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[Linius]

The One I Love

So ehrm, this was totally not what I expected. Let me start by saying anyone interested in seeing this film should just not read too much about it and go in blind. In this minimal write-up I'll just stick to the core and leave the plot be as much as possible.

Firstly I liked how the movie was shot. It looked beautiful and the peaceful very short nature/surroundings shots here and there were very comfortable. Like the one with the hummingbird. The movie is set at a beautiful cottage in a remote place overlooking sunny hills and I'm glad we got to see a little of that. Then about Elisabeth Moss and Mark Duplasse as basically the only two actors in the film. They both did a stellar job. Especially given the plot. I hope we get to see Elisabeth Moss in films more and more. She's simply great. The only thing I'm gonna say about the plot then is that it certainly leaves some things unanswered. Which make the ending feel a little too plotty maybe. But all things considered it was a good movie to me.

7,5/10

 

[overcast]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Gone Girl or Birdman. I didn't care for Nightcrawler aside from Jake.

Gone Girl is probably the most entertaining.

 

[Grinchy]

All day today I've had Whiplash on my mind. That movie just digs in and sticks with you.

 

[big ander]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Of the three I've seen: Gone Girl and Nightcrawler are leagues more exciting and compelling than Birdman

As a sort of warning or precaution, Nightcrawler isn't about news media, at least not in any intelligent way. Capitalism and modern entrepreneurialism are more the core

 

[Blader]

John Wick
Everyone said this was fucking awesome and it was. Goddamn, was this good. Great looking and choreographed shootouts, and while I was a little worried about Keanu's performance in the beginning, he really sold me after that first

Spoiler

attack in his house

. Now I'm really looking forward to his new show, which iirc is also being done the same directors too.

 

[Borgnine]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Nightcrawler.

 

[Linius]

Seen Birdman and Gone Girl of those. Pick Birdman any time, any day. I've got a solution, just go see all those movies eventually. Simples.

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Only seen Nightcrawler and American Sniper.

Like others have said, Nightcrawler is good.

 

[Kacar]

American Sniper: I don't like war movies at all, but I love Cooper, so I enjoyed it, didn't really care for any other aspect in it. Cooper saved it.

 

[cacildo]

Now, imagine it's the 80s. You walk into a theater going to see this blind, no info at all. I was blown away by it. Unlike anything I had seen at that time. Fantastic film, and I agree that it should be far more well known than it is.

I envy you.

I watched based on a gaf recommendation with little to no info. It was great, but probably not close to watching it in the theater in an era without internet

This is the perfect "Night owl movie", as we call it over here. A movie that you watch late night and in the next day you wonder if all that really happened in the movie or were you just dreaming

 

[Tom Penny]

I hadn't watched the Matrix in forever. Great movie.

 

[overcast]

Just don't waste money on American Sniper.

 

[Discotheque]

Gone Girl > birdman > nightcrawler > imitation game

 

[Delta Assault]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Fury. It's fun.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Of the ones that I've seen: Birdman > Nightcrawler > Gone Girl

Birdman and Nightcrawler are real close though and I could switch them and not have a problem with it.

 

[Serpentine]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Nightcrawler is the best of the bunch. Gone Girl is great as well, and Birdman's a good third. Fury's aight. Haven't seen IG but i have like negative interest in it

John Wick
Everyone said this was fucking awesome and it was. Goddamn, was this good. Great looking and choreographed shootouts, and while I was a little worried about Keanu's performance in the beginning, he really sold me after that first

Spoiler

attack in his house

. Now I'm really looking forward to his new show, which iirc is also being done the same directors too.

Didn't know they were all doing a show, I'm so down

 

[Net_Wrecker]

So I've decided on a movie night tonight and my choices are The Imitation Game, Nightcrawler, Gone Girl, Fury, Birdman and American Sniper. That's basically a list of all the films I want to see. I was dead set on Nightcrawler because of the stellar reviews and overwhelmingly positive critical consensus in tandem with the interesting subject matter (just read the synopsis on Metacritic).

What do you guys think? Can anyone who has seen Nightcrawler vouch for it?

Nightcrawler = Gone Girl > Birdman > The Imitation Game > American Sniper > Fury

 

[Mifune]

Watched Under the Skin last night.

That movie knocked me on my ass. Creepy and sad, with moments and images that will stick with me forever. One of the most gorgeously shot movies I've seen in a long time.

I also walked out of Inherent Vice after twenty minutes. Not because of the movie, but because the theater fucked up the 70mm projection. Blurry image, bad lighting, bleh. Will give it another shot tomorrow.

 

[Apt101]

Better Living Through Chemistry. It had its moments, though the plot and character dynamics were formulaic and the entire thing a little rote. Unless one is a real fan of Sam Rockwell or Olivia Wilde I couldn't recommend putting aside 90 minutes to watch it.

