Films Recently Watched

[cruising for burgers]

[lumpenprol]

i know, I need to get more jolly, my avatar demands it

[Atop]

Whatever Soderbergh works on, he works on it with all of his faculties, bringing in as much valid definition and exploration that brings truth to his subject matter. Magic Mike failed because the subject matter is not interesting but the film still it looks amazing and is well executed. I felt the same way about Contagion, so realistic that it falls short of being entertaining for myself. I love Bubble for its minimal yet emotional success. The Limey, Haywire, Solaris, Che, Out of Sight, The Informant!, Gray's Anatomy, Schizopolis. Holy shit! This man is one of the directors that will go down in history as being consistently impressive and one of the only directors I know of that can successfully be the DP and director on his own work without it being anything but amazing. I love Behind the Candelabra because it is a wonderfully honest portrayal of wealthy persons and how jaded they can become because of the notoriety and press they read about themselves. And also if they have any perverse nature to them, their money will only make that nature well fed. You are wrong about him Lumpy. Your baby is so amazing though, congrats!!! Such joy in your avatar.

[awepittance]

I suppose he's more experimental, but he does this thing where I feel like he loses interest and focus halfway through his "experimental" scenes. So it's like a bunch of scenes that don't go anywhere and aren't dramatically fulfilling, strung together more or less randomly to make a film.

completely disagree. I think more often than not his 'experiments' in film are far more successful than people considered artistic genius directors, who often take their experiments to overly pretentious places that lose the viewer.

 

For instance all the cross-cutting out of order time edits in the Limey only increases it's dramatic impact.

'Full Frontal' is probably one of the most successful head fuck 'movie within a movie' concepts I've ever seen, and it seems almost totally effortless when you realize how you've been manipulated through out the film when it ends.

He also manages to get very memorable performances often out of his actors. The informant will forever be burned into my memory as a standout role for Matt Damon, i mean hell i didn't even like him as an actor until i saw him pull off that role.

 

what you're describing i think is fair for *some* of his movies like The Girlfriend Experience. I haven't seen Che, Sex Lies and Videotape, King of the Hill, Kafka or the Good German. For all I know those could be lackluster films also, but i know that the ones i listed (bubble, limey, full frontal) are unique and highly effective movies.

Edited June 6, 2013 by John Ehrlichman

[Rubin Farr]

Now You See Me - 4/10 generic boring heist movie crap. Inane plot, cardboard acting, and they really still use sarcastic clapping in this day?

 

After Earth - 2/10 even worse, boring boring boring. Will Smith did a real good job of sitting in a chair for 2 hours and staring incoherently at the camera. He deserves to lose his own money on this shit. Hollywood please don't give MNS another huge budget, he's fucking clueless.

[Friendly Foil]

Eraserhead for the first time last night. It was scary :<

[cear]

Eraserhead for the first time last night. It was scary :<

[delet...]

jack the giant slayer - well i have to say, despite the loathsome cG near the start, as little fantasy adventure films go, this one did alright. Had me more engaged than the hobbit with less annoying why the fuck moments. The pacing was spot on, they didn't hang around but pursued the adventure right through to the end. The acting, despite ewen macgregor initially taking the piss, seemed like the cast actually cared so they played everything straight, instead of the usual camping it up because who cares it's only a kids movie, like so many hollywood productions do. I enjoyed this film, it wasn't high art, and it probably won't leave a lasting impression, but it didn't waste my time/10

a good day to die hard - no/10

hansel and gretel witch hunters - why/10 all that budget and this is what they did with the money, must have been a scam for german tax credits or something.

[lumpenprol]

Whatever Soderbergh works on, he works on it with all of his faculties, bringing in as much valid definition and exploration that brings truth to his subject matter. Magic Mike failed because the subject matter is not interesting but the film still it looks amazing and is well executed. I felt the same way about Contagion, so realistic that it falls short of being entertaining for myself. I love Bubble for its minimal yet emotional success. The Limey, Haywire, Solaris, Che, Out of Sight, The Informant!, Gray's Anatomy, Schizopolis. Holy shit! This man is one of the directors that will go down in history as being consistently impressive and one of the only directors I know of that can successfully be the DP and director on his own work without it being anything but amazing. I love Behind the Candelabra because it is a wonderfully honest portrayal of wealthy persons and how jaded they can become because of the notoriety and press they read about themselves. And also if they have any perverse nature to them, their money will only make that nature well fed. You are wrong about him Lumpy. Your baby is so amazing though, congrats!!! Such joy in your avatar.

