| Author | Message | ||
     Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1810 Registered: 09-2006 |
Shutter Island For the most part, meh. The making-of has Scorsese going on about how he's never seen a story quite like this one, which means he must have missed "Mulholland Drive," "The Game" and maybe "Fight Club." Even his particular directorial flourishes seem a bit tired. Stagecoach The John Ford classic, on a typically wonderful Criterion Blu-ray. Orson Welles says it was his textbook while making "Citizen Kane," and it's easy to see why. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1811 Registered: 09-2006 |
Scorsese also missed seeing "Angel Heart." And "Lost Highway." Even "Memento," a little. Strange, with the voracious viewing habits he has... | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 371 Registered: 10-2006 |
500 days of Summer - a smart, funny sort of romantic comedy set in LA with a big indie soundtrack and the Smiths as the meet-up hook; plus an excellent karaoke scene(she does Sugar Town, he does Here comes your man). Very nice, haven't enjoyed a comedy so much for a long time. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3586 Registered: 05-2005 |
Toy Story 3 in glorious 3D today. Fantastic. Maybe film of the year so far for me. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1815 Registered: 09-2006 |
I'm very keen to see it, Padraig. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1483 Registered: 08-2006 |
Me, too. Loved the first two. I'm glad it appears that this one holds up to its predecessors. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1826 Registered: 09-2006 |
Toy Story 3. I know some people have problems with 3D (headaches, blurriness, etc.), but thankfully I had none...quite well done, and it added a nice layer of immersion to a lovely movie. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1815 Registered: 01-2005 |
Add me to the list of those who thoroughly enjoyed Toy Story 3 in glorious 3D! I'll have to check out the first two Toy Story installments. I also watched the first season of The Wire recently. Very good, but I wouldn't rate it as high as the first season of Deadwood. The last couple of episodes did peak my interests enough though to check out Season Two. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 308 Registered: 05-2005 |
Took the kids to Toy Story 3 on the weekend. We all loved it. A superbly crafted piece of entertainment - and actually quite moving. Sometimes I am in awe of the collective talent that clearly still exists in the US movie industry - particularly in the area of animation. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1819 Registered: 01-2005 |
Mark, Check out last years The Fantastic Mr. Fox. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1843 Registered: 01-2005 |
A sad, moving movie with multipe meanings, Robert Bresson's "Au Hazard Balthazar". | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1833 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed, that one's quite something, Michael. Have you seen any other Bresson? If not, and you're game for more there's so much to be found in his work. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1844 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, Balthazar is my first Bresson. Should I try Pickpocket, Mouchette or Diary of A Country Priest next? | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 733 Registered: 10-2008 |
Crazy Heart. Jeff Bridges is magnificent as the "outlaw" country star. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1849 Registered: 01-2005 |
Crazy Heat. The Dude picks up a guitar and sings! On a serious note, I agree with skully that Jeff was magnificent, and on a further note he deserved his first long awaited Oscar. He should have already won a couple of Oscars before Crazy Heart. He was great in Fat City, The Big Lebowski, The Fabulous Baker Boys, Tucker, Seabiscuit and The Door In The Floor, yet he never got nominated for any of those roles. I wonder how he will be as Rooster Cogburn in the Coen Brothers remake of True Grit? It's due to premier this December 25th. I hope it surpasses crushes original. I thought the minor role acting almost carried the orignal (Robert Duval, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin and Jeff Correy). Glenn Campbell was a terrible actor, Kim Darby was slightly better and John Wayne was very good but he didn't deserve his Oscar over Peter O'Toole (Goodbye Mr. Chips), Dustin Hoffman (I'm walking here) or Richard Burton (Anne of a Thousand Days). | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1835 Registered: 09-2006 |
Michael, all three of those are great...Mouchette and Diary have similar themes, whereas Pickpocket covers slightly different ground. Any of the other Bressons available are well worth the time too: "A Man Escaped" (prison story, pared to the bone), "Lancelot Du Lac" (a very strange version the Arthur legend, and one of the best illustrations of the futility of war ever. Maybe not the best place to go next, thought) and his last film "L'Argent." | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1836 Registered: 09-2006 |
A Serious Man In a number of ways deeper, richer and more heartfelt than anything the Coen Brothers have ever done. Great performances, wonderfully put together. I was going to add a "but...": but it's often hard to take, so I don't know if I'll ever watch it again...but the same thing could be said about, oh, "Au Hasard Balthazar." | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1844 Registered: 09-2006 |
The T.A.M.I. Show Despite the erratic sound, it lives up to its rep, both as a repository of great performances and cultural touchstone: a heaving mass of (predominantly white and female, but far from entirely) teenagers going equally crazy for the Rolling Stones and James Brown (the ovation after "Please, Please, Please" sounds like they're coming their brains out to the point where nirvana has actually been reached). | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1856 Registered: 01-2005 |
Just finished: The Wire - Season 2 An bit of an improvement over season 1. I'll check out Season 3 sometime next month. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1845 Registered: 09-2006 |
T.A.M.I. Show again, with my lovely wife. Even better the second time...will probably have to buy a copy at some point. A groove and excitement that barely ever stops - the low point is Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas who aren't horrible, just horribly bland. I'd never even seen a photo of him before, and he looks and sounds so much like Andy Kaufman I was wondering if he'd somehow managed to pull off yet another of his put-ons via time machine... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3622 Registered: 05-2005 |
