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Author Topic: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon  (Read 155851 times)

1SO

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #220 on: March 08, 2010, 07:47:14 PM »
The odd thing about North Country is I avoided it for a number of years because of Monster. I hated Monster and resented Charlize Theron for what I considered an overhyped performance in it. So when I finally got to North Country in the past year or two (because of Minnesota pride), it surprised me how much I loved it and think this is the film I would have liked to see Theron win for. It is right on the bubble for my top 100 all time and certainly would make my decade list.

I should probably talk about Monster since it's the performance that changed theron's career (for a couple of years) and led to North Country.  I do like Monster, but it's a rough indie film with a narrative that has little to it beyond Theron and Ricci's  relationship.  And the film has little lasting impact beyond the two performances and the use of "Don't Stop Believing".  

Monster is a better performance, though not by much.  North Country is a better film.  A better story with better directing.  That's not a put down of Patty Jenkins, who is really talented.  It's just that with North Country and Whale Rider, Niki Caro is one of my favorite dramatic directors.  She has a real mastery of emotional montage.  Both films have key scenes and sequences that contain no dialogue.

Hey 1SO, I've always meant to check it out because of the strength of the cast (Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek, Richard Jenkins) but never have.

There's also
Jeremy Renner, Sean Bean, Michelle Monaghan and Xander Berkeley (looking like the brother of Stanley Tucci's Lovely Bones character).
« Last Edit: March 08, 2010, 07:50:27 PM by 1SO »

Bondo

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #221 on: March 08, 2010, 08:17:42 PM »
Monster is a better performance, though not by much.  North Country is a better film.  A better story with better directing.  That's not a put down of Patty Jenkins, who is really talented.  It's just that with North Country and Whale Rider, Niki Caro is one of my favorite dramatic directors.  She has a real mastery of emotional montage.  Both films have key scenes and sequences that contain no dialogue.

For full disclosure, I should mention that I'm not really a performances person. There is very little I notice about films isolated from how the film, as a whole, works. If something is truly exceptional or horrendous (whether it is cinematography, soundtrack, acting, etc) I might form an opinion outside the emotional impact of a film, but generally speaking, everything about the film lives or dies with that broader view. This is probably a weakness on my part.

ferris

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #222 on: March 09, 2010, 08:40:06 AM »
Cool to see Amélie so high on your list!  Great choices for screen captures.  I like your comment about the depth and lightness at the same time.  i quite agree.  I think this would have an extremely high rewatchability factor - although I personally have only seen it once!
"And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs" - Exodus 8:2 KJV
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Bondo

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #223 on: March 09, 2010, 09:01:38 AM »
I think this would have an extremely high rewatchability factor - although I personally have only seen it once!

Definitely, I just saw it for the second time a few weeks back at a midnight screening and wondered why I waited so long. I love how something seems just a little off and it is that this world is kind of made to feel safe to the point that even the stalkerish ex who hangs around the cafe is more odd than menacing. It is almost a comment on how we view the world as dangerous rather than seeing everyone for what they are missing that makes them a bit rough.

1SO

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Best of the 00s: [REC]
« Reply #224 on: March 09, 2010, 12:31:10 PM »
Best of the Decade Marathon Update


[REC]

2nd Viewing
If Cloverfield is J.J. Abrams take on single-camera horror, I believe [REC] is how Joss Whedon would do it.  With his television shows, Whedon has said, “There isn’t one pilot.  The first 5 episodes are the pilot.”  Here the first 15 minutes is crucial to the success of this film.  While very little happens, we get a terrific sense of character. 

In particular we get to see the pluck and brashness of Manuela Velasco’s reporter, Angela Vidal.  There’s an instant likeability, which almost but not quite conceals her sense of job entitlement and her anxious desire for something exciting to happen.

We also get how directors Jaume Balaguero and Paco Plaza plan to use the single-camera technique to enhance the suspense.  The opening has small moments of sound differences, jump cut edits and offbeat framings.  Very natural beats during the opening dull patch that establish the rules.  This helps out a lot when the real scary stuff hits later on. 

That’s one reason why [REC] is the best single-camera horror film.  The camera isn’t just a gimmick. It really is the best way to tell this story.  This isn’t about creating false excitement with a shaky camera.  It’s about maximizing the horror because you don’t know what you’re going to see, and the filmmakers don’t give you the choice of looking away.  There are very few pans to people reacting to the terror.  It happens right in front of our lens.

