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| Kate |
 Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 3:46 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 1397
Location: Pacific Northwest
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Due date was funny for the most part, but Downey's character was so ferociously unlikable I had a hard time working up the necessary joy at the end. The scene where he "watches" Julliete Lewis' kids made it pretty difficult to root for him to be a father. And although it seems that Lewis plays the same character wherever she goes, I find her a pleasure to watch.
I laughed out loud more than once though, so there is that. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 9:31 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 3:55 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Nov 25, 2010 4:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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In Paris, saw Unstoppable, which is missable. It's told sort of like a documentary, sort of like an action thriller, but doesn't really work as either. It's mediocre to the max, with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine phoning in their performances and coasting on their abundant charm. A train runs away and it's the guys' job to stop it. Period. End paragraph. No surprises and really no thrills.
Gary--Checked out Le Petit Cluny. Yeah, the coffee is great. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 12:09 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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In LA saw 2 films which I'm sure will be overlooked.
CLIENT 9 about Eliot Spitzer's rise and fall. What was interesting was how fearless he was about attacking Wall Street.............which need to be done. And unfortunately, how it is very likely that those boys found a way to get back at him............which of course he paved for them.......... Another interesting factoid: Ashley Dupre, the escort who rose to fame for consorting with him was only a one night stand. Another woman, not wanting to be exposed was his repeat performer.
WELCOME TO THE RILEY'S directed by Ridley Scott's son Jake. A strange, humble, unlikely tale about a plumbing store owner from Indiana who makes a choice when at a convention in New Orleans to leave his wife and business behind and join forces with a 16 yr. old prostitute. She lives in such a dump that she welcomes a guy who knows how to snake her toilet and get her electricity back on. James Gandolfini is the husband, Melissa Leo is the wife, Kristen Stewart is the bedraggled lap dancer. I can't say that I enjoyed this movie but Melissa Leo had a really funny scene where she was backing her cadillac out of the garage.............and because she is agoraphobic and hasn't left the house in years.............she doesn't handle it well. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 9:52 am |
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billyweeds wrote: In Paris, saw Unstoppable, which is missable. It's told sort of like a documentary, sort of like an action thriller, but doesn't really work as either. It's mediocre to the max, with Denzel Washington and Chris Pine phoning in their performances and coasting on their abundant charm. A train runs away and it's the guys' job to stop it. Period. End paragraph. No surprises and really no thrills.
Gary--Checked out Le Petit Cluny. Yeah, the coffee is great.
Billy, that what I thought about Unstoppable when I saw the previews, and decided to give it a pass. Then I saw all the good reviews and thought maybe I'd see it. Now I'm back to giving it a pass.
I'm so glad you checked out Le Petit Cluny. It was about a 15 second walk from my hotel and I had breakfast there every morning, alternating between a cafe creme and croissant and a cafe creme and tartine (which is baguette with butter), while I read the international NYT (no longer exists). When I went to sleep at night I would always look forward to waking up the next morning so I could have my breakfast.  One morning I went to the cafe with a friend of mine from England who was living in Paris. When she had her coffee she said "This is the best coffee I have ever had." That's when I realized that it was the best I'd ever had too. Till then I took it for granted. I went there when I went to Paris in 1994 and was happy that the coffee hadn't changed, but the interior was not the same as it was 30 years before. And my hotel was being gutted to be converted to condominiums.
Have you caught any classic movies at theatres in La Rive Gauche.
Bonjour, Dolores. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 12:00 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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Kate, on "Due Date" --
Quote: The scene where he "watches" Julliete Lewis' kids made it pretty difficult to root for him to be a father
I thought the prospect of him being a father was a little too abstract, and sort of outside the dynamic of the story, to care much about. The scene with him and the kids was, to me, hilarious in its deconstruction of our cultural mystiques about the sweetness of children. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 5:52 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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Quote: CLIENT 9 about Eliot Spitzer's rise and fall. What was interesting was how fearless he was about attacking Wall Street.............which need to be done. And unfortunately, how it is very likely that those boys found a way to get back at him............which of course he paved for them.......... Another interesting factoid: Ashley Dupre, the escort who rose to fame for consorting with him was only a one night stand. Another woman, not wanting to be exposed was his repeat performer.
Betsy - I do believe that those of us who followed Spitzer's adventures a few years ago have some interest in seeing Client 9. Perhaps not in a theater but certainly at home.