 

[big ander]

The Last of the Mohicans 3.5/5 compassionate sort of side history, putting family over nations or tribes. so, the same central theme as the Fast and Furious franchise.
Old Joy originally went 6/10 for this. I think I'd already tick it up some. Reichardt starts the movie off with a soon-to-be father failing to meditate, but the following experience is excellently calming. The lush photography and ambient pacing (not meanderingly so however—there is a plot here, however lightly applied it is) embed so the ideas of longtime male friendships being more closed-off and limited than almost any other relationship, comparable to political divides, really course through you.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives 8/10 No Syndromes and a Century, but what is. Singular and serene. Striking in its acknowledgment of its own failure to capture the essence of everything, because that would be impossible. This is just a movie, these are just images, and we are just people.
Somewhere 5/10 compelling when daughter Cleo is around and the film can explore Johnny's voracious sexuality grating against his having a growing daughter, or how his feeling the weight of the spotlight alters (or doesn't alter) her attitude. Her being around just breathes life into Johnny's character, the movie becomes less about him fixing his malaise than him realizing he's emptied in the first place. When she's not around,a nd occasionally when she is, Coppola's unfocused and unable to be incisive. oh really, celebrities can feel detached sometimes? tell me more.
The Duke of Burgundy 9/10 might just be all it's cracked up to be. A love story in inverted words but familiar, heart-wrenching meanings. sure they're a sub/dom lesbian couple participating in regular watersports, but that can't stop this from being a tender romance. The luridness is there to strip you bare so their relationship troubles, their worries that they've grown apart or they will grow apart or they were never as close as they assumed to begin with, all hits the nerves even harder. Lushly photographed, confidently funny and surreal

Spoiler

the mannequins in the crowd! the fact that the crowd is all women and all study butterflies, seemingly the only type of person in this universe! the Mothlight homage! a dream sequence (or maybe not a dream?) taking place in the space between a character's thighs!

, and a much more convicted persuasive film than Berberian Sound Studio.

I envy you.

I watched based on a gaf recommendation with little to no info. It was great, but probably not close to watching it in the theater in an era without internet

This is the perfect "Night owl movie", as we call it over here. A movie that you watch late night and in the next day you wonder if all that really happened in the movie or were you just dreaming

I watched that movie, loved it, then promptly showed it to a bunch of new friends early into college. they hated it and most never trusted me to recommend a movie again lmao.

There was an e-book all about Miracle Mile recently that I bought but I lost it in a hdd crash, I should try to find it again.

 

[Toothless]

Finally got around to seeing Whiplash and I want to see it again and again. Worth all the hype

 

[Death Metalist]

The Last of the Mohicans 3.5/5 compassionate sort of side history, putting family over nations or tribes. so, the same central theme as

This movie had a magnificent score, easily the most memorable thing about it.

 

[Ridley327]

I think one of the most ringing endorsements that I could give a film is that, time permitting, I would want to immediately see it again after watching it. Whiplash is such a film, as it not only works as a tense, gripping character study about why someone would push themselves so hard in the face of adversity to be the best they could possibly be, or as a terrific showcase for actors as enormously talented as Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, but it's also an amazing display of what it's like to be a musician from a visual perspective. As a former tubist good enough to get into smaller youth orchestras, I immediately picked up on director Damien Chazelle's evident experience with playing music as well, since the entire film is shot and edited to emphasize the joy and certainly the anguish one experiences from playing at such a high level. Some people may not appreciate the intricacies (certainly, Chazelle can sympathize there, with a hilariously brutal dinner disaster driving that point home from a writing perspective), but for those that can, it's a near-endlessly rewarding film to hear and watch, even if nothing else worked. Cince it is such a perfect harmony (unavoidable pun, I'm afraid) of filmmaking, however, it's going to be hard for me to consider anything less than an instant classic. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

 

[Fancy Clown]

Days of Being Wild was pretty good. Not as good as In the Mood for Love or Fallen Angels, as it didnt trigger me as emotionally as either of them (the main character can be a real cunt in this) but I liked it a lot. After seeing three of his films it's clear Wong Kar-Wai likes to play with the same visual motifs and themes, but it's not a bad thing because he does it so well and each film has a distinct look (thanks to Christopher Doyle da god).

 

[Femmeworth]

Whiplash

Intense but also just a tad (intentionally) silly. Didn't really get anything out of it otherwise. Does serve as a reminder I need to listen to more jazz.

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes. One of the better blockbusters of 2014 I've seen. Better than Rise and pretty entertaining. Some cliched moments and characters, but good movie. The apes seemed a little less op than in the first one, which I liked. 7/10

 

[NemesisHunter]

Whiplash.

