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| bartist |
 Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:07 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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What would happen if Alexander Payne had directed "Hangover" and opted to set the story at an insurance convention in Cedar Rapids, Iowa?
A satisfactory answer is provided by the film "Cedar Rapids," with Ed Helms in his usual charming naif role, and John C. Reilly as a vulgar-but-goodhearted party animal who helps him, along with Anne Heche (more attractive and likeable than I've ever seen her), to deal with the bigger world beyond the small town of Brown Valley, Wis. and a corrupt insurance mogul. This film feels so much like a Payne film that I watched the closing credits and, sure enough, Payne and his longtime writing pal, Jim Taylor, were the producers. Their fingerprints are all over the film, to its great benefit. If you haven't got enough Payne in your life, watch this and enjoy. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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I wanted to like Cedar Rapids as much as bartist did, but Payne it's not even though it's got a lot of nice moments. It's just too low-key for me. As for Anne Heche, yes, she was very likeable, but not for the first time. Check out Walking and Talking, a simply wonderful movie directed by Nicole Holofcener in which Catherine Keener and Heche play BFF's as well as I've ever seen BFF's played.
See W&T. You will thank me. |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:25 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| The Artist is a pleasant movie but may have been overrated. The nostalgic pleasures may be more from the simple love story set in Hollywood than from the absence of sound. Enjoyed seeing those 1920's luxury cars. Loved Bérénice Bejo. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:47 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Ghulam wrote: The Artist is a pleasant movie but may have been overrated.
Change "may have" to "has" and I agree. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:18 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Quote: See W&T. You will thank me.
Will do. You had me at "Catherine Keener." |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Jan 18, 2012 11:58 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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A Separation, the Iranian nominee for Foreign Language Oscar, blows every other movie of 2011 right out of the water. It's the best foreign movie I've ever seen and one of my top 20 in any language.
A potentially melodramatic situation--a couple's separation leads to a series of emotionally wrenching events (which I will not reveal, since everything counts as a spoiler)--is never overdone or lurid. The acting is persuasive and sensitive, the pacing impeccable, the story riveting beyond description. Every single nanosecond of this two-hours-plus movie grabs you by the throat. It virtually defines the term "must-see." And Asghar Farhadi instantly joins the likes of Scorsese and Spielberg as one of the truly great living directors. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:04 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Melancholia was an endurance test for me. I couldn't stand the swooping, overly close handheld camera, which seemed like some expensive lush version of a crappy home video. Maybe von Trier wanted the claustrophobia and swirling of images and sensations it produced, but after about 10 minutes I wanted to grab the freaking camera and cinematograph the damn film myself.
I didn't find any of the characters, settings or actions remotely believable. Including this new "planet" which, in poor science even worse than Another Earth, is projected to do a strange little epicycle loop right across the orbit of Earth. Huh? And if the end of the earth means that these annoying overprivileged people will be decimated, then imo the collision happened about an hour or hour and a half too late.
As with Tree of Life and Another Earth, there's a cosmic perspective which attempts to add a layer of context to daily lives.
At least ToL had a solid growing up film at its core once you mentally stripped away all the cosmic hokery. And Another Earth stays grounded in the characters and the situation of grief/guilt and victim/perpetrator (reminding me a good deal of Rabbit Hole).
But I really got nothing out of Mel.
Yes, the structure of the film has two personalities colliding much as the two worlds do. And the two sisters essentially switch positions in terms of who is calm and in control. But this all adds up to ... what?
A sterile little exercise without much point or meaning. Certainly no resonance for me.
The second half of the film reminded me a lot of White Material, which I also disliked, as Isabelle Huppert is isolated on a farm in Africa as a civil war threatens her world and survival.
Also, I felt that things/symbols were just too bluntly employed and harped upon. I liked the simple little device to detect if the planet was receding or holyshitgoingtosmashintous. But obviously so did LvT, so it's so overused and over-referenced, it's impact at the key moment is dulled. Same with the insistent repetition about the caves. At the end when little Leo is trotted out again, I said before he did, "Okay time for the fucking cave payoff."
For me, a contrived story, annoying characters, beyond annoying camerawork predominantly in the first half, and clunkily forced repetition all indeed made it a joy when the world/film ended.
