Boz
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Post by Boz on Nov 10, 2006 18:24:17 GMT
Agreed, agreed.
I consider that a film-genre sub class unto its own; the Goodfellas rip-off.
Now understand, that's not implying these Goodfellas rip-offs are bad films, because, hell, if you're gonna copy something, might as well be THE GREATEST FILM OF ALL TIME. As I've deduced it, this class includes (more or less to some extent):
Casino (Goodfellas goes to Vegas) Boogie Nights (Goodfellas does porn) Blow (Goodfellas goes to California) Lord of War (Goodfellas sells guns)
etc, etc.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Nov 10, 2006 18:36:41 GMT
You might be on to something mistamista, but in my opinion, "Boogie Nights" is MILES above "Blow", "Lord of War", and maybe even "Casino".
Plus, I think Anderson has shown much greater diversity in his films then those other two directors.
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Post by The Ghost of LLC on Nov 10, 2006 19:17:18 GMT
Plus, I think Anderson has shown much greater diversity in his films then those other two directors. I agree completely. I have to draw the comparison I've made in the past between PTA and Radiohead, in that they are constantly progessing, and no two pieces of art within their own spectrum of media ever sound or play similarly.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 11, 2006 4:34:39 GMT
Back to the Future Part III Robert Zemeckis 1990 US 1st time; DVD Marty travels back to 1885 in order to save Doc, happily settled in the Wild West, from murder. Visually, probably the best of the trilogy, with the clear blues of the sky strikingly shot against the vast oranges of the desert; as a kind of mergance between the two, Fox does a lot of jumping around in a multi-coloured cowboy suit. Because this is no mere revisit of the first two, and is an extension of the same story, it's very complicated, especially early on - obvious exposition is excusable here, though the climactic rise in sentimentality, with Doc falling in love, might not be.Shi mian mai fu House of Flying Daggers Yimou Zhang 2004 China/Hong Kong 1st time; DVD As the government hunt down an underground group of assassins, three individuals find themselves in emotional dilemma. A magnificently realised film, surely one of the most remarkable aesthetic achievements in recent Cinema. Zhang exploits colour to extraordinary effect, using it as a means of character portrayal, having costumes compliment and contrast against their surroundings depending on emotional state - it is seen best in the latter stages of the film, wherein one character is dressed in green, another in blue, and they journey from a bamboo forest, entirely green, to an autumnal red valley, and thence to a snowy, vastly open terrain. Zhang has a fine sense of pace and rhythm, and in terms of editing and visual composition, it is one of the most measured films ever made.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Nov 11, 2006 10:30:33 GMT
Hiroshima, Mon Amour (1959/Resnais)Finally getting to my 2nd Resnais. While this film opened well, I thought it slowly fell into something much less interesting. Good sountrack, and some nice camera moves from Resnais here and there, but really only worthwhile to see the early indications of some ideas he'd come to use in Last Year at Marienbad, two years later.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Nov 11, 2006 15:00:39 GMT
Touch of Evil (1958/Welles)Finally getting to my 2nd Welles' as well. While clearly not the epic that is Citizen Kane, Welles does some interesting stuff here. Basically a B movie plot turned into a great film by a master director.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 13, 2006 3:32:58 GMT
I've been busy. Four features yesterday, one tonight. Konec stalinismu v Cechách The Death of Stalinism in Bohemia Jan Svankmajer 1990 UK 1st time; YouTube Stalin's head is cut open, and what follows is the history of the last fifty years of Czechoslovakia. Symbolism-heavy short, the best moments of which are the clay figurines being made and discarded on a conveyor belt which leads back to the beginning of itself, and the painting of the Czech flag on every object possible. Further knowledge of the history it depicts will probably enhance the appreciation.Kárhozat Damnation Béla Tarr 1987 Hungary 2nd time; DVD A hopeless man, distanced from society, is in love with a singer, but she's married… Thoroughly bleak, visually gorgeous film, deliberately abandoning plot in order to allow its camera full chance to convey meaning. Its characters are captured, mostly, as secondary objects within the all-seeing frame, often obscured by walls and pillars in the foreground. It's always raining, the music is melancholic and neverending, and the dialogue is poetic and cynical, as its protagonist, a Beckett-like anti-hero, realises he would die for the woman he loves, but alas, she would not for him.Touch of Evil Orson Welles 1958 US 2nd time; DVD A Mexican cop clashes with an American captain over a murder on the border. The opening shot is one of Cinema's finest achievements, and what happens thereafter is a lesson in sustained excellence: the acting, particularly from Welles as a corrupt, overweight cop, is fantastic, and the editing and visual