Recently viewed films

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Who Shot Sam?
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Re: Recently viewed films

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Enjoyed The King's Speech and True Grit immensely. Not a fan of Black Swan and its mix of psychodrama and horror elements. How did this film receive so much praise?

Christopher - I too loved the use of the Iris Dement version of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arm". There is another great use of this song in film - Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter. Much different effect here!

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Re: Recently viewed films

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WSS-
know that one intimately which is why I noted its quoting in the new "True Grit":

"One final treat was to hear Iris Dement[always a treat] singing you out of the theater to the strains of "Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting Lord] yet another 'quote' to yet another great film."

Would you not agree that the two contrast just like the "love" and "hate" tattooed on Mitchum' character's hands? Iris's sweet consolation as opposed to Mitchum's pure evil.

Sorry you and Otis disliked "Black Swan"- different takes- I truly thought the sexual/psychological themes were handled deftly. But that is just me watching. I also hope Ms. Portman gets her much deserved Oscar for her singular performance.
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Re: Recently viewed films

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Christopher Sjoholm wrote:WSS-
know that one intimately which is why I noted its quoting in the new "True Grit":

"One final treat was to hear Iris Dement[always a treat] singing you out of the theater to the strains of "Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting Lord] yet another 'quote' to yet another great film."

Would you not agree that the two contrast just like the "love" and "hate" tattooed on Mitchum' character's hands? Iris's sweet consolation as opposed to Mitchum's pure evil.

Sorry you and Otis disliked "Black Swan"- different takes- I truly thought the sexual/psychological themes were handled deftly. But that is just me watching. I also hope Ms. Portman gets her much deserved Oscar for her singular performance.
Ah, OK. I need to read better!

FWIW I admired Portman's performance more than the film. So many similarities with Aronofsky's The Wrestler, yet I found that one so much more compelling. I do wonder if he is capable of making a film that doesn't involve someone physically abusing him/herself in horrible ways.
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Re: Recently viewed films

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WSS- though I found it ultimately a bit of a muddle, I would argue that his film "The Fountain" did not rely on the theatrics of characters abusing themselves or being abused but instead tried to focus on our rational and irrational fears of dying and how we as humans face those fears. It got too tangled for me in the metaphysics of those fears but I did find it visually attractive.
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Re: Recently viewed films

Post by Otis Westinghouse »

And his Requiem for a Dream is all about drug abuse. Was on the telly the other night, only saw a bit. I thought Black Swan was visually rich and had fun watching it, but it seemed to lose its way as it progressed to the point where people laughed as the credits rolled. I know several people, my son included, who did find it compelling and convincing as an exploration of psychosis, but I didn't really. Portman is good, granted. It also doesn't stand up well to any vaguely feminist sort of analysis.

My wife and I always discuss whether a film stays with us the next day, and the good ones always do, and normally a good while beyond, like The King's Speech, which keeps coming back to me. Fabulous film. Bardem in Biutiful too, an amazing performance. The film is certainly criticisable, although ultimately I thought it was really good, but it wouldn't have been anything like as good with a lesser performance. Talking of the Coen brothers and Bardem, I can't believe I still haven't watched No Country For Old Men. The DVD awaits me. Looking forward to True Grit, trailer looks great, and the girl looks superb. They said Bridges was very easy to cast, but finding the right girl was the hard part. They always deliver.
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Re: Recently viewed films

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I'm in the corner with your son and others on "Black Swan". But then I am naturally drawn to 'darker' themes. Part of my having not seen "The King's Speech" yet is my fear that I will find it too Syrupy. Trust I am wrong and trusting in your recommendation!
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Not syrupy at all, nor monarchist propaganda which is what moronic Suzanne Moore dismissed it as in the Guardian, trying to be controversial, yawn yawn. It's an interesting human story which is part buddy film, part the battle against adversity, part historical interest despite a very glaring historical inaccuracy with the stance of Churchill in the film (which they've done to make it fit the narrative nicely, but it's historically overtly wrong, so why bother?), and overall a very well-made, well staged and filmed and superbly acted piece.

