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| billyweeds |
 Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 10:45 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: John Hamm perishes after falling several stories ("Mad Men" opening credits, in which his cartoon surrogate plunges between skyscrapers). .
The plot is a string of cliches that have new life breathed into them, such that you forget the triteness. I think that alone pushes it up to "minor masterpiece."
I don't know why it's a "minor" masterpiece. Because it's a genre film? Pish-tush. It's a masterpiece. Period. Full stop.
Btw, "Hocus Pocus" (by Focus) is one of my all-time favorite tunes.
And Hamm spells his first name "Jon." |
Last edited by billyweeds on Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 3:30 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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I have an unwritten rule (well, it won't be anymore) that I wait five years before calling any film a masterpiece.
Hocus Pocus is a classic. Kind of an earworm at one point. Back in middle school, me and my mates called it The Old Lady Song. You can't mishear a yodel. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Aug 01, 2018 10:46 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: I have an unwritten rule (well, it won't be anymore) that I wait five years before calling any film a masterpiece.
To me it's a masterpiece of editing and camera placement. If that specification makes it "minor," so be it. But very few action films in my memory (if any) handle those two items so perfectly. And Ansel Elgort's performance was sorely underrated--as well as Hamm's and Foxx's. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2018 8:35 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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billyweeds wrote: marantzo wrote: Syd wrote: When I finish this, the Best Pictures I'll not have seen will be Cimarron, The Great Ziegfeld, Going My Way, The Lost Weekend, Gentlemen's Agreement, The Greatest Show on Earth, Midnight Cowboy, Godfather II, Ordinary People and The English Patient. I've only seen parts of Oliver since I dislike what I've seen. The hardest to get is Cavalcade, which is too bad because it's a pretty good film.
Of the movies you wrote of, are some OK and some are awful, and I loved
Godfather II and Midnight Cowboy. and (especially) The English Patient are absolutely terrible. Never seen Cimarron. Gentlemen's Agreement, despite the dated quality of the narrative, holds up remarkably well due to terrific performances and good direction by Kazan. The Lost Weekend is second-tier Billy Wilder, which means first-tier anyone else. Ziegfeld aqnd GMW are meh.
Finally saw Gentlemen's Agreement and really liked it, for all the reasons you say. It's well-written, too, even making the speechifying bearable. I was wondering why Celeste Holm got an Oscar since her part seemed slight, until she had her big scene toward the end and; yes, she deserved it. Dorothy McGuire could easily have won, too. (I think they're both better than Peck, although he's good and a bit maddening.)
I've also seen Going My Way since the original post. This was a much better experience. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 9:48 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Neverwas apparently was released straight to video despite having strong production values, and accomplished cast (Aaron Eckhart, Ian McKellan, Nick Nolte, William Hurt and Jessica Lange. Brittany Murphy acquits herself pretty well as the love interest.) Eckhart is playing a psychiatrist who goes back to the mental hospital his father was confined to for manic-depression before his suicide (though I was wondering for quite a while whether the father had survived somehow). Complicating the plot is that Eckhart's character Zachary was the model of the protagonist of an extremely successful fantasy novel written by his father, and one of the patients, Gabriel (McKellan) appears to know far too much about the novel. Gabriel believes he is the captive king within the novel and Zach is there to rescue him. Unfortunately, Zach wants nothing to do with his father's legacy (he discovered his father's body), and has no idea what Gabriel really wants.
I can sort of understand why the distributors were antsy, and I don't think it would have been a big hit, but it's well-acted and keeps you involved. It has a lot of the almost-fantasy feeling of The Fisher King, though this is more pleasant. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 11:31 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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That sounds allright.
Never heard of it. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 12:25 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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gromit wrote: That sounds allright.
Never heard of it.
I hadn't either. Leigh's on an Alan Cumming binge and I watch some of them when she's done. He has a minor role as a patient in the hospital. |
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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 Aug 15, 2018 6:15 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds 2004 wrote: Just watched "Annie Hall" on DVD for the first time in literally decades. I have the exact same feeling about it that I always did, which puts me in a minority of those who don't consider it Woody Allen's best or even second best movie. It's delightful, and still remarkably fresh considering that so much of it has become part of the language--both in its actual dialogue and its approach to romantic comedy.
But it doesn't IMO come up to "Manhattan" or "Crimes and Misdemeanors" or "Husbands and Wives" or a couple of others. It's just a little too slight for my taste. "Manhattan" is the one where Allen really puts it all together.
I have the completely opposite opinion. Annie Hall is great in so many ways, and super-funny. One of the great films.
