ysbreker

Movie/TV recommendations

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Cyrus

Solid movie, interestingly dark, with some great performances, but the third act was too thin (we never really got under the skin of the titular character) and all the best moments were in the trailer. Still worth a watch, though, especially if you haven't seen the trailer.

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Couldn't sleep last Saturday, so thought it would be a great idea to watch Shutter Island. And I'm not ashamed to admit the film reduced me to a wet bag of snot and tears during

the lake scene--I have three kids, myself, so very close to the bone

.

Why did this film apparently get ripped a new one by some critics? For once, it's a "twist" film where I didn't see the twist coming at all; the story was very well assembled, the casting excellent (Dicaprio is astonishing), and the music - after a rather alarmingly hammy opening twenty minutes - finally settles into a good rhythm.

I thought it was superb, personally, but not something I could readily watch again any time soon.

NB: Speaking of musical scores, I was very excited to learn that Clint Mansell worked on the soundtrack for Black Swan.

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Why did this film apparently get ripped a new one by some critics?

I bloody loved Shutter Island, and reviewed it accordingly. Not sure why it didn't catch the critics in the way his previous films had, considering it is so bold in its music and its style. I liked how he took the dark, borderline surrealism of thrillers from the '40s and '50s, and used modern cinematography to make it rich and fresh. Actually, it's worth noting it grossed $300 million worldwide, which is Scorsese's highest.

Last night I watched Woody Allen's Alice - a slice of whimsy that winks at Fellini. I didn't like it that much. It seemed a little half-baked, or uncertain about itself. Mia Farrow plays an upper class housewife who goes to a Chinese doctor, who gives her various herbs, drugs and potions allowing her to take stock of her life. One concoction turns her into a flirty bombshell, another turns her invisible - at one point she's given an opium pipe to chill out. Oh dear.

There were some good bits and cameos - quite a touching scene with Alec Baldwin as the ghost of a former lover. But I didn't feel that the collision of silly exoticist fantasy and mundane real-world drama worked too well.

I'm pretty close to having seen all of Allen's films now. I tell you, it's not all fun and games.

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NB: Speaking of musical scores, I was very excited to learn that Clint Mansell worked on the soundtrack for Black Swan.

Of course he did! It's a Darren Aronofsky film. I loved Shutter Island too, for all the reasons you mentioned.

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Not sure why [shutter Island] didn't catch the critics in the way his previous films had

Possibly because it's more fantasy than biopic.

Why this change has to be approached as a barrier by some critics - rather than an exciting new door to somewhere different - is a little beyond me. Jaded perhaps? The quality remains obvious, and the editing is consistently excellent throughout, too. There were no lumps or sideways slides in the narrative, and everything tied together logically and progressively, without sign-posting every detail or potential loose thread either (hence the twist catching me entirely by surprise).

Anyway, fil--er, video games! :frusty:

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Possibly because it's more fantasy than biopic.

Why this change has to be approached as a barrier by some critics - rather than an exciting new door to somewhere different - is a little beyond me. Jaded perhaps? The quality remains obvious, and the editing is consistently excellent throughout, too. There were no lumps or sideways slides in the narrative, and everything tied together logically and progressively, without sign-posting every detail or potential loose thread either (hence the twist catching me entirely by surprise).

Anyway, fil--er, video games! :frusty:

I liked it well enough but was really irritated by the twist ending because I'm sick of that particular brand of twist which seems to occur in about 50 % of thrillers these days and plus the fact that the twist was delivered to us in the form of 10-15 min. of expository dialogue. It's never a good sign when the characters have to explain what happened in the film (show, don't tell etc...). It's almost like they might as well be looking right at the camera and adressing us as "dear viewer."

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It's never a good sign when the characters have to explain what happened in the film (show, don't tell etc...). It's almost like they might as well be looking right at the camera and adressing us as "dear viewer."

I'd argue the exposition isn't done that stupidly or clumsily in this instance.

You are, as a viewer, at least taken on a much more interesting journey than you otherwise typically might have been, with the facets of the character and their progression through these various spaces revealed in an intimate, progressive and retrospectively logical way.

I think it's inaccurate to boil all of that down to 10 minutes of "good little audience, here you go" -- that's belittling the craft used to do it, not to mention how engrossing and carefully constructed everything is beforehand.

Sells it a bit short, to be blunt.

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Saw the mini series "The Lost Room" based on Ron Gilbert's recommendation.

Awesome show, and really this should have been an adventure game.

