Josh Seipp
Member
elf - will ferrell was amazing. most of the rest of the movie was utter crap.
the life aquatic - so good. willum dafoe was awesome.
the life aquatic - so good. willum dafoe was awesome.
rolling movie thread
- Thread starter avi
- Start date
The Dope
Hi.
Yeah, Elf was a huge disappointment to me, because it was promisingly amusing for like the first half-hour and then it turned into a cheesy holiday movie a la "The Santa Clause" for the remainder.
I really want to see The Life Aquatic, though.
I really want to see The Life Aquatic, though.
TheNewChupe
HTML is not allowed.
fyi edaymovie.com (asian filmstore) has a free US shipping coupon offer on any size order thru Jan 14.
coupon code: FREA2005
shipping's usually only $1.75 in US, but it made me buy Tai Chi Master (after digging back through this thread for avi's recommendations) for $8. if i'd bought the other two i wanted, i'd probably get in trouble for spending too much $$ with house repair needs looming, but one will squeak by.
coupon code: FREA2005
shipping's usually only $1.75 in US, but it made me buy Tai Chi Master (after digging back through this thread for avi's recommendations) for $8. if i'd bought the other two i wanted, i'd probably get in trouble for spending too much $$ with house repair needs looming, but one will squeak by.
IanDork107
I wrote a book! Buy it!
I've seen a bunch of stuff recently.
101 Rekjavik. Ridiculously charming and funny, and surprisingly moving at times, too. It's an icelandic comedy about possibly the biggest slacker in history and his misadventures, one of which results in his impregnating his mother's lesbian lover. Highly recommended.
The Sea Inside. I thought it was alright. Nothing amazing, besides Javier Bardem's performance.
Million Dollar Baby. The best boxing movie I've ever seen (although, I haven't seen Raging Bull). Clint Eastwood is quite a moviemaker lately. Oddly enough, I watched this soon after I saw The Sea Inside and they had some pretty similar themes that I didn't know were going to be in this one before seeing it.
Hotel Rwanda. Incredible film about one tribe in Rwanda's brutal genocide of another and the heroic human decency of a hotel manager that saved the lives of a number of members of the targeted tribe. In some ways it reminded me of Dirty Pretty Things, another drama that revolves around a hotel and features a genuinely good man put in a difficult situation.
101 Rekjavik. Ridiculously charming and funny, and surprisingly moving at times, too. It's an icelandic comedy about possibly the biggest slacker in history and his misadventures, one of which results in his impregnating his mother's lesbian lover. Highly recommended.
The Sea Inside. I thought it was alright. Nothing amazing, besides Javier Bardem's performance.
Million Dollar Baby. The best boxing movie I've ever seen (although, I haven't seen Raging Bull). Clint Eastwood is quite a moviemaker lately. Oddly enough, I watched this soon after I saw The Sea Inside and they had some pretty similar themes that I didn't know were going to be in this one before seeing it.
Hotel Rwanda. Incredible film about one tribe in Rwanda's brutal genocide of another and the heroic human decency of a hotel manager that saved the lives of a number of members of the targeted tribe. In some ways it reminded me of Dirty Pretty Things, another drama that revolves around a hotel and features a genuinely good man put in a difficult situation.
IanDork107
I wrote a book! Buy it!
Oh, and I also saw The Assassination of Richard Nixon. I liked it, but it was very similar to Taxi Driver though nowhere near as good. Sean Penn was very impressive, but the plodding pace kept it from being anything more than a pretty good film.
xfer
I JERK OFF TO ARCTOPUS
I have heard some bad stuff about Hotel Rwanda. It's been said that everything good about it is the actual story of that Rutabagavagina guy, and everything the filmmakers did kind of fights with the story, so the story's struggling against inept filmmaking to keep you interested. They don't even show scenes of the genocide? Essentially its critics seem to be saying that another movie made of exactly the same story but by different people could be amazing.
still might see it, though. it's a damn good story (although there must be a book I could read for that...)
still might see it, though. it's a damn good story (although there must be a book I could read for that...)
IanDork107
I wrote a book! Buy it!
They do show scenes of the genocide, but the focus of the film isn't on the genocide so much as it is on the main character (whose name I won't even attempt). I think it's plenty effective because there's enough brutality shown to horrify you and the impending threat against all the people in the film that you come to care about is very evident. Plus, Don Cheadle is a wonderful actor and handles the part perfectly. I don't really think it's right to critique the film for not being more about the genocide when the genocide is really just the backdrop for the story that they're telling.
mindspell
vvv Jake's ass vvv
I agree with Ian on that one. It is pretty good, the filmaking is not very innovative or particularly good but it is not supposed to in my opinion. The movie feels a lot like a documentary or a TV movie the way it is shot but it doesn't take away from the story. Don Cheadle is very, very good. The genocide is shown more than enough in my opinion, especially considering the contrast of the lush surroundigns of the hotel and then the absolute atrocities outside.
My only beef is that very little is said about the history of the conflict (well they do explain the separation of the Tutsie and the Hutu by the Belgians but that's it. no mentions of surrounding countries' struggles with the same problems). Also the Tutsies are shown like the saviors of the free world while their rebels did their fair share of genocidal acts during the conflict.