While last night I watched Manhattan for the first time in a long time and had the same ho-hum response as before. It's the kind of film that as soon as it ends, I'm forgetting it. A good deal of the film is a rather boring retread of Annie Hall, without all of the inventiveness, with a 17 year old thrown in as a romantic interest for provocation (it was somewhat nauseating how many times it was said that Woody and her had "great sex").
I initially liked how Dianne Keaton is presented as a smart, assertive career woman, but then as the film continues she's revealed to be insecure and weak and neurotic. Boo. And in keeping with Woody Allen's presentation of women, his ex-wife is portrayed as a vindictive shrew. While the 17 year old is far too understanding.
Also Woody's friends, the other couple in the film, were real ciphers. They barely had any definable personality or characteristics, and weren't interesting. Other non-entities: Hemingway's parents conveniently don't appear/exist; Woody's son is perfunctorily inserted and then forgotten.
Otherwise the film isn't funny despite being filled with Woody Allen quips. Very few are any good. And the ode to NYC is rather overdone, while oddly featuring a Tourism Greatest Hits of NYC without any quirky or special out of the way places. Also, it's fairly lazy to begin the NYC ode and the film itself with a voice-over describing a character in love with NYC while showing an NYC montage.
For me, Manhattan rather okay and eminently forgettable. I can't think of a line or scene that stands out. Only the image of Woody and Keaton on the bench next to the Williamsburg Bridge -- which is probably why that makes the dvd cover. Otherwise it's mostly unfunny Woody surrounded by undefined characters, with nothing happening and nothing of consequence at issue. I guess the music is well done, both the use of Gershwin and orchestra renditions of jazz standards. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2018 3:39 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Rewatched Juno, and my opinion dropped a bit.
On first (and I think 2nd viewing) I thought it had verve and an edgy topic. But this time, I found myself distracted by the overly quippy dialogue which does overwhelm at times.
Even on first viewing, I didn't like how Juno and her father turn into working class louts when visiting the prospective adopting couple. And then in a pretty tense, serious situation, Juno chooses to mouth off a whole lot. Always struck me as a false scene trying too hard to underscore the class differences between the families. And it might sound shallow, but I found it unlikely a guy would drop a wife who looked liked Jennifer Garner who was also successful and non-crazy to boot. Did it really take a 16 year old girl for him to realize that him and his wife had little in common? it's also a little odd how the film barely examines the idea of a 16 year old single mom giving up her baby to a 30-something single mom. Cause I was left to wonder how that would work. I don't recall what Garner's job is, but she's not going to be able to continue it and raise a newborn. And with the divorce, the house will be in jeopardy, etc.
I also thought the music was a bit erratic. Juno insists she loves Iggy & the Stooges and Patti Smith, yet the soundtrack is full of twee folky pop, and ends with Juno and her boyfriend playing same on guitars.
There are some good side characters and odd asides, like the Chinese classmate protesting the abortion clinic alone, with her one somewhat random comment about the fetus having fingernails somehow getting through. Or the Indian kid on the track team who, impressed his friend knocked up Juno, announces he's going to go commando in order to up his sperm count.
The cast is really good: Ellen Page, JK Simmons and Alison Janney as father & stepmom. The pace is good. The writing crackles, though over-announces itself at times. It's a good film, but didn't work as well for me on this viewing. |
Last edited by gromit on Sun Sep 16, 2018 4:49 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:34 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Re-watched Inherent Vice and came to the conclusion that it's a film that doesn't need to be rewatched. It's sloppy and shaggy, and Joaquin Phoenix is mostly fun. his role reminded me a good deal of The Dude in The Big Lebowski, but stuck with a worse, less coherent script. One big difference is the Dude is just a stoner who bumbles into a detective role, while Phoenix's character is supposed to be a genuine PI who is stoned for the most part. The various hairdos he has are good. The Owen Wilson role is weak and weakly performed. Hard to believe anyone cared about him, and yet he somehow turns out to be a pivotal figure. And the neo-nazi angle seems rather pointless. The voiceover was pretty useless, though i was surprised it was by Joanna Newsom (check out her great song Emily, if you are unfamiliar with her work). Was also surprised to see Steve Manchin was an executive producer. I saw a film a few days ago and Elon Musk was one the exec Producers.
