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Author Topic: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon  (Read 41704 times)

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #320 on: June 04, 2020, 01:05:04 PM »
Gravity was an okay experience on a 50 inch 4K TV, but my problems with it will mostly be narrative which I don't think a big screen would fix. I much preferred The Martian which felt more like sci-fi and less like a roller-coaster ride.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a lot of fun, but another one that will barely miss my revisits. Arrival will be in my revisits.
There's a line for Science Fiction between stimulating adrenaline and stimulating the mind. Gravity is unexpectedly further to the one end than Force Awakens. The Martian is the film closest to the center, which may be why it's still to come in this Marathon.


I liked The King's Speech at the time. Not sure how I'd feel about it now. I tried not to have a knee-jerk reaction when it won the Oscar for best picture, mostly because the Oscars are silly anyways so I didn't feel the need to knock it for that,
On this measuring stick, it holds up better than Argo


I Saw the Devil is a great film I probably only want to see once. Tales of revenge are hard for me to get on board with and this one has some grueling moments. At least here I think the hero becomes so heinous that it complicates his quest for judgement to a certain extent. Still one of the most tense experiences of the decade. Probably won't make my list but more because it is not my kind of film.
When a film is so obviously my kind of film, I look for other reasons to recommend it. Is it just something for me... which is fine. While I Saw the Devil has basic ground rules that will eliminate some people, I find it has a lot of substance (as opposed to Drive, which is more about style, but an excellent example of that style.) I'm reminded of my 00s decade which had Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance. Devil filmmaker Kim Ji-woon made A Bittersweet Life, which has a match this year with my next film The Man From Nowhere.


I need to see Bernie again. The events happened not far from where I live and I do think it does a great job of capturing some of the bizarre oddities of life in Texas. I think it's a career best from Jack Black but I kinda struggled with what it was saying about Bernie himself, who comes across as extremely likable and sympathetic even though I think he's a heinous human being. That's part of what makes the film so fascinating and watchable, but part of me wonders of Linklater was charmed by  his subject matter into making a softer film than this subject deserves.
Can't think of a Linklater film that's hard on the characters. Closest would be Before Midnight, but that took two other films to build up the nerve. I think the key scene here is that crime because it's told from Bernie's point of view, giving him not so much an excuse but a psychological reason why he would act in that moment. You could just as easily make Bernie a more obvious villain, and my wife found most curious that Bernie goes from the event to a joyful rehearsal of The Music Man. Not relief or remorse, but joy for the first time in a long time.


I hate that the narrative is basically a video game fetch quest (I get that's part of the whole inspiration to video games but it's also lazy writing).
Yeah... but it's so the obvious way to frame a video game movie it'd be hard to come with something better that isn't just trying to avoid the obvious.


Spielberg can still direct like crazy,
He can, but no longer 100% A-Z. He's slowing down, but there are moments here as good as The Last Crusade.


I, Tonya was better than I expected. I liked the faux interview elements more than I usually would in a film like this. It's more of a personal bias that I won't revisit it as biopics are not my wheelhouse at all. Glad you got so much from it because I do think it is a film worth watching.
I figured I might be underrating A Separation, which has gone from being outside the list to hanging around the 50s, but I didn't expect I, Tonya would be at the top of what I've seen so far. I think that's because on this viewing I saw the filmmakers weren't being irresponsible in its portrayal of domestic abuse, the psychological damage that causes it and the way the cycle is allowed to continue for so long.


All caught up! Glad you're still plugging along in these trying times (both in terms of the state of the forum and the state of the world).
I hope for both to be resolved in appropriate measure. Meanwhile, this has become my best way of coping with a broken country, world and forum.

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #321 on: June 05, 2020, 12:46:33 AM »

The Man From Nowhere (2010)
"Guys living for tomorrow have no chance against a guy living only for today."
Initial Review

One of the running themes is that the criminal world has a tendency to turn upon and eat itself. Corruption and disloyalty within the organization becomes the subplot that gives a chance for the various villains to have their own power plays and motivations that make watching the whole system unravel at both ends fascinating. Tae-sik may be a wrench in the machine of the criminal organization, but some of the gears find a way to adapt and evolve to the situation which makes the plotting of the film inspired.

I was around for the Hong Kong action cinema of the late 80s which transitioned to a Japanese genre boom (mostly J-Horror) and then onto the Korean New Wave. While the world moved on, South Korean cinema quietly kept producing amazing work that stretched, twisted and deconstructed genre films. Bong Joon Ho stayed popular and there'd be the occasional Train to Busan, Burning or The Wailing. It's a place I'd like to get back to a Marathon one day, the number of recommended thrillers, horror films and romantic comedies is daunting.

I started the day with Drug War, Johnny To's update to the 90s Hong Kong cop thriller and now I end it with The Man From Nowhere, which takes pieces from popular films like Man on Fire, Leon: The Professional and the Bourne franchise, but by the very nature of South Korean cinema these familiar elements take on exciting new life. Characters are familiar and don't require much explanation (or even solid acting in some supporting bad guys.) This leaves more time for story, which exists on several levels of morality, from the hard-working police to the staff of drug supplying organ-harvesters who force children to help them. One night, this crime machine angers the wrong quiet neighbor, one who has a very particular set of skills.

