| Author |
Message |
|
| billyweeds |
 Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 5:12 am |
 |
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
| The type of British film being described above reached its apex with 1962's The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, an unforgettable movie with Tom Courtenay and director Tony Richardson reaching never-to-be-equaled peaks of brilliance. It manages to be depressing, exhilarating, socially conscious and marvelously entertaining all at the same time. I've never seen a movie quite like it. |
|
|
| Back to top |
  
|
| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2012 8:51 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
|
| Billy Liar and TLofLDR are kind of the yin and yang of ideological struggles in Britain at that time. BL is in full Walter Mitty-ish retreat from reality, while the LDR runs and runs towards the reality of his position and waking up to his choices. I have to see both of these again. |
_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Ghulam |
| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 1:27 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
|
| The Iranian movie A Separation which was awarded both the Oscar and the Golden Globe this year, is a slice-of-life perfection, the best movie I have seen since the Romanian film 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:13 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
Ghulam wrote: The Iranian movie A Separation which was awarded both the Oscar and the Golden Globe this year, is a slice-of-life perfection, the best movie I have seen since the Romanian film 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days.
This is very close to the truth. I thought A Separation was the better of the two by dint of being more purely "entertaining." But these two films are as moment-to-moment, never-falteringly, endlessly riveting as any two movies I've ever seen. Your eyes and ears are locked as if in a virtual vise. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 5:26 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
| Seeing The Cabin in the Woods today. Can't wait. (Obviously; why else would I be going opening day?) |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:47 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
|
Heh! I confess to being curious, after reading AO's mixed review....
Quote: Dismissing the recent vogue for technically crude, fake-real shockers....this movie evokes the playful pseudosophistication of the “Scream” franchise.
The lesson of the “Scream” movies — a lesson their characters reliably failed to learn — was that a grasp of the semiotics of cinematic horror will not necessarily save you from a crazed killer. At its best, that series proved that it was possible to be spoofy and scary at the same time....
“The Cabin in the Woods” bungles that relatively straightforward trick, partly because it wants to do a lot more than provide a dose of shrieks and giggles. There is a scholarly, nerdy, completist sensibility at work here that is impressive until it becomes exhausting. Not content to toss off just any horror movie, Mr. Goddard and Mr. Whedon have taken it upon themselves to make every horror movie....
Still, watching Joss Whedon bungle in an interesting way has to be better than 95% of the genre junk that's been traversing multiplexes lately. |
_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| grace |
| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 9:57 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 3214
|
| I'm half-interested in Cabin in the Woods because of the Whedon factor, but - in promos, anyway - it looks so much like Evil Dead that it kind of pisses me off. Sure, if you 're going to rip off, rip off the best; but I would like to think Whedon's above that. This weekend, it looks like it will be Jeff Who Lives at Home, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen or the dark horse, Jiro Dreams of Sushi for me. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 10:39 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
|
| I was thinking the same thing, but Marc wrote a rave review, and all the other press I've seen has been good. So plan to check it out, maybe this weekend (depends if Earl is available). |
_________________
You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
|
| Back to top |
|
| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2012 6:48 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
|
| The Cabin in the Woods is a slight disppointment. It's occasionally funny, occasionally scary, very hip and meta--but a bit too pleased with itself and, ultimately, rather wearying. I'm probably not the right demographic for this geekfest, but I still had a certain albeit limited amount of fun. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:18 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
|
| I don't think of you as a Whedon fan. And I'm not sure movies are the place to become one. It's not a medium that plays to his strengths. Will still likely catch it, though. |
_________________
You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
|
| Back to top |
|
| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 10:48 am |
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
|
Well, given our conversation recently in the Lobby, maybe billy would be more up for Whedon's next movie, already in post-production: a new production of Much Ado About Nothing, featuring Amy Acker as Beatrice and Alexis Denisof as Benedick. Neither of whom have ever made an impression on me, though by looking at their imdb filmographies, I have seen them in a couple of things each. Both are Whedon vets - Densiof was in the never seen by me Buffy and Angel, and Acker was in Angel[, Dollhouse (also unseen by me) and Cabin in the Woods.
Personally, I expect the worst. But you never know.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2094064/ |
_________________
I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
|
| Back to top |
|
| grace |
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 11:30 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 11 Nov 2005
Posts: 3214
|
The MAAN cast is loaded with Whedon vets - the beloved Nathan Fillion, Sean Maher (Firefly), and Tom Lenk (BtVS). I'll watch Fillion do almost anything, but Shakespeare could be, uh, interesting.
Way back when, I recall reading an interview with James Marsters (Spike of BtVS), where he said a lot of the cast would assemble at Whedon's house on Sundays and read plays, poetry, etc. and do other artistic things. While quietly vomiting in my mouth at the preciousness of the scenario, I also was aware that Whedon went to Wesleyan; so, coupling Marsters' comments with what I know of a handful of Wesleyan grads, I kind of pictured it turning into a big orgy, complete with grapes, togas, and perhaps a Grecian urn.
Whedon also has The Avengers (not Mrs. Peel) coming out in a couple weeks. He's been busy. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 11:49 am |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
|
grace wrote: ...perhaps a Grecian urn.
|
_________________
I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
|
| Back to top |
|
| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 12:18 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
|
| ...and why do you need one at an orgy? |
_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
|
| Back to top |
|
| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2012 1:07 pm |
|
|
|
Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
|
| They have orgies depicted on one side. Does no one read Keats? |
_________________
You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
-Topher |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
