How can people sleep through MiP but endure Tarkovsky et all? :lol: :confused2:
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How can people sleep through MiP but endure Tarkovsky et all? :lol: :confused2:
Yeah, I slept through, or maybe 'in', Anatolia, Turin Horse. But OTOH Mip just cut out my consciousness. But I'm aware the problem is mine.
This is like asking how you didn't sleep through a test, but slept through a late night t20. It happens yeah.
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Let me explain.
You have this montage of Paris. Maybe I've seen quite a lot of Ligue Un football, discussed with Algerian immigrants in Twitter, or maybe watched Point blank the night prior. It just bothered me that Paris was projected as this exotic, romantic haven. Cleansed out of poverty, and other day-to-day dangers. Know it's wrong, it's a WA film. And I'm seeing Paris as Owen Wilson's character saw it. In rich residential areas & posh cafes/restaurants. Travel & living style. Mind still drifted back to multiple universes within 'Paris, je t'aime', trying to recollect exact places and if there were any montages at all in that anthology used like this.
The montage didn't work as in Manhattan, maybe it's the distant cousin to the montage(s) in ESYILY (there it was used in conjecture with the changing seasons, in tune with the changing moods - didn't come out well though. ), we see Paris in that film too, no?
Then it's cut to..
Restaurant/food - check
Rich wife/in-laws - check
Slightly deluded ( not particularly successful, content) writer in urge of existential adventure - check
Slightly polarized (to-be)couple - check
Encounter with another couple, friction - check
The second couple perfect on outside - check
Wife of other couple not particularly good-looking, invariably the husband tries to impress rich Mrs. - check
Dick measuring intellectual contest between men - check
Distrust, ego, and polarization from one's (people &) reality - check
Then the car arrives. Heavy name-dropping, dense dialogues, all meta- of course. But my mind warped out to the black woman in the car, smoking cigarette with rich good-looking white men, and then he goes on to another bar(?!) where we see more rich white people, well dressed & enjoying cocktails. Couple of Extras from The Help, in posh period costumes. It seems WA is aware of criticism & made a few superficial touches. Suppose it could be construed to be ironic. At the time of watching it on laptop screen, to even think of historical/political terms in a surreal sequence, I don't know maybe something's wrong with me. Strangely for a WA film, it produced a variety of thoughts without engaging on its own. The period change, etc were OK. The moments, characters & conversations were all deja-vu galore (As you know, WA film, we sign up for it.) But for variety of reasons, it induced sleep. I mean, as someone who actually saw Resnais 'Duelle' twice within a week, it's a bit much. But that was sleep-inducing ride, at a more implicit level. This, I'm sure, when I watch it completely, I'd be more appreciative of the narrative tool employed by WA. But for the first act, for the first time I watched it, in aforementioned state, I was drifted out of it, not with it.
Completed MiP. Niiice. Excellent transitiveness and it all came out well.
X-Men. 1st class. 1st rate for Fassbender alone. This man's going to be the next big thing. [uh, I didn't see Shame yet]
Doc - thanks. The Skin I Live In i saw last year and admired. I started reading We Need To Talk About Kevin, it was terrific but had to return the book before I could finish it. Will watch the film definitely.
Nerd - Anxiety that you don't understand Tarkovsky will never let one sleep :lol:
Haywire : Terrible lead performance (Spies are supposed to be good at deception, I thought) in a ridiculously dire plot, but it had to be that way I suppose. She also runs Damon close in playing 'blank', though M.Kane is no J.Bourne. But this isn't really about her, it's about subtle camera movements, near-static set-up & defined geography. Fassbender would make a good Bond :thumbsup: Ewan Mcgregor tries to instill oxygen into unidimensional character. We also see M.Douglas, Banderas, Channing Tatum.