Inla - I'm so glad LAT loved The King's Speech. NYTimes' gave it as close to a pan as any review I've read of late. Of course it was whats-her-name writing so it holds no weight for me.
Btw, Tom Hooper and Colin Firth were on Charlie Rose last night for a fascinating discussion on all things: TKS, and it was a truly fascinating half hour. Perhaps one can catch on PBS.org. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 6:20 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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Saw 127 Hours (a title that's easier to write than say) and really enjoyed it. More than a Big Climactic Scene of Mutilation, it's much closer in spirit to Into The Wild, where a solitary journey in the great outdoors becomes a reflective inner journey. In fact, 127 Hours is almost completely about the inner journey because there's literally nowhere else to go. Main character Aron Ralston is stuck in a crevice, immobilized by a huge rock on his arm for 127 hours, so the entire meat of the film has no choice but to take place in his head. Where do your thoughts go as you feel your body and life energy dimming? What happens to your mind as you slip closer to death, utterly alone?
The script and Danny Boyle's direction handle the problem of zero action by slowly dialing up the emotions. Arrogance turns to disbelief, to anger, to intellect, to desperation, to regret and profound sadness, all in a swirl of thoughts, flashbacks and, finally, hallucinations. And all in facial expressions. The story moves very well, which is a bit surprising since Ralston himself doesn't. Plus, we all know how it ends. There's that arm scene, but I never got restless waiting for it, nor even felt like the story used it as a crutch. But that's where James Franco's skill comes in. He's perfect as the smugly self-confident dude who discovers the deeper levels of his own life. Yeah, it's an Oscar-bait role. And let's face it, it's an actor's dream to have such a tightly focused role. But Franco carries it, and the film, and has probably earned the nominations he's sure to get. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 8:46 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| I just can't imagine watching the movie. I can't imagine a director's skill or actor's skill so great as to keep me interested. I'll admit that I'm largely turned off by Franco these days, but even if I were still interested I don't thin I'd be interested in this one. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 10:16 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
Posts: 4248
Location: Montreal
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| Honestly, I wasn't massively motivated to see 127 Hours and I understand why you wouldn't be. It sounds like another boy-meets-arm, boy-loses-arm story. But the showtime coincided with my free time today, so I shrugged my shoulders and went in with limited expectations. Obviously, it's easier to exceed expectations when they're set low, so I was pleasantly surprised by the fullness of the story. I don't mean to suggest the film was good only 'cause I expected so little, but instead of watching an exploitative buildup to the ultimate onscreen edit, I instead got character development and a riveting survival story. It's a quality film with a really good perf by Franco. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 10:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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lshap wrote: It sounds like another boy-meets-arm, boy-loses-arm story.
Lines like this make you one of my favorites. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2010 11:28 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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I won't be seeing it either. But watch for James Franco to pick up an AMPAS nom. If he does, I'll be happy for him. I've always liked his work and need not see this film to appreciate him.
Inla - I keep meaning to ask, I can't make out your avatar. What is it?  |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 12:32 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I cringe at the thought of seeing 127 Hours. It sounds like I'd be sitting in a theatre for 127 hours knowing the guy was going to cut his arm off and waiting an excruciatingly long time for him to do it...............
I liked FAIR GAME more than Earl. I agree that at the beginning it makes it very clear that her career was a significant one. She was NOT a secretary and had alot of responsibility. The film had a mood of tension throughout. There weren't periods of respite for the couple. I think it was insightful to show how Plame's outing affected their marriage. It was a crisis. She loved her job. She had people expecting her to protect them.............she was crushed. Wilson didn't want to roll over and pretend that he thought the government had a good reason to go to war. I heard the couple speak a couple of years ago and they are solidly on the same page now. We need people with the courage to "hold truth to power". (a cliche', easy to say, hard to do.)
Since he was in Milk, Sean Penn inhabits his characters. Naomi Watts came off well as an intelligent, dedicated and definitely secret agent. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 2:22 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I completely understand Lorne's feelings about 127 Hours, but can't say I agree on the greatness of the film. It's arty IMO--show-offy and somewhat annoying. True, they had to find somewhere for the story to go, but the flashbacks and hallucinations become rather boring. And though I agree that Franco was excellent, I woudn't count on that Oscar nomination. The performance was fine but not as showy as the direction. (I admire Franco generally, btw, particularly in Pineapple Express.) |
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