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Author Topic: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013  (Read 35215 times)

Corndog

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #90 on: March 06, 2013, 12:15:11 PM »
But I've doled out some nice scores of late! C'mon, it's fun!
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

1SO

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #91 on: March 06, 2013, 12:17:39 PM »
The Americanization of Emily was one of the jokier answers, but now I'm definitely adding it. With that cast, looks like a good one to share with Mrs. 1SO. Plus Paddy Chayefsky.

And no Ming-liang Tsai film has rated that low.

Bondo

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #92 on: March 06, 2013, 01:18:16 PM »
Orlando, a female directed film about gender ambiguity that even I don't like. :(

pixote

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #93 on: March 06, 2013, 01:34:44 PM »
Nine films have fallen off the Communal Watchlist since the last update, with one of them making the jump to the Top Ten Percent list.

pixote
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oneaprilday

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #94 on: March 06, 2013, 08:51:52 PM »
After the Wedding (Susanne Bier, 2006) -

Wow. Just wow. Second film in a row now that has just blown me away. The only other Susanne Bier film I have seen was In a Better World, one that I really loved. I may have enjoyed this one even a little more, which is hard to have done, but the story here is just dynamite, and Bier handles it to perfection. Really well done to the point that I really struggle to come up with ways to describe it. There really wasn't anything that was really amiss, though I must say the eyes thing started to get too noticeable and annoying. But that is just a small annoyance, especially when compared to the gripping nature of the story and the rest of the film as a whole. Very powerful, and amazingly good.

***1/2 - Great (Very near a Masterpiece grade)
Project Rating: 9/10
Yay! You love another film I love! :)  Would love you to check out Bier's Brothers soon.

Jared

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #95 on: March 06, 2013, 10:09:45 PM »
The Long Day Closes

Id been looking for this on DVD for awhile but could never find it, but some kind soul posted it on youtube so I was able to watch it today.

The Long Day Closes is about a boy named Bud and his family. The boy, who is probably about 12, has a loving family but is having a hard time at school and likes to go to the cinema a lot. That is basically the plot, and we watch Bud's interaction with that typical Davies measured pace. A lot of songs, multiple scenes that mirror each other, "boring" scenes, etc. I really like Davies' style in the few of his Ive seen, but ultimately this wasn't quite as fulfilling to me as The Deep Blue Sea or Distant Voices, Still Lives.

Rating Project Score: 6

Corndog

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #96 on: March 07, 2013, 06:27:01 AM »
The Long Day Closes

but some kind soul posted it on youtube so I was able to watch it today.

Good to know. Now I too can appease Verite.
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dallegre

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #97 on: March 07, 2013, 12:15:52 PM »
The Bad Sleep Well



This isn't quite noir, but Toshiro Mifune's white collar avenger is very similar to the type of anti hero you'd find in a film noir. Kurosawa's revenge thriller is a slow burn, almost too slow at points. The movie takes quite a while to really get going, and a false, drawn out climax leads to an unconventional, although not totally unsatisfying conclusion. As the film opens, the corrupt executives of the Dairyu and Public Corp. companies find their illegal kickback scheme is plagued by a mysterious individual. Even though it's not revealed until a good 30-40 minutes into the movie, given the film's 2 1/2 hour running time it's not revealing too much to say that Mifune is the thorn in their side. Mifune finds himself in a position where he's infiltrated the company, as the secretary of the president and husband of his daughter. The film's greatest strength is exploring the consequences of both the corporations scheme and Mifune's plot to disrupt them. The executives show time and again throughout the film they have no problems killing or "coercing" people to kill themselves in order to protect their safety. Mifune struggles with how to deal with his wife, the president of the corporation, considering he married her solely to gain access to her father.

This is another great performance by Mifune for Kurosawa. In private scenes, when he's not protecting his identity, he's fierce and vicious. However when he finds himself around the company and executives, his performance is extremely subdued, to the point where he's simply lingering in the background for much of the film. Ko Nishimura and Kamatari Fujiwara are great as well as executives that Mifune has his way with, in one way or another. This ranks on the good-but-not-great portion of the Kurosawa spectrum.

