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Movies You've Seen Recently III: The Third Chapter

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Girlfriend's pick tonight and she picked "The Men Who Stare At Goats". Not sure what to expect. Is it something to look forward, GAF?
 
Saw Goldfinger. Pussy, now that's a name you don't hear everyday (at least she has the most honest Bond girl name). Props for badass grandma.

Many people think Solo got his name from Star Wars, but I know it was from Bond :P
 
I just got bumped up from Junior status today (like within the last hour). w00t! I already know exactly what my first thread's going to be about, but I ain't telling. It won't be stupid. Well, I don't think it'll be stupid.

Watching the following tonight:
Safety Not Guaranteed (2nd viewing)
Eraserhead (1st)
The Seven Samurai (1st)

I might save The Seven Samurai for tomorrow night. It depends on if I go in on more House of Cards tonight.
 
Safety Not Guaranteed: For a quirky, indie film that reveled in how quirky it was, everything was played surprisingly straight and risk-adverse. Very tame, some scenes were amusing, some were incredibly dull, but I've seen worse movies.

Side Effects: Really enjoyed this. As most have mentioned, the wheels kind of come of towards the end of the movie (the last 20 minutes tied things up way too neatly) though I just love the taut pacing, the tight plotting, the great characters. We need more movies where the protagonist is just an unapologetic asshole.

Regarding the end:
the lesbian stuff was way too abrupt to be introduced right before the film is about to end, making the exposition of "what exactly happened" really clunky. The only thing that made that plot twist somewhat bearable was that it played with the Rooney Mara character's fake-ness (implication that she was faking the lesbian relationship too). Also, I really hated how Jude Law got a happy ending. No, he doesn't deserve his wife and stepson back. He did treat Mara's character differently because she was a woman, he probably did fuck up from a doctor's point of view, and he did a ridiculous amount of immoral things along the way.
That's what made the movie compelling in the first place. The ending reduces it to black and white far too easily, and it dilutes the very strong 3/4s of a movie that came before it.
 
Thug Waffle said:
I just got bumped up from Junior status today (like within the last hour). w00t! I already know exactly what my first thread's going to be about, but I ain't telling. It won't be stupid. Well, I don't think it'll be stupid.

Watching the following tonight:
Safety Not Guaranteed (2nd viewing)
Eraserhead (1st)
The Seven Samurai (1st)

I might save The Seven Samurai for tomorrow night. It depends on if I go in on more House of Cards tonight.
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Congrats. Now there's lower chance of being instantly perma banned.
 
I just posted my first thread so we'll see how long my membership lasts, haha.

You guys are probably right on The Seven Samurai. I suppose I'll have to find something else to fill that 3rd and potentially 4th film of the night slot. Some new stuff got added to HBO GO last night and there are other Criterion films I can hop on while Hulu still offers them.
 
Who knew australian chicks were so fucking hot.

4NOhyds.jpg
 
I agree with everything Scullibundo said about Anna Karenina. Fucking loved the film; felt like a film that was tailor-made for my own personal tastes.
 
Trying to watch The Game (dir. David Fincher, st. Michael Douglas). I don't really know what is happening, and I don't like the film enough to care.
 
jtb said:
That is kind of the point. But definitely lower tier Fincher for me.
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Which would be fine if I was enjoying the film, but by halfway I couldn't convince myself to care. Interesting premise but mundane, messy execution. I should probably watch the whole thing before passing judgement but not right now.

Watched Adjustment Bureau recently. Great concept but felt very watered down for a mainstream audience. A braver approach may have made it a real sci-fi classic but I still enjoyed it as it is.
 
Scullibundo said:
ANNA KARENINA.

There are few modern-day filmmakers who can rival Joe Wright when it comes to showing such an absolute masterful grasp of the frame. He has such a fantastic understanding of the economy between visual and aural communication that - despite the organic, painterly flow and pace at which action unravels before us, we are always keenly aware that absolutely nothing in the frame is accidental or wasted. The theatrical conceit of the film fit these sensibilities like a glove and better served the characters whose plight - in more than just in a literal sense, are put front and center. There is nothing for them to hide behind; there is not an ounce of fat, nor moment of time to be wasted as each plot development must unfold at the exact same express-carriage tempo in which the scenery is transformed around it. So swift and direct is Wright's hand that leads us through the story - so confident that he's not allowed a glance or utterance to be misunderstood, that scenes even begin to blur into one another, as spatial borders are literally stripped away at the behest the narrative's temporal momentum.

All the players put in fantastic performances. Keira Knightley hasn't been this good since her last pairing with Wright in Atonement. Funnily enough, I felt like Jude Law had signed up for a romanticized version of his character in Closer. The real surprise was Aaron Taylor-Johnson who I never expected anything of - yet held his own perfectly well against some of the more battle-hardened actors he played off.