Greenberg. I really liked it. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1856 Registered: 09-2006 |
A Matter of Life and Death One of Powell/Pressburger's great WWII stories. James Brown: Soul Survivor Well done warts-and-all bio doc. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 578 Registered: 04-2005 |
> A Matter of Life and Death I had the immense pleasure of seeing a restored print on the big screen when I worked in Edinburgh's Filmhouse cinema many years ago. It stunned me by its intelligence,wit and beauty. Thelma Schoonmaker was the guest that night and Michael Powell's second part of his autobiography had just come out (posthumously). I was also present a few years before when the great man himself visited for a reissued 'Gone To Earth'. They dont't make 'em like that anymore... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1872 Registered: 01-2005 |
> A Matter of Life and Death I wonder why The Criterion Collection hasn't released this on DVD and Blu-ray yet? I'm a bit behind on my Powell/Pressburger Criterion DVD collection, as I have no copies of Colonel Blimp, The Black Narcissus, or Tales of Hoffmann. Which one should I get next? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1857 Registered: 09-2006 |
That does sound like a great pleasure, Andrew. I'm still kicking myself over having missed a fairly recent big screen revival of "The Red Shoes." I haven't gotten to see "Gone to Earth" yet - how was it? Michael, "Matter of Life and Death" was released on a very nice non-Criterion DVD twofer awhile ago: http://www.amazon.com/Michael-Powell-Fea ture-Consent-Stairway/dp/B001IZNIV4/ref= sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1281125446&sr=1 -1 The film includes the usual excellent commentary track by Ian Christie and a few reminiscences from Scorsese. The other film, "Age of Consent" was one of Powell's last and one of Helen Mirren's first. It has some very good things in it, but other things (like the late-60s sexual politics and the OKing of a relationship between a middle-aged artist and an underage girl) that haven't aged well at all. Beautifully shot, as usual. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1858 Registered: 09-2006 |
As for those three titles you mention, either Black Narcissus or Colonel Blimp are both great. So is Tales, but it's kind of an acquired taste. Criterion just came out with Blu-rays of "Red Shoes" and "Black Narcissus," and they're at the top of my buying list. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3627 Registered: 05-2005 |
Inception is the most overrated crap I've seen in a very long time. The last time I saw a rave reviewed film this bad was Leaving Las Vegas (and I'm still embarrassed I saw that, 13 years on). I can only assume the reviewers were afraid to admit they didn't understand what was going on in Inception? I certainly didn't. I read afterwards it was supposed to be an allegory for terrorism! Ha! I fell asleep several times during the film. Did I miss some good bits in my microsleeps? Doubt it. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1876 Registered: 01-2005 |
Padraig, It's been a long time between viewings of Leaving Las Vegas for me, but I did watch a few minutes of it recently until I couldn't take anymore of it. Maybe Nic Cage and Mike Figgis should have bought some copies of Days Of Wine and Roses before hand. On the other hand, I still get a kick out of Nic and the rest of the actors in Red Rock West! A very decent neo-noir movie. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1859 Registered: 09-2006 |
Padraig, I've found everything Christopher Nolan has ever done to be extremely overrated by critics, which isn't his fault, but doesn't make the movies any better. The best of them are semi-clever puzzle boxes, nothing more. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3629 Registered: 05-2005 |
Michael, I love Red Rock West. I even have it on DVD. Allen, I really liked Christopher Nolan's first film (I think it was his first anyway), Memento. I don't think I've seen any of his other films. And now I don't want to. | ||
| C Gull Member Username: C_gull Post Number: 163 Registered: 05-2005 |
Toy Story 3-brilliant and yes of course I blubbed but tried my best to hide it behind the 3D glasses! Also saw Inception last night. I thought it was very good- certainly for a blockbuster style movie it was good to see something with a bit of intelligence and wit. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 579 Registered: 04-2005 |
Allen "Gone to Earth" - not one of their best frankly, but still worth seeing (but only the British version). Think that David Selznick put a lot of pressure on the production because it had Jennifer Jones (his missus) in it... The original novel (by Mary Webb) is a great book incidentally. | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1034 Registered: 08-2004 |
Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman legacy was, I thought, a very effective & loud action movie. For someone who can't stomach action as a style in itself, it was dare I say it, great. I saw Toy Story 3 a couple of weeks ago. We refrained from the 3-D element. I felt it should have finished in the incinerator. That might stop kids from treating their toys like crap, then throwing them away. I also saw a couple of horrors this week. First the fairly, these days, formulaic Paranormal Activity. Also Teeth, which is a body horror/black comedy. Which was hilariously grown up, bearing in mind the subject matter. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1878 Registered: 01-2005 |
Nolan also remade the Norwegian suspense thriller Insomnia with Al Pacino in the title role that Stellan Skarsgĺrd played in the original. Speaking of Al Pacino in a remake, did you here that a remake of Rififi is in developement with Pacino portraying the lead character Tony le Stéphanois? I think I'll pass on that one when it comes out. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1861 Registered: 09-2006 |
Jerry, either that or it'll cause them all to cling to their toys until they're in their 70s, convinced they'd be committing murder by throwing them out... Michael, that does sound a bit dodgy - we shall see. Andrew, one semi-obscure P&P I'm curious to see is "The Elusive Pimpernel" - the brief clip I saw from it was very intriguing. It could be that they chose the very best part to sample, and the rest doesn't hold up, but... | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1862 Registered: 09-2006 |
I may go back and rewatch Nolan's Batman flicks at some future point, but I seriously doubt it. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1866 Registered: 09-2006 |
Mr. Show - entire series, for the third or fourth time. One of the all-time great sketch comedy shows. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1900 Registered: 01-2005 |