Anyway, IV is the type of film I want to like but there isn't a whole lot of there there. Really they should have tightened things up considerably, dropped some plot lines/characters, and followed the book less faithfully (whichI suspect is the real problem here). |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2018 2:57 pm |
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Location: Shanghai
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watched 2/3rds of The Dallas Buyers Club last night and it's really a poor film, which skirts the surface of a number of issues for amusement, titillation and crowd-pleasing underdog triumph. But jeez there are a lot of issues that just get glossed over or buried. These desperate patients really have no idea what they are taking, so it's hard to believe anyone is taking the proper dosage or a useful combination of drugs. The doctor who is the heavy is right that controlled studies are needed to gain useful info and make genuine progress. The legal issues involved with selling unapproved but not illegal drugs is skimmed over and it's hard to even know why a "buyer's club" supposedly evades the law. We just hear "Get me my lawyer" and bluster about rights and suing the gov't. Otherwise, Jennifer Garner is woefully miscast and presumably was added in as eye-candy because the producers were very worried that a film about HIV and featuring a prominent transsexual role would have trouble at the box office. So give a supporting role to a female hottie = problem solved. but really that's the level of depth the whole film operates on.
Early on we see the sick protag taking lots of AZT in a goofy montage, where he's basically chugging them straight from the bottle at a furious rate. But then the issue isn't really that he was taking the wrong dosage, but that AZT is a terrible overly toxic drug. So apparently when his clients take random amounts of various experimental drugs, it's fine because these are "good" drugs.
The film maintains a brisk pace and seems fun and exciting, as it remains shallow and avoids details about anything. The story of how a redneck tried to help people despite gov't interference, and he becomes accepting of gays along the way. Most of the focus is how he outsmarted and cleverly defrauded the gov't in the cause of good. maybe that's another reason Garner's pretty face was brought in -- because they basically made a right-wing film (free market good, gov't bad, redneck kicks ass) about early 80's HIV and gay culture. So they amped up the surface entertainment, and pushed troubling issues into the background and largely out of the film. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 2:37 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9008
Location: Shanghai
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Disappointed in my re-watch of Pan's Labyrinth.
Initially I thought it was interesting but not so successful.
But for this viewing, I felt the 1944 story was too stiff, with very black and white characters/issues. It all felt rather perfunctory. The film seemed much more interested in the fantasy sections. But the CGI isn't that good (especially the giant frog). And we never really know what's going on in the enchanted world. Overall, I felt disengaged.
I did think the lead actress, the girl, does a pretty terrific job.
And the moody lighting and nighttime blues were well done. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 1:27 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Last Days of Disco.
At times feels like a TV show*, or a play.
The dialogue is too mannered and college-seminar-y even when people are just talking about their love life. Also, nobody gets angry, as though they are too self-absorbed or too bloodlessly mopey to do so.
It is interesting that the central character Alice is kind of shy and withdrawn. But I'm not sure it really works. Her workmate, later roommate Charlotte, is probably the most realized character. Shallow, pushy, socially ambitious, bitchy. Kate Beckinsale is good in the role. At times the film reminded me of FRIENDS* with Beckinsale in the Courtney Cox role and Des the nightclub manager very much in the Chandler role.
One issue I had is nothing really stands out about the nightclub, yet almost every character who goes there for the first time, tells us how great it is, how it's better than they expected. But we never see anything great or exciting. I had trouble believing these characters were really a part of the disco and drug culture.
At least Whit Stillmna realizes his overwriting tendency and near the end has one character make an impromptu monologue ardently defending disco, then pauses and sheepishly explains he has an interview that afternoon and was trying to get motivated. Though he adds, he does believe most of what he said. Not a bad film, just wish that I could care actually about it or feel these were real people. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 9:02 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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April and the Extraordinary World has a great title sequence at the beginning, a great opening scene, a tremendous laugh near the end, and is a pretty good alternate history which dares to suggest that humanity would be better ruled by sentient, talking, immortal and invulnerable Komodo Dragons. But this is a future in which scientists have been systematically kidnapped since 1870 (including, apparently, Michael Faraday, Nicolas Tesla , James Clerk Maxwell and Thomas Edison, since the invention of electricity is being depressed.)
On the other hand, the Earth is still in the Steam Age in 1941, coal deposits are being exhausted (really? I think they're underestimating the quantity of Earth's coal) and countries are going to war over wood, so perhaps our STIIKDs are not doing that good a job after all. Still, it's a matter of debate. |
Last edited by Syd on Wed Dec 06, 2023 11:37 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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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2018 5:27 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I liked AEW, even if it is a bit silly with the would-be world dominating dragons. I tried to rewatch it a couple weeks ago, but my disc had problems. I struggled to get it to load, then couldn't get the title menu to function, then when I got past that, it was all freezy and choppy, so I was only able to watch two middle 20 min segments.
When I first saw it, it led me to learn that there's a whole steampunk sub-genre in which the modern/future world is still in the steam age. |
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