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Author Topic: Write about the last movie you watched (2006-2010)  (Read 5996536 times)

Corndog

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27840 on: February 22, 2010, 10:48:59 PM »
The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) -

I love everything about this film. Most romantic film ever?

That would be Bright Star?

As you well remember I was one of the very first champions of that film here, and it is very romantic. But I would still rank this one higher.

It all comes down to dead boy or dead girl. Upwards shots of trees or fields of flowers... it's a tough one.

How true. They are much more similar than I originally thought. Both gorgeous and both extremely romantic.
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CSSCHNEIDER

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27841 on: February 22, 2010, 10:50:05 PM »


Chronos
Dir/DoP Ron Fricke

The first time I saw this was when my first cinematography mentor, an older student at UNCSA, bought an Asian Bootleg of it because he couldn't get a legit copy even through Amazon.  We were huge Baraka enthusiasts so this was special.  I later found a legit copy in Borders, years later though.  

This certainly feels like a dry run for Baraka, but that's not a bad thing.  This film was an experiment.  A shot in the dark, as much as one can be for a master craftsman.  He designed and helped machine his own IMAX camera capable of doing complex time lapse photography, something that every IMAX film does today.  At the time it was a do or die mission of beauty, and in theory a fairly simple task.  Each time lapse sequence is done like stop motion, only instead of moving characters on a miniature set, Fricke and co. allow nature to take its course and frame it in interesting and striking ways.  Then the up the ante by moving the camera through these strange and beautiful evironments.

My only qualms with this film is its length (approx. 45min, at the time IMAX and OMNIMAX films couldn't run much longer) and the use/over use of step processing, a technique I've only warmed to on five or less occasions.  Still, personal problems aside, this is a masterpiece that should be reveled in.  Its a mediative film that uses a beautiful synth score and stunning imagery to free your mind for 45 minutes.  No drugs needed.

The Blu Ray was gorgeous, a must own for HD/Home Theatre enthusiasts.

Grade A
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Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27842 on: February 22, 2010, 10:51:09 PM »
Eyes Without a Face


O my freakin' gawd. What's he doing with that knife. Stop it! Stop it now! Gaaaah!!!

Maybe I'm just a big wussy but seriously, this is freaky. The whole idea, the way it's executed, that creepy mask and the fact that the scenes just keep going and going and going and you just want them to stop. I really wish I didn't know about it going on so I'm not saying more than that. See it unless you're a total pansy like me.


Suspiria


Where to start? This film is just utterly ridiculous. It's got like twenty colors in each shot, an overbearing score and a heavy editing style. So it's kinda awful in a way. But there's something so entertaining about how overindulgent the picture is. I mean horror is all about embracing all that kind of stuff so why not just go all out? I can appreciate that and it makes for a more entertaining film even though a lot of the ridiculousness undermines what should be brilliantly tense horror scenes.

And the opening fifteen minutes is just gleefully fun even though I knew all the beats.

roujin

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27843 on: February 22, 2010, 10:52:35 PM »
Where to start? This film is just utterly ridiculous.

Yes! Yes! So great.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27844 on: February 22, 2010, 10:54:08 PM »
Where to start? This film is just utterly ridiculous.

Yes! Yes! So great.
You know as I was watching this I was thinking, "roujin would love this."

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27845 on: February 22, 2010, 10:54:41 PM »
Those are two of my favorites too.
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zarodinu

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27846 on: February 22, 2010, 11:57:30 PM »
Eyes Without a Face

O my freakin' gawd. What's he doing with that knife. Stop it! Stop it now! Gaaaah!!!

Maybe I'm just a big wussy but seriously, this is freaky. The whole idea, the way it's executed, that creepy mask and the fact that the scenes just keep going and going and going and you just want them to stop. I really wish I didn't know about it going on so I'm not saying more than that. See it unless you're a total pansy like me.

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StarCarly

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27847 on: February 23, 2010, 12:00:37 AM »
Land of the Lost

For the first time in a long time, I would rather have that two hours back. There are some laughs, but it is ultimately just stupid.
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Letterboxd

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27848 on: February 23, 2010, 12:29:39 AM »

La Religieuse (Jacques Rivette, 1966)