The Wire - Season 3 Damn good HBO series. Maybe just a tad short of the heights of Deadwood. I'll check out Season 4 next month. Just ordered a couple of Out Of Print Criterion Collection DVD's, but they haven't arrived yet. Coup de Torchon - Criterion Collection Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1040 Registered: 08-2004 |
Robyn Hitchcock - I Often Dream Of Trains In New York. On Sky Arts. My new favourite channel. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1915 Registered: 01-2005 |
Jerry, Here are some mid-1990's Robyn summer tour live videos from The Isle Of Wight (where he lived for sometime and composed a lot of his Egyptian era songs). http://www.alomtegenwoordigheid.nl/robyn hitchcock/pages/isle-of-wight.html | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3641 Registered: 05-2005 |
30 Rock, first three series on DVD. Brilliantly funny. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1918 Registered: 01-2005 |
I just finished watching Coup de Torchon - Criterion Collection and Pierrot le Fou - Criterion Collection. Both highly, highly recommended!! | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 1041 Registered: 08-2004 |
Thanks, Michael. I noticed the Isle Of Wight home movies in the end credits of the documentary. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 582 Registered: 04-2005 |
A Michael Powell home movie with narration by his wife Thelma Schoonmaker (Scorsese's editor). Need to dig out 'I Know Where I'm Going' again... http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/201 0/aug/27/michael-powell-thelma-schoonmak er | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 2454 Registered: 03-2005 |
Two nights ago I watched "The Century of the Self--Happiness Machines" a documentary on Edward Bernays and his pioneering use of psychology to basically turn the American public into consumer zombies. It was very creepy and extremely timely given the Pavlovian displays that pass as politics regularly on show here in the U.S.. This was a BBC production I think. Television of this caliber doesn't happen in the U.S.. You can watch it on youtube in six parts. For any American it's indispensable. It will replace the laughter you've showered on the likes of Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck with sheer terror. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9RfanOEp A0&feature=related | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 373 Registered: 10-2006 |
Meserine parts 1 & 2, breathless rapid fire French gangster biopic with Vincent Cassel switching from leery charm to psychotic violence at the blink of an eye and Gerard Depardieu making a convincingly frightening boss. Zero psychology but highly watchable. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 796 Registered: 10-2008 |
treme - episode 1. was unaware of this until i saw somebody talking about it on another forum. another vehicle for david simon(the wire), set in new orleans. anybody else saw it yet? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1927 Registered: 01-2005 |
Kevin, I watched the first few episodes on HBO, then I missed a couple and stopped watching it. I've been buying one season of The Wire on DVD the last three months. I'll get season four in the next week or so, as they are pretty inexpensive these days. I still think Deadwood was the superior series though over The Wire (so far) and The Sopranos. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 803 Registered: 10-2008 |
i'm just about to start watching series 2 of brotherhood. saw series 1 last year and thought it was excellent. very strong and believable characters set around an irish american family who are involved in politics with one brother, and crime with another. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1875 Registered: 09-2006 |
The Straight Story At least the 10th viewing, and I swear it makes me choke up even more each time. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1935 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, If you are a Richard Farnsworth fan, are you aware of his early 1980's Canadian film The Grey Fox? Shamefully it's still not available on DVD. It's one of my favorite westerns. It's based on the true story of Bill Miner, an aged stick-up man just released from jail in the early 1900's, very much a Sam Peckingpah type of story theme of an aged western fiqure struggling to fit in during the changing times of that period. Here is a clip of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihG8vpfz1 Yc&feature=related | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1877 Registered: 09-2006 |
I did see that one when it came out in theaters, Michael, but I haven't seen it since then. I'd agree it's like low-key Ballad of Cable Hogue-style Peckinpah. I remember a scene from late in the film where Farnsworth's sitting around a fire with buddies while the woods are being combed by lawmen trying to find him, and he's just as cool as a cucumber... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3647 Registered: 05-2005 |
I saw Despicable Me last weekend. Great film. Quite touching as well as very funny. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3649 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went to see a New Zealand film called Boy this afternoon. I don't know if it has been on in your neck of the woods yet, but it's well worth seeing if you get a chance. Particularly up your street Allen, as I think your taste is pretty similar to mine. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3652 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Road. What a film. Powerful. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 589 Registered: 04-2005 |
The Road. Beware of the after effects on your mood! I felt doomladen for weeks after seeing it. The lack of colour does something strange to your head. All those grey grey skies. If I feeling particularly pessimistic it is easy to feel that the scenario (of a society completely collapsed into that brutality) is not too difficult to imagine. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1881 Registered: 09-2006 |
Padraig, had not heard of it, but the IMDB description certainly does make it sound interesting...thanks for the tip. Am curious to know how exactly the goat enters into the plot. For myself, two docudramas and one straightup documentary. Waltz With Bashir Very well done animated film following director Ari Folman as he tries to fill the gaps in his memory of his service in First Lebanon War. Warning: can be hard to take, especially the ending. All the President's Men Probably my third viewing. One of the best procedurals ever made, suffused with a low-key mid-70s paranoiac feel. Lots of good extras, too. Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love A nice corrective to the two above...loaded with deep, honest joy and spirituality. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 590 Registered: 04-2005 |
