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[Messofanego]

Zero Dark Thirty

All caught up to the Oscar race. Yup, totally see the hype for this. Hurt Locker was good, but this movie was such a grand task that even in the hands of other well-respected directors (who have lost their edge by now) it could come off as too stylish or not reverent of such a historical moment. Bigelow and Mark Boal nailed it. The first 2 hours is a contemporary Zodiac, and the next 20 min is just intense raid action. It doesn't feel very dramatic and is very matter-of-fact, but has enough character (Maya marking the days since they've found the Abottabad fortress and done nothing on the glass window with a sharpy) to not just be a documentary.

Jessica Chastain is brilliant, and a great boon for female characters in movies. Nice to see her character transform into being as cutthroat and cold as the other agents, but still have emotion when appropriate. It's nice to see a big female focus in a Bigelow movie.

Was pretty cool to see comedic actors like Mark Duplass and Chris Pratt in such a movie. Glad to have Mark Strong not be typecast in villain roles now with work like this and TTSS.

It's between Zero Dark Thirty and Amour in my eyes for best picture.

 

[Addi]

Oscar movies:

Amour It's quite ballsy to actually call a film "love", but after having seen it, I can't think of any other movie that could wear that title better. No sentimentality, no melodrama, just a pure and honest portrayal of two lovers at the end of the road. I was going to point out how realistic it was, but I don't even think that word catches it. Some find it slow, it had the perfect pacing, some find it predictable, they miss the point. This is cinema, best of 2012 in a league of it's own. 5/5

Beasts of the southern wild I liked it. I'm not sure I did it justice by watching it the same day as Amour, but it was interesting to watch this playful little coming of age story after having seen a movie about the other end of life. I have always had a weak point for stories where the adult world is shown through a child's perspective. 4/5

Silver Linings Playbook A movie that is genuinely funny in places, has great characters and is well acted, but is let down by a predictable and clichéd story.

Spoiler

The movie loses absolutely all of it's tension when Patrick realizes who actually wrote the letter.

I thought it was fun, but does it deserve all it's nominations? It's like the academy made up a list of genres they have to include each year.
3/5

Having seen these three movies, I feel the the three lead women deserved their Oscar nods. Emmanuelle Riva should absolutely win this (having played in Hiroshima, mon amour and Amour, how epic is that?), crossing my fingers, but I'm sure it won't happen. Still have Life of Pi, ZDT and Lincoln to check out, will also watch The Master when it comes out here and Moonrise kingdom.

 

[Divius]

It's between Zero Dark Thirty and Amour in my eyes for best picture.

Assuming Amour wins best foreign pic (which it should), it is highly unlikely it will win best pic. I'd be totally fine with ZDT winning best pic.

~~

Gallants - Somewhat of a homage to the Shaw Brothers era movies, but it bored me. Found myself not caring for almost anything or anyone on screen **
Manhattan - Yup, it's amazing. Clever, well written, charming. Now I gotta rewatch Annie Hall as well ****½
The Stunt Man - I love films on film, and this was great. Peter O'Toole was great. What a mindfuck. Kinda like Alice in Wonderland as well. Gotta watch the documentary on the making of asap ****

~~

Possibly interesting: In a couple of days 'The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color' course is starting on Coursera.

I enrolled a long time ago, anyone else interested in joining?

https://www.coursera.org/course/hollywood

 

[StuBurns]

I was very impressed with ZDT, I was surprised because I thought the Hurt Locker was barely good.

 

[FalconSabre]

I saw Lawless the other night. Really enjoyed the movie. Great cast and characters. Guy Pearce was unrecognizable to me in the trailer until I looked up the movie. He was over the top in a good way. I really enjoyed Shia LeBeouf too. I've never hated him like a lot of people, but he's definitely a better actor than some movies show. Good performances and a good story make me recommend this movie.

 

[Number45]

Does anyone know if it's possible to get Letterboxd to cross post updated to FB? I've linked my account but it doesn't actually seem to do anything.

 

[Thug Waffle]

Assuming Amour wins best foreign pic (which it should), it is highly unlikely it will win best pic. I'd be totally fine with ZDT winning best pic.