A lot has been said of the film's production design, and it deserves every bit of praise. Stunning. But more than that, Seamus McGarvey's cinematography hasn't gotten nearly enough due - which is a shame as I felt it was equally impressive and among his very best work.

Dario Marianelli's score was terrific and one of my favourite this year.

I've still yet to see Amour and Cloud Atlas - something that will be rectified over the next two weeks, but this film has just shot to the very top of my Best of 2012 list.
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I thought the production design and cinematography were absolutely gorgeous, but I found the whole thing cold and distant. That seems to be a common theme with Wright's movies for me. Out of all his work, I think Hanna is easily his most enjoyable.
 
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Watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I haven't seen it since I was a little kid. I found it even more funny now than I did years ago.

GRW810 said:
Trying to watch The Game (dir. David Fincher, st. Michael Douglas). I don't really know what is happening, and I don't like the film enough to care.
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Pretty weak movie coming from Fincher but I still enjoyed it. You're not really supposed to know what is happening until the end.
 
Young Adult - Theron is great. Almost depresses me with how horrible she is. 7.5/10
Safety Not Guaranteed - Nothing special. Some scenes made me laugh, and it usually kept a smile on my face. 6.5/10
As good As it Gets - Funny. Performances were great. 8/10
 
GRW810 said:
Trying to watch The Game (dir. David Fincher, st. Michael Douglas). I don't really know what is happening, and I don't like the film enough to care.
Click to expand...

I hate this movie just because of the ending
It removes any awesomeness the game had. Plus, there were so many ways he could have just died, even with people watching him. For example, what if he jumped off the opposite side of the roof? Dumb
 
Jimothy said:
I thought the production design and cinematography were absolutely gorgeous, but I found the whole thing cold and distant. That seems to be a common theme with Wright's movies for me. Out of all his work, I think Hanna is easily his most enjoyable.
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Pride and Prejudice is anything but cold and distant.
 
Scullibundo said:
Pride and Prejudice is anything but cold and distant.
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Atonement too - that said I do understand why someone would feel that those two words "cold" and 'distant". Although honestly, the only film of his that I feel fits those two words for me is 'Hanna" which I still admittedly enjoyed.
 
SlowRevolution said:
watching wedding crashers for the hundredth time and 2005 rachel mcadams is the most gorgeous woman ever

movie is pretty good too
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Wedding Crashers is dominant. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn always kind of play the same dude but it doesn't bother me for this film. I think Wedding Crashers is one of the comedy genre's greatest treats of the last 10 years. I have major crushes on Rachel MacAdams and Isla Fisher, too, so that helps.

DEATH, YOU ARE MY BITCH LOVER!
 
Wedding Crashers would have been a lot better without the godawful final act.

YES, OWEN WILSON'S CHARACTER IS COMPLETELY RUDDERLESS WITHOUT RACHEL MACADAMS IN HIS LIFE, THANKS FOR REMINDING US, MOVIE
 
I've recently started re-watching the Evil Dead trilogy. Finished first two so far. So fucking good!

Evil Dead The cheap make up and blood. LOL I actually found some scenes a bit tense and scary. I think if anything the movie got sound pretty good. I also find that the cheap make up and blood make the gory bits a bit more disgusting compared to modern gory films. I wanted to throw up in the end when the demons died and melted. So gross. The tree branch rape scene is still one of the weirdest things I've ever seen in a film. First time I watched it it was weird. Second time I watch it, still so freaking weird! Made me think of some Japanese hentai. lol (or I imagine hentai anime are like that. I've never seen one)

Evil Dead II Badass Ash finally starts to show up here. Not scary at all but super fun. I seemed to have forgotten that tie in to the Army of Darkness (Ash being mentioned in the Book of the Dead as the one who fell from the Sky).

Will start Evil Dead Army of Darkness as soon as the DVD comes in. I have never seen the directors cut so should be interesting comparing the theater cut and directors cut.

Weekend movie theater watch:

Beautiful Creatures

I never read the books but I know they exist. The trailers had me a bit hyped. After watching it, it's alright. Not totally terrible but also not great or good. It's just alright. I felt it needed more magic shit going on. It was a bit confusing at some parts. Started off really good and interesting. I think what made it pretty weak was little to no development for the main characters. Also the ending,
was confusing. She made it seem that in order to break the curse, she had to kill her loved one. But then the uncle sacrificed himself and he claimed that broke the curse. So I assumed that any person she loved counted. But here's where the movie sort of fails. Hardly any development shown that the girl really cared for her uncle (like enough to break the curse care). Also her eye was half good half bad. So was she a half good/half bad caster in the end? Did breaking the curse allow her to choose?
Movie gets a 3.5/5. It had its entertaining moments.
 
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