Ultimate badasses are nothing new, but that's where the South Korean sensibility comes in. Tae-sik isn't posturing. He's just good at what he does and can do it without passion. He's the kind of guy who repeatedly punches a small knife into his hostage while the other bad guys try to figure out what to do. Not cool... but kinda cool.

List in Progress


UP NEXT:

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #322 on: June 05, 2020, 01:22:48 AM »
I have seen The Man From Nowhere, but I can remember nothing about it. Need to do a refresh of my memory.

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #323 on: June 05, 2020, 09:40:45 PM »

Paddington (2014)
"Oh, but it always starts with just one, Mr Curry.
Soon, the whole street will be crawling with them.
Drains clogged with fur. Buns thrown at old ladies.
Raucous all-night picnics."

Initial Review

No matter how many times we've seen Pixar's Up, my wife always laughs at the way Russell says and does things. It was never something I understood because once you've seen a performance over and over the urge to laugh goes away, but Hugh Bonneville in Paddington... he's my Russell. I've seen this film a lot and I still find nuance in Bonneville's once impulsive, now uptight insurance risk analyst. ("Seven per cent of childhood accidents start with jumping.") It is the great underrated comic performance of this decade and a big reason why I hold this movie higher than the sequel.


"It doesn't matter that he comes from the other side of the world,
or that he's a different species, or that he has a worrying marmalade habit.
We love Paddington. And that makes him family!"

I can acknowledge that the sequel is more ambitious, directed with more confidence and with higher quality effects, but the first film builds Paddington's integration into the Brown family, which is all heart. (It's also the first appearance this Marathon of Julie Walters as the extended family member who helps up around the house.) Sally Hawkins has had quite a decade, but her soft-hearted Mrs. Brown is my favorite. Nicole Kidman is also having a lot of fun, though her villain isn't given nearly as much as Hugh Grant in the sequel.

I still cringe at some of the slapstick, because there's more here than necessary, but the good far outweighs this and Paddington is solidly in the List in Progress.

Bondo

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #324 on: June 05, 2020, 10:37:31 PM »
I'm the one person in the world not charmed by either Paddington film.

MartinTeller

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #325 on: June 05, 2020, 11:41:24 PM »
My wife and I turned off the first one after about 15-20 minutes. Cringey slapstick, indeed.

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #326 on: June 06, 2020, 10:11:42 AM »
The Fighter (2010)
Initial Review

There's always the disappointing rewatch I didn't see coming and this is it. I went into the decade skeptical of David O. Russell, and it seems I left the same way. The writing is great, with meaty parts for actors and lots of verbal interplay. Russell directs his talented cast to perform rather than act. It's something that's been obvious in all four of his films this decade, and at the time I didn't mind it even in Joy, but now I'm worried about American Hustle, which is by far my favorite of his this decade and the most performative of them all. I've already seen that one three times, but maybe I've changed on Russell for good.

Amy Adams remains the exception (which may be why Russell worked more with Jennifer Lawrence.) Not that she wasn't performing, she just finds a way to anchor her character into the time and place instead of seeing the camera as a stage. As a story about a family with two fighting brothers, this lacks the soul of Warrior. It's like a Waiting for Guffman version of that film.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2020, 12:07:31 PM by 1SO »

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #327 on: June 06, 2020, 01:20:32 PM »

Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011)
"Easy way to remember: blue is glue."
"And when it's red?"
"Dead."

Initial Review
Brief Thoughts on the First Five Films

I became less interested in the M:I films when Christopher McQuarrie tried to turn them into brainy spy thrillers. For all the extra plot mechanics, the last two films are just as silly to describe and instead of Ethan Hunt risking it all, it's now transparently the Tom Cruise stunt show. With M:I 3, J.J. Abrams surrounded Cruise with a team, which Brad Bird continues in Ghost Protocol and McQuarrie has been killing off ever since.

This is why 3 & 4 are my two favorites, and the ones I've rewatched the most. Ghost Protocol is unapologetically silly, it's part of the fun. A fun that doesn't let up for 90-minutes. Much like how Protocol's limitations can only be explained by looking at how M:I 3 does it all slightly better, the final big set-piece in Mumbai only pales because it comes right after the Dubai sequence.

Not much to say here because my Initial Review is long. For blockbuster entertainment, this one places highest so far in my List in Progress.

Bondo

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #328 on: June 06, 2020, 01:30:52 PM »
After shutting DOR out of my 2010s list I gave him a token spot with Three Kings near the bottom of my 2000s list. So while obviously you like him way more than me, you maybe have them similarly ordered...The Fighter is my least favorite.

Also realizing PT Anderson had no appearances on my lists. Wes is the only viable Anderson.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1SO vs. The 2010s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #329 on: June 06, 2020, 02:06:02 PM »
DOR is on my not interested list for directors. It's a shame because Lubezki is returning as DP for his next film.

I plan on watching through the MI films again. I know I've seen Ghost Protocol and Fallout twice. Might have also seen Rogue Nation twice but not positive. They are fun for what they are. I think Bird directs better action scenes but Nation and Fallout both have some great set-pieces. I also think their stories are much better than GP, so I lean a bit more towards them.