort to deglamorize the spy game; the fact that these are boring, detail-oriented, emotionally distant people is all part of the picture. Yes, I think funereal is an apt description of the aesthetic he wanted to convey, even though it did not always make compelling viewing. But The Good Shepherd is a movie that improves the more I think about it. I don't know yet if Zodiac is, but it did work better at first viewing.
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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Guynoir (Guynoir)
Cinematographer
Username: Guynoir
Post Number: 1500
Registered: 02-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 01:23 am: |
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Guess I watched a different cut of The Good Shepherd than I did. I've not seen Zodiac yet, but I'd rank De Niro's film above most of Fincher's output (everything but Fight Club, actually). But if Jeff is comparing Zodiac to The Good Shepherd, then I'm more motivated to go see it.
This question of being moved or being held at arm's length is an interesting one. I think a movie can still be great if it does the latter--and I'd say that hoping for a Magnolia or a Brokeback Mountain every time is going to leave you disappointed. I was more dazzled than emotionally affected by The Fountain, but I still thought it was one of last year's best offerings. |
Nicola_D (Nicola_d)
Key Grip
Username: Nicola_d
Post Number: 680
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 01:30 am: |
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Re: Zodiac: There certainly is a sense of obsessive CONTROL over every detail of his films. Every composition, of every frame, is meticulously rendered. In that respect, I think Zodiac was an exceptional work. And it did tap into memories of a time which existed in both reality and in my nightmares. Although I am a few years older, I suspect Fincher and I may have that experience in common as younger people at the time. |
Steven Watchorn (Watchorn)
Movie Star
Username: Watchorn
Post Number: 3789
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 08:34 am: |
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re: Guy
quote:Guess I watched a different cut of The Good Shepherd than I did.
I think you might like Sybil.
It's like Speed 2, except on a bus instead of a ship!
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Monterey Jack (Monty)
Movie Star
Username: Monty
Post Number: 3390
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 11:24 am: |
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Borat: Cultural Learnings Blah Blah Blah: Okay, this turned out a lot more amusing than I originally thought it would. It's episodic and less laugh-out-loud funny than it is a soft chuckle movie (maybe if I had ever seen this character in skits before the movie, I would have appreciated it more), yet I still got some amusement out of it. But best comedy of the year? Nah. B
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C.J. (Thief)
Movie Star
Username: Thief
Post Number: 3341
Registered: 07-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 03:58 pm: |
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Hard Candy A very engaging and intriguing exchange between two characters. Finely acted, especially by Ellen Page who basically carried the film while Patrick Wilson kept her pace. Contrary to what I had read here, I don't think the movie was harmed midway through. Still, it's not a perfect film. Grade: B+
JUST MARRIED! -- If you see me posting, my wife must be working.
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Guynoir (Guynoir)
Cinematographer
Username: Guynoir
Post Number: 1501
Registered: 02-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 08:28 pm: |
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A "soft chuckle" for naked-man wrestling? Sometimes you're a difficult man to amuse, Monty. I was surprised at how much Cohen and co. were able to pack into an 85 min. movie. Even some of the throwaway stuff (like the bear's head in the fridge was very funny. |
Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8189
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 08:32 pm: |
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Finally broke down and saw Babel.
Overall, it was quite a bit better than I imagined, but jeeeezuz, here we go again with the ridiculous compound misery, uber-ironic shared connections, and of course, the now-obligatory Academy micro-targeted tragic wailing.
Basically, it all came down to "shit happens, everyone has shit, sometimes that shit gets accidentally entwined, and BTW, guns are just plain bad...don't give them away, destroy them." Was there something else? Oh yeah, the score was nice and well used, but certainly didn't warrant another Oscar for Santolallo.
Not a chance though that I would ever sit through something like this again.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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fishstick (Fishstick)
Cinematographer
Username: Fishstick
Post Number: 1468
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 14, 2007 - 10:06 pm: |
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300. Loved this shit. Even more than the movie itself, I just love how such a tired and predictable formula got itself a blockbuster makeover with simple tweaking of the color palette. Without sepia tones, this would`ve been yet another silly, generic and widely ignored epic but the comic-book-comes-to-life style turned it into a Holy-shit must-see stuff. Genius.
The only thing that I hated is a horrid narration by that nobody from LOTR who, like all LOTR nobodies, has anti-Midas touch (ability to turn everything they touch into drek) and therefore won`t have a career bigger than playing 7th banana ins someone else`s picture. Just kill him.