storytelling are sublime, with two parallel narratives happening at the same time over the course of twenty-four hours. Notable moments are as follows: Heston phoning his wife at the motel, with the man who has been harassing his wife seen being arrested in the background; Welles telling somebody to shut the door and we cut, as the door is shut, to another door in the other story opening; and the climax, in which Heston follows Welles, recording what he says, with both beginning far from one another and finishing within actual earshot, so that the need for cutting is less necessary, and the situation more tense.Elephant Gus Van Sant 2003 US 4th time; DVD An ordinary day in an American high school turns into a disaster when two friends go through with their plan to randomly kill their fellow students. A powerful, multi-character drama which, when viewed, is immediately excellent, though one is not necessarily sure why. Shot in long-takes, with the camera tracking from behind its characters through empty hallways, it is a haunting depiction of human tragedy and a subtle exposé of society's finger-pointing. Upon revisits, one can't help but think it could have been even better, with tighter editing and the discarding of chapter titles, which add little.2046 Wong Kar-wai 2004 France/Germany/Hong Kong/China 3rd time; DVD Returning from Singapore to Hong Kong in the late 1960s, a writer of futuristic erotic novels tries to forget a past love affair. More ambitious than In the Mood for Love, both aesthetically (a CGI future, more eclectic choice of music) and narratively (enhancing the protagonist's heartbreak by means of including his own fiction), it develops from an erotic, rather cold affair into a poignant, reflective hymn to lost love.Gerry Gus Van Sant 2001 US/Argentina/Jordan 3rd time; DVD Two friends on a day's hiking trip casually stroll off path and become lost. A film largely improvised and ironically dealing with the perils of improvisation; it is astonishing to look at, with many long takes giving otherwise ordinary images of two men walking a surreal, unfamiliar edge. Van Sant will often cut to an empty shot of mountainous terrain and hold the camera there, and because of the rather abstract visual of such framing, the viewer cannot tell how close or how far away the camera is from the rock, how big the rock is, or where the characters will enter and how big they will be - close up or in the distance? It's a unique way in conveying the increasing anonymity of the two characters as they walk further into peril. Recommendable to friends as a kind of endurance test.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Nov 13, 2006 17:41:08 GMT
Babel(2006/Alejandro González Iñárritu) [First Viewing] Several people around the world are connected by the shooting of an American tourist in Morocco.Beautiful film. Every story in the film is equally captivating, and although Brad Pitt is getting most of the buzz here in the states, all the performances are amazing. Iñárritu's direction is superb, taking us into each of the character's worlds, and revealing that their lives are not that much different. Harsh Times(2005/David Ayer) [First Viewing] Two best friends, one an ex-G.I., drive around L.A. looking for work and hoping to get fucked up.The film works mainly due to Christian Bale's extraordinary performance. I am starting to be convinced that he's the best actor working today. The first half of the film is done quite well, full of spirit and spontaneity. But the second half tries to go dark, and doesn't really succeed. And the finale is not as engaging as it should be. Man on Fire(2004/Tony Scott) [First Viewing] An ex-assassin becomes attached to the little girl he is hired to protect.Scott's seizure inducing direction is really hard to take at times. The film might have worked well at the hand's of someone else, but the direction is so obvious at times, it's laughable. And Denzel Washington provides a very wooden performance, but it's not as bad as Radha Mitchell's performance, which is utterly terrible.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Nov 14, 2006 18:49:29 GMT
Casablanca(1942/Michael Curtiz) [Nth Viewing] An American club owner tries to stay out of the growing political turmoil in 1941 Morocco.The quintessential Hollywood classic. A completely flawless picture, boasting one of the best and most quotable screenplays of all time. The film also serves as interesting social commentary for the times and as a parable of America's involvement in World War Two. The whole cast is wonderful, leading with Bogart's iconic performance, and Ingrid Bergman at her most beautiful. The supporting cast is also a highlight, with Claude Rains in great form as the comical police chief.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 14, 2006 19:35:52 GMT
Grand Canyon Lawrence Kasdan 1991 US 1st time; big screen In LA, the lives of an immigration worker, his wife, his secretary, his son, and the black man with a deaf daughter and poor sister who saves his life, all interweave. Terrible, for the most part; it's a love or hate affair, and many may find some moments of worth. Haggis' Crash owes much to it, and as a comment on life-changing coincidences, Magnolia may even too. Still, it's entirely missable, often risible stuff.
