Movies You've Seen Recently |OT| Jan 2014

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swoon said:
icm recently approved this list which seems really fucking bonkers.

http://www.icheckmovies.com/lists/actionexclamation+the+action+movie+a-z/

such great action hits as the chase, bird on wire, cutthroat island, fair game, sidekicks....tank girl

easily the worst list they could have used for action movies, even if you wanted to highlight dumb action movies.
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Hey man, Cutthroat Island has a sick ship explosion scene.

Like, really good.

Possibly one of the best explosions ever filmed.

Dat be action, right?
 
Gravity: A flawed masterpiece. Some of the
religious tones
, a handful of the long dialogue scenes and overbearing music keep it from attaining ALIEN-like perfection. Amazing cinematography, editing, pacing, action, tension, performances and decent character development make this one of the best of 2013 for me. If this movie had an alien in it chasing after Sandra, it would have been a better Alien film than PROMETHEUS. Someone get The Fonz on Prometheus 2 STAT.
 
Wrong Cops Rubber kind of left me cold, but I checked out this one because of Steve Little. I'm glad I did. I thought it was hilarious. If you like surreal comedy in the vein of Eastbound and Down it's worth a watch.
 
Speaking of that list, the reason I found out about it is because I watched Timecop recently. That movie could of been so much better and cooler than they executed it as
 
Net_Wrecker said:
Hey man, Cutthroat Island has a sick ship explosion scene.

Like, really good.

Possibly one of the best explosions ever filmed.

Dat be action, right?
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Harlin directs some great action in The Long Kiss Goodnight is all I know.

Speaking of Timecop, Peter Hyams and his son (recent Universal Soldier stuff, vulgar auteurism &c.) are action favorites in the current critical community.
 
Memoirs of a Geisha - I have never actually watched this film despite how I am a fan of Japanese culture, I have never even read the book. I think I really just enjoy period pieces. I actually liked the movie, but did not realize the main actress was actually of Chinese descent. It actually kind of educated me on Geisha, I didn't know they auction off their virginity to the highest bider doner (or whatever they said?)

I watched The Joy Luck Club years ago and I liked it as well.

I really want to see more Japanese themed movies.
 
I watched Lawrence of Arabia (still in 2013) and is truly an epic. Lucky I have a projector, still in a theatre should be an even better experience. I liked a lot.
It's almost flawless, and maybe it was just my impression but the performance from O'Tool had a little bit of theatre acting. This is in no way a bad criticism, just an observation. But he sure gave Lawrence a full range of emotions and inimitable mannerisms and depth. 5/5
 
oof, didn't hold back on Wolf of Wall Street swoon. How can you not laugh at Jordan telling the FBI to fuck off his yacht or the Lemmons episode, c'mon. Or, my biggest laugh was
the arrest during the infomercial taping

Though the way I've been thinking about the movie is more about it being a film about addiction from a former addict than anything about economic greed specifically. opening metaphor of money as a drug really is key, and even if it is rudimentary I think the film works with it incredibly well. Allows the film to scorch everyone and everything, indicting them as addicts, without becoming a hollowly angry rant. instead understands addiction as a basic human need, something we all share and with which we all struggle. I really loved that because it's terrifyingly direct without feeling accusatory in a facile, smug way.

Hate that the discourse around the film is all about depiction/endorsement blahblahblah but it's kinda relevant here: I love that Marty doesn't encourage any of this but he certainly understands why addiction is so alluring and so hard to escape, and he understands that so comprehensively I couldn't help but be awed.
 
Ridley327 said:
I almost want to buy this book now to see how on earth Fair Game or the Disney Three Musketeers are "key movies."
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the amazon preview for the book has the review for american cyborg which concludes with "For drunks, junkies and desperados only." so it might just be 250 action movies he chose to review. i don't really get the purpose of the list if a random selection of films.
 
I got to ring in the new year with a little film that I'd intended to see for a long time called Angel's Egg.
Even after going into it expecting to see a heavily symbolic film, I was surprised by how dense it actually turned out to be on the first viewing. Despite some smaller details like the fish/fishermen and the iconic floating eye that went over my head, Oshii's very deliberate scene staging and framing were more than enough to carry the film along with its thick, oppressive atmosphere and Kanno's beautiful score. But the one thing that I was most curious about was
the older man's motive for crushing the egg. Of course, one could see it as him crushing the girl's innocence, but in the context of its narrative, it seems a bit vague to me. All I was aware of was that he was curious of what was inside it. Maybe curiosity got the better of him?

