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Movies You've Seen Recently III: The Third Chapter

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Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters - Yeah, no. **
Identity - I admire the ingenuity of the plot but the execution was somewhat lacking, never rising above the average slasher/whodunnit that it aims to surpass. It still does a bunch of things right, has a super fun cast and as mentioned, the twists are quite refreshing. ***

And then the recommendations I received for last night:

Une femme est une femme - Quirky, fun and lighthearted. I fell in love with Anna Karina, I fell in love with Godard's style again. ***½
Manborg - Hilariously bad and super awesome. Loved the dialog. Loved the stop motion. ***½

Thanks guys. Also; BaronLundi your recommendations have been noted.
 
I bought a 4 pack of some of Godard's 80 films. Can't wait to sit down and watch them. The movies are Passion, Carmen, The Detective, and Oh Woe is Me.

Have any of you seen any of them? Which ones should I see first?
 
Expendable. said:
Haven't updated in awhile...here's from the last two weeks or so:
Pain & Gain B (Bay's best film)
Voyage to Italy A (saw this at Film Forum today, quite a beautiful movie and a great exploration at how we can hurt the ones we love the most)
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Good to hear, I will try to see Pain and Gain this weekend. I want to try and see Voyage to Italy at FF as well. Nice to hear that it is beautiful.

But, speaking of Film Forum, I just saw Post Tenebras Lux (2012) yesterday there. Anyone else see this? One of the stranger films I have seen in a while, still don't know what to think. But, one thing I do know is that it is absolutely beautiful visually. Goddammn
 
BioHazard said:
Good to hear, I will try to see Pain and Gain this weekend. I want to try and see Voyage to Italy at FF as well. Nice to hear that it is beautiful.

But, speaking of Film Forum, I just saw Post Tenebras Lux (2012) yesterday there. Anyone else see this? One of the stranger films I have seen in a while, still don't know what to think. But, one thing I do know is that it is absolutely beautiful visually. Goddammn
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"They've got individuals, we've got a team."
 
The Twilight Samurai
That was pretty dull. Got a little more interesting when they got
Seibei to confront Zenemon Yogo
but I thought it was disappointing overall.

Hoop Dreams
This, on the other hand, was pretty fantastic. The production values have aged like shit but the story is so riveting. There have been tons of these types of sports docs but this has to be one of the better ones I've seen. I liked the similar Undefeated from two years ago but didn't really leave a lasting impression for me; Hoop Dreams had me going straight to wiki to find out more about what happened to Gates and Agee after the film. Awesome film.
 
The Artist - 9/10 Who can hate this film? Put aside all the award season hoopla that doesn't really matter, this is like the sweetest, richest cinematic chocolate you could buy. It's not the multi-layered sociology of "A Separation" or whatever, but I'll be damned if it isn't the most flat-out entertaining film of 2011 I've seen(Sorry Brad Bird).

Zombieland - 7/10 It aint Shaun of the Dead, but besides being "horror-comedies" they aren't really that similar. It more importantly though, it works for the same reason all good movie parodies/homages work, and it doesn't go after it's target(in this case, zombie movies and all their many cliches) like it's superior, "look how stupid this is!", but out of good-hearted, unabashed love for the genre. "Hey, this is pretty goofy as hell, right? Yeah, I love this shit". A clever script thats funny and a decent amount of character development, with a game cast that's obviously having a lot of fun, and at 80 mins it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

Really good films to see on what has been an unpleasingly stormy day. And look, the sun is back! Now I have no excuses to get my ass to the gym.
 
Speaking of which, just rewatched Shaun of the Dead and it's pretty good but absolutely not all it's cracked up to be. 3,5/5. Zombieland is terrible and only worth it for BM.

Still haven't seen a 00's comedy funnier than The 40 year old virgin, Me, Myself & Irene, The Hangover or Borat. Anchorman and Hot Fuzz still on my watchlist.
 
BaronLundi said:
Speaking of which, just rewatched Shaun of the Dead and it's pretty good but absolutely not all it's cracked up to be. 3,5/5. Zombieland is terrible and only worth it for BM.

Still haven't seen a 00's comedy better than The 40 year old virgin, Me, Myself & Irene, The Hangover or Borat. Anchorman and Hot Fuzz still on my watchlist.
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Well at least you're already prepared to stumble upon the answer.
 