Heh, thanks re: mini-Lumpy! Re: Soderbergh, what I feel is lacking in his films is passion for the subject matter. Yes, he feels like an adequate, serviceable choice. But he doesn't inspire me in the slightest. He even seems to have made a cottage industry out of being "the director you hire to make decent movies on a lean budget." He admits as much, in one interview I saw. He seems like an Eeyore, this kind of glum schlub who has insulated his ego from criticism by only doing "good enough". I remember when he threatened to quit directing too, he just strikes me as this morose guy who should be put out of his misery before he makes another half-decent but utterly forgettable flick.

 

That said. I haven't seen his full body of work, so I am somewhat out of my depth. I did see the Limey years ago and liked it, but I suspect that was largely due to Terence Stamp's great acting.Would like to rewatch.

 

You say "brings truth to his subject matter." Yeah, I'd feel more that way if he showed Magic Mike blowing some GUY for cash. For a movie about sexuality I thought it was actually quite tame, and unrealistic in many ways. You said it failed because the subject matter wasn't interesting, but I disagree, there's always a way to make things interesting. In fact I'd argue Sodebergh usually picks *interesting* subject matter (gf experience, for example), and then kills it with his bloodless, trying-so-hard-to-be-cool-that-I'm-actually-boring approach.

 

Traffic was overly simplistic (that was his, right?). Solaris was *shit* (but I love the original so I'm very hard to please). GF Experience, like most of his films, was periodically engaging but ultimately bland. So, out of the ones of his I've seen, I only rate Out of Sight, the Limey, and the Informant. And I don't think any of them would go on my favorite film shelf.

 

 

completely disagree. I think more often than not his 'experiments' in film are far more successful than people considered artistic genius directors, who often take their experiments to overly pretentious places that lose the viewer.

 

He also manages to get very memorable performances often out of his actors. The informant will forever be burned into my memory as a standout role for Matt Damon, i mean hell i didn't even like him as an actor until i saw him pull off that role.

On the first point, could be, I will make a few comparisons. One would be to the Coen Bros, this goes back to my earlier point about passion, actually I often don't really enjoy Coen Bros movies as they can come across very condescending towards their characters, which does nothing for me. I don't enjoy mocking humanity, at all, and it's clear that they do. They often have quite a dry approach in their films, so they are not so far from Sodebergh on the directorial wavelength. But they have one thing he lacks, which is passion. They clearly love what they are doing (most of the time). I don't get the feeling from Sodebergh, he gives me the feeling of this low-energy guy who just gets things good enough and then collects a paycheck. Could be wrong, but that's what I see as a fundamental difference. Even when I don't like a Coen Bros film, I respect their craft.

 

But, I would agree, that if you compare Sodebergh to say, Aronofsky, well I'd probably go with Sodebergh in some cases. Both art-housey types, but yes, Aronofsky's overdramatizing probably bugs me more than Sodebergh's under-dramatizing. If you know what I mean.

 

Edit: and yeah, he did get a good performance out of Damon. I've always kind of like Matt Damon, though.

Edited June 6, 2013 by lumpenprol

[cloud capture]

That's My Boy - 6.5/10 for the nostalgic soundtrack, some pretty funny moments, vanilla ice plays a big role, todd bridges makes a great cameo. The raunch level of this movie actually surpasses Billy Madison which is a surprise to me because I thought Sandler calmed down once he got all family oriented. Good stuff.

