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| Trish |
 Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:43 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 2438
Location: Massachusetts
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jeremy wrote: I saw Sweeney Todd a few days ago. I enjoyed it, but I felt it didn't quite hit the heights, and can understand why it wasn't showered with the expected awards noms and wins. .
I was told by my Niece who saw the film recently that they sing almost every line - just as the actors/actresses did in Phantom of the Opera - which I couldn't stand. I like musicals, but I like a balanced mix of talking and singing.. Can Depp sing? Butler's Phantom was very disappointing
I think I may catch it on DVD |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:03 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bells and the Butterfly is a truly remarkable film of a free spirit triumphing over a massive paralysis resulting from a stroke coming out of the blue, affecting the 45 year old editor of Elle, a real person. The movie takes cinematic art to new possibilities. Unlike My Left Foot or The Sea Inside, it is not about rage or bitterness or calling it quits. It is a phenomenological account of a lively witty being locked-in by an illness, who cotinues to live a rich life in his present interactions as well as in his reminiscings in spite of being locked in. Schnabel's three movies that I have seen, Basquiat, Before Night Falls and The Diving Bells and the Butterfly, are all about real people who are talented, interesting but different, and the three movies are as different from each other as three movies can be. As Bauby, the afflicted editor, Mathieu Amalric is superb. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:03 am |
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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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| No, there was a sensible amount of spoken dialogue in Sweeny Todd. I didn't mean to give the impression that it was bad, it was just that I felt that it wasn't quite the sum of its parts. |
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| shannon |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:05 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 1628
Location: NC
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| I thought Sweeney Todd was a whole lot of fun. Certainly not great, just really, really fun. One of the 2-3 Tim Burton films I've actually liked. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:48 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Befade wrote: what I was speaking of was the overly cleverness of the first half hour of the script. It might be exactly what Jeremy was referring to. The audience I saw it with was hooting every other minute. I wasn't breaking into a smile even. After that the film settled into a more layered character-driven piece. It was if, initially the writer was trying to prove himself and then relaxed. Thus.......it made the film somewhat unbalanced.
BUT.......I loved Juno for sure.
Was reading back over some Juno comments and agree with Befade's point. Basically the store clerk in the beginning is annoying and his dialogue way over-written. I became a bit apprehensive. I never really grew to like the cutesy songs, but the film settled down into character study and had genuine heart (and fingernails).
Also I think Juno borrows from many sources.
The opening credit sequence has an American Splendor look/feel. I've already mentioned Wes Anderson in an earlier post. The main character is frequently called Junebug. The hottie friend reminded me of the two girls relationship in American Beauty. Some Kevin Smith vibe to some of the dialogue and cultural references. And probably more that I missed.
Also, at first I didn't realize the origin of the orange and white stripes from the poster (and dvd cover).
Then I noticed it was from Juno's one shirt. Fine enough, but with that same artwork on the dvd itself, the disc becomes a round pregnant belly. Pretty clever. |
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| shannon |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:59 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 1628
Location: NC
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We're leaving the theater, my friend says to me, "It was like Napolean Dynamite with a pregnant girl."
Juno was another movie that I thought was certainly not great, but was pretty fun. If forced to rank, Sweeney Todd was much more fun. But there's no Ellen Page, so I guess Juno wins.
Of all the supposedly "great" movies this year, the only that have succeeded in really wowing me have been There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, and Eastern Promises. The rest of the supposedly "great" (and I haven't seen all of them), have mainly just been "pretty good," the criminally overrated Michael Clayton among them). That said, last year was still a really good year for movies. I can't really remember a single really good movie in 2006, with the strong exception of Children of Men which is one of the best movies I've ever seen.
TWBB is probably my favorite movie of last year; and after I see it a few more times, the "probably" probably won't be necessary. NCFOM, I have to admit, is the better all-around film, but it didn't cause my jaw to drop like TWBB did about 17 times. (That sequence with the fire and the kid, etc., shit goddamn, that's great filmmaking.) |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:36 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I haven't bothered to see Nap Dynamite.