~~

Gallants - Somewhat of a homage to the Shaw Brothers era movies, but it bored me. Found myself not caring for almost anything or anyone on screen **
Manhattan - Yup, it's amazing. Clever, well written, charming. Now I gotta rewatch Annie Hall as well ****½
The Stunt Man - I love films on film, and this was great. Peter O'Toole was great. What a mindfuck. Kinda like Alice in Wonderland as well. Gotta watch the documentary on the making of asap ****

~~

Possibly interesting: In a couple of days 'The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color' course is starting on Coursera.

I enrolled a long time ago, anyone else interested in joining?

https://www.coursera.org/course/hollywood

I enrolled just now. Thanks for posting. It'll be somewhat of a rehash for me but I think it'll be a great supplement to my paid coursework at uni.

@number
Are you sure it functions like that? I haven't tried to link mine (and I never will) so I don't know. Btw, what is your Letterboxd page? I'll drop a follow your way.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

The Stunt Man - I love films on film, and this was great. Peter O'Toole was great. What a mindfuck. Kinda like Alice in Wonderland as well. Gotta watch the documentary on the making of asap ****

It's a great feature on the film's production; Rush uses some of the hilariously out-of-date video effects in it (he made it around the turn of the millennium for the Anchor Bay set). I never thought of the movie as Alice in Wonderland, more like the Divine Comedy or Heart of Darkness without an end.

 

[Number45]

@number
Are you sure it functions like that? I haven't tried to link mine (and I never will) so I don't know. Btw, what is your Letterboxd page? I'll drop a follow your way.

I'd assume that was the case. That's how I used to use IMDB anyway - I don't watch so many films that it's a constant spam to people I have on FB but it's nice to spark conversation with the few people that I do have that are into their films.

I'll have a look anyway. It's obviously still in beta so perhaps they haven't decided how they're going to handle it yet.

Account is the same as here: http://letterboxd.com/number45/

EDIT: Looks like both the Twitter and FB integration at the moment is just to allow you to find friends.

 

[Extra Sauce]

Headhunters: Awesome Norwegian thriller with a Hollywood feel but more intelligence than the average Hollywood movie. I recommend it to everyone, it doesn't matter what your tastes are because this is a very accessible, highly entertaining foreign movie.

The behind-the-scenes made me lol when one of the producers said their budget was probably the equivalent of an American production's catering expenses. And he is right, the film looks a lot more expensive than it likely cost them to make it. They did a great job.

 

[Divius]

I never thought of the movie as Alice in Wonderland, more like the Divine Comedy or Heart of Darkness without an end.

Yeah the Alice in Wonderland comparison only works on a small level. Havent seen those things you mentioned.

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

Possibly interesting: In a couple of days 'The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color' course is starting on Coursera.

I enrolled a long time ago, anyone else interested in joining?

https://www.coursera.org/course/hollywood

Cool, I enrolled. Thanks for the heads up, very interesting to me since in my country the only University that teaches film is beyond expensive.

 

[afternoon delight]

Possibly interesting: In a couple of days 'The Language of Hollywood: Storytelling, Sound, and Color' course is starting on Coursera.

Anyone who has a section covering Val Lewton is worth listening to, 100% chance a great teacher.

 

[grosvenor_92]

Watched both Argo and Zero Dark Thirty back to back on Saturday and enjoyed both of them.

 

[demon]

Can anyone give me a recommendation? I wanted to watch Bladerunner tonight (Final Cut, 5-disc blu-ray) but I've already seen it kind of recently and wanted to watch something a little more fresh. What's the best thing on the 5-disc set to watch, aside from the movie of course? Commentary? Documentary?

 

[HiResDes]

Watch another Sci-Fi film altogether...

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Out of the Past
Fantastic film noir. I'm not sure what more to say really, all the genre staples are here and executed well. Robert Mitchum is a really likable lead, the nostalgic elements resonated with me a lot as I'm pretty nostalgic, and great lighting. Thoroughly recommend it.

 

[demon]

Watch another Sci-Fi film altogether...

I can't think of anything else I want to watch. At least anything that's on netflix.