Our unbroken run of midweek films looks set to continue with Brighton Rock this week (read several Greene's in my younger years and was a bit of a fan, but never this one; the film updates it from interwar to 60s mods and rockers, Sam riley's first post-Curtis role, with next up being Sal Paradise in On The Road - blimey!), and then the following week choices have to be made as both True Grit and Never Let You Go are on. Didn't love the book as much as earlier Ishiguros, e.g. Remains of the Day, but I think Carey Mulligan is the bees knees and reckon this will be well worth seeing.
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I felt a little let down by the Coen's True Grit. Maybe because I had seen the original just recently and remembered it so fondly from years ago when I first saw it. But I think the true source of my disappointment was that I was expecting a little more Coen spin. I think this version hardly breaks any new ground from the original. Many of the scenes right down to the lines were the same. Yes, it is better acted. Yes, the filming is far superior. But I would hope so from a movie made 40 or so years later. Bridges was excellent, and so was the girl. But I couldn't help but feel the Coens got a little lazy and just let them do all the heavy lifting.
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Emotional Toothpaste wrote:I felt a little let down by the Coen's True Grit. Maybe because I had seen the original just recently and remembered it so fondly from years ago when I first saw it. But I think the true source of my disappointment was that I was expecting a little more Coen spin. I think this version hardly breaks any new ground from the original. Many of the scenes right down to the lines were the same. Yes, it is better acted. Yes, the filming is far superior. But I would hope so from a movie made 40 or so years later. Bridges was excellent, and so was the girl. But I couldn't help but feel the Coens got a little lazy and just let them do all the heavy lifting.
It's interesting you should say that because I listened to an interview with them on NPR's "Fresh Air" and they said they hadn't even seen the earlier film.

I finally got around to The Social Network yesterday. Massively underwhelmed. I didn't care for - or about - anyone in the film. Slick and it looked good, but I won't be going back to it again.
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Who Shot Sam? wrote:
It's interesting you should say that because I listened to an interview with them on NPR's "Fresh Air" and they said they hadn't even seen the earlier film.
.
I guess thats possible. I think they also said they wanted to be true to the book. I haven't read the book . . but it could be that the book just doesn't have a lot of wiggle room to work with.

Speaking of the Coens. I rented "A Serious Man" the other night and probably think more of it as a film than their version of True Grit - at least for pure laughs. Sy Abelman - what a character. The kids on the bus - " He's a real fucker". The korean kid trying to bribe his teacher --- "re-take the test, hush-hush". There were some flat spots, but I enjoyed it mostly.
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Post by Otis Westinghouse »

I really loved A Serious Man. Very funny and very involving too. I laughed in a silentish way throughout - not many belly laughs, but just quietly comical in so many places. It made me regret not seeing all of their films - must do it.
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Another Year is a lovely acted, understated, UK film. The biggest name is Jim Broadbent, but I'm sure you Europeans will know all the actors. Mr.Broadbent is a good actor, but he took a backseat to the other actors. That's how good the cast was. I was surprised that I recognized Ralph Ineson in his one scene that he had in the film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1431181/
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Christopher Sjoholm wrote:Ice Nine wrote of this previously but got to see it last night myself- "El Secreto De Sus Ojos"- which won the Best Foreign Film Oscar this past year. These type of films do not come into my area often so I rented it. A most impressive film. The title tells a lot about how the film is shot as camera angles focus on the eyes of the protagonists and their individual eyes really do some impressive acting. The way the director shifts the action between past and present and in effect tells the story through each characters eyes made me take notice as if I was in each actors head peering out. Was not prepared for the devastating ending and punishment for the villain. Needless to say it is particularly effective as a metaphor. Truly enjoyed this movie. I was also grateful that the score was an aid to telling the story, not your typical over the top and annoying noise in the background. Effective usage of the score.
Saw it this weekend and found it really enthralling. Great film.
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Viewed "Never Let Me Go" last night with my wife on DVD as it is yet anther film that never made it to my area in the theater. I think I could watch Carey Mulligan act the phone book at this point and be entertained. There is a naturalness to her screen presence that is quite intriguing. You too often watch an actor perform and you are always conscious that it is an actor performing. Rarely do they inhabit the skin of the character and dissolve into another. She is that rare exception and once again, just like in "An Education", she disappears, giving life to an imaginary person, this time Cathy H one of a doomed trio of friends. I was also impressed by Andrew Garfield as Tommy and now recall that he was one of the better things I took away from "The Social Network". Keira Knightly was just Keira Knightly with her usual jutting jaw and haughtiness.