Nonetheless, it was a thoroughly dense yet frequently beautiful and personal meditation on the loss faith and innocence in a world deprived of it. I thought it was great, and it's been on my mind quite a bit since. Certainly an interesting first foray into the director's body of work.
 
The one OVA that really needs reappraisal is Birth, basically Yoshinori Kanada's declaration of independence from contemporary anime. Some surprising insanity and play on form in that one, especially with its abstract ending. It's not as good as I make it sound, but I find it fascinating.
 
Battle of the Godfathers (1973) - Fun, no-nonsense eurocrime with some exciting set pieces. Hard to go wrong with Henry Silva in anything. ***1/2 (out of 5)

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (1974) - In the early going it seems like it might actually be worthy of that great title, but it bogs down and didn't play out in a satisfactory way for me. Has its moments though, and worth watching for any giallo fan. **1/2
 
big ander said:
Though the way I've been thinking about the movie is more about it being a film about addiction from a former addict than anything about economic greed specifically. opening metaphor of money as a drug really is key, and even if it is rudimentary I think the film works with it incredibly well. Allows the film to scorch everyone and everything, indicting them as addicts, without becoming a hollowly angry rant. instead understands addiction as a basic human need, something we all share and with which we all struggle. I really loved that because it's terrifyingly direct without feeling accusatory in a facile, smug way.
Click to expand...

This is an interesting interpretation to me. So would you then posit that the ending shot is more about
the nature of everyone around the world's desire to find their "addiction" or at least the facilitator of that addiction, rather than the more literal interpretation of them sadly seeking prosperity and greed despite it's known harmfulness
? I recognize that I guess it can be both. I'm just curious about how you might see it.
 
big ander said:
oof, didn't hold back on Wolf of Wall Street swoon. How can you not laugh at Jordan telling the FBI to fuck off his yacht or the Lemmons episode, c'mon. Or, my biggest laugh was
the arrest during the infomercial taping

Though the way I've been thinking about the movie is more about it being a film about addiction from a former addict than anything about economic greed specifically. opening metaphor of money as a drug really is key, and even if it is rudimentary I think the film works with it incredibly well. Allows the film to scorch everyone and everything, indicting them as addicts, without becoming a hollowly angry rant. instead understands addiction as a basic human need, something we all share and with which we all struggle. I really loved that because it's terrifyingly direct without feeling accusatory in a facile, smug way.

Hate that the discourse around the film is all about depiction/endorsement blahblahblah but it's kinda relevant here: I love that Marty doesn't encourage any of this but he certainly understands why addiction is so alluring and so hard to escape, and he understands that so comprehensively I couldn't help but be awed.
Click to expand...

the problem with the movie is pretty much summed up when he has fran lebowitz as a cameo and then doesn't have her speak. like who is that joke really for and all the people who get the joke would want to have her speak.

i haven't really read any of the arguments about encouraging this behavior, because i mean of course he's not, i think people are responding to the actual person not being punished for his actions but i mean that's a problem with the banks and the government and i guess marty for picking such a boring book.

people i suspect are also responding to the fact that unlike goodfellas or bringing out the dead there's not as much times spent with the characters and relationships - you just have the parties, i'm not sure if that's a problem with the source or what though.the subway part i think if expanded could have made the film more interesting and the discussions more important, but as it is presented is so bizarre and detached as to be a mistake.

i think the music usage is obvious and lame (lemonheads' mrs. robinson on a bus scene!) and just very un-marty like. the funny bits involve people falling down stairs and remembering those awful steven maddin ads and tennis bracelets, well i dunno man. also all those scenes are so long, how many times does he need to cut to popeye? especially after we get the joke by just hearing the music which already pretty on the nose.
 
. Star Trek I ~ VI - one gets a bad rap, I think. It's pretty slow going, but it's a good story, beautifully shot for the most part. Two is a classic, for obvious reasons. Three is pretty average in a lot of places, but Christopher Lloyd is the saving grace. Four is good, campy fun and I'm not sure why it's so disliked. Easily one of the more watchable films with the OG cast. Five is a mess, I never want to watch it again. Six is my favourite behind Wrath of Khan, just a well paced sci-fi action film. Couldn't bring myself to watch Generations.

. The Warriors: Director's Cut - one of the more pointless DC's I've seen, the director adding a comic book intro tying the film to Greek mythology and comic-book panels and cuts replacing the original transitions. Still an highly enjoyable film, regardless, but I definitely found the changes, however minor, to be a bit jarring.

