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| carrobin |
 Posted: Sun Nov 14, 2010 11:37 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| I liked "The Ghost Writer" a lot--worthy of a modern Hitchcock. Loved Eli Wallach's little cameo, not to mention the GPS scene. It was called "The Ghost" when released in Britain, but I guess someone thought Americans might think Patrick Swayze was back. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 10:20 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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Another vote pro Ghost Writer -- enjoyed your review, Jeremy, and...
Quote: As the winter starts to signal its approach, the protagonists are forced to seek shelter indoors, a move that nicely mirrors their increasing political isolation of the Langs (Blairs).
...also admired the way the mood was captured by the bleak winter lighting and sterile interiors.
I still feel a spasm of guilt in that I seem to be able to separate Polanski the artist from Polanski the pedophile scumbag. I don't think anyone with a teen (or recently teen) daughter is ever quite comfortable with the whole amnesty/forgiveness thing, but I'm getting there. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Mon Nov 15, 2010 8:44 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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The upcoming film "Barney's Version" was pre-screened here and in Toronto. My friend's in the industry and saw it in both cities. He loved it. Very glad to hear that.
The advanced Canadian screenings are to be expected since Barney's Version was a Mordecai Richler novel - his last and my favourite - set mostly in Montreal, as almost all his books were. General release is late December.
It stars Dustin Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Minnie Driver. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Nov 16, 2010 6:37 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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I'm seeing Barney's Version Thursday. Will (obviously) report.
P.S. Can't make the screening. Report will have to come later. |
Last edited by billyweeds on Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:06 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 7:57 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Saw The Social Network. Can see why it's caught on so strongly, given that half if not two-thirds of the world has a vested personal relationship to its subject. It seemed to me David Fincher's most unmannered and incisive directorial job yet, though it would be hard to mishandle Aaron Sorkin's stunningly staccato, inventively non-linear and layered screenplay, easily his best work ever. Jesse Eisenberg gives a toweringly uncompromising, preternaturally nuanced performance as the disputed Facebook founder, daring to play asinine genius to the hilt while keeping us fascinated by what's lurking behind his eyes. The surrounding cast is fine throughout, with Justin Timberlake amusingly effective as the hot-shot interloper, and Andrew Garfield as the betrayed best friend/co-founder almost steals it -- his reactions and responses at the climactic split-focus deposition/deposing are indelible. Whether it will take the top prize at that, uh, film society remains to be seen -- there are some heavy hitters yet to be released -- but, as with Mr. Sorkin's screenplay and Mr. Fincher's helming, it's A Prime Contender. Still, though it consistently engrossed me and certainly kept me at seat's edge, it hardly affected me beyond admiration, and not just due to my intractable lack of use for the titular entity. Brilliantly conceived and expertly executed, yet thematically oblique and internally airless -- which, come to think of it, is exactly correct for its topic, tenor and times. |
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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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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 9:27 am |
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| Excellent review inla. I agree with everything you said about it. And I also had the same reaction. I was on Facebook for about a week or so before I lost any interest in the frenetic, bloated site and split. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 5:31 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Ah, shucks, thanks, marantzo. No disrespect to those masses who book the Face, just that I can't keep apace with professional e-mails and recreational messaging (to which this hear place can attest) as it is -- how the Faith Hill am I supposed to cope with opening my virtual reality to Everybody I Ever Knew At Anytime In My Life and a couple of thousand other new "friends"? Impossible. Did enjoy the film, it's clearly All About Now, but it kept me at an emotional remove. And that's probably the whole point. |
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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: Thu Nov 18, 2010 6:41 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Children of Invention is a sweet film about a single mother, a Chinese immigrant, trying to stay afloat and provide for her two kids. She's divorced and her ex- is back in Hong Kong providing limited assistance. The film is well cast and the two kids give good performances and both have an interesting delivery.
