Author Topic: GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection  (Read 5607 times)

GothamCity151

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Re: GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection
« Reply #10 on: September 19, 2011, 08:20:08 PM »
1SO, I actually like the asides that really do not have to do with the trial. Had those been cut out, I think the tension in the air would be a little too unbearable to stand. Also, when these guys get into these screaming fits, they need a few minutes to cool down. It makes sense to have them there. As for Cobb's character SPOILER: By the time the climax comes around, I had almost forgotten about the story with the son. When he pulls the picture out, I was instantly hit with emotion, but to each his own. I like those elements. I see why someone would have a problem with them though.

oldkid

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Re: GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection
« Reply #11 on: September 20, 2011, 09:25:06 AM »
I really liked 12 Angry Men, but it wouldn't make my top 100.  I guess I need something more than talking in a room to reach my pinnacle of excellence.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

GothamCity151

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GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection #2: 21 Grams (2003)
« Reply #12 on: September 20, 2011, 10:10:34 PM »
21 Grams (2003)
A film by Alejandro González Iñárritu that the entire family can enjoy. But in all seriousness, I had forgotten how damn depressing this movie is. Sure, I remember it being depressing, but not THAT depressing. However, throughout all this depression and sadness and crying and psychological torture, there is a really well crafted film here. The nonlinear storytelling is brilliantly weaved together. It is a way of keeping the audience intrigued and invested into a movie that could be even more of a stranglehold of sadness than it already is. Had it been linear, the Sean Penn character would have no sympathy and would just come off as a sleezeball. He does kind of come off that way, briefly, but we are still with the character. Naomi Watts, Benicio Del Toro, and the before mentioned Sean Penn deliver a trifecta of magnificent performances, particularly Watts, who did make it get a little more than dusty in the room. There are hardly any histrionics in these performances, but when those parts get there, the impact of them is hit home even more and just wrenches at your gut. I do think the film is a tad too long. Cutting about 12 minutes may have done this film some good. I also thinking that Penn's narration that bookends the film, and gives it its title, is unnecessary and pulls a bit of the emotion away of what you have just seen. Other than that, this is a really good film. I am not sure why I own it because it is definitely not a film to watch on a consistent basis, but I am glad that if I ever feel like watching a terribly depressing movie, I know where to look.

Grade: A-

Corndog

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Re: GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection
« Reply #13 on: September 20, 2011, 10:19:26 PM »
Hmm, you don't own Quantum of Solace? Interesting. I have always considered such a marathon myself. Nice start too.
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GothamCity151

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Re: GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection
« Reply #14 on: September 20, 2011, 10:26:23 PM »
Hmm, you don't own Quantum of Solace?

No, I got the big Bond set as a gift and is only up to Casino Royale. Also, I would not go out and buy that film.

1SO

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Re: GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection
« Reply #15 on: September 20, 2011, 11:11:13 PM »
No comment on this one. You already answered my questions regarding the non-linear storytelling and DVD rewatchability.

GothamCity151

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verbALs

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Re: GothamCity151 And His DVD Collection
« Reply #17 on: September 25, 2011, 06:47:40 AM »
This is a great start to a grand project! I was wistful that you couldn't start with your Y & Z films. Those six make a lovely set on their own!

Re- 2001. I found it provided a lot of the signposts  to Kubrick's choices in his other films even though the subjects seem so disparate. The key image in fact is the pen floating in zero gravity aboard the Pan Am flight which extends the more direct spinning bone to spaceship jump. All are tools which by definition we use and control. But the apes are given tools by the puppetmaster aliens and man gradually loses control of tools through the film ending with HAL.

The question then is were/are we ever in control? Even the pen is spinning away from the man. That Kubrick started with Film Noir a genre where fate is always in control and people accept that as fact seems logical. I watched Ophuls' La Ronde a film with Anton Wallbrook as ringmaster an idea Kubrick was supposed to have loved with the same theme of people's fates in the hands of another. What Kubrick does is inject the latent fear of losing control.

So the most powerful sequence of 2001 is when the tool attacks the user but the hopeful end is about man evolving beyond the need for tools and conquering fear at the same time. The pre eminence of 2001 over his other films is that Kubrick projects these
messages entirely through imagery and music but a lot of silence as well. The height of film as art? Certainly belongs in any top 10.

Look forward to the rest of your marathon, always love your reviews. You write very directly about how films FEEL.
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

GothamCity151

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