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| Joe Vitus |
 Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 7:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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ehle64 wrote: Please forgive my absense, but I will go back and read eventually -- has anyone praised Slumdog Millionaire or Milk or Vicky Christina Barcelona or any of the other films I've tried to wrap my head around during my massive depression? So sorry, not wanting to seem like I'm skipping, but it was a vast absense and I thank you all for making there be several pages for me to read later. Oh snap, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it's brill, IMO.
It so happens, I caught Milk for the second time New Year's Eve. Love it as much as the first time. Tears streaming down my eyes at the end. Have more to say, but it's too late on New Year's Morning. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 8:31 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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It's Screener Time in ol' Shanghai.
My copy of Milk was a low-key screener -- just a brief few words of proprietariness every 30 minutes.
Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler, Revolutionary Road, etc.
Watched Waltz with Bashir.
Called an animated documentary, the filmmaker interviews ex-soldiers, media, politicians about events in Beirut 20 years ago. Specifically the events leading up to the refugee camp massacres. The story device that he cannot remember anything and therefore has to seek memories out from others is a little creaky (even if true). But most of the memories of wartime are compelling and the animation is quite clever and well done.
In one nice small fantasy scene, he says that he saw his ship catch fire and there is a calm pause in which I started imagining how to artfully represent this. Then a plane quickly streaks towards us, drops some slender grey bombs on the distant ship, and then the entire palette flashes and remains orange. Along with the bomb noises, this was quite simple and effective.
A good film. Those who can recall the details of those late 80's skirmishes and killings might get more out of it. I imagine most Israelis are pretty well-versed in the whole sorry history. The film sticks to personal memoir and gropes towards how war affects the survivors. It largely avoids the broader political dimension and seems to take pains to show Israeli soldiers as being moral actors. As this week's news attests, issues of appropriate military force and resulting civilian deaths are still very much part of Israeli life. Maybe the only way to get people to look at the human costs is by steering clear of apportioning blame. I'm left a little uncomfortable that the film sticks too much to the personal level and doesn't ask broader questions.
But this is well worth seeking out. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:14 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
Posts: 12533
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gromit --
Have you come across either of the Winslet pictures, yet? I heard some good feedback about the one w/ Leo. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:16 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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tirebiter wrote: My wife and I just saw Slumdog Millionaire-- very good and well worth the price of admission.
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You make it sound as if you were on your way to the Early Bird Special and forgot your senior discount card.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:16 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| gromit--By comparison with most of the reviews for Waltz with Bashir, yours is a pan. The critics are going mad and crazy for it. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:18 am |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Thanks lots for the DANCE, inla! I've forwarded the link with New Year's greetings. Bizarre and oddly funny.
(Loretta Young on acid.) |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 9:55 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds wrote: gromit--By comparison with most of the reviews for Waltz with Bashir, yours is a pan. The critics are going mad and crazy for it.
Well, I thought it was very good. I was impressed, especially by the animation.
I just thought it let everyone off the hook too easily. The moral quandary of the filmmaker was rather too easy to resolve in his favor. And while I don't think it was intended to be ambivalent, I could see both anti-war and pro-war justifications in the film.
Guess I'll look for a review. |
Last edited by gromit on Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:33 am; edited 1 time in total
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| lady wakasa |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 10:12 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 5911
Location: Beyond the Blue Horizon
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I've been trying to get to NYC to see Waltz with Bashir (after work), but the train schedule cuts it close with no other options (and I had to work late yesterday, yes).
I may try again tomorrow, when I *should* get out around 2.
All this means I'm not reading your review right now, gromit. But I did have a private conversation years ago with a man who'd served in the IDF during Lebanon. So I'm curious about the movie. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:26 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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| Good grief, Andrew Sarris wrote a review of Waltz with Bashir which is just filled with mistakes and misguided comments. Is this guy a serious reviewer or just a total hack? Best I could surmise is that he got distracted by text messages or something when watching/not watching the film. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 11:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: Good grief, Andrew Sarris wrote a review of Waltz with Bashir which is just filled with mistakes and misguided comments. Is this guy a serious reviewer or just a total hack? Best I could surmise is that he got distracted by text messages or something when watching/not watching the film.
He's older than God. Maybe he's having a touch of old-timer's disease. |
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| Earl |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 1:58 pm |
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Joined: 09 Jun 2004
Posts: 2621
Location: Houston
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ehle64 wrote: Please forgive my absense, but I will go back and read eventually -- has anyone praised Slumdog Millionaire or Milk or Vicky Christina Barcelona or any of the other films I've tried to wrap my head around during my massive depression? So sorry, not wanting to seem like I'm skipping, but it was a vast absense and I thank you all for making there be several pages for me to read later. Oh snap, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, it's brill, IMO.
Welcome back. I praised all of the first three titles you mentioned, Slumdog Millionaire particularly and recently. As a matter of fact, right before I saw your post, I was reading this interesting article...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123059568693241001.html
...about A.R. Rahman, who composed the score for Slumdog Millionaire. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 3:55 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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The Wrestler is a solid film. The heavy metal music and some of the journalist style camerawork irritated me at times. But it's an effective film with Rourke taking those gruff Nick Nolte roles a step further. Tomei is good. I thought Evan Rachel Wood had an underwritten part which was hit or miss.
For whatever reason, my father is a wrestling fan, and even went to some local NJ wrestling event a few weeks back -- the Knights of Columbus Hall in Dunellen. He said that the wrestlers couldn't go off the top ring rope because the ceiling was too low. Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, who is over 60, was one of the wrestlers. While I'm sure Rourke's wrestler is a composite, in a lot of ways it resembles the career of 80's star Superfly Snuka who became famous for going off the top ring rope, had alcohol and drug problems, and who lives and still wrestles at small time venues in NJ in his mid-60's. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 4:01 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I am getting some horrible word of mouth about Benjamin Button. Like "unwatchable," "dreadful," "endless." I'm definitely not going to a theater to see it. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 4:47 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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billyweeds wrote: I am getting some horrible word of mouth about Benjamin Button. Like "unwatchable," "dreadful," "endless." I'm definitely not going to a theater to see it.
None of this surprises me one bit...but why is it just coming out now? You'd have thought that the reviews would have been much worse. They're not - most of the magazines and newspapers I've seen have given it about a 4 out of 5 star rating.
Is it some kind of given that this movie is supposed to put Pitt into Oscar contention?
I am _thinking_ about seeing it tomorrow...but don't want to invest all that time. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Jan 01, 2009 4:54 pm |
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The reviews I have read for Button were mediocre at best. One reviewer said it was like Forest Gump without the whimsy. WOW, he didn't have to add the "without whimsy" to make my mind up.  |
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