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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 6:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Saw Up in the Air again. It more than holds up on a second viewing, it's actually better the second time. Still not what I'd call a "great" film, not even "extraordinary," it still easily achieves "excellent."
Interesting to see the development of the story when one already knows the outcome.
SPOILER IN WHITE
In an conversation at my wife's birthday party, my daughter, who liked the movie, said she thinks they cheated by not layering Farmiga's character more and making her the kind of woman who could have a family life like the one depicted in the brief scene at her doorstep. My friend (an advertising exec) countered with the fact that he knows many people in his industry who keep their nuclear family life and their on-the-road philandering totally separate and discrete. |
Last edited by billyweeds on Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:38 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 7:37 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I know I should be ashamed to admit this, but I am lusting to see Extraordinary Measures, the almost inevitably mediocre inspirational "true" medical drama starring two of my favorites, Brendan Fraser and Harrison Ford. Sue me. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:05 am |
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I like those two also. Have never not enjoyed them, no matter the film.
Fortunately District 9, did come here and I saw it in an almost private screen mode. Never are many at those early afternoon showings. Really liked it. The docu/drama shooting didn't bother me at all. The lead was great and his metamorphosis was excellent. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: I know I should be ashamed to admit this, but I am lusting to see Extraordinary Measures
Talk about sinking low...........Why the heck are they advertising that film so much?
Gary........I liked everything about District 9 except the noise. I just thought it was too loud with the bang bangs. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 2:12 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: Silly for not mentioning Morton, I've always loved her. As soon as the film was over, one of the HBO's had Control on and I was like, dayum she's good.
I haven't seen Control........but the best Morton I've seen is Longford. A must-see. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 10:53 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: I know I should be ashamed to admit this, but I am lusting to see Extraordinary Measures
I'd rather eat a bowl of razorblades. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 5:56 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Marc wrote: Quote: I know I should be ashamed to admit this, but I am lusting to see Extraordinary Measures
I'd rather eat a bowl of razorblades. |
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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: Sat Jan 23, 2010 10:54 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Men Who Stare at Goats is very good. It felt very much like a lost (but recent) Coen Bros. film, which is praise in gromitland. I like Clooney in serio-comic roles, when his character takes himself seriously but is rather goofy (think O Brother).
It's an intriguing and amusing story, and as the film says, much more of it is true than you'd think. A fun movie to wiki and google after you've seen it. (unfortunately the assholes that be just decided to block wikipedia, this 3 weeks after nixing IMDb). The film spoofs on Full Metal Jacket at one point and in one scene Kevin Spacey looks suspiciously like Peter Sellers' Capt. Mandrake. Goats shouldn't be missed.
I'm not a fan of Mr. Fox. Actually it was okay, but too much of a retread of the scheming and verbal quibbling of Bottle Rocket and Tenenbaums. Felt like tired and familiar Wes A--. I did think that Clooney and the other voice actors were commendable and raised the level of what seemed like a bit of a slight project. I'm wondering how children will respond to it.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. I enjoyed this film, adapted, directed and acted in by John Krasinski (sp?) of Office fame. It's a bit uneven and doesn't fully come together. But I think it had ambitions and some scenes are adventurous and successful. Interesting way of re-enacting some scenes, with the characters telling the story oddly present in a dual role as participant and story-teller.
One thing that got tiresome was the written/rehearsed speech manner that the characters mainly use. It worked in parts but often felt too forced and artificial, reminding you that these were actors playing parts. Perhaps they tried to copy the written style of the book too faithfully. Anyway, this is hip and sundanceindie and kind of fun and mildly twisted. Better than I expected from a complete blind pickup of a film I'd never heard of.
Up in the Air was reasonably good, but felt a little too much on auto-pilot at times. Most of the characters are kind of annoying stereotypes. This felt like a spin-off or continuation of Thank You for Smoking. I liked Juno and Smoking better than this. Though it's still a nice run for Reitman.
As for the issue Billy raised, it was definitely abrupt, but I think that was intended to produce the desired effect, and put us in Clooney's place. Also, I figured that she just assumed that Clooney too had a family outside of his travel warrior bravado. I had more trouble believing that a smart career woman would tell a guy to think of her as "you, with a vagina." But then again, a bunch of the dialogue was a tad overwritten, what I'm kind of perceiving as the Diablo Cody factor (think throwaway lines like, "the way you burritoed me in the sofa cushions").
George Freakin' Clooney is goddamn everywhere -- basically starring in 3 of the 4 films I just reviewed. Clooney is good in UpintheAir, but I like his cool, self-sufficient but flawed characters somewhat less than his goofy quirky characters, both of which are way better than his romantic leads. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:23 pm |
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Quote: (unfortunately the assholes that be just decided to block wikipedia, this 3 weeks after nixing IMDb).
