Author Topic: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions (2009-2016)  (Read 1228664 times)

FLYmeatwad

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #760 on: January 08, 2010, 11:31:39 AM »
Oh right, thanks Ferris. Nearly forgot about A Single Man.

D'oh!


But really. A Serious Man keeps being ignored. Why are people not flocking to this film?

It's no Burn After Reading...

Alright, actually it is.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #761 on: January 08, 2010, 11:55:19 AM »
Why are people not flocking to this film?
Because it had absolutely zero marketing and, in Dallas at least, played for about three weeks. I only knew about it from the boards. I have a friend that keeps telling me, "You HAVE to go see this." and I keep thinking, "Would if I could."
I'm in the same boat. Lack of marketing/theaters means that I'll have to wait for DVD for this one. Probably in my top 5 2009 films I need to see but there's probably no place within two hours I could go to see it.

StarCarly

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #762 on: January 08, 2010, 12:49:08 PM »
Why are people not flocking to this film?
Because it had absolutely zero marketing and, in Dallas at least, played for about three weeks. I only knew about it from the boards. I have a friend that keeps telling me, "You HAVE to go see this." and I keep thinking, "Would if I could."
I'm in the same boat. Lack of marketing/theaters means that I'll have to wait for DVD for this one. Probably in my top 5 2009 films I need to see but there's probably no place within two hours I could go to see it.

Yup. It played here for about two weeks, and the snowstorms kept me from going. I would have given just about anything to see it in theaters. I'll catch it on DVD and in the campus art house theater if/when it comes there
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pixote

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #763 on: January 09, 2010, 01:20:03 AM »
OK,so I totally got that, but who cares?

Who cares about the themes of the movie? Mike Leigh, probably.

I do too actually. 'Who care?' What's that supposed to mean?

I actually wish the value of theme would be challenged a little more, in a way.  I sometimes feel like ninth grade literature teachers everywhere have brainwashed people with the belief that thematic elements have some sort of a priori worth — as though a movie or book with a subtextual leitmotif connecting women with water is automatically improved by such.  Critics fall into this trap quite often, I think, where the recognition of any sort of underlying thematics inflates the critics' self-worth ("look what i noticed! see how clever i am!") and in turn leads to them inflating the film's worth.  Or something like that.

pixote
« Last Edit: January 09, 2010, 01:21:41 AM by pixote »
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Holly Harry

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #764 on: January 09, 2010, 04:38:55 AM »
OK,so I totally got that, but who cares?

Who cares about the themes of the movie? Mike Leigh, probably.

I do too actually. 'Who care?' What's that supposed to mean?

I actually wish the value of theme would be challenged a little more, in a way.  I sometimes feel like ninth grade literature teachers everywhere have brainwashed people with the belief that thematic elements have some sort of a priori worth — as though a movie or book with a subtextual leitmotif connecting women with water is automatically improved by such.  Critics fall into this trap quite often, I think, where the recognition of any sort of underlying thematics inflates the critics' self-worth ("look what i noticed! see how clever i am!") and in turn leads to them inflating the film's worth.  Or something like that.

pixote

It's not that the spotting of a theme automatically makes a film better, it's just part of the reception/interpretation of a movie. Art is supposed to have themes (and everything does, good or bad), and interpreting them is part of the process.

Either way, in the case of "Naked" the subplot he was questioning wasn't subtext (Like "Women and water"), it's text. There's a reason for it to be there, and it's part of what the movie's about. This isn't trivial, or a non-sequitur, or there for the critic to blow smoke up his own ass. It's essential to the movie.
« Last Edit: January 09, 2010, 05:51:50 AM by Holly Harry »
"Political questions, if you go back thousands of years, are ephemeral, not important. History is the same thing over and over again."-Woody Allen.

Holly Harry

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #765 on: January 09, 2010, 05:55:31 AM »
Great blog post from Jim Emerson pointing out the ridiculousness of those review percentage websites:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2010/01/opinions_are_they_really_worth.html
"Political questions, if you go back thousands of years, are ephemeral, not important. History is the same thing over and over again."-Woody Allen.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #766 on: January 09, 2010, 02:18:05 PM »
Is it just me or does it seem like half the talent of some actor is knowing how to smoke and look *insert certain emotion here*.

Yea, I'm looking at you Tony Leung (who I love by the way).

'Noke

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #767 on: January 09, 2010, 02:23:03 PM »
Cera can do the second bit. And most people don't think he has talent. but, on the other hand, Jean-Paul Belmondo smokes and looks aloof, at least just that for all of A Bout De Souffle, and yet that's still one of my fav performances.
I actually consider a lot of movies to be life-changing! I take them to my heart and they melt into my personality.

StarCarly

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #768 on: January 09, 2010, 03:34:25 PM »
As long as Belmondo or Leung are on screen smoking and looking aloof, I'll keep paying to watch them.
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winrit

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Re: Random Movie Thoughts/Questions
« Reply #769 on: January 09, 2010, 07:29:46 PM »
I just saw a trailer for a movie called Frozen and the premise is that they get stuck on a ski lift. Was that real?
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