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| bartist |
 Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 11:52 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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billyweeds wrote: Find myself actually looking forward to a Nicole Kidman movie for the first time in...well, forever. Hoping to catch Stoker tonight. This obvious riff on Hitchcock's Shadow of a Doubt sounds like it goes the master one better. The director is the great Chan-wook (Oldboy) Park and the co-star is the great Mia (Jane Eyre) Wasikowska, so I can handle the dreaded Kidman.
I was surprised to hear it was written by Wentworth Miller (star of that series Earl and I chatted about quite a bit in tv thread, "Prison Break") - hadn't realized he was a writer. I think of him as the poor man's Matt Damon. Stoker does sound quite a bit like SoaD, so I'm there. When it's here. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Mar 15, 2013 1:15 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| My neighbor is an ex-boxer who has a sort of mini-gym in the back garden, right behind the bomb shelter entrance. I gave him a copy of the doc China Heavyweight and he was excited. He had heard about it but hadn't seen it yet. We talked a bit and he said that he met Muhammad Ali in Shanghai back in '85, and went inside and got some photos. And there he was pretending to spar with the GOAT. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Mar 16, 2013 8:22 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Oz the Great and Powerful. Nope, doesn't quite cut it, despite some beautiful images, nice scenes like the walk through the ruined china city (Chinatown) and rescue of the china girl and the Wizard trying to understand the land whose throne he has been offered because his nickname happens to be Oz and can do magic tricks such as coming out of the sky. Nice try, though. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 1:03 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6967
Location: Black Hills
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| As I feared. Someone here, I think, described Franco as who you call when you can't get your first pick for the lead. Maybe wait for DVD. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 4:51 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| Saw The East, A Band Called Death, Bayou Maharajah: The Tragic Genius of James Booker, Kiss Of The Damned, The Punk Singer and The Source. Will not be reviewing other than to say they're all worth seeing. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 7:19 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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bartist wrote: As I feared. Someone here, I think, described Franco as who you call when you can't get your first pick for the lead. Maybe wait for DVD. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Just read David Denby's review of "Jack the Giant Slayer" in the New Yorker--to my surprise, he liked it. Not so much the Oz flick, though. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:27 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12944
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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carrobin wrote: Just read David Denby's review of "Jack the Giant Slayer" in the New Yorker--to my surprise, he liked it. Not so much the Oz flick, though.
I liked "Jack the Giant Slayer," too. It's my top movie of 2013 so far, although that's partly because I've only seen three 2013 movies. (The third is "Side Effects," which was pretty good, too.) |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 1:36 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Say something more about the James Booker doc.
How is it structured?
Is it a lot of talking heads, a lot of concert footage, or both?
The guy had a helluva lot of talent.
Could fire off Classical music as well as NO R&B and Soul.
A lot of folks were wowed by his playing (even reportedly Arthur Rubinstein) but his lifestyle was a little wild and he fell victim to 70's excesses.
I went to the film's official site but couldn't get the videos to play there or via proxy (blocked in the PRC). |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 6:12 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| Gromit, lots of concert footage, rare home videos of Booker, some talking heads (Harry Connick Jr., Dr. John), archival footage of New Orleans. Well-crafted and emotionally satisfying. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 11:20 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Sounds good. Thanks. Hope I can get a hold of it.
I've seen Henry Butler, something of a Booker disciple, in NYC at The Bottom Line, back in the mid-80's.
The film's website had an amusing quote from Dr. John saying that James Booker was the best gay, one-eyed, junkie piano player New Orleans ever produced.
Something like that. Said in loving jest.
Speaking of, here's an obit from down in that region which went viral. Some calling it the best obit ever. Amusing.
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sunherald/obituary.aspx?pid=163538353#fbLoggedOut
[Edited to work] |
Last edited by gromit on Mon Mar 18, 2013 2:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 12:29 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| gromit--That link is not working. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Mar 18, 2013 2:44 pm |
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Location: Shanghai
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 12:36 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Finally caught up with The Master.
Didn't care for it that much, though there were some good scenes and PSH is pretty masterful.
I thought they laid it on a bit thick with Phoenix's character, with his weird hunching and outrageous alcoholism and sand-women. Phoenix seemed real committed to the role but his character seemed mostly a caricature. The enigmatic moments in the film seemed rather hollow, which could be a comment on the cult/method -- enigmatic and empty -- but those moments didn't resonate for me or seem have much meaning beyond mere ambiguity. The film also seemed to have a good deal of repetition, as though we were walking back and forth between the wall and window without much gain.
Amy Adams seemed like an interesting character but she had a rather small part. I would have liked her involved more. I thought it was interesting that the son says his father is just making it all up, but the film never really posited an alternative, except some mumblings about a deathbed vision some years before. I didn't like the style or look of the first half hour of the film. It seemed to have a rather 70's approach/look/feel to it. They did get some nice 50's period details down (the photography, the ties, Laura Dern, etc.).
It's a sporadically interesting film, and I appreciated its coiled energy and semi-ambition, but ultimately found it dissatisfying.
I don't really have any favorites from 2012.
Maybe 5 Broken Cameras.
I have Zero Dark Thirty up next ... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 5:36 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: I don't really have any favorites from 2012.
You're a hard man, Mr. Gromit. But I agree with you about The Master, except that you liked it a lot more than I did. I thought it was really pretty bad--and up there with There Will Be Blood as one of the most overrated films of the past ten years. IMO P.T. Anderson is still dining out on Boogie Nights. |
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