Sylvain Chomet's new film "L'illusionniste". From the man that made "Les triplettes de Belleville" ('Belleville Rendezvous" in English), an animated feature definitely worth seeing on the big screen. A simple tale of the (platonic) relationship between a magician and a young girl, but visually stunning. Based on an unfilmed script from Jacques Tati, the background to the making of the film seems pretty complex, with the story of an illegitmate daughter and surviving family feud. But nothing should detract from the film's beauty. The details in the portrayal of Edinburgh in the 1950s are breathtaking. And Malcolm Ross had a hand in the music. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 378 Registered: 10-2006 |
Yeah, President's men is one of those Swiss watch films where the mechanism just sucks you in every time, "I'll just watch the first five minutes..." Also 3 Days of the Condor, Day of the Jackal have that effect on me... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1946 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, I have noticed that I am having a difficult time watching Dustin Hoffman movies these days, with the possible exceptions of Little Big Man, Marathon Man and All The Presidents Men. His tendency to overact gets on my nerves. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1882 Registered: 09-2006 |
Andrew, being a big fan of both Tati and Les triplettes, I'm very much looking forward to the film you mention. Stuart, one that's a bit more cheesy but still does that Swiss watch thing for me is The Andromeda Strain. Probably helps that I saw it at an impressionable age... Michael, I have that problem with Hoffman sometimes, though hardly as much as with Pacino...every time I watch The Godfather I marvel at the fact that he only raises his voice twice in the entire film, and both times the effect of that restraint is pretty spine-tingling. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1947 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, He is also remarkably restrained in Donnie Brasco (for the most part) and in Glengary GlenRoss. I thought that his last great performance was playing Lefty in Donnie Brasco. The real Lefty died of cancer in prison and didn't get whacked by Sonny (as the movie might lead you to believe). I just watched Seven Samurai for the very first time all the way to the end. A remarkable film. I'll be checking out more Akira Kurosawa movies for sure. Should I get Yojimbo next? Or maybe High and Low or Rashomon or The Hidden Fortress? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1883 Registered: 09-2006 |
Of those four I'd put Rashomon first - though it's a bit too self-serious at times it mostly earns its reputation as a great one. Yojimbo would be next. Have seen both of the other ones, and liked them, but I think I'd have to see them both again to say what I thought, as it's been awhile. And personally I think the one that tops all of the above and most of his others as well is Ikiru. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3658 Registered: 05-2005 |
Crazy Heart on DVD. What a film. Loved it. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1952 Registered: 01-2005 |
Boardwalk Empire, the new series on HBO staring Steve Buscemi. I loved the first episode. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 381 Registered: 10-2006 |
Breaking bad, season one. The Golden Age of the American TV series continues. Great. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1954 Registered: 01-2005 |
Detroit 187 staring Michael Imperioli, and I wasn't taken by it at all. It lacked focus and Michael seems miscast. It also lacked some basic research into Detroit. We don't drink sodas here, we drink pop. We don't order a slice here in Detroit like they do in New York, we order a pizza and most likely it's a deep dish square pan Sicilian style pizza with small air pockets in the crust, and you don't fold the pizza as it's too thick to fold. We do have very decent thinner style round pizza, but Detroit's Sicilian style square pizza kicks butt and is the best in the nation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit-sty le_pizza | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3667 Registered: 05-2005 |
World's Greatest Dad. Hilarious. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1888 Registered: 09-2006 |
Watching a few episodes from Mad Men's current fourth season, and though the best parts are, as usual, very good, I think for the most part I'm surprised to say that I think I've burned out on this series. The characters have slowly, steadily become caricatures, and the themes and ironies have become pat and repetitive to me. Also watched a couple of films by the old maestro Antonioni - the mesmerizing Red Desert, and the more problematic (and dated) (though still with enough good stuff to recommend it) Zabriskie Point. And am starting to go through the Harry Potter movies with my wife in preparation for the new one coming in November. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 593 Registered: 04-2005 |
The Doors' documentary 'When People are Strange' on the big screen. It functions best as an introduction for the younger generation perhaps(I took my 14 year old son and a pal of his), but still worth seeing. Some of the grainy on-stage footage has an incredible power to it. In the 'Jimbo-was-a-true-rock-poet' vs 'drunken a***hole' debate I still go for the latter. It must be said that never has a man looked better in leather trousers though. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 849 Registered: 10-2008 |
stuart, i'm about 2/3's of the way through breaking bad. its excellent stuff, the lead character is an interesting study of how a normal family man can go off the rails and find himself in situations totally foreign to his former lifestyle pre illness. touches of the michael douglas character in falling down at times. talking of unhinged characters. nicholas cage gives an over the top but bizarrely convincing performance in the update of the bad lieutenant | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 594 Registered: 04-2005 |
Xavier Beauvois’ « Des Hommes et des dieux », this year’s winner of the « Grand Prix du jury » at Cannes. The true story of the Trappist monks who were abducted from their monastery in the Algerian mountains in 1996 by Islamist militants and murdered. But the film does not concentrate on their sad end, but rather on their dilemma of deciding whether to stay put even after several foreign nationals are murdered close to them. One of the most poignant scenes has the monks eating together and the camera simply moving from one face to another; it is quite amazing at how much emotion is conveyed and we sense the internal struggles that each one is going through. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 394 Registered: 10-2006 |
