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| Syd |
 Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 10:16 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I thought American Beauty was reasonably good but not really a best picture. Road to Perdition was pretty, very well acted, and icy cold. I didn't like Revolutionary Road at all.
I liked Jarhead, which was sort on an un-war war movie. I can emphathize* with the people who didn't like it, but I though it was interesting to have a movie about how it is to spend six months sitting to fight a war (and of course, having it over before you get to see combat). I think it's a movie that has a hard time connecting with people expecting a more traditional war movie.
*Hey, I'm a Democrat. We're into empathy. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 10:28 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Haven't seen Jarhead, but I agree that Road to Perdition was ice cold. It was a pseudo-intellectual's idea of what a crime drama should be. Just as American Beauty was the same vis-a-vis a social satire and Mendes's Cabaret was vis-a-vis a Broadway musical. Sounds like Jarhead was pretty much the same vis-a-vis a war movie.
And Away We Go vis-a-vis a road movie.
Wonder if the protagonists ever visit Oklahoma. (That's an in joke; bonus points for deciphering it. Joe?) |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:00 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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And Revolutionary Road was the same for domestic drama. I admire the craft that goes into his films though, and he does get very good performances from his actors. Jarhead had the advantage of being based on a memoir of a person who actually went through the absurd situation.
I could easily see Mendes doing something like The Remains of the Day, which is ice-cold and more to be admired than loved. (And well-crafted with very good performances from the actors, of course.) |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:06 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Syd--Bingo. You nailed it. Mendes is another Merchant-Ivory. I was gonna say the American Merchant-Ivory except that Mendes is also a Brit. Figures. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 11:42 am |
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| I thought Road to Perdition was a good movie until the stupid logic behind the father's reaction to if his son killed the psycho who was threatening him (the father) with certain death. It made no sense at all and was just STUPID!!!!!! A director who puts in a sequence that doesn't make a lick of sense just so the audience will somehow be moved, deserves to sink his own picture and that did it. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:04 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Billy and Marc,
Thanks for your views on Revolutionary Road. I was planning to watch it with a male friend but feared it was too much of a "woman's" picture.
And I was wrong. The film has really stayed with me. Even gotten under my skin. It really is a very fine film. And I give Mendes credit for finding the best actors to tell his stories. And whether or not one hates American Beauty, he certainly did the same in that film, though it doesn't hold a candle to RR.
I also give him credit for filming on location and in chronological order for RR. The location filming made a huge difference as far as I'm concerned. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Marj--You're so right about the location shooting. I think that had as much to do with the movie's effect as the performances. I really liked the movie, and believe me, with Mendes at the helm I definitely had a show-me attitude going in. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:52 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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I can see that, Billy.
Quote: And Revolutionary Road was the same for domestic drama. I admire the craft that goes into his films though, and he does get very good performances from his actors. Jarhead had the advantage of being based on a memoir of a person who actually went through the absurd situation
Syd,
I really agree and it ought to be noted that RR is based on a book. Apparently the book is even heavier than the movie. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:29 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| The book was written in the early sixties and takes place in the mid-fifties and would have been really searing at the time. Watching the movie, I just wish they would get a divorce and spare us the agony. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:57 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| I'm not satisfied in any way be watching unhappy couples destroying each other. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:03 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| The Hangover has the sound and vibe of an instant classic, one that will be talked about for years to come. Maybe not, but I'm definitely gonna be there to check it out. Once I get back to NYC, however--the sound systems and the visuals in Kingston, NY ain't made for this Big Apple cookie. I'll see Up and The Hangover as a de facto double feature early next week. |
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| Kate |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 7:29 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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I also thought Revolutionary Road was a fine film, even a very good one. Well acted and paced. The dysfunction of the couple was sad to watch. But not really unbearable, just a slice of life. One beef I had was complete absence of the kids - not reality.
I found American Beauty extremely pretentious and did not like it much. However, I fell a little in love with Annette Bening. I thought she was marvelous and captivating.
Lastly, Jarhead was a very solid film. The book was so engrossing that it was an uphill battle to do it justice, but it was a solid attempt. And, just to be crass - Jake was a fine thing to watch for 2 hours. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2009 8:24 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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marantzo wrote: I thought Road to Perdition was a good movie until the stupid logic behind the father's reaction to if his son killed the psycho who was threatening him (the father) with certain death. It made no sense at all and was just STUPID!!!!!! A director who puts in a sequence that doesn't make a lick of sense just so the audience will somehow be moved, deserves to sink his own picture and that did it.
It's been awhile, but I don't remember anything about the plot that struck a false note. From what I remember, it all made sense given what was at stake. Great cast - Hanks, Newman, Jude Law and a pre-Bond Daniel Craig - and I thought the film was really good at the time. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:34 am |
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Spoilers for Road to Perdition:
The killer has the father at gunpoint and is going to kill him. The son has a weapon and can kill the killer, but the father doesn't want him to shoot the man who is going to kill him, because he doesn't want his son to be a killer even though it is a case of stopping him from killing his father. Just stupid. I would like to know, barring extreme pacifists, what father would be disturbed if their son shot someone to save their father from being shot. Makes no sense whatsoever, as does the fact that a loving son wouldn't shoot the guy.
Unless my memory is completely shot, that's what I remember. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:37 am |
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| Up to that point I liked the movie a lot, except for the drawn out wedding party (?) near the beginning. The cast was very good. |
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