Detour fans: do people ever make a case for Al actually having murdered Haskell? I mean, the film shows really convincingly that he's a bit of a quiet psychotic, prone to shrinking one minute then exploding in random, half-conscious bits of violence. He's definitely not healthy. I took the film at face value last time, but I think considering that everything may actually be his fault in every single way might be a cool way to look at the film too. Different message, still potent.
He Who Gets Slapped succeeds at showing how comedy and tragedy are inseparable. The weird 20 second epilogue and title card and the final final final speech were superfluous after HE's powerful final performance. Best crystallization of the comedy/tragedy blend in the film is probably the scene where Bezano and Consuelo court each other quite magically and the Count and Baron conspire against them. It's warm, darkly funny, and plain dark all at once. ***1/2
Oh and I never posted about watching The Scar. Thought it was pretty good. Cloudy depiction of how it's sort of impossible to act in everyone's best interest. left me cold at times, though I think that may have been the point. The relationship between Stefan and his daughter is compelling and the photography is pretty. Blast of warmth in the final shot stuck with me. ***
A couple of years ago I was at that same point: I was only vaguely familiar with pre-1980 movies. I felt I had to watch some more classics starting with a few Hitchcock titles. One thing led to another and now I've seen tons of movies from the thirties, forties and fifties. In a way you're lucky you're only starting out, because you can see these movies completely fresh ... It's a Wonderful Life, The Third Man, Double Indemnity, Treasure of the Sierra Madre, Shoeshine, The Lady Eve, M, The Grand Illusion, My Man Godfrey, All Quiet on the Western Front, Sunset Boulevard, Paths of Glory, Singing in the Rain, Sunrise ... it just goes on and on and on ...
I'm now at a point where I'd rather put on a 70 year old BW movie than the latest Hollywood blockbuster.
All festival crowds are bad about it. Bad movies elevated just because its a festival film. Ill never forget walking out of Killer Inside Me and hearing critics talk about how amazing it was.
All festival crowds are bad about it. Bad movies elevated just because its a festival film. Ill never forget walking out of Killer Inside Me and hearing critics talk about how amazing it was.
Yeah i hear you. The games and movies just go hand and hand with me...space horror is my favorite subsect of the genre.
Check some of these out if you havent seen them yet:
Moon
Solaris
Event Horizon
When worlds collide
The right stuff
Dark Star
Outland
Ive never seen Dune but some people love it
I also enjoyed Prometheus but a lot of GAF hates it
Expendable, thats funny...i actually have been wanting to check that out. I saw Gasper Noe's Enter the Void in 2009 there and i think 3/4 of the audience ended up walking out...most within the first 15 minutes.
Well I guess it's a movie with fighting in it. It's a pretty lame one though.
Viral Factor
Korean action movie that honestly doesn't try to be anything other than sunday afternoon "I got nothing to do" levels of quality.
Django Unchained
I loved it. Waltz and Leo and Samuel were so great to see on screen, it really made the writing come alive. I don't think it's Quentin's best movie, but maybe his best action movie? If you can even call it that....
The blood caught me by surprise, and a certain scene in the movie made me want to blow up the world with a single thought. I could do it too...
Yeah i hear you. The games and movies just go hand and hand with me...space horror is my favorite subsect of the genre.
Check some of these out if you havent seen them yet:
Moon
Solaris
Event Horizon
When worlds collide
The right stuff
Dark Star
Outland
Ive never seen Dune but some people love it
I also enjoyed Prometheus but a lot of GAF hates it
Expendable, thats funny...i actually have been wanting to check that out. I saw Gasper Noe's Enter the Void in 2009 there and i think 3/4 of the audience ended up walking out...most within the first 15 minutes.
All festival crowds are bad about it. Bad movies elevated just because its a festival film. Ill never forget walking out of Killer Inside Me and hearing critics talk about how amazing it was.
You can get festival hype from anywhere, but I think Sundance is particularly bad about it. They seem blown away just by the act of shooting something with a camera and projecting it in a theater.
I was a fan of Beasts, but there are some truly bad movies that get praise out of Sundance that are baffingly. Like Crazy comes to mind, and that just wasn't the audience (who gave it a standing O), but the jury gave it top prize somehow.
