Movie Tab II

Not at all the movie I was expecting, Denzel gives a brilliant performance here.





The first time (after many times) that I can admit this really is a classic. Still a frustrating experience, but not for patience' sake this time. The ambition driving this movie is to make the absolute best of all time. Sure the acting in the second act is almost wooden, but the storytelling throughout is flawless. Truly complex themes tie together with a childlike simplicity and artistry. But as long as I live, I'll never warm to the finale. The visual bar for the ending has already been set by the rest of the movie and what follows is a dismal display. Kubrick, the grandmaster of technical film making, fumbles around with cheap gimmicks in what should be an abstract explosion. Had he the animation technology of today available to him, I'd imagine we'd get something of a much grander scale.

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Django Unchained (Tarantino, 2012)
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (Petri, 1970)
Sideways (Payne, 2004)
The Avengers (Whedon, 2012)
Apocalypse Now (Coppola, 1979)
Escape From New York (Carpenter, 1981)
Annie Hall (Allen, 1977)

Some of what I've watched lately:

Working Girl (1988, Nichols): +
To Catch A Thief (1955, Hitchcock):
The Five-year Engagement (2012, Stoller):
Decoy (1946, Bernhard):
The Shop Around The Corner (1940, Lubitsch):
The Year of Living Dangerously (1982, Weir): +
De rouille et d'os (2012, Audiard):
Un Long Dimanche de Fiançailles (2004, Jeunet): +
Prometheus (2012, R. Scott): +
Casque d'Or (1952, Becker):
Kwaidan (1964, Kobayashi):
Teresia (2003, Bondello): +
Crimson Gold (2003, Panahi): +

Donnie Brasco (Mike Newell, 1997)
The Door in the Floor (Tod Williams, 2004)
30 Minutes or Less (Ruben Fleischer, 2011)
Babe (Chris Noonan, 1995) +
The Beach (Danny Boyle, 2000)
Fear (James Foley, 1996)
Captains Courageous (Victor Fleming, 1937) -
In Cold Blood (Richard Brooks, 1967) +
Diabolique (Henri G. Clouzot, 1955) +
The 39 Steps (Alfred Hitchcock, 1935)
Sabotage (Hitchcock, 1936)
The Lady Vanishes (Hitch, 1938) -
Sideways (Alexander Payne, 2004)
Wizards (Ralph Bakshi, 1977)
Evita (Alan Parker, 1996)
Heathers (Michael Lehmann, 1988)
The Pianist (Roman Polanski, 2002)
Looper (Rian Johnson, 2012) -

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Ooh I love Diabolique, The Lady Vanishes, and especially The Pianist!

I haven't seen it yet but I would've imagined your rating for 30 minutes or less would be lower, and personally I didn't think Looper was anything special.

@Brotherblue that's a Hell of a set!

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Love to see what you think of it, I have one friend who hated it and the other loved it I haven't seen it yet

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4 EXCELLENT FOREIGN FILMS I SAW LAST WEEK

360
^Solid multi-storied drama, one of the characters adds an oddly fitting but then again most fitting element to the film.

Five Minutes Of Heaven
^Also a great drama about the Irish Catholic/Protestant conflict and the two main characters healing, redemption, and forgiveness.

After The Wedding
^Unlike many over the top, damned near obnoxiously crushing severities in recent films, the drama and pains in this film are most palpable and genuine.

Headhunters
^Had to give this crime thriller four stars simply because it had me hook line and sinker from beginning to end.

Mission Impossible (DePalma, 1996)

I have always been ambivalent to this flick. I like some aspects and some of DePalma's trademark direction, but some scenes are just silly and absurd, and the script is kind of all over the place. Fun, but flawed.

Mission impossible III (Abrams, 2006)

This is my favorite of the bunch, due in no small part to Hoffman's excellent portrayal of the remorseless villain. There are also fewer absurd events than in the first film, as well. Everything works for me in this film, it has the best cast, and it's the best of the series by a long shot.

Mission Impossible : Ghost Protocol (Bird, 2011)

Abrams has a couple of missteps here. This script isn't very tight, and there are a couple of exposition scenes that just don't work, as far as I am concerned. If your characters are in a room with pictures of other characters on the wall, and they begin to explain who everyone is, something has gone wrong with your script. Abrams is not usually one for ham-fisted exposition, and this scene was way out of place in the proceedings. This flick also plummets into satire more than a few times, almost becoming a parody of itself. The film gets too silly, too often, and sort of comes apart at the seams. However, the scene on the Dubai tower was AWESOME. Filmed in an extremely vertiginous way, both Lisa and myself were wide-eyed with sweaty palms when the scene was over. Worth watching for this sequence alone.

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The kid with a bike (2012):
Really strong drama and my favorite foreign film of 2012 so far.

Super (2010):
Insane ending. Wasn't sure if I was supposed to laugh, cry, or cheer.

The lives of others (2006):
Very good, but I wasn't able to connect with the emotions as much as I wanted to.

Holy Motors (2012):
Interesting to watch, but not much else.

Ghost Protocol was directed by Brad Bird (The Incredibles & Iron Giant).

I was just reading this on wiki.... but I was too slow for Lines (and MarkF)...I was just coming back in to fix my post! So, just so we are clear - I knew this before anyone had to tell me!

*Runs*

EDIT - Damn, seems like the consensus is that Ghost Protocol is the best of the bunch. It was directed really well, but it was kind of silly in places. Not as good as MI III, IMO.

