Capo
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Post by Capo on Nov 29, 2008 12:47:58 GMT
Traffic, yes; but you'll also like Solaris, svsg.
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Post by svsg on Nov 29, 2008 18:17:24 GMT
I loved solaris, forgot to list. I have mentioned it before, but I really liked the poem in the movie
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Post by svsg on Nov 29, 2008 18:21:10 GMT
Erin Bronkovich Oceans 11 Oceans 12 Oceans 13 Solaris
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Nov 29, 2008 20:08:35 GMT
Features 1. Traffic (2000) ***** 2. Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) ***** 3. Bubble (2005) ***** 4. Solaris (2002) ***** 5. Out of Sight (1998) ***** 6. The Good German (2006) ***** 7. Ocean's Eleven (2001) ***** 8. Ocean's Twelve (2004) *****
Shorts 1. Building No. 7 (2006) *****
Undeniably a versatile talent, but I think too much of a careerist and too much of a tech-fetishist. Maybe at his best when handling political issues? Is that where his real interest lies? Since his Oscar coup in 2001 with two political dramas, his films have all been marked either by a foregrounding of some kind of technical experimentation(/gimmickry?) or by unabashed commercialism (Solaris is an exception, to an extent... or is it?).
I wouldn't mind seeing Out of Sight again.
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, I'll be seeing Che in its entirety on New Year's Day.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 12, 2008 19:50:40 GMT
Undeniably a versatile talent, but I think too much of a careerist and too much of a tech-fetishist. Maybe at his best when handling political issues? Is that where his real interest lies? Since his Oscar coup in 2001 with two political dramas, his films have all been marked either by a foregrounding of some kind of technical experimentation(/gimmickry?) or by unabashed commercialism ( Solaris is an exception, to an extent... or is it?). Michael Atkinson writes Sight & Sound's review for Che Part One, and begins thusly: In a film culture that prizes distinctive consistency in its auteurs, Steven Soderbergh is a rogue genius, bouncing blithely between slick, witty studio moneymakers and all manner of experimental indie paradigms, from Erin Brokovich to Bubble, from the Oceans franchise to the new, outrageously defiant epic Che. It's easy to imagine that Soderbergh drives the moneymen and executives insane; while his commercial instincts have so far proven reliable, there's no guarantee that the ideas he brings to his 'personal' projects aren't screwy: remaking Tarkovsky, proposing a series of quickly shot multiple-distribution digi-features, nostalgically revisiting the Casablanca template but with unfettered sex and venality, and now forging a four and-a-half-hour digital-video mega-biopic about Che Guevara in which virtually all oof tghe genre's reflexive tropes are unutilised. We should be delighted Soderbergh is out there, always looking to upset the applecarts of industry complaisance and shake up the flimsy ideas we have about auteurist assessment.I should note the subsequent sentence, too, the one that ends the same paragraph: "But as so often the embattlements against orthodoxy come at a price." I can't wait for Che; it seems endlessly fascinating but fatally flawed, and I think I'm going to enjoy it very much. Atkinson seems to be in awe of it, highly respecting Soderbergh and del Toro for taking the project on in such a non-exploitative way, but has doubts as to how the "anti-epic" narrative impacts negatively upon its own intentions. I wish I could see it as one screening; elsewhere in the same S&S issue, Geoff Andrew says it's an astonishing achievement "best watched in one go".
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jrod
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Post by jrod on Dec 12, 2008 22:42:28 GMT
i dont think my bladder would survive 4.5 hours
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Post by svsg on Dec 12, 2008 22:52:07 GMT
I don't think I can sit for long hours anymore. Nowadays my attention span is ridiculously limited and it mostly overtakes my bladder in terms of urgency.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 12, 2008 23:26:16 GMT
It can go one of two ways, I think, regarding Che.
Its alleged "anti-biopic" narrative might make the duration and plot unendurable - you'll not be able to feel the typical momentum and rhythm notable of the genre, and so Ants-in-your-pants Syndrome is more likely. But then, its alleged "scene-by-scene" accumulation of story and person (who Guevara was as a human, how revolutions take place in the first place) might make it fascinating and gripping, 'in-the-moment', so to speak, to the point where the ending creeps up on you out of nowhere.
This second way is certainly true of the best of television. I've been watching a lot of Sopranos episodes recently; the fifty-minute-long episodes seem very slow and methodic, but loads happens in them, and the end credits often come out of nowhere.
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Post by ronnierocketago on Dec 13, 2008 7:47:39 GMT
I'm with Capo in that I'm fascinated with Soderbergh's CHE, or at least the idea behind it.
A success or failure, it'll surely be interesting to watch.