7.5/10

oldkid

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #98 on: March 07, 2013, 02:58:48 PM »
Three Little Beers
As a kid, I really disliked the Three Stooges.  They were always hitting each other, and seemed to really dislike each other.  Watching as an adult, I find that there are a lot of fine comedic touches I liked.  Curly's stupid-guy act is really good, for instance.  And they have some good gags.  But the outline of the comedy is still their hateful, violent interactions with each other.  Not my style.  6.

The Cameraman
Keaton strikes again!  This is what would eventually be called a pretty standard rom com.  But there is some fine innovative scenes, and I really enjoyed the final third of the film.  But I wouldn't put this on the top of my Keaton list.  I wish there had been more of the "bad" film in the middle.  That was glorious, but all too short.  7

This is Not a Film
In the end I determined I wasn't going to try to figure out how much of this is scripted and how much is not.  I'm probably trying to read too much into it, but this is the man who made The Mirror that firmed up my idea that reality is not what it seems in Iranian cinema.  This is actually one of the gentlest, most graceful protest films ever.  I really appreciated it and I think it gave a fair assessment of his situation, and the situation of all of Iranian cinema.  But for such a slight film, it still felt long.  I loved the end scenes in the elevator, but it was still repetitive and at times without interest.  7.
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Corndog

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Re: March Madness - Communal Watchlist Group Marathon 2013
« Reply #99 on: March 08, 2013, 06:38:41 PM »
Tomboy (Celine Sciamma, 2011) -

I had just a short time to fit in a film, so I admit I picked this one off of the handful on my Netflix queue that qualify for this marathon for the sole reason that it had the shortest runtime. However, when all is said and done from the films I see from here on out, I would not be surprised if this was the best of the bunch. Of course that list is full of some highly regarded, good looking films, so I also wouldn't be surprised to be eating my words. I can only imagine that this was something that showed up on Bondo's list, for he has such a keen eye and a definitive interest in stories like this. And if that is the case than I would like to thank him for bringing this film to our attention. Then again if it wasn't him, then I would like to thank whoever would be appropriate. It follows a little girl named Laure as she has just moved into a new neighbor with her family. Whether it be to fit in, or for personal preference, we never really truly find out why, but she meets a girl her age and introduces herself s Mikael, a boy, and soon finds herself hanging around the group of boys her own age. The act goes on and on, but the inevitable must of course occur eventually.

It is a very minimalist film, but does a great job of focusing in on this group of kids and leaving the adults out of it, and luckily the kids are decent actors, especially Zoe Heran in the lead role of Laure/Mikael. Through their interactions, the normal day to day activities of the young boy during summer (swimming, football, other fun and games) I was caught up in the dilemma facing Laure. We know the truth has to come out, and we also know that she is being herself, just as a boy, which makes the inevitable reveal something we wish never had to happen either. But in retrospect, we wish she would have just been truthful, but therein lies the true conflict: gender roles. Would she have ever been accepted into the group as a girl? Lisa was, but in an admittedly limited fashion.

Laure would not have played football with them, would not have played chicken on the dock with them. She would have just been a girl instead of one of the guys. It is a difficult thing with which to deal, but that is the way of the world, the structure of modern culture. Lastly, she certainly would not have wooed Lisa; Lisa would not have even given it a thought. But does it all matter? In a purely physical sense it might, but the film does well to just let the events unfold and let the film and the characters breath within their space. I can't quite come to any sort of definitive conclusion on the film, but perhaps that is actually the strength of the film too. Perhaps Sciamma doesn't want there to be any judgment, maybe she wants the film to just exist, and be what it is, as Laure longs to be. But alas, she must work within the confines of a society which is very set in its ideals concerning gender roles.

***1/2 - Great
Project Rating: 8
"Time is the speed at which the past decays."

 

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