Author Topic: 1990s US Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 712519 times)

secondcitywolverine

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #470 on: May 17, 2008, 11:35:51 AM »
Short Cuts v My Voyage to Italy or The Battle of Realism

Short Cuts
The only Robert Altman film I've seen is A Prarie Home Companion. I'm not sure if it's considered "true Altman" but I found it an ok film. Short Cuts, or as I think it should be titled How Many Actors Can I Get to Show Themselves Naked?, just didn't do it for me. The film is based on some short stories by Raymond Carver who I have not read so I'm not sure how spot on these are. The stories told in this film all center around different couples in the "crazy" city of Los Angeles. There's the op-ed news man and his nieve wife, the adulterous cop with anger problems, the doctor and his art wife, and of course Huey Lewis. There are many others and I just didn't feel for any of them. The only story I found remotely interesting and "real" was one that involed three guys going out to fish who see a dead body and debate whether or not to go fishing or stop their once a year visit and tell someone. Especially in a time before cell phones were everywhere, I could see this truly happening. As one guy says, "She ain't getting any more dead." The rest of the stories were either too out there or just too dull. There's a story in which a baker makes a cake for a child that he does not now has died. When he calls the father to say the cake needs to be picked up the father, in his grief from losing a son, yells at the baker he doesn't want the cake. Well the baker does something I didn't understand and keeps calling the house and tormenting this poor couple even further because he doesn't like being hung up on and yelled at. If you want to see some of your favorite actors' genitalia you won't want to miss this, but besides that it's not worth checking out.

My Voyage to Italy
Well after three hours of Short Cuts I was nervous for another long film, but it was made by Scorsese who has made a great many films that I enjoy. Well I was pleasantly surprised. The film is a documentary of Italian cinema that Scorsese grew up with. I have never seen any Italian cinema and now will be adding many to my queue. Scorsese goes through a large amount of his favorite films and dissects each one explaining not only how they affected him but why they deserve to be seen by all. The small moments they showed of The Bicycle Thief and L'Aventura moved me and I couldn't believe films like this were being made in the 50s. Scorsese talks about how these films were the Neo-Realism period and focuses on the life and times of regular people. Altman could benefit from watching these films as you could see the heart and emotion in these lives of regular people. I did not attend film school and strongly recommend this film to anyone interested in film history as I learned a great deal about the power these films had on later directors.

I found very little to enjoy about Short Cuts and the downfall of My Voyage to Italy is that it doesn't feel like a "90s film" but it's just too good to pass up so My Voyage to Italy moves on.

¡Keith!

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #471 on: May 17, 2008, 11:47:13 AM »
Die Altman die!  (though I could've used more pictures to get a better understanding ;))

El Duderino, great review.

sdedalus

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #472 on: May 17, 2008, 12:37:25 PM »
Two excellent decisions thus far today.
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pixote

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #473 on: May 17, 2008, 01:12:58 PM »
Two upsets of similar caliber.  The 95th seed (The Addiction) and the 97th seed (My Voyage to Italy) beat the 44th seed (Baraka) and the 42nd seed (Short Cuts), respectively.

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Emiliana

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #474 on: May 17, 2008, 04:40:23 PM »
After these great reviews, here is my incoherent, rambling one:

Death and the Maiden vs The Fugitive

Death and the Maiden

This film is a chamber piece for three characters: Sigourney Weaver plays a woman who is convinced that the stranger her husband meets and brings to their house during a stormy night is the man who brutally tortured and raped her many years previously.

I had big problems with this film. I found it hard to care for the characters and to be invested in the development of the plot. Even though the actors definitely deserve a lot of credit for their work with such difficult and intense characters and source material, I never really became invested in the outcome of their story. I was never quite sure what the film was trying to do: I was confused whether I was seeing a woman who tried to avenge the wrongdoings she had suffered, or a sleazy, uncomfortable tale about violence and guilt and revenge that actually smelt suspiciously of misogyny in the way that Sigourney Weaver’s character was conceived and presented. I’m not sure if my criticism should rather be directed at the play the film is based on rather than the film itself, because I don’t find many remarkable things to say about the actual filmmaking aspects like directorial style or the film’s photography.

There are surely great discussions to be had about the psychology of these characters, and about guilt and revenge and all that, and it’s perfectly possible that I am not giving this film a fair treatment, but it just didn’t work for me at all.


The Fugitive

Somehow, I had managed to never see this film before. I was hooked from the beginning, where we get the whole setup of the story in just a couple of snapshots of the night of the crime and the trial. The economy of this sequence was preserved throughout the whole film, where there is only as much dialogue as necessary, and where the pacing of the plot is almost perfect, so that the suspense can go on building and building.

Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones create characters that are incredibly memorable. The script is so subtle and understated that the few lines of dialogue always hit home perfectly. The plot was so suspenseful and well paced that I was completely gripped from the great start to the absolutely satisfying ending. Even all the necessary plot exposition near the end was handled comparatively well given how much information needed to be delivered.

Overall I think this film is probably the best action thriller I have ever seen.

The Fugitive moves on.

edgar00

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #475 on: May 17, 2008, 04:46:58 PM »
The Fugitive is not the best action thriller I've ever seen, but I'm glad to seeit move on.

By the way, my verdict will be up sometime this weekend. I have watched 1 1/2 films and am trying to find the time to finish off Hard Height.
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pixote

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #476 on: May 17, 2008, 05:32:45 PM »
I have watched 1 1/2 films and am trying to find the time to finish off Hard Height.

Now I'm worried you're watching the unlikely porn takeoff on the film you were actually assigned...

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mañana

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #477 on: May 17, 2008, 10:15:52 PM »
Awesome review of Baraka El Duderino. I'm certainly not as hard on it but you are spot on.
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duder

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #478 on: May 17, 2008, 11:05:28 PM »
Awesome review of Baraka El Duderino. I'm certainly not as hard on it but you are spot on.

For the record, I was harsher on it than I needed to be. Overall, I would say it's worth watching.
...

edgar00

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Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #479 on: May 18, 2008, 12:09:45 AM »
I have watched 1 1/2 films and am trying to find the time to finish off Hard Height.

Now I'm worried you're watching the unlikely porn takeoff on the film you were actually assigned...

pixote

Porn yes, but none involving Philip Baker Hall. 
-Le Chiffre: You changed your shirt, Mr Bond. I hope our little game isn't causing you to perspire.

-James Bond: A little. But I won't consider myself to be in trouble until I start weeping blood.

https://twitter.com/Betweentheseats
http://crabkeyheadquarters.wordpress.com/

 

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