The Good Wife, season one. Not extending the limits of the tv series by any means, but good solid scripting and acting and highly enjoyable. Are Chicago judges really so snappily witty? Better not to find out, perhaps. Meanwhile, where's the Victor Mature biopic that Chris Noth is crying out for? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1972 Registered: 01-2005 |
Boardwalk Empire. HBO has a great series on it's hands with this puppy. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 398 Registered: 10-2006 |
Anyway, the Good Wife has come crackling to a stop, scripts full of wit and intelligence, and a cast that is really pulling the stops out to keep up with la Margulies. Particularly of note, Archie Panjabi as the brisk sexually flexible in-house detective, wearing a wardrobe of the snappiest leather jackets on TV and lazering the screen with a pair of the deepest brown eyes ever. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3697 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went to see The Social Network today and thought it was really good. The script was great and the acting was excellent. Who knew Justin Timberlake had any talent? He should stick to acting and give up the day job. The film seems to be making Mark Zuckerberg out to be autistic or to have Asperger Syndrome. Jesse Eisenberg is great as him. Armie Hammer is brilliantly loathable playing both Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 1999 Registered: 01-2005 |
Black Book Paul Verhoeven's 2007 movie about the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands and the Dutch Resistance. Very well done and highly recommended, which is somewhat strange considering I was not a fan of PV's previous blockbuster movies (Total Recall and Basic Instinct). | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3714 Registered: 05-2005 |
Winter's Bone. What a film. Best movie I've seen all year. If Jennifer Lawrence, the lead actress, doesn't get an Oscar there is no justice. Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini should also be at least nominated for best adapted screenplay. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2012 Registered: 01-2005 |
Did anyone check out An Education yet? I think I'll rent it this weekend. | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 317 Registered: 05-2005 |
Agree with you on 'Winter's Bone' Padraig. Terrific film. Grim but compelling. Jennifer Lawrence is outstanding. Also saw 'The Social Network' a couple of weeks ago and loved it. Who would have thought a film about a socially inept computer nerd could be so engrossing? Jesse Eisenberg's peformance is also Oscar worthy. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 957 Registered: 10-2008 |
i saw "an education", it was pretty decent tonight i watched "the counterfeiters", excellent foreign language movie set in the concentration camps during ww2 | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 958 Registered: 10-2008 |
padraig, "social network" was uncut's movie of the year. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2019 Registered: 01-2005 |
Padraig, I rented Winter's Bone and enjoyed it very much. I'm way more into independent filmakers these days than the big studio movies, and I also enjoy the source material writer of Winter's Bone. The author of the book was Daniel Woodrell. His first novel was Woe To Live On, which was made into the Ang Lee movie Ride With The Devil. Both movies were fimed in southern Missouri. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3726 Registered: 05-2005 |
Brotherhood, season one. Great stuff. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2025 Registered: 01-2005 |
I think I'll hit the big screen this weekend and check out "Fair Game" starring Naomi Wilson as Valerie Plame and Sean Penn as Joe Wilson. Odds are poor that I'll make it to the end of the movie without getting tossed out by the theater bouncers, as I might be booing every time Bush, Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney or any of the other Dubya henchmen make a screen appearance! | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 604 Registered: 04-2005 |
Watched Lasse Halleström’s ’My Life as a Dog’ for the first time in about 20 years. Still found it as moving in its depiction of childhood and loss. There is a scene in which the young boy slides under his mother’s bed with his beloved dog (after having got up to some more mischief) which had stayed with me since I first saw the film. You do not hear the mother at all, but just see her face contorted in anguish and rage as she rails against the boy. There is a nice essay on the film placing it in such exalted company as ‘The 400 Blows‘ and ‘Ratcatcher’ here http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/2 69-my-life-as-a-dog-a-boy-and-his-dog Just to contrast reactions, my partner found it fairly uninvolving and said that for her it left lots of issues unexplained. And that all Swedes appeared to be crazy. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2031 Registered: 01-2005 |
I've got a Criterion Collection copy of Lasse Halleström’s ’My Life as a Dog’ and love it. Although I'm thinking that they will release a better version with improved sound and picture as they have done with The Seven Samuarai and are doing with Samuel Fuller's The Naked Kiss and Shock Corridor. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3734 Registered: 05-2005 |
Two very different takes on Irish American life. The Black Donnellys is set in New York and is utterly awful. I wish I had not wasted my money on it. None of the characters or situations are in any way believable and the acting is uniformly dreadful. But Brotherhood, set in Rhode Island, is terrific, with great writing and acting throughout. I've ordered the second and third series. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3735 Registered: 05-2005 |
This is the funniest video I have seen in years. And it comes from Limerick, where I'm from! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljPFZrRD3 J8 | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3739 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ghost Blues, the story of Rory Gallagher. Great documentary. Wish I'd seen him live. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1975 Registered: 09-2006 |
Have been going through a period of not feeling the urge to watch anything recently (besides the new Harry Potter, which was quite good, as always), but that's starting to shift. I just finished an oral biography of Robert Altman, and it's made me want to go back and catch a few of his that I never got around to. First up: "Buffalo Bill and the Indians." | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 832 Registered: 04-2006 |