I`m also flabbergasted what deep stuff people read into this movie. Like that it`s pro-war and Leonidas is Bush or whatever. Hello, Spartans weren`t Gandhi so why give them fortune cookie pearls of wisdom about peace and co-existance if they were warlords? Buff men are warlords. Had Gandhi been buff, he would`ve been a warlord too. So there. Screw political correctness. Spartans glorified violence and this is a movie about them so guess what the movie glorifies too. And it`s so over the top and fun by doing so that one cannot take it seriously because the movie doesn`t take itself seriously (if it had, they would`ve given the narration to some awesome-voiced actor such as Norrington from Pirates or Lucian from Underworld, not to this pathetic worm Fart-amir ).
Bottom line: Awesome fun, money shots galore but the biggest of all attractions and the real reason to see it (if you`re a girl or gay) is Gerard Hot-Butt-ler.
Life`s a bitch and so am I!
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Dave Lister (Normanv)
Cinematographer
Username: Normanv
Post Number: 2714
Registered: 06-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 12:05 am: |
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Holy crap, I thought you had left AF, fishstick. I am really glad to see you!!
Where ya been? And how ya doin'?
WARNING/GUARANTEE: This post doesn't contain anything useful.
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Tim (Tim)
Cinematographer
Username: Tim
Post Number: 1117
Registered: 06-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 12:38 am: |
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RE: Babel
quote:... here we go again with the ridiculous compound misery, uber-ironic shared connections, and of course, the now-obligatory Academy micro-targeted tragic wailing...
I gotta' say that I didn't find the connections to be all that ironic. Obviously connections were established to link the stories, but beyond that where was the irony?
...and after 21 Grams I'd say it was the Feel Good Movie of the Year!
RE: Borat
quote:It's episodic and less laugh-out-loud funny than it is a soft chuckle movie
I definitely laughed-out-loud, but I was really surprised that the comedy went deeper than that. I was expecting something more along the lines of Jackass. But there was a layer of humor under the surface that was similiar to the witty Daily Show or Colbert Report. Where as the star reduces themselves to the point you can't humiliate them or retaliate. Borat is a complete dufus and a clown, but he is clever enough to bring you down. |
Nicola_D (Nicola_d)
Key Grip
Username: Nicola_d
Post Number: 681
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 12:50 am: |
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300: I enjoyed it! The narration did not bother me at all. And I thought the violent imagery was beautifully rendered.
I admired Butler's total commitment to the character. He made it work! One of the better comic book, graphic novel, or whatever movies. And unlike Sin City, it was not damaged by poor lead performances (Willis & Owen).
Admittedly, it's an "Illustrated Classics" version of history/mythology, but who cares? A thoroughly entertaining movie. I guess that I, too, am an arrested adolescent. Three stars.
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8190
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 03:09 am: |
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300: The IMAX Experience - aka 900 (300 x 3 stories)
In THX, this movie went to 11. In IMAX, it must be kicking the low 20s. Actually, now that my senses have adjusted to the nonsense of it all, I enjoyed it immensely.
Both fish and Nicola are correct about Gerard Butler - damned if the Beowulf/Phantom dude didn't throw everything he had into this thing, his booming, sputtering burr and all...as if this was the only movie in his career that would ever matter (and in a way, he would probably be right). Butler saved so many scenes with his cocksure swagger and impudent sense of humour...and *gasp* feeling, this guy really meant it! A few days ago, he would have been an early Pearls Before Swine pick, but now that I better understand and appreciate the page he was on, I'm leaning toward Actor period, no apologies or winking because he wasn't.
fish re:
quote:"I`m also flabbergasted what deep stuff people read into this movie...Spartans weren`t Gandhi so why give them fortune cookie pearls of wisdom about peace and co-existance if they were warlords? Buff men are warlords. Had Gandhi been buff, he would`ve been a warlord too. So there. Screw political correctness."
Okay, I can't top that...or offer a really convincing argument to refute it, except to note that vet Vegans tend to be lean-buff rather than bulk-buff. Anyway, point taken...touché! However, now you've got me picturing Gandhi in full blown martial arts mode, which is just too sick, on so many levels. No doubt there's a circle of hell reserved.
And I'll also grant you another lucid point regarding the colour palatte here. It wasn't just the sepia tones that tickled your old rods and cones...man, did the forged metal in this movie (of which there was acres) ever look like m-e-t-a-l. Especially in IMAX, those helmets, shields, and spears evoked major "oooohs" and "aaaaahs" all by themselves. Although Butler certainly lead the charge here with his sublimely bellicose acting tone, he and his cohorts had an able assist from the art directors and renderers everytime they donned their almost luminescently burnished metal gear.
