Movie Tab II

Obviously.

(edit post)



Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle, 2008) -

I was contemplating whether or not to give this a proper review but decided against it because I just agreed too much with everything else that's been written. I reckon Slumdog Millionaire was quite simply fantastic. Boyle's trademark look translates well to this incredibly intense rags-to-riches tale. It remains gripping throughout, whether through protagonist Jamal's confrontations with child-crippling criminals or with the charismatic host of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and while the very end was still somewhat predictable, it was still a very well-executed ending.

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Iro's Top 100 Movies v3.0

I thought the corny bits you were gonna say were like the obvious surrealist bits- big man walking small dog standing still. The film, in a lot of ways, is about surfaces, the bit you mention was meant to be corny as far as i'm concerned but guess you see that as well. Next time you watch it consider all the Freudian themes and keep in mind the two characters are essentially a whole, or Hopper is at least the embodiment of MacLachlan's repressed self.

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Mainly saccarine telly for me during the Xmas spree...




Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Nothing too evolutionary from the claymen, other than the cinematic-scale (the formula's getting slightly tired-n-testy in places - how many more Heath Robinson wake-up devices can they creak through?)

There is something endlessly watchable about Gromit's silent-seer routine though - and when they get things right it makes for charming delights (the mud-shaking car & bi-plane chase for a start )




Starter for 10

You know exactly where it's going, and it gets there very amiably.




Rope

Wonderfully (horribly) tense opening. Unfortunately i just couldn't buy the transition Stewart's character goes through. (A fault of the play no doubt - but felt JS & Hitch could possibly have played it differently. As it stands, i'd need his argument to be sourced more [infeasible really - this isn't a philosophy debate] or his transition to be less abrupt to believe in it. Happy to bitch more about this if anyone's up for it )

Wasn't sure some of other stage-to-screen transitions all worked either - such as the side-on view of the maid clearing the table (which i assume woulda been centre-stage in the production - with the cast still seen behind). But damn it has real claustrophobic tension at points, very comparable to the intimate captivation that the theatre can induce. (And the mammoth takes were great to behold - even if there was some added niggly fun to be had in watching one transition go slightly awry, ducking hurriedly into a murderous back - but that only highlighted how breezily 'seamless' some of the changeovers were - and how ambitious a project it was in all. [I can only imagine how a steadycam might have made the opening scenes even more detached and chilling - and given the penchant for remakes these days i probably won't have to wait long to find out ]).




Happy-Go-Lucky

Very deft, pretty damn pleasing. Sally Hawkins is great as the primary-school teacher who's too good for this world, yet somehow believably of it. Wasn't completely sold on the tramp scene imbedded in the middle (think the script was asking an infuriating -and potentially fatuous- amount, so it's a credit to the acting and directing that they neaaarly turned it into a killer memorable scene [which would've hung like a weighty-counterbalance in the middle of the film, giving the story-arms either side some extra momentum & spin])

Eddie Marsan (the memorable Mr Pancks of recent TV series Little Dorrit) is also strong as the unbalanced driving instructor (if this was his story it might be called Unhappy-Stay-Unlucky )

Quite a Middlemarch-style 'floating' end - with lives carrying on, changed but the same, rather than some tumultuous revelation or world-rending crash. Which felt pretty damn suitable as well

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While the fact that a woman directed it shouldn't matter at all, it definitely enhances some of the laughs for me, so what can I tell ya? Anyway, American Psycho's not just about gender, but I think anybody can see what it's at least trying to lampoon. The film is superficial and simple by design, so going in expecting any clear-cut meaningful insights is a little tricky. Maybe it is lazy and pretentious on the part of the filmmaker, but it's a flick that, in my mind, asks the viewer to project what they want to see or think instead of telling them. So on the one hand it's strikingly obvious about what it wants to get across and on the other it's magnificently, secretly ambiguous and subtle. But that doesn't make any sense, so what am I talking about? I don't know. I do know that I don't feel tricked or bamboozled or anything by American Psycho at all. And I know that I didn't really like it the first time I saw it. And I also know that a lot of your criticisms are pretty damning, but I feel like they actually apply a lot more to the book than the movie. And, finally, I know that American Psycho left a lasting impression on me. It impressed me.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

I tried to work up some enthusiasm for this movie, but I can't. It just left me feeling, 'meh'.

