Movie Tab II

I don't think it reminded me about anything Jesus did. The only thing it showed was how beat up he was before he died. The Message of the Christ was nowhere to be seen in this film, in my opinion.

I'm just curious.. Have you seen Nakata's japanese version of Ring 2? I'm wondering how the american and japanese versions compared to each other. I haven't seen any of them.

And on to...

Elephant (Gus Van Sant - 2003). It was good, I liked the basic idea of it and it looked great. But I felt that he could have done more with it. One thing that I reacted to was when those three chicks went into the rest room and made themselves throw up simultaneously. That felt like a weird moment of parody in an otherwise non parodical film.

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The novelist does not long to see the lion eat grass. He realizes that one and the same God created the wolf and the lamb, then smiled, "seeing that his work was good".

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They had temporarily escaped the factories, the warehouses, the slaughterhouses, the car washes - they'd be back in captivity the next day but now they were out - they were wild with freedom. They weren't thinking about the slavery of poverty. Or the slavery of welfare and food stamps. The rest of us would be all right until the poor learned how to make atom bombs in their basements.

That's because the film was dedicated to the reality of what His Sacrafice actually was and not so much the message tied to it. To understand the fullness of the message is to first understand His suffering.


Anyways, yesterday i saw "Guess Who". It was ok, but i still wouldn't give it anymore than a 6.
Mabe if i was in touch with my feminine side i'd rate it a little higher.

This is a list of movies I've seen in the past few months. I owe a lot of them to Netflix. They do make good recommendations.

A Life Less Ordinary - 1997 - d. Danny Boyle - B-
Paycheck - 2003 - d. John Woo - B-
To Have & Have Not - 1944 - d. Howard Hawks - B
400 Blows - 1959 - d. Francois Truffaut - A
Stargate (Ulitmate Edition) - 1994 - d. Roland Emmerich (I really enjoyed this version) A+
You Can Count On Me - 2000 - d. Ken Lonergan - B+
Intimate Strangers - 2004 - d. Patrice Leconte - A
Foreign Correspondent - 1940 - d. Alfred Hitchcock - B
Mystic River - 2003 - d. Clint Eastwood - B
The Whale Rider - 2003 - d. Kiki Caro - A
One Hour Photo - 2002 - d. Mark Romanek - C
Chaos - 2001 - d. Coline Serreau - A
King Arthur - 2004 - d. Antoine Fuqua - C-
Spiderman 2 - 2004 - d. Sam Raimi - A+
Lovely & Amazing - 2002 - d. Nicloe Holofcener - B-
Awful Truth - 1937 - d. Leo McCarey - B
Ciderhouse Rules - 1999 - d. Lasse Hallstrom - A+
Spirited Away - 2002 - d. Hayao Miyazaki - A
Trainspotting - 1996 - d. Danny Boyle - B
Henry & June - 1990 - d. Philip Kaufman - B-
Garden State - 2004 - d. Zach Braff - B+
Monty Python and the Meaning of Life - 1983 - d. Terry Jones - B+
Cellular - 2004 - d. David R. Ellis - B-
Master & Commander - 2003 - d. Peter Weir - C
White - 1994 - d. Krysztof Kieslowski - A
Red - 1994 - d. Krysztof Kieslowski - A

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Do not meddle in the affairs of Dragons.....for you are crunchy and good with ketchup.

Bicentennial man --- i still shed a tear at this touching tale of a robot trying to be recognised as a human being. Robin Williams was great as the sweet and honest android Andrew. And as always, it was a joy to watch Sam Neill.

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Undercoverlovers 100 REDUX

Akahige (Akira Kurosawa - 1965)

Carrie

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I have not, no. I would like to see it though, to see what they had for script material. The screenplay in The Ring II was just sort of...blah. Also, David Dorfman just isn't creepy, they spent way too much time attempting to creep you out using stares and looks from him, and it wasn't working, at all.



And btw, Raging Bull is the bomb....

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My comments about it were a bit hasty the other day. I can see why you would say that and most people would agree with you. The acting was phenominal and it was a good, realistic look at humanity. However I found it brutal getting through the first hour of the film and i thought there was a little too many unnessesary conversations. Anyway my point is, I can see why so many people love Raging Bull, I just don't happen to be one of them.

btw I'm not trying to start an argument or anything, I just didn't feel I had explained my opinion well.

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"Like all dreamers, Steven mistook disenchantment for truth."

How can Christ's message not be seen in that movie? While he was gettin' beat down he asked that those who were beating him be forgiven. He wanted his followers to continue to love others the way he loved them. His commiment to the lord even when faced with death. How is that not a part of his message?

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Snatch

End of the Century: the Story of The Ramones - Amazing documentary about the first, and greatest punk rock band, and how dedicated they were to their music, no matter how little success they had or how much they honestly hated each other. Painfully funny and worth several viewings.

