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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:49 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote: The phrase "Get a life!" comes to mind.
And stays there. What an idiot. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:53 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Don't know if Avatar or The Last Samurai are about white guilt. Don't think Dances with Wolves was (I do think it was a crappy movie). But I figure as long as white people feel guilty about about their past, they'll keep telling stories to deal with it. It's kinda the human condition. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 10:13 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| As soon as I saw the first ad for "Avatar," I knew that the villains would be the invaders of the unfamiliar world--that's just how drama works. Then there were right-wing critics saying it was "anti-American," as if Americans had never thought of destroying another culture. And is it only Americans trying to get control of that world, or are other Earth nations involved? Anyway, I want to see it before I get too knowledgeable about the critics. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 3:45 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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My films for 2009 are, at this point: Goodbye Solo, Adventureland, Inglorious Basterds, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Up, Moon, Watchmen, Coraline, Where the Wild Things Are and Avatar. Red Cliff 2 would also be included if it hadn't been combined with Red Cliff, which I mentioned last year. I'll be catching up with Oscar bait and independent and foreign films over the next month or so, so this list could chang quite a bit.
EDIT: Oh, oh. I left out Sita Sings the Blues. Should that be considered a 2009 film, seeing how the distribution's been screwed up? |
Last edited by Syd on Sun Dec 20, 2009 12:55 am; edited 1 time in total
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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: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:14 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: Why is everything I want to see being shown exclusively on the East Side? Don't they know I live in the West Valley?
Well.............you didn't ask my advice before you relocated to Surprise (or is it Sun City  )
And It takes me an hour and a half to get to those theatres. Does it take you that long?  |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 7:18 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Syd wrote: My films for 2009 are, at this point: Goodbye Solo, Adventureland, Inglorious Basterds, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Up, Moon, Watchmen, Coraline, Where the Wild Things Are and Avatar. Red Cliff 2 would also be included if it hadn't been combined with Red Cliff, which I mentioned last year. I'll be catching up with Oscar bait and independent and foreign films over the next month or so, so this list could chang quite a bit.
Have you seen The Hurt Locker? Don't be "hurt" if you have and I've forgotten. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 8:11 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Robin Williams finally gives a good performance--a very good one--in World's Greatest Dad, directed by Bobcat Goldthwait. It's an extremely dark comedy about the Michael Jackson syndrome--the glorification of someone after death, in this case the toxic son of loser Williams. It's funny and extremely trenchant. Highly recommended, not least for the excellent performance, finally, by the talented but increasingly unwatchable star.
This shoulda been in Couch. Sorry. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 9:26 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| I saw AVATAR today in an IMAX theater. It's the first time I've seen an IMAX presentation and I was very impressed. After a second viewing, Avatar stands up as a visual masterpiece, but it lacks emotional depth. As a liberal pinko, I dig the film's anti-imperialist message. Shit, the film is downright anti-American. Watching it in the family friendly confines of a bigass Texas movie theater, I got the impression the audience was somewhat appalled at the film's depiction of the US military as an alien invading force that will resort to genocide to line the pockets of their corporate masters. Strong stuff for the Holidays. Of course, I'm in total agreement with the film's message. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Dec 19, 2009 11:38 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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billyweeds wrote: Syd wrote: My films for 2009 are, at this point: Goodbye Solo, Adventureland, Inglorious Basterds, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Up, Moon, Watchmen, Coraline, Where the Wild Things Are and Avatar. Red Cliff 2 would also be included if it hadn't been combined with Red Cliff, which I mentioned last year. I'll be catching up with Oscar bait and independent and foreign films over the next month or so, so this list could chang quite a bit.
Have you seen The Hurt Locker? Don't be "hurt" if you have and I've forgotten.
No, I haven't. Looks like it comes out on DVD around January 12. |
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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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| McBain |
| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:29 am |
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Joined: 26 May 2004
Posts: 1987
Location: Boston
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| Avatar gets 7/10. |
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A life, Jimmy. You know what that is? It's the shit that happens while you're waiting for moments that never come. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 3:06 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| Al, could you take the time to elaborate on your thoughts on Avatar. You take the time for the politics, but not the movies. I'm real interested in your take on the film. You posted someone else's point of view (the white guilt thing), why not your own? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 6:25 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Al, could you take the time to elaborate on your thoughts on Avatar. You take the time for the politics, but not the movies. I'm real interested in your take on the film. You posted someone else's point of view (the white guilt thing), why not your own?
Extraordinarily good point. I can see being self-conscious about pictures, but why so reticent about opinions on film? |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 9:26 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Befade wrote: Quote: Why is everything I want to see being shown exclusively on the East Side? Don't they know I live in the West Valley?
Well.............you didn't ask my advice before you relocated to Surprise (or is it Sun City )
And It takes me an hour and a half to get to those theatres. Does it take you that long? |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 11:35 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| One thing that bothers me about Avatar: at one point, the colonel says that the native village is on the largest source of unobtainium within 200 kilometers. This implies there are other sources of unobtainium on the planet. If you're capable of going light-years to get unobtainium, is it too difficult to go a couple hundred miles to get it, rather than starting a full-scale war with the native population? |
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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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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 5:52 pm |
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| 200 kilometres is 125 miles. Surely not a long trip. |
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