Also, I'm glad to see that FCM for the most part quite digs Soderbergh's rather fucking underrated SOLARIS remake.
That movie just doesn't get any respect.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Jan 9, 2009 21:13:09 GMT
1. Traffic (2000) ***** 2. Solaris (2002) ***** 3. Che Part One (2008) ***** 4. sex, lies and videotape (1989) ***** 5. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) ***** 6. Out of Sight (1998) ***** 7. Ocean's Twelve (2004) ***** 8. Building No. 7 (2006) *****
I saw Che Part One today, and thought it was fascinating and gripping from start to finish. Very well made and boasting a fantastic presence in Del Toro. Can't wait for Part Two.
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Post by ronnierocketago on Jan 9, 2009 22:36:14 GMT
1. Traffic (2000) *****2. Solaris (2002) *****3. Che Part One (2008) *****4. sex, lies and videotape (1989) *****5. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) *****6. Out of Sight (1998) *****7. Ocean's Twelve (2004) *****8. Building No. 7 (2006) *****I saw Che Part One today, and thought it was fascinating and gripping from start to finish. Very well made and boasting a fantastic presence in Del Toro. Can't wait for Part Two. When LatinoReview reviewed the CHE script years ago for part one, they said similar things to what you said. With Part Two, they hated THE ARGENTINE (back when it was called.) Anyway Capo, thanks for adding insurance to my interest in seeing part one at least.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Jan 9, 2009 23:26:37 GMT
Yeah, I love films that really capture a sense of place. This did that extremely well. And I love non-mainstream narratives where it's difficult to tell how far you are into the plot, or how long is left. I'm glad I wasn't catching the full four-hour epic today, but that's just the mood I was in - and because I haven't watched a film in a while - but I'd love to see the two parts together.
Did you, wetdog?
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Jan 12, 2009 13:54:19 GMT
No, I had a ticket to the screening for New Year's Day, but I was on my way back from a New Year's party and wasn't really in the mood. We did go to the cinema though... to see Yes Man... I'm not sure whether to treat this as one film or two now, either. I had figured it was actually a single film that was being split up for purely commercial reasons, but it seems Part Two was shot first, and in 1.85:1, and then Soderbergh got a new upgrade for the Red One camera and shot Part One in 2.35:1. Also, apparently Part One is non-linear and Part Two is entirely linear. Hmm. How did the film sit with your incendiary anti-Marxism, anyway?
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Jan 12, 2009 15:06:50 GMT
Ah, my signature is pro-Marxist! I want him to win game, set, match. The film sat very well with me, politically.
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Post by ronnierocketago on Jan 12, 2009 16:31:43 GMT
Ah, my signature is pro-Marxist! I want him to win game, set, match. The film sat very well with me, politically. you fuckin little commie! RNL - I would treat whatever cut I see, as in part one/part two or the combined edit.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Jan 12, 2009 17:29:40 GMT
Ah, my signature is pro-Marxist! I want him to win game, set, match. The film sat very well with me, politically. Ah... that's a bit confusing, 'cause the quote is anti-Marxist. And Maloney appears to be a complete plonker (it also seems the quote is actually from a college professor he interviewed for his documentary about left/liberal ideological bias in universities in America, Indoctinate U).
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Jan 12, 2009 17:45:50 GMT
RNL - I would treat whatever cut I see, as in part one/part two or the combined edit. It's not actually a different cut, is it? I think they just run together with the credits removed. I think I'll just treat them as two separate films. That AR difference, along with the linearity issue and the separate (though consecutive) production periods, is pretty decisive for me. Also IMDb has them budgeted separately, they're based on different Guevara texts, and Part Two has an additional screenwriter, an additional production designer, entirely different art directors, and about twice as many producers. Actually, I now think there'd probably be a stronger case to treat The Lord of the Rings as a single film. This is a dilogy.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Jan 12, 2009 20:51:15 GMT
Ah, my signature is pro-Marxist! I want him to win game, set, match. The film sat very well with me, politically. Ah... that's a bit confusing, 'cause the quote is anti-Marxist. And Maloney appears to be a complete plonker (it also seems the quote is actually from a college professor he interviewed for his documentary about left/liberal ideological bias in universities in America, Indoctinate U). Yeah, it is. I found it out-of-context (I've never seen the doc) in an article on The Sopranos, and quite liked it. No new-found neo-conservatism from me, thank ye.
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Post by Michael on Aug 5, 2009 21:50:06 GMT
1. Che Part One (2008) ****
Really want to see part 2.
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Post by Michael on Aug 5, 2009 21:55:09 GMT
And I love non-mainstream narratives where it's difficult to tell how far you are into the plot, or how long is left. Agreed. It's a straight line all the way through, and that makes it even more gripping I think.
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