Ghost Blues, the story of Rory Gallagher. Great documentary. Wish I'd seen him live. Padraig, me, too, me, too. wish i'd seen him/them live would be also a nice topic, or? | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 833 Registered: 04-2006 |
ah, forgot why i looked into this thread: i used the afternoon to re-watch one of my favourite films ever: Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. violence , loyalty, the end of an era ( the old west) and the dawning of a new one, a shoot-out - showcased as a 'dance of death', a revolutionary film editing, great acting and camera work. | ||
| andreas Member Username: Andreas Post Number: 836 Registered: 04-2006 |
do you like wine? if yes, i can recommend the film 'bottleshock'. not a landmark film like the a.m. peckinpah movie, but a nice little film about californian wine and the historic blind taste in paris in 1976 where the chardonnay 'chateau montelena' won (one of the bottles is now part of the smithsonian!). | ||
| joe Member Username: Dogmansuede Post Number: 736 Registered: 07-2006 |
i spent last night in, with a festive cold and an enormous saucepan of ratatouille. however, i did get to watch: toy story - i really preferred the sequels. none of which held a candle to the impossibly devastating wall-e animal kingdom -very good, but couldn't shake the feeling that i'd seen this before breathless/ŕ bout de souffle-finally, snot-filled boy strikes gold. so much unspoken/unidentified cool suddenly seems to have a home. french film thread anyone? | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2040 Registered: 01-2005 |
Joe, I've got dozens of French films on DVD, so I'm up for it! The last Goddard film I watched was my Criterion Collection double disc Pierrot Le Fou about four months ago. The last French movie I watched (last week) was Louis Malle's love letter to Jeanne Moreau, the 1958 movie The Lovers. Just watched Coppola's The Conversation last night. A neglected masterwork from Francis Ford and Gene Hackman. | ||
| Andrew Kerr Member Username: Andrew_k Post Number: 608 Registered: 04-2005 |
Watched the critically acclaimed ‘De battre mon cśur s'est arręté’ (The Beat That My Heart Skipped) from Jacques Audiard, but failed to see why it was rated so highly. Not one pleasant character and a story that didn’t draw me in at all. Not sure what it was trying to say. There was a quote comparing the filmmaker to Scorsese on the DVD cover, which was interesting as I had watched ‘Taxi Driver’ recently. Now there is a film that never loses its power, with a real ‘anti-hero’ but you care about what happens to the characters. A film that deserves its reputation. Anyone actually seen the original American film ‘Fingers’ that Audiard’s film is based on? Quite unusual these days for the French to remake an American film and it is usually the other way, with the reason given that Americans never watch films with subtitles. Actually the great French public don’t either with the great majority of foreign films being dubbed into French. Also saw Almodóvar’s ’ Todo Sobre Mi Madre’ (All About My Mother), a wonderful tear-jerking melodrama with all the usual themes present (transsexuals, the world of theatre, female solidarity etc). And a very young and beautiful Penélope Cruz. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2044 Registered: 01-2005 |
True Grit, the 2010 Coen Brothers film based on the 1968 book by Charles Portis. So much better then the 1969 John Wayne movie in every way with the possible exception of Robert Duvall's original take on Lucky Ned Pepper. Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld certainly deserve Oscar nods and well as the Coen Brothers. The best period Western since Clint's Unforgiven. I am currently reading the 1968 book. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1992 Registered: 09-2006 |
Andrew, I've seen "Fingers" a couple of times, once not long after it came out in the late 70s and once in the 90s, to see if I liked it any better. Like many of writer/director James Toback's projects, it's a stop-and-start mix of some intriguing (and a few pretty great) ideas and scenes with other, not-so-great ideas and scenes, all attached to a rather plodding narrative sense. And, as you say, it was hard to know exactly what he was trying to get at, except that maybe, like so many others, he was blown away by "Taxi Driver" and had his own story about an alienated loner floating around in his head. Excellent performance by Harvey Keitel in the lead, though. Just checked IMDB, and it appears that Toback did a first pass on the Beat That My Heart Skipped script. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3751 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went to see Sofia Coppola's Somewhere today. I'm glad I saw it, and it was certainly very good, but I was a little disappointed. I think I was expecting too much after liking Lost In Translation so much. Stephen Dorff and Elle Fanning were both great in Somewhere, but overall I just thought it lacked something. Perhaps it is time it lacks. It would have been nice to see the father/daughter relationship play our for another 20 minutes or so. I wonder if more was shot that was left on the cutting room floor? | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 404 Registered: 10-2006 |
Tais toi - very funny film with Gerard Depardiu in the days he could still see his toes and Jean Reno, the latter playing mostly straight as a gangster on the run, the former beautifully comic as an over-friendly dunderhead dreaming of a bar called The Two Friends. Makes you chuckle in the very first minute and then keeps you pleasantly entertained until the end. Great holiday viewing. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1998 Registered: 09-2006 |
Michael, I heard that Iris DeMent does a song over the closing credits of True Grit. Am going to find it on the net when I get home from work. Wish she would do a new album... Buffalo Bill and the Indians - for me there's often only the smallest degree or two between an Altman movie that pulls me into its little world and charms me, and one that annoys and bores me. This one had its moments, but by and large it stayed on the latter side. A big problem may have been that its themes were thuddingly obvious and, once stated, had nothing to do but be repeated over and over again. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 1999 Registered: 09-2006 |
Check it out...after four years on the board I'm finally closing in on 2000 posts. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2002 Registered: 09-2006 |
