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| yambu |
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 12:48 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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bartist wrote: .....It's like the writer Borges once wrote - his father had a huge library and told Jorge that if he opened up a book and didn't like what he was reading, he should close it and go get another one..... My favorite Borges story is The Library of Babel, about a library of infinite dimensions, so that if you fall off a tier you burn to a cinder before you hit the ground. And infinite resources, like the Bible collection with every typo possible, and the same for every other book. Unsettling, in a giddy sort of way. |
_________________ That was great for you. How was it for me? |
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| billyweeds |
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:13 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: Infinitely Polar Bear just looked awful form the back&front of the Dvd.
I can't handle the Truth. Actually the truth is I have no idea what that film is.[/b] [/quote]
I think we had the IPB discussion already. I saw the DVD cover and agree with you. It has absolutely nothing to do with the movie I saw and loved. Truth is the story of the scandal that caused Dan Rather's dismissal from CBS News. Cate Blanchett and Robert Redford are both brilliant in it. She is much more award-worthy in Truth than she is in the overrated Carol. She and Redford both do their best work in years and years. All IMO. |
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| bartist |
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:20 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6965
Location: Black Hills
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http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/01/tough-girls
NYer didn't much like Jane Got a Gun....I was intially a little interested, having liked Portman in tough girl mode in Cold Mountain, but this one sounds like a dud. IPB I've seen on the shelf at the PL and it looked too...something. Twee? DK...
Yam, I know a mathematician who loves Borges, especially The Library of Babel, and the way it deals with infinities. His "Ficciones" collection is a prized possession of mine. I read Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius and was hooked forever. |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 10:31 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12940
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Kung Fu Panda 3 drags a bit in the middle, but the last half hour, especially, is excellent, beginning when Po decides to teach kung fu to the other pandas in his own unique manner (which drives Tigress up the wall). The climactic battle is a lot of fun. The series seems to have come to a logical conclusion, but I've been fooled before.
I saw it in 2D, by the way. My brain has trouble processing fast-paced 3D action sequences, which these movies abound in.
Of the previews, I laughed out loud at the preview of "Storks" (which owes a lot to the Lucille Ball chocolates on the assembly line sequence, but in this case involves babies--oh, and no cannibalism). No idea if the movie's any good, but I give them lots of good will for the trailer. |
_________________ 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: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:59 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Truth and Spotlight I have very little interest in seeing.
Sound like the kind of films that are fine enough and then forgotten.
I do like Blanchett and would be a shame to skip two of her films that are getting good reviews ...
I Polar Bear, not only was the cover twee and off-putting, but the back synopsis made it seem like an avoid.
I used to see around 45 new films per year.
But last year it was down to around 30, and probably going to be about the same for '15.
Sometimes, it's hard to tell about a film. Steve Jobs was a film I would have had marginal if any interest in, but heard all the praise for it, and thought it was a very well done film. Quite a good screenplay.
Trumbo otoh was a film I was quite interested in and thought it turned out rather flat and underwhelming. The screenplay about a screenwriter was unimaginative, very b&w, and a letdown. I did like Cranston, just as I liked Jennifer Lawrence in the rather mediocre Joy.
[/b] |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 5:41 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| Anyone know anything about Mistress America? Noah Baumbach film with Greta Gerwig. Just saw the dvd and haven't heard peep one about it. |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:30 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6965
Location: Black Hills
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| My guess is that something that sounds like Frances Ha 2 isn't going to incite buzz beyond the domain of FH1 fans. I'm now 19 months into my sojourn in the realm of mule deer and coyotes, which puts me 540 miles from my former arthouse, where it's probably showing. I suspect it's a double feature with Kung Fu Panda 3.... |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 10:55 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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| I just discovered that Brooklyn's director, Crowley, also helmed Boy A which was a very good film. So that's a push in the viewing direction. |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| marantzo |
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 7:37 am |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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| gromit, that's about time for Brooklyn. It is very good. |
_________________ Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| Befade |
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: Well, you can certainly love the Revenant as pure visual narrative...even I will admit, my previous page crits notwithstanding, the grizzly mauling was quite amazing. Just know that it's fiction with a high horse manure to history ratio - if that satisfies,
then enjoy. The real Hugh Glass was a great man in part because of his essential capacity for forgiveness. Maybe someone will make a great film about him.
Bart........where can I read about the real Hugh Glass? Is that in the book The Revenant?
I went to see the movie to understand why men I know were saying they LOVED it and actually watched it twice. Come on..........enough! The scenery was beautiful but the music.......a durge........a tribute to the idea that a real man can survive anything..........Trash the Quiche go for the raw bison, guys. I really doubt anyone could survive a grizzly attack like that. And did you notice Leonardo's face didn't have a scratch on it? |
_________________ Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Syd |
Posted: Mon Feb 01, 2016 5:38 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12940
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I read a book about Glass when I was a kid and it left an impression on me. It must have been Lord Grizzly, although I may have known it by another name. |
_________________ 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: Mon Feb 01, 2016 6:00 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6965
Location: Black Hills
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Lord Grizz was the most popular Glass bio, afaik. And Befade, several famous explorers survived grizzly mauling, including Jed Smith, Glass, Bridger (later in his life), and another trapper whose name escapes atm. The book, The Revenant, is more fictive.
BTW, Trekkies may notice the Enterprise's chief engineer in the 1971 Glass movie, Man in the Wilderness. I think there's a scene where he says, "the pack mules canna take much morra this!" Maybe not.... |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 6:40 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Hit the dvd shop with the intention of getting Brooklyn.
Wound up with Anomalisa; The Martian; Inside Out.
Brooklyn was sold out, so in its place I took a flyer on Mistress America. |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:19 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Well, I rather hate The Martian.
It would be a much better film if they scrapped all of the dialogue and started over. Not that the screenplay couldn't be improved as well. It's exactly the kind of movie when one authority guy (head of NASA) says something about the window will be tight and there will only be food enough for an additional 20 days, and then emphasizes IF everything goes well. Cut to Mars, where as expected, something immediately goes wrong.
There's also plenty that isn't explained, such as how/why the HAB blew up (we just see a malfunction message and Boom!). So much of the film seemed formulaic, especially anything to do with the crew of Hermes (or the people on Earth, really as well). Also, a number of small things bothered me, such as the cheesy/phony way the press conferences were presented. And why was it that only one crew member brought music to Mars, or at least on to the HAB?
It's an interesting premise, but the film constantly rubbed me the wrong way. Actually I'm not through -- but paused to cook some food and internet around. I found myself losing interest often, so I was petting the cat, doing situps, rewriting in my head the dialogue, wondering why Jessica Chastain was so underutilized, etc.
The film really seemed geared towards teenagers, or at least people under 30, imo. |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
Posted: Thu Feb 04, 2016 11:38 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6965
Location: Black Hills
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Or space enthusiasts, who harbor teens/under 30s in their hearts.
I don't recall exactly, but didn't he make water by burning hydrogen? The explosion might have been due to that.
Jessica Chastain seems to be developing a habit of being underused in sci-fi movies. |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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