Finally, 300 as an IMAX experience yielded one other slightly daft and somewhat embarassing observation...you know, I can't recall ever seeing nudity in a previous IMAX release. At that gargantuan scale, even the most casual glimpses of flesh were positively indecent...abs were 'abbier'...loins were 'loinier'...and nipples were...well, 'nipplier'. Just something I never noticed before...was this also an IMAX first?
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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AboutFilm host (Carlo)
Moderator
Username: Carlo
Post Number: 7055
Registered: 07-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 03:22 am: |
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I think I'm laughing too hard to post properly.
AboutFilm President and Sugar Daddy (www.aboutfilm.com); OFCS Member (www.ofcs.org)
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8191
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 03:25 am: |
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Tim re: Babel's compound ironies.
Oh...where to start. The giveaway gun being destroyed by another, for 1...the kids lost in a desert, while their parents are found in another, for 2...and both these story lines involving same family members trying to get home, for 3...the Tokyo balcony perch used to contemplate suicide in one, while the mountain lookout was used for sniping in another, for 4...need I go on? This film felt suffocated by such neat-freakish narrative balancing. Now I understand all the negative comparisons to Crash.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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C.J. (Thief)
Movie Star
Username: Thief
Post Number: 3342
Registered: 07-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 07:46 am: |
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quote:However, now you've got me picturing Gandhi in full blown martial arts mode, which is just too sick, on so many levels. No doubt there's a circle of hell reserved.
Haven't you seen Yankovic's UHF? 
"Ghandi 2! He's back... to kick some butt!"
LOL! I love that film.
JUST MARRIED! -- If you see me posting, my wife must be working.
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C.J. (Thief)
Movie Star
Username: Thief
Post Number: 3343
Registered: 07-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 07:49 am: |
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quote:Oh...where to start. The giveaway gun being destroyed by another, for 1...the kids lost in a desert, while their parents are found in another, for 2...and both these story lines involving same family members trying to get home, for 3...the Tokyo balcony perch used to contemplate suicide in one, while the mountain lookout was used for sniping in another, for 4...need I go on? This film felt suffocated by such neat-freakish narrative balancing. Now I understand all the negative comparisons to Crash.
Ummm, wasn't the coincidences one of the main purposes of the film? (as it was with Amores Perros and 21 Grams before?) I mean, if you take the relations between the storylines, you practically negate the purpose of the film.
JUST MARRIED! -- If you see me posting, my wife must be working.
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Oh yeah? (Thezookieman)
Movie Star
Username: Thezookieman
Post Number: 4820
Registered: 06-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 11:00 am: |
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quote:fishstick: Hello, Spartans weren`t Gandhi so why give them fortune cookie pearls of wisdom about peace and co-existance if they were warlords? Buff men are warlords. Had Gandhi been buff, he would've been a warlord too. So there. Screw political correctness.
Ha ha! fish is back! The image of Ghandiji in a leather jacket and wielding an AK-47 is now stuck in my mind.
They interviewed Gerard Butler in Men's Health where he laid out his intense workout regime to get that body he displayed in 300. Made me tired just reading it. The things that actors do when they commit to a role...
Standing in the shadow of the One True City...
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Oh yeah? (Thezookieman)
Movie Star
Username: Thezookieman
Post Number: 4827
Registered: 06-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 11:35 am: |
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I just saw a cel from the upcoming Disney film The Frog Princess, which will feature the Mouse House's first black princess...and I gotta tell you, I think they have a winner on their hands in this one. Maddy, that's the name of the character, is what an 80s Michael Jackson would call a PYT (Pretty Young Thing). Good going, guys!
(The model for Ariel (The Little Mermaid) was supposedly Alyssa Milano. The model for Esmerelda (The Hunchback of Notre Dame) was Demi Moore. I wonder who the animators' model for Maddy was?)
Standing in the shadow of the One True City...
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Tim (Tim)
Cinematographer
Username: Tim
Post Number: 1118
Registered: 06-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 12:17 pm: |
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RE: Babel
quote:...the Tokyo balcony perch used to contemplate suicide in one, while the mountain lookout was used for sniping in another, for 4...need I go on?
No, because the next item could be, "the Japanese man had black hair, and so did the maid". How the vingettes were linked seemed fairly understated to me, and I never got the impression the film makers were trying to be clever in the connections. None of the individual stories loop back on each other, and the links between them aren't used as "Wow!" moments in the plot development. I suspect this is semantics, but I really don't see the connections as being all that ironic (let alone, uber-ironic).
My critique of the film mostly had to do with the story line involving the Japanese girl. There was a fundamental component to this vignette that felt so out-of-touch with reality it might as well have taken place on another planet. |
Kathy (Kk1024)
Cinematographer
Username: Kk1024
Post Number: 1825
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 01:10 pm: |
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Boy, I hope Kid is reading this, because I would guess that she'd be enjoying the commments about 300 as much as I am.