The first scare scene is the weakest, a fairly typical zombie moment.  This actually helps because it lowers expectations.  You think maybe the film won’t be that special.  But the next moment lands perfect.  (I jumped during both viewings).  By the 3rd scare scene I was definitely locked in for the ride.

At a lean 78 minutes, [REC] doesn’t waste any time.  That being said, it’s not all horror climaxes either.  There’s some great character building after the first wave of horror.  We quickly become familiar with these people, and learn to like (or mistrust) them before the tension seeps back in. Throughout, the script drops clues into the casual conversation, explaining how this happened without stopping momentum for pointless exposition.

The last 30min is where [REC] really earns its pedigree.  The shocks come hard and fast and from many different directions at once.  The people and the camera don’t know which way to look and everyone quickly runs out of safe places to hide.  The film becomes a great haunted house film with uneasy, surprise attacks and some real chilling screams.  (Never underestimate the power of an effective sound mix.  Some of the animalistic screams here are like nothing you’ve heard.)

I watch a lot of horror films, but [REC] accomplishes the rare feat of terrifying me to the point where I was genuinely afraid of what was going to happen at the end.  (On this 2nd viewing I knew what was to come, but I still got major chills.)



My Current List...
55. Amélie
56. The Bourne Ultimatum
57. 2046
58. The Lives of Others
59. Gangs of New York
60. Mission: Impossible III
61. [REC]
62. Sin City
63. Monsters Inc.
64. The Royal Tenenbaums
65. Serenity
66. Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang
67. No Country For Old Men
68. District 9
69. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
70. Shaun of the Dead
71. Fantastic Mr. Fox
72. Almost Famous
73. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
74. Grindhouse
75. Into The Wild
76. The Magdalene Sisters
77. In Bruges
78. Million Dollar Baby
79. Grizzly Man
80. Inglorious Basterds
81. The 40-Year-Old Virgin
82. The Dark Knight
83. North Country
84. The Last Kiss
85. Bloody Sunday
86. Moon
87. Sexy Beast
88. Cold Mountain
89. X-Men
90. Whale Rider
91. Super Size Me
92. Akeelah and the Bee
93. Interstella 5555
94. The Departed
95. The Mothman Prophecies
96. Dirty Pretty Things 
97. O Brother, Where Art Thou?
98. Better Luck Tomorrow
99. Hustle & Flow
100. Road to Perdition

Highly Recommended, but dropped from the list...
Blade II,Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Drumline, Infernal Affairs Joint Security Area, Lost in Translation, The Pianist, School of Rock, Spider-Man 2, Touching the Void, Versus, The Visitor, X2: X-Men United, Zoolander

Coming Up soon...
A Bittersweet Life
Brotherhood of the Wolf
Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
« Last Edit: March 24, 2020, 08:26:06 PM by 1SO »

StanTheSalesman

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #225 on: March 09, 2010, 12:43:19 PM »
This is an amazing thread, but Harry Potter 1 ahead of The Dark Knight? Ahead of Inglourious Basterds? What are you smoking?

Bill Thompson

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #226 on: March 09, 2010, 12:46:22 PM »
This is an amazing thread, but Harry Potter 1 ahead of The Dark Knight? Ahead of Inglourious Basterds? What are you smoking?

I'm smoking the same thing he's smoking then.

StanTheSalesman

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #227 on: March 09, 2010, 12:49:53 PM »
This is an amazing thread, but Harry Potter 1 ahead of The Dark Knight? Ahead of Inglourious Basterds? What are you smoking?

I'm smoking the same thing he's smoking then.

That's a shame. Do you at least like good movies? Die Hard?

Sam the Cinema Snob

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #228 on: March 09, 2010, 12:51:04 PM »
This is an amazing thread, but Harry Potter 1 ahead of The Dark Knight? Ahead of Inglourious Basterds? What are you smoking?

I'm smoking the same thing he's smoking then.
So you two are the ones who slipped that in my drink!

Bill Thompson

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Re: 1SO vs. the 00s: Best of the Decade Marathon
« Reply #229 on: March 09, 2010, 12:52:07 PM »
This is an amazing thread, but Harry Potter 1 ahead of The Dark Knight? Ahead of Inglourious Basterds? What are you smoking?

I'm smoking the same thing he's smoking then.

That's a shame. Do you at least like good movies? Die Hard?

Ugh, I'm not going to get into a discussion where you're first reaction is, "You don't like what I like then you don't like good movies."  ::)