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Author Topic: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 395733 times)

ferris

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #550 on: June 28, 2010, 05:37:23 PM »
Yay. I've never seen Real Science but I get the feeling I'd react the same way.
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jbissell

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #551 on: June 28, 2010, 05:38:35 PM »
Running On Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988) vs. Born In Flames (Lizzie Borden, 1983)


Running On Empty

Sidney Lumet’s Running On Empty follows the Pope (later Mansfield) family as they move from town to town. See Judd Hirsch & Christine Lahti, former anti-Vietnam War radicals, have been in hiding ever since their bombing of a napalm lab went awry. The couple has two children, River Phoenix and some weird kid, that are constantly being uprooted. The family functions as a sort of military unit, though it’s clear that there is a lot of love. The opening of the film introduces us to their process of setting up a new life in a new city. The family dog gets left by the side of the road, the kids get new haircuts, a new vehicle is purchased, new jobs are acquired, and the kids are enrolled in their new schools (of course any records from previous schools were “lost in the move”). Phoenix takes a music class and it turns out he’s a talented piano player. One day after skipping school (can’t participate in school picture day), Phoenix goes to the teacher’s house, but no one is home so he goes in and starts playing the piano. But wait, surprise! The teacher’s daughter, Martha Plimpton, has also ditched. She seems unfazed by the stranger in her house and before you know it, there’s a connection between the two. She shows up for Lahti's birthday dinner and the family likes her. We even get a family dance to "Fire and Rain" (my life would be just fine if I didn’t have to hear this song ever again). Mr. Phillips thinks Phoenix should go to Juilliard. He auditions, but doesn't tell his parents; reveals his family secret to Plimpton. Lahti finds out about Juilliard and arranges for a meeting with her father (they’ve been out of contact for 15 years). She wants her father to take in Phoenix so he can go to Juilliard and – IRONY ALERT – the big reveal is that she was also a talented piano player who rejected Juilliard and her parents lifestyle but now wants her son to be a part of that world! Of course Judd Hirsch has no interest in breaking up the family unit but the movie ends exactly as you expect.

The performances are all solid, but nothing really blew me away. Some of River's mannerisms got annoying, especially his constant use of the "Kristen Stewart in Adventureland hand through hair" technique. I was a little surprised to see that he was nominated for best supporting actor (especially since I think he’s the lead). The little brother gets very little screen time, which is ok because there was something about him that just weirded me out. I've always liked Martha Plimpton. The screenplay was nominated for an Oscar, not a surprise since it definitely feels like “one of those movies”. The best word for me to describe Running On Empty is “adequate”.


Born In Flames

This verdict took me a few days to write because I was having a hard time articulating my thoughts on Born In Flames. I didn’t want to shit on it because, from what I’ve read, there are people who view this film as an important subculture artifact and I’m obviously not the target audience. Unfortunately, regardless of intention, bad filmmaking is bad filmmaking and there’s a whole lot of it on display here. The film takes place in a US, 10 years after a “war of liberation” implemented a social labor party. Counter-revolutionary groups, specifically the “Women’s Army”(a group of women on bikes that attack men harassing women) and 2 different radical pirate radio stations – Phoenix & Radio Regazza, are growing disillusioned with this government. The leader of The Women’s Army dies in jail from suicide (or more likely, nefarious government involvement!) and the two groups join together in protest. The structure of the film is almost pseudo-documentary, intercut with TV & radio broadcasts, talking heads, numerous montages of everyday activity set to the Red Crayola song “Born In Flames” (I didn’t mind the song, but I’m certain 90% of people would HATE IT), and conversations amongst the women.

This film has some of the worst acting you will ever see. We’re talking low-rent high school theater production bad. The editing is often very sloppy and not in an endearing way. Katheryn Bigelow shows up a few times as one of the editors of a socialist newspaper and I’m really glad she didn’t stick to acting. None of the characters felt real; if anything, they were nothing more than delivery devices for the message of the film and the dialogue felt like something you’d hear being spouted by “radical” college freshmen. I’m really not well-versed enough on the subject to pick it apart or anything, that was just my basic impression. The entire film is on [noembed]YouTube[/noembed], I recommend just picking a section at random for a taste (also Instant Netflix). I wish skjerva was around because I'm sure he has a very interesting take on this one.

