Author Topic: Top 100: oldkid  (Read 34526 times)

smirnoff

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #170 on: April 07, 2020, 05:01:13 PM »
The Guard

Steadily kinda funny. Humour wise it's about where Burn After Reading landed for me. It's in that amusing but not laugh out loud funny category. But that's just me. The presentation of all that amusing dialogue is a bit Wes Andersony for my tastes... it locks in the framing, it locks in the characters, and then everybody says whatever absurd things to each other with absolute conviction. Put it this way... it doesn't surprise me that the director is also the writer.

Not totally my thing, but it was alright. :)


smirnoff

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #171 on: April 09, 2020, 04:37:24 PM »
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp   -   8/10

I watched this on the strength of ET's recent experience with it. I didn't read the review (until after), just the rating he gave it.

Evidently even in the 40's they were beginning films with something that happens 3/4 of the way through the story... one of my most disliked storytelling techniques. However, being such an old movie I will give it a pass... it may have been very innovative at the time, I have no idea. It's not good though. Those first 10 minutes would have, under different circumstances, been enough to make me turn the movie off. It is only because I was watching it for the Movie Club that I let it play on. It's too long and too silly, and only at the very end does it contain any content worth carrying forward into the film proper. For my money it could have begun from the point when the young soldier taps the Major General on the shoulder in the bathhouse and given us what was needed (not the least of which was the film letting you know its ambition to cover such a large period of time). Scorsese does it right in Casino, it takes 30 seconds.

The film quiets down considerably after that and your given a better environment in which to appreciate the snappy dialogue. It took my ear a minute or two to become accustomed to its rhythm but after that it was smooth sailing. A fairly long movie but quite effortless to complete in a sitting. Every scene had something to offer, every era it's own poignant message, and the larger story something profound.

1SO

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #172 on: April 09, 2020, 08:12:39 PM »
I Am Love
My introduction to Luca Guadagnino was Call Me by Your Name. I'd been hearing about him with A Bigger Splash and I Am Love, but his type of film doesn't immediately call out to me. I figured I'd catch up with him whenever I went on a deep dive of Tilda Swinton films. I thought Call Me By Your Name was Okay, but I noticed an earthy emotional quality that came out in the films best scenes and gave the film a haunting ghost-like quality that's hard to describe. This is why I was so interested and excited when he announced his next project would be Suspiria. His style couldn't be more different from the colorful splash of Dario Argento, and that could only be to the benefit of the story, right?

I'm still learning, but I think what holds me back on Guadagnino is a certain narrative paunchy-ness. I looked the word up to make sure I was using it right. I'm trying to describe Adam West as Batman. He had many fine Batman qualities, but around the middle there's this soft belly that spills over a little where things should be lean and tight. It's a tough trick because you don't want a lean and mean Batman and you don't want to trim Guadagnino down too much on story because it's not all about the coffee with him but the way he grinds the beans down to a texture you feel you can run your fingers through first.

I may not be able to describe it, but it's clear Swinton gets it. She's at ease with the character that's missing any of her usual eccentricities. She's playing a mother and a woman, and those are her most extreme personality tics, which is so unlike her. She's the one putting her hands into Guadagnino fresh ground beans and the coffee tastes so much richer for it.

Sandy

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #173 on: April 09, 2020, 10:48:51 PM »
One Week



"Ahh, home crap home!" - The Money Pit

At around 20 minutes, this story doesn't wear itself out, or I should say, it doesn't wear me out. Mr. Blanding Builds his Dream House and The Money Pit are both one and a half hours too long. Watching home building/renovation go so wrong, makes me decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe it was SimTown circa 1995, where all my hard work would come crumbling down faster than I could fix it, or maybe in the real world, where repairs and upkeep are never ending, I have built up a particular eversion to seeing it on screen. Not so with Buster Keaton's creation. With it's breezy pace and it's cartoonishly cute house, I enjoy each well choreographed mishap, especially since the newlyweds take it all in stride. Now that's abiding love.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #174 on: April 10, 2020, 12:48:03 AM »
Yup, it's lovely. My favorite Keaton. Glad you found it enjoyable.

