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| Syd |
 Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 10:38 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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gromit wrote: I'm a big fan of Port of Shadows.
Love the atmosphere.
I was wondering who gets custody of the dog.
Port of Shadows is my first Marcel Carné. I'm definitely going to have to see Children of Paradise which is supposed to be his masterpiece. |
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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: Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Syd wrote: gromit wrote: I'm a big fan of Port of Shadows.
Love the atmosphere.
I was wondering who gets custody of the dog.
Port of Shadows is my first Marcel Carné. I'm definitely going to have to see Children of Paradise which is supposed to be his masterpiece.
No disrespect, but I'm sort of gobsmacked that you've never seen CoP. It's quintessential--and amazing. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 7:01 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Le Jour se lève (1939) and Thérèse Raquin (1953) are both worthwhile. I've also seen Hotel du Nord but can't remember any of it.
Le Jour se lève also has a good deal of proto-noir elements.
Poetic realism films of fatalistic tragedies is a good summary of Port of Shadows and Le Jour.
I probably should rewatch Children of Paradise. I only saw it once about 5 or 6 years ago. Despite not really being my type of film, it was a charmer and impressive. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 11:50 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Song of the Sea is a movie with oddly animated characters and stunningly beautiful backgrounds and a story with a genuinely mythical feel even though it takes place in modern times. It's the story of a young boy with a bad case of sibling jealousy (and love as well) who comes to realize that his six-year sister is a selkie, and the last hope of rescuing faerie kind from the despair of the Owl Witch. I think this sort of tale was what Miyazaki was aiming for in Ponyo, but it works better here. I also like it better than The Secret of Kells, Tomm Moore's first film, which was still pretty good. |
Last edited by Syd on Mon Oct 17, 2016 9:14 pm; edited 1 time in total
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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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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 3:06 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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| It got a lot of praise, but I thought The Secret of the Kells was tremendously ugly and barely watchable. While Ponyo seemed like a decent idea poorly executed. Have not seen Song of the Sea yet. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2015 7:19 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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gromit wrote: It got a lot of praise, but I thought The Secret of the Kells was tremendously ugly and barely watchable. While Ponyo seemed like a decent idea poorly executed. Have not seen Song of the Sea yet.
I went back to my review of Kells, and apparently I found the animation striking (as in different), didn't like the animation on the Vikings and the story dull, so maybe I'm remembering it as being better than it was. I didn't find the story dull here. I think it would be a good movie to share with kids, who would identify with the plight of little Saoirse the selkie girl. |
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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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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Mar 29, 2015 10:43 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| Philomena and The Railway Man made a good double feach, 2013 films both reflecting on the power of the distant past and the burden of bad actions swept under the carpet. Both based on real events, but Philomena perhaps the more embroidered of the two. Both excellent, though I might be a bit more partial to Steve Coogan's POV, where he has compelling moments of growth, losing some of his cynicism and getting lessons on being less judgmental....and less of a smartass. (part of my odyssey, as well) |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2015 12:16 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The Tale of the Princess Kaguya is based on a thousand-year old Japanese folktale. We're talking the Japanese equivalent of Beowulf here, except Kaguya is actually good. A bamboo cutter sees a glowing bamboo plant, and the shoot from that plant contains a miniature woman. When he shows the woman to his wife, it turns into a baby who he and his wife raise as their own daughter. The baby grows in a year or two to be a beautiful young woman whose legendary beauty attracts five high-born nobles (none of whom, it must be noted, has actually seen her) who compare her to mythical beauties. She demands that they actually produce these magical things so she can judge their honesty, and the results are humorous and tragic.
This is told in a minimalist animation style appropriate to the subject matter, and is really lovely, although it drags sometimes. The director is Isao Takahata, who has directed only five films, the only ones of which are memorable are the first, the bleak Grave of the Fireflies, and this one, which is ultimately sad, but has some cheerful scenes in the meantime.
There was a lot of surprise this year when The Lego Movie wasn't nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but the critics didn't seem to consider that the nominators knew what they were doing. I've seen four of the five nominees and all were richly deserving and more interesting movies. |
Last edited by Syd on Sun Oct 25, 2015 12:54 am; edited 1 time in total
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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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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 12:07 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The Violent Years deals with the ever-present 50s problem of violent youth gangs who vandalized, robbed, raped and murdered in a nihilist rebellion against their sterile, pampered existence. And it all comes down to bad parents who spend too much time at their jobs and causes. It's the dark side of "Mary Poppins," with a script that is probably the best Ed Wood ever penned. If you ever want to see what another director could do with one of his scripts, here you are.
Jean Moorhead actually does pretty well with her part as the gang leader, which led to such roles as "Woman in Bathtub" in "The Amazing Colossal Man" and "Party Guest" in "Bells are Ringing." She was also Playboy's Miss October in 1955, which may have been before this film. The other girls tend to get lost, except for the brunette who had issues with her school teacher. The film is bookended with tedious lectures by a judge on the causes of juvenile deliquency, which seems to be boredom caused by too little television. Those, unfortunately, lower this to a 4.0 of 10 when it could have been a 5. |
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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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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:32 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| <snort!> |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 9:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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| Syd--Would like to see The Violent Years. Where did you see it? |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:11 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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billyweeds wrote: Syd--Would like to see The Violent Years. Where did you see it?
Rented it from Netflix. |
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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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| carrobin |
| Posted: Tue Mar 31, 2015 11:19 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| Funny, just yesterday I was talking with my boss about the iTunes channel for kids, and how much her six-year-old loves songs like "Rock Around the Clock" and "Let's Twist Again." And I told her that when those songs were popular, our parents were alarmed by their influence on us teenagers. How times change…especially in pop music. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 9:05 am |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Apr 01, 2015 5:22 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lZMzf-SDWP8
Honest trailer - those who endured Interstellar may enjoy this.
Pretty hilarious, and so right on. Thanks! |
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