. Starship Troopers - kicked off 2014 with this beauty, one of my all-time favourites. Love Michael Ironside and Clancy Brown in this. Also, you ever watch the deleted scenes? They're all awful and all related to Carmen. What a terrible, stupid character.
 
Emarv said:
This is an interesting interpretation to me. So would you then posit that the ending shot is more about
the nature of everyone around the world's desire to find their "addiction" or at least the facilitator of that addiction, rather than the more literal interpretation of them sadly seeking prosperity and greed despite it's known harmfulness
? I recognize that I guess it can be both. I'm just curious about how you might see it.
Click to expand...

Pretty much, in my seat I thought it was
for one, about how Belfort had changed zero and would always be an empty addict chasing a high in one way or another. and for two, about how everyone is an addict looking for the rush. doesn't really matter where it's coming from, all that matters is that they're caught up in chasing the high, empty-minded deer in headlights.
but I'd say the other reading is definitely "right" too
swoon said:
the problem with the movie is pretty much summed up when he has fran lebowitz as a cameo and then doesn't have her speak. like who is that joke really for and all the people who get the joke would want to have her speak.

i haven't really read any of the arguments about encouraging this behavior, because i mean of course he's not, i think people are responding to the actual person not being punished for his actions but i mean that's a problem with the banks and the government and i guess marty for picking such a boring book.

people i suspect are also responding to the fact that unlike goodfellas or bringing out the dead there's not as much times spent with the characters and relationships - you just have the parties, i'm not sure if that's a problem with the source or what though.the subway part i think if expanded could have made the film more interesting and the discussions more important, but as it is presented is so bizarre and detached as to be a mistake.

i think the music usage is obvious and lame (lemonheads' mrs. robinson on a bus scene!) and just very un-marty like. the funny bits involve people falling down stairs and remembering those awful steven maddin ads and tennis bracelets, well i dunno man. also all those scenes are so long, how many times does he need to cut to popeye? especially after we get the joke by just hearing the music which already pretty on the nose.
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heh fair on the popeye gag, I did think that was about 20 seconds too long. I know who Lebowitz is by name but didn't recognize her so I guess I can't respond there.

As for not focusing on the relationships: I thought that was ok. I mean I definitely noticed it but I felt it was intentional, that these relationships were supposed to seem entirely superficial. they talk about business and they party hard but they don't really know each other. Which becomes even more apparent when
they begin to turn on each other

I thought the subway was perfect. If it were longer the power of the point would have diluted. Just that seconds-long glimpse gives you a path into those discussions on economic divides without becoming an overly blatant critique.
 
Just finished watching The Kings of Summer, absolutely loved it. It's about three 15 year old boys that run away for a summer and build a house in the woods. Great script with lots of funny moments and some brilliant performances. I can see the lead kid becoming a star, haven't seen him in anything else. Great soundtrack too, check it out!
 
Sometimes I just love reading your write ups. Thanks for those guys.

I watched Wolf as well. Thought it was maybe a few minutes long, but the pacing was pretty great all things considered. Leo was so good, he was all over the place in the best possible way.

I need more time to watch all of these movies. Never enough time.
 
I do that shit, too. Star Wars to me is like the Bible or some shit, in that big cultural touchstone that seems like it was just always there, born out of the ether. When a woman tells me, "No, I never saw the old ones, just the new ones with Chris Pine" my eyes kinda narrow like "I'm quietly judging you" through no real fault of their own
 
big ander said:
Pretty much, in my seat I thought it was
for one, about how Belfort had changed zero and would always be an empty addict chasing a high in one way or another. and for two, about how everyone is an addict looking for the rush. doesn't really matter where it's coming from, all that matters is that they're caught up in chasing the high, empty-minded deer in headlights.
but I'd say the other reading is definitely "right" too.

I thought the subway was perfect. If it were longer the power of the point would have diluted. Just that seconds-long glimpse gives you a path into those discussions on economic divides without becoming an overly blatant critique.
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Cool cool. I can see how you'd get to that interpretation. That subway scene is really great, too. I love that it's the one time you actually see normal America in the film.
 