In the female world Gerald Butler would be described as a Butterface. I don't know what the male equivalent would be, but Buthisface doesn't quite work.
doc - I'm jealous. We all wanated to see 300 at our I-MAX at the Tropicana Casino, and they wouldn't play it because it's not family-oriented. Of course, we grumbled about taking the kiddies to Sharks-3D and Night at The Museum during the day and give us grown-up (only in stature) families 300 at night.
An army of Buff Ghandis. He could enlist Orlando Bloom from Kingdom of Heaaven, maybe Ryan Seacrest. LOL!!! |
fishstick (Fishstick)
Cinematographer
Username: Fishstick
Post Number: 1469
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 02:35 pm: |
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OMG, Orlando as Buff Gandhi is a career suicide for this heck I`ve been dreaming of. he should totally do it.
Life`s a bitch and so am I!
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Monterey Jack (Monty)
Movie Star
Username: Monty
Post Number: 3394
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, March 15, 2007 - 10:20 pm: |
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The Mark Of Zorro (1940): Rousing swashbuckler features a dashing Tyrone Power as Don Diego De La Vega, who uses his public image as a foppish, limp-wristed aristocrat to cover his dual identity as the folk hero Zorro, who fights against a corrupt government to restore the power to the people in 18th-century Los Angeles, crossing swords with a sneering captain (Basil Rathbone) and pitching woo at the govenor's comely daughter (Linda Darnell). Witty, splendidly produced in evocative B&W, full of exciting swordplay and swoony romance (scored to Alfred Newman's Oscar-nominated music), Mark is a terrific entertainment, marred only slightly by the fact that we don't get to see Power in the classic Zorro costume nearly often enough. A-
The Jack Bauer Power Hour Has Recommenced
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Jeff Vorndam (Jeff)
Cinematographer
Username: Jeff
Post Number: 1042
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 07:02 pm: |
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Last 11 new (to me) movies:
For Your Consideration (2006) - I don't even know if Christopher Guest is making comedies anymore. It's not that a movie about pathetic desparate people who misguidedly fail to achieve an ignoble goal can't be funny, but For Your Consideration makes a strong case for it. Also, this movie totally bricks every aspect of its satire, from the Oscar horse-race to the infotainment media to making of a movie. You'd think these people would know a little something about this. C-
Jesus Camp (2006) - Evangelical Christians aren't going to take up arms and blow up mosques or themselves any time soon, so despite whatever fear this film tries to whip up, the focus ought to be on the poor children who are getting brainwashed here. Jesus Camp isn't quite a hatchet job, but by presenting a fringe group as synonomous with the evangelicals (a portion of US society which the film dubiously pegs as 25%), it loses some of its effect. Though Jesus Camp is only going to be more fodder for the ridicule of liberal audiences everywhere, I wonder how it plays to non-evangelical conservatives. C+
Zodiac (2007) - Painstaking and methodical, David Fincher's film mirrors the investigation of the maddeningly elusive serial killer. It's a tour-de-force recreation of a time and place, and it bravely focuses on the psychological need for knowledge and closure, rather than reprising a killer's greatest hits. A-
Hollywoodland (2006) - I suppose I should find something to say about this movie, but I can't for the life of me figure out why this was made, what the filmmakers thought was compelling about the story, etc. C
Johnny Belinda (1948) - Oscar-bait, 1948-style. Nominated for 12 Oscars, but winning only one (Jane Wyman, Best Actress), it's the story of a deaf woman who is raped and later put on trial for murder. This is the type of movie that Dancer in the Dark was deconstructing, and it plods along without the Von Trierian irony. I could tell it was going to be uninteresting from the first shot of Belinda. She looks like a cross between Amelie and Balthazar. C
American Hardcore (2006) - An impressive array of musicians and other scenesters associated with early 80s hardcore lends this doc authenticity, though it's still a little self-involved for much insight. (Typical is the belief that the hardcore scene abruptly ended in 1986, which the film amazingly attempts to pin on Reagan's re-election. What really happened was the old bands either broke up or changed their sound --some for the better, ala Husker Du, but many for the worse. Hardcore generally isn't a style that one plays for years on end.) Lots of great, rare footage though, and it's starting to become obvious that Henry Rollins needs to narrate a 7-hour documentary on the history of rock n' roll or something. B
Early Summer (1951) - Very similar to Late Spring and Tokyo Story, Ozu's familial drama gradually builds to an ending that is both sad and inspiring. A tricky feat, and I'm not sure how he does it. B+
Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (2006) - Not as nutty as Anchorman, but this was a better NASCAR comedy than Cars at least. It's probably funnier on page --many of the lines are play back better when I read a page of quotes from the movie. And maybe it's just because I saw the unrated version, but man did this movie drag on and on. C+
Paisan (1946) - Ahead of its time with its episodic structure and a narrative that has more of a thematic drive than a plot. It's also a good time capsule. But looking back, it seems rather contrived (and not in a good way, as it's masks behind the illusion of realism), and without the emotional pay-off of the other neo-realist films. B-
Shortbus (2006) - I think it's better than 9 Songs, not that that's saying much. There were a few things that bugged me though. The characters don't have much room to breathe --it seems like sex has taken over their lives, and there's no indication that that's unusual. It was also a little precious and film-schooly, like John Cameron Mitchell was still kind of dicking around with camera. B-
The Host (2006) - Not as awesome as I was led to believe, but still a good monster movie, rivaling Spielberg in parts with the use of long takes and foreground/background perspective to create suspense. It gets its socio-political digs in there too. B
You want to be fooled.