This one feels like such a contrast from Paris Belongs to Us. Whereas Paris felt really intellectual and thematically complex to me, this one feels so spare and austere and simple. Based on a story by Diderot, the story is pretty simple and is observed very straightforwardly. Anna Karina plays a young girl who is forced against her wishes to join a convent. The film basically follows her journey as she struggles with loss of one form of freedom after another and emerges as the only person whose faith seems to remain intact and endure despite her conviction that she is not meant for a life spent serving God. Firstly, this film is mesmerizing to watch especially because of Karina's performance. The period settings in the film are stark and minimal never drawing any attention away from the beautiful protagonist who is the soul of the film. The film also feels like a commentary on film itself. We frequently see Suzanne having to perform convincingly in front of an audience right from the very first scene in the film. Somehow Rivette manages to make the inside of a convent feel incredibly creepy and disconcerting. Firstly, through his use of the score which feels rather jarring and ominous (lots of use of bells that start ringing loudly at critical moments). Secondly, although the film feels pretty fluid and simple, certain critical scenes are edited in somewhat unexpected ways making those scenes feel even more uncomfortable than they would be otherwise. I would really implore those of you that love The Passion of Joan of Arc to watch this one as well.

Earlier this year, I watched a two-part documentary on Rivette shot by Denis for French television. It became clear from the doc that Rivette is clearly an intellectual - extremely well-read and knowledgeable on all sorts of things from theater to art and so on. I am not familiar with the original text by Diderot at all but I really love the way Rivette avoids using the film to merely make jabs at religion. Instead, I felt like the film is in a way, ultimately optimistic, in that Suzanne manages to retain her faith despite a series of seemingly impossible trials.

I would really implore those of you that love The Passion of Joan of Arc to watch this one as well.

Grade: A-


I Graduated But... (Yasujiro Ozu, 1929)

I believe this 10-minute short is reconstructed from fragments found from the original film :/. FWIW, it's still easy to follow the plot from whatever's left of the film especially since the basic story is pretty simple. I didn't care all that much for the plot, per se, especially since it ends with a neat little message. However, it's still really fun to watch because of the great cast (especially the actress who plays the wife) and the light-hearted touch.

Oh, and this one had the obligatory Hollywood movie poster featuring prominently in the film too :)!

Grade: B


Luck By Chance (Zoya Akhtar, 2009)

Right from the opening credits shot to a montage of the various people involved in the making of a Bollywood film (from the people running crafts services to the choreographer, the carpenters, the tailors sewing sequined gowns and so many more), it's pretty evident that the film is a look at Bollywood as seen by an insider. The director is the daughter of a successful and famous Bollywood couple. The film is definitely an insider look at the industry but it's also a pretty affectionate portrayal of the same. It's clear that the filmmaker has a lot of love for the process of making films in this crazy, chaotic industry where the drivers of success seem so impossible to predict and understand.

There's a lot to like about the film. Firstly, the film is especially fun to watch for someone familiar with Bollywood. A lot of famous Bollywood personalities appear in the film playing only mildly-fictionalized versions of their real selves. So we get to see some really big-name stars put up their personal demons on screen and expose their fears and insecurities for all to see. There's a really nice scene where we see a superstar look across a party floor at the newbie, radiant with his fresh success in the film that the aforementioned superstar once rejected.  The look that we see flash across the superstar's eyes reveal his fear that he has inadvertently paved the way for his own succession.

I also really like the way the main characters are written. While our protagonist is clearly an opportunist too much in love with himself to be able to form meaningful relationships with anyone else, he never comes off as pure evil. His motives are always relatable and his bad choices only make him seem all the more human. Another scene I really liked is when our lead, struggling for a part at this point in the film, returns jubilant from an audition for a big studio film. His best friend, also an aspiring actor, wonders aloud if he should send in his pictures too, in case they are casting multiple parts. Farhan Akhtar plays the screen perfectly, endorsing the friend's idea with just the right blend of encouragement and insecurity.

Unfortunately, while the film does such a great job with these small moments and these central characters, it resorts to some really broad caricatures when it comes to the marginal characters in the film. The costar who is the daughter of a famous actress is given very little to work with and is pretty much portrayed as a talentless hack. Likewise the director of the film who is made to seem clown-like and idiotic. The film within the film feels utterly outdated and out of touch with the kind of films that are successful in Bollywood today.

Despite these flaws, I enjoyed the film quite a bit. The film has a ton of little touches that hit all the right notes with me. I have several friends who've been on both sides of this crazy circus that is Bollywood and a lot of what I saw in the film resonated with me.

Grade: B

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #27849 on: February 23, 2010, 12:32:15 AM »
The Saddest Music in the World

9/10  
YAY! Maddin is the best. I love this movie. He is the mad scientist of modern film, mixing 1930's effects and visuals with David Lynch's insanity.
There is not a boring second in his films.  
I loved Careful and Saddest Music and the part of My Winnipeg before the file became corrupted.  What should I go for next?
Archangel is the best one you have not seen. Then I would go for Brand Upon the Brain!
Don't miss The Heart of the World!
Put Tales from the Gimli Hospital on the list too.
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