A few films recently watched.

[Guest boo]

the fall is just a nice film

[MAXIMUS MISCHIEF]

LOL that makes a lot of sense

 

that scene was horrible wtf

[data]

that new steve carell movie (crazy stupid love? i can't remember) and captain america

 

was alright, i expected way more over the top flag waving patriotism in captain america though. disappoint.

[vamos scorcho]

Tree of Life: spoilers?

 

I liked it. Thumbs up, so to speak. It felt very heavy and meaningful at times. I made sure to indulge in the experience, turned off the lights everywhere, etc.

 

I found myself very moved while watching it. Even 'taken away,' out of myself, out of my body. Certain parts were extraordinary. Particularly the bit after the baby is born.

 

I do want to say that during the last half my mind tended to drift a lot more. I found myself, during the last segments, thinking about farts. And during the final scene I found myself thinking: "This movie could use a little bit of fart humor."

[perunamuusi]

 

calling that girl the female superhans is like calling something really rubbish the female something brilliant

 

 

ha!

 

 

 

 

 

i wasn't even saying that. i hate you people

 

 

:(

[soundwave]

Sucker Punch = 5/10 like watching the intro for a game for 90+mins or the intro to a high budget porn film without the nookie. Hot chicks kept me going till the end.

 

Boogie Nights (remasterd) 13/10 = better looking Boogie Nights, this film is the shit especially the way its edited and choreographed to the excellent soundtrack.

 

got the tree of life next which I'm saving till I'm in the mood

[jhonny]

Senna - 9/10. Was blown away. I'm a big F1 fan and remember when Senna died when I was 10, and bring devastated. The film is fantastic, a perfect documentary about a true sporting legend. The missus isn't into F1 but she really liked it too. Only fault I have is that it would have been good to have some current day interviews about his lasting legacy, instead it's implied rather than proven. (especially about things like safety)

[J3FF3R00]

Saw Moneyball tonight.

 

8/10

 

Great story. Great script (Sorkin, go figure). Smart flick with a new perspective in the sports genre.

Incredible surprise performance by Arliss Howard (Pvt Cowboy from Full Metal Jacket... in which he plays my favorite death scene of any movie) near the end... however small. Good movie.

[kichiguy]

Snowtown 8/10

 

A Warp Films release about the Snowtown Murders in Southern Australia. Twisted.

[Squee]

When You're Strange - 9/10

 

Great The Doors documentary.

[Atop]

a wonderful documentary indeed, I do not get hatred and disrespect for the Doors. Anti-pop sentiments I suppose. Contrariety-filled hipsters will never agree to disagree.

[Squee]

Never heard of anyone disrespecting The Doors?

[perunamuusi]

jim morrison was a bit of a fat drunk prick though no?

[Cazador Mod Unit]

24 Hour Party People (Michael Winterbottom)

I'm using this as a litmus test with a guy that's trying to get me to work for him. I haven't seen it in years so this is also a preemptive review for 2005 me. Scary.

[Squee]

jim morrison was a bit of a fat drunk prick though no?

 

Sure, but the music was great. And still is. Also, I wouldn't know if he was a prick. I didn't know him.

[lumpenprol]

Tree of Life: spoilers?

 

I liked it. Thumbs up, so to speak. It felt very heavy and meaningful at times. I made sure to indulge in the experience, turned off the lights everywhere, etc.

 

I found myself very moved while watching it. Even 'taken away,' out of myself, out of my body. Certain parts were extraordinary. Particularly the bit after the baby is born.

 

I do want to say that during the last half my mind tended to drift a lot more. I found myself, during the last segments, thinking about farts. And during the final scene I found myself thinking: "This movie could use a little bit of fart humor."

 

I watched it recently too, and like you I was prepared to dislike it. The one thing I had forgotten is what a vigorous filmmaker Malick is - despite his ponderous philosophizing, when it comes down to the way he handles the camera he's really nimble and creative. I think that's what kept me engaged with the film.

 

When it comes to the philosophy of the film, it seems to be a really lyrical approach to the thoughts everyone has when they get stoned in their teens: "whoah, so millions of years of evolution led up to...this"..."wait, you mean in several billion years our own sun is going to incinerate the earth? Far out...."

 

Of course I still ponder these things sometimes...but it is hard to make a film about them without coming off as super-pretentious. I think what Malick was going for was a "unifying theory" uniting relativity and quantum mechanics, but for art. A story grounded in the ultra-specific (one family) but aiming for the ultra-universal (big-bang through the death of the earth). Problem is this film was already made, and was much more eloquent and succinct:the Powers of Ten

 

As others have said, the personal story of the family was the best part. I couldn't help but chuckle at Malick when he tried to include what I think was a masturbation scene, but it ended up so abstract that I couldn't tell what was going on? (at least, I think that was what the throwing the dress in the river was all about). Someone should totally kidnap Malick and force him to make a porno at gunpoint, would love to see the result.