Hot Saucerman said:
My recommendation to you was the only movie of his I've seen so far, so you've at least got a lead on me, haha. Out of those others you've seen, which would you recommend the most?
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I imagine it would be Breathless. Next one would be Pierrot le Fou (see above avatar).

Edit: Dammit Sculli!
 
Saw Minority Report. It was good, but not exempt of silly moments. It also leaves a couple questions up in the air. Cruise is usually not my cut of tea, but I liked him in this. 7/10

Also saw Charlotte's Web. Poor man's Babe. 5/10

Spoilers ahead for Babe and Charlotte's Web.

I've been thinking about Babe quite a bit lately, and was wondering if perhaps I was too generous when I gave it a 10. I know it's silly stuff to be thinking about, but I'm a self-conscious guy and you know how we can be quite judgmental in a thread like this. Thoughts crept up that maybe I'm not to be taken seriously for giving such praise to a kids movie. So, do I really think Babe is a 10 movie? Absolutely, more so now that I've seen Charlotte's Web. It actually made me appreciate it even more.

CW is a movie that in a way tries to be what Babe was (I know it is based on an older work), but is ultimately tame. Being likeable and cutesy is not enough to make a profound emotional connection. I cried and laughed with Babe, CW on the other hand did nothing to me, and I was wondering why. I think one of the reasons is because Babe's characters are better rounded and face actual perils and existential truths. Babe is an innocent character that meets the harshness of life and is crushed at the realization of death. He fucking falls into deep depression, sees a close friend being murdered before his eyes, and has to work to find his purpose in life and avoid being killed. The human characters are human, unlike the cardboard cutouts present in CW; Hogget points a fucking gun at Babe's face.

CW has some of this, but it is all nerfed because it would be too crude.

Babe is actually kind raw. There's a scene when he goes to wake the rooster, when he's told to leave, Babe trips and falls over (they add a silly voice). That scene had me rolling and I'm inclined to believe that was a serendipity moment, it was too natural.

Maybe what I loved the most about Babe was the unexpected. Take the cat scene for example. The cat is jealous that Babe is getting attention, scratches him and is kicked out. Later we see as he is planing to do something to Babe; I thought he was going to attack and hurt him, but he ends up telling him stuff that breaks his heart (which in turn is way more effective).

Wilbur doesn't grow and has nothing happen to him. He is just there, and the fighting for his life is done for him.

I think Babe might become one of my favorite movie. Perhaps I've given too much thought to these pig movies, though.
 
Charles Foster Kane said:
Saw Minority Report. It was good, but not exempt of silly moments. It also leaves a couple questions up in the air. Cruise is usually not my cut of tea, but I liked him in this. 7/10

Also saw Charlotte's Web. Poor man's Babe. 5/10

Spoilers ahead for Babe and Charlotte's Web.

I've been thinking about Babe quite a bit lately, and was wondering if perhaps I was too generous when I gave it a 10. I know it's silly stuff to be thinking about, but I'm a self-conscious guy and you know how we can be quite judgmental in a thread like this. Thoughts crept up that maybe I'm not to be taken seriously for giving such praise to a kids movie. So, do I really think Babe is a 10 movie? Absolutely, more so now that I've seen Charlotte's Web. It actually made me appreciate it even more.

CW is a movie that in a way tries to be what Babe was (I know it is based on an older work), but is ultimately tame. Being likeable and cutesy is not enough to make a profound emotional connection. I cried and laughed with Babe, CW on the other hand did nothing to me, and I was wondering why. I think one of the reasons is because Babe's characters are better rounded and face actual perils and existential truths. Babe is an innocent character that meets the harshness of life and is crushed at the realization of death. He fucking falls into deep depression, sees a close friend being murdered before his eyes, and has to work to find his purpose in life and avoid being killed. The human characters are human, unlike the cardboard cutouts present in CW; Hogget points a fucking gun at Babe's face.

CW has some of this, but it is all nerfed because it would be too crude.

Babe is actually kind raw. There's a scene when he goes to wake the rooster, when he's told to leave, Babe trips and falls over (they add a silly voice). That scene had me rolling and I'm inclined to believe that was a serendipity moment, it was too natural.

