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Befade |
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2019 12:26 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I don’t know about the other influences. But it’s almost a copy of Winter’s Light. But way more outrageous. |
_________________ Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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billyweeds |
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 6:38 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote: I put on Roma too late last week and fell asleep in perhaps a record 3 mins. Barely made it past the floor washing credits. Need to see it.
Has anyone seen Paul Schrader's First Reformed?
I'm not too big on religious films, but will go with it if it's good enough.
First Reformed is fascinating and features yet another great performance by the perennially underrated Ethan Hawke.
Roma is unquestionably the best film of 2018. |
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bartist |
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 12:24 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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Regarding Roma and Buster Scruggs....
The spouse and I continue to avoid streaming services for several reasons*, so we're effectively shut out of Scruggs. And Roma. The anti moviehouse business model has just firmed up our boycott of Nflix. Movies belong in theaters, and AA nominees especially should have extended theatrical releases and second runs. If there weren't other issues I have with streaming services, maybe I'd join for the sake of something getting best film buzz.
* collecting and commodifying information about our viewing, and having algorithms "recommend" movies to us, and "define" us as a certain type of person, to name a couple. No one should take your private actions and own them as a sort of intangible property, or allow employees to tweet jokes based on access to your viewing habits - google "netflix christmas prince who hurt you" if you don't know what I'm on about. |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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Befade |
Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2019 12:38 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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I’m not on Facebook for those reasons and others. Netflix has become so bloated. It’s not my favorite streaming service. I like HBO and Hulu and Showtime and since FilmStruck collapsed I’m looking forward to Criterian streaming in the spring. Sometimes I buy tv shows on iTunes.
I do rent hard copies from Netflix but I hardly ever watch live tv. I avoid Amazon because it’s too much of a mega company. I’m wondering if Roma will go back in theaters if it wins big at the Oscars |
_________________ Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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Befade |
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2019 11:11 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Capernaum is a must see film. The story of a poor boy and his family in Beirut.....the flip side of the film Shoplifters. That was about a poor boy and his family in Tokyo.
And the stunning feature of this film is the incredible acting of a baby boy. That little kid deserves the Oscar: his charisma, his scene stealing, his playing off the older boy. A natural presence....beyond acting. I really can’t believe I’m saying this....See for yourself. |
_________________ Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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bartist |
Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:14 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6958
Location: Black Hills
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The Favourite seems overrated. Fine acting (Olivia C, in particular), photography, but the use of modern swearing and dance routines not of the early 1700s was distracting. Also, i wonder if someone reading history of Anne's reign didn't quite understand what "intimacy" meant in that epoch. I doubt it meant a lesbian triangle, viewed in a lens of 20th century feminism.
The soundtrack was also heavy handed in spots, as one extended scene where someone whacks at a cello string over and over to let us know things are horrid. Finally, Lady Abigail, an actual person in history, seems to be falsely portrayed as corrupted by Court life into a Machiavellian poisoner. Ratcheting characters into the most lurid possible versions of a historical figure is rarely necessary to gain the attention of an audience that goes to a period drama IMO. |
_________________ He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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billyweeds |
Posted: Fri Feb 01, 2019 10:58 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: The Favourite seems overrated. Fine acting (Olivia C, in particular), photography, but the use of modern swearing and dance routines not of the early 1700s was distracting. Also, i wonder if someone reading history of Anne's reign didn't quite understand what "intimacy" meant in that epoch. I doubt it meant a lesbian triangle, viewed in a lens of 20th century feminism.
The soundtrack was also heavy handed in spots, as one extended scene where someone whacks at a cello string over and over to let us know things are horrid. Finally, Lady Abigail, an actual person in history, seems to be falsely portrayed as corrupted by Court life into a Machiavellian poisoner. Ratcheting characters into the most lurid possible versions of a historical figure is rarely necessary to gain the attention of an audience that goes to a period drama IMO.
I pretty much hated this film, which appears to be polarizing in that many people adore it. |
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Syd |
Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2019 7:35 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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"The Kid who Would Be King" is surprisingly good, and I'd recommend seeing it in a theater. Only names I recognized were Patrick Stewart and Rebecca Ferguson, but I liked the kids, especially Rhianna Doris as Sir Kay--er, Lady Kaye. No Guinevere in this one, since the Arthur surrogate (named Alexander) is only 12. |
_________________ 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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Ghulam |
Posted: Tue Feb 05, 2019 8:15 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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The Polish movie "Cold War" is a wonderfully narrated story of ill-starred lovers set in post-war Soviet-controlled Eastern Europe. The ugliness of the period is depicted well in black and white cinematography for which it has received several awards. The director Pawel Pawlikowski has been similarly honored, including the Best Director award at Cannes and an Oscar nomination.