There there is Simon Killer, a film I absolutely adored that was received negatively last year. Such a shame.
Expendable, thats funny...i actually have been wanting to check that out. I saw Gasper Noe's Enter the Void in 2009 there and i think 3/4 of the audience ended up walking out...most within the first 15 minutes.
Detour fans: do people ever make a case for Al actually having murdered Haskell? I mean, the film shows really convincingly that he's a bit of a quiet psychotic, prone to shrinking one minute then exploding in random, half-conscious bits of violence. He's definitely not healthy. I took the film at face value last time, but I think considering that everything may actually be his fault in every single way might be a cool way to look at the film too. Different message, still potent.
i don't think so, or i haven't heard it, it's a valid reading and could explain things like why they are diving on the wrong side of the road and him giving the wrong directions. though i don't think it fits with the main music number or the general tone of the world spiraling out of control and be helpless which is reflected in the title - you are forced onto detours, people internally don't have that same metaphor.
and i mean if he wanted to killer her, poison or just letting her drink herself to death would be easier than how it goes down.
certainly an interesting read on the film and one i haven't seen expressed.
Am I allowed to complain about how badly IFC fucked up the TV channel? The commercial breaks are so fucking bad, and they barely play any of their own films, with an emphasis on such classic films of independent cinema like Big Top Pee-wee and Scream.
That's really something, damn I love Fincher's directing.. everything just smooth and seamless, for 2 and half hour more movie and the pace was fantastic, time flew by.
I think I like Se7en more because its more character driven and easier to got attached emotionally (the ending still hit me ;_, but this a better movie although maybe not much a watcher pleaser because its based by real story (I don't know how much they alter it) so a few plot point such like
RDJ's character not involved again after half point
and loose conclusion maybe a bit disappointing, but its a great movie all-around.
Just saw The Double Life of Veronique. The film looks beautiful, something I've come to expect from Kieslowski, and while I thought it was great, I didn't like it as much as The Colors Trilogy or The Decalogue. The parallels between both girls were interesting, though a bit confusing at first, I feel it's a movie that might be better appreciated on a second viewing. The relationship with Alexandre was a bit creepy lol.
Zero Dark Thirty- I enjoyed The Hurt Locker quite a bit and going into this movie I was expecting another quality film from the same team. Wasn't disappointed in the least. I thought it was great the way they handled the scene with Osama's body. Great stuff.
Chastain and Clarke were good. Looking forward to seeing them both in future films.
I posted this on the movies I can't remember thread, but maybe you guys can help.
I can't remember the name of a 90s movie (maybe late 80s) about a father who sees his daughter's ghost. He is haunted by guilt or something. She appears to him. I think she died in a car accident. I'ts a movie I saw and loved when I was little, I'd like to rewatch it. It's a drama btw.
I posted this on the movies I can't remember thread, but maybe you guys can help.
I can't remember the name of a 90s movie (maybe late 80s) about a father who sees his daughter's ghost. He is haunted by guilt or something. She appears to him. I think she died in a car accident. I'ts a movie I saw and loved when I was little, I'd like to rewatch it. It's a drama btw.
No, it was it's one with white people and the daughter was the ghost. I remember it was a sad movie (made me cry back them). I've tried to google it, but can't find it :/
i don't think so, or i haven't heard it, it's a valid reading and could explain things like why they are diving on the wrong side of the road and him giving the wrong directions. though i don't think it fits with the main music number or the general tone of the world spiraling out of control and be helpless which is reflected in the title - you are forced onto detours, people internally don't have that same metaphor.
and i mean if he wanted to killer her, poison or just letting her drink herself to death would be easier than how it goes down.
certainly an interesting read on the film and one i haven't seen expressed.
Am I allowed to complain about how badly IFC fucked up the TV channel? The commercial breaks are so fucking bad, and they barely play any of their own films, with an emphasis on such classic films of independent cinema like Big Top Pee-wee and Scream.
I mean, ifc is definitely not a destination for movies now. but I like ifc just because their tv series are pretty great. portlandia, used to have todd margaret, comedy bang bang.
