GBGoodies 2015 Movie Logbook

That sharp dialogue and camera movement were enough for me. I loved nearly every second of it.

__________________
Letterboxd

The more I think about the film, the more I love it, and think it could be a masterpiece. I want to watch it again already.

At one point Ed Norton is carrying Labyrinths which involves the type of fiction your talking about so it's possible the director is playing with that genre. The problem I have with this view is that the movie then loses virtually all of its power for me.

For me, it worked the opposite. The ending added a whole new level to the movie.

I would agree but say a new level wasn't only unnecessary but really marred the movie for me. I did see two of the screenplay writers interviewed briefly and one said he didn't understand the ending himself. If true, if he wasn't being coy or something else, that speaks volumes for me, and not in a good way.

I'm going to watch The Grand Budapest Hotel soon, maybe even today. I expect to feel the way that you do, but I will try to have an open mind.

I'm also a fan of Seems Like Old Times

Well how about this for a theory that came to me while watching it -



I'm not saying everything there makes sense or that I even definitely subscribe to that theory but just throwing it out there

__________________

The thing you see at the very beginning and just before the hospital scene at the end is the falling burning thing in the sky, something resembling something which blew up or reentered our atmosphere.

__________________
It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
My IMDb page

Others have thrown out what JayDee has. If that's what's intended, then the movie becomes farce for me. I mean that's the oldest most lame device in the book.

If no hints were dropped throughout the film, almost any of these scenarios would be plausible to me. The fact that the movie twice goes out of the way to show me Keaton is dillusional negates many of these theories for me.

I agree with respect to the magic realism theory. The problem with JayDee's is that the Birdman device essentially loses its import, becomes a silly contrivance. The theory that looks at things per the opening night incident shares a similar problem.

I was really taken by this movie, its intimacy, the way it was shot, it's meditation on love, admiration, self-worth, Keaton's masterful performance, and then the end just made a mess of it.

Rats....now I have to watch Birdman just to find out what the buzz is.

Well, I don't know because one of my fave parts of the movie is the simple shot of Michael Keaton's profile at the end, his nose making him look like Birdman, as he stares up out the window.

Forgot about that. It was a really cool shot. I would sacrifice it though.

Netflix doesn't release Birdman on DVD until March, double Rats....

The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965) - I watched this movie for the upcoming 1965 movies list. It was recommended by both Zotis and Honeykid, and it was a very good recommendation.

British spy Alec Leamas, (Richard Burton), is sent to East Germany for one last mission. He is supposed to be a double agent for the British who will plant information to discredit East German Agent Hans-Dieter Mundt, (Peter Van Eyck). When he appears to be a broke alcoholic, he is recruited by the Germans, but he soon finds out that his mission is not what it appears to be.

This is a good spy film, but it's not my favorite spy film. It's gets a bit confusing at times, but if you pay close attention, everything makes sense in the end. The pacing is a bit slow, but the movie is never boring. It's feels much more realistic than a lot of other spy movies, maybe because it feels more like a thriller, and less like an action movie. The entire cast is great, especially Richard Burton who gives a standout performance.

If you like spy thrillers, and you don't need all the action and glamour of James Bond, then I recommend this movie.

Thank you to both Zotis and Honeykid for the recommendation.

Attachments

 

Boeing, Boeing (1965) - This is another movie that I watched for the upcoming 1965 movies list. I watched it mainly for Tony Curtis and Thelma Ritter, but I didn't have high hopes for it because I'm not a fan of Jerry Lewis. However, I was very pleasantly surprised.

Bernard Lawrence, (Tony Curtis), is an American journalist who lives in Paris, France. He has a carefully planned system for dating three girls all at the same time because they are all airline stewardesses who work for different airlines, so they are each in Paris at different times, and none of the girls knows about the other two girls. However when the airlines add new faster jets to their fleets, the girls' schedules change, and they all end up in Paris at the same time, causing Bernard's life to turn into complete chaos. With the help of his housekeeper Bertha, (Thelma Ritter), and his not-so-good friend Robert Reed, (Jerry Lewis), he tries to keep the girls from finding out about each other. This is complicated even further when Robert finds out that Bernard is up for a promotion that would require him to move to New York, so he schemes to take over Bernard's girls, his apartment, and his lifestyle.

This is a very funny movie, but it's far from the best comedy ever. It doesn't have any good laugh-out-loud moments, but it has lots of chuckles throughout the movie. It has some basic plot holes, like the fact that these girls can't hear people who are talking right outside their doors, but nothing major that can't be overlooked. Thelma Ritter is fantastic, and she steals the movie in every scene she's in. Tony Curtis and Jerry Lewis worked very well together in this movie. Tony Curtis is great as the playboy, and surprisingly, Jerry Lewis didn't annoy me in this movie like he normally does in most of his movies.

If your looking for a good comedy, I recommend this fun movie.

Attachments

 

American Sniper (2014) - I watched this because it was nominated for the 2015 Best Picture Oscar. I didn't think that it was my type of movie, but the trailer looked pretty intense, so it caught my attention. Unfortunately, I probably should have gone with my first instincts.

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, (Bradley Cooper), is considered a legend. With 160 confirmed kills out of 255 probable kills, he is the most lethal sniper in U.S. military history. This is his story, and how it affected his wife and family back home.

This is an interesting story, but the movie seems to drag on quite a bit. It wasn't nearly as intense as I expected, and it lacked quite a bit in character development of everyone except Chris Kyle. Even his wife's character wasn't developed enough for us to really care about her feelings. The best scene in the movie is when Chris meets a stranger, and finds out that this stranger is actually a young man whose life he saved. And the ending left a lot to be desired, like maybe an actual explanation of what happened to him that day.

Overall, it's an interesting story if you're just curious about Chris Kyle, but the movie itself is kind of bland. I'm surprised to see it in the same category with some of the other Oscar nominees.

Attachments

 

Sorry to bring up Birdman again and, i can't use Spoiler tags properly with this tablet so.

BIRDMAN SPOILERS!!!

I haven't read through all of the comments regarding it, but if Seans comment about the two scenes it showed Keaton is just delusional. Were 1.The scene were he is apparently throwing things about with his mind in his dressing room, but Zack Galaffiloukiz (lol couldn't remember his surname) walks in and he is clearly holding the items in his hands. and 2. The (amazing) scene were he flies about the city, he has crearly been dropped off by the cab driver who then demands his fair.

I thought it was telling that most of the 'Birdman' moments came after a usually disastrous performance of the play, including the last scene were he now looks similar to Birdman because of his new nose. I imagine the Director wanted it to be left open for interpretation by the viewer, and i personally take to the death on stage or death in the last scene, idea better than he ever had any powers and flew away. Still JayDees idea is the best .