Inception As to its depiction of dreams, this critical quote sums up my own feelings pretty closely: "Though there is a lot to see in Inception, there is nothing that counts as genuine vision at all. Mr. Nolan’s idea of the mind is far too literal, too logical, too rule-bound to allow the full measure of madness." To which I can only add: he gets to build his idea of a dreamscape, and nearly all he seems to be interested in is that he can have three levels of endless bang-bang-shoot-em-up instead of just one. I wasn't at all surprised to learn that it was made into a videogame - for long stretches it feels like it already is one. On the plus side, I was very pleasantly surprised that the love story aspect actually had a few moments of real emotional weight to it. The performances are all very good, too, especially Ellen Page - if she continues to maneuver fame as gracefully and wisely as she has already she might have some great performances in her. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2004 Registered: 09-2006 |
Before Sunrise Before Sunset The last time I watched these two was when the latter came out in 2003, and they both age very well. The first is charming, sweet and well-done, the second is almost a quantum leap in maturity and filmmaking style. Rarely has romantic love been portrayed so wisely and so real onscreen. I'm hoping that they do what they hint at in the making-of and check back in on these two in 2013 or so. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2054 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, The only thing I didn't like about Before Sunset was that it's only some 80 minutes in duration. Hopefully Criterion releases these sometime soon. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2006 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed, I'd love to see a proper set of extras on these two. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2008 Registered: 09-2006 |
And I actually like the brief, real-time aspect of Sunset...they've had 9 years to think about their last meeting, and now, suddenly, they have less than 90 minutes to decide whether they want to continue on together. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2055 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, I know that the situation was that they had less then a couple of hours before Jessie had to catch his flight. I just thought that maybe they could have had a 5 or 10 minute longer movie with the same pacing also in real time. Maybe we will get a Directors Cut from Criterion and Richard Linklater if there is some extra footage that fits? It's still think it's a great film though, and I enjoy watching my DVD once a year or so. It's short length is only a minor qualm with me. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2010 Registered: 09-2006 |
A small misunderstanding of your meaning on my part, Michael. Apologies... | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2058 Registered: 01-2005 |
No problemo Allen. I took my dad (he will be 82 next month) out yesterday to see The King's Speech. Very moving film and I'm sure it will rack up a bunch of awards. A fascinating story about The Duke of York/King George VI and his Perth born speech therapist Lionel Logue. It's a true story that I was not familiar at all with. Is Logue a well known historical fiqure in Australia? | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2013 Registered: 09-2006 |
John Lydon & Keith Levene, circa Metal Box, being interviewed on the Tomorrow Show, with Tom Snyder. Snyder's cluelessness and commitment to showbiz veneer is so deep that he cannot comprehend on any level why these two people are acting the way they are. Makes me feel a little sad for Lydon...when he talks about how the Sex Pistols failed to destroy rock and roll and change the world he sounds rather like a hippie in 1971. Though of course he wouldn't allow a hint of anything that resembles actual vulnerability show on the surface (his commitment to his own pose is almost as deep as Snyder's is to his) it radiates off of him through much of the interview. He was making the best music of his life, and at that moment looked like he could maybe take that weapon of negation born from wounded idealism and go even further with it, into uncharted territory. But instead he chose to cling to his bitterness and his pose, hell or high water, and his music just did a slow fade into old crank-ism. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3763 Registered: 05-2005 |
American: The Bill Hicks Story. I really liked it. I only heard of him 10 months before he died, but became a big fan in that time. The review in the Sydney Morning Herald, which I purposely did not read until after I saw the film, is dreadfully written. The interviewer got simple facts from the film wrong. Things that would have taken five seconds to check in a google search. I hate that lack of care. It's one of the reasons I very rarely read film reviews. The other reason is that they so often give away way too much of the plot in reviews. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3764 Registered: 05-2005 |
Michael, I think most Australians would never have previously heard of Lionel Logue. I certainly never had. I think he was reasonably well known in Perth, but not elsewhere. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2021 Registered: 09-2006 |
Soul Power An excellent documentary following the music festival that took place in Zaire in 1974 in tandem with the Ali-Foreman fight. Fine performances from James Brown, Franco, Rochereau, B.B. King, Spinners, Celia Cruz and others. Too bad it took 35 years for this footage to see the light of day. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2064 Registered: 01-2005 |
Looks interesting Allen. I really missed out and hardly paid any attention to that whole seventies soul scene with the Delfonics, Spinners, James Brown, Al Green etc. I did buy the occasional blues album by the likes of B.B. King, Hound Dog Taylor, Sonny and Terry, and some of the greats who were no longer alive like Robert Johnson, Tampa Red and Blind Willie McTell. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2022 Registered: 09-2006 |
That's certainly one of my favorite periods for music in general, and soul in particular - a very fruitful era. James Brown is in my top ten favorite artists - I could binge on his rhythms for days, and often have. Al Green is my favorite artist ever. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2066 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen, QT did a nice job with the classic soul music selections of the 1970's in Jackie Brown. Pam Greer and the JB soundtrack were the the high points of the movie for me. And the other Robert Forster turned in a career reviving performance as well and maybe should have bagged the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1997 that he was nominated for his Max Cherry role in Jackie Brown. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2023 Registered: 09-2006 |