The story itself is a mix of horror and a subtle commentary on what it means to be human. I find it hard to believe that these clones would be so complacent as they approach their final purposes. The back story of harvesting is creepy. The Ishiguro book does a much better job of playing with the subtext of what it really means to be human and to have emotions for one another. His subtle and understated prose reflectively catches the play of memory, loss and human feelings better than the visual images in this film outside of the work of Ms. Mulligan and Mr. Garfield. Yet again, I prefer the book over the movie.
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Watched an interesting little film last night with my wife "Bride of the Wind", a movie about Alma Mahler and the men in her life. Not the greatest movie but the locale and the milieu has always interested me. End of the century Vienna. Loved seeing her interactions with Klimt, Kokoschka, Mahler, Gropius and Franz Werfel. Beautiful to watch the film sets and all the paintings and buildings. Just filled with Mahler and his beautiful adagios like the one in the Sixth Symphony. God that man could write some gorgeous music.
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Took in the newest Jane Eyre last evening with my wife celebrating her birthday. I really enjoyed this one. Not a stuffy redo of a Masterpiece Theater classic but a vibrant, coherent revisiting of a memorable Gothic Victorian story. One cannot get enough of the scenery of Northern England and the moors. The lighting, the settings, the costumes, the acting, the direction- all were superb. I think the young actress, Mia Wasichowska, who plays Jane, gave a performance worthy of a 2011 Academy award nomination for Best Actress. She embodied the theme of the book wholeheartedly- freedom as an ethical and personal ideal. As you watched her you could not help but believe this was a young woman who was capable of thinking without fear or hypocrisy; of acting without external constraints on her being. I admire her performance. Her co star, Michael Fassbender was equally adept and managed to not be swallowed up by the long shadow of Orson Welles and his performance in the same role so many years ago. The director, Cary Joji Fukumaga has a great eye for emotional details in his actors. He has the camera move fluidly from face to face. The cinematography by Adriano Goldman is delicate and the lighting of the mists and storms and seasonal sky is dynamic. He makes the moors and natural forces active characters in the story. I cannot recommend the movie enough.
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Watched Country Strong last night and I liked it. Even as much as I don't like Gwyneth. Hayes Carll just came up on my musical radar recently, so when I heard the line 'boy, you ain't a poet, just a drunk with a pen' I was delighted and intrigued. I did not want to see quite so much of Beau's mouth, however.

I did not fall asleep. Not even once.
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Recently saw True Grit on a flight from Sydney to L.A and liked it a lot (considering it was on a screen the size of a small book) - will definitely be purchasing the blu ray when it's available. Also took my son to see Rango and was very pleasantly surprised... loved the references to other Depp films such as Fear and Loathing and Pirates as well as the, I assume, references to Carlos Castaneda writings. Another I will be buying.
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I saw the previews for Rango and thought it was one of the least-appealing movies I'd ever seen - I'll netflix that puppy now, Tim(e). And I also have True Grit in my shopping cart at Amazon. We're almost leading parallel lives. :lol: :lol:
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mood swung wrote:I saw the previews for Rango and thought it was one of the least-appealing movies I'd ever seen - I'll netflix that puppy now, Tim(e). And I also have True Grit in my shopping cart at Amazon. We're almost leading parallel lives. :lol: :lol:
Do it Moody, I'm almost certain you won't be disappointed. I enjoyed it as much as my 9 year old, but for very different reasons (but then again, he loved Inception, so maybe the gulf between us isn't as big as I imagine it to be).
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http://www.bagitmovie.com/

Saw this documentary on PBS the other night. It exposes the harm that the use of plastics has on the environment. I did not know that plastic bags/containers are so bad
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I Am Trying To Break Your Heart Wilco docu. thought it was about time I got this ner legendary film - Sam Jones, photographer and doc maker, sets out to make a doc about Wilco recording Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and ends up striking the jackpot in terms of the label (Reprise) dropping them and then Jay Bennett being ousted. Lots of interesting moments and insights, and for me more than anything, a chance to marvel close-up at the human drumming dervish that is Glenn Kotche. Fabulous stuff.
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A very strong suggestion from Otis, The Illusionist, and most enjoyable. Enchanting animation with wonderful depictions of Edinburgh. The train scenes were beautifully constructed as the train moves through the countryside. Sweet little waif story ala Charlie Chaplin but using a character developed by Jacques Tati. It was a nice surprise to see him turn up for real on a movie screen in a theater as the character takes in a movie. Did not miss dialogue at all as the animation cleverly expressed emotion and thoughts with physical movement. Thank you, Otis. Had a great time with this one with my family.
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Splendid. I saw it twice in one week and relished seeing it again to take in so many wonderful details. It also means I can remember pretty much everything about it. The sweeping shot of Edinburgh that starts with Arthur's Seat up on the hill and then swoops birdlike over the whole city was remarkable.

Footnote: when he travels from King's Cross up to Scotland, the original art deco period facade of the station is on display, long since lost to nondescript 60s/70s ugliness, but now being fully restored to its former glory. The place is a building site at present, but it's going to look wonderful, I'm sure.

The Belleville Rendezvous by the same director is also well worth seeing. All about cycling.
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Viewed "Blue Valentine" last night with my wife. I cannot recall in the last twenty years two such searing performances as given by Michelle Williams and Ryan Goseling in this film. One literally feels their disgust and anger towards one another as their marriage is unraveling on the screen. I liked the montage aspect and the cutting back and forth in time. Perhaps the best relationship movie I have seen since "Shoot the Moon" or "Two for the Road". These characters are made palpable by the two tremendous performances. They may be the two most 'natural' actors at work today. I do not avoid performances by either. The soundtrack by Grizzley Bear also added to the impact of the movie.
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