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Monterey Jack (Monty)
Movie Star
Username: Monty
Post Number: 3398
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, March 17, 2007 - 10:18 pm: |
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Batman & Mr. Freeze: Subzero (1998): Smashing direct-to-video continuation of the sad tale of Batman: The Animated Series heavy Victor Fries (the chilling, emotionless drone of Michael Ansara), once a brilliant scientist, now a monster unable to live outside a subzero environment. Ensconced in his remote Antarctic hideaway, he continues to seek a cure for his beloved wife Nora, held in cryogenic stasis until a cure for her life-threatening disease can be found, but a research submarine's poorly-chosen spot to break through the ice's surface destroys Freeze's living quarters, and, more importantly, shatters Nora's cryogenic tube, causing her disease to accelerate rapidly. Desperately needing an organ donor to save her life, Freeze learns that the only donor who has Nora's rare blood type is Barbara Gordon, aka Batgirl (Mary Kay Bergman). He snatches her right out from under the nose of Dick Grayson (Loren Lester), causing him and Bruce Wayne (the perrenially great Kevin Conroy) to suit up as Batman and Robin and come to her rescue. Basically a bridge between the original B:TAS and the "revamp" episodes that started running in 1997, Subzero like all of the Paul Dini/Bruce Timm animated superhero shows, is consistently better-written and performed than the majority of live-action superhero flicks, jammed with slick animation and eye-popping action sequences without ever sacrificing the neccesary characterization. Unlike Arnold Schwarzenegger's laughable, campy portayal of Freeze in the dreadful Batman & Robin, Ansara's Freeze is a tragic figure pushed to ruthless extremes, and the film's melancholy conclusion leaves us less exhilarated at Batman and Robin's heroics than soberly considering the warped psychology behind Freeze's actions. B:ATS still stands as the definitive depiction of the Dark Knight, and Subzero is a must for fans of the series. A-
The Jack Bauer Power Hour Has Recommenced
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Son Of... (Docscribe)
Studio Mogul
Username: Docscribe
Post Number: 8203
Registered: 05-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 12:22 am: |
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Jeff re Shortbus:
quote:"The characters don't have much room to breathe --it seems like sex has taken over their lives, and there's no indication that that's unusual."
Agreed, which excused me from giving a tinker's tap about any of these characters. Nevertheless, they were often quite funny going about these escapades, which sort of saved the film for me. I mean, this was certainly the cheeriest explicit sexuality I've ever seen on screen. Too out of balance and unreal to be taken seriously, so I didn't, yet still a hoot in...uhm...fits and spurts.
quote:"It was also a little precious and film-schooly, like John Cameron Mitchell was still kind of dicking around with camera."
Well, now I feel zero guilt over using "fits and spurts." But yes, Shortbus wasn't just a "little precious", it was a "whole f#cking lot precious". So much so I would not have been surprised to see a cameo appearance by the perpetually chipper Dr. Ruth!
Overall, it was a weird film experience - amusing and endearing in a puppy-dog-rutting-on-your-leg kind of way - yet not fully formed along lines that seemed real or identifiable enough. Basically, I think it was trying too hard to be bold and insightful while still hewing to some pretty standard, smaltzy movie-isms.
"Never thought I'd get around to changing my siggy, did ya?"
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Jeff Vorndam (Jeff)
Cinematographer
Username: Jeff
Post Number: 1043
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, March 18, 2007 - 01:04 am: |
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One thing's for sure, I will never hear the Star Spangled Banner the same way again.
You want to be fooled.
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