Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| Nov 2013

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Lovers of the Arctic Circle - One of the best examples I've seen of that narrative subgenre of romance where the two lovers interact in various moments across time and their destinies intersect and whatnot (average example, but like The Notebook). It plays with reality in a lot of fun, interesting ways, by the end of the film you don't exactly know what's real and what isn't. A strong cast all around, a lot of the film deals with what it means to be a part of a family, and what exactly a family even is. It's mysterious, romantic, depressing, and features beautiful cinematography. Thoroughly recommended.
 
Is it really that unique a lineup? I'm confused, I thought every city but Dallas had a vibrant film scene. Houston and Austin are better off, that's for sure; where do you live anyway, Femme?

I do know that the Angelika Dallas programmer is a cool dude, though.

Dallas often gets newer releases a week ahead of Austin. I used to think Austin's programming was leaps and bounds above Dallas, but I'm not sure that's true. But I'm sure an Austinite or former one will tell me how wrong I am shortly.
 
did everyone see that TCM is doing an HBOgo-like service now? If you're a subscriber you can watch the channel live through your browser and watch a fair number of recently-shown titles on-demand. Right now I recognize Picnic at Hanging Rock, Freaks, Love in the Afternoon, It Happened One Night, His Girl Friday, Blow-up, Colorado Territory, A Streetcar Named Desire, Three Musketeers, Xala, Tokyo Joe.

WHAT THE FUCK
 
You are not. It's a pretty virtuosic performance, one that easily could be over-the-top, as it's a depiction of a man who was over-the-top, who reveled in being almost a grotesque parody of the stereotypical slaveowner, found meaning in such an identity, but Fassbender's total control of self keeps it in check. He has to do alot of different styles - gritty realism, chamber drama, poetic monologuing, even some slapstick - but he knows just how far to push it without being unbelievable or inhuman. Epps is a great villain, but he only works because an actor of Fassbender's skill is portraying him.

Movie GAF is dying, guys. I am legit shook by this turn of events.

I'm working on my research. :(
 
Missed The Conjuring when it was in theatres, seen it last night. It was pretty good and surprised that it was actually creepy, especially the Annabelle Doll. Also I did not know it was based on a true story.

Loosely based from what I understand, regardless, I dug that movie.

Speaking of horror flicks, I back-ended October with watching Hellraiser 1-3 and V/H/S and V/H/S 2.

Had seen Hellraiser 3 many times growing up, but it had been at least a decade since the last time I'd seen it. Had seen tiny bits of 2 before, and none of the first film. Those first three have really stuck with me in the last week or two, although mostly due to the first film; the second was decent but felt like a disjointed mess story-wise, and three I think I enjoyed mostly due to nostalgic reasons.

Of the two movies, I watched V/H/S 2 first, and enjoyed it quite a bit, although some of the sequences, like the first with the eye camera, had some pretty lame effects on the 'ghosts', but that sequence 'Safe Haven', goddamn. Was half surprised to see that the writer/director of The Raid co-wrote and co-directed it.

The first V/H/S was well done, and I thought it had overall better effects as a whole than the second film, although V/H/S 2 was better as far as variety in the vignettes goes.

Between the two there was a lot of creativity in using the whole found footage perspective, and I really hope they do a third one.
 
We can always ditch the monthly threads and go to Community.

Yes, please.

This board is awful. Hate the quote function. Can't backlog worth shit. Can't quote Snowy posts and say swoon why ain't you defending Contempt?

Is multi-posting still frowned upon here? I don't keep up with GAF politics. I check this topic (or thread) and nothing else. Sorry in advance if my multiple posts in a row are a no no. I can't delete them anyway because the interface here is so bad!
 
Yes, please.

This board is awful. Hate the quote function. Can't backlog worth shit. Can't quote Snowy posts and say swoon why ain't you defending Contempt?

Is multi-posting still frowned upon here? I don't keep up with GAF politics. I check this topic (or thread) and nothing else. Sorry in advance if my multiple posts in a row are a no no. I can't delete them anyway because the interface here is so bad!

If you press the + next to a username, it'll save it to be quoted in your next post, that way you can respond to many people in one post.

Edit: You might know this and I could have just misconstrued what you meant by backlog
 
If you press the + next to a username, it'll save it to be quoted in your next post, that way you can respond to many people in one post.

Edit: You might know this and I could have just misconstrued what you meant by backlog

We can always ditch the monthly threads and go to Community.

I did not know this. Has this always been a thing. I feel pretty silly. You should see the dumb look on my face! Is it ordered by the sequence you click the +?

I totally forgot that I didn't update the OP...

WOW, GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER, MAN!
 
Should have added the word class in there. If I do a write-up on a French film I get a few extra points in my class lol.

Want 12 Years A Slave to play near me already. Kind of worried that Fassbender chews the scenes up, am I correct?

he's a nutjob but apparently solomon northup described him as such in the book. it's a good performance.
 
How come you're not using Letterboxd much? You already give up on it?

