Author Topic: Write about the last movie you watched (2006-2010)  (Read 5995903 times)

sdedalus

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26400 on: January 28, 2010, 02:32:47 AM »
I Love Melvin

Pretty much the greatest thing ever.
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flieger

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26401 on: January 28, 2010, 04:48:38 AM »

The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2009)
Sharp film. Sharp, sharp film. Men together, doing masculine things. You know, blowing s**t up, hitting each other, shooting each other, doing really, really dumb s**t just to impress their friends, or to annihilate the self. Something like that. Now this is in the great tradition of characterisation through action. Countless American classics have come from this line. Some of my favourite films too. Heck, I'm a Bigelow-booster when it comes down to it. But the action... the action just... hmmm. I probably need to unpack it a little more. Or maybe I've unpacked it too much. I don't know, but I kept dreaming of Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, hyper-digital graininess beauty and all that. I'm probably sick. Need a little help. I wasn't overly impressed. I never got inside the group. I started wondering whether Dennis Hopper was responsible for it all, and he was watching, somehow, somewhere. To be honest, I'd rather spend 500 minutes with Generation Kill and Alexander Skarsgard again, than the 130 with Hurt Locker. No offence. Fine movie, but there's more out there. TV wins this round.

smirnoff

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26402 on: January 28, 2010, 07:14:19 AM »
Transsiberian (Brad Anderson, 2008)

Really entertaining movie. Very well done. Genuinely intense and uncomfortable. It's not overly complicated and it doesn't make a big fuss about twists in the plot. Everything plays out in a very natural and subdued way.

This is the first time in a long while I've felt something watching Ben Kingsley in a movie. He always brings his A game I suppose, but it's nice to see him get some better material. Emily Mortimer was terrific. She plays the central character and certainly rose to the occasion. I believe it's one of the very best performances I've seen in a while. Very memorable.

The film isn't perfect though. There are perhaps a few times where you might think to yourself "why don't they just do this or that". This is a pretty minor complaint, but I thought I'd mention it. In any case, I'd still recommend it if you're looking for a good mystery/thriller.

IMDB link
« Last Edit: March 21, 2010, 06:24:05 PM by smirnoff »

pixote

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26403 on: January 28, 2010, 10:32:52 AM »
I had this brilliant idea to celebrate worm's birthday by watching two films I know she'd want me to see before I submit my Filmspot nominations ballot.  The plan was not just to watch them but also to write praiseful reviews of each of them, announcing how they had radically altered my prospective ballot.  It was a can't-miss plan.  I mean, it's been scientifically proven that worm is one of our most trusted Filmspotters!


Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father  (Kurt Kuenne, 2008)
I'd been both eager and terrified to watch this for a while now, from even before worm posted her review.  I went in very prepared to get so emotionally involved and devastated that all the dumb stylistic choices wouldn't bother me.  Easier said then done, though, given how awful so much of the editing is, how off-putting the general aesthetic, and how self-destructive much of the editorializing is.  There's still a very nobel effort at the heart of the film, though.  I appreciate that collage it creates of Andrew's life, the presentation of that collage to Zachary, and the hyper-personal nature of it all.  I think Kuenne was successful in making a film that Andrew would have loved, and that's great.  But that didn't stop me from pretty much hating it.  First and foremost, I have a thing about movies that tease the possible death of a child for cheap suspense.  Totally unforgivable.  Actually, that's not quite true.  I might have been okay with it in a verite presentation of these events.  But no way can I excuse that in a film this constructed.  But that manipulation didn't turn me off as much as the playful style.  I wanted the film to make me feel, but it worked against that at most turns.  I did laugh at Mack, whose brief interview is so fantastic that even Kuenne knew better than to interrupt it with distracting B-roll.  And I felt the pang of the line, "I'd never seen a coffin that small.  They shouldn't come in that size."  And the montage near the end of the interviewees turning the tables on the interviewer was pretty effective, even though Kuenne rushed through it.  I also liked the film's redefining of its audience near the end.  That was a nice idea.  But these good directorial choices were the exception.  For the most part, the film left me numb.  Sorry.
Grade: C-