But that's a funny comment.
Yeah, I've been catching up on 2007 films and have been getting ready to take on this Great Year Mystique that 2007 seems to have developed.
At this point, I've only really missed Michael Clayton, There Will be Blood, Into the Wild, and Away From Her. And of course a few more. I'm not much into violent films which might partly explain my reaction to some highly touted 2007 offerings.
My 2007 Top Ten
1. Sicko
2. The Paper Will Be Blue
3. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
4. Juno
5. 2 Days In Paris
6. This is England
7. I'm Not There
8. Waitress
9. Paprika
10. Zodiac 6 films I really liked, and beyond that 10 more which were good.
Last year I had about the same proportion.
Liked Little Children better than anything this year.
I did run into a greater percentage of clunkers last year, while seeing a dozen more films.
So far would only rate four 2007 films as bad.
So Shannon, are you on strike or going to take part in the Blanches? |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| shannon |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:07 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NC
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Eh, I haven't seen enough of the films that are being nominated, so for me to nominate seems unfair. (When are we gonna become important enough to receive our own "for your consideration" screeners?) I'll probably nominate There Will Be Blood for a few things just to go on the record, but I doubt it'll make much of a difference because only Melody and I seem to have any taste in here. 
I do enjoy the Blanches, always have, and I'll for sure participate in the voting process. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:43 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Shannon........for sure TWBB had jaw dropping moments. Even when the boy was a baby, the scene where DDL was holding him and the baby kept looking up at his face and touching his beard. Did you see Into the Wild? I'd like to know what you thought of it. |
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| shannon |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 1628
Location: NC
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| No, I haven't, but I will. I really, really want to. I'll let you know when I do. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:15 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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I thought it was an exhilerating film......despite the ending.
I see Billy and Lorne thought Daniel D-L a ham. Hmmm......I've never liked the guy so.......I didn't expect to like the movie. His performance was......yes, like dynamite......but dynamite was necessary to get at the oil. Somewhere, someone compared this film to Citizen Kane. It is a story of one man's ambition and vulnerability.
SPOILERS: The turning point of the film seemed to be when he found out his brother wasn't his brother. Then his fury was unleashed. His decline came when his son declared independence and he told him he wasn't his son. He stopped believing that he had "found blood"........and he had found oil and was sick of that......He released his final fury on the preacher. It was really a story of nihilism.......hope squashed. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:14 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Saw 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and was stunned. It's one of the most depressing movies imaginable, but also one of the most exhilarating because of the brilliance of its creation. The story of two women in 1987 Romania setting about to procure an illegal abortion, it deals with quotidian events in a way that makes them constantly riveting and compelling. It's as if we were looking at an Andy Warhol movie if Warhol were a talented filmmaker.
About the performances, they couldn't be better--and in the leading actress, Anamaria Marinca, I have found a Blanche nominee and the best performance of 2007. |
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| Rod |
| Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:36 am |
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Joined: 21 Dec 2004
Posts: 2944
Location: Lithgow, Australia
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No Country For Old Men
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Huh? |
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| tirebiter |
| Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: not far away
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 10:37 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds wrote: Saw 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days and was stunned. It's one of the most depressing movies imaginable, but also one of the most exhilarating because of the brilliance of its creation.
Assuming you saw it in the theater, how did the audience react?
I'd imagine stunned silence after that gut-punch of a film is over.
Great film.
Sure hope more people get to see it.
One interesting thing about the title.
4 luni, 3 saptamani si 2 zile in Romanian, which is apparently the closest modern language to Latin. Luni refers to the moon, so months. Saptamani has that "sept" prefix for 7, equals a week. But then the "zile" for day is a curveball. Listening to the sparse dialogue, I found myself able to pick out some Romanian-English cognates.
I actually have a question about the title, but might as well wait until more folks see the film.
Only problem for me was that my dvd copy had English subtitles which sometimes disappeared very quickly, often forcing me to rewind and pause. A new dvd copy of it just turned up, and I'm assuming will have improved subs, probably based on the US release. I plan to watch it again soon. |
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