Agreed, that's a very nifty soundtrack. I was going to say that since his comeback in Jackie Brown the roles kind of dried up for him again, as the only other thing I remember him in since thenwas in what was basically a cameo in "Mulholland Drive." But then I went to IMDB and discovered he's been working constantly since then, just nothing quite as high profile as JB. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 408 Registered: 10-2006 |
Curb your enthusiasm season 1 Avoided this for a while due to general dislike of semi-scripted, adlib stuff, and there is a bit too much echo dialogue going on, "Did you get that e-mail I sent you?" "No, I did not get that e-mail you sent me," etc which a script would have shorn, but by the last episode, the group, all it took was the words "I'm Todd..." to have me weeping hysterically. Wife had to throw a wet towel over my head, and that hasn't happened for a long time with a comedy. The boxed set beckons. | ||
| Rob Brookman Member Username: Rob_b Post Number: 1547 Registered: 08-2006 |
The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series I can't believe it took so long for this to finally hit DVD, but thanks gods it's arrived. (I bought the first season years ago, and nothing followed.) One of my favorite shows ever, it kind of pre-dates the cringe-inducing character interactions of the Office, and it never ceased to amaze me how they'd get big-name actors to play unflattering versions of themselves. Haven't seen most of these episodes in years, and I'm planning an immersion ASAP. One of the funniest bits of TV I've ever seen is an episode in season 1 that involves Larry having an unplanned party at his house, Martin Mull crashing it and Artie (the great Rip Torn) getting piss drunk on salty dogs. Good stuff. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2071 Registered: 01-2005 |
I saw Martin Mull in concert years ago when he was still recording comedy albums on the Capricorn label (same label as the Allman Brothers Band were on). He was hilarous. I yelled out a request for "Whipping Post" and he obliged me with the first few notes. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1056 Registered: 10-2008 |
found this on youtube - 90 mins stones doc, the glory years covering 1967-74, not 67-69 as it incorrectly says in the title http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cWOgdcca w4&feature=player_embedded#! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3780 Registered: 05-2005 |
Saw True Grit last night. It was great. Jeff Bridges was terrific in it, as was Hailee Steinfeld, who was only 13 when the film was shot. She's a future star without a doubt. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2075 Registered: 01-2005 |
Allen and Pádraig, This one is for you guys. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGbxrNqK4 -4 Why this wasn't nominate for an Oscar? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3783 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks for that link Michael. It seems obvious now I hear it again, but at the end of the movie I was more concerned with making a quick exit than on figuring out whose striking voice it was. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2035 Registered: 09-2006 |
Michael, it might be because it's not a new recording - it's from her last album of a few years ago. Thanks much for the link. Watched Alain Resnais' new one "Wild Grass." Uh...wow. That's my detailed analysis for the moment. Gorgeous to look at, surreal like all his others, with an ending that goes all the way to pure Dada. Will most likely watch it again. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2076 Registered: 01-2005 |
Thanks Allen. I didn't pick up her last album of a few years back, so I'll add it to my short list of thing to oreder next. | ||
| skulldisco Member Username: Skulldisco Post Number: 1075 Registered: 10-2008 |
boardwalk empire. i know, i know, our american cousins are probably on series 2 but i have just come across series 1 :-) excellent stuff, every main character is beautifully portrayed(although the irish accent by kelly mcdonald is hilariously bad!, probably because she's scottish), but steve buscemi excels in a role he was born to play. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2077 Registered: 01-2005 |
Season 2 of Boardwalk Empire is 1/2 year away or so in the future. Kelly did the Texas accent pretty well though in No Country For Old Men. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 414 Registered: 10-2006 |
Scots are usually good at Irish accents, too - Ulster ones, anyway! | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3793 Registered: 05-2005 |
The Larry Sanders Show: The Complete Series. My views on it are pretty much the same as Rob's above. | ||
| Allen Belz Member Username: Abpositive Post Number: 2047 Registered: 09-2006 |
Sweetgrass Documentary following the last-ever 150 mile summer-pasture sheep run into the Montana mountains. Very well put together and beautifully shot (though sometimes the filmmakers go too far towards the artsy composition, and the commentary shows them to be quite intelligent but also pretty full of themselves.) | ||
| Mark Leydon Member Username: Mark_leydon Post Number: 324 Registered: 05-2005 |
True Grit. Magnificent. I was blown away by this Cohen brothers re-make - which is light years ahead of the original. Hailee Steinfeld's performance is simply astonishing. I'm surprised she been Oscar-nominated for best 'supporting' actress - as she simply owns the film from start-to-finish. | ||
| Michael Bachman Member Username: Michael_bachman Post Number: 2087 Registered: 01-2005 |
Mark, My sentiments exactly. Hailee takes up enough % of screen time that her performance warrants a Best Actress nod and not a Supporting Actress nomination. I wonder if the Cohen Brothers would ever make another period Western? I would love for them to take a crack at The Battle of The Little Big Horn. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 3802 Registered: 05-2005 |
I was surprised too that she was nominated for supporting actress rather than lead. Still, at least it avoids picking between her and Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone. Hopefully they will both now win. They certainly deserve to do so. | ||
| Stuart Wilson Member Username: Stuart Post Number: 419 Registered: 10-2006 |
The San Remo Music Festival Ah yes, Italy's famous five day Tv music festival, where almost every song seems to have been written around 1963. This year one poppy number has managed to get up to somewhere around the early eighties. Occasionally, there's a big melodic ballad that really works, but otherwise anything vaguely rocky is utterly banned. Then they spend a fortune getting some overrated American star over here to mime through a recent hit, take the money, and run. Everyone hates it, but everyone watches it. |