I didn't even think of you when that Google dispute with the totalitarian regime in China occurred. Wiki and IMDB ? What kind of subversion do the Chinese commies think they produce?
Or are you talking about workplace blockages, not the Chinese government's?
When was the last time Clooney played a romantic lead???? I never liked him as a romantic lead. I don't think he takes himself seriously enough to give a good performance as a lover. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 12:50 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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IMDb has been blocked by the PRC gov't for 3 weeks now.
Seems to be some combo of distrusting blog/social network sites (youtube, twitter, facebook have been blocked for months), and displeasure at two recent documentaries -- one about the Dalai Lama and one about Uighur leader Rebiya Kadeer. China recently pulled 2 Chinese films from the Sydney and Palm Springs Film Festivals in retaliation for those two docs being presented.
Probably the only reason I've heard about the films.
Wiki is acting very strangely this evening.
Sometimes blocked, sometimes I get through very briefly then it gets blocked, or I get through but there's no search bar. All in all, not encouraging. If it gets worse I'll hunt up free proxy servers or pay for one.
My guess is that the gov't is trying to devise ways to block some content deemed objectionable within the sites but allow the sites themselves to be accessed. Which hopefully means IMDb will be back soon, and would explain the funky things going on with wiki.
For those unaware, the PRC has blocked internet access completely to one whole province for the last 6 months, since riots out there last summer. Last week they reconnected exactly 4 sites. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 1:23 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| Saw Pedro Almodovar's Broken Embraces. It's definitely his homage to Hitchcock, Sirk and Ray, but not a particularly good film. I was disappointed. The highlight of the film is Penelope Cruz's naked breasts. |
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| ehle64 |
| Posted: Sat Jan 23, 2010 11:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 7149
Location: NYC; US&A
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How in the cuss could anyone not be a fan of The Fantastic Mr. Fox?  |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 3:56 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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SAG has spoken: Basterds, Bridges, Bullock, Waltz, Mo'Nique.
LAT: 'Inglourious Basterds' steals top SAG award;The Nazi-era Quentin Tarantino film won for best movie ensemble acting.Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock add to their acting titles. But ensemble win for 'Inglourious Basterds' shows it could be a player.
Again, the SAGGYs indicate what the largest branch of that other, um, film society thinks, but it's an indicator, not a guarantor: only their tabulators know how close the voting was. That said, The Clooney is now a Receding Principal Spoiler, Mrs. Gummer still A Legit Contender (no, not because of SASSY bribery. because Best Actress Dead Heat is what all Indostry Insidears report; just ask Annette Bening or Lauren Bacall or Eddie Murphy or, yes, Mrs. Gummer about taking a SAGGY yet losing the Oscar that same year. It ain't over 'till the Bald Gold Man swings). All agree that Waltz and Mo'Nique repeat on The Night (barring voodoo, ballot-switching, post office catastrophe or an overreaching SCOTUS ruling). The Inglourious ensemble win increases its odds for Best Pic by, well, 11 per cent (all it will take for any film to win the Big One this year). Also, many Aclademites bemoan the 10-picture experiment as a Logistical Nightmare. During the last couple of weeks there's been increasing reports of AMPAS members struggling to come up with even 7, let alone 10 pictures (one Aclademician put Drag Me To Hell as his #1 on the weighted ballot). Guilds will be forthcoming indicators of scripting, helming, designing and producting. One week and 2 days to Dawn of the Dead. And then, for the umpteenth time, it's Anything Can Happen Year (even if the Anything That Happens turns out to be Nothing Much Surprising, tee-hee.) |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Sun Jan 31, 2010 4:55 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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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 7:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Succumbed to my lust for Extraordinary Measures. It's as mediocre as expected, but also a well-judged tear-jerker with nice performances by Brendan Fraser, Keri Russell, the kids who play their critically ill children, and Harrison Ford as the perpetually grouchy, iconoclastic, obnoxious-yet-brilliant (yep, that old stereotype) scientist who has a chemical formula for a cure to Pompe's disease (a lethal form of child muscular dystrophy) but won't work with the system to make it a reality until go-getter (and distraught dad) Fraser comes along to give him a bitch-slap.
It all plays out almost exactly as expected but somehow adds up to acceptable entertainment, a nice night out at the movies. It's what I'd call the absolutely perfect rental, but I'm not sorry I took the theatrical plunge. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Jan 24, 2010 11:25 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Harrison Ford lost me decades ago (his last good performance was in Blade Runner, and he learned all the wrong lessons from that experience), but I like Fraser quite a bit, so I might check it out. |
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