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| mo_flixx |
 Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 12:19 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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Hope someone else besides me gets to see a CURRENT FILM soon. Take a break and stop wallowing in Thanksgiving leftovers.
If I'm lucky today, I'll see the Tommy Lee Jones/Javier Bardem movie which has finally made it to Sta. Fe and Albuquerque. |
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| bart |
| Posted: Sat Nov 24, 2007 1:59 pm |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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Initially I was planning to see the new Coen bro film, but it sounds so intensely brutal that I'm making other plans. I just feel glutted with bloodiness after recent viewings of Eastern Promises and American Gangster -- a change of pace is needed. I'm sure NCfOM is excellent, the buzz is unremittingly good, but I like the Coens more for their comic touch -- this sounds like their darkest work.
And I've read NCfOM as a novel, and it is the kind of novel that leaves you with little hope for the human race, as the sheriff expresses at the end. If I hadn't already read the novel, I might be less leery of seeing the film. Usually, it works the other way, but McCarthy has a way of hitting you hard in such a way that, terrific though the story is, you may not want to revisit it for a while. |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 8:07 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4011
Location: not far away
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Had to go and see Beowulf due to my reverence for medieval poetry. Pretty good, and better than I expected-- dumb fun. The 3D is remarkable and the motion-capture people feel like vidgame machinima for awhile, but then you get used to them. Is it the "next wave" in cinema entertainment? No, 3D pops up every 8 or 9 years in a slightly better form each time, but it's a fad, like rock'n'roll. It'll never last.
Also saw The Mist. I like Steven King's short stuff better than his novels, so I was interested to see what they'd do with this. It was about as good as it could be. It felt like an ABC Special Event Two-Part Movie blown up for the big screen with a big budget and better actors, but still a "monster movie" (not that there's anything wrong with that). CGI's very good, and the gore is convincing. Pretty nasty in a number of ways, and worth seeing with a friend. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:00 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bart wrote: Initially I was planning to see the new Coen bro film, but it sounds so intensely brutal that I'm making other plans.
In terms of "brutality," I have seen dozens and dozens of movies with more gore and graphic violence, 99 percent of which don't come close to No Country for Old Men in quality. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 9:21 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Away from Her, the movie about Alzheimer's starring Julie Christie, is sort of a Current Film which I just saw on DVD. It's wonderful, with amazing direction by Sarah Polley and excellent performances all around. Christie herself is IMO what she always was--a fair-to-middling actress who becomes memorable through incredible charisma. Gordon Pinsent as her husband, has the more difficult role and brings it off. But Polley is the real hero of the occasion. She is well-known as an actress, and a really good one--in The Sweet Hereafter and most memorably in Go--but is an even better director. She's got a great future. |
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| bart |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 1:47 pm |
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Joined: 05 Dec 2005
Posts: 2381
Location: Lincoln NE
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Billy, wasn't knocking NCfOM -- as I said in my post, it's just a personal matter of timing. I'm not a delicate blossom that wilts in the presence of violence -- with me, it's just that I get used to it when I see a string of violent films and it bothers me somehow that I'm getting sort of numbed.
Anyway -- the multiplexes here are filling to the brim with bland holiday fare -- in a couple months, I'll be begging for NCfOM. |
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| Trish |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2007 7:43 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 2438
Location: Massachusetts
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| Just saw Lions For Lambs and thought it was very good - another Mideast - war film that got middling reviews - which ended up being good. I don't understand the criticism - I thought it intelligently written and well acted and was thought provoking |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 4:51 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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bart -- My sisters saw NCFOM over the holiday and both loved it. I asked one about your concerns. I have the same. She said the trailer does make it look grim but in truth there is a lot of style and irony used to tell this story. It isn't a laugh riot, but the stylization as only the Coens can do, lift the movie a lot.
I saw Away From Her as well this weekend. I loved Julie Cristie. She has not lost a bit of her early charisma and charm. I still think she's beautiful. Maybe even more so. And Gordon Pinsent was absolutely wonderful.
However, I have two very close friends who are battling the final stages of cancer, so this movie was not the one for me to watch right now. Be warned, one thing that makes this a great film is, it doesn't pull any punches. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 6:18 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marj--You are so right about Julie Christie still being beautiful. More than ever, I can't say. I saw her in person in Uncle Vanya and am still recovering. But she still looks sensational.
What I loved about the movie was that although it doesn't pull punches it never gets unwatchably unpleasant. |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:45 pm |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
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Re Away From Her:
I agree with all the praise for it, especially for Sarah Polley's direction. One aspect of the story that was handled beautifully was the character of the head nurse at the center. I don't want to give away too much here. (OK, Very Mild Spoiler ahead.) It was great how for most of the movie we thought we had a good bead on her and what her function in the story was, and then late in the game she revealed a different dimension to her personality which caused us (as well as Gordon Pinset's character) to rethink things. I just admire very much that Polley took care to give a supporting character in the story that extra layer. (It was probably in the short story on which the film was based. I don't know, I haven't read it. But Polley could easily have ditched that aspect in the name of expediency.) |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:54 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Both excellent points, Earl and Billy.
Billy -- I honestly can't imagine what it must have been like to see Julie Christie in person. I can't tell you how many times I saw Darling. I think I must have been a little smitten with her, if that's possible.
She is so lovely even now. Did you notice near the end, SPOILER IN WHITE: that when she had that moment of recognition how her eyes glistened? Amazing. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:11 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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| So many truly wonderful performances this year, it's going to be really hard to whittle my choices down to 3 come Blanche time -- & it's not even "Oscar" season yet!!! |
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It truly disappoints me when people do something for you via no prompt of your own and then use it as some kind of weapon against you at a later time and place. It is what it is. |
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| Marilyn |
| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:03 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8210
Location: Skokie (not a bad movie, btw)
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:19 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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The first reviews for The Golden Compass are in and they're not bad As well as liking the film, the old-enough-to-know-better critic of the Guardian also seems to have fallen for Nicole.
Quote: If Darth Vader wore a blond wig, a slinky dress and a dab of Chanel behind each ear, he could hardly be as evil as Nicole Kidman, playing the gorgeous villainess Mrs Coulter in this spectacular new movie version of Northern Lights, the opening episode of Philip Pullman's fantasy series His Dark Materials.
Pullman reportedly suggested Kidman for the role. Even if he hadn't, Kidman herself would have been kicking her agent's door in to get it. This is the very best sort of part for her: statuesque, elegant, seductive, with a hint of cold steel. In many ways, it's her juiciest character since the sociopathic meteorologist in To Die For
Hi Marilyn. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:22 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| Hi Marilyn. Does this mean you're going to hang around some? I hope so. |
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