Count Dookkake
Member
The science is a bit iffy, but the filmmaking is top-notch.
Movies You've Seen Recently: Return of the Revenge of the Curse of the...
- Thread starter Cosmic Bus
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The science is a bit iffy, but the filmmaking is top-notch.
Dragoon En Regalia
Member
I haven't seen The Godfather yet either. I like to put off the so-called classics and find my own film-watching rhythm instead. This means alternation between the reputed and the obscure, and I like it that way.
Not that The Godfather isn't worth my time, of course. I simply don't have it at home!
Not that The Godfather isn't worth my time, of course. I simply don't have it at home!
I haven't seen Roger Rabbit since I was a kid, and I've never seen Romancing The Store, but the BTTF trilogy were probably my favorite films when I was ten or so, and I rewatched them last year, I didn't really enjoy them. I've seen Death Becomes Her, Forrest Gump, What Lies Beneath and Cast Away in the last couple of years, and I didn't enjoy them.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Oh my.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
That's ok. I still haven't seen:
Seven Samurai
The Once Upon a Time movies
Barry Lyndon
La Strada
8 1/2
Thin Red Line
Chungking Express
After Hours
The Aviator
and many many others lol.
Seven Samurai
The Once Upon a Time movies
Barry Lyndon
La Strada
8 1/2
Thin Red Line
Chungking Express
After Hours
The Aviator
and many many others lol.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
Sure. I've heard Leone's Once upon a time are great and really want to see those too, I loved The Good The Bad and The Ugly. 8 1/2 is pretty high on my radar too.
Discotheque
Banned
Pretty much. Considering the subject matter of the film he's pretty much in his zone on passion, can't wait to watch it
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
All the movies you listed are great. I'd just like to see your reaction to Chungking first. Shit, it's been a few years since I last watched it. I might even do a rewatch.
The Thin Red Line and Once Upon a Time In the West are my two favorites out of the ones listed.
I'd get to Chungking Express first though. It's the easiest to watch because of how fun and visually stylish it is.
SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
In fact, I still haven't seen La Strada. That might have to be the movie I watched this week.
TheKaeptain
Banned
Dude that's swoon's title
Edit: I'm sure swoon has seen more films than anyone on Gaf. He has 5311 checked on ICM
Casino Royal wasn't tedious and dull. Skyfall is easily the most over-rated film of the year, IMO. Huge disappointment.
Was home from Christmas and found these decade-old stubs:
I honestly can't remember a quarter of those movies.
I'vce got all my ticket stubs since 1997. They are like 2 inches thick.
Kilgore Trout
Member
I have yet to the see The Searchers or any Godard film. I'm going to rectify the latter tomorrow when I watch Breathless.
TrumanBurbank
Member
Killing Them Softly.
Assassination of Jesse James and Chopper are easily up there in a list of my favourite films of all times. With the same director at the helm, great trailer I thought I was going to get a great film.
Instead I got one of the worst films I have seen this year. I stay away from the crap that gets terrible reviews but this got decent reviews so I checked it out. Uninteresting from beginning to end, the only thing that saves it are the performances. Brad Pitt in particular.
1/10
Assassination of Jesse James and Chopper are easily up there in a list of my favourite films of all times. With the same director at the helm, great trailer I thought I was going to get a great film.
Instead I got one of the worst films I have seen this year. I stay away from the crap that gets terrible reviews but this got decent reviews so I checked it out. Uninteresting from beginning to end, the only thing that saves it are the performances. Brad Pitt in particular.
1/10
a secret-boss
Banned
Just watched Back to the Future 2 haven't seen the movie since the 90s. I thought the movie was ok back then except for the to be continued part. Now watching it, that whole Almanac goose chase was ridiculous.
Marty talking to the Doc at the back of Biff's car.
The principal getting the book, Biff's lackeys, etc throwing these scenarios just to make Marty do simple thing complicated
I really like 1885 being set up from the start of the movie
Marty talking to the Doc at the back of Biff's car.
The principal getting the book, Biff's lackeys, etc throwing these scenarios just to make Marty do simple thing complicated
I really like 1885 being set up from the start of the movie
Yeah but kitty actually likes Criterion, swoon merely tolerates it.