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"You, me, everyone...we are all made of star stuff." - Neil Degrasse Tyson

https://shawnsmovienight.blogspot.com/

Guess Who
2005 - Kevin Rodney Sullivan

Sunshine State (2002)

(view the trailer)

Starring: Edie Falco, Timothy Hutton, Angela Bassett, James McDaniel, Mary Alice, Bill Cobbs, Jane Alexander, Mary Steenburgen, Gordon Clapp
Directed by: John Sayles

My Grade: A

Nashville (1975)

(view the trailer)

Starring: Henry Gibson, Lily Tomlin, Ronee Blakley, Keith Carradine, Geraldine Chaplin, Barbara Harris, Karen Black
Directed by: Robert Altman

My Grade: A

The Station Agent (2003)

(view the trailer)

Starring: Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannavale, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams

Directed by: Thomas McCarthy

My Grade: A

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

(view the trailer)

Starring: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Todd Field, Louise J. Taylor

Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

My Grade: B+

Garden State (2004)

(view the trailer)

Starring: Zach Braff, Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Ian Holm, Jean Smart, Method Man
Directed by: Zach Braff

My Grade: C+

Dead Man (1995)

(view the trailer)

Starring: Johnny Depp, Gary Farmer, Lance Henriksen, Michael Wincott, Eugene Byrd, John Hurt, Robert Mitchum
Directed by: Jim Jarmusch

My Grade: B

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"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

Somebody has been busy.

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"Film is a disease. When it infects your bloodstream it takes over as the number one hormone. It bosses the enzymes, directs the pineal gland, plays Iago to your psyche. As with heroin, the antidote to Film is more Film." - Frank Capra

I've been sick...no better time than that to watch a bunch of flicks.

Which reminds me, I'd really like to get some more DVD's Wednesday night at my local Hollywood Video.

That would mean that after having seen Gibson's film I am understanding something I didn't understand before. Or that I'm now prepared to understand something that my confirmation class didn't succeed in helping me understand. Is that the case? I honestly don't think so.

It is part of his message. But is it enough to sum up the message of christian religion and philosophy? I would say it's more like Mel Gibson's message, or Mel Gibson's version of the message. Reflections on the words are not as important as visually show how painful the torture and execution of Christ was. He wants us as christians to focus on how incredibly painful the death of Christ was as if that was the only thing you need to know as a "good christian". And that is of course a matter of opinion, what you prefer christianity to be about. Personally, I think it gives an incomplete or unsatisfactory view of christian religion, but that's just me. But not even Gibson himself has claimed this film to be anything else than about the passion, that is the suffering, of the Christ. And the film is generally pointless, even if its skillfully done here and there, to me. It's the old good vs. evil where evil is represented by retards, crooks, ugliness, abnormal physique, slightly gay people and so on.

As "entertainment", I think the first third or so of the film was the best. Then it became more and more dull.

In the Bedroom (Todd Field - 2001). I liked it a lot. Wonderful acting on all parts. And Marisa Tomei is really pretty.

The School of Rock (Richard Linklater - 2003). The ultimate feel-good movie. Warm and great fun. Jack Black is just brilliant, I just love that guy. So right for the role! And the kids were great too... Funniest end-credits segment ever?

Oh and I saw Dead Man Walking (Tim Robbins - 1995) again the other day. It was so weird to see Jack Black in the part as Craig Poncelet. I guess I didn't know who he was the last time I saw this film and now he just felt so inapporpriate in a way. I almost had to giggle.. Almost...

Wonder Boys --- I gotta say im not a fan of michael Douglas really but this film made me one. Grady Tripp is an English professor and struggling author but one night his life is turned upside down. His girlfriend Sarah is married and pregnant with Grady's baby, Grady's young but slightly morbid young student James Lear turns up at the house, shoots Sarah's husband's blind dog, steals Marylin Munroe's wedding jacket....needless to say the next few days are strange for Grady. Tobey Maguire is wonderful as the strange young James Lear, Katie Holmes in what is quite a breif role as Hannah, a student lodging at Grady's and she has a big crush on him. Robert Downey Jnr as the bisexual editor trying to lead James astray. And i relish the chance to see Rip Torn in any movie.

Nude Fear, HK 1998, quite a nice thrilling thriller...
28 Days Later, 2002, quite okay
11:14, 2003, wow wow great!

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We're a generation of men raised by women. I'm wondering if another woman is really the answer we need.

I would never call myself a Michael Douglas fan either, but he is absolutely perfect in Wonder Boys. It's the performance of his career, by far...and of course he wasn't even nominated for an Oscar (when Russell Crowe won for frippin' Gladiator).

Wonder Boys is one of my favorite novels, not only a great read but incredibly inspiring, and Curtis Hanson and co. just got it so right in the movie adaptation. The movie got sparkling reviews...and nobody went to see it. It didn't even gross $20-million in the U.S. - and that was after a fall re-release. Does anybody really wonder why the moneymen at Studios will happily greenlight Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (which made almost $85-million last year) but balk when they are presented with something that actually has intelligence and wit? Clearly, smart movies are NOT what the people want. You stupid bastards.

Intelligence and wit are frightening concepts to many people. People hear that something is both intelligent and witty, and they cower in fear, clinging to the likes of Guess Who. *shudder*

Closer - Like a punch in the face. Funnier than I expected, but also much harsher than I expected. Clive Owen owned this. I can't wait to see him in Sin City this Friday. A

After the Sunset - I felt ugly after seeing all the beautiful people in this movie. Blinding in its flashiness though it is, it is also somewhat amusing and entertaining. Harrelson and Brosnan seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot. C

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