Verdict
I'd love to advance Born In Flames, if nothing else so that someone else would have to watch it. If the films were closer in quality I'd give it an edge for trying something different. Running On Empty isn't anything special, but it's not a total mess and is the winner.

Running On Empty 6/10
Born In Flames 3/10
« Last Edit: June 29, 2010, 03:15:47 AM by pixote »

ferris

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #552 on: June 28, 2010, 05:41:24 PM »
GC, you have me genuinely interested in Sherman's March now.  Maybe I'll see it in a future round.
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GothamCity151

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #553 on: June 28, 2010, 09:03:02 PM »
The Elephant Man vs. Commando


The Elephant Man



Why can’t David Lynch go back to making these kinds of films? I am saying this because it is a masterpiece. This is an emotionally heavy film but has the story and characters to back it up. John Hurt portrays John Merrick so beautifully that it became more than a little dusty in the room where I was watching the film. Anthony Hopkins is also great as his doctor and mentor. I applaud Lynch for shooting the film in black and white, as the cinematography is beautifully dark and get every nuance of that period in England. The production and costume designs also put you right back in that period seamlessly. I also loved John Morris’ wonderful score for the film a lot. I really hope Lynch gets off this ride of making films that are totally incomprehensible and returns to the style of this and Blue Velvet. He can have his surreal moments, as he does in this film, but it needs to have interesting things happen through the film, and this sure delivers. This is yet another addition to my top 100 films of all time.



Commando



How in the world did this film end up in a matchup with The Elephant Man? Anyway, I want to make some very clear: I love this movie. Why exactly? It is because it is so over the top stupid. It gets down just about every action movie cliche from the 1980s and distills it into one movie. There’s the cheesy one-liners, explosions, and ARNOLD. It portrays everything that we love about Arnold and everything we don’t like about him. It shows the bad acting, but it also shows the total badass that is Schwarzenegger. This film essentially has no plot, but, you know what, THERE ARE EXPLOSIONS! If you want the full experience of this, get some big and loud speakers and watch it on a huge screen. So put on your black, stripe camouflage makeup that does not camouflage anything because you are huge Austrian man and enjoy the ride. This is the definition of it is so bad its good.


Winner And Advancement To Next Round: The Elephant Man

mañana

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #554 on: June 28, 2010, 10:15:02 PM »
Quote
Running On Empty (Sidney Lumet, 1988) vs. Born In Flames (Lizzie Borden, 1983)
Yeah, "adequate" is how I remember Running on Empty. I haven't seen in in years, but for some reason always remember the scene in his music class when he explains the difference between dance and classical music. Bummer about Born in Flames, I guess that's how it goes with experimental stuffs. Lizzie Borden isn't doing well in this bracket, I beleive roujin already kicked one of hers out.

Quote
Real Genius vs. Sherman’s March
I haven't seen either, but this seems like the right choice.

Quote
The Elephant Man vs. Commando
It's too bad these faced off in round one. I'm considering supporting this for resurrection.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2010, 10:16:42 PM by matt tmw »
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mañana

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #555 on: June 28, 2010, 11:08:30 PM »
I’m gonna break this down Round 1 90s US style.

Mala Noche (Gus Van Sant, 1985)

Flaws: At times it feels like inexperienced filmmaking and it’s distracting. Particularly in the early scenes I didn’t like how quickly GVS cuts away from some scenes, it’s not that it’s frenetically paced, it just seems like the rhythm isn’t right or something. Also related to the inexperience issue, there are a couple of scenes that just go thud and reek of student; scenes are meant to play out as “off the cuff” but they just feel awkward. My biggest complaint with the film is that I never really got a sense of the neighbourhood/community that these characters lived in. Maybe it’s not fair to criticize a film for not being the film I wanted it to be. In my defense, I think just a little more would have satisfied. I like a strong sense of place, and it’s there but not big time, y’know? Also, the narration, which is often pretty good, is a little overused.

