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inlareviewer
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 8:24 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS
bartist wrote:
INLAREV:

(am seeing Beggars quite soon, btw)

I have been where you are, frustration-wise, re the sparse traffic situation at 3rd Eye. A few years ago, there was a sort of vote of no confidence, where several very active members had some clashing egos or just simmered interminably in some grievance about the "tone" or whatever, and all marched out in various dramatic exits.

Those that remained started using it more as a way to log their viewings, but were less married to the idea that active conversations with daily engagement and following each others lives were the lifeblood of a message board.

And almost no one, but me, was agitating for open registration and maybe some refurbishing and promoting, so that we could get some newbies and some sort of generational torch-passing as some members aged out of their cinematic obsessions (or message boards, generally). I posted, wrote several moderator/admin types, but the apathy was profound and all-encompassing. Folks seem to not realize that in the age of extremely dominant social media megacorps, keeping boards like this alive is not something that can happen through being passive and thinking nice thoughts.

What really disappoints and baffles me is that the OWNER of the site is absent from it, and seems unresponsive to making any changes that might give it a fresh start. Or even appoint a new mod, now that Weeds is mostly absent. (his post last week was the first in at least six months)

When you used the word "void" a week or two back, you weren't wrong. Most of my posts (and I think others have this experience, too, given that our respective areas of film interest do not always intersect) lately do seem to get that "void" response.

So 3rd Eye returns to drive-by mode. "I was driving by the old 3rd Eye the other day, and dropped in for a minute."


Dear BARTIST Well, exactly. Has Lorne died? (Heaven forfend). Is this forum just floating in some sort of algorithmic limbo? And yet, we are still here, and this forum somehow still is here, and maybe that's all there is, but, (cue Yvonne DeCarlo), I'm still here. Any way of communicating that isn't in the corporate overlord/media syndicate/social mediated means must mean some more than it doesn't. It's later than we think. And I hope you get "Beggars of Life," because, even as much as if not more than "Nomadland," it's where we all could end up. Just saying. Seriously, thank you for what you said, because it's exactly how I see it. And yeah, drive-in movies.....


Last edited by inlareviewer on Wed Feb 09, 2022 9:25 pm; edited 1 time in total

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Syd
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2022 10:25 pm Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
Lorne was having trouble logging into his own site. He finally gave up.

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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: Mon Jan 31, 2022 5:53 am Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
That's kind of funny and sad at the same time.

If Lorne and Chilly could transfer owner control to Syd (and maybe admin powers to Bart since he has experience with phpBB), we could maybe fix things up slightly. And at least be able to handle problems that arise. Marc, Lorne and Chilly are all willing to help, and extricate themselves from this site.

I don't see really any way we're going to expand our membership and really revive this site. But limping along, keeping in touch and some film discussion is all right.

Personally, I like to write short reviews as it forces me to focus on what I did/didn't like about a film. And helps me later remember what I thought. It also provides a reference for when I forget.

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gromit
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 12:55 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 31 Aug 2004 Posts: 9005 Location: Shanghai
Watched Take the Money and Run for the manyth time. And though it's mostly a series of quick gags, I noticed a number of nice touches that point towards Woody Allen's aspirations as a quality filmmaker. One example is when the men are on the chain gang breaking rocks in the hot sun, and the hill they toil on looks genuine, while the low angle from below the men gives it an authenticity. It's just the setting for a few gags, and could have just been a rather studio set, but instead is a well-chosen location and nicely composed. There are also nice shots of Woody walking through crowds in semi-close-up which provide a solid documentary feel.

It's easy to focus on the gags. But the film is pretty well put together. The editing and timing are well done. Marvin Hamlisch also signals Woody's concern for and attention to musical detail. It's sort of Woody Allen building up to The Sleeper, which maintains a narrative, instead of the piecemeal gags of Take the Money and the somewhat choppy Bananas.

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bartist
Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 5:09 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Probably the first WA film I saw. I remember liking the rather Pythonish scene where the bank staff are all involved in critiquing his robbery note. Could certainly add to the movie scenes in Trivia thread that made me laugh.

