Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched  (Read 684555 times)

pixote

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #150 on: January 13, 2017, 01:34:27 PM »
Nice review of Cameraperson, Bondo, especially the connection between the home video footage and how all the other clips represent her being away from that home life.

I won't be able to write to my own thoughts until after this weekend.

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chardy999

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #151 on: January 13, 2017, 09:31:05 PM »
Blowup (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1966)

I had a similar experience though it's a bit hazy now. Dated is the wrong word but it seemed trapped in that time/space/perspective. I need to get onto more Antonioni because I was a big fan of L'avventura which is both the absence and presence of purpose.
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oneaprilday

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #152 on: January 13, 2017, 10:08:10 PM »
FWIW, I don't think Gosling and Stone's (relative lack of) song/dance capabilities hinder the film in any way. If you're expecting Broadway-type songs and Astaire/Rogers-type numbers... yeah, you'll be disappointed. So, you know, don't expect that. The film is far from perfect, but I'm getting annoyed at the complains that it isn't a "real musical".
I don't think anyone here is saying it isn't a real musical? It's just that some of the reviews make it seem like it's gonna be akin to the best musicals of all time, eg. Dargis's review in the NYT is entitled "‘La La Land’ Makes Musicals Matter Again." She compares it to classic musicals, indicating the film is, finally, a return to that specific form: "I realized that this must have been what it was like to watch Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers during the Great Depression." (Pics of classic musicals and Cyd Charisse, Fred Astaire, etc. are included throughout the piece.) And she makes even stronger direct comparisons:  "In classic style, Mia and Sebastian somehow, amazingly, know how to dance together — they shadow each other in sync — without holding each other. As in the gazebo scene in “Top Hat,” which brings Astaire and Rogers’s characters closer and closer, the park dance in “La La Land” turns flirting into a performance, complete with a little tapping, a little twirling and several neatly executed barrel turns from Mr. Gosling."

It's lovely that Dargis enjoyed it so much. I hope I do, too. I just can't believe I'll think it's as good as watching Astaire and Ginger, like she seems to.

mañana

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #153 on: January 13, 2017, 10:12:52 PM »
Eddie the Eagle
Pretty disappointed this isn't an Ed Belfour documentary.
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1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #154 on: January 13, 2017, 11:24:53 PM »
I don't think anyone here is saying it isn't a real musical? It's just that some of the reviews make it seem like it's gonna be akin to the best musicals of all time, eg. Dargis's review in the NYT is entitled "‘La La Land’ Makes Musicals Matter Again."

That is my point. It's like how people would say that High Noon is a western for people who don't like Westerns, or how John Wayne and Howard Hawks specifically made Rio Bravo because they disagreed so strongly with Gary Cooper's sheriff asking the town for help. High Noon is a good western, but for those who have seen a lot of them, there's something off about it. It's a product from filmmakers who aren't familiar with the genre's strengths. In a way that's a plus because it does something different, but what it is not is a return to classic form or something that should stand as a pinnacle for the genre.

La La Land is a Very Good film, but the more I try to expand that to place it somewhere in cinematic history, the more I keep coming up with better modern musicals not based on Broadway shows that are even more refreshingly different and more respectful to the art of superior dancing, singing and composing great material to make these moments soar. I also think Damien Chazelle may make one of these films one day.

Bondo

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #155 on: January 14, 2017, 12:39:55 AM »
Barry (2016)

I was really impressed with this Netflix original film. I'm not sure how factual the story is, I didn't get through Dreams From My Father, but it does capture the struggle for identity when one is not fully of any particular world. Devon Terrell (in his first credited role) captures enough of Obama's mannerisms to make you remember that is who it is (and you rarely hear either Barack or Obama), without it feeling like a mannered performance. Breakout Star of the Year, Anya Taylor-Joy is playing the most straightforward of her roles this year. It is a role that doesn't ask her to do as much as The Witch, naturally, but I found her incredibly compelling as the primary love interest. I certainly fell in love with her.

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Teproc

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #156 on: January 14, 2017, 03:00:30 AM »
Aren't you reviewing the Oscars campaign rather than the film at that point ? This is the most frustrating thing about awards : it's the same thing that happened to Boyhood. Because a film is the frontrunner and is getting exagerrated raves that are trying to argue for the film's importance (because that's what matter for winning Oscars), it's not allowed to stand on its own. Imagine a world in which La La Land and Sing Street's places are somehow reversed, and I'm guessing the backlash cycles would be the same : the film almost doesn't matter.

@oad : It is a complaint I've seen, probably by people reacting to the same pieces you're citing. I guess I'm making the same mistake of responding to you guys because I'm annoyed by random film people on Twitter, sorry.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2017, 03:07:06 AM by Teproc »
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goodguy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #157 on: January 14, 2017, 07:14:21 AM »
In related news, his 2009 film Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench just passed the 500 votes mark on IMDb (La La Land: 52K, Whiplash: 440K).

« Last Edit: January 14, 2017, 07:19:43 AM by goodguy »

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #158 on: January 14, 2017, 10:23:51 AM »
Aren't you reviewing the Oscars campaign rather than the film at that point ?
Oh yeah. I never meant for that to be considered a review. It was a Response, which keeps with the title of this Thread, why I put that image at the top and why I didn't put a Rating at the bottom. It's the publicity campaign and the current high level of hype that brought into sharp focus the problems I have with La La Land, why I don't love it like I love so many musicals.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2017, 10:25:22 AM by 1SO »

chardy999

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #159 on: January 14, 2017, 10:55:56 AM »
The importance of Boyhood was too much to sustain for what felt like an awards season that was about a fortnight too long.

"Guys? Are we still doing this? Yes? Nah let's vote for Birdman."

Although the hype is similar for La La Land, the film is a little more accessible to voters and and the sentiment more likely to sustain. How it rates versus other musicals I see as a different discussion entirely.
Those are my principles, and if you don't like them... well, I have others.
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