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| Joe Vitus |
 Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2018 7:32 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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bartist wrote: Hi, Joe. Last year, we were wondering if you had been blown away by the then-current film "Harvey." Unfortunately not a remake of the Jimmy Stewart classic.
Hey. I never saw Harvey. Somehow, I've never heard of it. Which is odd, considering the subject. |
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You've got a great brain. You should keep it in your head.
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Nov 02, 2018 7:20 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Sorry to Bother You (Boots Riley) is something of a mashup of Do the Right Thing (mopey central character in a nothing job but with hot girlfriend), Paterson (quirky central character in nothing job with artsy quirky girlfriend) with SPOILER dystopias such as District 13 (mutants) and 12 Monkeys.
It has a bit of 1st movie syndrome where many ideas are thrown all in without developing most of them. And that takes away from any emotional impact. There are some good ideas -- the running earrings bit is primo -- though often they could be better executed. There's a fair amount of surrealism and farce and breaking the rules of reality. The film even at one point has an industrial short film directed by Micheal Dongry, in a tip of the hat to Gondry's surrealism and reality-altering touches.
There's a fair amount to like, but often times it comes across as sketch comedy level more than a feature film. The tone is a bit ragged and often inconsistent. This could have used some tightening up (a couple of sideplots and side characters should either have been dispensed with or further developed) and more polish.
Overall I liked it, with serious reservations. And I have to say that the "white voice" gets overplayed and becomes problematic. Lakeith Stanfield does a good job as the protag and keeps the whole film from devolving and fragmenting. Danny Glover gets one good scene and then is largely forgotten. Armie Hammer's CEO madman is good and fun, but never hits the next level to become iconic. I guess the anti-capitalist message is timely in these days where corporations rule and have feelings to boot. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Nov 07, 2018 9:35 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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The Hate U Give
Excellent ripped from the headlines drama about an African-American teen trying to live in two worlds and what happens when they are shattered by a horrific Ferguson, Missouri type murder of an unarmed friend. Intense, heartbreaking, and doesn't flinch from showing everyone's biases and blind spots. Fine performances from Amandla Stenberg, Russell Hornsby (Grimm) and the whole ensemble. Wondered briefly why her high school boyfriend looked to be 25, but it was a minor casting quirk and took nothing away from a fine film. If the Academy doesn't give it some attention I will be much vexed. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2018 12:26 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I saw The Crimes of Grindlewald, and A Private War, and liked the second one better. It's about war journalist Marie Colvin's career from about 2000, when she was injured in a grenade attack in Sri Lanka and lost the sight in her left eye--she wears an eyepatch for years after that-- until she was killed during the siege of Homs in 2012. (You're told this at the beginning of the movie, so no spoiler.) Rosamund Pike is excellent in a pretty difficult role and will likely be up for an Oscar.
Warning: Colvin liked to report from the front lines, and it gets really graphic.
The twelve years covered was actually a fraction of a career that began in 1985, and included reporting on Saddam Hussein's use of poison gas in the Iran-Iraq war, and aiding in the rescue of over a thousand people in East Timor during the troubles there. (Wikipedia says 1500.) There's a good possibility her death was a hit by the Syrian government. |
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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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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Wed Nov 21, 2018 12:34 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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| Really liked The Ballad of Buster Scruggs - first rate second tier Coen, currently streaming on Netflix. Wrote a little more on the Coen forum, though you may want to see the movie first before reading. I will just say that Liam Neeson's smile at the end of his segment is still haunting me. And not in a good way. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Nov 23, 2018 1:42 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Haven't read your longer review of Scruggs as yet, whiskey, because I still haven't seen the final two chapters, but I don't think it's second-tier Coen. I would put it firmly in the top tier. It's instantly one of my favorite-ever Coen movies. Downbeat almost completely, but no one makes downbeat more exhilarating than the Coens. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 1:38 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Having a few days of absentmindedness, including stuffing a turkey, putting it in the oven, going to Barnes and Noble and Petsmart, and coming home to discover I forgot to turn the oven on.
Today it was putting my clothes away and realizing half my shirts were still in the washer.
On the bright side, Ralph Breaks the Internet is just as good, if not better, than Wreck-It Ralph, as Ralph and Venellope go to search the internet to find Ebay and buy a crucial piece to "Sugar Rush." (It occurred to me that there probably are knock-offs of "Sugar Rush" and "Fix-It Felix, Jr.," on the Internet.) Funny and inventive movie, with impeccable voice work by Gal Gadot and Taraji M. Henson in addition to the fine John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman. (The rest of the cast of Wreck-It Ralph are minor parts in this movie, though we learn that Calhoun and Felix are still happily married after all these years.) |
Last edited by Syd on Sun Nov 25, 2018 7:05 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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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 2:39 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Saw the final two chapters of Scruggs. Chapter 5 was my favorite of them all, Chapter 6 my least favorite. But the overall score for the movie remains sensational. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Nov 26, 2018 3:33 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12890
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| Green Book was just as good as I was expecting, with first-rate performances by an unrecognizable Viggo Mortensen (playing an Italian), and by Mahershala Ali as genius pianist Don Shirley doing a tour of the deep South in 1962. I thought Ali was better, but Mortensen is the one getting award nominations. Really, both should. If you didn't know (I didn't), the Green Book was a guide to where traveling blacks could stay and eat under segregation. |
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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 Nov 27, 2018 12:14 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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We want to see GB, but it's a little slow getting here. My sigboth grew up in the South and can remember segregated facilities from her early childhood. And I was in Wichita, and can remember the school being segregated until the mid-sixties. Desgregation there was a slow piecemeal process that started in the late 50s and didn't conclude until around 1970.
BTW, I noticed your tagline and hadn't read anything by Moore, so picked "Noir" from the shelves at the library. Very funny stuff. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2018 4:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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"‘The Rider’ and ‘First Reformed’ Top the Gotham Awards."
I agree. Both of them are gems 0f 2018. I also thoroughly enjoyed Coen Brothers' "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs". Critics who were frustrated at not finding some deeper meaning in all those murders are to be pitied!
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2018 7:19 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: .
"‘The Rider’ and ‘First Reformed’ Top the Gotham Awards."
I agree. Both of them are gems 0f 2018. I also thoroughly enjoyed Coen Brothers' "The Ballad of Buster Scruggs". Critics who were frustrated at not finding some deeper meaning in all those murders are to be pitied!
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Wow, Ghulam. You and I are totally in sync today. First Reformed, The Rider, and Scruggs are all on my top-five list for 2018. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:22 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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billyweeds wrote: Saw the final two chapters of Scruggs. Chapter 5 was my favorite of them all, Chapter 6 my least favorite. But the overall score for the movie remains sensational. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2018 6:04 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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whiskeypriest wrote: billyweeds wrote: Saw the final two chapters of Scruggs. Chapter 5 was my favorite of them all, Chapter 6 my least favorite. But the overall score for the movie remains sensational. I could have told you that, because, a. so many people have called 5 the best episode that it verges on objective reality rather than opinion, and 2., 6 seemed to me to be to you what 1 was to me: not your favorite Coen brothers mode - the most Bartonfinkish of the episodes. As I noted on the CBF, 5 is the best of the vignettes, but 6 is my favorite, if only for what I found hilarious competing monologues, particularly the tedious trapper who has reduced all of the world's experience to his own. People are like ferrets! It is also, as someone else noted in an article I read, Poe-etical.
To be specific, I liked all of the episodes EXCEPT 6, loved 3 and 5 for completely different reasons, and ADMIRED 6 for its imaginative concept but (for instance) found the tedious trapper's monologue, um, tedious rather than funny. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2018 6:11 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Saw Ben is Back yesterday. It's a riveting comment on drug addiction, merciless and very well acted in what almost amounts to a two-character movie. Lucas Hedges as a drug-addicted son returning home from rehab for Christmas reaffirms the promise he showed in Manchester by the Sea. A marvelous young actor, and I haven't even seen Boy Erased yet.
Meanwhile, Julia Roberts as his mom gives her finest screen performance since Erin Brockovich. She's fierce, funny, and focused. She's a largely underrated actor who here makes it impossible to criticize her. With this and the video series Homecoming, Roberts is back with a vengeance.
The writing and direction is by Peter Hedges, who just happens to be Lucas's dad, but you can't charge him with nepotism here. For one thing (according to Lucas in a post-screening Q&A) it was Roberts who demanded that Lucas be given the role., and for another thing, Lucas Hedges is beyond brilliant. |
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