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carrobin
Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2022 3:38 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
Back when I worked for the film class, we saw every Woody Allen film (and though we never had him as a guest, Marshall Brickman came and told us all about "Annie Hall"--like the alternate title, "The Second Lobster Scene"). I've seen only one Allen movie since I left the class in 1994--they seemed to have dwindled in humor and substance along the way. But AH remains one of my top five films, forever.
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bartist
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2022 12:30 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Saw The Lost Daughter. As I recall, Befade had trouble connecting with the story, a difficulty I now understand better. As fine as the performances of Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley were (both Oscar nominated I see), I remained on the outside unable to grasp their (young version and older version of the central character, Leda) miseries and disaffections. Thus, I was moved towards dislike of Leda rather than sympathy. At one point, Older Leda says with remarkable honesty, "I'm really incredibly selfish" and I can only agree. Another problem was the rather poor attempt to have the extended Greek family that's also staying on the island be enigmatically sinister. And finally, do none of these mothers have the slightest idea of how to discipline children? No, wait, they're all too depressed to learn basic parenting skills. Of course.

One breath of clean air: Ed Harris. Damn I like Ed Harris. Real pro, never drops a line on the floor.

Grade: B. Overrated.

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bartist
Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2022 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
We watched a movie last night we had missed when it was released in late 2015, Eye in the Sky, with Helen Mirren and Alan Rickman and a fine ensemble struggling with the ethics and legalities of making a drone strike in Nairobi on a house full of terrorists who are getting ready to do two suicide bombings. Without going into all the complexities (one of the most cerebral political thrillers I've seen), I'll just say it comes down to a choice: strike immediately and kill the bomb-vested ones before they leave (this is the only way to intercept them), while also likely killing a young girl selling bread right outside, or wait until the girl has sold her bread and leaves. If they wait, it is certain the bombers leave and dozens, maybe hundreds, will die in a shopping mall or marketplace. (a surveillance "beetle" is inside the house, so they can see the bombers strapping on vests and wiring up)

This film is a full exploration of what ethicists deal with in their famous thought experiment known as The Trolley Problem. (Worth Googling) - the proposal is to do something morally wrong to do something right, to save many lives. What philosopher Jeremy Bentham developed as an ethical system called utilitarianism. The generals are all pretty much okay with it. The government ministers are more resistant (not all for the best of reasons). The drone pilot, Aaron Paul, seeing the little girl, is horrified and puts up resistance and throws some procedural wrenches into the machinery. If you're not yelling things at the screen in the movie's final act, you just haven't been paying attention.

I especially recommend the film to anyone who has asked "So what's the problem with drone warfare?"

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inlareviewer
Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2022 12:15 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 05 Jul 2004 Posts: 1949 Location: Lawrence, KS
bartist wrote:
Saw The Lost Daughter. As I recall, Befade had trouble connecting with the story, a difficulty I now understand better. As fine as the performances of Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley were (both Oscar nominated I see), I remained on the outside unable to grasp their (young version and older version of the central character, Leda) miseries and disaffections. Thus, I was moved towards dislike of Leda rather than sympathy. At one point, Older Leda says with remarkable honesty, "I'm really incredibly selfish" and I can only agree. Another problem was the rather poor attempt to have the extended Greek family that's also staying on the island be enigmatically sinister. And finally, do none of these mothers have the slightest idea of how to discipline children? No, wait, they're all too depressed to learn basic parenting skills. Of course.

One breath of clean air: Ed Harris. Damn I like Ed Harris. Real pro, never drops a line on the floor.

Grade: B. Overrated.
Exactly. I had the great pleasure of meeting Mr. Harris in the early '00s, at L.A.'s Fountain Theatre -- he was there to see his Sweet Bird of Youth co-star Karen Kondazian in Master Class, --and he did not disappoint -- down to earth and approachable, and very articulate. It was a treat. As for Lost Daughter, couldn't agree more, especially the family situation; apparently it's more clearly a Mafia-esque clan in the novel, but it seemed pretty amorphous to me. Heck, the whole fillum was sorta ephemeral.

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Syd
Posted: Sat Feb 26, 2022 1:53 pm Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
47 Ronin (2013) is a somewhat fantastic (in the magical sense) version of the classic Japanese story of a group of samurai whose master is murdered through treachery and seek revenge as ronin (masterless samurai) though the Shogun has forbidden it under penalty of death. In other words, you know the ending. This is the one with Keanu Reeves playing a half-English Half-Japanese adoptee of the ronin's master. He was raised by a tribe of mystical warriors and has some magical abilities such as being able to tell an animal is a witch in disguise. (This is a sign he might be a demon but in this case he got the ability from mystical warrior training.) This witch, naturally, is allied with the ronin's master's enemy, and the enemy wants to marry said master's beautiful daughter and unite their domains. The Shogun approves (despite the obvious threat to his rule), but the daughter does not, and the half-breed does not either. They are in love but cannot marry since she is noble and he is a half-breed dog.