Just as LvT intended.
Did anyone get anything out of this film?
The opening prelude was pretty eye-catching, but I'm not sure it wouldn't have fit better at the end (or the middle?). And why do we see Dunst in slo-mo in her wedding dress during the apocalypse, or is that part of her napping dream? What was the crap hanging on to her --metaphorically I guess it represents her marriage vows and commitments she can't escape, or on a deeper level the depression she just can't shake. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:32 am |
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Gromit, you have made up my mind. After reading the comments on here about Melancholia, some positive, I didn't think I wanted to see it because of it's downer theme and von Tier, though I thought I might. Now I'm certainly not going to see it. The criticisms you made about the pic do fall in line with things I hate in a movie, starting with the "...overly close handheld camera..." . When I see extended visuals like that I want to scream, "Move the fucking camera back and calm it down so I can see what's around and not get seasick."
A few days ago I saw a movie about a comet bearing down on the earth with Dennis Hopper (that went straight to video) Tycus. It was crappy but at least it didn't annoy me. I'm sure Mel would annoy me.
We saw the second Sherlock Holmes a couple of days ago. I wrote a review of it yesterday but then my computer crashed and I lost it. Here's a summary:
The movie bounces all over, literally and figuratively. Robert Downey Jr. is way over-the-top with his drunken, loony, mugging Holmes that is about as far away from the fictional character as one can imagine, unlike his first Holmes which didn't bother me at all. On top of that Jared Harris, who plays Professor Moriarty is so miscast it's laughable. The worst Moriarty ever. Doesn't look like the professor should look, doesn't convey much intelligence, even though they try a lot, and is just not an engaging figure.
The film doesn't have near enough scenes of Holmes and Watson mulling over the crimes that Moriarty may be engineering, it just seems to be interested in one action scene after another. Some of these scenes are done very well and inventive. Plus there is also some very good humour in some of the mayhem, especially aboard a train. Visually the movie is impressive. And there is a wedding scene that is also funny.
All and all, it is not a bad movie but a disappointment compared to the first one, which was a lot better.
Oh yeah. Marta left around 25 minutes before the end because she just didn't like it. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:10 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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One viewing of A Separation will cure all movie blues. It's the best movie I've seen in at least ten years. Do anything you have to do in order to see A Separation.
I'll be seeing it a second time asap. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 10:36 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6944
Location: Black Hills
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Gromit, I saw Melon-Cola in a theater, so was acutely aware of the handheld single camera device. A sign in the Lobby actually warned patrons that motion sickness could be induced by the film, a sign I've never seen before at this theater. Oddly, though I am prone to inner ear problems, it didn't bother me at all. As for your other objections, I didn't mind the contrived nature of the story so much, perhaps because I viewed it, from the start, as a blend of magical realism and surrealism, thus sending my mind along a more permissive track. For me, it's an invitation to meander along with Von Trier in contemplating one way the world ends, with a whimper and not a bang.
Having experienced depression myself, I could understand that we are not offered a Reason for Dunst's depression (though suggestions, like the mother, are strewn around) because it is the nature of real depression that it doesn't seem to follow from some neat chain of causes.
Looking forward to "A Separation," bigtime. Twill be here soon. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 11:06 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Besides the camera, my problem was mostly with the annoying characters, the relationships, and some of the bad dialogue. What was with the PR exec trying to squeeze work product out of her during the wedding reception?!? None of that made any sense. And why would he be the Best Man for a guy 15 or 20 years his junior?
And the nephew/co-worker seemed to be some attempt at humor/farce which should have been edited out.
And if she was so prone to mental problems, how was it that she was holding down a high pressure job, or why would her sister think a huge wedding reception would be a good thing for her. I guess we are supposed to believe that she kept it together and just fell apart at this moment?
And then clumsy contrivances like Oh what's that star I'm casually noticing on my rushed way to my wedding reception. Antares, hmm, you don't say? And Justine's vague attempts to connect with her parents. It all just seemed real sketchy and contrived, and everyone was annoying and entitled and self-indulgent.
