Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684130 times)

pixote

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1600 on: November 26, 2017, 01:04:31 AM »
Frantz

Hmm, I actually thought you were going to like it even more than I did. I'm especially surprised that you seem to characterize it as a romance. That seemed me to more a subplot in a story that was more about grief, guilt, redemption, and the echoing horrors of war.

I might have to start a spoiler thread to talk more about the use of color. I guess I'll wait to see if more people give this film a look (or have already).

pixote
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oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1601 on: November 26, 2017, 01:25:43 AM »
I'd be happy to discuss it and to be shown more than what I saw.
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valmz

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1602 on: November 26, 2017, 03:28:17 AM »
The Square  (Ruben Östlund, 2017)

I must confess that I'm rather enviable of Glenn Kenny's *˝ star review at rogerebert.com
I was cringing more reading that review than I was watching Force Majeure. He gets an A+ for complaining about everything, though. I admire your restraint more, but I think the film is fairly incredible and worth scratching away at to find the depth. For instance: Kenny's empty complaint about the "cartoon Millenials" overlooks the mirroring of their preparation in the elevator to the protagonist's preparation prior to one of his speeches, and the fact that their initial pitch is reasonable and even presented in a reasonable and socially sensible way - but they fail, as the museum and as the society does, in effectively communicating and providing understanding, despite the pair's meticulously groomed appearance and verbal competence. You could say these features mirror both the curated museum and the uncurated public squares - places where the extreme orderliness is starkly contrasted with the glaringly obvious and unaddressed "elephants in the room". I would like to read Kenny's complaints about a different cut of the film where he only mentions the scenes which don't appear to be satirical, which in fact shine a positive light on the art, or on the people, or on the society. It would be equally cringe-worthy. The only one worth reading, I think, is the one which mentions all of the elements of the film, ad actually considers their coexistence.

Bondo

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1603 on: November 26, 2017, 07:35:37 AM »
War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

If Dawn put Caesar and the apes in the middle of Shakespearean struggle, War gets biblical, with Caesar playing equal parts Job and Moses. We are given no indication that the apes as a society have a theistic notion of faith, but Caesar certainly has through two films put faith in certain higher principles (which always worked out so well for Family Stark, but I digress). If Dawn presented an external challenge to those principles, War presents an internal struggle.

I do feel that thematically this feels the least composed of the trilogy, but some of this weakness might just be in the filmmaking. I'm not sure there will be any scenes from this that stick with me like a number from Rise and Dawn have. In some ways this feels the most rote and referential, a lot of scenes that could be described as "[insert film] but with Apes" to a degree that the prior two did not. Still a worthy film, no disgrace to the series, but a step down.

A Ghost Story (2017)

What? It's like horror by way of Malick. Don't confuse that for a compliment.

oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1604 on: November 26, 2017, 10:06:46 AM »
Frantz

Hmm, I actually thought you were going to like it even more than I did. I'm especially surprised that you seem to characterize it as a romance. That seemed me to more a subplot in a story that was more about grief, guilt, redemption, and the echoing horrors of war.

I might have to start a spoiler thread to talk more about the use of color. I guess I'll wait to see if more people give this film a look (or have already).

pixote

I agree that the point of the film has nothing to do with romance, that is just the scaffolding of the film, while it is pointing at grief and patriotism and family.  I can speak more about it in a spoiler thread.


Boy

This is the time for Taika Waititi, having three hit movies in a row, so I decided to explore his older films.  Boy is the nickname of the title character, an 11 (?) year old whose mother died and father is just not there, so he and his brother and cousins are raised, off and on, by their grandmother.  Boy is then visited by his father, a ne'er do well and wannabe criminal who is full of bluster and excuses.

Boy is a silly comedy, exploring both real family and surrogate family and a kid who has to raise himself.  It feels like Waititi is warming up for grander things, as if Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the grander and funnier sequel to this film.  But as an actor, he really shines as Alamein, the father of Boy.  He is a child-man, not any more mature than Boy himself, and he is hilarious. It makes me realize that he is the anti-Tarantino, the director whose performance in the film enlivens and even inspires a film, a truly great comedic performer.

Apart from his performance, Boy just seems like a noble effort, a flash of genius for things to come.

3/5
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

DarkeningHumour

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1605 on: November 26, 2017, 12:54:37 PM »
A Ghost Story (2017)

What? It's like horror by way of Malick. Don't confuse that for a compliment.

I don't think this is getting a release here. I will not be looking for it on the internet.
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jdc

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1606 on: November 26, 2017, 01:46:18 PM »
You should look
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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1607 on: November 26, 2017, 01:59:48 PM »
It's really great.
Check out my blog of many topics

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DarkeningHumour

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1608 on: November 26, 2017, 03:48:11 PM »
Honestly, is there a chance in hell I'll like it?
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oldkid

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #1609 on: November 26, 2017, 04:36:08 PM »
Honestly, is there a chance in hell I'll like it?

No.

It really is great in a slow, meditative way.  But it isn't your kind of film.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky