(yesterday)
Brothers 7/10
I will sit through any Jim Sheridan film - acknowledging that he has good ones and bad ones. Very good acting by the kids. Unfortunately this was another Propaganda film (see The Hurt Locker), so it was a great relief to go see...
(today)
Avatar 10/10
CGI-based films do not interest me but this is James Cameron at his best, or on par with. I hesitate to deduct 1 point for having to deal with the pointless 3-D format.
This is Fantasia for the 21st Century, gorgeous and looks very expensive! With a bold storyline that is not the tired old Cowboys and Indians style seen in the above mentioned films. It is good to see something with a real message for once that is not a documentary.
This is Best Picture/Best Director for sure - if anyone actually goes to see it...
Edited By abcinyvr on 1261178759
Last Seen Movie - The Latest Movie You Have Seen; ratings
I'd like Where the Wild Things Are to be nominated for best picture and director, but I know that's unlikely - well... maybe if Nine faulters enough. There's still the possibility with a ten picture slate. Tech nods could possibly give it a boost as well. We'll see.
"It's the least most of us can do, but less of us will do more."
I've never posted here before, but...
Where The Wild Things Are
9/10
I loved this film. There's no plot to speak of, just the fun of watching a child's imagination run wild. I thought the kid, Max Records, was excellent and the voice work was too. I can't think of a director who could have done a better job. If someone like Chris Columbas had been hired it would have been one of the worst films of the year.
If there was any justice this would be a major Oscar contender, but I have a feeling that it will be left out of the running. Karen-O does deserve to be nomianted, though.
Michael Jackson's This Is It
8/10
I finished watching this one about ten minutes ago, and was very surprised by it. I saw Jackson in concert back in 1992, and was surprised when I watched the Live in Bucharest show (I saw the same concert, but in Glasgow, Scotland) that he mimed almost all the songs. He, though, alsmost twenty years later I got to watch Jackson sing every song (almost) sung live. Before he died my wife and I were trying to get tickets to see him at the o2, and I actually got quite emotional watching this film, because it shows signs of something that could have been phenomenal.
This won't get any Oscar nominations, but it deserves some considerations in the sound catagories. Also, I think Kenny Ortega could be someone to watch. If he get's the right project he could in with a shot at an Oscar himself.... I'm not kidding when I say that.
Where The Wild Things Are
9/10
I loved this film. There's no plot to speak of, just the fun of watching a child's imagination run wild. I thought the kid, Max Records, was excellent and the voice work was too. I can't think of a director who could have done a better job. If someone like Chris Columbas had been hired it would have been one of the worst films of the year.
If there was any justice this would be a major Oscar contender, but I have a feeling that it will be left out of the running. Karen-O does deserve to be nomianted, though.
Michael Jackson's This Is It
8/10
I finished watching this one about ten minutes ago, and was very surprised by it. I saw Jackson in concert back in 1992, and was surprised when I watched the Live in Bucharest show (I saw the same concert, but in Glasgow, Scotland) that he mimed almost all the songs. He, though, alsmost twenty years later I got to watch Jackson sing every song (almost) sung live. Before he died my wife and I were trying to get tickets to see him at the o2, and I actually got quite emotional watching this film, because it shows signs of something that could have been phenomenal.
This won't get any Oscar nominations, but it deserves some considerations in the sound catagories. Also, I think Kenny Ortega could be someone to watch. If he get's the right project he could in with a shot at an Oscar himself.... I'm not kidding when I say that.
Precious Doll wrote:Power of the Press (1943) Lew Landers 2/10
Damn, what movie did I see recently (maybe just bits and pieces of it while my Beloved was channel surfing) where a character was named Lew Landers? Cracked me up.
Edited By Damien on 1261123125
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Precious Doll
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Man Is Not a Bird (1965) Dusan Makavejev 5/10
Maid of Salem (1937) Frank Lloyd 7/10
Power of the Press (1943) Lew Landers 2/10
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) Peter Hyams 5/10
Bangkok Dangerous (2008) Oxide & Danny Pang 2/10
Maid of Salem (1937) Frank Lloyd 7/10
Power of the Press (1943) Lew Landers 2/10
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009) Peter Hyams 5/10
Bangkok Dangerous (2008) Oxide & Danny Pang 2/10
"I want cement covering every blade of grass in this nation! Don't we taxpayers have a voice anymore?" Peggy Gravel (Mink Stole) in John Waters' Desperate Living (1977)
Sure. Rushmore is a great, great fim, so I'll always check out Wes Anderson, even though his subsequent output has been mixed. I am more looking forward to the Alvin sequel, though.Sabin wrote:Are you going to watch Fantastic Mr. Fox?
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
anonymous wrote:Zahveed wrote:Damien wrote:
It started out like any other relaxing Friday evening, but, unbeknownst to them, this would be their WEEKEND IN HELL!!!!!
I want to see that made into a film. A Clockwork Orange style story in which someone is forced to watch goddamn cartoons until they break.
Or a slasher flick about psychotic middle-aged film critic who hates goddamn cartoons so much, he goes around killing twenty-something fan boys who champion them. :p
J/K, Damien. You know I love you.
