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TheKaeptain
Banned
swoon said:
WAT! Explain yourself. I'm serious. I have never seen anyone call him awful.
JumpJeff84
Member
swoon said:
What do you define as an awful director? To me an awful director is someone who doesn't have the ability to get good performances out of his actors, or isn't able to make the film he has in his head.
I don't think that describes PTA. He's pulled career standout performances from Mark Wahlberg, Heather Graham, Adam Sandler, Burt Reynolds and many more. And he makes the films that he wants to. You may not like his movies, but calling him an awful director is kinda silly.
You're awful at expressing your opinions without seeming like a pretentious know it all, though I have a slight fondness for your avatar. You may never outgrow your contrarian for the sake of it attitude.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
CaptYamato said:
Criterion is fucking nailing it the next couple of months. Army of Shadows in January, Double Life of Veronique and Amarcord in February, and Yi Yi and Au Revoir Les Enfants (wished it was Murmur of the Heart instead but hopefully more Malle to come!) in March, and perhaps Branded to Kill and Tokyo Drifter in April.
There are some ramblings of Army of Shadow's rights might get pulled a little bit before or shortly after its release (since Rialto rights have been getting bought by some other company) so I would jump on that as soon as it comes out. I will probably purchase Army of Shadows, Double Life of Veronique, Yi Yi (#1 film of the 00s for me), and Branded to Kill (if that rumor is true) immediately when they come out.
TheKaeptain
Banned
AlternativeUlster said:
Branded To Kill...
Is that the Yakuza movie? If so, bought. I'll for sure buy Yi Yi and A.O.S.
HiResDes said:
No reason to call him awful. Most directors and artist have flaws.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
Whoompthereitis said:What do you define as an awful director? To me an awful director is someone who doesn't have the ability to get good performances out of his actors, or isn't able to make the film he has in his head.
I don't think that describes PTA. He's pulled career standout performances from Mark Wahlberg, Heather Graham, Adam Sandler, Burt Reynolds and many more. And he makes the films that he wants to. You may not like his movies, but calling him an awful director is kinda silly.
You're awful at expressing your opinions without seeming like a pretentious know it all, though I have a slight fondness for your avatar. You may never outgrow your contrarian for the sake of it attitude.
People have different tastes is all that it is. I can understand swoon's distaste for P.T. Anderson for at times, like Tarantino, they seem to be master rip off artists who are just emulating other filmmakers in their own unique ways. Woody Allen was criticized for sometimes trying to make Bergman and Fellini films but I think in years, those works stand on their own. With PT Anderson, you can tell from a bulk of his works that he loves Robert Altman, and hell, he even ghost directed Prairie Home Companion since Robert Altman was so frail and ill.
If I was going to start a movie review site, I would start it with CosmicBus and swoon and call it "contrariancritics.com."
GullyJuice
Banned
Catching up on some documentaries. I've generally become skeptical of them since so many are one-sided and have had facts disputed. Rly want to see Inside Job and Waiting for Superman.
The Cove The lead activist just struck me as a baffoon. This doc could have done so much more to educate about dolphins and how intelligent they are, instead it mostly relied on anecdotes and such. The 'spy scene' had zero tension. Hard to say this isn't a little xenophobic as well. The fact that this won an Oscar is pretty telling.
49 Up A little subduing I guess to see entire lives of people on film. I guess what's most interesting about it is seeing how their core personalities have mostly stayed the same, while their views on issues sometimes seismically changed.
The Cove The lead activist just struck me as a baffoon. This doc could have done so much more to educate about dolphins and how intelligent they are, instead it mostly relied on anecdotes and such. The 'spy scene' had zero tension. Hard to say this isn't a little xenophobic as well. The fact that this won an Oscar is pretty telling.
49 Up A little subduing I guess to see entire lives of people on film. I guess what's most interesting about it is seeing how their core personalities have mostly stayed the same, while their views on issues sometimes seismically changed.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
CaptYamato said:
Branded to Kill is not only a Yakuza film but the greatest Yakuza film of all time and easily in my top 10 of all time too.
TheKaeptain
Banned
bumbillbee
Member
AlternativeUlster said:
PLEASE do this.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
CaptYamato said:
No I haven't but I heard some great things from friends who saw it at Fantastic Fest. That is awesome you are watching Breathless. I wish someone would release a Region 1 of that.
CajoleJuice
Member
Seconded. I don't even know most of the films they talk about or agree with many of the opinions, but they are very interesting and knowledgable posters.bumbillbee said:
And what I read of AU's Synecdoche, NY review was awesome. Still need to get around to reading all 150+ pages.
I saw The Housemaid remake at Fantastic Fest. It was good, wouldn't say great. Definitely worth watching though
i had a similar idea, bought the domain elitistfilmsnobs.com like a year ago. been too lazy to finish the site up thoughAlternativeUlster said:
TheKaeptain
Banned
Hopefully I get to watch The Housemaid too.AlternativeUlster said:
Breathless is a movie I have waited to see for awhile but never got around to watching.
