A few films recently watched.

[perunamuusi]

le havre - simple, quirky, stylish and sweet... charming and so beautifully, thoroughly french... 8/10.

 

nice recommendation ludd... at least i took your "wtf" as a recommendation.

 

And yet still somehow utterly Finnish

[takeshi]

Martha Marcy May Marlene - 7/10 - The atmosphere was effectively creepy as was the main cult leader guy. Still not sure how great an actor the main chick is but I guess it mostly works for the role. I thought the event in the last half of the film that spurs the character to want to leave was a bit much. It felt like the filmmakers thought they needed a bit to make things more explicit. "In case you didn't get it before these people are bad." It felt more believable up to that point and the main character's actions were still more than justified in my mind.

 

Defendor - 1/10 - Made it about 15 minutes into this before I had to bail. Awful.

 

Jiro Dreams of Sushi - 9/10 - Thoroughly enjoyed this.

 

Tyrannosaur - 8/10 - What is it with British actors who go on to direct films? This film would go great in a triple bill with Nil By Mouth and The War Zone. Hopefully, unlike Roth and Oldman, Paddy Considine will make another film someday. I'd love to know the number of people that didn't make it past the opening five minutes of this film. Fortunately, I'm one of the sick bastards that enjoys things like this. I really expected the film to go into a formulaic direction and it didn't. Mullen was great as usual, and the main female, too. I'd only known her from Peep Show but she's a great actress. Makes me want to watch My Name is Joe, again.

[keltoi]

le havre - simple, quirky, stylish and sweet... charming and so beautifully, thoroughly french... 8/10.

 

nice recommendation ludd... at least i took your "wtf" as a recommendation.

 

And yet still somehow utterly Finnish

 

i read the director is finnish but does he somehow manage to portray 'finnishness' in the movie? in what way? i have no idea what 'finnishness' is. or you're just pointing out that the director is finnish? in which case, i know, but the movie is still quintessentially french to me. whatever, no biggie.

 

--

 

hard eight - another work of genius from PTA imo... more character focussed with a simpler plot than his later works... p. b. hall, j. c. reilly and s. l. jackson were spectacular (wasn't overly convinced by paltrow - probably just overshadowed by the others' greatness)... 8.3/10

[perunamuusi]

le havre - simple, quirky, stylish and sweet... charming and so beautifully, thoroughly french... 8/10.

 

nice recommendation ludd... at least i took your "wtf" as a recommendation.

 

And yet still somehow utterly Finnish

 

i read the director is finnish but does he somehow manage to portray 'finnishness' in the movie? in what way? i have no idea what 'finnishness' is. or you're just pointing out that the director is finnish? in which case, i know, but the movie is still quintessentially french to me. whatever, no biggie.

 

--

 

hard eight - another work of genius from PTA imo... more character focussed with a simpler plot than his later works... p. b. hall, j. c. reilly and s. l. jackson were spectacular (wasn't overly convinced by paltrow - probably just overshadowed by the others' greatness)... 8.3/10

 

 

Though on the whole quintessentially French (at least mid 20th century french) I found the main character, all the women, the slowness of physical actions, the silences all seemed very Finnish. His wife was very Finnish (then again she is really Finnish and a Kaurismaki regular so that kind of informed my view of the film). Maybe I'm unfairly referring to some kind of Finnish stereotype that may or may not exist (it does). I guess wherever Kaurismaki would make a film it would be impossible to not bring some kind of Finnish feel to the picture. Mina rakastan suomia :)

 

I've had Hard 8 queued up on Lovefilm for about a year now. Maybe I should put it on high priority

[keltoi]

this is the only Kaurismaki film i've seen (and thoroughly enjoyed) so i'd be interested in any others you can recommend?

 

i have no experience of what might constitute finnishness so i suppose i only saw the frenchness in it. so the things you describe (the main character and his wife, the women, the slowness and silences) and the general quirkiness and seriousness i naturally attribute to the french cos i've spent time there... lol at this conversation... you have finnish connections eh? so you'd be more astute on observing the finnishness within. interesting...

 

​i thoroughly recommend hard eight if you've enjoyed any of PT Anderson's films. such a great cast with amazing performances throughout(apart from gwyneth - maybe she's too straight to play a fucked up whore convincingly )... PB Hall's character is completely endearing, Reilly's is bumbling yet loveable and Jackson is the same bad mother fucker he was in pulp fiction... simple, beautifully paced plot with a timely tension-build before unexpected surprises in the climactic pay-off... trademark cinematography and menacing soundtrack. it's a fuckin masterclass!

[Guest Deep Fried Everything]

i still think the score that johnny greenwood did for 'there will be blood' is overwrought and excessive for many scenes. especially the shots having nature/desert land as their focus, i kept on finding myself unnecessarily distracted by the business of the score. i did like it in place, but to me it just seems excessive in many places. works well in others, and i really did like his score for 'bodysong', so....

