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| Syd |
 Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 11:28 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The Host tries to be too many things, but it is generally a very effective monster movie with one of the best creatures I've ever seen. The initial appearance of the monster and the ensuing mayhem is amazingly well done. A dysfunctional Korean family becomes involved when the youngest member is captured by the monster for dessert. Her seemingly brain-damaged father bands together with his unemployed protester brother, their archer sister (a spectacular shot who tends to lose championships by time pressure), and their father try to rescue her despite the best efforts of the South Korean and American governments. The monster and dysfunctional family mostly work; the political commentary become confused and distracts from the monster.
The monster is creating by an American scientist ordering his assistant to dispose of dusty bottles of formadehyde by dumping them down the sink, thus contaminating the Han River which flows through Seoul. This is based on an actual incident. And as we all know, throwing mutagens in the city water supply will result in the creation of giant mutant amphibious creatures with a taste for Korean schoolgirls. As for the title: there is a subplot about a virus supposedly carried by the monster.
The movie is often really touching and often tense. There are comic elements that don't really work, such as the tendancy of characters to take pratfalls for no apparent reason. Fortunately, this doesn't happen too often.
I should mention that the version I saw was a Korean DVD version. I don't know if the version being shown in America has been edited or kept the same. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:41 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Quote: And as we all know, throwing mutagens in the city water supply will result in the creation of giant mutant amphibious creatures with a taste for Korean schoolgirls.
I'd better clarify this. This rule only applies to chemical mutagens. Radioactive mutagens result in the creation of of giant mutant amphibious creatures with a taste for Japanese schoolgirls, while genetic mutagens result in the creation of giant mutant amphibious creatures with a taste for American schoolgirls (although they'll settle for British schoolgirls in a pinch). Applying the wrong mutagen will result in a frustrated and malnourished giant mutant amphibious creatures who may wreak even worse havoc in search of necessary vitamins and minerals. It is thus important to figure out what type of mutagen you are dealing with. Giving the giant mutant amphibious creature a choice of schoolgirl will inevitably reveal this and work wonders for in-class discipline. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 7:41 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Early reviews for Lasse Hallstrom's The Hoax serve notice that Richard Gere may be a frontrunner for the 2007 Best Actor Oscar, with Alfred Molina a virtual shoo-in for a Supporting nomination. The movie sounds excellent, with little of the flab of some of Hallstrom's other movies (can you say The Cider House Rules?)
IMO Gere is long overdue for Oscar recognition. His performance in Internal Affairs was one of the great underappreciated turns of the past 20 years, with Chicago and Unfaithful right up there. As for Molina, his one (obviously unnominated) scene in Boogie Nights was worth five Oscar-winning performances I can name off the top of my head. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 8:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Want a perfect--perfect--example of the kind of writing that absolutely nails a critic as a Paulette (disciple of Pauline Kael)? Here it is, from David Edelstein's review of The Hoax.
"The movie is too long (nearly two hours), but the acting--Gere, Molina, the peerlessly edgy Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden as Irving's loopy Swiss-German painter wife--keeps you giggling."
That "keeps you giggling" channels the worst of Kael (my all-time favorite critic, btw). All it lacks is the trademark Kaelian rhetorical question (i.e., "Has there ever been an American comedy so funny?") to make it even more perfect than perfect. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:09 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: I saw The Lookout today and thought it rocked on every level.
I'm looking forward to it, Earl. I bet I'm on your side in the debate.
Billy....Charles Burnett was on npr talking about how the film showed a realistic view of black life that whites who saw it didn't expect: What? no drugs? A washing machine in the house?
More current film to look forward to. And I saw a clip on tv for a movie with Ryan Gosling and Anthony Hopkins coming out end of the month. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:18 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Befade wrote: Quote: I saw The Lookout today and thought it rocked on every level.
Billy....Charles Burnett was on npr talking about how the film showed a realistic view of black life that whites who saw it didn't expect: What? no drugs? A washing machine in the house?
