A few films recently watched.

[Guest Mirezzi]

The Hurt Locker - ummm, brilliant but also quite retarded...both a 0/10 and a 10/10. The script is the best and worst thing about the movie and Bigelow, because of her noted ability to make men look handsome, seems incapable of telling stories about men that doesn't involve latent/blatant homoeroticism. Mind you, the homoeroticism in The Hurt Locker is probably what makes it brilliant. Nonetheless, whatever impact, whatever ideas, whatever motif was being sold by the script, was undermined countless times by Bigelow's penchant for overpunctuation. The ending of The Hurt Locker was one of the most loltastic things I've ever seen. It reminded me of Michael Mann's terrible ending of The Insider, where Al Pacino walks away from the camera, flipping up the collar of his leather trenchcoat, while we're bludgeoned with metal guitar riffs and the roll of credits. This time, it's Jeremy Renner returning to the streets of Baghdad and walking away from the camera like fucking John Wayne in The Searchers or some shit. That might have been a brilliant gesture, but because Bigelow still likes music from the late 1980s, it's a stomach-turning moment of melting velveeta. Weird movie, but I enjoyed it and despite its silliness, there's plenty to think about.

 

The Invention of Lying - The first 10 minutes were 8/10 for the lols, but then next agonizing 80 minutes were 1/10. I felt like I was really stoned by the time it ended and I don't know how I even made it that far...I hope Gervais gets another shot at directing a Hollywood film, but if he doesn't learn something from making this horrible pile of shit, then he really should be banned.

[Guest Mirezzi]

the book of eli

 

had zero expectations. it was pretty good. denzel was a badass, gary oldman got to act crazy, mila kunis is hot. i didn't mind that it looked a little like fallout. it had an intriguing premise. it was well put together and had a reason for being, which is more than i can say for a lot of movies out right now.

Nice. I think I'm one of the rare people who thinks the Hughes brothers are interesting filmmakers.

[Guest zaphod]

i thought from hell was really underrated. and i liked dead presidents as well.

 

roger ebert has a nice review of the book of eli, which i basically agree with. the ending is something else. like, it feels separate from the rest of the movie, and makes it both amazing and completely ridiculous, but in a great way.

[goffer]

Bonnie and Clyde - 8/10 - Excellent film that has aged very well. If I had not known its age I would have guessed it was made in the 80s. Very interesting to see this type of editing from an American film in the 60s... very French new-wave-esque but with a gritty American film-Noir after-taste. I really enjoyed this spare the strange choice of music at times.

 

Rear Window - 9/10 - Re-watched this on an HD TV rip I found.... beautiful transfer! I cannot wait until more Hitchcock films get the blu ray treatment, especially after seeing how well Warner did with the 50th anniversary of North by Northwest. I'm still amazed with Hitchcock's pacing... I don't think anyone else can make a film such as this, which essentially cripples the audience, very much like James Stewart's character, yet makes it feel so energetic and mobile. I'm always somewhat put off at how fast it all concludes but I suppose that's the Hitchcock way, cut away all the BS.

[Guest mafted]

Hudsucker Proxy..

 

forgot how awesome that was.

[Guest Benedict Cumberbatch]

harold and maude is great. i didnt think of it as a great director made movie so never looked for anythign else by the guy.

 

 

rear window is probably a 10/10 for me. my wife realized the other day that we have become the "childless couple" who have the little dog. gotta get a winch for pooptime

 

 

i rewatched brick last night. still think its great. probably an 8/10.

[takeshi]

the book of eli

 

had zero expectations. it was pretty good. denzel was a badass, gary oldman got to act crazy, mila kunis is hot. i didn't mind that it looked a little like fallout. it had an intriguing premise. it was well put together and had a reason for being, which is more than i can say for a lot of movies out right now.

Nice. I think I'm one of the rare people who thinks the Hughes brothers are interesting filmmakers.

 

I was pleasantly surprised by this film. I wasn't expecting much but it turned out to be an enjoyable "genre" flick that gives nice nods to films it was inspired by (I spotted a "A Boy and His Dog" poster in the background of one scene). The fight choreography was well done, you could see what was going on and they didn't go crazy with jump-cuts. The biggest drawback was Mila Kunis, she was pretty much there only to look good, which I guess she succeeded at. But she really isn't a good actress and I'm still not completely sure what she does/what her motivation is at the end of the film.

Also, Jennifer Beals is still fine as hell.

 

 

I feel the same way about the Hughes brothers, Mirezzi. Here's a decent interview where they talk about what they've been up to since "From Hell".

Hughes brothers turn page with "Book of Eli" (Reuters)

[sneaksta303]

I think I've sort of come to the (probably wildly unpopular) conclusion that Scorsese is just a so-so director. Goodfellas is a good movie for sure, but it seems like when Scorsese succeeds, it's a bit by accident rather than design.