 

i think part of my bias comes from watching some of the old sergio leone westerns, and other long feature films (think 2001, etc) where the score seems more like a quiet companion. still great though, i liked this movie a lot more than the first time i saw it.. but not my favorite PTA by a long shot. 8/10

[Guest tidbit]

lampaansyöjät 9.01/10

loma 7.5

zombie ja kummitusjuna 7.5

viimeiset rotannahat 7.5

belle de jour 8.3

taking off 8.5

[perunamuusi]

i have no experience of what might constitute finnishness......

 

lampaansyöjät 9.01/10

loma 7.5

zombie ja kummitusjuna 7.5

viimeiset rotannahat 7.5

belle de jour 8.3

taking off 8.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[blackdust]

Resident evil 5?

 

Man these films just keep coming and keep getting worse. Pretty much no plot what so ever in this one. Apart from "we need to get out"

 

2/10 (high score because mila is hot)

[Alcofribas]

Resident Gumby:

 

at first i really liked it. having richard gere playing in green face was edgy but convincing. i keep thinking how perfect it is that gere brings his own sophisticated look to the character, wearing sharp suits and lush ties which gumby himself never really did imo. i make a mental note to buy a really nice white dress shirt when this is all over. it's kind of unbelievable when gumby becomes a hedge-fund trader and the whole subplot of his daughter suspecting him of fudging the books seemed forced and unoriginal. and that reminds me, where the fuck is pokey??? at this point i'm stressing out a lot, waiting for pokey to appear at any second. when he finally does, as the detective investigating the suspicious death of gumby's french mistress, i'm less than impressed. i'm pretty hooked on the shirt idea. i keep thinking how lush it would be if i could ball it out every day with some nice brooks brothers gear. i'm not 100% sure what brooks brothers is, pretty sure they make lush shirts though. gumby is finding himself way over his head with the whole insider trading which seems strange if he's been doing this all his life. pokey is there at every moment blocking gumby's every plan to escape from inevitable prison. this is all kind of tense which is cool and everything. i feel pretty certain this will end at any second with gumby's mad downward spiral but suddenly he's walking around a beach with sean penn and brad pitt. a curtain flutters in the wind. a 4 minute shot of a butterfly soaring peacefully above a smoldering war scene in slow motion. a close up of a child's eye. giant saturn spinning majestically with its crown of rings. a hushed voice over describes the old days, god, locusts, candles, silence. jake gyllenhall whispers about gay love.

 

not expecting this ending.

 

4/5

[baph]

i have no idea what 'finnishness' is.

 

[kinski]

dig! - very funny documentary about two pretty much unknown bands acting out. say what you want, but dandy warhols are a one hit wonder and brian jonesown masacre are just kinda known, because they have a lot of albums, raher than for any specific musical achievment. but here,the word 'genius' is thrown around a lot and it' all painted to look like some very important part of the 90s. but it's just tha one of the guys is a full of himself douche, the other is full of himself douche who's insane. so it gets around in a spinal tap-ish way.

 

overnight delivery - this was so stupid i turned it off halfway through. i don't think i will make it with watching most of the new stupid comedies, which was kinda the plan, but i feel a lot dumber than a week before.

 

our idiot brother - equally stupid, but kinda heartwarming. if the main character wasn't such a simpleton and rest of the cast were less of a stereotype who knows, maybe then i would dislke something else.

[awepittance]

Resident Gumby:

 

at first i really liked it. having richard gere playing in green face was edgy but convincing. i keep thinking how perfect it is that gere brings his own sophisticated look to the character, wearing sharp suits and lush ties which gumby himself never really did imo. i make a mental note to buy a really nice white dress shirt when this is all over. it's kind of unbelievable when gumby becomes a hedge-fund trader and the whole subplot of his daughter suspecting him of fudging the books seemed forced and unoriginal. and that reminds me, where the fuck is pokey??? at this point i'm stressing out a lot, waiting for pokey to appear at any second. when he finally does, as the detective investigating the suspicious death of gumby's french mistress, i'm less than impressed. i'm pretty hooked on the shirt idea. i keep thinking how lush it would be if i could ball it out every day with some nice brooks brothers gear. i'm not 100% sure what brooks brothers is, pretty sure they make lush shirts though. gumby is finding himself way over his head with the whole insider trading which seems strange if he's been doing this all his life. pokey is there at every moment blocking gumby's every plan to escape from inevitable prison. this is all kind of tense which is cool and everything. i feel pretty certain this will end at any second with gumby's mad downward spiral but suddenly he's walking around a beach with sean penn and brad pitt. a curtain flutters in the wind. a 4 minute shot of a butterfly soaring peacefully above a smoldering war scene in slow motion. a close up of a child's eye. giant saturn spinning majestically with its crown of rings. a hushed voice over describes the old days, god, locusts, candles, silence. jake gyllenhall whispers about gay love.

 

not expecting this ending.

