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| gromit |
 Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 10:15 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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lissa wrote: Who was the one who saw Wendy and Lucy? It's coming out on Tuesday and I'm wondering if I should rent it...
The search function works fairly well.
Just make sure to click Search for all terms below the key words (Wendy and Lucy);
and at the bottom left just above the SEARCH button, select Display results as POSTS.
Befade thoroughly disliked W&L, and while i didn't get much out of it, my observations on the film were near 180 degrees from hers.
http://www.thirdeyefilm.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=184370&highlight=wendy+lucy#184370
If you rent it, just be prepared for a low-key naturalistic (slice-of-life) film, which is a bit of a downer.
I think there is a minor trend of indie films which observe over a limited period of time the realistic behavior of mostly down-and-out, rather asocial characters, with little drama and few or no climactic moments. This somewhat anti-cinema is hailed in some circles as masterful. I'm sure this can work as a character study or by engaging us in an alien world, but off the top of my head, I've yet to see it handled successfully. Rosetta is sort of the recent touchstone for these films, though there was a similar low-budget trend in the 70's. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 10:53 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Check BTC, everyone. Bad news. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 8:20 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Lissa.........I saw Wendy and Lucy. I don't recommend a downer movie like this......especially when thoughts are of Nancy.
A story like this could have a more hopeful or even triumphant ending as The Soloist did and Into the Wild did.
Lucille Ball is my own personal dog and her namesake was not given due honor in this film. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| lissa |
| Posted: Sat May 02, 2009 8:33 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 2148
Location: my computer
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| Thanks, Bets...I'll avoid it for now. Perhaps at another time, but no, I don't need a downer film this week. |
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Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarfs aren't happy. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun May 03, 2009 6:00 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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lissa wrote: Thanks, Bets...I'll avoid it for now. Perhaps at another time, but no, I don't need a downer film this week.
For the record, I feel the same way as Betsy about what I could sit through of Wendy and Lucy. It was interesting enough for me to give it another try later, but downer it is, and obviously not my immediate cup of tea. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Thu May 07, 2009 12:09 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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I rented Doubt mainly to see the extras but ended up watching the movie again. I really wanted to see all of the camera angles mentioned here worked. Oh, Yes!
But I was wrong about Sister Aloysius' cross. Or better yet, I reported incorrectly. [Some friends had told me that her cross grew smaller.] Her cross stayed the same during the movie -- even during that last scene.
The film itself is not nearly as powerful on the small screen, yet I picked up some subtext that I missed the first time around and it's a film so rich with varying levels and subtexts, it's really worth a second viewing.
The extras are very good. I haven't had a chance to see them all yet. But they, the film, if you've seen it or not, is certainly worth a rental. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 6:24 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| A big and rather delightful surprise awaits anyone who rents The Uninvited--not the Ray Milland-Gail Russell ghost story from the 1940s that introduced the beautiful song standard "Stella by Starlight," but the new Asian-horror-remake featuring David Strathairn and Elizabeth Banks and starring a couple of young actresses whose names escape me but who have talent and charisma. This is a story which seems to be the old "mother was very ill and dad remarried the nurse who was attending her when she unexpectedly died" cliche but which has some unpredictable twists and turns along the way. You will like this movie, I guarantee you. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 9:46 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| The Uninvited is a remake of a far better Korean movie called A TALE OF TWO SISTERS. The Uninvited is not bad, but it pales in comparison to the original. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 11:50 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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I find Asian horror films too arty and too vague. And I dislike the American remakes (e.g., The Grudge) even more than the originals. However, The Uninvited grabbed me from the beginning and held me all the way to the end. The "making of" extra explained how they changed the thrust of the story from the original and is an interesting addition to the DVD.
I also doubt very much that any performance in the Korean version equals Elizabeth Banks's in the remake. She is a goddess. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri May 08, 2009 12:50 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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billy,
A TALE OF TWO SISTERS is arty in a Kubrick way. I think you'll like it. The Uninvited has a completely different ending than Tale. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu May 14, 2009 8:27 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| What Doesn't Kill You is a not-great but very competent and seriously watchable gangster drama with Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke as buddies who are small-time South Boston hoods, middle-aged errand boys for a slightly bigger-time small-timer, and best friends. It's a true story and an autobiography by the writer-director Brian Goodman (who is played by Ruffalo and who himself plays Hawke's and Ruffalo's boss). The actors are marvelous (though Ruffalo is a tad miscast as a gangster, no matter how clean, sober, remorseful and reconstituted he gets by the end of the story). This movie is very definitely the essence of what a solid DVD rental is all about. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 1:51 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Didn't care much for Synecdoche, New York. Never had much use for Charlie Kaufman's headgames.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 7:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: Didn't care much for Synecdoche, New York. Never had much use for Charlie Kaufman's headgames.
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Word to the mother ship. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 15, 2009 2:58 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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The Foot Fist Way is the first feature by Jody Hill, whose second feature Observe and Report was a direct result of the success of TFFW.
The title is a literal translation of Tae Kwan Do, which is taught by the leading character, Fred Simmons. Fred is perhaps the most complete asshole ever to be the leading character in a film. His base of operations is in a strip mall, he is married to a bimbo, and his idol is a Grade Z martial arts movie star, the pauper's Chuck Norris. And yet Fred is our hero.
Danny McBride, who came close to stealing Pineapple Express, is Fred, and it's a dynamite comedy performance. But director Jody Hill is the man, and Seth Rogen was smart to hire him for Observe and Report. Hill has a unique vision and a remarkable way of making the worst of humanity seem...okay. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat May 16, 2009 5:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Nothing But the Truth is Rod Lurie's take on the Valerie Plame affair, with Kate Beckinsale standing in for Judith Miller and Vera Farmiga for Plame. A star-studded cast including Matt Dillon, Alan Alda, David Schwimmer, and Angela Bassett does a great job with an entertainingly cheesed-up storyline. In a perfect world, Beckinsale and Farmiga would have been rewarded with Oscar nominations last year, but the movie apparently had financial problems when it came time for distribution and, according to Ebert, missed its ideal opening date. Anyway, it's out on DVD and well, well worth the rental.
It tries to cram a little too much into the narrative, but it's all interesting and, despite the fact that Bassett is cruelly underused, the cast comes through brilliantly, including Beckinsale, hardly my favorite actress. She's been exceedingly well cast here, however. Her bee-yotchy vibe, usually a guaranteed turn-off for me, is perfect for this reporter who refuses to name her sources and goes to jail, provoking events which are cataclysmic for everyone involved. Alda is her defense attorney, Dillon her legal nemesis, Schwimmer her husband. They're all excellent. Farmiga, meanwhile, almost steals the movie as the foul-mouthed spy whose CIA connection is the reason for Beckinsale's Pulitzer-seeking expose.
All this and the ladies are soccer moms to boot. What a hoot. |
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