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| inlareviewer |
 Posted: Thu Jan 14, 2010 3:00 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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carrobin wrote: Jack Benny was indeed ahead of his time.
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 2:41 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Folks might want to check out Big Fan.
It's something like Momma's Man with a story line.
While it's basically a slacker film, it deals with issues of hero worship, sports fandom, and personal identity. It's written and directed by Robert D. Siegel, the screenwriter for The Wrestler (he also used to write for The Onion), which gives you an idea of the realism, seediness and wit in Big Fan.
It's not a big film, but it captures a small world quite well. The lead actor is very believable as a schlub. At times clever and humorous, there's also moments when you start dreading where things might be heading. An ear to the ground, gritty film.
I'm coming around to the belief that 2009 was a solid year for smaller less flashy films -- Mary & Max, A Serious Man, Everlasting Moments, Moon, Tyson, Up in the Air, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Goodbye Solo, Invention of Lying, World's Greatest Dad, etc.
And a pretty good year for sports themed filmed: Facing Ali, Big Fan, Tyson, Awaydays.
And definitely a prime year for Animation:
Mary & Max, Sita, 9, Matter of Loaf & Death, Up, Coraline, plus Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Where the Wild Things Are (haven't seen the last two yet).
I've only seen five '09 films which I actively disliked (so far) which is much better than a typical year.
Anti-Christ; The Watchmen; The Silence of Lorna; Whatever Works; The Girlfriend Experience. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:07 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| A SINGLE MAN is one of the most sumptuous looking films I've seen in a long time. It's beautifully art directed and photographed. The movie reminds me a bit of Todd Hayne's "Far From Heaven". Colin Firth is getting all the attention, but I absolutely loved Julianne Moore's performance. Watching the film is like thumbing through an old copy of Esquire from the sixties. Director Tom Ford uses color to evoke emotion in extraordinary ways.One of the year's best. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:20 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I think Colin Firth deserves the attention. He was the center of the film. Everything he felt, we felt. The setting and the 1962 period affects were icing and brilliantly done........but Firth!!
When I thought of the other Oscar worthy actors this year.....they started to pale. When seeing Avatar I was flying around awed by the beauty of Pandora. When seeing A Single Man I was a gay man who had lost his lover of 16 years suddenly at a time when a gay man had noone to communicate with safely. "Light in the loafers" and "Perv" were the only references to homosexuality. Even Julianne Moore's character thought he was substituting a man for a woman's rightful place......How could that be love? Well, it was love and it was loss and I felt it.......especially when he was petting the dog in a stranger's car. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:35 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Okay, that's it. Was already planning to see it this weekend, and Marc and befade's reportage, on top of colleague urgings, sealed the deal. Buzzworks on Firth, La Belle Julianne AND the film have been quietly superlative for a while now. However, given my rush to have a drink and a weep after The Savages and its proximity to like paternal issues at the time, and my ever-acute recollections of the widowerhood period, all instincts tell me I might require a Xanax after this one. |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:41 pm; edited 1 time in total
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:41 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: I think Colin Firth deserves the attention.
Me too. But, Julianne Moore is not getting enough attention. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:00 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| 2009 was the best movie year--small, big, whatever--in at least the last decade and probably far beyond. There were more extraordinary-to-great films released this year than in any I can recall. |
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| chillywilly |
| Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:04 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 8251
Location: Salt Lake City
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I can see myself getting confused with A Serious Man and A Single Man, let alone replacing the word 'Single' with 'Simple'
Of course, it would help if I would go to see both then I would have a valid set of details to properly separate the two films. |
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Chilly
"If you should die before me / Ask if you could bring a friend" |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 4:43 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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I wouldn't skip The Lovely Bones, in fact, I didn't. I watched a screener of it last night. I only knew the premise really, nothing else. I found it to be a very beautiful, albeit horrific, story filmed very well. I certainly wouldn't want to miss Tucci's killer, NOR Ms. Sarandon's Grandmother. All in all, I'm glad I watched it.
Luckily, I had a copy of UP to see afterwards. It truly was one of the best PIXAR films made yet. Finding Nemo is still my favorite, but this one is right behind it.
So glad to be working again because my Screener-Loaner friend says that getting copies of Crazy Heart and A Single Man seem highly unlikely this year and they are really the next two I must see. Also, he offered me a screener for Avatar and I just quizzically looked @ him like, uhm, doesn't that kind of defeat it's whole purpose? Wooziness or not, I want to see that in 3D.
One last thing, I'm still very confused over all the love for An Education, but I seem to be in a minority on this one. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Wade.........really happy to hear you're working again. It's too hard to bear......missing the films that are out there. You'll love A Single Man. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:45 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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| Thanks, I have been wanting to see it since I heard it was being made into a film. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:46 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I second that. Great news, Ehle. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Jan 16, 2010 11:09 pm |
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| Back at work. I'm very happy for you. 2010 will be better for you, I'm sure. Give the S man my condolences for the loss of his mother. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:04 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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marantzo wrote: Back at work. I'm very happy for you. 2010 will be better for you, I'm sure. Give the S man my condolences for the loss of his mother.
Same here, everything Gary said. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sun Jan 17, 2010 12:22 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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Thanks, guys. I still can't believe she's gone and I really still can't believe how long I was unemployed (I'm still technically w/o a job, but @ least temp work is picking up again).
Up In The Air or It's Complicated for tonight. If I can, maybe both.  |
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