Just saw The Double Life of Veronique. The film looks beautiful, something I've come to expect from Kieslowski, and while I thought it was great, I didn't like it as much as The Colors Trilogy or The Decalogue. The parallels between both girls were interesting, though a bit confusing at first, I feel it's a movie that might be better appreciated on a second viewing. The relationship with Alexandre was a bit creepy lol.
I don't like it as much as colors or dekalog either, but Veronique definitely benefits from some distance. I've found the further I get from it the more haunting and striking that final scene or so is in my head; I could just be romanticizing it though.
I don't like it as much as colors or dekalog either, but Veronique definitely benefits from some distance. I've found the further I get from it the more haunting and striking that final scene or so is in my head; I could just be romanticizing it though.
I feel many of us romanticize movies we like sometimes, I don't see anything wrong with that. What you describe with the ending is something that has happened to me with some movies.
Any ideas on what the old lady represents? I remember one from Blue too.
Well had a couple consecutive days off and decided to catch up on sme films i missed.
The Raid: Redemption My god fellow GAFfers that was not a film but an experience. It was a solid action film beginning to end. Highly recommended. Red Riding Hood My wife and I kicked back and expected the worse. It was..... not bad. Wasnt great but was twisted enough to keep my attention. Very different send up then i expected. Wished it was darker.
Currently watching Green Lantern..... so far its eh.
Well had a couple consecutive days off and decided to catch up on sme films i missed.
The Raid: Redemption My god fellow GAFfers that was not a film but an experience. It was a solid action film beginning to end. Highly recommended. Red Riding Hood My wife and I kicked back and expected the worse. It was..... not bad. Wasnt great but was twisted enough to keep my attention. Very different send up then i expected. Wished it was darker.
Currently watching Green Lantern..... so far its eh.
I posted this on the movies I can't remember thread, but maybe you guys can help.
I can't remember the name of a 90s movie (maybe late 80s) about a father who sees his daughter's ghost. He is haunted by guilt or something. She appears to him. I think she died in a car accident. I'ts a movie I saw and loved when I was little, I'd like to rewatch it. It's a drama btw.
I think I read from a review from somewhere where 9 out 10 people will hate it but that one person will completely be absorbed by it.
Tomorrow I finally return to the movie theaters after a 3 week absence. Next 2 days, I plan on finally seeing Django, Les Mes, maybe the Impossible, This is 40 (I don't know), and whatever nonsense. They will probably all be terrible except the 4K restoration of Lawrence of Arabia. Forgot about that.
Premium Rush:
Generic, campy and really cheesy. The whole film was a disappointing mess of annoying secondary characters (Shannon and JGL were fine), cornball guitar riffs and weird messages about immigration. Some of the humor and Shannon's fun performance made the whole film a bit more bearable, but the final product just left me feeling disappointed. God dammit Koepp, why do you continue to write such shtick after co-writing the script to my favorite film of all time?
Frankenweenie:
I have to admit that my feelings toward this film were pretty heavily impacted by the recent death of my own childhood dog so I think I'm a bit more soft-hearted towards it than I would have been otherwise. I found this to be surprisingly charismatic and imaginative, especially bearing in mind that the recent decade of Burton films have been almost entirely shit. I loved almost everything from the inventive character design (which is some of Burton's most restrained work in my opinion) to the cinematography. The story had me completely invested and at the verge of tears by the end but I was probably more into it than the average viewer for the reasons I mentioned before. Definitely my favorite animated film of the year and it will almost certainly remain a sentimental joy to me.
Cloud Atlas:
Ended up liking this more than I thought I would but I definitely recognize the grand ambition and subsequent flood of problems most critics had with the film. The film featured some pretty well thought out scene transitions and snappy jump cuts that had a greater sense of flow to them then I expected from this film. That being said, a lot of the overall narrative feels pretty unfocused on the large scale. The film itself sets up some complicated parallels in the opening 30 minutes and establishes very little connective tissue between scenes up front. The ultimate payoff of this setup though ends up amounting to little more than simple themes of freedom overcoming overt fascism and love being greater than any other human force (etc...). I think it's the complicated existentialist setup combined with the simplistic payoff that leads many reviewers to immediately come away from the film labeling it as pretentious babble. I also think I share the unpopular opinion here on the makeup effects working more often than not. Honestly, I found some of Tom Hank's hokey accents to be far more distracting than the makeup he was hidden beneath. Like I said, I definitely recognize the MANY flaws of this film but I still came away from it being pleasantly surprised that it still seemed to function more often than not despite ending on a bit of a flat note. Definitely one of the more competent Wachowski films since the original Matrix. Also:
Fuck you GAF collective, Speed Racer is a MISERABLE pile of flashing shit
.
