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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 3:21 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Page One doesn't interest me too much, because it sounds too much like a showcase for David Carr. I hear again and again that Carr is featured much too heavily, and his narcissism sounds hard to take. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 4:14 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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They clearly decided Carr was a character and a good story and stuck with him as the centerpiece. It all seemed a little bit like NYT propaganda -- I'm not sure if that is the price of access to the offices and meetings, or if they had those biases going into the project.
You'd expect that a media company would be quite careful about who they let in to their offices to do a behind the scenes film. So it's not surprising I guess how chummy it is.
And the viewer has to make the same trade-off -- to get the access into the NYTimes building, you have to watch a slightly fawning documentary.
Good, but not essential.
One of the extras made me laugh.
They interviewed the invited guests leaving the first screening of their film, and then put together a string of testimonials on how great and important a film it is. A rigged game in many ways, which kind of mirrors the film itself. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Oct 18, 2011 5:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| gromit--I first heard about the movie from my best friend, who works for the NYTimes (not on the editorial side) and said he likes the film (he sort of has to) but described Carr as a media hog and didn't care for that part of it. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 1:05 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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I did like how there is a vague but distinct NY vibe to the people and place. And the cantankerous Carr plays that up.
I had never heard of Jessica Chastain prior to watching Tree of Life. Seems she did some Tv work and two small movies previously. But she is in no fewer than SEVEN 2011 released films.
The Tree of Life
Coriolanus
The Debt
The Help
Take Shelter
Wilde Salome
Texas Killing Fields
So at age 30, she's suddenly on, and all over, the map. Is there any redheaded trend I'm not aware of, or did her talent just suddenly bust through?
I quite liked her in ToL.
I'll probably get to The Help and maybe Curioanus [sic].
The Debt sounds fairly awful. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Chastain is okay in ToL but terrific in The Help and outright brilliant, blindingly so, in Take Shelter. She's no fluke. She's the real deal. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 9:58 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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What is Take Shelter?
Has this been talked about? |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 10:19 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Columbiana seems to hit every cliche.
I hope I can find the synopsis on the dvd back cover but essentially:
a young girl sees her father brutally murdered by a ruthless local drug lord. She vows to avenge her father's death. 16 years later as a complete hottie (Zoe Saldana), she's packing heat ...
The recent fascination on Hot Chicks with Guns -- what would Freud say? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 11:25 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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gromit wrote: What is Take Shelter?
Has this been talked about?
It triggered the chat about Michael Shannon and his skilful way with crazy.
A must-see, for me, but I don't know when or if it makes general release.
Would Freud go ball-istic? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 11:40 am |
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Location: New York City
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Oct 19, 2011 12:00 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds wrote: Take Shelter is an amazing CGI triumph and an even more amazing acting triumph by Michael Shannon, and to an only slightly lesser degree by Jessica Chastain. Shannon plays a mentally disturbed blue-collar guy who sees visions of disaster. Chastain plays his loving but increasingly upset wife. The director-writer Jeff Nichols does a brilliant job of making Curtis's story unique and uniquely visceral and painful. It's a marvelous movie with a great performance by Shannon. As for Chastain, her one-two-three 2011 punch of The Tree of Life, The Help, and Take Shelter is as convincing as any calling card I've seen in a long time. She is a great actress.
Thanks.
Just a very brief plot descrip.
No wonder it didn't stick.
Seems like you didn't want to give away too much.
I'll look for it.
And I see in your post and the following two, Chastains' many '11 credits were mentioned.
I was busy talking out of my gashole.
Yesterday I discovered another dvd has a hidden feature film.
The BFI's You Lucky People -- a 1950's mediocre Brit comedy -- inexplicably has Wajda's Landscape After Battle on it.
So I checked another disc -- Fun at St. Fanny's and that has a 2002 Ukrainian film Chekhovian Motifs on it. A modern rural dysfunctional family. I can see the deadpan and the humor they were going for, but it's screechy and poorly acted for the most part. the execution isn't there, though a few scenes and ideas work to give an idea how a good film could have been made from this material.
Anyway, it's just one pirate dvd company putting out these weird unlisted double feature discs.
I need to put a sticky memo in with the cover so I cna remember which disc has which extra feature. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:33 am |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
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Mention of Gainey, couple days back, reminds me had a (ahem) larger part in Payne's earlier "Citizen Ruth," an under-rated film IMO.
Sideways, in terms of quotables, is the Lebowski of wine cinema. If Payne never does anything better, he remains a director-God. I like the way Payne keeps moving west...."Ruth" is Council Bluffs, Iowa and east Omaha, "Election" is in Papillion-LaVista (15 miles west), "Schmidt" goes out to Denver, "Sideways" reaches California, and now...Hawaii. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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knox wrote: Mention of Gainey, couple days back, reminds me had a (ahem) larger part in Payne's earlier "Citizen Ruth," an under-rated film IMO.
Sideways, in terms of quotables, is the Lebowski of wine cinema. If Payne never does anything better, he remains a director-God. I like the way Payne keeps moving west...."Ruth" is Council Bluffs, Iowa and east Omaha, "Election" is in Papillion-LaVista (15 miles west), "Schmidt" goes out to Denver, "Sideways" reaches California, and now...Hawaii.
Really interesting. And agreed, Sideways all by itself puts Payne way up there. Add Election and The Descendants and you have pantheon-level stuff. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 12:07 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Huh! Westward, Al! Yeah, most of "Ruth" is in Council Bluffs (a city that makes Omaha look like Paris).
BTW, does "In Time" sound like a loose remake of Logan's Run? Minus Peter U. and the hundred cats? I was inclined to pass on this, then noticed it's Andrew Niccol (Gattaca). |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:45 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Isn't there a Logan's Run remake on the way?
Pretty sure I read that somewhere.
Has anyone seen Kevin Smith's Red State?
The deeveedee just turned up here and I guess I can be the guinea pig. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:00 pm |
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Location: Black Hills
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