Betsy--Definitely no drugs being used by the central characters, and I think there was in fact a washing machine. So yes. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:47 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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billyweeds wrote: Want a perfect--perfect--example of the kind of writing that absolutely nails a critic as a Paulette (disciple of Pauline Kael)? Here it is, from David Edelstein's review of The Hoax.
"The movie is too long (nearly two hours), but the acting--Gere, Molina, the peerlessly edgy Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden as Irving's loopy Swiss-German painter wife--keeps you giggling."
That "keeps you giggling" channels the worst of Kael (my all-time favorite critic, btw). All it lacks is the trademark Kaelian rhetorical question (i.e., "Has there ever been an American comedy so funny?") to make it even more perfect than perfect.
Yes, yes, yes. I will grant that she could describe our responses ("Can any director know us in quite the same way?" "Just when we are on the verge of laughing...") and most of the time I did have the same response, so the insistance on my reaction doesn't feel intrusive. With no other critic do I find this tolerable. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 12:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 5911
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2007 4:09 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I hope they have the courage to show Princess Raccoon with the incomprehensible English subtitles. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 12:13 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Andrea Arnold's Red Road was a pretty big disappointment. First off, the film looks like an ugly counterpart to its Glasgow slum setting. A lot of time is spent watching closed circuit monitors, which becomes tedious and unattractive. This alternates with the face of the security employee who is watching the monitor. Snooze.
A strange relationship builds up between the security employee and an ex-con who she fixes upon. A rather contrived plot twist explains what it is all about, and then an anti-climax ending is tacked on.
Occasionally the film does manage to create an unsettling mood or feeling of dread. But it would have helped to have some likable or at least interesting characters, and a more believable, less moralistic plot device.
You can save time and money by watching her very good short film, Wasp, online. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 3:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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gromit wrote: Well, I only checked the A's and B's for the Tribeca FF, but this looked good to me:
Quote: Anita O'Day The Life of a Jazz Singer
[ANITA] Encounters
2007, 90 mins
Interests: Documentary, Music, Musical
An intimate and deeply moving tribute to jazz diva extraordinaire Anita O'Day, completed just weeks before her death in November 2006. Packed with terrific clips and anecdotes from friends and fellow musicians, this enjoyable documentary zips along at the speed of her renowned up-tempo interpretation of 'Sweet Georgia Brown.' » Read More
Mon, Apr 30, 7:30pm AMC Village VII Theater 2
Fri, May 4, 1:00pm AMC 34th Street Theater 13
Sun, May 6, 1:45pm AMC 34th Street Theater 14
It certainly does. And one film, among others, I hope to see. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2007 11:52 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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| Does anyone know about the CA for the film directed by Adrienne Shelly; the actress who died recently? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 12:15 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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mo_flixx wrote: Does anyone know about the CA for the film directed by Adrienne Shelly; the actress who died recently?
Don't know what a CA is, but I saw a trailer for Waitress, the movie in question, at my local cineplex the other night. Looks interesting and has garnered some critical approval. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 1:50 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: Early reviews for Lasse Hallstrom's The Hoax serve notice that Richard Gere may be a frontrunner for the 2007 Best Actor Oscar, with Alfred Molina a virtual shoo-in for a Supporting nomination. The movie sounds excellent,
Richard Gere was on Charlie Rose yesterday and there were alot of clips from the film. Gere is not Gere-like at all.......no suaveness. He plays Clifford Irving......it's got Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Marcia Gay Harden.....It's about Irving's fake autobiography of Howard Hughes. |
Last edited by Befade on Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2007 2:05 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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Now...another question. A preview w/ "The Lookout" - I want to find out the title. It was a thriller about a polit. candidate having an affair w/ a black DA. Can anyone remember the title or the star? Thanks.
I could look this up if someone could give me the name of the starring actor. Ideas?? |
Last edited by mo_flixx on Thu Apr 05, 2007 11:28 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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