The hype generated after its recent Oscar nominations is well warranted.
The movie keeps you in a perpetual state of unease and tautness: you're like a guitar string that's kept cranked and held under extreme tension, ready to snap at a moment's notice.

 

[Rei_Toei]

I checked Birdman last night. It took a bit of time to adjust to the style (the way it flows) and music. This in a way reminded me of Dogville. But after that, I was hooked. Fantastic acting all around. I really liked how Shiner, for a while at least, takes centre stage both in the production and the movie, then the focus shifts back to Riggan again.

 

[UrbanRats]

Whiplash

Intense but also just a tad (intentionally) silly. Didn't really get anything out of it otherwise. Does serve as a reminder I need to listen to more jazz.

What did you find silly? Just curious.
I would say the intensity of it (

Spoiler

the car crash, the bloody practice

) comes off that way if you look at it cold, but when you're captured in the rhythm of the movie, it fits so well within it.
Like it's his obsession and struggle to find meaning to his existence by suffocating himself with technical perfection and the carrot of being "one of the greats", and i think it has to become a touch surreal to sell that toxic feeling.

I really loved the movie, especially because my father is a (failed) jazz musician, while my mother has always been on the other side of the spectrum, a very pragmatic and more down to earth person (also the only one getting shit done) so in my house there often was that sort of tension between world views, and the idea of attaching baggage to very abstract shit; this movie sort of hit close to home with some of its elements.

Also, i thought the ending was just the perfect climax.
-
Anyway, watched The Boxtrolls, found it very charming and occasionally funny, it felt much more focused than Paranorman, though still a far cry from Coraline which, as i said in the past, i consider near perfect.
Really loved Ben Kingsley's performance.

 

[Grinchy]

Yeah, Whiplash is nearly a perfect film.

 

[Switch Back 9]

John Wick. Shit was tight as hell, loved it. Really enjoyed the unexpected world building too, had no idea the movie went that direction. I want more!

"Evenin John."
"Evenin Jimmy."

 

[Femmeworth]

What did you find silly? Just curious.

The car crash and J.K. Simmons in general. Some of the people in my theater laughed at some bits. (Not the car crash.) Damien Chazelle wrote Grand Piano so that was also in the back of my mind while watching it.

I would say the intensity of it (the car crash, the bloody practice) comes off that way if you look at it cold, but when you're captured in the rhythm of the movie, it fits so well within it.
Like it's his obsession and struggle to find meaning to his existence by suffocating himself with technical perfection and the carrot of being "one of the greats", and i think it has to become a touch surreal to sell that toxic feeling.

I couldn't buy into the film like that to take it at face value, particularly his motivations.

 

[MikeMyers]

Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004)

I thought it did a good job of bringing the Zombie story into a more modernized era. Made me a bit nostalgic for the UK since I used to live there.

 

[Meliorism]

The car crash and J.K. Simmons in general. Some of the people in my theater laughed at some bits. (Not the car crash.) Damien Chazelle wrote Grand Piano so that was also in the back of my mind while watching it.

I couldn't buy into the film like that to take it at face value, particularly his motivations.

Oh, the whole thing is incredibly stupid, and that scene was the pinnacle. I think I went in with the wrong approach. If I watched it more as a comedy instead of this brooding drama about doing whatever it takes to be the best, I might have appreciated it more.

 

[Secret Fawful]

I really loved the movie, especially because my father is a (failed) jazz musician, while my mother has always been on the other side of the spectrum, a very pragmatic and more down to earth person (also the only one getting shit done) so in my house there often was that sort of tension between world views, and the idea of attaching baggage to very abstract shit; this movie sort of hit close to home with some of its elements.

I feel like this part of your post should have carried more weight in the current discussion, and it kind of disturbs me that it didn't. That there's a reality to the movie that everyone just wants to conveniently ignore because it doesn't apply to them. Maybe I'm misjudging or being too harsh, though.

 

[UrbanRats]

The car crash and J.K. Simmons in general. Some of the people in my theater laughed at some bits. (Not the car crash.) Damien Chazelle wrote Grand Piano so that was also in the back of my mind while watching it.

I couldn't buy into the film like that to take it at face value, particularly his motivations.

By his motivation you mean Teller's character, right? Of course whether something connects or not is gonna have an element of subjectivity, but personally i think the dinner scene, and his

Spoiler

sudden rejection of the girl he was seeing

, are more or less enough to set up the character and his obsession, as something of a simulacrum, rather than just a pure genuine interest.
I mean of course any passion that goes into unhealthy and self destructive territory, usually underlines more than just pure interest, that goes without saying, but the movie sets up the reasons for that repeatedly, and in a pretty straight forward manner, from the dad who couldn't achieve his dreams, to his lack of a social position in the family, to his ideal of intellectual superiority.