Whoompthereitis said:What do you define as an awful director? To me an awful director is someone who doesn't have the ability to get good performances out of his actors, or isn't able to make the film he has in his head.
I don't think that describes PTA. He's pulled career standout performances from Mark Wahlberg, Heather Graham, Adam Sandler, Burt Reynolds and many more. And he makes the films that he wants to. You may not like his movies, but calling him an awful director is kinda silly.
You're awful at expressing your opinions without seeming like a pretentious know it all, though I have a slight fondness for your avatar. You may never outgrow your contrarian for the sake of it attitude.
his movies lack any creative spark or emotional depth, though i'm not going to apply that entirely to there will be blood. he doesn't understand humans beyond what people go through in high school. and being able to direct bad actors well isn't a selling point to me.
visually he looks like a bad altman, and unlike altman he only knows one way to make films and i mean haven't we seen those films before and better? it think boogie nights could have been great if he actually had something to say about the american dream and personal agency and whatever else, but he doesn't because he hasn't experienced those emotions before. it's a clever movie, but doesn't contain any of the depth it needs to make it good.
my fault is that i reward films that try for something and fail more than movies that don't try so i like a lot of camp and films early in directors career because they are still trying to make something feel new or express emotions honestly.
AlternativeUlster said:
yea i like qt because he is influenced by everyone...all at once rather than altman, but not even like all of altman just nashville. or wes anderson stealing all of his film making chops from the graduate and nothing else. even david gordon green who is busy smoking his way through his prime has more points of reference than malick.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
CajoleJuice said:
I would mostly want to do reviews like that, or have dialouges among the critics associated with the site. Are you in swoon and CosmicBus? I can buy the domain with my Visa gift card from Google for 10 bucks? I want the site layout to be primitive looking so I don't think it would take long to make the website.
TheKaeptain
Banned
Too late I already bought it.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
swoon said:
I think Wes Anderson also owes a lot to French New Wave than just the Graduate with several nods to JD Salinger at least in his story telling. :lol at David Gordon Green. I think it is going to be a good 10 years before we see him trying to make something like George Washington again (unless his comedy films continue to be as successful as they are). Snow Angels was laughably bad to me though.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
CaptYamato said:
Wait, did you buy the domain? Jerk. :lol
I agree with some of your points Swoon, but suggesting that a message is missing in P.T.A's films just seems silly to me. Sure it may not be overtly there in every film, but I think this openness is what makes both Altman and he special. When a message is too readily apparent, or too easily decipherable into undemanding means it can become overbearing, making it pedantic and shallow.
TheKaeptain
Banned
:lol :lol :lolAlternativeUlster said:
No but I thought about it. Just to see what you would do.
AlternativeUlster said:
yea if it's like a movie club style thing i'm in. if i have to complete with 150 pages of anything i may come up short.
have you read lethem's book on they live? it kicked off a series simliar to 33 1/3 on softskull press called deep focus, you should shop your piece around to them.
i submit contrariancontrarian.com as an alternative.
came across this a few weeks back and meant to pick it up. the 2011 series lineup doesn't look all that thrilling.swoon said:
got the art of hammer book for christmas, its pretty badass, just wish it went into more detail (backstories,etc) about a lot of the posters and the flicks
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
swoon said:
I have not actually but I do love softskull press (Motorman is my all time favorite book). I love reading the 33 1/3 books so I will check it out. Man, contrariancontraian.com is classier. I think I will go with that domain instead. I will send you a PM later tonight when I figure out the logistics of it.
EDIT: I noticed they did one on Death Wish. I might start out with that one.
Count Dookkake
Member
Old friend and I were talking about a similar site some years ago.
Try the name 'filmcontrarian' if he has not registered it yet.
I might be inclined to participate. I like a lot of movies that people hate and a lot of movies that people love.
Try the name 'filmcontrarian' if he has not registered it yet.
I might be inclined to participate. I like a lot of movies that people hate and a lot of movies that people love.
JumpJeff84
Member
How about a spot on the contrarian site where you can post reviews from me, a guy who sees less than 10 movies a year?
Foliorum Viridum
Banned
Easy A.
It started out charming and fun, a kinda spiritual sequel to Mean Girls in a way, but halfway through it just lost me. A letdown, overall.
It started out charming and fun, a kinda spiritual sequel to Mean Girls in a way, but halfway through it just lost me. A letdown, overall.
Recently i've seen:
Silent Hill - meh, i love the videogame, but the movie is just too full of plotholes, cheesy dialogues and is shitty in general.
I liked the special effects(not the CG ones) and Laurie Holden's interpretation, though.
The Road - What a great goddam depressing movie is it? Amazing Viggo Mortensen.
Dead Snow (Dod Sno) - Really funny zombie movie, full of gore and.. it doesn't take itself too seriously.
Inside (À l'intérieur) - Amazing horror, i still like Martyrs better, but this is also great.
Well, some of the things
, but anyway, it's great if you like this kind of films (very hardcore gore stuff).
