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Author Topic: Caught 10 minutes of....  (Read 75548 times)

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #580 on: December 20, 2020, 06:25:10 PM »
The first half of Solaris which I hadn't seen in HD before and man does it improve the film a lot. I found this a lot more engaging than Police Story. Probably finish the second half tomorrow.

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #581 on: February 21, 2021, 08:41:03 PM »
The Peacemakers

Watching the back half because my parents have it on. The villain seems kinda lame, and it feels like a big standard political thriller of the era. Also kinda funny that they try to make Clooney a big action hero here. That didn't work out but I'd say he's doing fine.

Sandy

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #582 on: September 04, 2021, 08:42:35 PM »
Annette

I hung on for 45 minutes, but then had to throw in the towel. Why write a musical and forgo the use of vocabulary? Don't make me listen to the same few lines over and over and over. It's 1000 times worse than the grating refrains in Kiss Me Kate. At least there, they tried to be clever and spent time picking a variety of words. "We love each other very much" is an awful lyric, but to make it the whole song? Sorry, I don't get it. I finally turned the sound off and that helped a little, but by then I wasn't interested anymore.

The last movie I felt this way was with I'm Thinking of Ending Things, which is funny, because that movie had an avalanche of words. Is it the creator's disdain for the audience, or my inability to appreciate their offerings? Probably both. There's a telling moment at the opening of Annette, where they flat out sing that the authors are vain. Yep and there it is. Self importance doesn't endear me to a project. :/

1SO

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #583 on: September 04, 2021, 09:17:22 PM »
I thought about this because at the end there is a song that is like two monologues intercut to music, so why the same sentence over and over at the beginning? A musical is where a character's emotions are so strong they can no longer speak, but must sing and dance them out. Take "Singin' in the Rain," the definitive(?) musical number. You could remove almost every eloquent line and just repeat over and over "I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain." Or be even more direct by repeating, "What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again." Henry and Ann are strongly passionate, but lacking in the poetry of expression. So they repeat, but that repetition is complimented by the emotions of the performances and staging.

Sorry it didn't work for you, but honestly I'm surprised if it works for anyone.

Sandy

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #584 on: September 04, 2021, 11:35:07 PM »
I thought about this because at the end there is a song that is like two monologues intercut to music,

I want to catch everything you're saying, so am cutting into your post. I imagine you thought a lot about the structure of the story and music. It's different and intentional and confounding and I'm at a loss as to why it was made this way. I appreciate you meeting me where I'm at. I went back and watched the last song. It's by far the best use of lyrics/music in the film. It's almost something salvageable. :D (Sorry, I'm just struggling with having all this acting talent and an innovative story burdened with such rudimentary, repetitive wording.) The song has the beginnings of an exploration with its few phrases, but instead of furthering the thoughts, it stops short and repeats the same few words over and over. Missed opportunity.

I skimmed back over many parts of the film and inevitably any "dialogue" is repeated over and over. It's almost as if the creators don't think we heard it the first, second, or third time.

It's exploitation
No, not really
It's exploitation
No, not really
It's exploitation
No, not really
It's exploitation
No, not really


It's maddening!

Taking out all the repetition, this film could have been a very interesting 20 minute short.

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so why the same sentence over and over at the beginning? A musical is where a character's emotions are so strong they can no longer speak, but must sing and dance them out. Take "Singin' in the Rain," the definitive(?) musical number. You could remove almost every eloquent line and just repeat over and over "I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain." Or be even more direct by repeating, "What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again."

I hear you. I really do. Repetition does have its uses and can be powerful (i.e. "I got soul, but I'm not a soldier..." or "Na na na nananana, nannana, hey Jude"), but does any song in Annette have a beat and can you dance to it? :) ET's review said something about how the music isn't really sing alongable. Singin' in the Rain works because it's song and dance which makes us want to sing and dance.

I'm trying to sit with the idea of Henry and Ann being so in love that "We are so in love" is all they can utter. It's kinda funny, but also kind of sweet.

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Henry and Ann are strongly passionate, but lacking in the poetry of expression. So they repeat, but that repetition is complimented by the emotions of the performances and staging.

I am a strong supporter of the two actors. I wish that they had amazing lyrics to carry some of the weight for them. It's like trying to do Shakespeare in Pig Latin and still be taken seriously.

Also, I appreciate the insight of "lacking poetry of expression" and I think you're onto something there with the creators' intent. I can't help wondering though, why did they make the characters particularly embedded in careers that rely heavily on poetry of expression. Henry and Ann should be experts in that field. 

