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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:43 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: Knox -
I saw "In a World" last weekend and much enjoyed it. I should have reviewed it then, because the theme is VO artists, mixed in with a funny and offbeat romcom and a girl with a giant PITA of a father. I would put this on my list of best comedies of 2013, up there with We're the Millers.
This is an auteur effort (writes, directs, stars) from the improbably named Lake Bell (i'm going to take a WAG and say that's not her birth name?), ably supported by a great ensemble. Wiki or imdb this, and then go and see it!
Haven't seen it yet though I certainly plan to. Fans of A Serious Man should know that Fred Malamed plays one of the leading roles. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 8:54 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Yes, I was coming back to edit and mention that "Sy Abelman" of ASM was the troublesome father of Ms. Bell. Perfection! (and he is, in fact, a voice artist, so he's got the great pipes for his role as doyen of the VO industry who fancies himself the successor to Don LaFontaine).
Also want to mention Rob Corddry who does a low-key-but-hilarious brother-in-law to Bell.
I'm going to have to watch this one again. And then maybe one more time after that. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 9:00 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Fred ("Sy") Malamed is one of the very top voice-over artists in the business. His silky tones were used for maximum smarm effect in ASM. Cannot wait to see In a World...(note the ellipsis in the title). |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 7:46 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12889
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Ender's Game I'm tentatively giving this 9 out of 10. It's an excellent, intelligent movie, has a great and innovative look, and has emotional impact as well. It's about as good an adaptation you could hope for in two hours. I would have liked to see a little more of the family dynamics at the beginning of the movie, which were interesting. I hope they continue with the sequel, which is even better. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2013 10:52 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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Jason Reitman's Labor Day stars Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet in a Sirkian melodrama that manages to work despite drifting into romance novel kitsch at times.
I liked it. Mirgun liked it more. I'm calling it a "chick flick" which isn't a negative.
Winslet is good but doesn't seem to get a handle on her character, a damaged divorcee.. Brolin is better as an escaped convict. The whole thing is a bit corny and quite a departure from Reitman's usual brand of satire and hipster humor. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 10:42 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Syd wrote: Ender's Game I'm tentatively giving this 9 out of 10. It's an excellent, intelligent movie, has a great and innovative look, and has emotional impact as well. It's about as good an adaptation you could hope for in two hours. I would have liked to see a little more of the family dynamics at the beginning of the movie, which were interesting. I hope they continue with the sequel, which is even better.
Interesting, some people have warned me away from this, saying it leaves out much of importance from the book. But, for me, that might be good....I found the book depressing. I think I read one of the sequels, and liked it more. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Sat Nov 02, 2013 11:21 am |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1245
Location: St. Louis
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Bart and Weeds, thanks for the push towards "In a World..."
"Speaker for the Dead" is the Ender book that I liked. The Pequeninos were fascinating. And it puts Ender's actions (SPOILERS?) in perspective, in terms of how humanity comes to see the hive and other races. I enjoyed the use of time dilation, in the sequel, to show us how human culture has evolved and yet still have Ender reappear. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sun Nov 03, 2013 11:53 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos are absolutely stunning in Abdel Kechiche's "Blue Is The Warmest Color." The film deals with the romantic passion that ignites between two young women whose main reason for being together is a powerful sexual chemistry. Lust will take you only so far...but sometimes that's far enough.
The explicit love scenes between the two women are the subject of a lot of hype and controversy. But they're not nearly as explicit or shocking as the press would have you believe and ultimately they're the least interesting thing about the movie (though hardly boring). There are moments when the lovers simply kiss or stare into each other's eyes that I found more erotic than the ones where one chick has her face buried in the other's ass. Lots of grinding generating little heat. The real fire is in the brilliant acting by the two leads. Riveting and deeply moving.
"Blue Is The Warmest Color" is three hours long and I was engrossed by every single minute of it.
Despite its progressive approach to gay love, abundant nudity, and its modern setting, the movie is really a classic love story - smart, insightful and brutally honest. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 6:29 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Agree that Blue is the Warmest Color is brilliantly acted, but that's not enough for me to overcome the extremely soap-operatic plot and waaaay too long running time. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 7:52 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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As I Lay Dying was just released -- directed, co-written/adapted by and starring James Franco. The cast all really look the part(s), and the costumes are good as well.
For some reason they decided to heavily use split screen, often two different vantage points of the same characters/action. Possibly this is intended to capture the fragmented nature of the novel which is narrated by different characters (?) For the most part it was distracting, especially as the lighting in one half of the screen was often different than in the other even though they are capturing the same scene. Only on a few occasions did the split screen seem effective or worthwhile. Occasional it seemed silly. If there was any pattern or reason for going to split screen, I missed it.
There are also a few bits of slow-motion which they should have done without. The film starts getting larded with gimmicks, which don't add and distract. Monologues didn't work all that well as voiceovers and are another reason the film doesn't really cohere, and isn't that involving. Maybe they were also too respectful to Faulkner, but it's been a long time since I read the novel, which was a slog at the time. I used to read a ton but never got into a Faulkner phase, and what I did read of Faulkner's often seemed like a chore.
Otherwise, I frequently had to put on subtitles to catch what Tim Blake Nelson was saying, as his illiterate-farmer-with-no-teeth accent was sometimes hard to decipher. He really nails many scenes, but there were others where he over-acts acts and descends into caricature. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:21 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: extremely soap-operatic plot
I didn't see any of that in the movie. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 1:04 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Quote: extremely soap-operatic plot
I didn't see any of that in the movie.
It's all semantics, really. I found the back-and-forth emotional rollercoaster between the two women a little over the top. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 1:10 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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I've been on that emotional roller coaster and when you're on it there's no such thing as "over the top." It all seems quite real at the time.
The things I've done for love. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Nov 04, 2013 4:46 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| I think it depnds on your state of mind, but if your body is awash with the cocktail of drugs that the body releases when your in love, there is no such thing as too silly or too stupid...or too old. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Nov 05, 2013 9:45 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Last edited by bartist on Tue Nov 05, 2013 9:47 am; edited 1 time in total
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