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
I have never seen Jaws before.
creativity
Member
Carlos Saura? This is a tremendous film that so few people have seen. Not better than those previous two, though.
My favorite 2012 discoveries:
10. Gold Diggers of 1933 (LeRoy)
9. Le jour se leve (Carne)
8. Le ciel est a vous (Gremillon)
7. A Time to Love and a Time to Die (Sirk)
6. The Golden Coach (Renoir)
5. Mysteries of Lisbon (Ruiz)
4. Muriel, or the Time of Return (Resnais)
3. Tristana (Bunuel)
2. Die Nibelungen (Lang)
1. Europa '51 (Rossellini)
BeautifulMemory
Member
I have been thinking about watching Chungking Express again. Saw it years ago and completely went over my head - I am curious now that I am older if I can appreciate it
AlternativeUlster
Absolutely pathetic part deux
Carlos Saura? This is a tremendous film that so few people have seen. Not better than those previous two, though.
My favorite 2012 discoveries:
10. Gold Diggers of 1933 (LeRoy)
9. Le jour se leve (Carne)
8. Le ciel est a vous (Gremillon)
7. A Time to Love and a Time to Die (Sirk)
6. The Golden Coach (Renoir)
5. Mysteries of Lisbon (Ruiz)
4. Muriel, or the Time of Return (Resnais)
3. Tristana (Bunuel)
2. Die Nibelungen (Lang)
1. Europa '51 (Rossellini)
Yeah, I am going to watch Carmen later tonight. Yeah, Blood Wedding isn't probably better than those 2 but neither is Head but I just love them a little bit more. Your list reminds me to watch Muriel. I guess I will rent that tomorrow.
Kilgore Trout
Member
It seems like a lot of people on Gaf and in this thread like Chungking Express, I don't see a lot of talk about In the Mood for Love or 2046, both of which are superior, in my mind.
BeautifulMemory
Member
if I am going to buy BR on ChunKing, should I grab In the Mood for Love as well then?
I've seen loads of films recently (both new and not-so-new), so I'll try my best to rate them and say a quick thing or two for each one.
Avengers Assemble - 10/10
What can I say? I went in with the wildest expectations, and still came out speechless. Sure it's hollow, mostly a feast for the eyes and a Marvel fans' wet dream, but holy crap I was in awe. That one shot of them all fighting together, yeah, THAT shot just blew me away. Samuel L. Jackson continues to kick ass as Fury, and Smoulders was an excellent casting choice; she nailed her performance. Part of me expected this film to just not work at all with so many key characters, but it was brilliant.
Skyfall - 9/10
Beautifully shot, great sounds, and epic performances from all involved. I was slightly taken aback by how old Craig looked in this vs. Casino Royale only 6 years ago, but whatever. One of (if not THE) best Bond films ever.
The Hobbit: AUJ - 8/10
The majority of my enjoyment came from being a massive Jackson LOTR fanboy and all the ties to the sequel trilogy, but I could appreciate the gripes about some of the CG work and questionable (laughable?) scenes. Great to look at though, and amazing music as expected.
Lawless - 9/10
A complete surprise for me. Shia LeDouche was more than bearable, and Tom Hardy was just awesome. I would recommend this film to anyone looking to broaden their viewing choices a bit; I normally steer clear of Westerns and the like, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film.
The Bourne Legacy - 7/10
Deserves more credit than it got. I'm not much of a fan of the actor (can't remember his name right now), but his performance was much better than I expected. Went in thinking it would be shit, came out quite satisfied.
Twilight: BD2 - 0.5/10
Went I see it with the girlfriend, and regretted it within 2 minutes. Awful, awful film.
Snow White and the Huntsman - 6/10
A 'girlfriend film' turned guilty pleasure. As much as Kirsten Whatserface does my head in, it was surprisingly enjoyable.
The Dark Knight Rises - 8/10
Failed to live up to the prequels (thought I'd get that out of the way first), but a great film nonetheless. Bane in particular was just incredible, better than Ledger's Joker in my opinion. The score was great, Catwoman was perfect, and Mr Cain was just ripping shit up with that performance. The old man knows what he's doing.
