Movie Tab II

Easy for someone with nearly 4000 positive points to say!


But seriously thanks for the info guys. As I said just trying to settle in here and would like to know all the little customs and nuances of the place

Yesterday I had one of my oddest double bills in quite a while




Life is Beautiful (repeat viewing) – A truly wonderful film. Uplifting, moving, joyous and heartbreaking – at some stages all at once. More than most it's definitely a film of two halves. The first hour or so is a charming love story with slapstick and screwball elements as the clownish Guido tries to win over his 'princess'.

After that it turns into a story of surviving one of the world's great atrocities and Guido's efforts to protect both the innocence and the life of his son. The idea of him pretending they are taking part in a contest is a truly lovely and charming idea.

A film of great beauty. 9.5/10





The Proposal (repeat viewing) – I have a great weakness for romantic comedies. In movie terms they are definitely my guilty pleasure. And I think this is one of the best to be released in the last few years. As always it has a preposterous concept to bring the characters together, at first they clash with each other before eventually falling for each other, just for it all to fall apart but with just enough time left for a last minute proclamation of love.

So in other words it's far from original but is done in a very enjoyable way. For me personally it's a great cast as I am a fan of every main member (Ryan Reynolds, Sandra Bullock, Craig T Nelson, Mary Steenburgen and the wonderful Betty White)

Nothing new but just sweet and good fun. 8/10

Touche'

I work here though, so my numbers will be high across the board.

Check out member Holden Pike, who is also one of my favorite contributors here on MoFo, and on the web entirely, for that matter. He's one ornery sumbitch, though, so I think he has a huge stack of both positive and negative reputation. Make sure to hunt up a few of his threads he authored, as they are chock full of awesome info. I am particularly find of his Scorsese thread, but that's just the start.

Enjoy!

Oh, I liked The Proposal, too - but I had no business doing so! I normally don't care for stuff like that, but it was pretty funny.

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Thanks for the tip. Will do a little bit of investigating into Holden Pike tomorrow.

And yay! at having someone else admit they liked the film as well. I was actually considering giving it 8.5 but knocked off the little half point to make it seem like I didn't like it quite that much, felt embarrassed to admit it on this forum filled with serious movie buffs!

Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii, 1995)

There's not much plot or long-form structure to this film. It consists of 3 basically self-contained episodes each with a chase, gun battle and philosophical monologue about a handful of topics like whether a cyborg with a human brain can still be a human, whether a cyborg with a mechanical brain (and some fake memories) can be a human, and finally, whether an artificial intelligence which miraculously attains a soul/"ghost" can be a human. My problem with this movie -- aside from the somewhat dull episodic structure -- is that none of these issues get past the level of idle speculation. The AI gets a "soul" by wandering "various networks", which as far as sci-fi explanations go is about equivalent to the old trope that getting struck by lightning brings machines to life (Short Circuit or that Jamie Foxx movie about the robot airplane turned evil). Worse still is that this and other plot twists are revealed through monologue without much effort to engage us cinematically. Oshii tries his best to cover up these short-comings under meditative static shots of urban detritus with a moody, subdued color-scheme, as well as needlessly-vague dialog with a lot of specious jargon.

There are several somewhat intriguing images that are left unaccounted for in the story, such as the buxom but sexless main character, or the urban Chinese setting which will likely be lost on most western viewers. I'd be interested in hearing interpretations for some of these things but I just didn't find anything thought-provoking enough for me to like Ghost in the Shell any more than I did 15 years ago; if anything I respect it even less now.

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It's what you learn after you know it all that counts. - John Wooden
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Dances With Wolves (first viewing) - Despite being a big fan of Kevin Costner I only just got round to finally seeing this a couple of days ago. I've had the DVD sitting for a few years but not got round to it, mostly because of the 3 hour running time. Trying to find the time for it and also making sure I was in the mood for it.

Anyway I thought it was spectacular. A truly sweeping, thoughtful and poetic epic which looks just absolutely stunning. The cinematography is amazing, turning the land into not just a backdrop but a character in its own right. There are so many little moments that put a little smile on my face. I'd also say it's one of those rare films where hardly a word is wasted. Almost every bit of dialogue has some reason to be there.

Due to it's length and slow pace it may not be one I revisit a lot but whenever I do I think I will always find it a gripping, touching story. 9/10




Rope (first viewing) - This shares a lot of similarities to Dial M for Murder (which I posted about a week or so ago) so you would assume it would share some of the things I was unsure about. But it doesn't. The performance of the actors and Hitchcock's direction give this one much more energy and tension in my eyes. And the plot is a wonderfully ghoulish idea.