Dredd (2012):
Here's another big-budget flop turned pleasant surprise from last year. This film was shot by an Oscar winning cinematographer and it definitely shows in almost every shot during each of the films set piece scenarios. The characterization of Dredd is kept to an absolute minimum and instead gives an arc to the female protagonist which was also kept to a minimum. The film is undeniably a B-movie in scope (but not in budget apparently) and it never tries to be more than what it truly is which I appreciated immensely. That being said, if you approach this film looking for some creative cinematography, bloody good action and a surprisingly oppressive atmosphere you're probably more likely than you think to come away from it having enjoyed yourself. Even the high FPS slow motion segments that are usually overdone in other productions is handled well and used in moderation. It's definitely a very self-conscious film that prefers to take a less is more approach to certain parts of the narrative, but the ultimate package was just too much of a fun romp in other areas for me to feel strongly against these flaws.
Django Unchained:
Saw this in an Austin Texas theater on opening night with a viewing audience that consisted of about 60% black people and 30% Spanish people so before I even entered the theater I knew I would be in for a good ride having read the screenplay for this last year. Thankfully, I didn't seem to experience the problem that many Gaffers experienced with the audience chuckling every time the N-word was used regardless of the context. Probably the most I've enjoyed a film in theaters in a long time, I had a big stupid grin on my face as soon as the shamelessly throwback western title card popped up at the start of the film. It makes me regret not seeing any prior Tarantino films in cinemas. I can't imagine what it would have been like to watch the bar scene from Inglorious Basterds on the big screen. That being said, I enjoyed the film the whole way through and still found myself entertained during the laggy third act. The
final shootout in Candie's mansion
in particular had me instantly hooked with the massive amounts of bloody catharsism on display. The audience even applauded when the Tupac song kicked on during the scene, proving that this is probably the most crowd-pleasing film Tarantino has ever made.
Life of Pi:
Here's another surprise I caught in cinemas down in Austin while I was there for Christmas. I have to admit that I went into this film feeling pretty jaded towards the story after hearing stories about how the author of the original book considered his work to be unfilmable which instantly made me think the film would be up its' own ass in the same way the author seemed to be. That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that much of the eye candy on display during the film was accompanied by a pretty interesting and odd story of a young man lost at sea. The tiger effects were probably my favorite aspect of the film, Charles Parker had my girlfriend jumping out of her seat just about every time he showed up. The grand twist at the end though worked a little bit better for me than I thought it would but it was ultimately the weakest aspect of the plot for me. That being said though, the long take used during Pi's grand reveal in the
hospital bed
was handled extremely well, but not well enough to save it from the dopey writing.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey:
What an absolute mess of editing and pacing throughout. Granted, I'm sure some of the mismatched pacing and overall balance can be attributed to the film being expanded into a trilogy, leaving the editors with mixed messages on how to handle the pacing. Despite this though, the whole first 30 minutes of the film are as undeniably dull as everyone else says. Like many others, I'm bothered by the fact that Peter Jackson chose to turn a lightweight read into a sprawling trilogy to parallel his previous work on The Lord of the Rings. More bothersome than this though is just how much of the film feels like useless fluff that most trilogies save for the final film. It truly makes me wonder how padded the final film will be if the first film is already making me feel like I'm being spoonfed such useless filler. The CG is definitely all over the place, often making it glaringly obvious which areas of the film received more attention than the others (CG orcs and certain landscape vistas should have been live action). The Gollum scene for example is absolutely spellbinding (a highlight film scene from last year for sure) and the excellent motion capture CG mixed with the dialogue really elevates the scene to heights that the rest of the film never quite reaches for one reason or another. Definitely a big dissapointment despite some terrific casting choices and performances. Despite this though, my high hopes for the Desolation of Smaug are still unaffected.
Yeah i hear you. The games and movies just go hand and hand with me...space horror is my favorite subsect of the genre.