 

I feel that way about John Carpenter. I like his films, but I don't think he's a good director. Also, his music is derivative to the point of near plagiarism (opening credits to in the mouth of madness=enter sandman ALMOST EXACTLY. It was ok when he did some analog synth motifs but eh. Overrated.

 

 

Hollywood Shuffle - 9/10 Saw it again for the 1st time in a good long while. Classic.

[awepittance]

i liked approximately 50% of all Scorsese's movies. the ones im not too fond of like Gangs of New York still have some awesome elements to keep me entertained though

[goffer]

i liked approximately 50% of all Scorsese's movies. the ones im not too fond of like Gangs of New York still have some awesome elements to keep me entertained though

Same ... I'm mostly a fan of his early work. I didn't enjoy the Departed all that much, or Aviator... I guess ever since DiCaprio joined in.

[kokoon]

the book of eli

 

had zero expectations. it was pretty good. denzel was a badass, gary oldman got to act crazy, mila kunis is hot. i didn't mind that it looked a little like fallout. it had an intriguing premise. it was well put together and had a reason for being, which is more than i can say for a lot of movies out right now.

please explain, tell me its "reason for being". i just got back from the cinema. the only interpretation in can come up with is that this movie was a criticism of violent human deeds in the name of faith.

 

i didn't know what i was going to watch and i can't say i enjoyed watching it.

[awepittance]

is it just me or dd the Road get significantly less attention in this thread than the Book of Eli? thats the opposite of what i would have expected out of the film faggery of watmm

[Squee]

I think The Road had its own thread - so The Road wins. Yay!

[kokoon]

is it just me or dd the Road get significantly less attention in this thread than the Book of Eli? thats the opposite of what i would have expected out of the film faggery of watmm

i rarely go to the cinema and i went to see the book of eli solely because i got the tickets for free. i didn't even know the movie existed. and didn't know about "the road" until today.

 

anyways, i couldn't get past the really heavy christian theme in the book of eli, so i tried to research my hypothesis some more - and i ended up here: http://www.christianforums.com/t7434585/

 

it deals with some semi-interesting questions.

 

but apart from that... i'm leaning towards the conclusion that the movie itself is completely and absolutely worthless.

[lumpenprol]

 

I'm no Scorsese fanboy, but this post made me lol my face off. Taxi Driver bad, Valkyrie good? Wow. The former is still, IMO, one of the most important films ever made (important is a term I could elaborate on but I'm lazy right now) and the latter is as bland as an ABC After School special.

 

Ok, I admit I was taking the piss a bit by giving Valkyrie a slightly better rating than Taxi Driver, but Taxi Driver is still way overrated, and when it comes down to it I would watch Valkyrie again as it's at least well crafted and educational (was impressed, for example, with the emphasis they put on the importance of telephone switchboards in determining the course of history, which completely makes sense in the pre-cell phone era). Taxi Driver, the good: De Niro's performance was pretty good (though surprisingly, not as "amazing" as I expected, and his character traits were well fleshed out, so I can see why saying "He's a Travis Bickle" has become a useful shorthand when describing a certain type of head case. Night time shots of NY were also great. Taxi Driver, the bad: Cybil Shepherd's dialogue and acting were lame. Keitel's acting was lame. Jodie Foster was but her change of heart was lame. And the ending was completely retarded. Scorsese chickened out big time, and that immediately lowers the film from classic status in my mind. I am curious to hear you explain why you think its "important". It has its place in the history of cinema I guess, and it's not a bad film per se, but I was really underwhelmed.

 

i liked approximately 50% of all Scorsese's movies. the ones im not too fond of like Gangs of New York still have some awesome elements to keep me entertained though

Yeah, I agree with that. Too bad though that the awesome elements are basically evil guys fucking people over. Nobody does that better than Scorsese. But when he tries his hand at drama with no head-crunching (eg., The Age of Innocence), the results are pretty mixed.

[data]

2012

 

not really worth the download. sfx was less impressive than expected.

 

i was thinking of going to see avatar, but if it's anything like this, all sfx and mind numbingly dumb plot/characters/everything, i'd rather stay home.

[tec]

And the ending was completely retarded. Scorsese chickened out big time, and that immediately lowers the film from classic status in my mind.

 

I'm not sure if I understand this point. In the movie there is a huge disparity between the public perception of him as a hero which may tie to your thought of it being a Hollywood ending, but in my opinion away from that public view he is still a violent psycho that will continue to act out against a society that he doesn't have any place in. At the conclusion he may have done good but I felt there was an ominous atmosphere from his final chat with Betsy up to the last notes of the soundtrack and final shot of his taxi driving into the night. At the moment he may be a hero but when the thirst for carnage returns he will lash out at the easiest target again and the outcome could potentially be a tragic one. I know it can be read both ways, so to say it's a conventional Hollywood ending just doesn't seem right.