 

[SummitAve]

I just saw Argo recently as well. Thought it was entertaining, but very safe and by the numbers. It felt like pretty much any other Italian Job/"we gotta get the gang back together" kind of movie. Most interesting part is that it's based on a true story, but I once I found that out months ago I had already wikipedia'd the hell out of it and maybe that took a bit of suspense out of the movie.

 

[Thug Waffle]

I can't think of anything else I want to watch. At least anything that's on netflix.

Is the first Starship Troopers still on Netflix? If so, maybe that? Can't go wrong with The Fifth Element, either.

 

[HiResDes]

Watch Metropolis. Or if you want something more recent Mr. Nobody or Sunshine.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

I can't think of anything else I want to watch. At least anything that's on netflix.

I would recommend The Andromeda Tapes, though there's good stuff on that 5-disc set.

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Is the first Starship Troopers still on Netflix? If so, maybe that? Can't go wrong with The Fifth Element, either.

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

 

[Dragoon En Regalia]

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

You mean Chris Tucker.

I thought he was funny.

 

[t-ramp]

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

Eddie Murphy is in The Fifth Element? Do you mean Chris Tucker?

 

[demon]

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

 

[HiResDes]

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

SCUST

 

[MidnightCowboy]

Holy shit what the fuck how did I mix them up

And demon thank you for the perfect reply, I love that gif

 

[Talon]

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

That was Milla Jovovich, dawg.

 

[BadTaste]

Got a 3 DVD set of horror movies from my sister for my birthday.

I started watching one of them last night called House of Bones. I lasted about 20 minutes, just another cheap horror flick, terrible editing, cringeworthy acting.

The other 2 movies are called Skew and Underground. I honestly would expect nothing more than terrible from both of them too.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

Profound Desires of the Gods (1968) - I think this might be a masterpiece. Shohei Imamura's 3-hour film tells of the story of an incestuous and superstitious family living on a remote island. It's shot almost like a documentary in the sense that it feels "real." Everything is shot on location (it took 18 months) with ample images of nature interspersed and without any complex or overly showy camera work. Simple put, it's a beautiful film to look at. The slow pacing allowed me to sink into and and enjoy the lack of driving plot, instead getting glimpses into a traditional, almost untouched society that is slowly being encroached on by the modern world.

This is the second film I've seen from Imamura, and I think I've gotten a taste for his approach. As much as he attempted to separate himself from the likes of Ozu whom he apprenticed under, I see a similar avoidance of melodrama and an understanding that intense looking at one family can be create a window into the world and society at large.

 

[jakncoke]

Is the first Starship Troopers still on Netflix? If so, maybe that? Can't go wrong with The Fifth Element, either.

Just looked, nope it is not.

 

[T Dollarz]

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

/dead

 

[UrbanRats]

Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element.

You're thinking of Pluto Nash.. though Eddie Murphy hardly was the worst thing of that movie.

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

GAF on Film ‏@NeoGAF_OnFilm
Eddie Murphy, god bless him, almost ruins The Fifth Element

lol

*********

Saw An American in Paris. Initially thought I might not like it, but it grew on me (though it's not as good as Singin' in the Rain). It's hard not to like Gene, he lights up the screen (and looks so good ). I love I'll build a Stairway to Paradise (The Aviator put in in my subconscious), and the last segment was great and a bit unexpected

Spoiler

(specially since the last 20 minutes didn't have any dialogue or lyrics at all).

The movie is a beast of the 50s, but a good one. 7/10

 

[haikira]

Is the first Starship Troopers still on Netflix?

If you're in the UK, it is. Just tested it.

 

[jakncoke]

78) Brave 2012

Decent, pretty straight forward.

79) Scary Movie 2000

rewatch, seemed to keep popping up on my suggestions, watched it again, still bad.

80) 30 for 30: The Best That Never Was 2010

A documentary about high school phenom Marcus Dupree, interesting 30 for 30 about how injuries and bad decisions derailed what could of been a great career.

81) Kevin 2011

a 36 min short about this Austin musician who I believe may have a mental disability of some sorts. Its interesting enough.