I rarely watch movies at the moment. I can never focus, always feel like I should be doing something else. (Which I don't do, anyway, but that's because I'm a huge procrastinator.)

Edit: Who cares how Northup describes him in the book? He works in the movie, regardless.
 
Frances Ha - Enjoyed this quite a bit, it has a lot of the elements that I fucking love about Woody Allen films so it's pretty effective as a homage in that sense. I did find the main character who is admittedly portrayed to be a very flawed individual to be quite grating at times, but I enjoyed her characterization regardless and they were particular moments where her flaws lead to some really effective moments. *** 1/2

Black Orpheus - Watched this because of the Arcade Fire connection. And I'm really glad I did - for a film made in 1959 it's so damn modern-looking in terms of cinematography and costumes which are all absolutely fabolous, and the film has this atmosphere and feel about where it feels like there's a strong music undercurrent driving the narrative thrust that's kind of hard to describe but it really worked for me. ****

Gravity - Visually it was pitch-perfect, the 3D, effects and the simple plot and the amount of tension made it to be one of the most entertaining experiences I've had in the theater this year. Unfortunately I felt the dialogue and characterization were mostly medicore and the films attempts at being philosophical or meaningful fell VERY flat for me.. ****
 
Dallas often gets newer releases a week ahead of Austin. I used to think Austin's programming was leaps and bounds above Dallas, but I'm not sure that's true. But I'm sure an Austinite or former one will tell me how wrong I am shortly.
Well, you guys sure have better repertory. We get many if not allof the most recent stuff, though, so maybe I am better-off. Of course, some old movies still look like crap at home, so watching them at an engagement whenever possible is preferable.
 
did everyone see that TCM is doing an HBOgo-like service now? If you're a subscriber you can watch the channel live through your browser and watch a fair number of recently-shown titles on-demand. Right now I recognize Picnic at Hanging Rock, Freaks, Love in the Afternoon, It Happened One Night, His Girl Friday, Blow-up, Colorado Territory, A Streetcar Named Desire, Three Musketeers, Xala, Tokyo Joe.

Holy shit!
 
They tend to discourage more threads going to Community unless they need to. I think the main reason for going to monthly threads was so it would become less "community" and more of an inviting thing for people outside the 4-5 regulars.

And to some extent, it has, but it's not on the first few pages often enough to really counterbalance the loss of posts.
 
There's usually lots of new people on the first few pages when they're like "oh there's a movie thread!" but then it's just us jacking each other off for the rest of the month.

Maybe it's because people don't get the replies that they want right away so it seems less engaging. They don't realize though that we reply to posts all the time, it's just months later when we want to throw something in someone's fucking face.
 
I think the regulars just don't have as much time to watch and/or post as they once did, while the looky-loos tend to post about mainstream movies from the last year or two, which don't generally spark very much in the way of conversation since we're not the target audience, usually.
 
Finally saw The Prestige and I really enjoyed it, even knowing the main twist of the film. Very well written and directed.

Miami Connection

Had a good time watching this with my romantic partner. I think it will take another viewing to fully appreciate how bad it is.

This movie is pretty awesome when it comes to that 80's action movie feel, cheese included. If you like overly bad movies that are also fun, you should check out The FP.
 
I think the regulars just don't have as much time to watch and/or post as they once did, while the looky-loos tend to post about mainstream movies from the last year or two, which don't generally spark very much in the way of conversation since we're not the target audience, usually.

well it's also that with letterboxd and everyone following each other. like why do both? i know what ander has watched and reviewed, what's the point of talking to him here about it.
 
well it's also that with letterboxd and everyone following each other. like why do both? i know what ander has watched and reviewed, what's the point of talking to him here about it.

I never check letterboxd and still insist on using ICM.
 
You are not. It's a pretty virtuosic performance, one that easily could be over-the-top, as it's a depiction of a man who was over-the-top, who reveled in being almost a grotesque parody of the stereotypical slaveowner, found meaning in such an identity, but Fassbender's total control of self keeps it in check. He has to do alot of different styles - gritty realism, chamber drama, poetic monologuing, even some slapstick - but he knows just how far to push it without being unbelievable or inhuman. Epps is a great villain, but he only works because an actor of Fassbender's skill is portraying him.
Sounds great. Thanks for the write-up.

I really need to get back to binge watching movies. I've slacked as of late. Maybe this criterion sale at B&N will help.
 
I just watched Pacific Rim and really enjoyed it.

I'm an Anime fan and I got all the references. Not the most original story or plot. But I got what I came for and wasn't offended by the stupidity on the screen like the last two Transformers movies.
 