[jhonny]

The Purge - 3/10

[vamos scorcho]

I like Soderbergh. I can agree that he never really pulls through with a "masterpiece" but it seems like part of his philosophy with film. He's kind of just good at making movies but doesn't really care. Shit man. He's probably one of the best directors of all time but more into making little pamphlets instead of big time crazy shit. You know, he really should just devote the rest of his life to directing TV shows for HBO or Netflix. Seriously. I would love that. Imagine something like Contagion or Bubble except more detailed and brought across a Wire level format. I don't like how we can't compare the Godfather with Sopranos without feeling like we're making an error. We need to put that behind us and bring TV into a higher level of art, seems like Soderbergh would be a great guy for the job. Possibly the best.

Edited June 7, 2013 by vamos scorcho

[DerWaschbar]

I don't like how we can't compare the Godfather with Sopranos without feeling like we're making an error. We need to put that behind us and bring TV into a higher level of art, seems like Soderbergh would be a great guy for the job. Possibly the best.

I watched Sopranos recently and it's terrible. I think perhaps it's high regard (9.1 on IMDB, wtf?) is just due to it being sort of progressive for TV at the time.

[awepittance]

I like Soderbergh. I can agree that he never really pulls through with a "masterpiece" but it seems like part of his philosophy with film. He's kind of just good at making movies but doesn't really care. Shit man. He's probably one of the best directors of all time but more into making little pamphlets instead of big time crazy shit. You know, he really should just devote the rest of his life to directing TV shows for HBO or Netflix. Seriously. I would love that. Imagine something like Contagion or Bubble except more detailed and brought across a Wire level format. I don't like how we can't compare the Godfather with Sopranos without feeling like we're making an error. We need to put that behind us and bring TV into a higher level of art, seems like Soderbergh would be a great guy for the job. Possibly the best.

have you seen K street? It's a show he directed/created for Showtime back in 2003, very ahead of it's time docu-drama style. It's filmed very naturalistically sort of like Full Frontal but stars a bunch of politicians playing themselves. It's a fucking awesome and very overlooked show.

[Blir]

 

I don't like how we can't compare the Godfather with Sopranos without feeling like we're making an error. We need to put that behind us and bring TV into a higher level of art, seems like Soderbergh would be a great guy for the job. Possibly the best.

I watched Sopranos recently and it's terrible. I think perhaps it's high regard (9.1 on IMDB, wtf?) is just due to it being sort of progressive for TV at the time.

 

 

To be honest I agree. I never got along with Sopranos. Watched the whole first season and found it a slog.

 

I don't like any Italian mafia shit though, so I figured it was something to do with that. Weird.

[lumpenprol]

what are your favorite shows Obel?

[Blir]

The Wire, Mad Men, House of Cards I saw recently and enjoyed a lot. That kind of stuff.

[Friendly Foil]

Cool signature, Obel.

[eugene]

the pursuit of happyness - 9 Lain C's/10

the company you keep - 3 Awepittances/10

[TRiP]

upstream color - really enjoyed it, was what recent Malick films should be like/10

[Alcofribas]

the pursuit of happyness - 9 Lain C's/10

the company you keep - 3 Awepittances/10

 

no idea what this mean but lol

[Guest Mirezzi]

The Life of Pi - 34/127 minutes. Took a nap, didn't wake up until morning. Can't do it.

[Guest disparaissant]

watched trois couleurs - bleu with my girlfriend's mom. she thought it was weird and devastating. it is definitely weird and devastating. i love it though. 10/10.

[Guest dylanmcknd]

13 Assassins.

Really good.

8.5/10

 

And Behind the Candelabra.

Also very good.

7.5/10

[Schlitze]

I like Soderbergh. I can agree that he never really pulls through with a "masterpiece" but it seems like part of his philosophy with film. He's kind of just good at making movies but doesn't really care.

He's too lazy to commit fully to making an extremely good film. So you watch the film and then 24 hours later you're like 'meh' by which time he's already making another one. I liked the fight scenes in Haywire and the nude lady scenes at the start of Magic Mike but he does so much boring stuff .... its not a great viewing experience. I switched off The Good German after 20 minutes because it was too shit. Im watching Candelabra tonight, i think it will be pretty good. Interesting subject matter, flamboyant characters are entertaining