I find the best ST films aren't really ST(or at least, not like the TV show), but instead use Star Trek as a springboard into other genres. Wrath of Khan is a submarine movie like Das Boot, Voyage Home(people dislike this one!?) is a farcical comedy, Undiscovered Country is a murder mystery, First Contact a zombie film, and '09 is Star Wars.
 
the stairs gag/Notorious homage in The Wolf of Wall Street was perfect. movie was Pretty-Goodfellas.

also I re-watched Castle in the Sky and it's so beautiful. though it's probably Ghibli's most standard film in terms of plot complexity, it's pretty much the adventure formula done to perfection. the scene where the kids first arrive on Laputa might be Ghibli's best. there's just so much to take in and appreciate.
 
I'm a huge sucker for "big flying things/airships/cities/fortresses in the sky", so that movie just hits all my buttons all at the same time.
 
Last Movie I saw in 2013, and wow, one of the best. I hate H. Jackman for being so good

Prisoners-Movie-Poster.jpg
 
Wish me luck GAF. I'm going to have a movie marathon this weekend. Here's the setlist.
Flying Padre
Day of the Fight
Fear and Desire
The Seafarers
Killer's Kiss
The Killing
Paths of Glory
Spartacus
Lolita
Dr. Strangelove
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon
The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Eyes Wide Shut
Dog Star Man
Sirius Remembered
Suspiria
El Topo
The Holy Mountain
Mulholland Drive
Inland Empire
Destino
Un Chien Andalou
The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension
Altered States
Pan's Labyrinth
Pi
Eraserhead
The Grandmother
Begotten
 
ViewtifulJC said:
I'm a huge sucker for "big flying things/airships/cities/fortresses in the sky", so that movie just hits all my buttons all at the same time.
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It really hits me as the prime distillation of Miyazaki's action-movie formula. Nothing else he's done feels as stripped to a core essence as this, and I'm not counting his Lupin in this.
 
Dragoon En Regalia said:
It really hits me as the prime distillation of Miyazaki's action-movie formula. Nothing else he's done feels as stripped to a core essence as this, and I'm not counting his Lupin in this.
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the only fault against it is probably the underdeveloped villain, which is surprising considering it's Miyazaki. I even loved the weird gag with the creepy adult-pirates crushing on the 12-year old girl-child. what was up with that?
 
HoJu said:
the only fault against it is probably the underdeveloped villain, which is surprising considering it's Miyazaki. I even loved the weird gag with the creepy adult-pirates crushing on the 12-year old girl-child. what was up with that?
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Ha, never liked that change in the English dub. The Ghibli wiki talked about that

Several modifications were made to dialogue spoken to/about Sheeta by members of the Dola gang, including a declaration of love from one of the pirates. In the original Japanese version, the dialogue presented Sheeta as a potential mother figure for the pirates, instead of a potential romantic interest.

Originally it was a different kind of affectation, funny without being too weird
 
Pickles Spill said:
Wish me luck GAF. I'm going to have a movie marathon this weekend. Here's the setlist.
Click to expand...

That's like 60 hours, there are only 48 hours in a weekend.

Ended the year with about 350 movies, probably not going to do that many again this year. First of the new year:

Frances Ha: 8/10. Ha.
 
The Lone Ranger

Half-way through the film I decided that Tonto is actually an insane white guy who thinks he's Native American, and everyone else is just humoring him the whole time. Made the whole thing way more entertaining.
 
Prisoners was pretty fun I think, in a dreadful way. I'd put neither it nor Incendies above like 3.5/5 yet they're both well-crafted thrillers. has me excited for Enemy (which had some interesting reactions out of fests).
Pickles Spill said:
Wish me luck GAF. I'm going to have a movie marathon this weekend. Here's the setlist.
Click to expand...
Haha what borgnine said: this will be goddamn impressive if you somehow pull it off. You physically can't do that in a 2-day weekend, even in a 3-day you'd have to really ludovico yourself
 
I haven't seen very many Italian films -- really just Bicycle Thieves and about a dozen or so spaghetti westerns -- so I've been thinking of checking out of some of the essentials. After some meticulous google/imdb perusing, I came up with this shortlist of 10:

Rome, Open City (I know this is only part 1 of Rosselini's war trilogy, but I didn't want to take on all three right off the bat)
Umberto D
La Strada
L'Avventura
Last Tango in Paris
Nights of Cabiria
La Dolce Vita
8 1/2
Cinema Paradiso
Life is Beautiful

I thought this was a fairly decent cross-section of the major films/directors/movements in Italian filmmaking, drawing on whatever I remembered from school, but what say you guys? Any glaring omissions or things on here that maybe aren't worth the time?
 
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