I must admit however I completely missed the gay element of the characters, only learning of it in the extras. Must be more observant!

Perhaps not a Hitchcock classic but very entertaining nonetheless. 8.5/10

Raiders of the Lost Ark - Haven't seen this in a while, so watching it yesterday, I was struck with the thought, "Oh my god, this is possibly the best film ever made!" And it may just be. Harrison Ford is fantastic as the rugged, arrogant hero, Karen Allen is great as his tough chick sidekick, and there's lots of mind-blowing action, a smart, intriguing plot, and just about the greatest car chase ever filmed.

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

https://shawnsmovienight.blogspot.com/

Shanghai Knights (David Dobkin, 2003)
Repo Man (Alex Cox, 1984)
No Such Thing (Hal Hartley, 2001)
Project A (Jackie Chan, 1983)
The Dark Corner (Henry Hathaway, 1946)
8 ½ Women (Peter Greenaway, 1999)
Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh, 1994)
Platoon (Oliver Stone, 1986)
State of Grace (Phil Joanou, 1990)
Henry V (Kenneth Branagh, 1989)
Lord of Illusions (Clive Barker, 1995)
After This Our Exile (Patric Tam, 2006)
Foxy Brown (Jack Hill, 1974)
Lola Montès (Max Ophüls, 1955)
Hopscotch (Ronald Neame, 1980)
That Hamilton Woman (Alexander Korda, 1941)
Enchanted (Kevin Lima, 2007)
Moby-Dick (John Huston, 1956)
Monsters, Inc. (Pete Doctor and David Silverman, 2001)
Source Code (Source Code, 2011)
Deep Blue Sea (Renny Harlin, 1999)
Winners and Sinners (Sammo Hung, 1983)
The Gene Generation (Pearry Reginald Teo, 2007)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Steven Spielberg, 1977)
Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii, 1995)
The Exorcist (William Friedkin, 1973)
Body of Lies (Ridley Scott, 2008)

Someone's been watching a lot of flicks lately.

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"Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock."

Huh ?

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Wow I've not actually watched Raiders of the Lost Ark for quite a while now, probably a few years. Will need to sit down with it sometime soon.


Oh and thanks to the people who keep leaving rep points for my little mini reviews.

Winter in Wartime - (2008) - Koolhoven
Michiel is straddling the two worlds of childhood and adult life. At first, he finds war full of great adventure but grows up quickly during the Nazi occuption.

Jane Eyre - (2011) - Fukunaga
The perfect rendered CGI weather at the beginning kind of turned me off. Worse, it uses the third act tease to establish a plateau of happiness for her, then returns to the past, which actually removes the tension in the film. The beginning was actually fantastic without that.

Win win - (2011 ) - McCarthy
Muted family drama. Giamatti's law practice is slowly circling the drain. The problem is the most fascinating character in all this is in a supporting roll. Abandoned by his neglectful mother into the care of hers abusive boyfriend, he shows up at his grandfathers whom he's never met and winds up moving into Giamatti's home. The kids got serious trust issues. The best thing about this are the tiny moments when he lowers his guard.

Shanghai Knights is a fastpaced, colorful, self-aware flick full of shamelessly silly and unpredictable goofs on Arthur Conan Doyle, Mark Twain, Charlie Chaplin, Singin in the Rain, Butch Cassidy and Sundance, The Beatles, Cockney street urchins, Madame Tussauds, Jack the Ripper, and of course Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson themselves. It merges the qualities I like best about mainstream Hollywood and Hong Kong cinema, including high production values, a nonsensical (and not overly moralistic) sense of humor, and lots of great stunts and clever gags. You can surely find Hollywood movies that are more-lavish and Hong Kong movies that are more kinetic (I can probably name dozens of Jackie Chan movies with more dangerous and exciting stunts and fight choreography), but to my mind this is the only one that does all of it with complete success. What's not to love?

Or maybe my sense of humor is just juvenile.

"Just how does it feel to kill a mummy with your bare hands?"

Is that a typo or is this really that good? I haven't heard too many positive things about it, but it looks intriguing.

As for Ghost in the Shell, I don't get caught up in the philosophical sub-text as much as I do in the plot itself. Even though I think the philosophical text adds a lot to it, I shamelessly admire the film's entertainment value more than the 'deeper meaning' behind it.

Confessions (2010) –

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) - Camp rating:
About as gratuitously violent and over-the-top as a movie can get. But, it is a true exploitative 80's throwback complete with heavy pink & blue lighting, a synth score, and an incredibly badass Rutger Hauer.