The kids ages are probably about 11 and 6, and the big brother looking out for the cute younger sister reminded me of Night of the Hunter, when they are off on their own for a portion late in the film. The connection is probably mostly just due to my viewing schedule, but the parallel is there.
Overall, the film is something akin to a scaled down, less dramatic version of In America. It's also similar to Entre Nos, about a Colombian immigrant/single Mom and her kids (I reviewed it a few months back), though Entre Nous is harsher in showing the struggles of poverty, and deals with a poorer, more recent immigrant. In contrast, the mother in Children of Invention came to the US 6 years earlier as a student from Hong Kong, and her family still has the outer trappings of material prosperity.
As a simple tale of a family's struggle to stay together and achieve security, Children of Invention quite a good low-key film.
The film has an almost documentary look and feel to it, but fortunately doesn't go in for the shaky ultra-close-up style which is very popular these days and wearies me after 20 minutes.
I'm a sucker for realistic films showing people struggling economically, and this film is affecting.
The writer-director, Tze Chun, is only 30, and not surprisingly the story is partly autobiographical.
The film nearly gets a little too cute and whimsical late, but quickly reins itself back in. The disc includes his short film, Windowbreaker, which formed the basis for Children of Invention. Time to give that a watch. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Nov 18, 2010 11:09 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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inlareviewer wrote: Saw The Social Network. Can see why it's caught on so strongly, given that half if not two-thirds of the world has a vested personal relationship to its subject.
Interesting you should say this. I've never joined Facebook and doubt I ever will, but I loved the movie. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 12:26 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Jim Carrey was on the Letterman show, to publicize "I Love You Phillip Morris." It's finally opening! But I still haven't seen "Hereafter," and of course "Harry Potter" is a high priority. Plus, I've agreed to do in-house freelance work at Time Inc. through December. Gonna be a busy month--but at least I'll have the money for the movies, if I can just find the time. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 6:25 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Joe Vitus wrote: [Interesting you should say this. I've never joined Facebook and doubt I ever will, but I loved the movie. |
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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: Fri Nov 19, 2010 8:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Not to downgrade or naysay or anything the people who say "I'll never join Facebook," but I'm old enough to remember the people--and there were a whole lot of them--who said (in 1953 or so), "I'll never get a television," or "I'm waiting for color" (thinking it would never happen), or such. Or more recently, "I'll never get a cell phone." Or (like Dubya and McCain), "I never use the Google or the internets." So I think it's just a question of time. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 9:41 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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InLa's review of The Social Network nailed my own reaction to it: I really, really liked the movie, but didn't love it. The difference, I think, is exactly the same as really liking a person without being in love: she/he may push all the right buttons, but you remain emotionally neutral because there's something missing. The film had tons of great moments, and it had Andrew Garfield as The Social Network's emotional yardstick, but his performance was a moral penlight surrounded by intellectual strobe lights.
And while I have a Facebook page, I've invested very little time or personality in it. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 10:22 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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| Nice metaphor. Or simile. Or whatever that thing with the penlight was. Nothing I've heard about TSN even slightly inclines me to see it. But, hey, I didn't own a cellphone until 2008. Or a tv until 1989 (just in time for shows like Seinfeld, the Simpsons, and the X-Files, so I think the timing was good...) |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Nov 19, 2010 11:00 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I'll procrastinate for years before buying something, or wait till it's necessary. I got my first cellphone and digital camera when I went to Maine when my father was dying. I didn't buy a car until last November when I was preparing to get radiation therapy in another city, and I realized taking a cab would cost me almost as much as buying a car. Right now I'm procrastinating on upgrading my computer.
As for Facebook, I became a member through work about five years ago when one of my supervisors decided it was a good way to keep in contact with his employees (one of those bright ideas than never panned our) but I didn't really start using it until a couple of years ago, when Facebook started giving people the option to change their profile page to an actual web address. I also got a critical mass of actual friends on Facebook about that time. |
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