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| gromit |
 Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 3:32 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Re-watched Rabbit Hole.
Just a nice solid film.
Very good story/screenplay; very good casting.
I really like the pacing and how the moods of scenes alternate. Deftly handled.
On this viewing, it reminded me a bit of Little Children and Revolutionary Road. And it's pretty easy to see Kate Winslet in the Kidman role.Though I think Nicole is fantastic in RH.
It struck me that it also has a similar basic plot toAntichrist, though the two films take it in wildly different paths (with similarly divergent results).
I was more aware of the low (middle?) budget for RH this time aorund and the varying lighting. But less polish sometimes adds more charm.
For those who haven't gotten to it, for me, Rabbit Hole is probably the only must-see Hollywood film from 20-10. It held up well on second viewing. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 4:08 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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Hadn't thought of it, but yeah I can see the similar theme to Little Children -- of husband and wife disconnected, the way pain is managed in the burbs, etc. And agree it's worth a second viewing. I hadn't noticed the low/mid budget thing at all, so I guess the less polish/more charm thing worked seamlessly for me. And I've noticed that a first viewing in a theater, my mind will tend to fill in the gaps and potholes more, but they are then noticed when I rent the DVD later.
Safe to say that I liked this approach to a couple losing a child far more than the Von Trier thing. Von Trier, as I may have indicated before, is not a favorite of mine. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat Jun 04, 2011 5:09 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I kinda don't buy LDV as a continuation of IV, mainly because I see no evidence that Moraldo, the most sensitive of the bunch and the one who leaves town at the end, would turn into Marcello, Marcello Mastroianni's character in LDV. They have similar experiences. Both tend to watch rather than participate, and both want to be better than they are. Both meet an innocent (who in the first movie provides an example, and in the second says something that can't be heard, presumably because it's too late). There are general links, likely because both highlight a part of Fellini's own experience. But there isn't enough specifically to bind them as essentially the same character. I certainly hope Moraldo didn't end up as Marcello. That would be depressing. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:26 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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| I should probably add that I thought Little Children was fairly brilliant. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 12:45 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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I should add: me too.
Tried to watch Todd Solondz film "Palindromes" but just couldnt' get into it. It opens with the funeral of Dawn Wiener (who is the main character of his earlier film, Welcome to the Dollhouse), and then takes off on a story that seems to have no relation to this, in which a 13 year old girl is played by seven different actresses, some white, some black, some a 30-something Jennifer Jason Leigh. No clue. Various dark and degrading aspects of life are delved, as in any Solondz film, and the actors do their best, but I had to bail after about 45 minutes and just admit that I really didn't know what was going on. There are apparently some insights into adolescence, teen pregnancy, abortion and such, if one is to believe reviews. I'm making it a policy not to. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 1:56 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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I liked the concept, but Palindromes didn't really work for me. I preferred say Precious or the Dylan film with the many different characters (I'm Not There), even if that also wasn't fully successful.
Maybe I just watch too many movies and compare everything to everything else .... |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:41 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Palindromes was a movie that, yeah, didn't "work," but it was ambitious, more interesting than most, and IMO not bad at all. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 6:41 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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| Thanks Gromit and Bart, for mentioning Rabbit Hole in the contexts you both did. I've had the film in a stack for a while, and kept putting it off, I guess for fear of it being too depressing. But I watched it today, and agree with you both. I also think all three films are excellent, and I'm thankful to you both that I didn't miss this one. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2011 8:03 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| The depression factor has kept me away, too, Marj. So thanks for posting your response. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Mon Jun 06, 2011 6:30 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
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| I'm with Gromit -- R.Hole is the must-see film of 2010. It was real, and it was surprisingly not as depressing as a synopsis might indicate. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:47 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Marwencol is an odd film. Or more accurately, a film about an odd guy. In one way it is a film about outsider art and obsessiveness, which reminded me of In the Realms of the Unreal, complete with odd loner sexual obsessions. But it's also a film about recovery and coping with a traumatic experience. I guess a touch of Exit Through The Gift Shop as an unknown becomes recognized for his unconventional art work.
In Marwencol, many of the photos are weirdly effective. The devotion to detail is impressive. However, when he explains his story lines, they often seem like pretty silly war/love fantasies, full of melodrama and goofy twists. I can see why the filmmakers left many of the storyline explanations out of the film -- you can find them in the deleted/extra scenes -- and went ahead mostly with just the pictures themselves and simple explanations of who the characters are and the basic plot. Though I'm surprised they left out the brief scene where the artist explains the origin of the name of the small bar- and Barbie-filled Belgium town of Marwencol.
Anyway, a film I'd certainly recommend.
Three documentaries in my 2010 Top 10 --
Facing Ali, Last Train Home and now Marwencol, in that order. Add in Restrepo and Gift Shop Exit, and that makes 1/3 of my Top 15. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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knox wrote: I'm with Gromit -- R.Hole is the must-see film of 2010. It was real, and it was surprisingly not as depressing as a synopsis might indicate.
Rabbit Hole was indeed wonderful, and the biggest surprise to me (a long-time Nicole Kidman hater) was her great performance, one of my favorites by an actress last year.
The picture of the year, however, was for me Another Year, Mike Leigh's finest to date. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 2:23 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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I saw Topsy Turvy recently, and that has the distinction of being the only Leigh film I've liked.
3 films from 2010 I still want to see:
Dogtooth
Tiny Furniture
Melody for a Street Organ
I think Criterion is releasing Tiny F later this year. And where is Melody?
Since we got divorced from Balnche this year, maybe not a bad idea for folks to tout some of their favorite films and performances from 2010. Maybe a Top 10 list as well.
Besides Kidman in Rabbit Hole, I also really liked Bening in The Kids Are All Right.
Well,, maybe I/we should do this informal appraisal of 2010 in the Blanche Forum. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 8:37 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Tiny Furniture looks like an interesting update of The Graduate theme. Will look for it.
I don't have much time this summer for movies, so I'm going to have to pick and choose carefully, but I hope to catch a few of the good 2010 films that I missed. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2011 10:10 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: I saw Topsy Turvy recently, and that has the distinction of being the only Leigh film I've liked.
Have you seen Another Year? That said, I'm not a fan of Topsy Turvy, despite being a big Gilbert & Sullivan admirer. I found Leigh's take unlikeably revisionist and smarmy. Of other Leigh films, I loved Secrets and Lies and Naked, , was bored stiff by Vera Drake, and loathed--loathed--the first fifteen minutes of Happy-Go-Lucky before running away in horror. |
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