Rango - 5/10
I fail to see what all the fuss is about to be honest. It looks pretty, but the story didn't really grab me at all. Johnny Depp was Johnny Depp at least.
Brave - 5/10
Same as Rango to be honest, I was so goddamn bored.
I'm sure I've missed some obvious ones but whatever, ill post if I remember!
Avengers Assemble - 10/10
What can I say? I went in with the wildest expectations, and still came out speechless. Sure it's hollow, mostly a feast for the eyes and a Marvel fans' wet dream, but holy crap I was in awe. That one shot of them all fighting together, yeah, THAT shot just blew me away. Samuel L. Jackson continues to kick ass as Fury, and Smoulders was an excellent casting choice; she nailed her performance. Part of me expected this film to just not work at all with so many key characters, but it was brilliant.
Skyfall - 9/10
Beautifully shot, great sounds, and epic performances from all involved. I was slightly taken aback by how old Craig looked in this vs. Casino Royale only 6 years ago, but whatever. One of (if not THE) best Bond films ever.
The Hobbit: AUJ - 8/10
The majority of my enjoyment came from being a massive Jackson LOTR fanboy and all the ties to the sequel trilogy, but I could appreciate the gripes about some of the CG work and questionable (laughable?) scenes. Great to look at though, and amazing music as expected.
Lawless - 9/10
A complete surprise for me. Shia LeDouche was more than bearable, and Tom Hardy was just awesome. I would recommend this film to anyone looking to broaden their viewing choices a bit; I normally steer clear of Westerns and the like, but I thoroughly enjoyed this film.
The Bourne Legacy - 7/10
Deserves more credit than it got. I'm not much of a fan of the actor (can't remember his name right now), but his performance was much better than I expected. Went in thinking it would be shit, came out quite satisfied.
Twilight: BD2 - 0.5/10
Went I see it with the girlfriend, and regretted it within 2 minutes. Awful, awful film.
Snow White and the Huntsman - 6/10
A 'girlfriend film' turned guilty pleasure. As much as Kirsten Whatserface does my head in, it was surprisingly enjoyable.
The Dark Knight Rises - 8/10
Failed to live up to the prequels (thought I'd get that out of the way first), but a great film nonetheless. Bane in particular was just incredible, better than Ledger's Joker in my opinion. The score was great, Catwoman was perfect, and Mr Cain was just ripping shit up with that performance. The old man knows what he's doing.
I loved the revelation with Robin at the end too, nice touch.
Rango - 5/10
I fail to see what all the fuss is about to be honest. It looks pretty, but the story didn't really grab me at all. Johnny Depp was Johnny Depp at least.
Brave - 5/10
Same as Rango to be honest, I was so goddamn bored.
I'm sure I've missed some obvious ones but whatever, ill post if I remember!
ViewtifulJC
Banned
Both of 'em great, although In the Mood for Love is the more accessible of the two
Kilgore Trout
Member
Yes. It's a beautiful film with great use of color and striking visuals - mostly shot in a cramped, garishly decorated apartment building. A good choice for Blu-ray. I also think it's one of those movies that pretty much everyone likes or at least appreciates so it's a safe bet.
Lost a bet and had to watch the final Twilight movie. I seriously wanted to put a bullet through my own head 5 minutes in. God that movie was a few leaps beyond awful.
Although I also saw the Red Dawn remake, and I will admit I was surprised. I went in expecting a mediocre film, and was rewarded with a genuinely good movie. I thought the acting and action sequences were right where they should have been. I would have been happier had they kept the Russians out of it completely however.
Although I also saw the Red Dawn remake, and I will admit I was surprised. I went in expecting a mediocre film, and was rewarded with a genuinely good movie. I thought the acting and action sequences were right where they should have been. I would have been happier had they kept the Russians out of it completely however.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
I've just seen probably one of the best martial arts flicks in years. The Buddhist Fist. Its an old 1980's flick with English Dub, but by god, the fight choreography just had me smiling throughout the whole movie. Even shed a tear at one point. Directed by Yuen Woo Ping. Simple story, the acting was pretty damn good I might say, dubbing is as always fun to listen to with these type of movies. The DVD quality was ass as expected but man, they don't make these movies like they use to. Even The Raid can't touch this choreography and I love that film. Great movie that should be required viewing for those interested in the martial arts genre.
Buckethead
Banned
Lincoln
I enjoyed it but I would have preferred more about Lincoln's life.
Sure you got some good character moments but nothing felt off the rails or organic.
It was like Abraham Lincoln: The Ride. Lots of monologuing and heavy-handed exposition.
DDL and Kaminski both were excellent, the rest was standard Hollywood faire.
Actually Spader's character was pretty good. Made it feel a little more human.
Spielberg gonna Spielberg.
Ether_Snake
å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®
Finished watching the Man with no Name trilogy I bought recently.
Tuco (played by Eli Wallach) is such an awesome character, and also Indio and Ramon (played by Gian Maria Volonté).
Leone was really good at making every single character stand out too, even the nobodies that get shot on first sight.
Tuco (played by Eli Wallach) is such an awesome character, and also Indio and Ramon (played by Gian Maria Volonté).
Leone was really good at making every single character stand out too, even the nobodies that get shot on first sight.
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
8 1/2
I'm glad I finally got to see it, the movie was unlike anything I was expecting, and I loved it for that. At times I felt it was purposely trying to confuse the hell out of me, but I sensed it ultimately had a lot to say. As it progressed, I eased into it more and started putting things together. I will not pretend I'm certain what Fellini was attempting to say with this, but the way I saw, it was a very personal film (to some extent). I liked how that was addressed in the sauna scene where someone tells Guido that if he has something interesting to say, he should make it interesting to all; how it was implied he disregarded that and cared little if anyone understood what he meant.
Luisa (the wife) was one of my favorite characters (she gave a great performance) and wasn't afraid to out Guido on his dishonesty. I thought the scene with the women of his life was the best, that segment was very dream like, "how exiting to find you here, but out of curiosity, who are you? The name doesn't matter, I'm happy to be here" (or something like that).
I loved the style, that intro shot with the hands hanging out of the bus windows was surprisingly creepy. In retrospect it was an excellent way to introduce us to so much wackiness. Oh, and the Saraghina scene was awesome. 10/10.
edit: I still liked Nights of Cabiria more though.
I'm glad I finally got to see it, the movie was unlike anything I was expecting, and I loved it for that. At times I felt it was purposely trying to confuse the hell out of me, but I sensed it ultimately had a lot to say. As it progressed, I eased into it more and started putting things together. I will not pretend I'm certain what Fellini was attempting to say with this, but the way I saw, it was a very personal film (to some extent). I liked how that was addressed in the sauna scene where someone tells Guido that if he has something interesting to say, he should make it interesting to all; how it was implied he disregarded that and cared little if anyone understood what he meant.
Luisa (the wife) was one of my favorite characters (she gave a great performance) and wasn't afraid to out Guido on his dishonesty. I thought the scene with the women of his life was the best, that segment was very dream like, "how exiting to find you here, but out of curiosity, who are you? The name doesn't matter, I'm happy to be here" (or something like that).
I loved the style, that intro shot with the hands hanging out of the bus windows was surprisingly creepy. In retrospect it was an excellent way to introduce us to so much wackiness. Oh, and the Saraghina scene was awesome. 10/10.
edit: I still liked Nights of Cabiria more though.
I'll check it out! Thank you!
A Human Becoming
More than a Member
Safety Not Guaranteed - Cute movie, even if the movie gave mixed messages. Alongside that, Jeff's storyline doesn't really go anywhere and could have been cut without damaging the main plot, which isn't good considering the entire movie is less than 90 minutes. I don't think the writers had enough ideas based on the main concept to make a real movie so they just threw it in.
Any who, I'd smang Aubrey Plaza so hard.
Any who, I'd smang Aubrey Plaza so hard.
TheKaeptain
Banned
I wish Duck, You Sucker! was on blu-ray.
Ether_Snake
å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®å®
I love the intro of this movie. The soundtrack too. Love how the backstory of John is told without any words, just a few short scenes, yet it's enough to make us understand what happened and connect on an emotional level.
I really wish Leone had lived longer and made more movies
Net_Wrecker
Member
I really wish Leone had lived longer and made more movies
I was just reading about his Leningrad and Don Quixote (with Eastwood and Wallach) projects the other day. Sucks that he never got to make them.
This is 40:
I know a lot of people don't like his style but I rarely like comedies that have absolutely zero plot development, which is a lot of them unfortunately, so to me I appreciate the "drama" that Appatow adds.
With that said I felt this one felt just right because it centered around the most natural drama you could get out of a married couple going through financial and marital problems. The jokes hit and it was funny enough all the way through.
I know a lot of people don't like his style but I rarely like comedies that have absolutely zero plot development, which is a lot of them unfortunately, so to me I appreciate the "drama" that Appatow adds.
With that said I felt this one felt just right because it centered around the most natural drama you could get out of a married couple going through financial and marital problems. The jokes hit and it was funny enough all the way through.
Because I can't go to bed for some reason, I'll talk about a film I saw a few weeks ago, as I'm interested in what others had to say about it.
I Saw The Devil (dir. Kim Jee-woon)
The tricky thing with revenge flicks, even ones as particularly depraved as this one, and, as I'll argue, especially ones as depraved as this one, is maintaining the tone throughout. I don't find a problem with clearly obvious intentions of taking it in one direction like playing it completely straight, or having it blackly humorous, but I find it to be vital to stay the course in that regard. Taking too many detours often results in disaster, which I found this film to veer towards in varying degrees.
You certainly wouldn't know it from the opening, a visually stunning titles crawl seen through the windshield of a vehicle on a dark February night, as snowflakes offer up just about the only visual we can see ahead in the van's headlights. Darkness has rarely looked so abyssal as it does here. For at least the first ten minutes of the film, the sense of dread and foreboding is palpable. We know something horrific is going to happen to the woman stranded on the side of the road, but we can't even begin to know just how bad it's going to get for her until it happens. A violent struggle ensues between her and our villain of the piece, played with charismatic glee by the ever dependably despicable Choi Min-sik, and then it gets really bad for her.
And then a police officer manages to fumble around with her head in a box while the most melodramatic music ever muffled for our displeasure blares in the soundtrack, and my bullshit meter starts working overtime.
For two-and-a-half hours, of which perhaps 100 of those minutes were needed, I Saw The Devil finds itself trying to outdo itself in the unpleasantness department, at the risk and the sadly frequent hazard of never feeling truly unpleasant outside of that wonderful opening. Blame has to go partially to director Jee-woon, who is certainly a very talented director, but I fear that he knows that he is as well, as many gruesome showpieces feel desperately showy, with particular demerits earned by a completely nonsensical 360 degree stabbing battle inside of a taxi cab. The script is also highly problematic, as someone that doesn't have an intimate knowledge of Korean culture would be led to believe by this film that it has one of the most alarmingly high serial killer populations in the history of the world, including a rather groan-worthy inclusion of Min-sik's BFF, who isn't content to just stop at simple home invasions. And it would have made for interesting commentary on just how much of a hero our "hero" is, as good as Lee Byung-hun is in the role, if it actually addressed his rather problematic issue of waiting until the film's would-be female victims were inches away from being brutalized or worse, if you weren't able to set your watch to when he'd swoop right in to save the day to further inflict harm on Min-sik's character, rendering it more of a running joke than anything else.
But when the film works, like Byung-hun's struggle to invert his temperament for the grim deeds he's convinced himself that need to be done, even as the people colluding with him begin to realize how unnecessary the scale has become for Min-sik's punishment, or the thrilling fight scenes between the two leads, it makes you forget the squandered potential briefly to remember that everyone involved in the production did remember how good those first ten minutes were. And the film comes really goddamn close to redeeming itself with the final images of Byung-hun walking away from Min-sik's ultimate fate, a simple yet staggeringly profound tracking shot of him walking as he begins to unravel and break down, as the camera continues to keep going, leaving him a collapsed mass of frayed nerves and mental anguish as the small, insignificant speck in the distance that he knows he deserves to be for everything he did and didn't do. But as that wonderful shot of Byung-hun walking towards his deserved punishment is constantly intercut with seeing just what happens to Min-sik, resulting in yet another gory showpiece, it reminds us of the film's true tragedy: for a film with as much blood and guts on display, it's in desperate need of actual pain to make it all worthwhile.