Metropolis (2001) -
Plot-wise, it's not connected to the Lang film, but I think that it draws some apparent influence. I loved the tone of the film, which supported by jazz music, vintage sci-fi inspired visuals, seedy underground settings, and private eyes in trench coats, is exemplary of steampunk.

Z (1969) –
Fantastic film about the unraveling of an assassination cover-up. I admit, I didn’t know much about the true life occurrences that this is based on, but perhaps that turned out to be a positive thing, as the unpredictability only reinforced the film's plot.

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The Savages(2007, Jenkins)

There is so much to like about this film. It’s a subtle, humane drama about a dislodged family consisting of a brother (Philip Seymour Hoffmann), sister (Laura Linney) and their demented father (Philip Bosco). Due to the death of his wife, Hoffmann and Linney are forced to find a new home for their father, which does not go easily.


There’s a lot to like here. First and foremost, there are the characters. Hoffmann is a professor who is in love with a Polish woman whose visum has just expired, meaning she has to leave the country. He is clearly heartbroken over this, but doesn’t want to marry her for various reasons. He seems very cold, almost indifferent towards his father. There are some indicators that he was smacked around a lot as a child. His sister, Linney, on the other hand is also troubled. She is trying to find funding for her play, but is unsuccessful. She lies to her brother about getting a prestigious Guggenheim grant. There are numerous other examples that could be given about the characters’ flaws. What I’m trying to bring across is that the characters are realistic in that, much like all of us, they have their good and bad sides. It’s not your average Hollywood drama where some things are sugarcoated or not shown at all.

The Savages reminds me a lot of Claire Denis’ 35 Shots of Rum in the sense that it’s a film about people who go about their day to day activities and gradually, you learn more about the characters through what they say and do. Of course, it’s like that in all films, but there’s nothing flashy or exciting about The Savages and 35 Shots of Rum, which makes them special through their simplicity. There are some laugh-out loud moments, some situations of embarrassment and some heart-breaking scenes. The Savages is a truthful, humane, at times touching drama that is carried by powerful performances by Linney and the ever-solid Hoffmann. Highly recommended.

The Break-Up(2006, Reed)


Had to watch this with my girlfriend when we were babysitting last weekend. Sheesh, this is a terrible film. It’s about a couple whose personalities are very different and as a result, they kind of break up. Afterwards, they go about various ways to pester each other as they are still sharing the same apartment they bought together, while in fact they still love each other. The attempted jokes and funny scenes are not funny at all. The character development and dialogues are extremely poor. In fact, Jen Aniston’s character basically remains the same throughout 95 % of the film. Vaughn’s character has a turnaround at the very end which is far too sudden. It should’ve been handled more gradually to make it more believable. I don’t mind Jen Aniston and Vaughn too much, but they’re just rehashing the same faces and looks they do over and over again. It seems like they’re just checking in, going through the motions and at the end of the day, check out again. Those were 2 hours of my life I could’ve spent better by mowing the lawn or… doing anything else.

The Kids Are All Right(2010, Cholodenko)



Honest, likeable film that stands out through its performances. Ruffalo is really, really good as the free-spirited guy who gets to know his kids and actually likes it. Julianne Moore is solid as always and Annette Benning is good as the uptight, caring mother / doctor who tries to keep her family together, yet temporarily drives it away from her. I like the simplicity of the film, the realistic dialogue and the natural progression of the plot. There’s no big drama involved. What you expect is actually what will happen. However, I do feel that the special ingredient is missing to lift it into the upper quality echelon. When I finished watching this with my girlfriend, she told me “this seems like something I could’ve written too”. I disagreed, but because the story seems so simple, you do get the feeling that something was missing.

Almost Famous(2000, Crowe)



I liked the development of the story. As the story progresses, you find out that the rock stars are very self-centered and concerned with their image while not caring about the collateral damage they inflict or the people travelling with them. The camera acts as a neutral bystander to all that happens. Whereas in too many films nowadays, feelings are spoon-fed to the viewer, you have to draw your own conclusions, which I appreciate greatly. The performances are mostly solid, especially Billy Crudup. The dialogue feels natural, sometimes witty. There are however some things I didn’t like. The scene in the plane when they’re going through the thunderstorm, for example, really rubbed me the wrong way. It felt too fabricated. I also couldn’t understand why the kid didn’t push for his interviews with the rock stars. When he actually had an opportunity to go for it, he did not go for it, for sometimes odd reasons. However, these are minor footnotes in an otherwise solid film.