Eric/E.T.

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #175 on: April 10, 2020, 06:06:07 AM »
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp   -   8/10

I watched this on the strength of ET's recent experience with it. I didn't read the review (until after), just the rating he gave it.

I'm glad. I hear that jerk\s really bad with the spoilers.

Evidently even in the 40's they were beginning films with something that happens 3/4 of the way through the story... one of my most disliked storytelling techniques. However, being such an old movie I will give it a pass... it may have been very innovative at the time, I have no idea. It's not good though. Those first 10 minutes would have, under different circumstances, been enough to make me turn the movie off. It is only because I was watching it for the Movie Club that I let it play on. It's too long and too silly, and only at the very end does it contain any content worth carrying forward into the film proper. For my money it could have begun from the point when the young soldier taps the Major General on the shoulder in the bathhouse and given us what was needed (not the least of which was the film letting you know its ambition to cover such a large period of time). Scorsese does it right in Casino, it takes 30 seconds.

The film quiets down considerably after that and your given a better environment in which to appreciate the snappy dialogue. It took my ear a minute or two to become accustomed to its rhythm but after that it was smooth sailing. A fairly long movie but quite effortless to complete in a sitting. Every scene had something to offer, every era it's own poignant message, and the larger story something profound.

I'm glad you hung on for the whole thing! I loved the buildup to seeing this Colonel Blimp, who initially seems like a washed-up blow-hard, because the retrospective that follows that first sequences paints a much deeper and affecting picture of the man that cinched my love.
A witty saying proves nothing. - Voltaire

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #176 on: April 10, 2020, 09:49:07 PM »
The Guard

Steadily kinda funny. Humour wise it's about where Burn After Reading landed for me. It's in that amusing but not laugh out loud funny category. But that's just me. The presentation of all that amusing dialogue is a bit Wes Andersony for my tastes... it locks in the framing, it locks in the characters, and then everybody says whatever absurd things to each other with absolute conviction. Put it this way... it doesn't surprise me that the director is also the writer.

Not totally my thing, but it was alright. :)

I really thought you'd go for this one.  I can see that it might be slow, but for me, I was back and forth laughing and remaining giddy.  There aren't a lot of laugh out loud moments, and it takes a minute for it to warm up, but it is a happy "buddy" cop movie and the ending was quite intense, moreso than the typical cop movie. 
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #177 on: April 10, 2020, 09:53:26 PM »
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp   -   8/10

I watched this on the strength of ET's recent experience with it. I didn't read the review (until after), just the rating he gave it.

Evidently even in the 40's they were beginning films with something that happens 3/4 of the way through the story... one of my most disliked storytelling techniques. However, being such an old movie I will give it a pass... it may have been very innovative at the time, I have no idea. It's not good though. Those first 10 minutes would have, under different circumstances, been enough to make me turn the movie off. It is only because I was watching it for the Movie Club that I let it play on. It's too long and too silly, and only at the very end does it contain any content worth carrying forward into the film proper. For my money it could have begun from the point when the young soldier taps the Major General on the shoulder in the bathhouse and given us what was needed (not the least of which was the film letting you know its ambition to cover such a large period of time). Scorsese does it right in Casino, it takes 30 seconds.

The film quiets down considerably after that and your given a better environment in which to appreciate the snappy dialogue. It took my ear a minute or two to become accustomed to its rhythm but after that it was smooth sailing. A fairly long movie but quite effortless to complete in a sitting. Every scene had something to offer, every era it's own poignant message, and the larger story something profound.