I Saw The Devil (dir. Kim Jee-woon)
The tricky thing with revenge flicks, even ones as particularly depraved as this one, and, as I'll argue, especially ones as depraved as this one, is maintaining the tone throughout. I don't find a problem with clearly obvious intentions of taking it in one direction like playing it completely straight, or having it blackly humorous, but I find it to be vital to stay the course in that regard. Taking too many detours often results in disaster, which I found this film to veer towards in varying degrees.
You certainly wouldn't know it from the opening, a visually stunning titles crawl seen through the windshield of a vehicle on a dark February night, as snowflakes offer up just about the only visual we can see ahead in the van's headlights. Darkness has rarely looked so abyssal as it does here. For at least the first ten minutes of the film, the sense of dread and foreboding is palpable. We know something horrific is going to happen to the woman stranded on the side of the road, but we can't even begin to know just how bad it's going to get for her until it happens. A violent struggle ensues between her and our villain of the piece, played with charismatic glee by the ever dependably despicable Choi Min-sik, and then it gets really bad for her.
And then a police officer manages to fumble around with her head in a box while the most melodramatic music ever muffled for our displeasure blares in the soundtrack, and my bullshit meter starts working overtime.
For two-and-a-half hours, of which perhaps 100 of those minutes were needed, I Saw The Devil finds itself trying to outdo itself in the unpleasantness department, at the risk and the sadly frequent hazard of never feeling truly unpleasant outside of that wonderful opening. Blame has to go partially to director Jee-woon, who is certainly a very talented director, but I fear that he knows that he is as well, as many gruesome showpieces feel desperately showy, with particular demerits earned by a completely nonsensical 360 degree stabbing battle inside of a taxi cab. The script is also highly problematic, as someone that doesn't have an intimate knowledge of Korean culture would be led to believe by this film that it has one of the most alarmingly high serial killer populations in the history of the world, including a rather groan-worthy inclusion of Min-sik's BFF, who isn't content to just stop at simple home invasions. And it would have made for interesting commentary on just how much of a hero our "hero" is, as good as Lee Byung-hun is in the role, if it actually addressed his rather problematic issue of waiting until the film's would-be female victims were inches away from being brutalized or worse, if you weren't able to set your watch to when he'd swoop right in to save the day to further inflict harm on Min-sik's character, rendering it more of a running joke than anything else.
But when the film works, like Byung-hun's struggle to invert his temperament for the grim deeds he's convinced himself that need to be done, even as the people colluding with him begin to realize how unnecessary the scale has become for Min-sik's punishment, or the thrilling fight scenes between the two leads, it makes you forget the squandered potential briefly to remember that everyone involved in the production did remember how good those first ten minutes were. And the film comes really goddamn close to redeeming itself with the final images of Byung-hun walking away from Min-sik's ultimate fate, a simple yet staggeringly profound tracking shot of him walking as he begins to unravel and break down, as the camera continues to keep going, leaving him a collapsed mass of frayed nerves and mental anguish as the small, insignificant speck in the distance that he knows he deserves to be for everything he did and didn't do. But as that wonderful shot of Byung-hun walking towards his deserved punishment is constantly intercut with seeing just what happens to Min-sik, resulting in yet another gory showpiece, it reminds us of the film's true tragedy: for a film with as much blood and guts on display, it's in desperate need of actual pain to make it all worthwhile.
I just finished watching The Loneliest Planet. I need to mull it over. Feel like it'll stick with me for a while but am feeling kinda bummed that I wasn't as enamored with it as I thought I would be.
The scene that everyone seems to mention as the most central to the movie has me confused. Alex holding Nica in front of her as the Georgian man aims his gun at Alex is supposed to be...what exactly? A sign of cowardice and subsequent callousness from Nica toward Alex is the answer to that?
