Author Topic: 1990s US Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 712607 times)

Junior

  • Bert Macklin, FBI
  • Global Moderator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 28709
  • What's the rumpus?
    • Benefits of a Classical Education
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #150 on: January 21, 2008, 10:57:32 PM »
What's the next one?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas vs. The Thin Red Line

want it?

See?!?!
Check out my blog of many topics

“I’m not a quitter, Kimmy! I watched Interstellar all the way to the end!”

roujin

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 15508
  • it's all research
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #151 on: January 21, 2008, 11:01:39 PM »
L.A. Confidential vs. Jerry Maguire

Show me the money?

Jerry Maguire

Major Flaws: Well, sometimes it's just too cute. Yes, that little kid is precious but it sometimes feels like it all belongs in a hallmark card somewhere. The film also drags in a couple of places but it wasn't that big of a problem.

Major Attributes: There was a lot to like actually. Most surprisingly, Cuba Gooding Jr.'s performance. I would never say that he deserved to win his Oscar (it should've been William H. Macy or Edward Norton) but I can see why he did. It's a feel-good performance and he brings a burst of life into the movie. When he shows up the film is  merely Tom Cruise being a self-absorbed jackass (a role he would reprise later on in Cameron Crowe's Vanilla Sky.) The romantic stuff was nice and all and Renee Zellweger was pretty cute back then. I can't really dislike this movie. It's entertaining enough that it manages to convince me that it's problems aren't that big or important. Or perhaps I'm just giving Cameron Crowe the benefit of the doubt. He did make my favorite film of all time, after all.

L.A. Confidential

Major Flaws: Kim Basinger? Well, she isn't really bad but she's about the biggest weak link I can find in this film and I never really minded her... or how about Danny DeVito? Well, he's alright.

Major Attributes: I've seen this movie about five or six times now. That should tell you how highly I think of it. I don't know. Everything about it clicks for me. All the characters ring true and the story is exciting even though I already knew how it would turn out. Everybody is firing on all cylinders.

It's just an incredibly well-made film. Everything about it is top-notch.

It really isn't close. Curtis Hanson's film is an undeniable achievement in just about every field. Jerry Maguire, on the other hand, is just OK. It has nice enough performances and it's funny/romantic enough for you to like it but that's it.

L.A. Confidential over Jerry Maguire.


facedad

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10983
  • World Phucking Champions.
    • Be my netflix friend
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #152 on: January 22, 2008, 09:39:07 AM »
I do indeed need a new pair skjerva.
You're just jealous! Nobody loves you because you're tiny and made of meat!

https://twitter.com/thefaceboy

http://www.thereelists.com

skjerva

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9448
  • I'm your audience.
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #153 on: January 22, 2008, 03:15:34 PM »
What's the next one?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas vs. The Thin Red Line

want it?

See?!?!

damn, sorry.  i was going off a file on the computer i usually don't use and hadn't updated - i had a bad feeling that had been assigned.

face, how's about:

Grosse Pointe Blank
vs
The Straight Story
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

facedad

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 10983
  • World Phucking Champions.
    • Be my netflix friend
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #154 on: January 22, 2008, 03:36:09 PM »
What's the next one?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas vs. The Thin Red Line

want it?

See?!?!

damn, sorry.  i was going off a file on the computer i usually don't use and hadn't updated - i had a bad feeling that had been assigned.

face, how's about:

Grosse Pointe Blank
vs
The Straight Story
I can do that. I have GPB and just have to go get The Straight Story.
You're just jealous! Nobody loves you because you're tiny and made of meat!

https://twitter.com/thefaceboy

http://www.thereelists.com

skjerva

  • Godfather
  • *****
  • Posts: 9448
  • I'm your audience.
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #155 on: January 24, 2008, 11:37:29 AM »
What's the next one?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas vs. The Thin Red Line

want it?