Strengths: The flip side of GVS’s inexperience is he’s willing to try angles and compositions an older fuddy-duddy might shy away from. Similarly, the high contrast lighting looks great, I assume it’s a product of budget constraints but aesthetically it works. As a matter of fact, in a few scenes there’s a noir-ish type feel and in one scene in particular it’s really effective. In general really, the cheapness is quite beautiful and I love when it’s meant to have a home movie quality. The lead, Tim Streeter, does a nice job. He’s such a GVS lead, handsome in a Keanu/Matt Dillon type way and sweet and likable in a River kind of way. The two boys that play the Mexican migrant workers, who I believe are not professional actors, are terrific; great presence and great faces. I absolutely loved the ending, Walt drives by Johnny, so bittersweet and lovely. Mala Noche handles lust, love, and crushes so wonderfully; sometimes romantic, sometimes uncomfortable, always honest. Also, I think I liked the music, but it’s been a while so I don’t actually remember.

Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983)

Flaws: Ewoks. They never bothered me as a kid, and even now they’re just so familiar so it’s not really an issue for me. But when I do think stop and think about it, it’s hard to deny how stupid it is. Here’s another nerdy and well-documented complaint, another Death Star? Kinda lame. Aside from the Ewoks, the biggest problem with Jedi has to be Mark Hamill. He’s much better here than he was in A New Hope, I’ll take mature Luke over whippersnapper Luke any day, but his performance isn’t particularly good or anything. He’s kind of a charisma free zone. And it seems like he should, you know, not be.
  
Strengths: In my estimation, Jedi has two central strengths: art direction and set pieces. I think the visual design of this film is great. There are some awesome Leni Riefenstahl militarism moments, and the Emperor’s royal guards, no complaints there. In terms of set pieces, everything in and around Jabba’s palace is pretty great, I love the Han rescue and shootout at the sarlacc. And of course the Rebel assault on the Death Star is pretty darn spectacular. Also, spoiler alert, Vader takes his mask off. His eyebrows are hideously bushy.


Verdict: I’m not going to pretend I don’t like Jedi. It’s good fun, has some terrific sequences, and brings a satisfying conclusion to the series. Mala Noche very much feels like the work of a young filmmaker, which turned out to be both an asset and a weakness. Let’s put Mala Noche through and see what others think of it. Besides, this is totally hotter than this.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2010, 01:22:32 AM by matt tmw »
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ferris

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #556 on: June 28, 2010, 11:12:50 PM »
I’m gonna break this down Round 1 90s US style.

Mala Noche (Gus Van Sant, 1985)
vs
Return of the Jedi (Richard Marquand, 1983)

Verdict: I’m not going to pretend I don’t like Jedi. It’s good fun, has some terrific sequences, and brings a satisfying conclusion to the series. Mala Noche very much feels like the work of a young filmmaker, which turned out to be both an asset and a weakness. Let’s put Mala Noche through and see what others think of it. Besides, this is totally hotter than this.

You had me right until that second last statement.   But I can understand your logic.  Any energy put into ROTJ potentially pulls energy away from the vastly superior predecessor from earlier that decade - so yeah - why not get another set of eyes on Mala Noche....
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Bondo

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #557 on: June 28, 2010, 11:19:14 PM »
More reason for me to abandon this bracket. Now we've got the best Indiana Jones AND the best Star Wars out of the bracket in the first round.
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

mañana

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #558 on: June 28, 2010, 11:24:48 PM »
More reason for me to abandon this bracket. Now we've got the best Indiana Jones AND the best Star Wars out of the bracket in the first round.
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Take another look, Bondo, Empire and Raiders are still alive and kicking.
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Bondo

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Re: 1980s US Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #559 on: June 28, 2010, 11:28:05 PM »
More reason for me to abandon this bracket. Now we've got the best Indiana Jones AND the best Star Wars out of the bracket in the first round.
 :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Take another look, Bondo, Empire and Raiders are still alive and kicking.

I will never accept those as the best entries in their respective series. Though being serious I'd probably give A New Hope the edge over Jedi.