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| Syd |
 Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 2:06 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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It won its opening weekend pretty easily at $22.4 million. Admittedly the only other openers were Let Me In and Case 39, but it outgrossed them by 3-1 on a per-screen basis and was on more screens.
I imagine Secretariat will have a big weekend. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sat Oct 09, 2010 10:08 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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The Social Network is the best english-language drama I've seen this year. Not the best drama overall, which would be Un Prophete. And not the best total film experience - that would be Toy Story 3. Nevertheless, The Social Network ranks as a terrific film; the story is primal, the writing is sharp and snappy, and the historical events are so familiar and recent that everyone in the audience can safely say, "I was there".
Forget the specter of the film's high-expectations. I had a blast watching the birth of Facebook set to the tune of college-boy angst, and spoken in ultra-fun Aaron Sorkin patter.
Jesse Eisenberg was effective as the thinking man's Michael Cera, Justin Timberlake was perfect as the coked up Napster phenom, but it was Andrew Garfield - the friend done wrong - who carried the dramatic arc of this film. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 1:31 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Lorne, I agree. The Prophet is one of the best movies I have seen in recent years. Taut and true grit.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 5:14 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Again, it is not "The Prophet." That was by Kahlil Gibran. It is A Prophet, and in that simple article there is a world of difference. He is not "the" prophet. He is one of many. I agree it's a great film, but I expect to like The Social Network even better. Fingers crossed.
Haven't seen Toy Story 3 yet. But I wasn't at all crazy about the first Toy Story, Wall-E, or Ratatouille. I very much enjoyed Toy Story 2 and Up, but you can see I'm not primed to accept TS3 into my pantheon. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 6:55 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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| Ghulam - I think some people saw Un Prophete in 2009 when it was originally released, but I'm hoping most of us see it as a 2010 release so it can be properly Blanched in the coming months. Of course, that depends if more than three of us saw it. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 7:26 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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Billy - As I've probably mentioned before, Toy Story 2 was part of my boys' regular cycle of re-watchable movies when they were younger. I must've seen it at least 15 times, and my wife and I often quote large chunks of dialogue instead of talking to each other or having sex. I can therefore say with authority that the film is so well-written and so well-characterized that it improves with repeated viewings. The deep bond between Andy, Woody, Buzz et al that lifts this film beyond a gimmicky cartoon hadn't fully developed in the first Toy Story, which was undeniably clever but emotionally neutral. TS2 went where few animated films have gone before - it not only mined a rich toy-owner relationship that's as fleshed out as any parent-child relationship, but it also created a brilliant backstory for Woody and his Roundup Gang, setting up another series of all-too-human life choices.
Forget my expectations for The Social Network; I was terrified that Toy Story 3 wouldn't approach the quality of 2. I'd be devastated, my kids would hate me and my wife and I would have to go back to quoting 9 1/2 Weeks. But they did it. The guys at Pixar have a genuine love for these characters and managed to overlay it onto a story that's hilariously funny, heart-stopping exciting and poignantly touching. And yes, it will make you tear up. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 8:02 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Substitute Singin' in the Rain for Toy Story 2 and you have my daughter's/my/my ex-wife's situation.
"People? I ain't people!"
"Then everybody was a dope!"
"Dignity! Always dignity!"
and, for reasons which require a long back story,
"Here we are--Sunset and Camden!" |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:45 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Lorne, awhile back some of us were talking about Toy Story 3. I hadn't even seen TS 2 so I couldn't join the conversation. But I did last week and loved it. Of course I only watched it once. And as much as love these characters, especially Woody - he seems so erudite for a toy, I am sorry that I can't join you in quoting from it.
On the other hand, I recognize all of Billy's quotes from Singin' in the Rain. Even: "Here we are - Sunset and Camden." Of course I am curious as to your long story about that quote, Billy. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 2:46 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| It's wonderful to see back, Marj. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2010 10:12 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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Thanks Joe. It's wonderful to be back.  |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:30 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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| Hey marj kid, how ya doing? We was concerned. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 9:50 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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| Same here, Marj. Great to see you! |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 10:45 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| Thanks Guys. I'm coming along. It's a slow recuperation, but I'm making good progress. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 5:52 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Toy Story 3 was a worthy addition to one of the greatest series of films ever made. In terms of sequels, in my personal pantheon, Toy Story 2 stands alongside The Godfather II and Aliens. Though not necessarily transcending the originals, these films did much more than just dine out on the genius of their predecessors.
Though as brilliantly put together as ever, I felt that Toy Story 3 struggled to match the freshness of the first film or the sublime pathos of the second. Part of the earlier films appeal to adults was that they revolved around a strong emotional core. In contrast, Toy Story 3 relies much more on action sequences and inserted jokes. Regardless, in what so far, for me, has been a mediocre year, I would not begrudge it a crowning Oscar, seriously.
I haven’t seen or undertaken any analysis, but as studios go, I imagine that Pixar has an unmatched hit rate. I can’t remember them making a single bad film, nor one that did not do well at the box office. Again, I haven’t seen any numbers, but, knowing how much of Disney’s back catalogue I bought for my children when they were of that age, I imagine that their films they make also rack up impressive DVD sales. But I have a quibble. I suspect that, for all the success and plaudits, somewhere in its collective psyche, the studio felt that it was never given the respect it was due. It was hurt by the often unsaid qualifier: “for a cartoon.” Comedy is the artistic equivalent of Chinese food and Pixar suffered from the creative dissatisfaction that gnaws at all clowns. This hunger may have helped spur tem on to make their two most critically acclaimed films: Wall-E and Up. However, for me, these more consciously sophisticated films fell short of the standard set by the inspired genius of a Monsters Inc., say, or the subtly subversive Incredibles. Interestingly, there is a parallel with the way Disney’s desperate and desperately bad, Fantasia, was not a match for Snow White or Dumbo.
Comedy, which partially exists to challenge serious or prick the pretentious, is the most irreverent of genres. In genuflecting at the altar of its ancestors (and perhaps hoping to obtain some of their critical patina) Wall-E mainly succeeded in declaring itself dull and irrelevant. Up was better, but, for all the referential genius of the opening montage, it still lacked the anarchic, childish spark that illuminated its predecessors; the charm that comes from faultless, but false logic; the vicarious joy that infuses parents when they see their children laugh, learn and wonder; and the fond memory of more innocent times. |
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I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2010 7:20 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| To me, their weakest film is easily Cars, which is the only one of their films that sometimes bored me. It's not bad in comparison with animated films in general, just not up to the other Pixar films. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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