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| Marj |
 Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 6:45 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Well, it looks like I won't be able to give my opinion as Netflix now says a long wait for A Serious Man. So if anyone has it and is done with it, please send it back.
But wait until you hear what I did receive ... The Last of Sheila. I can hardly wait!! |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 6:59 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marj wrote: Well, it looks like I won't be able to give my opinion as Netflix now says a long wait for A Serious Man. So if anyone has it and is done with it, please send it back.
But wait until you hear what I did receive ... The Last of Sheila. I can hardly wait!!
Great on Last of Sheila. As for Serious Man...check your PM. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 8:34 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| With my new Roku, I downloaded A Serious Man from Amazon in about 60 seconds, watched it on my tv. Cost: 3.99. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:19 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank reminded me a good deal of the Dardennes' Rosetta, the story of a teenage girl trapped in fairly bleak circumstances. It's also a modern version of An Education, transported to a working class suburb. It's also somewhat of a continuation of the story in Wasp, with Mom continuing to be a boozer/bedder, with fewer but older children.
I thought it alternated between some powerful moments and some auto-pilot cliches. The hand-held cam got a bit overdone, and I thought the one main dance sequence was spoiled by its usage. I didn't find Arnold's concerns with music videos, cameras and other media interesting. It's in keeping with Red Road which ground us down with closed circuit monitors. It all seemed rather Atom Egoyan to me, without much message or insight into media-saturation, or its relation to film.
Music is also a big part of Fish Tank, as everyone certainly watch music videos a lot, or rehearse dance moves to hip hop tunes, or dance around their apartment to music. I'm not quite sure why they chose Bobby Womack's California Dreaming, though I guess the Northern Soul reflects more of a middle class taste and of course an older taste than the hip hop of the poorer whites. Maybe. I always thought that song was a semi-interesting cover attempt that doesn't really work and has some poor Womack interjections (which is usually his forte). It also doesn't lend itself to dancing much.
Entirely decent, even if some sloppy moments. I thought the story could have been tightened up, the mother's character fleshed out a bit more (does she work? is she on the dole?).
Anyway, Fish Tank is a lower class drama, dysfunctional family, coming of age, etc. Fairly well-trod territory, but with a female protag. (a fairly common trend these days). |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 1:44 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Sounds like Precious.
The White Ribbon is in town. May see it this weekend. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:01 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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My to-see list:
1. Where The Wild Things Are
2. Crazy Heart
3. 35 Shots of Rum
4. PRECIOUS
5. A Single Man
6. Where the Wild Things Are
7. Food Inc.
8. The Cove
And the two docs are around, so I have no excuse on those (except a certain squeamishness). |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Befade wrote:
The White Ribbon is in town. May see it this weekend. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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They usually keep their movies for a while.
To make the trip worthwhile you could go over to Fashion Square and shop the sales.......shoes at Dillards, check out Barney's New York, go to Border's. You could go to my favorite restaurant in Old Town Scottsdale: Cowboy Ciao or a great Thai restaurant: Malee's on Main. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 2:38 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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| More along the lines with my life style, there's a T. J. Maxx on Miller. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:56 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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TJ Maxx is my life style actually.
I just made plans to see The White Ribbon at 3 tomorrow and have brunch at Vincents before. See you there? |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:15 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Befade wrote: TJ Maxx is my life style actually.
I just made plans to see The White Ribbon at 3 tomorrow and have brunch at Vincents before. See you there? |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 5:24 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Since I mentioned it here, I'll comment on The Last of Sheila here as well.
I do recommend it if and only if you've never seen it. The Last of Sheila is a mystery involving games as only Stephen Sondheim and Tony Perkins could write it. It is great fun but as soon as the film began the entire thing came flooding back to my memory. Why is it, I can't remember a film a saw this year but a clue filled film like The Last of Sheila I can remember far too well. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Feb 12, 2010 7:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| It doesn't hold up on second viewing? |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2010 1:41 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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It's all in the title. |
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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: Sat Feb 13, 2010 7:50 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: It doesn't hold up on second viewing?
Can't speak for Marj, but I've watched The Last of Sheila with great (and perhaps even increasing) pleasure about five times. It's the only really successful Agatha Christie novel brought to the screen. By which I mean, it captures the spirit and the fun of reading a Christie novel even though it's written by Stephen Sondheim and Anthony Perkins. It's better than any Christie filmization ever made, and one of my absolute favorite mystery films. Recommended without a single caveat. |
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