Other beef: The end says that the rebels pushed the Hutus back into Congo, failing to mention the some 500K dead as a result of the continuing conflict there.
My only beef is that very little is said about the history of the conflict (well they do explain the separation of the Tutsie and the Hutu by the Belgians but that's it. no mentions of surrounding countries' struggles with the same problems). Also the Tutsies are shown like the saviors of the free world while their rebels did their fair share of genocidal acts during the conflict.
Other beef: The end says that the rebels pushed the Hutus back into Congo, failing to mention the some 500K dead as a result of the continuing conflict there.
xfer
I JERK OFF TO ARCTOPUS
hmm yeah I'm not convinced the movie is bad, but the criticism I heard had verisimilitude, at least. your recommendations are contributing to the possibility I'll see it sooner rather than later. I'm confused why I was told there was very little genocide stuff when you guys say there's plenty.
avi, I think PCU is a charming super-shallow super-light comedy--inoffensive, not particularly great, but plenty of funny bits. exactly the kind of comedy I wished School of Rock had turned out to be.
avi, I think PCU is a charming super-shallow super-light comedy--inoffensive, not particularly great, but plenty of funny bits. exactly the kind of comedy I wished School of Rock had turned out to be.
xfer
I JERK OFF TO ARCTOPUS
oh. well. maybe. when it came out it didn't feel stale and i don't think even intended to occur "in the past" as much as "in the present".
AndICried
Pretentious asshole
Nut Butter
QTÎ
Man, "Man Bites Dog" is one psycho-silly movie! Crazy Belgians... I hope you understand French, 'cause there's nothing funnier than a man with a thick Belgian accent describing his murder techniques...
I, myself, personally, have been on a steady diet of Cronenberg and Kurosawa these past weeks. Well, not a steady diet, really, more like binging.
Cro: The Brood (awesome, one of my faves), Scanners (what a shitty lead, but what a great movie!), Videodrome (Criterion's new edition of this is simply brilliant), Naked Lunch and Dead Ringers (definitely one of my fave Cronenberg flicks)
Kuro: Ikiru (quickly becoming my favorite Kurosawa, how can you make a movie like that and not make it a tear-jerker? Genius, that's how), Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood (silly me, it's the second time I watch it and only now do I realize it's an adaptation of MacBeth), Red Beard (wowy!)
Other than that I saw the Life Aquatic yesterday... Flawed but funny.
I, myself, personally, have been on a steady diet of Cronenberg and Kurosawa these past weeks. Well, not a steady diet, really, more like binging.
Cro: The Brood (awesome, one of my faves), Scanners (what a shitty lead, but what a great movie!), Videodrome (Criterion's new edition of this is simply brilliant), Naked Lunch and Dead Ringers (definitely one of my fave Cronenberg flicks)
Kuro: Ikiru (quickly becoming my favorite Kurosawa, how can you make a movie like that and not make it a tear-jerker? Genius, that's how), Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood (silly me, it's the second time I watch it and only now do I realize it's an adaptation of MacBeth), Red Beard (wowy!)
Other than that I saw the Life Aquatic yesterday... Flawed but funny.
Nut Butter
QTÎ
willem dafoe was awesome as Klaus! As was that Brazilian guitarist-dude who plays Bowie tunes in portuguese!
AndICried
Pretentious asshole
^^Ikiru is definately in my top ten, it's one of the few films that brings me close to tears, what do you mean, Nut Butter?
Also, how did you find Naked Lunch? Might rent from library this weekend.
Also, how did you find Naked Lunch? Might rent from library this weekend.
anytime you get mifune and kurosawa together it's golden, except for maybe the hidden fortress (which is just okay)
thefourthcontact
prospective mad scientist
i thought mifune was so great in hidden fortress, and that lady character was viscious! i like it a lot. i've also heard that george lucas admitted to taking some of star wars' plot from hidden fortress, in that the two clumsy guys in it were r2d2 and c3po and also the involvement of trying to sneak out a princess in disguise (was that in star wars? i can't remember).
Nut Butter
QTÎ
nonono, you misunderstand, or I misexpress, or a bit of both probably... I find it to be an incredibly moving film. What I meant to say is that it's not overly sentimental like other movies I've seen dealing with terminal illness. I didn't feel manipulated into feeling sorry for the main character. Ikiru doesn't dwell on Watanabe's pain, of which we only get glimpses, and we don't actually witness his death, thanks to Kurosawa's use of time-warps and to the break that occurs mid-film. This allows the viewer, I find, to concentrate on more important things than just "oh, look at the pathetic old dying man, let us feel sorry for him and cry".AndICried said:
And the humour! There're as many truly funny scenes as truly moving ones.
I personally love it, but I can't freely recommend it. I guess it helps to know Burroughs' work and bio, as well as Cronenberg's work and main themes, seeing as there are as many elements from Burroughs' repertoire as there are from Crony's. I just find it awesome that Burry met Crony and that he spent time on the set and seemed delighted by Crony's adaptation, even by the aspects of it that weren't at all in his book. Two like-minded fellows, I guess. But I'm rambling... In short, go for it!AndICried said:
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