Check some of these out if you havent seen them yet: Moon-Have seen, but want to watch again, thanks for the reminder
Solaris Event Horizon
When worlds collide
The right stuff
Dark Star
Outland
Ive never seen Dune but some people love it
I also enjoyed Prometheus but a lot of GAF hates it
I decided to give it a chance since I saw many people on gaf seemed to like it and it even got mentions on those movies that make you cry threads (which is hard for me to get after watching it).
What a piece of shit, same old Sandler crap. Not one laugh throughout this stinker. I wish I had fast forwarded. Also, I have to say I take offense on using kids for cheap lines/jokes "are you shitting me?", "did you smoke crack daddy?".
Not as bad as Jack and Jill though, this one is at least a movie. Beckinsale was the only sort of redeemable quality. 1/10
I hated this movie. I guess I hate Sandler with a fiery passion lol.
Watched The Three Stooges and it was like watching a 90 minute episode of the old serial. I found enjoyment and i know the movie was bashed but the interpretations were spot on.
I decided to give it a chance since I saw many people on gaf seemed to like it and it even got mentions on those movies that make you cry threads (which is hard for me to get after watching it).
What a piece of shit, same old Sandler crap. Not one laugh throughout this stinker. I wish I had fast forwarded. Also, I have to say I take offense on using kids for cheap lines/jokes "are you shitting me?", "did you smoke crack daddy?".
Not as bad as Jack and Jill though, this one is at least a movie. Beckinsale was the only sort of redeemable quality. 1/10
I hated this movie. I guess I hate Sandler with a fiery passion lol.
I posted this on the movies I can't remember thread, but maybe you guys can help.
I can't remember the name of a 90s movie (maybe late 80s) about a father who sees his daughter's ghost. He is haunted by guilt or something. She appears to him. I think she died in a car accident. I'ts a movie I saw and loved when I was little, I'd like to rewatch it. It's a drama btw.
I'm starting to feel it was a tv movie. I think it was definitely early 90s/late 80s. The father is alone. I think he visit a house where there are children's ghosts. He eventually encounters his daughter's and she tells him it wasn't his fault.
I was wondering if you could help me. What is the name, of the upcoming documentary about some (Asian??) prison guards, who reenact their old murders and executions? I remember seeing a trailer and a review, but i just can not remember the title.
My brain is all foggy today, so i can't even describe it any better. Google refused to cooperate, but i am sure you guys can help
I was wondering if you could help me. What is the name, of the upcoming documentary about some (Asian??) prison guards, who reenact their old murders and executions? I remember seeing a trailer and a review, but i just can not remember the title.
My brain is all foggy today, so i can't even describe it any better. Google refused to cooperate, but i am sure you guys can help
Wow, thanks for the info on S21, it looks very interesting. The whole documentary is on Youtube, so i will definitely watch that later.
Unfortunately i don't think these are the one i am thinking about. I remember this one to be really surreal. The documentarist seeks out these retired prisonguards, who are now very old and very willing to share the details of their executions. I remember a scene on the roof of the policestation, where one guard shows on camera, how he used to strangle prisoners to death, using a metal string attached to the side of the building. The guards shows absolutely no remorse and are smiling and laughing about the whole thing.
Also i have vague memories of strong colours, the documentary being widescreen and a big green grass field where some of the guards are making some bizarre performance.
I decided to give it a chance since I saw many people on gaf seemed to like it and it even got mentions on those movies that make you cry threads (which is hard for me to get after watching it).
What a piece of shit, same old Sandler crap. Not one laugh throughout this stinker. I wish I had fast forwarded. Also, I have to say I take offense on using kids for cheap lines/jokes "are you shitting me?", "did you smoke crack daddy?".
Not as bad as Jack and Jill though, this one is at least a movie. Beckinsale was the only sort of redeemable quality. 1/10
I hated this movie. I guess I hate Sandler with a fiery passion lol.
How this man ever made a dime is beyond me. His act is so old, and tiresome. His movies are among the worst garbage ever put to film. 15 years ago it was tolerable, now its nausea inducing.
, but this a better movie although maybe not much a watcher pleaser because its based by real story (I don't know how much they alter it) so a few plot point such like