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INSIDE MR. STALLONE'S OFFICE. MR. STALLONE IS WORKING ON HIS NEW PROJECT, A FILM WITH AN ALL-STAR

CAST CONSISTING OF ALMOST ALL THE STARS OF 80s ACTION MOVIES. A MAN COMES IN. THE MAN HAS A GREAT IDEA.

MAN

Mr. Stallone, I hear you're gathering all the 80s action movie guys for a new action movie.

I thought maybe instead of wasting everybody's time with just another mediocre action movie you

could do something interesting with the genre, for example--

MR. STALLONE

Idea Denied.

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In almost exactly the same manner as we decided to see the Expendables, my girlfriend proposed seeing Machete on Monday afternoon. Holy shit that movie is fantastic. Everyone needs to see it. The both of us have huge hard-ons for Danny Trejo, and seeing him star in such a bat-shit over-the-top movie was fantastic. It was better than Planet Terror, if that helps anyone. Given how much I loved Planet Terror, that was a ridiculous fucking treat. At one point,

he rappels down the side of a building using a man's intestines for rope. While the man is still attached.

I was doubled over with astonishment and glee for about 10 minutes. It was so crazy and wonderfully violent I couldn't do anything but laugh. Most fun I've had in a movie theater since the sold-out preview screening of Grindhouse I went to years ago. Goddamn it was excellent.

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The wife has been on a Ralph Bakshi kick. You're probably familiar with his animated Lord of the Rings movie from the 70s, but he made another half a dozen really important movies.

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He was big on rotoscoping and his movies at times look really cheap, but overall they give the impression he just wanted to finish all his ideas on the budget that he was provided with. I also dig his use of live-action backgrounds and incidental footage. Just a few:

Coonskin :tup::tup: — A retelling of the Song of the South.

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American Pop :tup::tup::tup: — story of American music told alongside the story of several generations of Russian Jewish immigrants.

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Wizards :tup::tup: — a bizarre sci-fi fantasy blend, wizards with guns.

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if you like that kind of stuff you should also check out Rock & Rule (1983)

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I should really check out more Bakshi movies. I've always hated his cheap out crap on what I've seen, but he's always been a business man first it seems. There's also a great talk floating around on the internet with him saying new ideas and new studios are best to make when the economy is bad.

Also Bakshi can draw really interesting and well formed characters. There was some artbook released a few years ago that's great. I never would have thought he could draw like that.

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I DON'T think the cheapo stuff means he is minding the bottom line and therefore is a businessman, I think it is an honest artistic compromise of I can't make this with the money I have, so let's try to mix it up with all this found footage and try to make it cohesive.

Edited by Kingzjester
forgot the "DON'T" in the first sentence.

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I've been watching the revamped/remastered Neon Genesis Evangelion films. In terms of pure design, ideas and imagination, it's pretty astounding.

The narrative? Well, I think it's a miracle they made something that somehow feels both juvenile and head-breakingly complex at the same time.

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From what I can gather, there's a crazy amount of revisionist insanity going into the remakes - but, of course, that wasn't my point.

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Stuff coming up at the PCC I'd be up for seeing:

Chinatown

11/10

6:20 pm

Commando

04/10

6:45 pm

Invasion Of The Body Snatchers (1978)

06/10

8:45 pm

Jaws

23/10

3:45 pm

Planet Of The Apes (original obv)

22/09

8:45 pm

Poltergeist

25/10

8:30 pm

Rashomon

07/11

8:45 pm

The Room

01/10

8:45 pm

Who Framed Roger Rabbit

11/10

9:00 pm

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I DON'T think the cheapo stuff means he is minding the bottom line and therefore is a businessman, I think it is an honest artistic compromise of I can't make this with the money I have, so let's try to mix it up with all this found footage and try to make it cohesive.

Well yeah that's probably wrong on my part. He's probably way less of a businessman as far as businessmen cartoonists go. I just meant for some of the TV series he did like the godawful Spiderman ones or his Lord of the Rings trilogy just ring of cheapness of getting it done as a project for the money, but most people end up doing that I suppose in one way or another if they are doing licensed work.

But then again, Bakshi made a lot of films that he wanted to make with his ideas and visions, so it wouldn't make since for him to cheap out for business reasons, but to just, like you said, make an artistic compromise.

Did you see Heavy Traffic? I heard that was the one I should start with. I've seen Fritz the Cat for about 30-40 minutes and flipped it off. Also saw Christmas in Tattertown and Cool World, which were both nice looking, but more for kids or less heavy subject matter.

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Saw Scott Pilgrim and it's now my favourite film of the year. Great fun (although certainly not for everyone).

I also just got a Cineworld yearly pass, if anyone London film-lover is looking for a cinema-going buddy. Shame they're not showing the new Metropolis though (grumble grumble).

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