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| marantzo |
 Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 4:52 pm |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 7:19 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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| "Particle Fever" is a terrific documentary about how leading edge science gets done. Follows the construction of the LHC at CERN and its various startup milestones, including the verification of "5 Sigma," a level of statistical probability that confirmed the Higgs boson. Interesting personalities, thrilling moments, amazing graphics, beautifully edited. The local showing here, on Sunday, included a Q and A session with some physicists who have worked at the LHC. If you've ever wondered what particle physics is all about, what the motivations and rewards are, check this out. I hope you would walk away realizing that we do some things for the honor of the human mind. Bring your sense of wonder. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 3:44 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'm there; though I suspect that the documentary won't really help me grasp the whys and wherefores of the bewildering array of subatomic bits and bobs. |
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I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2014 10:42 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2014 6:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| The Other Woman unseated Captain America as box office champ this past weekend, and that's a positive thing IMO, even if the female-empowerment comedy is not a particularly good movie. This new-style chick flick is uneven at best, but it's good to see this genre attracting audiences. And along the way there are some distinct pleasures, among them Leslie Mann showing that she's an expert physical comic and Cameron Diaz showing that she still looks yummy enough to be able to show herself in a drunk scene the way she looks without makeup and hair styling, slightly less yummy but still immensely appealing. Also, director Nick Cassavetes has earned a hit. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 8:12 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’ve not read the books, but I was given to understand that the “Divergent” trilogy was something of a “Hunger Games” wannabe, perhaps unfairly, fan fiction that got lucky. “Divergent” the film features a young heroine, Beatrice Prior, later just Tris, who like Katniss Everdeen, must use her skills and wits to navigate in a precarious dystopia. Though the working of the Katniss’s and Tris’s respective worlds is shown in some detail, the rationale for them is never convincing articulated. Both are somewhat callow and derivative creations used as a backdrop for their protagonists’ struggle for survival.
I think this is more of an issue for “The Hunger Games”, which tries to carry a poorly realised and worn analogy about the haves and have nots. Further, as far as the film is concerned, it is not helped by its bread and circuses, gladiatorial centrepiece, which was so lacking in cinematic verve. Also, keen to preserve its PG rating, it was hopelessly tame. It was certainly no “Battle Royale”.
In contrast, the adaptation of “Divergent” prioritises making producing a more simple film with pace and tension; one in which the audience has some genuine emotional investment in the lead characters. Such was my goodwill towards it I actually applauded it for shamelessly, but successfully recycling so many stock political and action thriller tropes. I think it also benefitted from the dystopia – one in which young people were graded and assigned lives in accordance with their aptitudes - being more concerned with the personal than political. The idea of divergence, being different or not belonging, appeals to the solipsistic teenager in all of us, which, at a push, could be viewed as a metaphor for the limited, pigeon-holed lives and careers that are a function of the modern world, and, as such, carried more psychological resonance. Finally, I know it’s heresy, but I enjoyed Shailene Woodley’s performance as Tris, much more than I did that of Hollywood’s current darling, Jennifer Lawrence, as Katniss.
A sci-fi film aimed at teenagers “Divergent” is nothing to get too excited about, but its makers made good fist of what they had.
***(out of five) |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Sat May 03, 2014 8:45 pm |
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A review of Divergent that I read said that its furture was far more believable than the future distopia of The Hunger Games. And that it was a better movie.
I haven't seen either one. I might see Divergent, but I have no desire to see any of The Hunger Games movies. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 2:32 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The problem the Divergent trilogy's going to face is that as much as I love Shailene Woodley, she's playing an essentially passive character and she's going to be immediately compared with Jennifer Lawrence, who is iconic. I'll certainly stick with it though. It's an intriguing future, one of those you apparently have to be patient with to understand how we get there from here.
Lawrence has a role that will be talked about for decades. Woodley has one that will be talked about for as long as it takes to exit the movie theater. There's really no comparison. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 5:07 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Re: Woodley v. Lawrence:
Lawrence gave a marvelous performance in the movie that produced her first Oscar nomination, Winter's Bone. Since then she's been attractive but IMO not that much more. Her Oscar win for Silver Linings Playbook was a joke. She beat Emmanuelle (Amour) Riva? Barf. Lawrence won because she was the "it" girl of the moment.