82) Jiro Dreams of sushi 2011

rewatch, was thinking if i rewatched maybe some similar things would pop up. 300 bucks for a dinner would be crazy, but i guess if its really good its worth it

83) Extract 2009

Decent movie, but 2 things. lol at gene simmons as a lawyer, and that moron kid character stupidity just got under my skin

84) Machete Maidens Unleashed!2010

Awesome documentary on Filipino exploitation movies

85) American Grindhouse 2010

Good documentary on grindhouse films

86) Full Tilt Boogie 1997

Documentary on the set of From Dusk till Dawn, love documentarys like this.

87) Payback 1999

Been in and out of my top 10 for awhile, figured i'd give it a rewatch

88) Candyman 1992

Decent horror movie, are the others worth checking out on a soon basis? or can i just casually watch them later down the road?

89) Stark Raving Mad 2002

another rewatch, decent movie, sean william scott gotta use a rave as cover to steal thsi chinese statue from the bank next door. why a bank and nightclub sit next too each in any life time is beyond me though.

89 total films
59 new watches
30 rewatches

 

[Bowflex]

Betty Blue (the three hour director's cut)

My god, what a film! Foreboding, funny, sexy, tragic, beautiful.... I now have the biggest crush on late 80's early 90's Béatrice Dalle. Also one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. I want to sleep the rest of the day away

 

[friday]

I finally got to see TT3D: Closer to the Edge. Really enjoyed it. It is one of the best racing documentaries I have seen. The passion of these guys is off the charts.

 

[EliCash]

86) Full Tilt Boogie 1997

Documentary on the set of From Dusk till Dawn, love documentarys like this.

I just watched From Dusk till Dawn for the first time and man, what a piece of trash. It's just nonsense (I know that's the point but still), and it was halfway decent until the bar I thought. I'm now watching this and I think I like the first 5 minutes of the documentary with just Clooney and Quentin walking more than most of the movie.

 

[jakncoke]

I love From Dusk till Dawn

 

[sonicfan]

Just watched Tucker and Dale vs. Evil on Netflix streaming, very enjoyable little movie, highly recommend it for a bit of fun movie watching.

 

[ThanksVision]

I watched Moonstruck for class. I had seen it a few years ago, but I don't think I could appreciate it at my young age back then. It's a great movie! Cher and Cage are both excellent. I loved how that play is woven throughout the story.

 

[Thug Waffle]

If you're in the UK, it is. Just tested it.

Damn. I'm in Chicago. Looks like I have to break out the old VHS (yeah, right).

I love From Dusk till Dawn

Awesome film. I knew Tarantino wrote the script before I even saw it, so I was kind of surprised that it wasn't more 'talky.' I wonder what, if anything, Rodriguez and Co. chose to cut from the early drafts.

 

[BotoxAgent]

Headhunters: Awesome Norwegian thriller with a Hollywood feel but more intelligence than the average Hollywood movie. I recommend it to everyone, it doesn't matter what your tastes are because this is a very accessible, highly entertaining foreign movie.

The behind-the-scenes made me lol when one of the producers said their budget was probably the equivalent of an American production's catering expenses. And he is right, the film looks a lot more expensive than it likely cost them to make it. They did a great job.

agreed. Great movie.

 

[jakncoke]

Damn. I'm in Chicago. Looks like I have to break out the old VHS (yeah, right).



Awesome film. I knew Tarantino wrote the script before I even saw it, so I was kind of surprised that it wasn't more 'talky.' I wonder what, if anything, Rodriguez and Co. chose to cut from the early drafts.

In the documentary they said they wanted the movie to start off so to build characters and for audience to get attached to the characters before the horror twist happened. They said most just start from the get go so you don't really care if someone dies off. I dunno though how you could even care about 2 mass murderers that kidnapped a family, and a basically jesus family who just scared shitless about getting kidnapped.

 

[Charles Foster Kane]

Damn, the more I think about it and see parts of it, the more I like West Side Story. The movie has grown on me.

 

[EliCash]

I love From Dusk till Dawn

I just don't like Rodriguez. Came for Quentin and stayed for Keitel.

 

[Divius]

Came for Quentin, came for Hayek.

yeah i dunno

 

[jakncoke]

I just don't like Rodriguez. Came for Quentin and stayed for Keitel.

None of his work?

no El mariachi ?
no his scene on Four Room?
no The Faculty?
no Sin City?
no Planet Terror?
no Machete?