Capo
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Post by Capo on Mar 2, 2006 20:48:07 GMT
No stars for Three Colours White? Hmm...
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Mar 2, 2006 20:55:16 GMT
Wetdog, would you mind sharing your thoughts on "The Squid and the Whale"?
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Mar 2, 2006 21:03:22 GMT
Recent viewings Written on the Wind After Hours Bubble
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Post by Michael on Mar 2, 2006 21:12:35 GMT
Sometimes I wonder if some of you have lives outside of cinema.
How does one find the time and motivation watch that many films in a single month?
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Mar 2, 2006 21:13:43 GMT
Recent viewings Written on the Wind After Hours Bubble Would you mind sharing your thoughts on the latter two? "After Hours" is one of my favorite films, and I'm very interested in seeing "Bubble".
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Mar 2, 2006 21:17:40 GMT
No stars for Three Colours White? Hmm... No, I know it's the least acclaimed of the trilogy. I didn't expect it to be so basic and slight, though. Some ideas--or at least fleeting allusions to ideas--about chance and fate, but nothing developed or interesting. It struck me as the equivalent of one of those 'quirky' American indies of the past few years, reasonably nice to look at, engaging enough to support itself, but ultimately not of much worth or impact. Blue was much more complicated. I look forward to Red. Wetdog, would you mind sharing your thoughts on "The Squid and the Whale"? If you'd asked me at any point during the film, I'd have called it at least good, occasionally excellent. But I'm finding it's not holding up to reflection. It's shot in the sort of freeform way that says, "Uh oh, the play ran off the stage, let's tape it..." Very theatrical stuff, with images to be looked through as opposed to at. So the question is whether it's good drama - I'd say sporadically, and that's what the star's for (I'd actually say I'm being generous). I'm not wild about the kind of 'safe controversy' popular in indie films, so all these awkward sexual encounters, semi-jokes about semen, teacher-student relationships, drunk kids, etc. That's all pretty useless. Baumbach strikes me as a good comedic writer, but I can't help thinking of Todd Solondz doing this all so, so much better. What did you think of it?
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Mar 2, 2006 21:20:02 GMT
How does one find the time and motivation watch that many films in a single month? One a day?
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Post by Michael on Mar 2, 2006 21:22:29 GMT
How do you watch a film a day? Even if I had the time to do that, I could never be able to find the motivation.
Maybe it's because I live with 5 other people.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Mar 2, 2006 21:26:15 GMT
One a day is nothing for me. I'd like it to be at least two. The most features I've ever watched in one day is six.
Remember that your average Westerner watches over four hours of television per day.
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Mar 2, 2006 21:26:56 GMT
After Hours is one of the most bizarre films I have ever seen. When I was finished with it I was really amazed. Usually movies that rely so heavily on coincidences between the characters (for instance in Crash when everyone keeps bumping into each other thourghout) are kind of corny to me, but this one kept me suprisingly gripped. The movie keeps snowballing, getting the main character into more and more trouble until the very end, and it is extremely funny and entertaining. Scorsese is one of my favorite directors, and Ive never laughed so much during one of his films.
Bubble is to Oceans Eleven as Elephant is to Good Will Hunting. It certainly isnt directed at mainstream audiences, I imagine most would find it to be rather boring. I was extremely impressed by all the actors, who apprently never had acted before. Each of them comes off very realistic. The movie is short and sweet (73 minutes) and packed with emotion. I look forward to the remaining five films Soderbergh has on this deal, I think this first effort is very promising. Much better then his indie film (which is probably the closest comparison) Sex, Lies, and Videotape, which I have also viewed recently.
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Post by Vercetti on Mar 2, 2006 21:29:28 GMT
One film a day is nothing, though at times it's hard to manage between school and such.
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Post by Michael on Mar 2, 2006 21:30:05 GMT
Remember that your average Westerner watches over four hours of television per day. I don't watch TV.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Mar 2, 2006 21:37:54 GMT
Neither do I.
You're right, by the way, I don't have a life outside of cinema, or outside of art. I hope I never do. ;D
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Mar 2, 2006 21:45:29 GMT
What did you think of (The Squid and the Whale)? I remember liking it a lot. To me, it might just have been the best written film of last year. You could so clearly see through the writing the connections between the parents and their siblings. Probably the best cast, realistic film family in recent memory. I also though the acting was quite good. I need to rewatch it though. Thanks Wetdog and Jrod for your responses.
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Post by Michael on Mar 2, 2006 21:47:53 GMT
Neither do I. You're right, by the way, I don't have a life outside of cinema, or outside of art. I hope I never do. ;D Hah, nothing wrong with that. Sometimes I feel the same way, although I do love sports.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Mar 3, 2006 3:22:18 GMT
Killer's Kiss(1955/Stanley Kubrick) [First Viewing] An over-the-hill boxer falls in love with a battered woman.Throughout this grainy low budget film noir, there are traces of Kubrick's future genius. As for the film itself, it starts out rather slow, but thanks to an exciting chase scene along New York rooftops and a fight sequence using mannequins as weapons, Kubrick manages to pull off a rather interesting experiment in low budget guerrilla film-making.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Mar 3, 2006 17:05:44 GMT
Grizzly Man Werner Herzog 2005 US 1st time; big screen A documentary on Timothy Treadwell, who lived, in the summer, among bears, until he and his girlfriend were eaten alive by one in 2003. The most fascinating scenes here are one where Treadwell talks to the camera as he walks about his women troubles, and then another, with him cursing and blasting the civilised world in which he has become famous through what he believes to be mockery. Together, these touch upon very fascinating insights into a character who masked himself in falsities only to escape his own deficiencies; it is at its weakest when revealing its own contradictions: Herzog warns Treadwell's ex-lover never to listen to the recording of his death, and moments later, we have a doctor telling us all the gruesome details anyway.Der Untergang DownfallOliver Hirschbiegel 2004 Germany/Italy/Austria 1st time; TV The final days of Hitler and those close to him, as the Russians invade Berlin. It looks like one of those new, crisp and suddenly popular TV dramas, too clean to be credible; it sounds like a muffled video game; it feels like a film set throughout, where, if the camera were to pan to the right at any moment, you may just see the rest of the cast fumbling about on set, ready for the next scene. Not even Ganz' sterling performance can lift it beyond its own claims of historical accuracy.Any other UK members watch Channel 4's premiere of this last night? And how does the board in general feel about the film?
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Post by Vercetti on Mar 3, 2006 17:16:32 GMT
Glad you liked it Capo. My favorite scenes were the ones involving the foxes he domesticated.
Did you see the altered version? Some DVD releases cut out the opening scene where he's on the David Letterman show and Letterman says "Are you ever gonna hear that you were killed by a bear?"
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Mar 3, 2006 18:23:04 GMT
No, Letterman was in it. As far as I know, I saw the full theatrical version.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Mar 3, 2006 21:30:38 GMT
The Importance of Being Earnest(2002/Oliver Parker) [First Viewing] Two friends of Victorian England find their identity switching habits starting to catch up with them.If this movie had stuck with the original humor of Oscar Wilde's play, this would have been a much better film. Instead, the director/writer felt the need to go way over the top, adding moments of surrealism that add up to nothing, and rather low humor that Wilde never intended. On the contrary, it's a very funny film, but an insulting one at that.
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