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Author Topic: Write about the last movie you watched (2006-2010)  (Read 5997854 times)

jdc

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24720 on: December 28, 2009, 12:14:15 AM »


Being There Dec 26

While I liked how it started and the overall concept, I didn't quite buy it in the end.  I just didn't think they would all be fooled into thinking he was this brilliant person. 



Yeah, but I think that's the satire. They're taking Chance as brilliant because of his appearance and social status, and not the content of what he's saying.

And it's way better than Forrest Gump. One has depth in it's feeling and intellect, and the other is thoughtless.

Being There is not only brilliant, but prophetic.  (I was going to say more, but I'm afraid of being outcast by certain elephants who are spying on me....  no, I'm not paranoid, really....)

Please say more...in what way is it prophetic?  (just to be sure I understood properly, I looked the word up).  I do not really pay too much attention to politics, but are you thinking about something specific like how used common people (Joe the Plumber) to convey a message or something more general?

I didn't quite believe that people would interrupt his stories of gardening as some kind of analogy to the world at large.   That is where it lost me though I liked the concept and how it began, I think I would like it more if it had taken a different direction.
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smirnoff

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24721 on: December 28, 2009, 12:25:42 AM »
Sherlock Holmes

What bloody good fun that was! One of the great theatre experiences for me this year, maybe second only to District 9. I loved the look and feel of the film, the tone, the acting. It all works together brilliantly. Rachel McAdams was rather diappointing though. Somehow she didn't quite fit in. Whatever. I had a great time with it.

3.5/4

1SO

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24722 on: December 28, 2009, 01:40:03 AM »
what did you think of The Headless Woman?
It didn't work for me.  I sure it can work for many, but I found it to be an interesting idea that could have been executed with a great deal of panache.  But I'm a story guy.  This was like the great dinner scene in 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days stretched to 85 minutes.  The underlying tension too often is defeated by the tedium.  And I know the film is saying something about being a woman in a certain time and place, but I was barely engrossed in the text so I wasn't at all interested in the subtext.

Grade: C-

chardy999

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24723 on: December 28, 2009, 01:45:42 AM »
I was barely engrossed in the text so I wasn't at all interested in the subtext.

I am totally stealing this line.
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1SO

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24724 on: December 28, 2009, 02:14:32 AM »
Two Lovers

I was slightly interested, then I was mostly bored, then I was kind of interested, then the last section really cast a spell on me. 
Pheonix plays such an undeserving and bland character that it is utterly amazing when either woman – much less both! – fall (to some degree) for him.
I agree with this completely.  It's my biggest complaint with the film.
I was hoping for a spoiler thread so I could read and talk about the film's key scenes, all of which occur at the end.
I'm listening to Filmspotting right now and I'm kind of agreeing with both of them.  I was watching the same movie as Ballgame for the longest time, but in the end I think I joined Team Adam.

Right Now: C+
Before I post my lists: possibly as high as B+

Holly Harry

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24725 on: December 28, 2009, 02:32:53 AM »
Gwyneth Paltrow doesn't fall for him until she's at her most vulnerable. She regards him as a quirky curiousity most of the time. Vinessa Shaw wants him because of the connection between the two families. The film is more about family than anything, and how family can trap you and how families can be created on a foundation of deceit. I love the production design of Leonard and his parent's apartment, with the wall filled with photos of genreations of the family's past, and Gray's direction making it feel like the walls are closing in on Leonard. To me, Two Lovers is a fine example of great, great film that suffers from a lame title.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2009, 02:34:26 AM by Holly Harry »
"Political questions, if you go back thousands of years, are ephemeral, not important. History is the same thing over and over again."-Woody Allen.

oldkid

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24726 on: December 28, 2009, 02:36:07 AM »
To me, Two Lovers is a fine example of great, great lame, lame film that additionally suffers from a lame title.

Phoenix wasn't believable to me.  I thought he was awful, actually.
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1SO

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24727 on: December 28, 2009, 03:05:04 AM »
I think this has potential to be the year's most divisive film.  It doesn't work and makes little sense on any realistic level.  But as a Fable or a Mataphor, it has something real to say about relationships, family and the need to be loved.

A Serious Man has a similar problem, but we're so in sync with what The Coens are doing, there is no doubting the fable qualities.  Plus, A Serious Man is logically sound even if you choose to read nothing into it.  Frustrating and vapid, but the characters behave in rational, believable ways.

Bill Thompson

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24728 on: December 28, 2009, 03:29:17 AM »
The Lost Weekend (1945) ****
http://billsmovieemporium.wordpress.com/2009/12/28/review-the-lost-weekend-1945/

More proof that everyone should love Billy Wilder, the film is frank in its treatment of its subject matter and the 1940's atmosphere actually makes sure a lot of fluff that would be present in a modern telling is absent. Ray Milland gives a powerhouse performance, and the rest of the cast is darn good as well. No one in film has ever written dialogue as expertly as Billy Wilder, except maybe Preston Sturges, and no one comes remotely close when it comes to building a narrative around said dialogue, his talent is sadly missing in modern cinema.

edgar00

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #24729 on: December 28, 2009, 10:01:53 AM »
Nine (2009, Rob Marshall)
B

Uneven, but still fun enough.

I'll probably take a few moments to write something for the blog later today.
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