Apocalypto
I'd seen Braveheart at the time, and I remember enjoying it, but I didn't see Passion of the Christ until last week, mostly just because I had no interest in Christ as a historical figure, and I think I'd been put off of Apocalypto because of Mel Gibson's persona at the time. I was at a funeral last week, it was the first time I'd been in a church for a long time, and it was the first time I'd really thought about Christ as an adult, so I finally got around to watching Passion, which was just an incredible film, so I decided I need to watch this one too. I ordered them both on blu ray, mainly because I know this films is so famous for it's visuals, it's early effective use of digital film, etc.
It's an amazing film, no one I know of shoots violence as beautifully as Mel Gibson. People talk about Tarantino, and I do love his films, but it's fairly comical how poorly violence always looks in his films. I think the use of digital video instead of film actually helps to give the film more of a documentary feeling, at least in the opening act. I think it does an excellent job of portraying an ancient people as highly socially developed. I know there were some issues in it's accuracy of the Mayan culture shown, but it's certainly respectful of them as a people I think.
Story wise, I found it quite touching, the parallel between the lead's chase, and his wife's climb was just long enough to be genuinely painful to watch at times. And I thought the ending was fantastic. My only major issue with it on a story level is people float, the storm that fills the pit would be the best thing that could have possibly happened, however, I know some people for some reason aren't able to float in water, so maybe it's just a case of accepting that she couldn't.
It does make me wonder what happened to the Genesis, it was the new hotness a few years ago, now it's all about RED it seems.
I'd seen Braveheart at the time, and I remember enjoying it, but I didn't see Passion of the Christ until last week, mostly just because I had no interest in Christ as a historical figure, and I think I'd been put off of Apocalypto because of Mel Gibson's persona at the time. I was at a funeral last week, it was the first time I'd been in a church for a long time, and it was the first time I'd really thought about Christ as an adult, so I finally got around to watching Passion, which was just an incredible film, so I decided I need to watch this one too. I ordered them both on blu ray, mainly because I know this films is so famous for it's visuals, it's early effective use of digital film, etc.
It's an amazing film, no one I know of shoots violence as beautifully as Mel Gibson. People talk about Tarantino, and I do love his films, but it's fairly comical how poorly violence always looks in his films. I think the use of digital video instead of film actually helps to give the film more of a documentary feeling, at least in the opening act. I think it does an excellent job of portraying an ancient people as highly socially developed. I know there were some issues in it's accuracy of the Mayan culture shown, but it's certainly respectful of them as a people I think.
Story wise, I found it quite touching, the parallel between the lead's chase, and his wife's climb was just long enough to be genuinely painful to watch at times. And I thought the ending was fantastic. My only major issue with it on a story level is people float, the storm that fills the pit would be the best thing that could have possibly happened, however, I know some people for some reason aren't able to float in water, so maybe it's just a case of accepting that she couldn't.
It does make me wonder what happened to the Genesis, it was the new hotness a few years ago, now it's all about RED it seems.
Zero Dark Thirty
Really enjoyed it. Starts out really abrasively and I'm not sure it was totally necessary, but after about a half hour or so I was totally absorbed. Feels nothing like The Hurt Locker, feels more like a cross between Zodiac and Munich.
Chastain was excellent, doing a lot with very little. The supporting cast was great, in spite of them all playing small parts. People may complain that we never get to spend a significant amount of time in becoming attached to any of them, but that felt like the point: all these other players came and went, while Maya's hunt continued.
The last 45 minutes are totally gripping, and a great payoff to the follow-the-breadcrumbs search that precedes it. Fantastic filmmaking, definitely one of the year's best movies.
Really enjoyed it. Starts out really abrasively and I'm not sure it was totally necessary, but after about a half hour or so I was totally absorbed. Feels nothing like The Hurt Locker, feels more like a cross between Zodiac and Munich.
Chastain was excellent, doing a lot with very little. The supporting cast was great, in spite of them all playing small parts. People may complain that we never get to spend a significant amount of time in becoming attached to any of them, but that felt like the point: all these other players came and went, while Maya's hunt continued.
The last 45 minutes are totally gripping, and a great payoff to the follow-the-breadcrumbs search that precedes it. Fantastic filmmaking, definitely one of the year's best movies.
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