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| gromit |
 Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 10:23 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Quote: I saw Stonehearst Asylum. Absolutely terrible, and the worst thing about it was the phoned-in yet over-the-top turn by Sir Ben, who is becoming the British knight-of-the-realm version of a De Niro-Pacino-style paycheck whore.
Yeah, Kingsley and Caine aren't too particular about what they appear in.
But the rest of the cast was pretty Big Name as well.
S Asylum seemed to have sunk without a trace.
Likely I'll skip it -- thanks for the info. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:01 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: Quote: I saw Stonehearst Asylum. Absolutely terrible, and the worst thing about it was the phoned-in yet over-the-top turn by Sir Ben, who is becoming the British knight-of-the-realm version of a De Niro-Pacino-style paycheck whore.
Yeah, Kingsley and Caine aren't too particular about what they appear in.
But the rest of the cast was pretty Big Name as well.
S Asylum seemed to have sunk without a trace.
Likely I'll skip it -- thanks for the info.
Caine is also in S Asylum and more overqualified than you can imagine. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 5:15 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 6:53 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Much as I admire Taibbi, and even though I'm no huge fan of Eastwood, I think Matt is off base here. He seems to be looking for a different movie. AS is what it is. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Jan 24, 2015 9:56 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Well, Whiplash was certainly intense. A student who wants to become the Charlie Parker of the drums meets a professor who wants to produce the next Charlie Parker, and their obsessions collide. I really hated the J. K. Simmons character, but in this case that's all to the good, and he really deserves the Oscar he's going to get. Although I'd much rather produce the next Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, or Beethoven for that matter. It's possible to revolutionize a musical form and live to a ripe old age. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 12:40 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Syd wrote: Well, Whiplash was certainly intense. A student who wants to become the Charlie Parker of the drums meets a professor who wants to produce the next Charlie Parker, and their obsessions collide. I really hated the J. K. Simmons character, but in this case that's all to the good, and he really deserves the Oscar he's going to get. Although I'd much rather produce the next Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, or Beethoven for that matter. It's possible to revolutionize a musical form and live to a ripe old age.
Though I suspect you're right about Simmons winning the Oscar, I don't agree he deserves it. He gave a stunning performance, but Ethan Hawke was indelible and closer to the reality of the human condition. Unfortunately, Patricia Arquette has stolen most of the Oscar buzz from her costar. But Arquette is equally magnificent. "Boyhood" really deserves every single Oscar for which it's been nominated. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 1:09 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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billyweeds wrote: Syd wrote: Well, Whiplash was certainly intense. A student who wants to become the Charlie Parker of the drums meets a professor who wants to produce the next Charlie Parker, and their obsessions collide. I really hated the J. K. Simmons character, but in this case that's all to the good, and he really deserves the Oscar he's going to get. Although I'd much rather produce the next Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, or Beethoven for that matter. It's possible to revolutionize a musical form and live to a ripe old age.
Though I suspect you're right about Simmons winning the Oscar, I don't agree he deserves it. He gave a stunning performance, but Ethan Hawke was indelible and closer to the reality of the human condition. Unfortunately, Patricia Arquette has stolen most of the Oscar buzz from her costar. But Arquette is equally magnificent. "Boyhood" really deserves every single Oscar for which it's been nominated.
I would be very happy if Hawke wins, but I would also be happy if Simmons wins. He's in the same position John Houseman was in when he won for The Paper Chase. Without him, you don't have a movie.
We have one theatre here which is currently showing seven of the eight Best Picture nominees, and, since it's decrepit, shows them for five dollars or less. I was the only person in the theater for The Theory of Everything (and remember this was a Saturday matinee) and there were five for Whiplash (a late matinee). There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, which I suspect were here for American Sniper, which is very popular in this part of the country, but I expect this is a theater that is about to die. |
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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 Jan 25, 2015 8:59 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| I would be happy if Hawke wins, if Simmons wins, if Norton wins, and if Ruffalo wins. But I want Hawke to win. Duvall--no. Although he gives a terrific performance, the movie he's in is cheesy to the max, though I admit it's more entertaining than "better" movies like The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2015 10:17 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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The Producers Guild has righted some of the wrongs done by the Oscar nominations. They've awarded the animation award to The Lego Movie and the documentary award to Life Itself. Neither film was even nominated for the Oscar. Sometimes there's God so quickly.
However, the Producers have also thrown a serious curveball. They named Birdman best picture. WHA????? Boyhood was supposed to win...and shoulda. (But at least Birdman is an award-worthy movie. They might have gone the American Sniper route and that would have been a travesty.) |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2015 6:52 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Blackhat is occasionally exciting and visually arresting, in the way one expects from a Michael Mann thriller. But most of the time this computer-hacker story is unredeemedly boring and comprehensible only to the extremely computer-literate. Chris Hemsworth is eye candy for sure, but miscast as a hacker. Dude is way too hunky to be believable as a geek of any kind. Yes, yes, I know that's like saying about a woman "she's too beautiful to be believable as an intellectual," but there you are. It's my story and I'm sticking to it. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:19 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Upstate NY
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 4:58 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Syd wrote: A student who wants to become the Charlie Parker of the drums ...
Charlie Parker of the drums?
I believe that'd be Max Roach.
His birthday was just Jan 10 and WKCR played a full day of his music.
Roy Eldridge tomorrow Jan 30. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 6:22 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: .
In spite of all the controversy over American Sniper (see below), I think it is probably the best work of Clint Eastwood.
http://tinyurl.com/k4w7ew9
(Changed the url.)
I would agree it's one of Eastwood's better movies, but I'm one of those people who thinks Eastwood has been habitually overrated in the extreme. Gran Torino, True Crime, and Absolute Power are three of the worst films of the last decade or so, and even slightly better ones like J. Edgar and Mystic River do not hold up on second viewing. The only movies he's made that I thoroughly like are his first directorial effort Play Misty for Me (which is far better than its later clone Fatal Attraction), the Kevin Costner-driven A Perfect World, and the critically-trashed Hereafter. Oh, and American Sniper. Eastwood is one of the most overpraised living filmmakers. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 11:12 am |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1245
Location: St. Louis
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jan 29, 2015 12:49 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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The controversy somehow didn't ignite any interest here. Sounds like a good film, no disrepect to anyone who saw it or plans to, but I gave up seeing films solely for the purpose of being able to talk about them. If I were a moderator at a film website, sure, I'd feel obligated to see it and all the other contenders for gold bald dickless swordsmen. Not seeing Whip It Good (or whatever the drummer flick was called), either, again no disrespect or criticism, it just didn't pique my interest. Ditto The Theory of Everything, mainly because my interest in Hawking is in his ideas about astrophysics and not him personally. One thing I really like about 3rd Eye is that there are reviewers here who make clear where they are coming from, in terms of unabashedly exposing their biases and peculiar tastes, that I can often get reliable intel on what I might want to avoid or get in line for. For example, if that Weeden guy hates a science fiction film, I know I will LOVE it.  |
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