Movie Tab II

The Elephant Man -

I've come to expect a lot better from Marvel. Worst superhero movie yet.

I just don't really know what to make of it. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't like it either. What's there to like? It's a really well made film and I appreciate the mood it creates throughout, but I don't really like what it is about. I'm not an unsympathetic bastard but the film left me cold.

Eh?

That makes sense I guess with the rating seeing as you didn't find it genuinely bad, but when I watched it I thought it was a really powerful, moving film, as many do, have you seen The Straight Story?

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No Herzog?

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Mubi

Those four were on in a row on TCM the other night. I tabbed Herzog's German version of Nosferatu on Feb. 3, 2012 and rated it . I'm going to watch the Englisb version soon since I remember it being noticeably different in acting and even some staging and camera angles.

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

It was good to see Tony Hopkins reprise his role of Odin, though.

I have, yes. I rate it +

Dial M for Murder was a hell of a weird Kurosawa sci-fi movie, but I kinda liked it. Ingrid Thulin's performance was flawless!

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Look, I'm not judging you - after all, I'm posting here myself, but maybe, just maybe, if you spent less time here and more time watching films, maybe, and I stress, maybe your taste would be of some value. Just a thought, ya know.

Carrie - Started re reading the novel, so i put the Brian DePalma directed film on to compare and contrast. Initially, I was not happy with the film. It seems like a surface adaption, the film barrels along at a fast pace, ignoring character development, and it all seemed to lack the pure human tragedy of King's book. I don't like DePalma as a director, and he made some questionable choices in Carrie (focusing a large amount of the film on the more attractive, popular teens instead of Carrie herself, montages that seem to verge on dumb comedy, and gutting the ending quite a bit.). The thing that snuck up on me though was Sissy Spacek. She plays the lead character like a wounded animal, mostly mute from years of abuse and ridicule, barely a person anymore. The director forces us into an almost too intimate knowledge of the girl from frame one, every skinny, awkward inch of her. Her nudity is not to titillate the viewer, but to show her at her most vulnerable, to force us to acknowledge her humanity. Which makes what happens to her than much more devastating. It's an astonishingly ego-less performance. Sissy Spacek saved this movie for me. I can't imagine the remake will be this raw and painful to watch...

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

https://shawnsmovienight.blogspot.com/

Pretty much my response too. There's obviously some good acting, a couple of powerful exchanges and occasionally a striking image, but it's very repetitive and just so damned oppressive (especially the crippled daughter - talk about piling it on). I've never really liked Woody Allen's Bergman homage Interiors from the same year, but it seemed better to me last time, and coincidentally I gave that last week.

Watched these two at my Uni film society...

The Royal Tenenbaums (Wes Anderson, 2001)

I had already seen this film before, but it seemed to be even stranger than I remembered it. It's very funny and enjoyable in parts but as with other Anderson works it also has a bit of a dark side when it comes to humour. It seemed a lot shorter this time too, and the ending seems to come a bit too soon, but that's not too say it isn't a very good film. The direction and some of the shots are excellent as in all of Anderson's work, and there are some great performances too with a number of loveable odd ball characters, I think my favourites are Gene Hackman and Gwyneth Paltrow.

The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006)

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There are so many good, even great things about this film that make me want to give it a higher rating, but I am not going to right now until I probably see it again. I am not sure what it is about the film, perhaps its ending, that prevents me from calling it truly 'great'. The mood and atmosphere built up is superb, the performances are great, and the story is an intriguing one. The problem is that it is so captivating that we get carried away in the 'dreamworld' (for want of a better term) that the main character has created, not wanting to realise that in the end somebody is always going to lose out. I don't think the ending was bad, I don't know what else could have happened, I just felt there was room for maybe something more, maybe the film should have been even longer. Once the main story finishes, the rest of the film felt it was just 'put there' to wrap it up.

My girlfriend hasn't seen Star Wars but she's seen these two somehow. I've always heard about these two. As important film landmarks, I'm not so sure. As hilariously dated comedic masterpieces, they really work. The most fun I've had watching movies in a long while, but I can only barely credit the actual films.





Critics are going ape **** over this. It is a visual ride, but the writing turns corny pretty quick and then the movie.

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Evil Dead (2013) - I thought that I didn't like the original Evil Dead but compared to this,it's much better.Don't get me wrong,it's not a terrible movie but I see no point in this remake.This film is dull,predictable and it's not even scary(this is said by a person who is afraid every time when watching a horror flick).The original had style,it was absurd but this one...it seems that it tries to copy the original,then it seems to be serious and then again stupid.However,it's much better technically but then again,in the original I had no problem with its effects.

New World (2013) - decent and I'd recommend it for crime fans,however,I need to watch it again to truly appreciate.

The Fly (1986) - well,that's one creepy film.Enjoyable and a bit disgusting,well-made and never seems too unreal.