I've seen Woodley twice and she very much impressed me, twice--in The Descendants and The Spectacular Now. Apparently she's very different in Divergent (which I have no more intention of seeing than I do The Hunger Games), and she seems still more different in The Fault in Our Stars, primed to become a box-office smash. (The jury is very much out on whether I will be seeing a YA sensation about two sexy young cancer patients who fall in love.)
Bottom line is: I think I prefer Woodley. Though Lawrence off-screen is wonderfully disarming and unpretentious--and quite a drinker, apparently. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 11:08 am |
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Posts: 12921
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| The only other time I've seen Woodley was in The Descendents, where she was excellent. I've liked Lawrence in everything I've seen her in, although the Oscar nomination for American Hustle was a bit puzzling. I haven't seen Amour and I loved her in Silver Linings Playbook. She reminded me a lot of Streisand in the early 70s when she made some screwball comedies. |
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I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Sun May 04, 2014 10:28 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 enjoyed reading The Fault in Our Stars; it was not as manipulative as I feared. One criticism I could voice was that the main protagonists were ridiculously articulate and wise beyond their years, but, in truth, I didn't really mind - it made for better reading than would have been the case with a more realistic pair of monosyllabic teenagers.
In fairness to the filmmakers, from the clips I've seen, Shailene Woodley, who is not your classical Hollywood beauty anyway, has been pretty much glammed-down for The Fault in Our Stars. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 8:24 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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Quote: (The jury is very much out on whether I will be seeing a YA sensation about two sexy young cancer patients who fall in love.)
Thank goodness we have a jury system, because I would just toss that plot to a pit of hungry crocodiles. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon May 05, 2014 11:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: The Other Woman unseated Captain America as box office champ this past weekend, and that's a positive thing IMO, even if the female-empowerment comedy is not a particularly good movie. This new-style chick flick is uneven at best, but it's good to see this genre attracting audiences. And along the way there are some distinct pleasures, among them Leslie Mann showing that she's an expert physical comic and Cameron Diaz showing that she still looks yummy enough to be able to show herself in a drunk scene the way she looks without makeup and hair styling, slightly less yummy but still immensely appealing. Also, director Nick Cassavetes has earned a hit.
I just saw this........(Locke and Fading Gigolo weren't available). I expected it to be more fun. Mostly I thought Leslie Mann overdid it. A little bit of her went a long way.......and there was unnecessary repetition of her tangle and toss scenes with Cameron Diaz. Guess I just would have edited it differently. Nicky Manaj was a bright light with her outrageous fashion and figure. The Danish actor Nicolas .... .... was an excellent villain in The Headhunters. Here he had me in hysterics at the end of the movie. So bad that I was gasping for air and was on the verge of needing cpr. I bet we'll see more of him. Being a Gena Rowlands fan I'm happy to hear her son's name anytime. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue May 06, 2014 6:10 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Betsy--Disagree about Leslie Mann. I admire her willingness to "go for it." She didn't hold back at all, and that will almost inevitably lead to some people thinking she went too far. Me, I loved her performance. On the other hand, even though I was okay with his performance, I thought the Danish actor actually did ham it up a bit much at tne end. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed May 07, 2014 4:59 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Chef is immediately my far-and-away favorite movie of 2014. Directed by and starring the great Jon Favreau, it's a feel-good, laugh-through-your-tears dramedy about a celebrity chef from L.A. (Favreau) who walks away from his high-profile gig, opens a food truck, and bonds with his semi-estranged pre-teen son. If this sounds a tad sentimental, well, it is, but the whole thing is so much fun that I enjoyed being manipulated. Favreau is wonderful in the lead, and his supporting cast is terrific, featuring A-listers (ScarJo, Downey Jr.), star character actors (John Leguizamo, Sofia Vergara, Bobby Cannavale, Oliver Platt, Amy Sedaris), and Dustin Hoffman playing perhaps the most hateful character on his resume. The kid who plays Favreau's ten-year-old is named Emjay Anthony, and he's amazing. The film is somewhat overlong and predictable, qualities that make it less than "great," but if you want to have a good time, here is the ticket. |
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