See?!?!

damn, sorry.  i was going off a file on the computer i usually don't use and hadn't updated - i had a bad feeling that had been assigned.

face, how's about:

Grosse Pointe Blank
vs
The Straight Story
I can do that. I have GPB and just have to go get The Straight Story.

cool :)
But I wish the public could, in the midst of its pleasures, see how blatantly it is being spoon-fed, and ask for slightly better dreams. 
                        - Iris Barry from "The Public's Pleasure" (1926)

Emiliana

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 2239
  • Life is a Cabaret!
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #156 on: February 15, 2008, 01:52:53 PM »
Mighty Aphrodite
vs.
LA Story

Mighty Aphrodite:

Major Flaws: It is Woody Allen doing what Woody Allen has always been doing, so there is little that's new or particularly charming there when you have seen a couple if his films. I don't see why the Greek choir has to be there (ok, it comments on the action just as an ancient choir would have done, but what particular purpose did it serve in this particular film? I wasn't able to see why this story merited having that theatrical device thrust upon it). On a related note: so the ending made use of another device from classical theatre (deus ex machina), but that doesn't mean that I had to like it, and I didn't. Deus ex machina endings just are unsatisfying to me. And lastly, Mira Sorvino has the most grating voice I can possibly imagine.

Major attributes: It is Woody Allen doing what Woody Allen has always been doing. He is painting the portraits of a couple of characters whose personalities are so clearly drawn and who come immediately to life as soon as they are on the screen. Many scenes and lines of dialogue were truly funny ("Screen Extras Guild"), and I laughed out loud a couple of times when the choir spoke about Lenny's mundane story in the heightened, stylised language of ancient drama. I also truly enjoyed seeing Helena Bonham Carter in her quite straight-forward, understated role.

Final judgement on Mighty Aphrodite: A generally charming film with a nice story, some good laughs, but lacking in a certain something that makes it truly great.


LA Story

Major Flaws: Maybe Sarah Jessica Parker was supposed to be a bubbly, young presence, a breath of fresh air, but to me she was just annoying. The plot seemed rather insubstantial to me.

Major Attributes: I laughed A LOT. From the first moments (i.e. the opening montage), I was truly enjoying the film. As a Shakespeare fanatic, I enjoyed the references (which were few enough not to stick out uncomfortably). My first thoughts while seeing the film was: This is Woody-Allen-esque in the best possible way - ever so slightly pathetic protagonist runs around a city he loves and gets tangled up in dinner parties, marriages and love affairs, all while being very entertaining and funny. I felt that the film was successful as both a satire of and an hommage to Los Angeles. But my favourite character of the film would have to be the signpost.

Final judgement on LA Story: A fluffy comedy that was enjoyable from start to finish, but nothing that really gave you that certain "wow"-feeling.

Conclusions: I saw LA Story first, and it did all the things I usually love about Woody Allen's films: it kept me entertained, it made me laugh, it made me care for the characters, it left me with a truly satisfied feeling. After that, the real Woody Allen film did also deliver on most of these points, with the one exception that I just didn't enjoy spending time with those characters as much as I had enjoyed the whole experience of LA Story. Thus, my vote has to go to LA Story.

 

pixote

  • Administrator
  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 34237
  • Up with generosity!
    • yet more inanities!
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #157 on: February 15, 2008, 01:54:55 PM »
Very nice write-up, Emiliana!

pixote
Great  |  Near Great  |  Very Good  |  Good  |  Fair  |  Mixed  |  Middling  |  Bad

winrit

  • Elite Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 4934
  • “Positively the same dame.”
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #158 on: February 15, 2008, 05:00:52 PM »
Update: I watched Tommy Boy. I suppose I should send Away From Her back (because it appears I will never watch it) and get Bottle Rocket, so we can move on.
"Kickboxing. Sport of the future."

roujin

  • Objectively Awesome
  • ******
  • Posts: 15508
  • it's all research
Re: 1990s US Bracket commentary
« Reply #159 on: February 15, 2008, 05:10:15 PM »
Gah! Good thing this thread came up or I would've forgotten.

*gets reservoir dogs and my own private idaho*

 

love