I'm sharpening my knives -- and you know that some day I will get to the Philippines. The Killer in Manilla. Be very afraid! (Although, you might be saved at the climax by Dumbo or Uncle Remus or, inadvertently, Beavis & Butt-head.)
Edited By Damien on 1260862040
"Y'know, that's one of the things I like about Mitt Romney. He's been consistent since he changed his mind." -- Christine O'Donnell
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Franz Ferdinand
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Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008) 7/10
Not the "slick Hollywood family drama" I was expecting, but then I should have known better with Demme. I loved the handheld camera work, and the supporting players were great playing flies on the wall. DeWitt deserved an Oscar nod just as much as Hathaway, and it was a great treat to hear Tunde Adebimpe sing "Unknown Legend" - I burn a torch for TV on the Radio, and he has a fantastic voice rarely heard in a capella.
Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichard, 2008) 7/10
Two indie movies from last year, two great lead performances, but damn if they aren't a poor choice for back-to-back viewing. Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams provide a great contrast in different acting methods - Hathaway all raging id trying to hide a vulnerable core, Williams underplaying what is a strong-willed woman aching to break loose. Wendy and Lucy is a type of movie where "nothing much happens" (a la Adaptation), and isn't the best viewing for dog lovers or people who are affected by the recent economic downturn. It's a distressing view of someone pushed to their limit monetarily, and you feel for Wendy having to leave Lucy behind.
Not the "slick Hollywood family drama" I was expecting, but then I should have known better with Demme. I loved the handheld camera work, and the supporting players were great playing flies on the wall. DeWitt deserved an Oscar nod just as much as Hathaway, and it was a great treat to hear Tunde Adebimpe sing "Unknown Legend" - I burn a torch for TV on the Radio, and he has a fantastic voice rarely heard in a capella.
Wendy and Lucy (Kelly Reichard, 2008) 7/10
Two indie movies from last year, two great lead performances, but damn if they aren't a poor choice for back-to-back viewing. Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams provide a great contrast in different acting methods - Hathaway all raging id trying to hide a vulnerable core, Williams underplaying what is a strong-willed woman aching to break loose. Wendy and Lucy is a type of movie where "nothing much happens" (a la Adaptation), and isn't the best viewing for dog lovers or people who are affected by the recent economic downturn. It's a distressing view of someone pushed to their limit monetarily, and you feel for Wendy having to leave Lucy behind.
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anonymous1980
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Zahveed wrote:Damien wrote:Zahveed wrote:It's been an animated weekend for me
It started out like any other relaxing Friday evening, but, unbeknownst to them, this would be their WEEKEND IN HELL!!!!!
I want to see that made into a film. A Clockwork Orange style story in which someone is forced to watch goddamn cartoons until they break.
Or a slasher flick about psychotic middle-aged film critic who hates goddamn cartoons so much, he goes around killing twenty-something fan boys who champion them. :p
J/K, Damien. You know I love you.
Edited By anonymous on 1260857417
/Adaptation./ (Spike Jonze) - 7.5/10
Flaws on more prominent display this time and with far fewer excuses for what I'm not digging. "Donald's" handiwork isn't wrong-headed but poorly fleshed out, and puts far too much into focus the irony of a second writer taking over. It doesn't really embrace its own third act melodrama. I mean, they set up from an early stage of the film that people in John Laroche's field tend to die terrible, horrible deaths...but that doesn't make it any more or less random and un-affecting when it actually happens, which is so disorienting b/c Laroche is such a strong character beforehand. The third act feels so hip and ironic that I found it disengaging, and considering how strong Eternal Sunshine... and Synecdoche have subsequently proven, Adaptation. can't help but feel a little redundant. It's a film of tangental profundity. Life = process. It's also gloriously acted and edited. I like it but it's not nearly what I used to think.
Also: it's about a screenwriter struggling to make sense of his work and life and ends up spending half the movie masturbating. I mean, that's just...kinda...well...annoying.
Flaws on more prominent display this time and with far fewer excuses for what I'm not digging. "Donald's" handiwork isn't wrong-headed but poorly fleshed out, and puts far too much into focus the irony of a second writer taking over. It doesn't really embrace its own third act melodrama. I mean, they set up from an early stage of the film that people in John Laroche's field tend to die terrible, horrible deaths...but that doesn't make it any more or less random and un-affecting when it actually happens, which is so disorienting b/c Laroche is such a strong character beforehand. The third act feels so hip and ironic that I found it disengaging, and considering how strong Eternal Sunshine... and Synecdoche have subsequently proven, Adaptation. can't help but feel a little redundant. It's a film of tangental profundity. Life = process. It's also gloriously acted and edited. I like it but it's not nearly what I used to think.
Also: it's about a screenwriter struggling to make sense of his work and life and ends up spending half the movie masturbating. I mean, that's just...kinda...well...annoying.
"How's the despair?"
I want to see that made into a film. A Clockwork Orange style story in which someone is forced to watch goddamn cartoons until they break.Damien wrote:It started out like any other relaxing Friday evening, but, unbeknownst to them, this would be their WEEKEND IN HELL!!!!!Zahveed wrote:It's been an animated weekend for me
"It's the least most of us can do, but less of us will do more."