The Girl with the dragon tattoo - Here's a filmmaker who could actually do with a spy movie. You almost forget this is at outset, a detective thriller, a whodunit. A psycho-sexual old-new investigative procedural. It's the cinematic equivalent of a page-turner. Despite being long, it prods along nicely. Didn't stutter. As for sexual violence itself, extreme disgust apart, Rooney Mara (a perfect one-note, actually now you realize that the hardened cipher of Noomi rapace is a necessary cop-out for the Swedish film) & direction didn't come off as titillating. Fincher frames her like a rodent, and Mara does produce an impressive animalistic performance. The chemistry & relationship does seem like an ideal male-fantasy in all adaptations. The romantic effusiveness aside, the relationship itself is as cryptic as Norton-Bonham Carter. Daniel Craig is persuasive as idealized journalist, best of intentions, wrongly disgraced, and Plummer could exude paternal grace, warmth & sadness in his sleep. Robin Wright seems a bit tired, Skarsgard produces an obvious performance in the pivotal role. The family & the island - I still believe Polanski would have done a far better job. The 'incident' being played back & forth, the photos put together in a film, multiple angles assembled etc - all in Fincher's ballpark, but didn't particularly have much for him to play around. In comparison to Graysmith in Zodiac & non-resolution, one would be more engaged by the contrast of Blomqvist to Salander & resolution to the different plots. Personally, I find it to be weakest of all the SK films, it has easy answers, and the questions not particularly interesting. (Fascism, New Sweden vs Old Sweden, Religion etc). But then that's no fault of Fincher, it's the source material.
A Better Life
- Demian Bichir, Che's own Fidel Castro, is like a Mexican De Niro here. Terrific. Like Clooney in Descendants, the emotional 'high's were well placed, to bait any jury.
Also we've known how independent films on immigration get a nice buildup in awards season. I could think of Jenkins in Visitor.
In some ways though, this is like this year's Biutiful. Very well played role, but the role itself is ready-made for the emotional purging.
Elena
- What a film! With that, I hope all the Tarkovsky parallels (well earned by Return & Banishment) are put to bed. And he truly exposits as much with the dead Tarkovskian symbol.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net...96764411_n.jpg
For groucho bro, from AN fb page.
:thumbsup:
Saw "Take Shelter", what a gripping performer is this Michael Shannon. Jeff Nichols tops his earlier 'Shotgun stories'(Shannon excellent here as well) in lofty ambitions of post-apocalyptic 'indie flick', and he pulls it off. Quite subversive in its mini-genres. In fact, it's a film that transcends that limiting term 'genre'. Jessica Chastain, enchanting, beautiful & talented.
Thanks Stan, nAn antha scene-a thAn sonnen. It was cut out of the original, and I didn't like it appearing in Redux. Originals are perfect no matter how the original director tries to tinker with their old products ( I am looking at you George Lucas, mavanE!)
One reason Woody Allen started to bore me, in revisits I mean, and subsequently his latest releases. Martin Scorcese. His take on New York (Mean Streets, Taxi Driver) vs Woodsters (all of dem Noo Yawk pictures).
And... Spike Lee/Coppola/Lumet..
Win-Win. Mccarthy makes another 'visitor' film, easily his weakest but still a enjoyable yawn like Giamatti's uneasy & uncontrollable grin
Midnight run..Top entertainer..
Deniro is the man..
Four Rooms
Somehow I never watched this film until today and the DVD in which I have the film states 6th June 09. May be I just wanted to have one QT film which needs to be watched. Now I have none. Loved the 1st and the last segments. 1st one was very hot for some reason, not just the nudity something else just kept entertaining me. :P
The last segment which was very obvious that it was directed by QT (which I dint know prior) was a riot. The last one minute monologue was better than the best chase scene I've watched. And the usual neglection of the actual subject and it getting just two-shots in the entire section was so Tarantino. In the 'misbehavers' segment the little girl was very cool inspite of her grown-up attitude. But except for QT's segment I dint find the movie that funny. It was certainly very entertaining but not that funny.
The descendants on big screen. Very nice. Works mainly because of the performances. Clooney and Ms. Woodley were fantastic. In fact this film should bag all the best acting ensemble awards. Set of interesting characters/events around a dying woman. Fascinating at places, quite warm in a few and a little boring in a few. Loved the film.
Liked it a lot :thumbsup:. One of the better movies of this yearQuote:
Originally Posted by Nerd
Have to see the descendants. It is running over here.
Living Daylights - 4/5 Fantastic. My fav Bond movie in last 30 years. had really nice locations and action sequences. certainly much better than the tame versions from Moore era.
2nd fav in 30 yrs?? License to Kill.. Dalton was a terrific bond.
The Grey. Good. Not in a mood to investigate any angles, metaphysical, metaphors etc., It seems there was a three second shot AFTER the end credits and I missed it as I was hurrying for offshore call. It seems that shot is also very metaphorical. (Even me leaving before that shot is also some metaphor it seems). Feel very betrayed that I am not thinking about this film at all.