[To be followed tomorrow, by a lecture on "Ideology in Cinema."]
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Nov 14, 2006 22:32:37 GMT
Tokyo Story (1953/Ozu)A narratively, visually, excruciatingly boring film.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 15, 2006 0:06:58 GMT
Tokyo Story (1953/Ozu)A narratively, visually, excruciatingly boring film. If you find the time and conjure the effort, I'd appreciate a lengthier response here, please.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 16, 2006 0:27:00 GMT
True LiesJames Cameron 1994 US 2nd time; big screen An American Secret Agent battles with terrorists while lying to his wife about his job. An action feast made for Schwarzenegger's one liners and physical presence on screen; being knowingly ridiculous does not excuse an excessive running time - cutting of about forty minutes would have helped.Hana-bi Fireworks Takeshi Kitano 1997 Japan 1st time; big screen A cop in debt to the Yakuza retires, robs a bank, and takes his wife, dying of Leukemia, on one last trip. A lesson in understatement - Kitano's performance lies at the heart of a film whose emotional weight lies entirely within and is never allowed to expose itself. Those wishing to will find and be able to extract the most poignant of moments, such as those in the scenes between the fatalistic cop and his wife. The static camera and use of silence compliment Kitano's onscreen persona with such intensity that it's unmissable and original stuff; tender and funny with explosions of violence.Le genou de Claire Claire's Knee Eric Rohmer 1970 France 1st time; DVD A writer spends July at the summer home of an old female friend, and finds himself tempted by two teenaged girls living there. One of those acutely measured films that fly by - in this case as a series of conversational episodes - that, when it comes to end, you really don't want it to…though it ends when it should. A perceptive, witty film whose disturbing premise is given a credible, even charming, touch, through the outrageously naive characters. Each scene is given a chapter title - a quick intertitle informing us of the new date, and thus indicating a jump in time; but really, it's just another transitional effect, and the sense of time doesn't really matter. Impressive.Fellini-SatyriconFederico Fellini 1969 Italy/France 1st time; DVD A "free-form" adaptation of Petronius' Satyricon. [Specific narrative synopsis will help little.] Messy to the point of being of vague interest, Fellini adds from start to finish a new energy, a new visual, with each new scene and often even within the same scene; after two hours, you really don't know what to expect. But it is not to say it is visually impressive - energy and innovation are two different things, and there isn't one memorable image in the entire work - more a feeling, stemming from the excessive ugliness of it all. Subtitles, presumably left over from the original print, are telling: character after character mumbles, as we're told, "Vulgar Latin". You get the feeling it's all meant to shock and engage - rather ineffective, though.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Nov 16, 2006 5:35:55 GMT
Papillon(1973/Franklin J. Schaffner) [Nth Viewing] A murderer and a money launderer befriend each other on a prison island, and plot to escape.Brilliant look at friendship, survival, and insanity, which is wonderfully directed by Schaffner, who is able to balance out the film's grittiness with it's surrealism. Steve McQueen gives his greatest performance as the determined title character. The long solitary confinement sequence is one of the best displays of madness by any actor in all of cinema. Dustin Hoffman brings in fine support as his meek friend, with Jerry Goldsmith providing a haunting score and Fred J. Koenekamp providing some breath taking cinematography. Stranger Than Fiction(2006/Marc Forster) [First Viewing] An IRS agent begins hearing a woman's voice who is narrating his life as it happens.Much more than a Will Ferrell vehicle, but a little less than the mind blowing work of Kaufman. If anything, it's an interesting and somewhat creative twist on the romantic-comedy sub-genre. Ferrell turns in his best performance, as the mundane Harold Crick, who tries to take control of his life before it's too late. Maggie Gyllenhaal as the independent woman of the story, Emma Thompson as the eccentric novelist, Queen Latifah as her impatient assistant, and Dustin Hoffman as a quirky English professor all round out a great supporting cast.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 17, 2006 19:44:34 GMT