 

The ending was pretty terrible. As far as I could tell

 

Sean Penn was all melancholic and then they fast forwarded into the future when the earth was incinerated by the sun, the sun collapsed to a white dwarf, and the spirits of Penn and his dad and mum and rest of the family were all dancing and twining hands on the shores of some cosmic beach and then I died of boredom

 

 

I kept looking for signs that the film was about the bizarre fantasies of a deranged egomaniac (Penn) but ultimately didn't buy it. I think the film has to be taken at face value, otherwise Malick would have named it "The Dark Corridor" or something.

 

Edit: I thought the idea behind the one main dinosaur shot was good - the casual cruelty of the universe, but also the casual curiosity (stepping on his head to see the effect) - but the CG wasn't quite well done enough to escape the cheap "Discovery channel" effect. Unfortunate.

[vamos scorcho]

I definitely think the film is best taken at face value. I didn't find there much to really 'think about' or ponder by the end, which I mostly agree was off the mark.

 

That said, I really thought the first half of the movie worked exceptionally well as an experimental piece. The way he gets into a rhythm with the music and the camera movements is really emotional and hypnotic, and in many ways I find certain bits of the movie were at the pinnacle of filmmaking in general. It had a way of tapping into the deepest part of my mind and life experience, the most otherworldly emotional parts. Really the whole movie didn't keep it up, as the second half turned into a more conventional plot driven film. The first half was mostly an abstract excursion into images and sound, with the second half showing the kid growing up, developing his relationship to his parents and then moving town.

 

 

The early childhood scene where they are born with this music was my favorite of the movie, and probably will stand as one of my favorite scenes ever. The way it shows the children walking around, from their perspective, with the parents... seriously, one of the best things I've ever seen:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJVfM62f7K0

 

 

Admittedly after that it's mostly a wash, but I would recommend the movie to anybody.

 

edit: his use of montage is his greatest strength, IMO. I think the images and music speak for themselves and trying to inject any real sense of plot, however minimal, was a mistake.

[lumpenprol]

Well said. Yeah I'd have to agree. I've become sort of crusty in my old age so I don't get moved as easily by lyrical, poetic type stuff. Also I watched the movie from my treadmill while exercising (lol). But there's no denying his filmmaking chops are still keen. Like you said, his mastery of montage; and I think his dynamic camera use - swooping around (though not in a too-obvious Peter Jackson way), moving through grass; his constant tendency to shoot characters backlit by a low sun, so that it creates a halo through their hair (very BoC but still effective)...he's brilliant at capturing the impressionistic, "flashbulb" (flahblub?) type memories of childhood. At least the ones I have.

 

Edit: there were a few weird shots in the film - there was one where the chair flew back from the table of its own accord, like a scene from Poltergeist...wtf? Not to mention the "spinning antigravity mom" shot, though that could just be explained as a poetic flight of fancy. But the chair thing was weird, I thought Malick was trying to tell us someone had committed suicide (chair kicked away) but then nothing happened...

[eugene]

Also I watched the movie from my treadmill while exercising (lol)

lol !

[soundwave]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes 9/10 = I was a big fan of the original and this prequel exceed my expectations, a very well made modern version of the concept with lots of emotion and excellent cinematography. For get that Tim Burton trash.

[Zephyr_Nova]

Grave of the Fireflies, saddest movie ever. Tears welled up in my eyes at the precise moment the credits appeared, only time that's ever happened. 10/10.

[Guest Coalbucket PI]

Just got Jonathan Glazer's second flick 'Birth', sounds quite good, anyone seen it?

 

It's cool, like a lesser Eyes Wide Shut (Nicole Kidman, general look) and it makes you 'think'.

Aye it was cool, I enjoyed it. She’s a really good actor. One of those weird sparse films that gives you lots of pondering time.

[Guest Xenblake]

Grave of the Fireflies, saddest movie ever. Tears welled up in my eyes at the precise moment the credits appeared, only time that's ever happened. 10/10.

I fear this film will depressurize me into a state of moping funk. I recently watched Kiki's Delivery Service though, wonderful little film.

[Cazador Mod Unit]

Inside Job (Charles Ferguson)

Documentary explains the 2008 financial crisis and you get to see the actual faces and names of those responsible. I think it is amazing how the director found a way to get these human beings on film saying these particular things. Highest possible recommendation.

[Silent Member]

I just watched a bunch of marvel films: Thor, X-men:first class and Captain America. All good fun, brainnumbing entertainment, much better than I thought they'd be. I don't really like superhero movies. Well, I do now. sort of. in the same way I really like french fries, but that doesn't mean I consider them a gourmet meal.

 

Fries/10