But yeah, good film.
50/50..was pleasantly surprised by this movie..to take up a plot beaten to the pulp and still to come out triumphs deserves a :clap: JGL show all the way..in some places I found his character a lot similar to 500 days of summer..only actor who could play dud with such aplomb :-) Seth Rogen provides much of the comic relief..always hated this guy for being casted as idea mani. I would rate the soundtrack best of the year and the studio hasn't released it yet :evil: some good soul has created a playlist..the song compilation is as good as Garden State.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9C34836C6547B97F
Loved the pre-operation scene in 50/50. Touching!!
The roommate in sony pic. Paravala. The original Single white female was quite okay too. Leighton Meester - What a beauty young girl. Gosh I love psychotic gaels :yes: :exactly:
The Discreet Charm Of Bourgeoisie. Whatay ya! I didn't get most of the film but just the pleasure of watching - the setting, the people and the situations. Will watch this again many times and watch all this guy's films.
Schindler's List on Star Movies :clap:
First I was taken aback to see SM showing the film as in India everything gets chopped off on TV. It was quite painful to watch the film with so much cuts but still the film is fantastic. Excellent acting (by far among the best in Spielberg films) from Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes as Amon Goeth. I so wanted to watch the last scene when Schindler leaves the factory for the fantastic score but was very sleepy by that time.
Now I am again in confusion as to which is better among this and the Pianist.
Pianist avLo nalla padamA enna. nAn nallA thoongittEn pAkkum pOdhu.
Super film, The Pianist.
Btw I saw Extremely long, and incredibly boring Stephen Daldry film. Plummer & the kid (who plays annoying kid without a fuss) :clap: Great score & some cute moments with monologue & cross cutting. Did I say cute? Let me shoot myself.
Safe house. Plays too safe. Plays too predictable.
Before the devil knows you're dead :clap: superb crime drama,Hoffman was awesome :bow:
Drive - Suthama pudikkala....Cheated by IMDB&Rotten rating...
en inamunga neer :wink: :pQuote:
Originally Posted by Siv.S
Being John Malkovich - Wierd....wierd movie, but interesting :thumbsup:
Moneyball- The movie rests primarily on the performance of the two main leads- Brad Pitt and jonah hill. Beane is the big talented guy still frustrated by never making it to the top; Brand is the smartest guy in the room who has always been too inconspicuous for anyone to notice.Hill's deadpan demeanor contrasts beautifully with Pitt's passion, and the film is completely enjoyable when they share the screen.When they dont the movie seems to drift. Take for example the overtly extensive flashback shots of beane's career.
The Banishment. Great. Somehow felt betrayed by the ending, but I think it's my problem and not the film's. A bit too much of biblical references. Another one to be re-watched and read.
What atmosphere. What tension. What cinematography. Marvelous.
Certainly his weakest film (& yet one of the strongest among his contemporaries), do watch The Return (his masterpiece) & Elena!
My favourite too. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Siv.S
Nine Queens (Nueve reinas) - :clap: Very clever thriller....twist at the end is superbly done ... even without that twist i would have still enjoyed the movie..... but its the twist made the film clever :thumbsup:
Halfway thorough the movie wife told me that there is a malayalam movie with the same story, Gulumaal the escape, they have not given any credit to this argentina movie....
Terrific actor, the conned man. He also starred in the director (RIP)'s second & final film, The Aura, which I seem to prefer for the tonal qualities & aura of the woods. There's a much more subtle twist with more louder implications in The Aura.Quote:
Originally Posted by Siv.S
"Before the devil.."
Albert Finney was my favorite. But Hoffman, Marisa Tomei (who lets her whole body act, again), Shannon, everyone pretty great.
But other than that, did anyone feel Lumet got exposed by multi-angled gimmickry (it didn't service much).
I found WA's "Cassandra's dream" (similar subject of filial tragedy) to be just as flawed, but for entirely different reasons.
If I were to revisit, I'd probably avoid latter more for Philip Glass score alone. :twisted:
Yes he is.... he was excellent in last year oscar winner The secret in thier eyes ...I have this "the aura " .. but yet to watch it...Quote:
Originally Posted by kid-glove
I liked "The Secret in their eyes" for that brilliant stadium scene (although that the scene did feel like a sharp noise to tone of rest of the film). And they (this guy & the actress) really conveyed a lot in their eyes, didn't they.