Silent Hill - meh, i love the videogame, but the movie is just too full of plotholes, cheesy dialogues and is shitty in general.
I liked the special effects(not the CG ones) and Laurie Holden's interpretation, though.
The Road - What a great goddam depressing movie is it? Amazing Viggo Mortensen.
Dead Snow (Dod Sno) - Really funny zombie movie, full of gore and.. it doesn't take itself too seriously.
Inside (À l'intérieur) - Amazing horror, i still like Martyrs better, but this is also great.
Well, some of the things
the cops does, are completely retarded, which serves them well
Silent light - The long-still shots throughout felt very reminiscent of tarkovsky in a good way, and some of the cinematography gave me a real "days of heaven' feel, which was great.
Overall - a beautiful film with some really powerful scenes and incredibly well-shot throughout, but that ending.. I'm not so sure what to think of it, but it mostly left me cold. I did like the closing shot and how it contrasted with the start of the film though.
Overall - a beautiful film with some really powerful scenes and incredibly well-shot throughout, but that ending.. I'm not so sure what to think of it, but it mostly left me cold. I did like the closing shot and how it contrasted with the start of the film though.
Phaethon0017
Member
Splice: Wat. WAT...wat. I felt uncomfortable watching this the whole time, and that ending perturbs me. None of this in a good way mind you.
Jack Scofield
Member
Leatherface said:LTTP. But I wanted to say that this movie is fucking FANTASTIC. I urge all to watch this!
The novel is much better than the film (obviously), but the movie is definitely no slouch. The prose is the novel is excellent, and the one complaint I have is that the film doesn't establish Grenouille's amazing sense of smell as well as the book does.
Still, such creepy atmosphere. Great film.
The concept of a film being derivative holds so little weight to me currently, as the movies that are referenced as inspiration for the newer movies are often unwatched by me at that current point in time. So, to me, any critic or reviewer (certainly not the same, and this has been discussed before..whatever) that uses the fact that they believe the film they've watched is derivative and lesser than what they were expecting because of this, I don't really care.
There's also this notion that movies like Blue Valentine are derivative and that they are unable to stand on their own because they cop so much of what made earlier movies with the same plot so successful (maybe not successful..I'm not sure what word I'm looking for here). However, if the examination of a relationship's ups and downs plot is intriguing enough, I don't understand why people like Cianfrance would cease making movies with those kinds of plots. Even if it offers little to nothing to really make it its own film and not just another Annie Hall or *insert movie of that ilk here,* I don't care because I love those movies so much.
That said, I do thoroughly enjoy people like Cosmic Bus, swoon, AlternativeUlster, etc because I do really like to read film criticism, and they typically seem to be very verbose about what they think of a particular film. It just bums me out that criticisms about a year in film are made when I still feel like there are movies that were released this year that would appeal to them.
There's also this notion that movies like Blue Valentine are derivative and that they are unable to stand on their own because they cop so much of what made earlier movies with the same plot so successful (maybe not successful..I'm not sure what word I'm looking for here). However, if the examination of a relationship's ups and downs plot is intriguing enough, I don't understand why people like Cianfrance would cease making movies with those kinds of plots. Even if it offers little to nothing to really make it its own film and not just another Annie Hall or *insert movie of that ilk here,* I don't care because I love those movies so much.
That said, I do thoroughly enjoy people like Cosmic Bus, swoon, AlternativeUlster, etc because I do really like to read film criticism, and they typically seem to be very verbose about what they think of a particular film. It just bums me out that criticisms about a year in film are made when I still feel like there are movies that were released this year that would appeal to them.
ChubbyHuggs
Member
Saw True Grit for my birthday.
I thoroughly enjoyed it on all levels.
I thoroughly enjoyed it on all levels.
Jack Scofield
Member
Philia said:This BAD boy on BLU-RAY. I'm... in pure awe. Having several misconceptions and yet knowing second hand of how awesome it was ONLY JUST SCRATCH THE SURFACE.
Poster always looked like he was trying to take a shit.
Count Dookkake
Member
Jack Scofield said:
There Will Be Mud
Really? The first got me psyched to watch Meet the Fockers... I personally like Hoffman, have no opinion on Striesand (neither like nor dislike). I have zero interest in seeing Little Fockers, however.LM4sure said:
I've been meaning to see this for a while. Some Spanish folks I met in Tokyo (of all places) highly recommended it. Sounds like a powerful flick, and I have a very high opinion of Bardem as an actor. I may watch Biutiful sometime down the road as well, despite the criticism.rvy said:
Just finished watching Inception for the first time having only watched around two trailers and impressions from people.
Instantly considered for my overall top list, gotta watch it again. Best movie I have seen in 2010 so far but I haven't watched Social Network, Black Swan, True Grit or anything like it yet.
Instantly considered for my overall top list, gotta watch it again. Best movie I have seen in 2010 so far but I haven't watched Social Network, Black Swan, True Grit or anything like it yet.
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