The beginning was different.  There was a comic strip called Colonel Blimp about a bumbling, foolish commander.  The opening leads us to think that this is exactly the kind of film we were getting.  Until it isn't, and the expectations are thwarted.  I love the beginning as a false introduction to a glorious film-- that intro isn't who the man is, who we end up seeing him as.  Traditions may seem foolish, until we see the nobility and honor that truly came from those traditions.  He wasn't a foolish commander, but one who is a bit stuck in the past, and who wouldn't want to be, given the context? 

Still, you seemed to have enjoyed it and got something out of the film.  I'm so glad you got past your ruined expectations and saw the film for the glory it is.
« Last Edit: April 10, 2020, 10:04:40 PM by oldkid »
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #178 on: April 10, 2020, 09:57:58 PM »
I Am Love
My introduction to Luca Guadagnino was Call Me by Your Name. I'd been hearing about him with A Bigger Splash and I Am Love, but his type of film doesn't immediately call out to me. I figured I'd catch up with him whenever I went on a deep dive of Tilda Swinton films. I thought Call Me By Your Name was Okay, but I noticed an earthy emotional quality that came out in the films best scenes and gave the film a haunting ghost-like quality that's hard to describe. This is why I was so interested and excited when he announced his next project would be Suspiria. His style couldn't be more different from the colorful splash of Dario Argento, and that could only be to the benefit of the story, right?

I'm still learning, but I think what holds me back on Guadagnino is a certain narrative paunchy-ness. I looked the word up to make sure I was using it right. I'm trying to describe Adam West as Batman. He had many fine Batman qualities, but around the middle there's this soft belly that spills over a little where things should be lean and tight. It's a tough trick because you don't want a lean and mean Batman and you don't want to trim Guadagnino down too much on story because it's not all about the coffee with him but the way he grinds the beans down to a texture you feel you can run your fingers through first.

I may not be able to describe it, but it's clear Swinton gets it. She's at ease with the character that's missing any of her usual eccentricities. She's playing a mother and a woman, and those are her most extreme personality tics, which is so unlike her. She's the one putting her hands into Guadagnino fresh ground beans and the coffee tastes so much richer for it.

I think Tilda Swinton is what makes this film work, despite the "paunchy-ness".   Yeah, it isn't as tight of a script as one might like, and I could see some edits-- whole scenes-- that might be cut.  But emotionally, for me, this film moves me decidedly to a point and it is a perfect film in doing that.  All the errors and foolishness and focus on the beauty of the countryside... it all leads inexorably to fill my heart to the brink.  So I actually have nothing to complain about here.  And I'm glad you finally took the time to see this film and to watch one of Swinton's great roles.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Top 100: oldkid
« Reply #179 on: April 10, 2020, 10:03:21 PM »
One Week



"Ahh, home crap home!" - The Money Pit

At around 20 minutes, this story doesn't wear itself out, or I should say, it doesn't wear me out. Mr. Blanding Builds his Dream House and The Money Pit are both one and a half hours too long. Watching home building/renovation go so wrong, makes me decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe it was SimTown circa 1995, where all my hard work would come crumbling down faster than I could fix it, or maybe in the real world, where repairs and upkeep are never ending, I have built up a particular eversion to seeing it on screen. Not so with Buster Keaton's creation. With it's breezy pace and it's cartoonishly cute house, I enjoy each well choreographed mishap, especially since the newlyweds take it all in stride. Now that's abiding love.

The Hanks vehicle and the Grant vehicle never attracted me.  I don't need to watch these men in their broad, physical comedy modes, which is only occasionally good to see if they could pull some laughs out of a remodel.  Keaton, though, he's the one you want.  His utter seriousness, without any mugging.  His ability to turn a physical object into a character which is not a villain, but a person of danger to Keaton and his bride.  And you believe this love because they are still in the honeymoon period, not at a time when their marriage would be tested.  In One Week, the marriage wasn't tested, just their fortitude.  Every pratfall and house disaster was perfectly choreographed for laughter.  One of the most joyous twenty minutes I have spent.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky