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| lshap |
 Posted: Mon May 16, 2011 8:23 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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billyweeds wrote: 2011 has already produced the best drama and the best comedy of the last ten years--The Conspirator and Bridesmaids. And in a perfect world, Robin Wright and Kristen Wiig would share the Oscar for Best Actress. I feel confident in predicting in the middle of May that no performances this year will top them.
I've seen a grand total of two 2011 films. Your post stirred that almost-forgotten feeling of wanting to see something. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 12:10 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 3:51 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Thor is a lot of fun without being outstanding. It's a superhero movie that doesn't take itself seriously at all, in which the superhero starts out as sort of an airhead frat boy and grows in stature throughout the movie, thanks in large part to his attachment to Natalie Portman, who IMO delivers her most charming work since Beautiful Girls. Not a big fan of Natalie's, I think she's ineffably delightful in this movie, as is newcomer hunk Chris Hemsworth as the title guy. Kenneth Branagh directed semi-generically but with a generous dose of humor. Though I'd never go to the wall for it, the whole thing goes down very entertainingly. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 4:33 pm |
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| Thor was one of the two films I've seen. Agreed - very entertaining in a harmless enough way. The other film was Source Code, which I really liked, except I thought they copped out in the ending. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:15 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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| Just for the record, in the area of recent superhero movies, I liked Thor way better than Batman Begins or The Dark Knight. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 5:31 pm |
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Geez... considering your two-thumbs-moderately-up recommendation of Thor, I can only imagine your medium grey ambivalence towards the Bat films.
I really, really liked Dark Knight (just short of true love); merely liked Batman Begins. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue May 17, 2011 7:16 pm |
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lshap wrote: Geez... considering your two-thumbs-moderately-up recommendation of Thor, I can only imagine your medium grey ambivalence towards the Bat films.
I really, really liked Dark Knight (just short of true love); merely liked Batman Begins.
I have often said here that I think Christopher Nolan is vastly overrated. Inception is his new low, but the only Nolan movie I find worthwhile is Memento--and that's not one of my faves either. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 12:41 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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| The Batman re-boot series has been terrible, IMO. No interest in a third. Sorry to see the original Burton/Keaton outing getting regularly shafted, since I think it's wholly superior. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 4:49 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Hardly even Current any more, but oddly the Coen True Grit has never been available here in a decent copy. Early on the Dvd appeared and the shops said it wasn't a good copy. So I've waited, and waited, and it just hasn't turned up.
I watched the original John Wayne True Grit quite a while back now. Had intended to compare them, but my memory of TG is fading. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 5:47 am |
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Joe Vitus wrote: The Batman re-boot series has been terrible, IMO. No interest in a third. Sorry to see the original Burton/Keaton outing getting regularly shafted, since I think it's wholly superior.
Couldn't agree more. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 9:01 am |
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lshap wrote: Thor was one of the two films I've seen. Agreed - very entertaining in a harmless enough way. The other film was Source Code, which I really liked, except I thought they copped out in the ending.
I admit I enjoyed the ending, while knowing that they were stretching the loopholes offered by quantum physics until something ripped. There was an existential darkness to the film, a metaphysical limbo crumbling around the pilot, that was compromised for the sake of a happy ending. They did pretty much the same thing at the end of "Dark City" and I lapped that right up, too -- I guess I like to believe we can creatively tinker with our little reality. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 3:51 pm |
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bartist wrote: lshap wrote: Thor was one of the two films I've seen. Agreed - very entertaining in a harmless enough way. The other film was Source Code, which I really liked, except I thought they copped out in the ending.
I admit I enjoyed the ending, while knowing that they were stretching the loopholes offered by quantum physics until something ripped. There was an existential darkness to the film, a metaphysical limbo crumbling around the pilot, that was compromised for the sake of a happy ending. They did pretty much the same thing at the end of "Dark City" and I lapped that right up, too -- I guess I like to believe we can creatively tinker with our little reality.
For the record, I liked the ending. But I had to battle the pragmatic, unemotional goblin sitting on my shoulder, whispering, "Copout", in my ear, not wanting to hear it even while acknowledging he had a point. Fuck off, goblin, and let me just enjoy.
But, overall, I liked the 'existential darkness' vibe a lot. Never thought to compare it to Dark City, but there is a similarity. The comparisons to The Matrix, on the other hand, are superficial and less accurate. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 6:51 pm |
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| I never knew the Burton/Keaton Batman was regularly shafted. Excellent stuff. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 7:07 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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| Not by me, Gary. It's always been my favorite. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 10:21 pm |
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marantzo wrote: I never knew the Burton/Keaton Batman was regularly shafted. Excellent stuff.
It's been dissed by "intellectuals" in favor of the "darker" vision of Nolan. Burton's Batman is a great film, comparable to the silent Phantom of the Opera. And Keaton's performance has not been matched by any subsequent Bruce Wayne--Kilmer, Clooney, Bale, etc. |
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