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Sorry it didn't work for you, but honestly I'm surprised if it works for anyone.

Did you write a review? I didn't find it in my searching. I have a friend on Letterboxd who gave it 5 stars. I usually am in agreement with his assessments, so I wonder what I might have missed, or if I'm just too in need of good lyrics. :)

Eric/E.T.

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #585 on: September 05, 2021, 12:28:06 AM »
With Annette, I think the lyrics are meant to be an expression of the id in certain circumstances. I also have great appreciation of subversion of convention. There are a lot of musicals that are structured in two acts and have familiar emotional arcs that can be very satisfying - I just watched one, Vivo, it was quite good; but to go outside that and use lyrics as a sort of drone (I like experimental electronic/ambient music that makes good use of drones and simple repeated patterns for minutes on end) that supports the tone without being "lyrical" to express the depths of human desire and depravity ended up being quite useful to Carax and his picture. The two may be artists, but the music they're singing is not their art, the comedy and opera is. Way I see it, Sparks are actually in the minds of these actors, and they're taking their base fears and desires, translating them to music, and then forcing the words out of their mouths. The body language quite often tells you more than the words, but the way the words are sung may tell you most of all. It's musical as modern art, and I can't wait to watch it again.

I also really loved I'm Thinking of Ending Things, too.  :D

I actually caught 10 minutes of a lot of things last week, hard to believe I haven't added to this thread.
Jaws
Contraband
Bohemian Rhapsody
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Gone in 60 Seconds

All TNT, I think. There were plenty more, but I can't remember. These are the ones I sat down long enough to say I logged 10 minutes.
« Last Edit: September 05, 2021, 01:10:22 AM by Eric/E.T. »
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Bondo

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #586 on: September 05, 2021, 06:51:29 AM »
I pushed myself to the end of Annette but didn’t care for it. Wondering if part of the point of the lyrics is that this is actually what opera would sound like in English but gets away with because it isn’t in English and is musically way more interesting than what we get here?

I feel like for film people you get this two month love of Sparks starting with watching The Sparks Brothers and then being quenched by Annette.

jdc

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #587 on: September 05, 2021, 07:46:28 AM »
I actually caught 10 minutes of a lot of things last week, hard to believe I haven't added to this thread.
Jaws

It is the only Spielberg I have in my top 100, what caused you to stop?
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Eric/E.T.

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #588 on: September 05, 2021, 07:04:28 PM »
I actually caught 10 minutes of a lot of things last week, hard to believe I haven't added to this thread.
Jaws

It is the only Spielberg I have in my top 100, what caused you to stop?

I didn't see it from the beginning and it was playing in the ward's dayroom, which was a place I did not feel all that comfortable during my hospital stay. I did watch it for the first time last year, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. I figured it might be something that was out-of-date, I was waiting for the cheesy special effects, but the way it builds dread and comments (as Spielberg frequently did) on lily-white suburban life worked great for me. So, it was the place, not the movie.
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Sandy

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Re: Caught 10 minutes of....
« Reply #589 on: September 07, 2021, 10:07:50 AM »
With Annette, I think the lyrics are meant to be an expression of the id in certain circumstances. I also have great appreciation of subversion of convention. There are a lot of musicals that are structured in two acts and have familiar emotional arcs that can be very satisfying - I just watched one, Vivo, it was quite good; but to go outside that and use lyrics as a sort of drone (I like experimental electronic/ambient music that makes good use of drones and simple repeated patterns for minutes on end) that supports the tone without being "lyrical" to express the depths of human desire and depravity ended up being quite useful to Carax and his picture.

This is an interesting take and reminds me of when I was trying to understand the lyrics of Talking Heads songs and was told that the words aren't important except for the sounds and the percussiveness of them.

Here, if the repetition/droning are being used to create mood and explore emotions, it doesn't work for me, which is fine.

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The two may be artists, but the music they're singing is not their art, the comedy and opera is.

Right. But the point I was trying to make is that comedy and opera are all about words. 1SO suggested that the characters might not have "poetry of expression" so were inarticulate. With those two careers, they should be experts at articulation.

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Way I see it, Sparks are actually in the minds of these actors, and they're taking their base fears and desires, translating them to music, and then forcing the words out of their mouths. The body language quite often tells you more than the words, but the way the words are sung may tell you most of all. It's musical as modern art, and I can't wait to watch it again.

I also really loved I'm Thinking of Ending Things, too.  :D

It's good then that these two films found their audience. It's not for lack of intent, why they didn't work for me. I could tell what the creators were trying to convey was important to them.