[Guest Mirezzi]

i rewatched brick last night. still think its great. probably an 8/10.

Yeah, I liked it a lot as well.

[Hoodie]

i rewatched brick last night. still think its great. probably an 8/10.

Yeah, I liked it a lot as well.

 

i've got a major hard-on for that movie, as well as for mysterious skin. i love joseph gordon levitt.

[lumpenprol]

And the ending was completely retarded. Scorsese chickened out big time, and that immediately lowers the film from classic status in my mind.

 

I'm not sure if I understand this point. In the movie there is a huge disparity between the public perception of him as a hero which may tie to your thought of it being a Hollywood ending, but in my opinion away from that public view he is still a violent psycho that will continue to act out against a society that he doesn't have any place in. At the conclusion he may have done good but I felt there was an ominous atmosphere from his final chat with Betsy up to the last notes of the soundtrack and final shot of his taxi driving into the night. At the moment he may be a hero but when the thirst for carnage returns he will lash out at the easiest target again and the outcome could potentially be a tragic one. I know it can be read both ways, so to say it's a conventional Hollywood ending just doesn't seem right.

 

I read it a different way. First I wouldn't say "a society that he doesn't have any place in." He's a psycho but you can hardly say he was driven to it by the miseries of being a taxi driver. Some references are made to him being a marine so perhaps there's an underlying critique of the Vietnam war or the way vets were treated on their return, but it's really too vague to be meaningful. As a portrait of that sort of character it's effective, I especially liked when he clumsily tried to take Betsy on a date to see the porno flick. I think the ending was Hollywood and I didn't see it as ominous. He could have ended the film with the shootout, that would have been just fine and disturbing. He could have ended it with the letter from Iris' family, praising his heroism, that would have given a sour touch of irony that would have been ok too (though I think less believable). But he goes one step further and shows Travis back out on the street with his buddies, who call him by the same nickname they always did, he looks healthy and recovered, and when Betsy takes his cab (sort of a ridiculous touch never mind the dialogue) he is cool enough now to blow her off as no big deal. I took this to mean that he had "outgrown" his obsession with her, and was now more in control of himself. Maybe you're right he was supposed to be a ticking bomb, but I didn't feel that.

 

Incidentally I really wish they hadn't shown Iris regretting her decision to be a hooker in such a cliche way. Up until that point her portrayal was totally believable. I think the film would have been much more powerful if it continued with the line it seemed to be taking, that Bickle was an emotionally volatile misfit who always read situations in the wrong way, and attempts to save people who don't want to be saved. I liked it when Iris was more in the mode of "who the fuck is this guy?", rather than "aw gee psycho guy, you know you're right, I don't really like being a hooker after all."

[karmakramer]

2012

 

not really worth the download. sfx was less impressive than expected.

 

i was thinking of going to see avatar, but if it's anything like this, all sfx and mind numbingly dumb plot/characters/everything, i'd rather stay home.

 

you all know what I am going to say, but 2012 is a pile of shit compared to Avatar... come the fuck on people. I almost fell asleep during 2012

[lumpenprol]

I liked 2012 lol. But comparing the two is apples and oranges, despite both being blockbusters.

[karmakramer]

I liked 2012 lol. But comparing the two is apples and oranges, despite both being blockbusters.

 

you liked a three hour movie that blew its visual effects load by the 45 minute mark? once you get the idea that a) the family isn't going to die, cause what story would be told if they did b) the earth is either falling apart from earth-quakes, melting from lava, or flooding from water, so once you have seen all three, its basically a repetition of the same outcomes c) despite this being the most horrific mass elimination of humans ever, there was little violence shown. Independence day shits all over it cause you got Jeff Goldblum talking about science and shit

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JFfN5pKzFU

[lumpenprol]

 

you liked a three hour movie that blew its visual effects load by the 45 minute mark? once you get the idea that a) the family isn't going to die, cause what story would be told if they did b) the earth is either falling apart from earth-quakes, melting from lava, or flooding from water, so once you have seen all three, its basically a repetition of the same outcomes c) despite this being the most horrific mass elimination of humans ever, there was little violence shown. Independence day shits all over it cause you got Jeff Goldblum talking about science and shit

 

 

if you expect me to argue the merits of 2012 I'm not quite that debased yet

[karmakramer]

 

you liked a three hour movie that blew its visual effects load by the 45 minute mark? once you get the idea that a) the family isn't going to die, cause what story would be told if they did b) the earth is either falling apart from earth-quakes, melting from lava, or flooding from water, so once you have seen all three, its basically a repetition of the same outcomes c) despite this being the most horrific mass elimination of humans ever, there was little violence shown. Independence day shits all over it cause you got Jeff Goldblum talking about science and shit

 

 

if you expect me to argue the merits of 2012 I'm not quite that debased yet

 

if dicks and cocks are the butt of most of the conversations at these parts then yes, I am asking you to indulge me