Third Eye Film Society Forum Index
Author Message

<  Third Eye Film Forums  ~  Current Film Talk

bartist
Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2018 11:41 am Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
...


Last edited by bartist on Sun Aug 26, 2018 8:45 pm; edited 2 times in total

_________________
He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days.
View user's profile Send private message
gromit
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 12:54 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Contact Chilly directly, he can probably set you up as an admin.

Have to say I just haven't been watching many movies these days.
The golden age of dvd's has passed.
And I've been reading and playing basketball more.
I'll probably get back to film at some point.
But just haven't been watching much of anything.
Lazily I might toss on early season Simpson discs.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
carrobin
Posted: Thu Aug 09, 2018 2:00 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
Sports aren't my diversion--in fact, sports are about the only subject I don't have any interest in. My evenings are crowded with news, mostly MSNBC but sometimes CNN. Turbulent Trump keeps the surprises coming, and there's plenty of suspense. (Will the nation survive? Will we ever escape his malign influence? Will those kids ever rejoin their parents? Are the Russians going to turn off all the lights? When? Why? Who? What?)

And I still haven't seen the Harry Potter show on Broadway.
View user's profile Send private message
billyweeds
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 6:09 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 20618 Location: New York City
Even if you don't see many movies these days, this is one you definitely Should. Not. Miss.

Saw BlacKkKlansman, the new Spike Lee "joint," and I'd venture to say it's his best movie ever--certainly on a par with his other "bests" (Do the Right Thing, He Got Game, 25th Hour) and IMO better than any of them. It's a true story (first black policeman on the Colorado Springs polilce force infiltrates Ku Klux Klan) and a powerful one with strong contemporary resonance. A great cast responds to Lee's impeccable direction. I've disliked more Spike Lee films than I've liked, but when they're good they can be truly great--and here, for my money, is Exhibit A.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
gromit
Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:28 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
I've been looking forward to that.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
gromit
Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2018 12:37 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
The Insult is a Lebanese film following in the tradition of A Separation. Arab cultural clash/lawsuit cinema.

The conflict here seems a bit forced and then its extension is forced again. A Christian resident has a drain pipe off his balcony that just empties out over the sidewalk. The neighborhood construction crew fixes it for free (connecting it to the downspout). The homeowner becomes enraged, destroys the new useful pipe and gets cursed at by the construction chief. That's the first insult, but there's a worse one to come.

The clash here is that the Christian Party member wants Palestinians out of Lebanon, while the construction chief is a Palestinian. So there's an anti-immigrant/nationalist theme, which is no doubt intended to be topical. It took me a little while to keep straight who was the Palestinian, since he has a fairly good high-ranking job, and I was expecting him to be more part of the underclass. The Chirstian is the working class guy (auto-repair).

The crappy subtitles certainly didn't help, as I had to decipher that he/him meant you/your; while she/her = he/his. Even after you ascertain this bizarre use of pronouns, it still isn't the easiest thing to process as people talk. And it's a talky drama with limited action, lots of court scenes.

I found it interesting that the Christian nationalist views Palestinians as specially privileged, but as it turns out most of their "privilege" involves being stateless. If a Palestinian commits a crime in Jordan they can flee to another country and Jordan will be glad they're gone. And the Lebanese authorities have to tread carefully about exerting their authority in the refugee camps. So being stateless and living in a refugee camp provides some limited immunity from laws. [something akin to being homeless in the US gets you out of jury duty]. Refugee status also means that Palestinians aren't legally allowed to work in Lebanon (and probably Jordan as well). So they no doubt get paid less, have minimal job security, etc. -- as we see with the Palestinian head engineer. Special treatment, yes, but disadvantageous rather than privileged.

I thought a bunch of the drama and conflict was poorly manufactured. Sure small things can lead to bigger conflicts but some of it just seem unlikely and forced. The two leads weren't terribly interesting characters. The Christian is a bigot, the Palestinian stubborn and we don't get much more. Surprisingly, I found the Lebanese judges, one in the first trial and then a trio in the followup case, to be the most interesting aspect of the film. I also found it odd how either lawyer can interrupt, ask questions, make speeches seemingly at any time, which seemed odd.

The drama gets artificially amped up when it turns out the Palestinian's young female lawyer is the daughter of the Christian's older lawyer. So besides the immigrant/nationalist and Christian/Muslim conflict, they toss in a generational clash as well as a male/female schism. I think they tried too hard and overloaded the plot with multiple culture clashes at the expense of character development. The Christian's wife was nearly interesting, but looked distractingly like a movie star.

The main insult brings Israel/Jews into the mix, and is considered so insulting that nobody is willing to repeat it, except finally for the barrier-breaking young female lawyer. I found that reticence an interesting cultural artifact. I had a Palestinian friend in Shanghai for years, and his worst insult was to label somebody a Jew, which initially was confusing when he'd call a Chinese person a Jew. That's different than the insult in this film, though the Palestinian supporters start bringing up semi-recent history and calling the Christians supporters of the Jews (Jew-lovers essentially).

Overall, it's an all right film, that isn't as engaging or insightful as it could be. Perhaps if you've been to Lebanon or are pretty familiar with its history, the film might play better. Also, normal subtitles without fucked-up pronouns (not the only problem, btw) would have helped.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Stepping outside of the film, it is important to note that while most/all Arab countries profess brotherhood and solidarity with the Palestinians, the smallish countries bordering Palestine -- Jordan, Lebanon, Syria -- all worry about the destabilizing effect of having large numbers of Palestinian refugees within their borders. Indeed a long-time Israeli line was that the Palestinians already have a state, and it's called Jordan. Which pretty much scared the Hashemite rulers of Jordan into expelling large numbers of Palestinians and moderating their foreign policy to cooperate significantly with Israeli.

I also don't think many Americans realize that there are large numbers of Palestinians who have lived in refugee camps for the past 50+ years, with some families dating back to 1950 in what were then expected to be temporary camps.

Lebanon is a rather small country, with a very strategic location. For a couple post-war decades it was the intellectual, cultural and tolerance capital of the Arab world, until the mid-70's civil war, followed by Iran, Israel, Syria and others muscling in and asserting control over parts of Lebanon for decades. A sad, complicated downfall. I kind of wish that we could have added Lebanon to our Israel/Palestine/Jordan vacation.


Last edited by gromit on Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:07 am; edited 1 time in total

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Ghulam
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 1:36 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY
.
I agree with those who say "BlacKkKlansman" is Spike Lee's "best movie ever". It has the thrills and the humor. But, above all, it has topicality and timeliness par excellence. (Spoilers) It asks the question, "Can someone like David Duke ever occupy the White House?" And it answers with a film clip of Donald Trump's vitriolic response to Charlottesville's violent rally.


.
View user's profile Send private message
inlareviewer
Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 10:08 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS
Re-posted from Zuckerbook:

Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Finally got to see this most anticipated look at The Early Role Model Who Isn't Nat, Judy or Dancing Bear, Still The Person We Most Want To Be When and If We Ever Grow Up. The eyes look like cherry tomatoes. Beautiful documentary, instantly joins the pantheon titles of our favorite genre. Oh, how we wish he were still here, and oh, how blessed we feel to have existed at the same time he did. Thank you, Mister Rogers, for everything. L'chaim, Love ALL Ways, Namaste.

_________________
"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim
View user's profile Send private message
Ghulam
Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 1:12 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY
.
THE NEW CANON

The 23 best films of the 2000s




https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/style/wp/2018/08/17/feature/these-are-the-best-movies-of-the-2000s/


.
View user's profile Send private message
Syd
Posted: Sat Aug 18, 2018 7:33 pm Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Ghulam wrote:
.
I agree with those who say "BlacKkKlansman" is Spike Lee's "best movie ever". It has the thrills and the humor. But, above all, it has topicality and timeliness par excellence. (Spoilers) It asks the question, "Can someone like David Duke ever occupy the White House?" And it answers with a film clip of Donald Trump's vitriolic response to Charlottesville's violent rally.
.


I was bothered by the framing devices when the rest of the story was set in a couple of years in the early seventies. Otherwise, rally liked it. Loved the performances of Adam Driver* and Topher Grace (as David Duke).

*Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) comes up with a plan to infiltrate the KKK, but since he obviously cannot pass, he teaches his colleague to impersonate him. Since his colleague is Jewish, this is a double infiltration. I smiled a lot at this film.

_________________
I had a love and my love was true but I lost my love to the yabba dabba doo, --The Flintstone Lament
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
gromit
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:25 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai


I saw that too.
Most of their choices I thought were interesting and fairly good, but didn't come together fully or weren't that memorable.
The only 2 that might make my Top 20 would be The Royal Tenenbaums and the Romanian countdown film 4, 3, 2.

It was good to see they had 2 documentaries on their list, but I never saw Spotlight and never saw the appeal of Fog of War where an old official evades responsibility.

Here's my Top 13 of the 21st C:
1. Memento
2. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
3. Werckmeister Harmonies
4. Little Children
5. Mary and Max
6. Saddest Music in the World, The
7. High Fidelity
8. Margaret
9. Capturing the Friedmans
10. Royal Tenenbaums, The
11. In the Realms of the Unreal
12. Rabbit Hole
13. I Heart Huckabees


I was surprised to see that 5 of 13 were comedies (though Mary & Max a pretty black comedy).

I was going to go up to 20, but I had another 20 or 30 to work into the next 7 slots and it just seemed too arbitrary without some rewatching.

This quick exercise did get me thinking that it is time to rewatch more films from the past 18 years, films such as Children of Men which I found interesting but largely forgettable. The ones on my Top 13 list I've msotly seen 3x or more and don;t need reviewing.

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
gromit
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 1:37 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Since this joint isn't exactly jumping, i might as well dump my next batch of 21st C films:

12. Born Into Brothels
13. The White Ribbon
14. Facing Ali
15. Triplets of Belleville
16. Juno
17. Kontroll (Hungary, 2003)
18. 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
19. Bowling for Columbine
20. Paper Will Be Blue, The
21. Machinist, The
22. Brand Upon the Brain!
23. Men Who Stare at Goats, The
24. Three Monkeys (Üç Maymun)
25. Blind Shaft
26. Up The Yangtze
27. Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
28. My Winnipeg
29. Katalin Varga
30. Moolade
31. Shadow Kill
32. talhotblond
33. Sita Sings the Blues
34. Tracey Fragments, The


This seems to be more interesting and wide-ranging then the Top 13.
Really the numbering here should begin at 14. Or better yet no numbering until i rewatched a bunch.

Can't say there is much i really liked from the past 5 years.


Last edited by gromit on Mon Aug 20, 2018 11:06 pm; edited 1 time in total

_________________
Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number.
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Ghulam
Posted: Sun Aug 19, 2018 2:17 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY
.
I would not put either Mulholland Drive, Dunkirk or Michael Clayton in the top 50. Maybe in the top 100.

The top five movies of the 21st century for me were A Separation, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 days, Son of Saul, Boyhood and Moonlight.


.
View user's profile Send private message
whiskeypriest
Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2018 9:04 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 6916 Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
Oh Goody! LISTS! Best of the Millennium. Using 2000 as the start because I refuse the tyranny of small minded Horologists.

1. A Separation
2.No Country for Old Men
3. A Serious Man
4. Labyrinth of the Faun
5. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
6. Adaptation
7. Sideways
8. In Bruges
9, Sita Sings the Blues
10. American Splendor
11. Once
12. Winter's Bone
13. The White Ribbon
14. About Elly
15. (500) Days of Summer
16. Goodbye, Solo
17. Get Out
18. Inside Llewyn Davis
19. The White Ribbon
20. Gosford Park
21. Up
22. Lion
23. The Hurt Locker
24. In the Loop
25. Amour

Really lagging on this decade....

_________________
I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed?
View user's profile Send private message
Ghulam
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:52 am Reply with quote
Joined: 20 May 2004 Posts: 4742 Location: Upstate NY
.
"Crazy Rich Asians" lays on a lot of gloss and glitz to tell a very hackneyed story. No wonder the Singapore Chinese are not amused.



.
View user's profile Send private message

Display posts from previous:  

All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Page 3132 of 3195
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 3131, 3132, 3133 ... 3193, 3194, 3195  Next
Post new topic

Jump to:  

You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum