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Author Topic: Caught 10 minutes of....  (Read 75557 times)

pixote

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #500 on: February 03, 2019, 03:21:21 AM »
I feel asleep in the middle of How to Train Your Dragon 3 today, and I’m not all that inclined to go back to watch it in its entirety.

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smirnoff

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #501 on: February 06, 2019, 05:55:01 PM »
Unlovable (2018) - I got tired of the quirkiness before the story ever took off. It seemed well put together though... if someone connects with this character they'll probably get a kick out of this movie. It's about a sex-addicted, suicidal, starving asian-american actress. It keeps things light as she downs a bottle of Nyquil and a handful of pills. "It's all part of my crazy LA lifestyle... aren't I lovable mess!" Meh... it's not as endearing as it thinks it is.

Green Zone (2010) - I wonder which films surrounding the war in Iraq will go down as people's favourites, if any. I'm not sure there can be a "Band of Brothers" experience for instance when you're sour about the overall cause. I find this one too entangled in the politics of the war to enjoy... I'm mentally burned out on the topic, and this film dredges up unpleasant reminders. It's well done I suppose, but there's no pleasure in watching it. For what it's worth, I thought it was good when it first came out. Now I find it tiresome.

Into Thin Air (1985) - Not the mountain climbing movie, but about a kidnapping (based on a true story). Nothing about the kidnapping or the surrounding circumstances make this story stand out particularly, so I'm not sure why they made a movie of it in the first place. And because the story feels so typical, the film relies on the quality of the storytelling to get by. Unfortunately that was average at best. As you watch you realize you're just going through the motions... "how long has he been missing" "2 days" "Our policy is to wait 30 days".... and other familiar scenes.

Revolver (1973) - Oliver Reed in Italy playing a prison warden whose wife is kidnapped by the mob, and he must help a prisoner escape to secure her release. It's basically junk. I watched 45 minutes or an hour and there was nothing remarkable about it. What do you think Amazon actually pays to secure the rights to stream this?

smirnoff

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #502 on: February 08, 2019, 03:20:48 PM »
Machines (2017)

This was quite good really. It's just footage of Indian men working in a textile factory. The shift are 12 hours long. The work is hard, it doesn't pay much, and it's probably dangerous. The film doesn't commentate, and there are only a few moments when a worker speaks to the person holding the camera... mostly though it is just watching the different processes, and observing the workers as they work, or eat. It's a very neutral presentation and you're free to form your own opinions about what you're seeing. For a time it was quite mesmerizing, and an interesting intimate look at people working in such a place. It is somewhat like watching an extended segment from Koyaanisqatsi in how it feels... it just has a narrower overall focus. I left off with about 20 minutes to go because the spell the film had put me under had worn out, and I began to lose interest. What I saw will stick with me though.

1SO

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #503 on: February 16, 2019, 10:36:13 PM »
A Good Day to Die Hard
Someone told me it took less than 10 minutes for them to realize they made a huge mistake watching this. I hit that point in just under eight. Ain't nothing Die Hard about it. Just a routine actioner with Bruce Willis in super glum/checked-out mode. My interest went downhill quickly when I saw the director is John Moore, who took the gleeful, gun-crazy Max Payne and made a completely abysmal, dour mess of it. This felt more like a sequel to that and after fast forwarding to a few bits that looked promising but were not, I bailed.

smirnoff

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #504 on: February 26, 2019, 05:20:03 PM »
State Like Sleep (Meredith Danluck, 2018)

Better than the 4.2/10 on IMDB would have you think. Good cast, very sure-handed style of filmmaking, overall a pretty strong production. It's just weak on story. The initial intrigue is set up really well but then it just loses any sense of direction. The protagonist goes into a drug-fueled haze. I really hate having to sit through drug-fueled hazes. I gave up after an hour.

smirnoff

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #505 on: March 07, 2019, 10:00:07 PM »
The Last Station (Michael Hoffman, 2009)

As suspected, this wasn't really for me. I was engaged for 30 minutes or so, getting to know the characters and the locations, but when that wore off I was left a film that didn't seem to be going anywhere I was interested in. Many greedy and irritating people surrounding a guy with his head in the clouds. His cultish devotees gave me the creeps. Maybe if I had better knowledge of Tolstoy going into it I would be more on board. I wasn't sure what I should be rooting for.

pixote

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #506 on: March 08, 2019, 12:04:31 AM »
I was thinking you’d like The Last Station more, but all this time I was thinking of The Last Castle (which I in turn confuse with Spy Game).

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smirnoff

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #507 on: March 08, 2019, 12:08:33 AM »
It gets confusing with so many The Last Something titles floating around out there. :)

oldkid

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #508 on: March 10, 2019, 10:28:45 PM »
The Last Station (Michael Hoffman, 2009)

As suspected, this wasn't really for me. I was engaged for 30 minutes or so, getting to know the characters and the locations, but when that wore off I was left a film that didn't seem to be going anywhere I was interested in. Many greedy and irritating people surrounding a guy with his head in the clouds. His cultish devotees gave me the creeps. Maybe if I had better knowledge of Tolstoy going into it I would be more on board. I wasn't sure what I should be rooting for.

And I was thinking it was The Station Agent.  I did watch The Last Station as well, which provided some interesting insight on Tolstoi's last days, which is a subject I like, but I wouldn't recommend it to you, smirnoff.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

smirnoff

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #509 on: March 11, 2019, 02:30:03 PM »
Yea, I wish it had been The Station Agent. I remember enjoying that, as I've enjoyed almost all of McCarthy's films. I haven't seen The Cobbler.