Enders Game I enjoyed the movie quite a lot. I have not read the book and for better or worse as I don't know what was left out or changed. I enjoyed the twist and while I was unsure about Asa Butterfield at first. I really enjoyed his development. Had some issues with character relationships throughout the film and could see where they rushed to cram in so much movie into 2 hours but I came out with a good experience and would recommend.
8.9 / 10 - completely random number that means nothing.
 
in Event Horizon Laurence Fishburne fist fought the devil and that was cool, but besides that nope. it failed with its atmosphere, jump scares, imagery ("hell is only a word" *shows boring jesus torture imagery*), and characters. It's a shame, because the setup is good. 4/10

the practical effects in The Thing are still amazing and fantastically grotesque. there are so many "holy shit" moments in this movie, and they come in such rapid succession. there is not much logic to what the Thing can do, and that's just wonderful. a shame that the script brings it down, but everything else is oh so good. 7/10

2046 is a bit of a mess. the structure of having somewhat self contained love chapters revolving Tony Leung is fine, but Kar-Wai made it unnecessarily convoluted and long. the purpose of the android portion was to display Chow's frame of mind and desires, but we already knew this through the regular parts. unnecessary. but, the film is absolutely gorgeous and everything is framed perfectly. everyone is so beautiful, overdressed, and has such wonderfully overdone hairdos. there was a scene of Chow looking cool as hell eating chips while reading in bed and wearing a suit, and it was fantastic. Faye Wong is perfect. there are still many moments in this movie where everything aligns perfectly and tears start to form in your eyes and you can't help but give it 8/10
 
yea i think ICM is the best, but i know i don't cross post my reviews/views from letterboxd here anymore.

I just find that I really don't like talking about films that I really like. Maybe it's because I think I'll sound stupid or maybe they just feel so personal to me that I don't feel like sharing my thoughts on them. I honestly have no idea. It's probably why I don't post here much.
 
I just find that I really don't like talking about films that I really like. Maybe it's because I think I'll sound stupid or maybe they just feel so personal to me that I don't feel like sharing my thoughts on them. I honestly have no idea. It's probably why I don't post here much.

I'm kind of feeling that way.
 
yea i think ICM is the best, but i know i don't cross post my reviews/views from letterboxd here anymore.

I also think it's easier to throw walls of text up on letterboxd (something I've done before) than it is here where everyone types two-sentence responses. Which is fine, by the way.
 
I just find that I really don't like talking about films that I really like. Maybe it's because I think I'll sound stupid or maybe they just feel so personal to me that I don't feel like sharing my thoughts on them. I honestly have no idea. It's probably why I don't post here much.

Haha posting stupid thoughts on movies is pretty much reviewing imo, at least thats what i tend to do when "reviewing".
 
I finally decided to watch V/H/S and V/H/S/2. I felt like the first one was generally more uncomfortable and creepy (one story in particular has me really jumpy), but the second one had two stories that I really loved (the one about the cult was good until the very end, and the last story was great to watch living in a not super populated area).

I need to find more fun and creepy movies.
 
well it's also that with letterboxd and everyone following each other. like why do both? i know what ander has watched and reviewed, what's the point of talking to him here about it.
Pretty much. For a while I'd cross post my lb reviews but once I was following/followed by most people on here there stopped being any point. If anyone wanted to say something they already would have over there
the practical effects in The Thing are still amazing and fantastically grotesque. there are so many "holy shit" moments in this movie, and they come in such rapid succession. there is not much logic to what the Thing can do, and that's just wonderful. a shame that the script brings it down, but everything else is oh so good. 7/10
I don't see where the thing's rules lose their logic, but more importantly: I'm always curious what people mean by "the script" in this context. Because I mean, the script is theoretically what drove the location choices/environments and shooting style and pacing and so on. (in the case of the Thing specifically, a fortuitous production downtime gave Carpenter the time to rewrite and retool which ended up hugely altering the tempo of the film, for the better I'd say.) And you're praising all those things. Do you specifically mean the dialogue then?

I spend four hours a day talking about film in class. That's why I don't do it here.
Dunno, I'm actually more likely to post here and stuff after film classes. Once I get started I don't want to stop.
 
Hang Over pt3
Its a good movie but i dont laugh in this like i laughed in the pt1 or 2, is more a action movie than a commedy movie,
 
Sounds worse than when we start talking about Shame.

Letterboxd does render it redundant to talk when one of us has reviewed something in detail, but I still find things to talk about. This Watch TCM thing, for example, is gonna rock my world once I can access it from the big TV.
 
I don't see where the thing's rules lose their logic, but more importantly: I'm always curious what people mean by "the script" in this context. Because I mean, the script is theoretically what drove the location choices/environments and shooting style and pacing and so on. (in the case of the Thing specifically, a fortuitous production downtime gave Carpenter the time to rewrite and retool which ended up hugely altering the tempo of the film, for the better I'd say.) And you're praising all those things. Do you specifically mean the dialogue then?
Well, I meant how the characters were really stupid. For some reason they needed to be alone, even after knowing how the Thing can do sneak attacks and how it can, I don't know, imitate the voice and body and stuff. Example is when the glasses guy was reading the doctors notes when the power went off, then proceeded to follow a hooded stranger outside. Another example is near the end when the three of them went into the basement and split up, knowing that the doctor was missing and the Thing is still out there.

I just didn't feel like going through all that for my review, hence the "problems with the script" statement. Also, it makes me sound super smart and objective.
 
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