As for the humor elements...

Oh, the whole thing is incredibly stupid, and that scene was the pinnacle. I think I went in with the wrong approach. If I watched it more as a comedy instead of this brooding drama about doing whatever it takes to be the best, I might have appreciated it more.

I think the movie has undoubtedly an element of humor, that bleeds into horror, that bleeds into drama, back and forth.
Also, more than "do all it takes to be the best", to me it was more about clinging to an obsession to avoid your deeper internal issues, or rather, how he searches for a strong male/father figure to get approval from.

I feel like this part of your post should have carried more weight in the current discussion, and it kind of disturbs me that it didn't. That there's a reality to the movie that everyone just wants to conveniently ignore because it doesn't apply to them. Maybe I'm misjudging or being too harsh, though.

Lol, i don't think anyone is maliciously "ignoring" anything, just that shit bounces off of different people in different ways, based on life experiences.

 

[Ridley327]

Clearly, I've been fucking up by not seeing The 'Burbs before now. It's not quite the career-defining film that Gremlins was for Joe Dante, but man, it's a hell of a great time all the same. I really do miss Tom Hanks as a physical comedian, since he has such fantastic timing in that regard, especially when the film gets more and more unhinged.

 

[overcast]

Those open spoilers lmao.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Those open spoilers lmao.

lol seriously ya'll niggas aint shit

 

[UrbanRats]

Those open spoilers lmao.

Lol, sorry i'll tag.
Didn't consider Whiplash a film you really "spoil", but fair enough.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

Anybody seen Branded to Kill or Go, Go, Second Time Virgin?

I'm going to be writing a paper on Japanese New Wave and I'm probably gonna use them as my focus because they seem pretty exemplative of the tail end of the movement as far as aesthetics and thematics go from what I've read about them (for some reason my prof is making us pick our films and create a thesis around them before we actually watch the movies). I'd be interested in hearing what any of you think of them since they sound like pretty wild films.

Branded to Kill is a personal top 5 of mine and you can easily write a thesis on it. I feel like for Go Go Second Time Virgin, you should watch some pink films and perhaps compare it to that but granted, Japan had a shit ton of art house pink films. I've never seen Go Go Second Time Virgin by the way but almost did tonight. Instead I watched two "ok" Ruiz films.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

I know this is probably the stupidest reason why I don't love Whiplash (I do generally like it though) is because it feels like it was made in the wrong era and if it was made at some other time, it probably would be heralded as a masterpiece.

 

[Ridley327]

What's the "right" era?

 

[ViewtifulJC]

What's the "right" era?

surely not the 90s, where style-driven indies like Whiplash were a dime a dozen

 

[AlternativeUlster]

What's the "right" era?

In an era where jazz was relevant perhaps.

 

[Ridley327]

In an era where jazz was relevant perhaps.

That gets brought up in the movie a few times, though, like the ignorance towards what Andy does during the dinner table scene, Andy's dad being passive-aggressively against his son's career path, and Fletcher even outright stating how much less popular the genre has been in recent years. I mean, it's not like the film presents a world where everybody is clawing over themselves to cop the latest Herbie Hancock album.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

I thought Whiplash was made more interesting because this crazed guy was still trying to push someone to and beyond their limit in a dying (or significantly less popular) genre. Made it the whole topic of "How far is too far" hit a bit more because the ceiling for a great Jazz musician is so low in comparison to the artists they continually reference in the movie. Whiplash made at the height of Jazz relevancy would be a different movie.

 

[megamerican]

I thought Whiplash was made more interesting because this crazed guy was still trying to push someone to and beyond their limit in a dying genre. Made it the whole topic of "How far is too far" hit a bit more because the ceiling for a great Jazz musician is so low in comparison to the artists they continually reference in the movie. Whiplash made at the height of Jazz relevancy would be a different movie.

Yeah I agree, it would have been just some other story of a guy trying to get to the top, get famous whatever. It also made Simmons more threatening with such a small, insular society he could burn someone for life.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

I thought Whiplash was made more interesting because this crazed guy was still trying to push someone to the brink in a dying genre. Made it the whole topic of "How far is too far" hit a bit more because the ceiling for a great Jazz musician is so low in comparison to the artists they continually reference in the movie. Whiplash made at the height of Jazz relevancy would be a different movie.

Imagine though if it was done though perhaps at the end of the era of jazz where kids are into their rock n roll. The thing could have been the great American classic, say if it was directed by Peter Bogdanovich or someone like that. Like I said though, it is a stupid reason for me to not regard it as higher as I should. It is probably my 2nd favorite of the nominations with Boyhood surpassing it.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

I still need to see Whiplash, if only to compare it to Inside Llewyn Davis, even though I'm pretty sure they're quite different.