Again, if that's the way the world is presented, its destruction wasn't unwelcomed in my eyes. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 12:59 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Noticing the star Antares seemed to relate to her brother-in-law being an astronomy buff, as well as her character being drawn with some kind of mystical power to "know things," count beans in a jar, telepathically determine the emptiness of the galaxy, etc. Good grief, man, can't you recognize an unthinkably ancient being housed in a sexy bod when you see one? As for her going into advertizing, it's no doubt a good way to implant subliminal messages in the human race (via panties ads, of course) and thus prepare them for destruction.
As for Skarsgard trying to extract overtime from her during the reception....I could see this as an attempt at satire, as well as showing humans rearranging deck chairs while the Titanic is going down. I don't dispute that the film is uneven....again, with this genre, I tend to take a supermarket approach, taking items off the shelf that interest me and leaving the rest. Regarding it as a standard familial drama, your objections seem on target. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 1:38 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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With Tree of Life, I was able to mentally edit out Sean Penn and the dinosaurs, and was left with an interesting, impressionistic family drama, with a subjective swirling camera which I liked.
With Another Earth, I was mostly able to skip over the piffly science and clanky characterizations to enjoy a tale of attempted redemption.
With Melancholia, I stripped away everything I didn't like and was left with the light bulb in the projector and I suppose the opening prologue. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 5:42 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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I saw Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy yesterday, the first cinematic rendition of Le Carre's antidote to the more ridiculous excursions of spy films . I thought it was a beautifully crafted film, with the acting, mood, cinematography evocation of period all but pitch and palatte perfect. I even welcomed the deadly slow pace. If in keeping with the feel of the material and if a film has got something to say, I am usually quite happy for it to take its time. Action, as Hollywood seems to understand it, is usually at the expense of substance.
However, for Tinker, Tailor's qualities, I did not leave the cineam energised. I would suggest that the director was so determied to convey the lonely, grinding, grey reality of spy work that he allowed this to take precedence over the plot and, critically, a sense of increasing tension. For all the film's studied developement, the denouement felt rushed.
The complexity of the story (in many ways a whodunnit) and the director's unwillingness to grant concessions to the audience by giving us a nudge towards clues or moments of significance may have been representtive of Smiley's task in filtering a mass of information, but didn't properaly allow for the fact that Smiley had weeks of mulling, hundreds of cigarettes and a constant supply of tea to help him reach a conclusion, whereas we the audioence, however acute. had less than two hours.
The reaction box office and those dishing out the awards seems to indicate that I am not alone in my view. It's refusal to make any concessions to an American audience - it did not so much as dip a toe into the Atlantic - though making for a stronger film, would not have helped in this respect. This is a pity, for me, this was the best ensemble piece of the year and Gary Oldman at least deserves an Oscar nomination. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:22 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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The following review of Madonna's W.E. from today's Daily Telegraph, is as an old fashioned, cast-iron griddle pan. It's as heavy a pan as I've seen in sometime. I remember Swept Away being similarly scathed. Now what do those two film's have in common?
Quote: Madonna has been touring her biopic of Wallis Simpson around film festivals since last September, when it was received in Venice about as warmly as a six-foot rise in sea levels. The film has since been back in the cutting room, but like the Terminator T-1000 robot striding away from an exploding truck, its awfulness has emerged almost entirely unscathed.
W.E. tells the stories of two women...The screenplay, written by Madonna with what can only be described as not enough help from the filmmaker Alek Keshishian, thwocks back and forth between them like a wonky shuttlecock.
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Madonna’s skill with the camera seems to extend to her being able to turn it on, but not a great deal further: to liven up an argument between Wallis and Edward, she has her romantic leads inexplicably run around a tree trunk. Later, we see Wallis dancing the Charleston with an African tribeswoman to the strains of 'Pretty Vacant’ by The Sex Pistols in front of a Charlie Chaplin film, which must be a strong contender for the most garbled, half-baked image in cinema history.
W.E. is — still — a stultifyingly vapid film, festooned with moments of pure aesthetic idiocy. With characteristic humbleness, Madonna performs a song called 'Masterpiece’ over the end credits, although one can’t help but feel that her 2003 number one single 'Sorry’ might have been more appropriate.
Madonna may be an easy target, but her charm-free self-obsession and her oblivious hubris makes it hard to summon up much sympathy for her. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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