Pros: That said, it had a few moments. The message from the original was the same, and I think it was more clearly stated. It's a good message, we should listen. Keanu did an admirable job as the humanoid visitor, and the special effects were more exciting than in the original. I also liked that our science knowledge is advanced anough in the 21st century to be able to actually have a discussion about physiology of alien visitors that is believable.

Cons: The cost for humans to get their second chance was unstated, and even harder to infer if that's what they wanted the viewer to do. I left the theater asking what the payout for Earthlings was going to be.
The effects though more exciting, have been done before, all of it felt like it had been plucked from another sci-fi film and dropped into this one.

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If God had wanted me otherwise, He would have created me otherwise.

Johann von Goethe

Still rolling along here getting some Oscar prep in. There are a ton of good flicks out there right now and here are two more...

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen-2008)

I can see Penelope Cruz getting a Supporting nom for this although it sounds like she was pretty good in Elegy as well so she may get lost in the shuffle. I hope not. She's quite talented. I've got Elegy on deck here and I'll have to see if my powers that let me see the future can tell me if she'll be able to win for either role. I'll get back to you...

As far as the film goes Woody's movies tend to leave me a little cold and this one is no different. He raises a lot of interesting points in this film and it can give you pause about life and relationships in general. But for me, (and this is just me talking about me here) I don't need to be constantly be reminded of how mixed up people are and how hopeless and unhappy so many people are in this world. Especially people that are in relationships which is subject that Woody seems to like to get into regularly. Personally I like to watch people that are trying to live in solutions instead of chaos, which is why I enjoyed the next flick so much.

Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh-2008)

I agree with you Gols, the scene you're referring to in the park or alley or whatever that was, was either brilliant or a little over the top, probably both. I still enjoyed it although it made me a little uncomfortable. Sally Hawkins was just spectacular as Poppy who apparently has never had a bad day in her life. I'll be honest, I didn't think the character was very genuine. I'm too pessimistic, I see too much evil in people instead of focusing on their good sides. But, by the end of this flick I was right there laughing with her and making little faces.

This movie isn't going to end the world's troubles. It won't put a smile on everyone's face but it could make a few stop and say to themselves. Why shouldn't I be happy? Poppy is happy, even though she's surounded by as much misery as everyone else. So why can't I be? I can, I just need to let things go a little more just like Poppy does.

I don't know if she'll be this year's winner or not for Best Actress but I think I'm rooting for her. Good stuff.

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We are both the source of the problem and the solution, yet we do not see ourselves in this light...

A ma soeur (Breillat, 2001) -

I'm still not entirely sure of my reasoning for watching this. Reading Thursday's review made me want to rent it out purely out of a strange sense of curiosity. It was one of those films where a lot of seemingly mundane conversation and action take place all the time and there's nothing that really grabs you until the very end. I spent the last 15 or so minutes of the movie waiting for a car crash to happen - not because I was bored, but because I felt that with a movie this slow and uneventful it was bound to climax with some sort of unexpected shock (and, to be fair, it did). Still, a decidedly "meh" movie.



The Proposition (Hillcoat, 2005) -

The best thing I can say in favour of The Proposition is that the cinematography looks excellent. Every frame looks like a work of art. The problem is, I felt that the other aspects of the film didn't quite match up. I wonder if it should be considered a strength or a weakness for the film that the story tends to focus more on Ray Winstone's trooper captain and the various problems he faces in his "civilised" town than on Guy Pearce's bushranger. As a result, I felt a particular disconnection with Pearce's side of the story (which I felt was a problem, seeing as I got the impression that I was supposed to care about his character's plight to a certain degree). Granted, any complaints I have are relatively minor ones, but they're enough to warrant me ranking this no higher than .

What's Up, Doc? (1972) –

I liked this movie. I didn't really have any expectations going into it, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. It made me laugh quite a bit, which is rare considering films don't easily make me laugh. Ryan O'Neal and Barbra Streisand were great together. They reminded me of Harold and Maude at first, probably because they had the 'serious guy with a spunky girl' thing going on.

Bull Durham (1988) -

Awesome movie. I was into it the whole way through. Which is odd, considering it's a film about baseball (and sex), and I'm not much of a sports guy (I like sex though). I don't know what it is, but I guess there's just something about baseball movies - and baseball in general - that I like. But anyways, yes, I liked this movie. My main problem was Susan Sarandon. I just... don't like her. But Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins (Robbins especially) made up for her completely. In fact, I didn't realize it until just last night, but Tim Robbins is my all-time favorite actor. Every time I see him on screen he seems to shine for me. I go "that's Tim Robbins! Woo!” He seems to be my favorite character in every film he is in. Jacob Singer, Andy Dufresne, Dave Boyle, and now Nuke. Okay, so I didn't like his character in War of the Worlds, but he still played that character perfectly. And I just want to point out; his character in Bull Durham is the polar opposite of Andy Dufresne. Awesome actor and a great movie.