 

4/5

 

i felt pretty much the same, pokey was just not fleshed out enough. he didn't live up to my expectations. Also they totally fucked up the blockheads with the ridiculous CGI block-head superimposed over the actors. Why would they do Gere in green face but then CGI a different character who would have looked much better with stop motion animation, it just doesn't make any sense. Some of the matte paintings looked pretty good, but was utterly thrown off by the ending being a mixture between Baraka and the opening scene to Tree of Life. NOw Pokey again, i'm still unsettled but what i saw...Did it seem like they used 2 actors together with some kind of matte painting or practical animatronic to make them look the same? I wondered if david fincher had something to do with that, i honestly couldn't tell which actor was playing what since they looked the same. Maybe some sort of plate shot? ballsy film. Are you sure it was Gyllenhall? I guess i thought he wouldn't agree to be in any movie that disparaged shriners, it's possible he did a cameo or something. Overall pretty top tier film, brings up a lot of interesting points about the financial sector and especially infidelity.

[keltoi]

i have no idea what 'finnishness' is.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGQyOGDtNg8

 

LOLOL oh my. i like it.

[perunamuusi]

God Bless America - Cringe inducing rubbish. Had to turn it off after giving it a chance for about 30 mins. Wish I'd turned it off sooner.

 

 

Snowtown- Brilliant. Great Performances. Amazing score. Stunning directorial debut. Tale of Australia's biggest Serial Killer John Bunting. More acting in any single minute of this film than any of the turgid dross wheeled out every year at the Oscars etc. I mean really.... George Clooney (The Descendants), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Brad Pitt (Moneyball (or anything else). Really? 8/10

[awepittance]

The Hole - I guess in a way a better return to form for Joe Dante than Ridley Scott's or john carpenter's recent attempts, but still a very flawed film. At least Dante didn't waste 200 million on a massive fail, the budget on this one seems very small. IT's strange how even though it's not necessarily a good film it feels unique in that its a very creepy horror movie for kids, not teens. The movie suffered from a bland script, bland cinematography and a horrible lead actor. The ideas were ok but it makes Small Soldiers seem extremely competent in comparison. There also hasn't been a movie this shelved since Clifford or Robocop 3, the movie has been on DVD for 3 years in europe, but is just now coming out in US theatres, wtf? 6/10

[Rubin Farr]

Brazil coming to Criterion blu-ray in December, finally!

 

http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/Disc_Announcements/Criterion/Brazil_Criterion_Collection_Blu-ray_Dated_and_Detailed/10198

[data]

moonrise kingdom

 

i feared i had grown tired of wes anderson, but nope.

[vamos scorcho]

fatal attraction = underrated

 

 

edit: shouldn't comment while i watch lol... some parts might bring it down considerably. the first half hour was great

[vamos scorcho]

 

Snowtown- Brilliant. Great Performances. Amazing score. Stunning directorial debut. Tale of Australia's biggest Serial Killer John Bunting. More acting in any single minute of this film than any of the turgid dross wheeled out every year at the Oscars etc. I mean really.... George Clooney (The Descendants), Colin Firth (The King's Speech), Brad Pitt (Moneyball (or anything else). Really? 8/10

 

 

this sounds really fucking interesting. I wish more good movies were made about topics like these.

[awepittance]

fatal attraction = underrated

 

 

edit: shouldn't comment while i watch lol... some parts might bring it down considerably. the first half hour was great

 

pretty good film in retrospect, have you seen Play Misty for Me? It's sort of a proto Fatal Attraction but much more seventies, the mom from arrested development plays the crazy bitch in that one.

 

the spiritual sequel Adrian Lyne did to Fatal Attraction, Unfaithful is not as good but it has one of the best lines ever

 

"did you just fuck me from across the street?"

[vamos scorcho]

Never seen those other ones... but did watch The Last Seduction a month or so ago. That one had a really good "Crazy bitch."

 

I watched Falling Down tonight. Another movie from that same time period, basically (Fatal Attraction, Last Seduction). I think it's one of my favorite time periods for film, from about 85-95. Directing was really good, movie didn't succumb to poor thinking or characterization. Definitely like the "good" version of God Bless America. Actually had a plot and wasn't just "blah." In fact, I'd say it was awesome.

 

Michael Douglas has somehow become one of my favorite actors between those 2 and The Game.

[Guest HokusPoker]

Innocence of Muslims - HAHAHA/10.

I still cannot believe this is the movie/trailer because of which the islamic world is running around in the streets.

I'm well aware that no more than 5% of those protesting now have actually seen it or care about what it actually says, but the fact that that hilarious piece of crap was able to ignite these riots... oh my, the world is funny.

[Squee]

moonrise kingdom

 

i feared i had grown tired of wes anderson, but nope.

 

Same here. It was excellent. I had a dumb smile on my face throughout the entire movie.

[J3FF3R00]

Bourne Legacy (or whatever the name of the new one is).

 

I saw it cheap at a 2nd run theater. Totally worth seeing in the theater.

I hadn't seen the last one, and I'm pretty sure I didn't see the one before that one either.

When I saw the first one, I'm pretty sure it had been out for many years and it didn't really hold up, imo... it seemed really "Y2K" in its sensibility )I bet it was better when it was new).

 

Anyway. The new one was good, considering that I didn't know shit about the franchise, other than Matt Damon lost his memory, which didn't really matter for this story at all.

I didn't really know what a lot of the secondary and tertiary characters where supposed to be doing, but the main story was good. Decent action flick. Jeremy Renner was solid as usual.

There's a really sweet chase scene on a motorcycle.

 

8/10