Maybe what I loved the most about Babe was the unexpected. Take the cat scene for example. The cat is jealous that Babe is getting attention, scratches him and is kicked out. Later we see as he is planing to do something to Babe; I thought he was going to attack and hurt him, but he ends up telling him stuff that breaks his heart (which in turn is way more effective).

Wilbur doesn't grow and has nothing happen to him. He is just there, and the fighting for his life is done for him.

I think Babe might become one of my favorite movie. Perhaps I've given too much thought to these pig movies, though.
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lol why aren't you using spoiler tags?

I haven't seen Babe or Charlotte's Web in a long time, but as a youth I thought Babe kind of sucked and I preferred Charlotte's Web by a mile. But I also asked for a DVD copy of The Last Unicorn for my 20th birthday, so I must be some sort of scroob.

edit: Didn't even know there's a live action Charlotte's Web, lol. Is that the one you saw?
 
Window said:
I imagine it would be Breathless. Next one would be Pierrot le Fou (see above avatar).

Edit: Dammit Sculli!
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Scullibundo said:
I'm now imagining Michael Biehn singing about Anna Karina's thigh line. It makes me giggle.
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Ah ah.

HiResDes said:
The Great Gatsby was quite awful.
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You don't say ! The Great Gatsby by Baz Luhrmann was awful !?

Given that this mofo managed to ruin Shakespeare, Australia, Paris, dancing, singing, cancan, the colour red, McGregor AND prostitutes in the span of only a few years I'll just pretend he doesn't exist and therefore couldn't possibly soil Fitzgerald.
 
HiResDes said:
The Great Gatsby was quite awful.
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I've only seen like the opening 10 minutes of Romeo+Juliet about 6 years ago (so well before most of my film viewings) and I didn't 'get it' at the time. What's the idea behind Baz Luhrmann's style? I haven't seen any of his films but from reading the Gatsby thread I imagine this film has similar problems as his other films (which I'm not really aware of)?
 
Window said:
I've only seen like the opening 10 minutes of Romeo+Juliet about 6 years ago (so well before most of my film viewings) and I didn't 'get it' at the time. What's the idea behind Baz Luhrmann's style? I haven't seen any of his films but from reading the Gatsby thread I imagine this film has similar problems as his other films (which I'm not really aware of)?
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His style is "what if every scene was a music video"
 
Scullibundo said:
Go on. :)
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Like if he was a fugitive, why was he still able to walk into the building? He should have been blocked even if he had the eyes (companies usually block your badge as soon as you get fired). Why was his ex able to do it too (even after he was arrested)? How did she get him out, and why did the guard did what she asked? He knew he wasn't at risk even if she pointed a gun at him because if she was going to kill him the precogs would have seen it.
Enjoyed it a lot, though.

Speevy said:
Which Charlotte's Web did you see, and how would you like to die?
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Live action, and sleeping in my bed.

Thug Waffle said:
lol why aren't you using spoiler tags?

I haven't seen Babe or Charlotte's Web in a long time, but as a youth I thought Babe kind of sucked and I preferred Charlotte's Web by a mile. But I also asked for a DVD copy of The Last Unicorn for my 20th birthday, so I must be some sort of scroob.

edit: Didn't even know there's a live action Charlotte's Web, lol. Is that the one you saw?
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I didn't want it to be a huge black block, but I warned about the spoilers.
 
Window said:
I've only seen like the opening 10 minutes of Romeo+Juliet about 6 years ago (so well before most of my film viewings) and I didn't 'get it' at the time. What's the idea behind Baz Luhrmann's style? I haven't seen any of his films but from reading the Gatsby thread I imagine this film has similar problems as his other films (which I'm not really aware of)?
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The problem is that his films manage to turn masterpieces into terribly boring, extremely loud and incredibly ugly 2 hour long caricatures of music videos. A trifecta very few manage to achieve. Never in my life have I so dearly wished I was blind, deaf and possibly deceased than during my "watching" of Moulin Rouge.

I'm sure this bastard also laughs (in that weird accent that they have down there) whilst bathing in all the money he makes from shitting on real authors.

Window said:
To be clear, I don't really hold any opinion for or against him (I'm going to be dismissive of my judgement of films at 15)
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You don't ? Meet me somewhere.
 
Charles Foster Kane said:
Why was his ex able to do it too (even after he was arrested)? How did she get him out, and why did the guard did what she asked? He knew he wasn't at risk even if she pointed a gun at him because if she was going to kill him the precogs would have seen it.
Enjoyed it a lot, though.
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Now ask yourself if anything after John went into the halo-vault actually happened. :)
 
BABE is awesome because they built animatronic animals that could shit, to make them look more realistic in the background.

Also, BABE: PIG IN THE CITY is better.
 
Scullibundo said:
Romeo + Juliet is actually the only film of Luhrmann's that I like. But goddamn if I don't hate him.
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I saw that film freshman year of High School, I liked it except for when someone was talking. The modern day feel combined with the Shakespeare dialogue didn't mash well together for me.
 
BaronLundi said:
You don't ? Meet me somewhere.
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Ha, well as I said I haven't seen any of his films so it's kind of hard to.

Scullibundo said:
Now ask yourself if anything after John went into the halo-vault actually happened. :)
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I've read this here before but even allowing for this actually being the case (I don't know if there were any hints in the film towards this but I'm sure you have examples) how does that thematically tie in to the first half of the film?
 
Window said:
I've read this here before but even allowing for this actually being the case (I don't know if there were any hints in the film towards this but I'm sure you have examples) how does that thematically tie in to the first half of the film?
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It ties entirely into the idea of being able to trust the impression of reality being presented before you ala The Precogs' visions being accepted as fact. And because it's the only way Anderton is able to get what he wants and has been striving for.

But yes, ultimately you have the vault-keeper putting Anderton into stasis, and while we're very deliberately pushing in on his eyes and observing his neural activity, we get the line 'It's actually kind of a rush. They say your whole life flashes before your eyes. That all your dreams come true', followed immediately by a cut to the impossible events that happen: Anderton's wife suddenly fighting for Anderton, Burgess suddenly being uncharacteristically sloppy, pre-crime being dissolved, Anderton reuniting with his wife and another baby on the way while Agatha and the other precogs are free to live in an idyllic cottage on a mountainside. What cements it is when Spielberg changed the ending from the theatrical print to remove the text explaining that crimes and murder eventually returned - thus removing any kind of negative connotation and in so doing removing any semblance of reality that ending had once been afforded.
 
The Minority Report debate seems to flare up in this thread every couple of months. It's always a frustrating discussion,
because both sides seem to think the other side is missing something blatant, but I don't think that's the case. There are similar films with the same twist, Vanilla Sky (also starring Cruise), Total Recall (also based on a story by Phil Dick), it would have been deeply unusual for this concept to have not been floated during the film's development. There are tracks laid for it to be the case. If it ultimately is to the writers, or cast, or director, isn't important.

It also doesn't matter if Deckard is a replicant.
 
Serenity 5/10- lol at the "epic" moments. Half the cast stood around doing nothing, villain was boring though Chiwetel is an underrated actor, fan-servicey parts were bleh, who cares about the reapers. Nathan Fillion is cool though.

Tony Takitana 8/10 - the superior Murakami adaptation, great music and use of sound.

Cosmopolis 4/10 - The surprise Mathieu Amalric and Juliette Binoche visits woke me up. The people weren't human. Capitalism.

The Lady Eve 6/10- Barbara Stranwyck oh god. Dialogue was hilarious, more physical comedy than expected. Stopped caring about plot after leaving the ship. Fonda seemed genuinely annoyed by that horse.
 
I watched After Hours randomly on Lovefilm as it's one of the few Scorsese flicks I've never seen. One of the quirkiest films I've seen in a very long time but thankfully not in that really annoying 'look at me aren't I QUIRKY!' way. It's not laugh out loud funny too often but the strange situations Griffin Dunnes character finds himself get stranger and stranger and yet come across as completely plausible. I also liked the way it completely subverted my expectations in
Rosanna Arquettes character, who you think he's going to have a crazy night with, ends up killing herself which actually leads to a laugh out loud moment for me with him posting the 'dead body over there' bits of paper around the apartment.

Performances are all good, especially Dunne who gets more confused and annoyed as the film goes on and it has one of my favourite ending moments in a film for a long time. It's definitely a film that has stuck with me since I've seen it though I'm not sure how much I'll enjoy it knowing everything that happens if I rewatch it.
 
I can't recall who mentioned it, but can someone explain to me how Scream criticized fans of the horror genre? I am not stupid, but I can be dense sometimes; I dunno, I just wasn't offended by it and I love slasher flicks.
 
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