Scent of a Woman(1992, Brest)


Every time I re-watch this film, it gets downgraded a tad. I still stand by my initial assessment that Pacino’s performance is really, really good. In the tango scene, he has this boy-like playfulness about him that fits the scene really well. I also still believe that the dialogue, especially in the first part of the film, is mostly (stress on ‘mostly’) top drawer material. And for being a longer film (2,5 hours +), it’s very well-paced. It doesn’t feel dragged out at all. What I increasingly don’t like, is that some of the dialogue, mostly Pacino’s lines, makes little sense. The speech at the end was pretty superfluous in the sense that everything Pacino says up to the very last minute of his monologue doesn’t matter to the case he’s making. What do we care if he’s seen boys with their arms ripped off, their legs blown apart? The final part of his speech, about integrity and principles, is the part that really matters. The first time I saw this film, I was overwhelmed and rated it a very high

+. Now, I think it’s still solid, but it’s lost a step or two in my opinion.

Due Date(2010, Phillips)



I’m probably in the minority here, but I don’t mind. I think this is easily the funniest film of 2010. I’ve watched it twice so far, once with my girlfriend in the theatre and once with my buddies and twice, I found it very amusing. The performances are solid (except Foxx, I’ve no love for that guy), but it’s the witty lines that are off the charts in terms of funniness. Most of the lines or jokes, you can’t see coming which gives the whole film a very ‘fresh’ feeling. This unpredictability naturally aids the funniness greatly. I have to say that I found it less funny the second time I watched it. Don’t know if that will become a trend, but I’ll be sure to find out.

+



The Dark Knight(2008, Nolan)



It was about a year and a half ago that I had last watched this and since my girlfriend hadn’t watched it, we decided to give The Dark Knight a go (the fourth for me). I still think it’s excellently made, all-around solid acting, beautiful, clever action scenes and some witty dialogue. What I did notice is a feeling of it being a little too ‘artificial’ for my taste. There are some plot holes in there that rub me the wrong way. I concede that they are pretty minor when looking at the big picture and it is a very BIG picture. There was a lot going on in The Dark Knight and I credit Nolan for still making it such a fun and well-paced film (minor plot holes aside).

+


Love and Other Drugs(2010, Zwick)



Another pick from my girlfriend. Well, it was better than The Break-Up, but there’s still plenty in this film that got on my nerves. The story is flat and the characters are clichés. Still, there are some moments of wit and good fun in there. I think Gyllenhaal is acting pretty good too. Anne Hathaway is naked a dozen times for no apparent reason other than to attract male viewers I suppose. Her boobs are prettier to look at than her acting, which is a little over the top here.

Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison(1957, Huston)


One of Huston’s lesser known films, but not necessarily lesser in quality. There’s a lot to like here: an interesting, absorbing albeit straight-forward plot, very solid acting from Mitchum and Kerr, eye-pleasing cinematography, a good score and Huston’s expert direction by which he manages to create suspense whilst also playing to the audience’s emotions.

> I did not expect to like Lord of Illusions that much; I'm not aware of its reputation but I saw it when it came out and pretty much wrote it off as a typical cheesy horror film. I imagine a lot of people were put off by its immediately-dated cgi (there's some computer animation that looks like it came out of the original Quake video game), hodgepodge of borrowed story elements and mostly b-list actors. All of these weaknesses turned to strengths for me though, given that the central conceit of the story is that it's about seedy magicians, some of whom hide real demonic sorcery behind second-rate theatrics (don't worry, that's not a spoiler); and when it needs to, it pulls out some wonderfully creepy practical effects magic. If the plotting was tighter I might like it as much as The Prestige but as is it's still a fine film, and I'm now reading some of Clive Barker's fiction because of it.



> I don't grudge anyone liking Ghost in the Shell, but I've never been able to find in it any of the supposed plot or philosophical or cinematic value that its fans do. I've ragged on it enough in my review though. What do you like about its plot? The best things about it for me are the atmospheric images of a grimy, alternative-universe Hong Kong (even though all the characters are Japanese, all the signs and billboards are in Chinese).

> On the other hand I do like the anime Metropolis, warts and incomprehensible characters and all. I even went and stayed with some friends in New York when it opened so I could watch it on the big screen. Have you seen Steamboy?

I gave Z the same rating you did. Excellent political thriller.

Well done on defending your taste. While I might not rate it quite as high as you it is very good fun although I do prefer Shanghai Noon.

Thanks. I like Shanghai Noon alright, and I admit the difference for me is more a matter of degree than of type, but I just find Knights that much more silly, clever and heterogeneous and laughed continuously while I watching it (for the third time). I laughed a lot at Noon too though.

"Okay, I can do this: be the bullet.
No way, I'm gonna die."

"Uno mas?"

It's a shame nothing ever came of the proposed Shangai Dawn that was meant to come along at some point. Chan and Wilsom were a very entertaining double act