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| Syd |
 Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 1:59 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Cave of Forgotten Dreams: Chauvet Cave in France contains the earliest known cave paintings, apparently by thousands of years. It was discovered in 1994 after being sealed off for tens of thousands of years because of a rockslide. Once the three discoverers revealed their discovery, it was immediately sealed to all but a handful of archaeologists to prevent damage such as was caused by mold at Lascaux. Werner Herzog got special permission from the French ministry of culture to film Chauvet Cave under very strict conditions. His crew could consist of a maximum of four people and they had to film from a walkway because of the fragility of the floor of the cavern, and couldn't touch anything. Filming was limited to four hours a day because of carbon dioxide buildup.
Herzog decided to film in 3-D and the result justifies his decision. You get to see how the artists used their space, and get a good idea of the sheer scale of the cavern. The cave painters left animal bones behind, and the bones have sometimes been covered into calcite as if being incorporated into the substance of the cave. Some of the paintings have been covered by fragile calcite, proving their age. There are stalactites that look so fragile you swear that they would break if you breathed on them.
One of the painters left his hand prints. You can tell they're the same person because of a little finger that apparently was broken and not properly reset. However, the paintings were made by many hands over thousands of years.
You can quibble with some stylistic touches (I could have done without the heartbeats on part of the soundtrack), but this cave is a treasure and is beautifully filmed. I felt privileged to view it at last. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 2:07 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Not only reading critics, but in personal conversation, I encounter the Burton/Keaton Batman getting shafted. It's frustrating. The movie has some problems, but it is so much smarter/better executed than the reboot that a comparison between the two is laughable. And not only Michael Keaton is a better Batman than Christian Bale, I'd even say Nicholson is a better Joker than Heath Ledger. |
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-Topher |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 3:38 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds wrote: And Keaton's performance has not been matched by any subsequent Bruce Wayne--Kilmer, Clooney, Bale, etc.
Clooney played Batman?
That I did not know.
When the first Batman film came out (around mid-'89 was it?), my law firm represented the rights holder. So I went out on a raid, in my lawyer suit, busting small time folks hawking unlicensed t-shirts and crap. I was embarrassed, though it beat writing memos in the office. So I bought a big papaya shake and tried to stand around as if I just happened to be strolling by. I can't even recall now the rationale of having a lawyer present. I think the copyright holder needed to have a representative verifying the actual fakiness? I didn't go again, but some newly minted lawyers went out all week -- certainly was easy to justify your billable time and do nothing. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 4:57 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: I'd even say Nicholson is a better Joker than Heath Ledger.
It's politically incorrect to say so, but I agree wholeheartedly with you on this. Nicholson's Joker was one of his best performances--perhaps his last really great one--and Ledger's has been overpraised and Academy-Awarded largely because of his sad passing and partially because he lost the Oscar for Brokeback Mountain. |
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| grace |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 7:23 am |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 3214
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gromit wrote: Clooney played Batman?
That I did not know.
He'd probably be perfectly happy if you went on not knowing that. He thinks of it as a terrible movie, but a great career opportunity for him. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu May 19, 2011 9:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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Quote: certainly was easy to justify your billable time and do nothing.
And I will add my name to those who prefer the first Batman to the reboots. And Nicholson to Ledger. And pretty much any major director to Nolan. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 12:06 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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The French film Of Gods and Men directed by Xavier Beauvois
brings us the heroic story of eight Trappist monks cloistered in the mountains of North Africa, living harmoniously with the local Muslims for several decades. In the 1990's the peace is shattered by terrorists and French soldiers. Excellent movie with superb performances and outstanding direction. One of the winners at Cannes.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 9:00 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| From the sound of early reviews, Woody Allen seems to be back with a vengeance. He has a resounding smash (critical) hit in Midnight in Paris. It's getting his best reviews since the days of Annie Hall and Manhattan. Who would ever ever have guessed it? If box office is good, and with Rachel McAdams, Marion Cotillard, and Owen Wilson in the cast it could happen, this sounds like a totally unexpected Oscar nomination for Allen. Unbe-fucking-lievable! |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 10:42 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| From what I've read, he's not back with a vengeance, but this is a more enjoyable picture than he's made in a while. Still a silly trifle that doesn't connect with the real world or human emotions on any serious level. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 11:17 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Joe Vitus wrote: From what I've read, he's not back with a vengeance, but this is a more enjoyable picture than he's made in a while. Still a silly trifle that doesn't connect with the real world or human emotions on any serious level.
Read these.
http://www.metacritic.com/movie/midnight-in-paris |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 1:20 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 4:46 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Joe--I haven't seen the movie yet, and am holding back, but this movie is getting far better reviews than anything Woody has done in the last ten years with the exception, perhaps, of Match Play and Vicky Cristina Barcelona. As for You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, Cassandra's Dream, Scoop, Whatever Works, Melinda and Melinda, Hollywood Ending, Anything Else --nowhere near this level of praise.
I saw the trailer and was very unimpressed myself. Everyone in the movie, even though they're in Paris, talks the same way that everyone in every Woody Allen New York movie talks--with that increasingly annoying patois that sounds like no one in the world. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 3:04 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I guess my point is: I'm wary. Even with Crimes and Misdemeanors (a pretty good if not top tier Woody Allen picture), I didn't think we got the true return-to-form the critics promised. I expect the new picture is a charming trifle. If it's more than that, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If it's less than that, I won't feel like a jilted lover. I just hold Woody Allen at peak performance so highly, I don't want to get my hopes up. Few directors have meant so much to me as Allen does at his greatest (and he held that position for so long). |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 5:38 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Joe--I not only understand, I agree completely with you, though I thought VCB was a true return to form and YWMATDS was a very very good if not completely successful movie. Match Play was overpraised IMO, and Whatever Works and Hollywood Ending were probably Allen's two all-time worst. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat May 21, 2011 9:00 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| I wouldn't have called VCB a return to form, but I liked the central idea of who can and can't take a risk and what that means for them. Of course, I liked Scoop as a pleasant if not great movie (elements of it still stick with me and make me smile), so we're sometimes just not on the same page about his work. |
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-Topher |
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