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| Kate |
 Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:41 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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| I really tried to like Burn After Reading, but I just found it boring. Took too long to get moving and then, just blah. Maybe I was not in the right frame of mind. I like most of the cast and am a fan of Brad Pitt in comedic mode, but ....nothing. I was bummed. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:41 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| That is a very evocative shot. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 2:49 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Kate--I was expecting to be disappointed by Burn After Reading, and instead was pleasantly surprised. I consider it fairly high-level Coen, rather than overrated (like Barton Fink), dullsville (like The Man Who Wasn't There), or bad (like Intolerable Cruelty). BAR is sort of on a par with The Hudsucker Proxy, The Big Lebowski, and O Brother Where Art Thou?
Fargo, Miller's Crossing, Raising Arizona, No Country for Old Men, and Blood Simple remain the creme de la creme Coen-wise IMO. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 7:50 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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Billy,
I think you benefitted from the negative reactions (mine included) that emphasized the negatives. You were prepared for the worst, but while the Coens may be spiritually bankrupt, they will always be at the very least talented, unique filmmakers. Burn Before Reading has a million problems, but none are the results of incompetence. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 9:50 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| So I rented Rent the other night. I've watched it a couple of times since I got it. Never saw it onstage. The music is often good, but I can't figure out if I like the movie or think it's crap. Does that split response make any sense? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:11 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: So I rented Rent the other night. I've watched it a couple of times since I got it. Never saw it onstage. The music is often good, but I can't figure out if I like the movie or think it's crap. Does that split response make any sense?
Let me be the deciding vote. The movie is unadulterated crap, not adulterated crap like the stage show. (I disliked both intensely, but the movie infinitely more.) |
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| lissa |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: my computer
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Joe,
I had tried Rent when it came out on one of the cable channels, and didn't get into it. Tried it after downloading Seasons of Love and was transfixed. Every subsequent viewing pulled me in deeper, and I bought it.
I'm doing my Masters degree and this all happened during my toughest run. In writing a very involved paper, I put the movie on and went about writing. Because I'm that familiar with the movie, I had no need to actively watch it but it was something in the background to wipe out silence. I had it on a continuous loop and got an A+ on the paper. From then on, the movie has become my soundtrack to work to, and I can STILL watch it as a film and enjoy it.
I find Angel and Collins profoundly moving, and the other characters real, deep, believable and sympathetic...it rates on my Top 10 list.
I felt the split response for the film which quickly turned to an absolute love for it.
Same thing happened with Moulin Rouge. Makes perfect sense. Give it another try and see what happens. |
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Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
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| lissa |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:24 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: my computer
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And obviously billy and I disagree...  |
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Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:28 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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billyweeds wrote: Joe Vitus wrote: So I rented Rent the other night. I've watched it a couple of times since I got it. Never saw it onstage. The music is often good, but I can't figure out if I like the movie or think it's crap. Does that split response make any sense?
Let me be the deciding vote. The movie is unadulterated crap, not adulterated crap like the stage show. (I disliked both intensely, but the movie infinitely more.)
Never saw the movie. Didn't like the stage show. "Young Bohos in Love." Would rather watch "La Boheme" any day. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Norman, OK
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| Although the music is nice, I thought the movie Rent was crap, and Moulin Rouge not a whole lot better. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
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| mo_flixx |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:31 pm |
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Joined: 30 May 2004
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Nancy wrote: Although the music is nice, I thought the movie Rent was crap, and Moulin Rouge not a whole lot better.
Did not like MR either.
BTW perhaps "Lola Montes" served as an inspiration?? The restored "Lola Montes" by Ophuls is a marvel and should not be missed. |
Last edited by mo_flixx on Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:31 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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Lissa,
What are you getting your degree in? What's your thesis? |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:32 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I pretty much loved Moulin Rouge! (The exclamation point is part of the title, differentiating it from the Jose Ferrer Toulouse-Lautrec bio. |
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| Nancy |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:32 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Norman, OK
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mo_flixx wrote: Nancy wrote: Although the music is nice, I thought the movie Rent was crap, and Moulin Rouge not a whole lot better.
Did not like MR either.
Particularly disliked that incredibly tepid tango. |
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"All in all, it's just another feather in the fan."
Isaacism, 2009 |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Jan 02, 2009 10:33 pm |
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The only parts of Rent that I saw were some numbers on the Tony's award show and on some other TV somethingorother. I wondered why they didn't show better numbers, because what I saw was lame as shit, and the show was all the rage. Years later I had a couple of encounters with the preview for the film Rent. Still thinking that the Broadway show must have been quite good, I watched the dreadful preview and thought that they had turned it into a dreadful, sickly, self-loving, schmaltzfest. And in my infinite wisdom thought, "This is going to bomb!"
Thanks Billy for letting me know that the Broadway show was lousy also. |
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