I enjoyed this despite a lot of familiar elements. Nice effects and it is a good story.

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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 01, 2022 1:07 am Reply with quote
Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 7795 Location: NYC
I love half-breed dogs. And I like Keanu a lot more than I used to. He's come a long way since that surfer movie. "He killed three men--with a pencil!" Still impressive.
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Syd
Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2022 11:09 am Reply with quote
Site Admin Joined: 21 May 2004 Posts: 12887 Location: Norman, Oklahoma
"The House with a Clock in the Walls," is minor but a fun movie. I especially like the affectionate wordplay between the Jack Black and Cate Blanchett characters. And, of course, the absolute wonder of the set design in this movie. It's a treat for the eyes.
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Jimmy always ate apples and oranges during math class to obey the biblical commandment to be fruitful and multiply.

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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: Fri Sep 09, 2022 12:28 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Time for another viewing of Kind Hearts and Coronets. Spouse has never seen it. The theme regarding lines of succession seemed sort of....topical.

God save the King! And he's Green, so perhaps his influence, if any, will be useful for the UK right now.

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bartist
Posted: Sun Oct 09, 2022 10:56 am Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Basically just talking to myself at rhis point, but here's a few recent couch viewings, in case anyone looks in at some later stage of the Holocene epoch:

"I Came By," a British Netflix film, has some nice Hitchcockian touches and white-knuckle suspense beats, but hurries through its story issues in order to fit it all into a film. Maybe a four-part limited series would have allowed space to develop the characters a bit more. I tend to associate Hugh Bonneville with fairly benign characters, so it was an interesting shift to see him explore the darkness. A couple parallels with "Rear Window" serve to make clear the debt to Hitchcock, and also how problematic the pacing was. The false imprisonment plot seems to have become a subgenre, since The Secret in their Eyes won an Oscar in 2009.

"Father Stu" lets Mark Wahlberg shine as an uncouth roughneck who becomes a Catholic priest. It's your standard diamond in the rough movie, but with an interesting angle, and exploration of the intersection of organized religion and the individual spiritual journey. Mel Gibson, as the father (of Wahlberg), appears to draw on his own offscreen stumbles and struggle for redemption, to show us a man burdened with guilt and pain. I suspect the Academy will like Wahlberg enough for a nomination, and his infirmity in the final act (a neurological disease similar to Gehrig's) might push some inclusiveness buttons with members.

Another film in the false imprisonment subgenre is "Inheritance," with Simon Pegg and Lily Collins. Unconvincing and with poorly drawn characters (except Pegg, who is a fine actor that can make cheese interesting), it made me want to watch The Secret in their Eyes again to scrub this Netflix trifle from my head.

It's never a good sign when you start rooting for the psychopath. And Lily Collins is simply miscast as the Manhattan DA. Her lovely delicacy may serve her well as a consumptive in Les Miserables, but I couldn't see her prosecuting anything beyond a bowl of chicken broth. Too salty! Oh dear!

Bit of a swerve, but rewatched Lost Highway, after nearly 25 years, and still found it a pretentiously arty and incoherent piece of pseudo-noir crap. I'm reminded of Robert Blake in an interview saying basically, "I never had any idea what the script was about." You have plenty of company, Robert. There is the feeling that David Lynch is, again, showing us some of the weird obsessive topography of his subconscious without bothering to make any of it....conscious. There is no real engagement with any of the characters or whatever point there might be to them. No light is cast, just alienated shadows. Not even Patti Arquette, at her most seductive, can find some consistent thread of meaning or personality that might suggest why she finds herself in the bizarre relationships she does, let alone determining if Bill Pullman and Balthasar Getty are the same person in different universes or timelines or some surreal Mobius strip that is taped together at the line "Dick Laurent is dead."

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bartist
Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2022 8:25 pm Reply with quote
Joined: 27 Apr 2010 Posts: 6941 Location: Black Hills
Age 96 seems to be a tough year for outstanding British women. First, Liz Windsor, now AL.

Lansbury earned that Oscar as Ms Eleanor Iselin , and giving it to Duke was a crime.

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