"The Wife" on the other hand is contrived and disappointing in spite of a great performance by Glenn Close who fully deserves her Oscar nomination.
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gromit |
Posted: Sat Feb 09, 2019 4:54 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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Has anyone seen Christopher Robin? |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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Ghulam |
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2019 10:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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The Japanese movie "Shoplifters", the winner of Palme d'Or at Cannes and an Oscar nominee, is a very sensitively directed and emotion-laden but subdued story of a tightly-knit but sociologically atypical family that is at peace with itself and that is surprisingly full of wisdom. The movie was written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda who also gave us gems like "Nobody Knows" and "I Wish". He is often called, and I think rightly so, the heir to the great Yasujiro Ozu.
Barry Jenkins' "If Beale Street Could Talk", based on a James Baldwin novel, is a powerful depiction of an African-American tragedy, dashing the hopes and dreams of a vibrant young couple to pieces. Jenkins had also directed the Oscar winner "Moonlight". Beale Street is equally worthwhile. |
Last edited by Ghulam on Wed Feb 13, 2019 12:14 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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billyweeds |
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 6:33 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: .
The Japanese movie "Shoplifters", the winner of Palme d'Or at Cannes and an Oscar nominee, is a very sensitively directed and emotion-laden but subdued story of a tightly-knit but sociologically atypical family that is at peace with itself and that is surprisingly full of wisdom. The movie was written and directed by Hirokazu Koreeda who also gave us gems like "Nobody Knows" and "I Wish". He is often called, and I think rightly so, the heir to the great Yasujiro Ozu.
Barry Jenkins' "If Beale Street Could Talk", based on a James Baldwin novel, is a powerful depiction of an African-American tragedy, dashing the hopes and dreams of a vibrant young couple to pieces. Jenkins had also directed the Oscar winner "Moonlight". Beale Street is equally worth while.
Agree about "Beale Street." Where can I see "Shoplifters"? |
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Ghulam |
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2019 12:12 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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Billy,
"Shoplifters" is in theaters. I saw it in Spectrum (Landmark) in Albany.
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gromit |
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 3:09 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9010
Location: Shanghai
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If Beale Street Could Talk it would be much more interesting than the film of the same name. I found it boring and poorly paced. Also, it was rather unsubtle. The voiceover was uninspired. I didn't even like the music in the film. Occasionally one of the flashbacks or flash-forwards was well-inserted and would give me hope for maybe 10 seconds that the film was going to pick up.
Some of the plot was choppy and didn't make much sense.
SPOILER
Why would he take a plea (and to what? sexual assault? for how long?), when the case against him looks very weak without the victim in the country. He has a lawyer, the police have a weak ID, he has an alibi, etc. Would getting a record and serving a prison term be worth it to avoid what? sitting in jail pre-trial until he would likely win his case?
Too much is sketchy or underdeveloped. The lawyer gets brought in and forgotten. Did he ever meet with the alibi-friend? If so ... well, the script doesn't care about actual details. I was left even wondering if Baldwin knew what he was doing, given that odd Beale Street New Orleans opening quote. You can understand the metaphor (sort of) but it's unartfully presented.
I didn't like the look and feel of the film. The lingering closeups seemed designed to disguise a weak script. A line about wanting to save up money to go abroad seemed like Baldwin talking but made little sense for the 22 year old character. Go where?
I got little out of this, and felt minimal connection to the characters. I don't understand how Regina King is the favorite for Supporting Actress. Her part was small and didn't seem anything more than fine to me. Seems like others are seeing a lot more in this film than I did.
The basic premise of racialized injustice wrecking a family could have been made into a more dramatic, more engaging, more important film. Look at Spike Lee's KKK film and there's a lot more relevance and drama and storytelling, which still takes some time to fill in its characters. |
_________________ Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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Syd |
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2019 7:21 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12921
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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Quote: the police have a weak ID
They have a positive ID from the perjurous cop. That counts a lot in a jury setting, particularly in the 1970s. But a competent attorney would make mincemeat of the prosecution's case.
I think Regina King is favored on the theory that the two nominees from
The Favourite will cancel each other out. As near as I can tell the only body to nominate the actress from Roma was the Academy, which doesn't bode well for her. That leaves Amy Adams and Regina King. Adams hasn't won any awards for her performance but I guess she could get a career award. I'm expecting Vice to get shut out.
I'm torn between Weisz and Stone. |
_________________ 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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