I'm inclined to think that the first two are the best, but that there's not a big difference (quality-wise) over the whole series.

The first Mission: Impossible is still the best, I think. I like it's grittier take on espionage, at least as it relates to most movies on the subject. The third is really good on paper, and has some brilliant ideas, but it doesn't quite "land" for me. I think I slightly preferred the fourth. For me the order would go: 1, 4, 3, 2.

I couldn't stand the Woo picture with all the lame slow-motion dove stuff. A stroke piece for Cruise, methinks. I guess an argument can be made that the first was the grittiest, and sort of set the tone for the entire series, I just felt like I rolled my eyes a lot more watching the first one!

I agree but then I think they're all stroke-pieces for Cruise. I genuinely enjoyed some of the choreography and camerawork in Part 2. That and the crassness of the thing (sunglasses commercial! motorcycle joust!) was so over the top it almost became a farce. De Palma is if nothing else the master of the curious, self-aware eye, and what else can I say? That's just what does it for me.

Why the low ratings, Mark? These are all films I'd personally rate or better...

^The original, first in series is still my favorite also, partly nostalgia, especially the remembered intitial reactions from film. 3 would be my second favorite. Hadn't scene the whole of 2, but thought 4 was quite good.

I'd switch these ratings .

aaand...

Blue (Krzysztof Kieslowski, 1993) for the music. Lovely film.
Son of Paleface (Frank Tashlin, 1952) for the (often awkward, always bizarre) Looney Tunes gags. Pretty irreverent too (like the statue of Paleface sr.).
Funny Face (Stanley Donen, 1957) for the awesome photographic compositions, the ingenious montage of Paris photo-shoots and Audrey Hepburn in the beatnik club.
Black Magic (Gregory Ratoff, 1949) Interesting as a footnote in Welles' carreer but it's a mess - not in a good way.
The Flim-Flam Man (Irvin Kershner, 1967) for George C. Scott and Slim Pickens' portrayal of a complicated but beautiful friendship, and the outrageous chase.
Dead of Night (Alberto Cavalcanti, 1945) My wife recognized a lot of these stories. Interesting how they're tied together, weird mix of styles and tones.
The God of Cookery (Stephen Chow, 1996)
Cinderella (Clyde Geronimi et al, 1951) for the mice. The ball (all the marriageable women in the country attend but only one gets to dance) weirded me out. Overall more like a collection of short funny animal cartoons than a feature film.
No Regrets for Our Youth (Akira Kurosawa, 1946) for many of the shots and the visual storytelling; lots of unusual emphasis on environment (like the river in the foreground, people crossing it in the distance), Kurosawa's camera goes to the action more often than usual (compared with "classic" sound cinema in general). for moral platitudes. Maybe this info would be unnecessary/redundant to a contemporary Japanese audience, but I still have no notion of particulars about Noge's political "crimes"/"Heroism." I enjoyed it nonetheless, just not as much as I should have. Kind of bleak too, when you note that the majority of the original audience were probably people like (implied by the film) "the villains." Survivor guilt?
The Watch (Akiva Schafer, 2012) for the twist, that I didn't see coming somehow, for the bro humor (basically all the stuff that was shown in the preview).
Dredd (Peter Travis, 2012)
Manhattan Murder Mystery (Woody Allen, 1992) Allen and Keaton's neurotic quirks both got irritating after a little bit, but it's worth sticking with. In particular for Angelical Huston and the hair-brained bluff. And the 'Lady from Shanghai' bit.
The Seven Year Itch (Billy Wilder, 1955) for the deliberate overuse of chopsticks. I don't know why that running gag didn't get old. I just generally enjoyed the self-awareness of it. Also seeing the fantasy Manhattan of the 50s. My grandad was part of that world (even down to the publishing industry, though he worked in magazines), and while in some ways it's impossible for me to imagine this movie or its satire applying to him, in others it's spot on. Monroe's character struck me as a cliched dumb jock fantasy but that's in keeping with the rest of the film, and she's certainly a gorgeous sex goddess (more idealized here than in any other film I've seen).
Ride with the Devil (Ang Lee, 1999) I wanted to rate this higher but I can't think of a reason at the moment.
Dumbo (Sam Armstrong et al, 1941) for Dumbo's dream and the clowns. I distinctly remember learning the word 'climax' from this movie as a kid. The whole thing is great. My mom's favorite animal is the Elephant -- maybe I caught it from her? Don't know why Rebecca liked Cinderella better (well, okay: princesses. Sorry for the cliche.)
Outrage (Kitano Takeshi, 2010) Cf. Ride with the Devil, above.
Treasure Island (Byron Haskin, 1950) for the ships, the island, the rich technicolor lighting in classic hollywood mode, and the occasionally-moving camera, but for Bobby Driscoll, pantomime obvious acting and pirates with perfect white teeth. And unlike Dumbo (and the book), this is strictly for kids (maybe it deserves a higher rating with that in mind).
The White Hell of Pitz Palu (Arnold Fanck & Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1929) for the torchlit procession.
Arizona Dream (Emir Kustarica, 1993) for the dinner-table scene, Lily Taylor, the animals and all the beautiful long takes.

Are these first watches? You've some excellent films there. Blue, Dead of Night, Manhattan Murder Mystery and Ride With The Devil are all fantastic. I like The Seven Year Itch is good, just for Marilyn really, I don't really care for Tom Ewell. From what I've read and heard, I might take a look at Dredd, too.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.