Little Children Todd Field 2006 US 1st time; big screen A man and woman have an affair in a town in fear of a recently released child molester. Ambitious follow up to In the Bedroom for Field, but a very disappointing one. The opening shots are promising, setting a disturbing, haunting tone left over from the (amazing) trailer. But there's an awkwardness to this film which begins when the von Trier-like, over-literate, all-knowing voice-over is introduced. It is thematically very confused, bringing two or three separate narratives together which don't seem to really connect - the relationships between the married man and married woman and the paedofile and his mother seem to be taken from two separate films, ones which would have had little to say and even less to explore, and the ex-cop who seeks last-minute redemption could have been discarded altogether. The narratives certainly don't compliment one another, or justify any of the others' existence. Field is interested mainly in humans and their relationships with one another within society, which means the film is often of interest, but the means by which he explores his preoccupations is very frustrating. It will most likely enhance one's appreciation of films which tackle their difficult moralities more confidently, such as Solondz' Happiness, for instance.The Prestige Christopher Nolan 2006 US/UK 1st time; big screen In Victorian London, two rising magicians strike up a rivalry when one of them invents a new trick, and the other wishes to find out how it is done. Outstanding: a film told for the most part in flashback, with one character reading another character's journal... and within that narrative, the other character reads the principle character's journal. On top of this, parallel to this dual-perspective, we've a third character reliving the fatal night which begins the film. It's spellbinding stuff, narratively exciting and completely authentic. Nolan is growing vastly in confidence and skill, and one would hope that he continues to be prolific, ambitious and vastly intelligent. His direction of actors is admirable - all the performances are notable, but Bale, at the very top of his game, gives further evidence of being the finest actor currently working. Nolan also has a fine sense of pacing and volume, knowing when to cut and what to - it's incredibly complicated stuff made to look effortless, much like the magic tricks themselves.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 18, 2006 0:26:00 GMT
No, that was my first taste of Rohmer, and frankly, I'm impressed. I must see more, and soon.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 18, 2006 19:47:52 GMT
Banlieue 13 District 13 Pierre Morel 2004 France 1st time; big screen Paris, 2010: the police send their best agent into a dangerous district to prevent a bomb exploding, with the help of a convict who grew up there. Schematic stuff, of little interest really, though some of the stunts are excellent - it uses the sport of free-running as an excuse for its action. Fast and short, passably enjoyable.
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Post by Vercetti on Nov 18, 2006 20:22:12 GMT
I overcame my long period of laziness. I felt like an asshole to just throw out a rating for my favorite filmmaker, so here's my belated mini-review for The Departed. The Departed - (Martin Scorsese;2006;USA) Two moles on opposite sides of the law are pitted against each other when mob boss Frank Costello learns of the police mole.While it looked as if Scorsese wouldn't blow our minds as much as he used to, he belts out his best film since Goodfellas. Nicholson and Dicaprio are on the mark in their roles with strong support from Damon, Wahlberg, and Sheen. The best supporting performance came from Ray Winstone who I wish to see more of after this and The Proposition. The music is also excellent from The Stones' "Shelter" to the wonderful Van Morrison/Waters/The Band version of "Comfortably Numb" with all others in between from Lennon to Nas. Overall Scorsese brings us a trenchant direction that produces a crime film that pulls you into it's story. Annie Hall - (Woody Allen;1977;USA) A neurotic stand-up comedian in New York City recounts his relationship with Annie Hall.One of the absolute greatest comedies ever. Woody Allen's wit is on the spot and everything manages to intrigue me from the minor comments to the subtle gestures characters make. While being a hilarious and critical look at relationships and life it manages to ring true most of the time. Allen's direction retains some old fashioned simplicity with his credit title cards but manages to be very innovative in his editing and narrative. An excellent film.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Nov 19, 2006 23:07:54 GMT
Casino Royale(2006/Martin Campbell) [First Viewing] A new agent for MI6 must win a game of high stakes poker in order to keep his opponent from funding terrorism.A step above the last few Bond films, but nowhere near the masterpiece that it is being made out to be. Craig is very good in the role, for once making Bond a more gritty character than that of an all out suave Englishmen. The action is over-the-top at times, but still very enjoyable. If only more effort were made to showcase the psychological aspects of the main character. I also wish the producers weren't so concerned about bringing in an audience and had pushed the envelope a little more.
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