Machete (2010) - this is a decent exploitation film but I'm not sure if I actually like the genre.I don't mind the gore but I mind the occasional obvious absurdity(like using someone's bowel as a rope,I just facepalmed on that scene).Plot isn't the strongest thing about this film but it's stylish and I liked that.

Shurayukihime / Lady Snowblood (1973) - It sure has a lot similarities with Kill Bill which I think is still superior to this.I liked this movie,very artistic and brutal still in an elegant way,well-acted and the story is awesome but somehow I find it too slow for me.Although it runs for hour and a half only,I felt longer.Maybe it's because I watch too much QT and I'm more used to speed?

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"Anything less than immortality is a complete waste of time."

Funny Girl * (1968) Wyler -
Saw this in the theatre. On the big screen I noticed a couple of things: during the preggers Showgirl number, not one, but two nipples slipped past the censors. Two of the dancers had rather large areolas, and they covered them over with flesh colored make-up, but up on the big screen they are clearly visible. Also an Ameliie moment; after the Lobster dinner, when Nick Arnstein tells her he's falling in love with her, there's a small spider on her shoulder.

Baggage Claim (2013) Talbert -
Kind of enjoyable chick flick, if you look past the total lack of suspense or tension, while she's jet setting all over the country, the guy she's looking for lives across the hall from her and he's literally called Mr. (w)Right. Egregious displays of wealth; palatial apartments, expensive restaurants, millionaire boy friends, ugh! The interesting thing is, you could recast the same film with white actors and no one would even notice.

Gravity (2013) Cuarón -
This is basically the future of film: one actor (paid 25 million dollars) mugs and gesticulates in front of a green screen. The film is only about 1¼ characters long. There's a mild body count, but the film could care less. Three stars for three images: the oxygen womb; the tear drop scene; and the climbing out of the primordial sludge scene.

Betrayed * (1988) - Costa-Gravis -
Tom Berenger gets great mileage out of playing the misunderstood martyr: "Gee whiz, I"m a violent Neo Nazi plotting to overthrow the ZOG, but I love my kids. Why can't you love me, Debra Winger?" A few great images and a nice cast.

Blue is the warmest color (2013) - Kechiche -
Undeniably, Adèle Exarchopoulos is drop dead, smoking gorgeous, and the director knows it. Unfortunately after the first act, this love story (girl meets girl, girl loses girl) slowly loses any kind of momentum and interest as it goes on.

Watermark (2013) - Baichwal & Burtynsky -
The film explores the human connection to water with great photographic imagery. Water is taken for granted and almost invisible in wealthy countries, but sacred as the giver of all life in poorer ones. Unfortunately, as Burtynsky states in the film, his work lamentably documents our decline.

had NO IDEA that dirty/rotten was a remake. I will have to find this one and check it out


Annnd, finding it on YouTube I just finished watching it. ++. It seems the remake kept nearly all of the dialogue and scenario while adding, rather nicely, to the comedic portions and the individual roles, and, i think, i rather like the remake's ending a little more while still enjoying the original for everything it had to offer as well.

Thanks MarkF!!

I completely forgot about this movie. I'll have to give it a rewatch before I submit my 80s list.

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Frit Villt (Uthaug, 2006)



Norweigian stalker/slasher flick that actually attempts to develop the characters a bit before the carnage ensues. The acting is slightly above average for the genre, and I liked the lighting schemes in some of the scenes. Good, not great.

The Conjuring (Wan, 2013)



After literally months of listening to my GF whinge on about wanting to see this, we finally got to sit down and give it a go. Not the horror masterwork people have been going on about, but certainly a step up from the usual fare. James Wan has clearly improved since his silly and over-the-top debut with Saw, a film I can't get through without a few unintentional laughs. Using a much more restrained approach, The Conjuring aims to build suspense and tension using long takes, creative camera angles, and an above average script with A-list actors like Patrick Wilson and Vera Formiga as the glue that holds it all together.

Although the script is pretty tightly written, it offers up virtually nothing new, and we have seen this all before. That said, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and there are a few scenes where the tension is pretty well handled.

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Nightmare Alley (Edmund Goulding, 1947)

The Wall (Joseph Sargent, 1998)

Somewhere (Sofia Coppola, 2010)

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Chappaqua (Conrad Rooks, 1966)

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Insomnia (Christopher Nolan, 2002)

On Any Sunday (Oliver Stone, 1999)

Mister Buddwing (Delbert Mann, 1966)

Medium Cool (Haskell Wexler, 1969)

The Village (M. Night Shyamalan, 2004)

Verboten! (Samuel Fuller, 1959)

Water’s Edge (Harvey Kahn, 2003)

The Cove (Louie Psihoyos, 2009)

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Assignment Berlin (Tony Randel, 1998)

The Hero and the Terror (William Tannen, 1988)

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Russkies (Rick Rosenthal, 1987)

Trick ‘r Treat (Michael Dougherty, 2007)

Out of the Dark (Michael Schroeder, 1988)

Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978)

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Tobe Hooper, 1974)

- (probably rated too high)
Night of the Living Dead (George A. Romero, 1968)

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