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gromit

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 12:40 pm

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

Syd wrote:

knox wrote:

Herzog is a better documentarist than movie director. Bad Lieut. POCNO. should have prompted introduction of a new MPAA rating called "YMMV." I found it quite amusing, though some felt he may have jumped into the cactus too many times.

Currently he's a better documentarian, but the man did do Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo.

I'm partial to Even Dwarfs Started Small, Stroszek and Signs of Life. But his early documentaries such as The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner (Werner doing a Wide World of Sports type thing on a German ski-jumper) are quite good.
I have a 6 disc set of his early documentaries and short films and really should dig it out and watch more. I enjoyed the one or two discs I watched. He's been doing docs throughout his career. He has a very soothing voice.

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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

bartist

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 1:15 pm

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6958 Location: Black Hills

Quote:

But now I feel that certain crimes are heinous or callous enough that one can forfeit their life. Case in point, the Colorado movie massacre. I assume that there is almost no doubt they have the right guy, he killed over a dozen people and tried to kill multiples more. I find it very hard to justify that he gets to live another 5 or 10 years or his even natural life even imprisoned

Could be justified - he may suffer more, living with his actions and prison life, if he lives. LWOP seems a harsher penalty, existentially, than death.

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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.

Befade

Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 2:22 pm

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 3784 Location: AZ

I'm with you, Bart.

I'd like to see Batman............but it seems like the wrong thing to do now. Maybe at some later date.

When my son lived near Denver we went to Columbine High to see the memorial. Very ordinary high school. The memorial itself was quite inspiring.

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Lost in my own private I dunno.

billyweeds

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 4:27 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Ted tells the very funny, very sweet story of a man and his talking teddy bear. Sounds unwatchable, and the preview made it look that way, but director/writer Seth MacFarlane and the two actors make it cook. Mark Wahlberg connects with Mila Kunis on screen as he seldom does with women, and their love triangle--with his talking teddy bear--plays out romantically and humorously. Support from Joel McHale and Giovanni Ribisi is very strong, and the movie is a lot of fun.

gromit

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 5:04 am

Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9010 Location: Shanghai

I saw a trailer for Ted which looked kind of awful.
What's with all these infantile regressing men -- Lars and the Real Girl, The Beaver, Ted.
Okay, I don't know how well Ted fits into that lineup, but I plan to skip it until further notices.
Apparently this film is connected to Family Guy -- writers and/or director or howsoever.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.

billyweeds

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 5:21 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

gromit wrote:

Believe me, if I hadn't gotten a semi-freebie to Ted I never would have seen it based on that horrible trailer. But the movie itself is an almost totally different animal--a hip, occasionally raunchy comedy coupled with a hip, occasionally sexy rom-com featuring two amazingly attractive leads. It's a winner, and honestly I never would have believed that based on one of the most unappealing trailers i can remember.

Btw, I liked it far better than either Lars (which I loathed) or The Beaver (which was at best uneven).

bartist

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 7:44 am

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6958 Location: Black Hills

Bweed - whew. Between you earlier ("sounds unwatchable") and the trailer, I'd been scared off and the result was nothing at the monsterplex I wanted to see the last few weeks. So now I'm emboldened to see Ted and I thank you.

I didn't see either Lars or Jody Foster's Beaver as showing regression - more like a psychosis in response to something traumatic.

_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.

knox

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 9:01 am

Joined: 18 Mar 2010 Posts: 1246 Location: St. Louis

You just had to say "Jody Foster's Beaver," didn't you?

Ted might be another Bridesmaids - so much better than the trailer, so much better than it sounds.

BTW, I read recently that there is some movement in Canada to have a new national animal, due to the lady parts association with beaver. I expect Canada will ultimately reject the plan. Having spent time in Oregon, I know that Oregon will never give up the beaver (it's on the state flag, which is the only two-sided flag in the Union).

marantzo

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:14 am

Guest

I certainly hope Ted isn't another Bridesmaids because I hated Bridesmaids. I really liked Lars.

I'm not sure where you heard that about Canada's national animal, but I don't remember hearing anything about that.

billyweeds

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:17 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Ted isn't too much like Bridesmaids (or IMO as good), but both feature some raunch and a lot of edgy stuff. I wouldn't bet on Gary loving it.

bartist

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:33 am

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6958 Location: Black Hills

marantzo wrote:

I heard that, too, from a friend in Toronto. Here's a link I found:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/offbeat/story/2011/10/27/north-polar-bear-emblem.html

This particular politician didn't mention the lady parts aspect, but I've heard that some others who jumped on this bandwagon had added that to the beaver's minuses.

This graphic, from another story, may help....

_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.

marantzo

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:50 am

Guest

That's almost a year ago. I remember it. Went nowhere fast.

marantzo

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:58 am

Guest

Canada would never get rid of the Beaver as the national animal. Male tourists from all over the world say that Canada has the best beavers in the world. That's why that straight-laced Conservative female Senator wanted to change the animal.

bartist

Posted: Tue Jul 24, 2012 11:59 am

Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6958 Location: Black Hills

There's a small port town in Newfoundland named Dildo, apparently named innocently enough for a local sea captain of that name. In any case, a country that doesn't shrink from such place names isn't likely to abandon its national emblem.

While I'm digressing hideously, I note that there's a Beaver in PA, IIRC, and the local liquour store reportedly does a side business selling hats with the store name, Beaver Liquours.

_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.

billyweeds

Posted: Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:00 am

Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City

Well, I saw The Dark Knight Rises and liked it intermittently, quite a lot sometimes. At its best it's my favorite of Christopher Nolan's films. At its worst it's slow and boring and meh to the max. But approximately the last hour is all good, and the ending achieves a sweetness and humor that has hitherto completely eluded Nolan.

What Nolan has and has always had is a sense of style. Usually it's employed to narcissistic degrees that turn me off as few things do. Inception in particular was not only idiotic as drama, it was obnoxious as an insight into the director's soul (or lack of it). But in the case of TDKR, he uses it to create a Gotham City of disturbing affectlessness, a quality which one can see in such phenomena as the Romney campaign, the war in Iraq, and the Penn State scandal. The people (and this is the actors' achievement and the director's choice) seem for the most part dissociated from any reality.

That's why the ending (and I won't reveal what happens) is so unexpectedly "charming."

There are no great performances here, but there are two distinct surprises, both on the female side. One is that Marion Cotillard is so blah and ineffective. (She's been moving in this direction ever since her absolutely stunning breakthrough in La Vie en Rose, but here she has a role that she could have really nailed, and she's nowhere.) The other surprise is that Anne Hathaway makes a smashing Catwoman, even better than Michelle Pfeiffer's in Batman Returns, because more unpredictable and less "catty." I've never particularly liked Hathaway (except in the somewhat anomalous Rachel Getting Married), but that may change.

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