Brazil (1985) -

Let me just say that a rewatch is very much in order. I did like the movie a lot, but I feel seeing it again will increase my rating, my liking of the film, and my understanding of it. I shall buy it and rewatch it soon.

You do know that What's Up, Doc? is basically a remake of/homage to a screwball comedy classic?

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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I didn't know that, mark. What movie are you talking about?

That looks good just based on the leading cast.

I'll check it out.

Pi (Aronofsky, 1998) -

It's a weird situation I found myself in with Pi. On one hand, I had to admire the intelligence behind the film's story. On the other hand, I found the visual style and some of the acting to be bothersome more often than not. I was reminded a lot of Primer, although Pi's plot was far easier to comprehend, although I'd say that was compromised by the film's grainy black-and-white look.

Secretary - much funnier on a rewatching, perhaps it was my flatmates reaction to it as shed never seen it before but the film was suddenly hilarious.

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Undercoverlovers 100 REDUX

Clerks II- Still hilarious.

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I used to be addicted to crystal meth, now I'm just addicted to Breaking Bad.

Gigli

I finally watched it... please don't make me watch it again.

Matter of Trust -

A "whodunnit" drama that wasn't very good. Some extremely good nudity was the film's best aspect.

The Man -

Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy make quite the duo, but this movie wasn't quite as funny as I thought it would be and was too unbelievable and silly for its own good. Some decently funny one-liners, a couple of cool actions scenes, and a reference or two to Pulp Fiction throughout made The Man worth watching.

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"The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."
John Milton, Paradise Lost

My Movie Review Thread | My Top 100

^ that is the weirdest duo ever, the only weirder duo would be Barack Obama and Aquaman, or something to that effect


Blade 2 - awesome, lil too much CGI on Blade but its all good

Aren't movies great?

Madagascar 2 (Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath-2008)

I don't think this has a chance to be award winning or anything but it certainly was every bit as much fun as the first one.

Dragon Hunters (Steve Shimek-2008)

I've never even heard a peep about this flick and it was a lot of fun. A very cool animated feature with Forrest Whitaker as the voice of the main character. I guess a French company was behind most of the production and it showed. Very good animation style, a very cool looking world and a relatively simple but sweet story.

Elegy (Isabel Coixet-2008)

Not sure why Ben Button is getting so much love when flicks like this are being completely overlooked in some circles. Sir Ben Kingsley was very good in this. Much better than Brad Pitt, who it seems is a shoe in for an Oscar nom. Whatever. I can see why certain critics are picking Penelope Cruz for this one instead of Vicky Cristina Barcelona, she had more to do in this flick. A pretty heart wrenching movie by the way.

Revolutionary Road (Sam Mendes-2008)

This was very good and brutally honest. I have a hard time seeing this even getting nominated. The Academy does surprise me sometimes though. They did nominate and give the Oscar to American Beauty much to my surprise and pleasure so anything's possible right? Coincidentally this is the exact same director as American Beauty so perhaps he does this on purpose just to see how uncomfortable he can make the masses.

This is one of the more honest films about everday life that I can remember seeing in the last 10 years or so. This is another guy much like Eastwood who is never afraid to show an audience just how messy life really is.

Now typically I don't really care for stories about how miserable people are in their lives. I wish the majority of folks would try to find a little more joy in the little things instead of being so damn unhappy all the time. Americans in particular are some of the most spoiled and completely miserable people on the face of the Earth and I have never understood that. I think Mendes doesn't understand it either. Maybe this is just his little way of trying to get people talking. I don't know.

It's a helluva movie though so we'll just wait and see what happens.

Changeling (Clint Eastwood-2008)

Wow. And why is it exactly that this isn't going to be nominated for Best Picture? What, just because it didn't come out in the last week it isn't worthy? This is better than Gran Torino and it deserves more than an empty nomination for Jolie who has no chance of winning Best Actress. The way these awards work sometimes really bugs me.

Anyway, what a story. I'm going to go and do a little reading about what really happened so I can quench my thirst.