35 Shots of Rum  (Claire Denis, 2008)
This one I was sure I'd love — surprisingly so, given my rather tepid relationship with the only other Denis film I've seen (Beau Travail).  But I knew there'd be dancing and multiple shots of train tracks, and I was happy about that.  But then the film started, and it took me a full twenty minutes to get even slightly interested.  I like the mood and the tone, but the movie (poetry?) just did so little for me.  I have no idea what to do with it.  I'm just a simple country pix.  All the love for the film really surprises me.  I can see people liking it — making even liking it a lot — but love?  Huh.  Don't see that.  Even the dance scene struck me merely as nice.  I can't see it through Filmspot-favoring eyes.  And Lionel's discovery of Rene really undercut a lot of the dramatic subtlety and understatement that film had going for it until that point.  Very bothersome, for me.  And I can't in good conscience endorse the film's promotion of binge drinking.  So irresponsible.  And there weren't nearly enough shots of train tracks.  Sorry, everybody.
Grade: B-

So, um, happy birthday, worm!  It's the thought that counts, right?  Hooray for grade inflation!

pixote
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skjerva

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26404 on: January 28, 2010, 10:44:20 AM »
Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father  (Kurt Kuenne, 2008)
I'd been both eager and terrified to watch this for a while now, from even before worm posted her review.  I went in very prepared to get so emotionally involved and devastated that all the dumb stylistic choices wouldn't bother me.  Easier said then done, though, given how awful so much of the editing is, how off-putting the general aesthetic, and how self-destructive much of the editorializing is.  There's still a very nobel effort at the heart of the film, though.  I appreciate that collage it creates of Andrew's life, the presentation of that collage to Zachary, and the hyper-personal nature of it all.  I think Kuenne was successful in making a film that Andrew would have loved, and that's great.  But that didn't stop me from pretty much hating it.  First and foremost, I have a thing about movies that tease the possible death of a child for cheap suspense.  Totally unforgivable.  Actually, that's not quite true.  I might have been okay with it in a verite presentation of these events.  But no way can I excuse that in a film this constructed.  But that manipulation didn't turn me off as much as the playful style.  I wanted the film to make me feel, but it worked against that at most turns.  I did laugh at Mack, whose brief interview is so fantastic that even Kuenne knew better than to interrupt it with distracting B-roll.  And I felt the pang of the line, "I'd never seen a coffin that small.  They shouldn't come in that size."  And the montage near the end of the interviewees turning the tables on the interviewer was pretty effective, even though Kuenne rushed through it.  I also liked the film's redefining of its audience near the end.  That was a nice idea.  But these good directorial choices were the exception.  For the most part, the film left me numb.  Sorry.
Grade: C-
yeah, i'd still say you are being generous with that C-, but your criticisms are right on, i'd just heap a few more on. and the bit under your second spoiler-tag did nothing for me, not to say i wasn't suckered in to emoting different moments, just not that one
« Last Edit: January 28, 2010, 10:47:20 AM by pixote »
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
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oneaprilday

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26405 on: January 28, 2010, 10:45:07 AM »
35 Shots of Rum* Claire Denis, 2008

Because this movie was still playing around in my head. It's basically moment to moment perfect and about things I care about and done in a way that I find endlessly watchable. That entire commoredores sequence is pretty much a masterclass and emotional in all the ways that count, and the necklace shot is probably my shot of the year and i was kinda tearing up just at the beginning credits with that incredible score and the neverending rails. why haven't you watched this film yet?

By my count, it has secured 13 of my filmspot nominations.
Your write-up beautifully captures a lot of what I felt, too, roujin.


35 Shots of Rum  (Claire Denis, 2008)
Grade: B-
Well, too bad.

But thanks for making me laugh :D :
I'm just a simple country pix. 

jbissell

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26406 on: January 28, 2010, 10:45:42 AM »
pix, you're turning into more of a buzzkill than skjerva

 :P

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26407 on: January 28, 2010, 10:46:59 AM »
So then I should forgo Dear Zachary in favor of 35 Shots if at all possible?

pixote

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26408 on: January 28, 2010, 10:49:48 AM »
pix, you're turning into more of a buzzkill than skjerva

 :P

I have glowing reviews of popular films I need to write up ... but I'm too busy trying to sneak in a dozen Filmspot films before Sunday.

pixote
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jbissell

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #26409 on: January 28, 2010, 10:54:03 AM »
pix, you're turning into more of a buzzkill than skjerva

 :P

I have glowing reviews of popular films I need to write up ... but I'm too busy trying to sneak in a dozen Filmspot films before Sunday.

pixote

I'll believe it when I see it!