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| Ghulam |
 Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 1:52 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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"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.
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 2:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Gromit.......I had a completely different reaction to The Insult. I thought it was one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time. Subtitles were good. The interview with the director gave further details and appreciation for who he is. I wish there were more films like this. I tend to like dramas that feature interactions between people. And in the case of this film......highlighting the kind of prejudice and misunderstanding between people. Especially potent in this time of acute differences between people. This film achieves an avenue to understanding of “the other”. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2018 9:04 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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billyweeds wrote: 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.
I liked it for things you and Syd and Ghulam mention, and I liked it for small touches where the director resists the temptations of caricature. Duke's relatively mild racism (compared to the rawer spew from the local chapter) - as when he asks Ron if his Polaroid will come out okay - is all the more chilling as it comes with Topher Grace's charm and gentility. It's the gentlemen you really have to watch out for. I also admired the chubby wife's performance - showing a woman who really just wants to be loved and will push beyond what you sense were once moral boundaries to be part of her husband's life. Sick and weird and always fascinating. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 1:39 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Befade wrote: Gromit.......I had a completely different reaction to The Insult. I thought it was one of the best films I’ve seen in a long time. Subtitles were good. The interview with the director gave further details and appreciation for who he is. I wish there were more films like this. I tend to like dramas that feature interactions between people. And in the case of this film......highlighting the kind of prejudice and misunderstanding between people. Especially potent in this time of acute differences between people. This film achieves an avenue to understanding of “the other”.
I think folks who liked A Separation should give The Insult a try. I still think they crammed too many conflicts into the picture, and for me they weren't subtle or convincing. And tried too hard to amp up the drama/conflict. While I had trouble engaging since both sides of the conflict were off-putting, intentionally so it seemed.
I'm sure the subtitle deficiencies were merely a Chinese pirate artifact, but it really was a weird exercise to convert pronouns as dialogue was ongoing.
If you like ME cultural clashes, try the 20 minute film West Bank Story, a musical parody of West Side Story and the ME conflict.
It's worth watching for the Hummus Hut's kebab hats alone.
Their rival the Kosher King is next door and they sing and dance and disparage and hate and fall in Looooove ... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Aug 27, 2018 2:14 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Gromit......The filmmaker was influenced by a lot of other courtroom films. Particularly The Verdict. I thought it swung back and forth, adding details, and resolving the situation in a positive way that was not a Hollywood ending.
I thought BlackK had a rather jovial tone until the ending. Jovial at pulling the thing off with some mounting suspense about whether it would succeed. The actual news clips at the end sharply contrasted with that tone.....emphasizing that this actually was no laughing matter. That didn’t jell for me. I think a more telling revelation is everything I’ve heard about the museum highlighting the lynching that went on in this country. That is a punch in the gut. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2018 1:07 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12893
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I found that a flaw in the movie, too. But the image that ends the main part of the movie fits in well and maybe should have been the final shot of the movie. It fits (since our main characters are there) and takes place in the time period of the movie.
The beginning works pretty well. |
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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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| Befade |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 12:17 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| What was the main image? |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 1:13 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12893
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I'm talking about the cross burning, |
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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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| Befade |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 4:50 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Ok |
_________________
Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 6:08 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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This is an interesting list to say the least, including a number of my favorite films (Boyhood, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, You Can Count on Me, Michael Clayton) and a few that I absolutely loathed (There Will Be Blood, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dunkirk). |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:52 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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Crazy Rich Asians is surprisingly fun for a trite wedding comedy, thanks to some good performances.
And the sky candy of Singapore is pretty to look at. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2018 9:57 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12893
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I thought of it as "My Big Fat Singapore Wedding," though it was actually their friends' wedding. I had dewy eyes at the wedding ceremony. It was lovely, if pretty damp. (My favorite along those lines is the beautiful wedding in "Monsoon Wedding," which is not even the wedding that was being planned in the movie.) |
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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: Wed Sep 05, 2018 2:29 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds wrote:
This is an interesting list to say the least, including a number of my favorite films ( Boyhood, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, You Can Count on Me, Michael Clayton) and a few that I absolutely loathed ( There Will Be Blood, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dunkirk).
I wasn't very engaged with Dunkirk, but surprised anybody could actually loathe it. It seemed mostly competent.
I thought Will be Blood was somewhat boring with a ridiculous over the top ending.
I quite like Eternal Sunshine, even if it doesn't fully come off. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:43 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12893
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I thought There Will Be Blood went completely off the rails with Plainview him raving "baby in a basket" at HW and never recovered. The ending is awful. |
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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: Thu Sep 06, 2018 11:00 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6948
Location: Black Hills
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I'll drink your milkshake of TWBB loathing.
I liked Eternal Sunshine for its reach, even if the grasp was imperfect. Too much sci-fi is just space opera or CGI monsters, so I'm always happy when the Industry turns out something that looks at the implications of technologies that are less flashy but probably more significant to how ordinary people will live their lives. Once in a while they make a sci-fi movie that is not tailored specifically for 15 year old boys who like to watch things get vaporized. And so I want to encourage that. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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