Author Topic: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade  (Read 28697 times)

worm@work

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #90 on: April 22, 2010, 02:52:47 PM »
What I'm wondering now is what Altman should I check out. I've seen Prarie Home Companion once and really liked it. Any other films of his in this mega-ensemble cast style?

It's not in the mega-ensemble cast style at all but you so need to watch The Long Goodbye! Look who's in that screenshot, 'noff!

Bondo

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #91 on: April 22, 2010, 02:54:56 PM »
Many yays. Gosford Park is in my top 100 and on my BoD ballot. It and Prairie Home definitely stand out.

MASH is good Altman, Ready To Wear is ok, can't say I remember Dr. T and the Women or The Gingerbread Man well enough to recommend.

smirnoff

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #92 on: April 22, 2010, 03:19:50 PM »
I love The Player and Short Cuts a lot.

Those both intrigue me. I'll check 'em out.

What I'm wondering now is what Altman should I check out. I've seen Prarie Home Companion once and really liked it. Any other films of his in this mega-ensemble cast style?

It's not in the mega-ensemble cast style at all but you so need to watch The Long Goodbye! Look who's in that screenshot, 'noff!
Playing to my weaknesses is good strategy :D I'll check this out too.

Many yays. Gosford Park is in my top 100
Heh, I noticed :)

Quote
MASH is good Altman, Ready To Wear is ok, can't say I remember Dr. T and the Women or The Gingerbread Man well enough to recommend.

I didn't realize that MASH preceded the television show. I had always assumed it was the opposite for some reason, and that it would have the same cast. I'll add it to the queue.

Bill Thompson

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #93 on: April 22, 2010, 04:45:53 PM »
I didn't realize that MASH preceded the television show. I had always assumed it was the opposite for some reason, and that it would have the same cast. I'll add it to the queue.


I like you Noff, so for both of our sakes, please don't. MASH is an abomination of a picture, easily one of the worst films I've seen from the 70's and was all the proof I needed that I didn't need to waste any more of my time with Altman.

Bondo

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #94 on: April 22, 2010, 04:49:00 PM »
I didn't realize that MASH preceded the television show. I had always assumed it was the opposite for some reason, and that it would have the same cast. I'll add it to the queue.


I like you Noff, so for both of our sakes, please don't. MASH is an abomination of a picture, easily one of the worst films I've seen from the 70's and was all the proof I needed that I didn't need to waste any more of my time with Altman.

And this is all the proof I needed that I didn't need to waste any more of my time with Bill  :P

smirnoff

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #95 on: April 22, 2010, 05:25:34 PM »
Well I'll start with the newer stuff and work my way back maybe. If things are feeling dated, I'll stop.

Steven O. Selsnik

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #96 on: April 23, 2010, 02:19:18 PM »
my second dictation for the month

LET THE RIGHT ONE IN



I very much enjoyed watching a movie that puts a new spin on the vampire story without turning all the vampires into a bunch of preening, heartthrob pussies. Things I thought while watching this movie.

- love the mini travis bickle scene with the knife and the tree
- the old guy sucks at his job. we see him kill or try to kill 2 people and he CINECAST!s it up both times. Eli was better off without him.
- CRAZY CAT GUY
- whoa, crazy killer cats
- HERE I COME TO SAVE THE DAY.......and rip off some heads and limbs. glad they spared the life of the other blond kid who was being bullied as well.
- The police force in this town is not really working hard at figuring out all these murders
- For an idiot the drunk VanHelsing figured it all out rather quickly

I'm not even touching the crotch




This movie pulled me in right from the get go. The new family shows up and cardboards all the windows. Creepy. Another fine dictation.

« Last Edit: April 23, 2010, 02:20:53 PM by Steven O. Selsnik »

Bondo

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #97 on: April 23, 2010, 02:35:25 PM »
This movie pulled me in right from the get go. The new family shows up and cardboards all the windows. Creepy. Another fine dictation.

Woohoo!

I'm not even touching the crotch

Heh, it makes sense if you've read the book but the film doesn't really explain outside the one shot. I doubt the American remake will go anywhere near that aspect of the story or else Kick-Ass will become Chloe Moretz's family friendly film.

jbissell

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #98 on: April 23, 2010, 06:25:40 PM »
Grizzly Man

Great assignment, jbissell, thanks for getting me to finally watch this movie!
A

Haven't checked this thread in a while so I didn't realize you had watched it. Glad it wasn't too painful for you!

Bill Thompson

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Re: April 2010 MDC Write-Ups: Best of the Decade
« Reply #99 on: April 23, 2010, 09:04:47 PM »
Grizzly Man (2005)

I won’t spend a lot of time dealing with my natural aversion to documentaries, I don’t see a good reason for spending much time on said aversion by this point. For those not aware, and really if you read what I write you should be well aware, I dislike documentaries with all of my heart. I don’t like the format, I don’t like the biased nature of every single documentary I have ever seen, and in general most documentaries bore me to tears. Certain people continue to try and expose me to different documentaries, hoping that theirs will be the documentary that changes my opinion on the genre. This time michael x decided to take a crack at my anti-documentary ways by assigning me Grizzly Man for my dictation. In full disclosure, he didn’t know of my documentary aversion when he assigned Grizzly Man, but in assigning this film he lobbed the best grenade at my shelter of documentary hate. What will happen when I watch a film from a genre I hate with a passion that is directed by my second favorite director of all-time?

Unfortunately Grizzly Man began much the same way that most of my documentary viewings have begun, with me struggling to stay interested in what was on my screen. This feeling would return from time to time, most notably whenever Werner Herzog would let the narrative meander a bit and get away from the central conflict he had set up in my eyes. But, after a bit something began to happen. No, I didn’t all of a sudden have a realization about the documentary genre, but I did begin to see the underpinnings of classic Herzog on display. I also realized that my reading of Grizzly Man was going to be a tad different than what I have read from most others, but as more time ticked by it became clearer to me that Grizzly Man wasn’t a portrait of Tim Treadwell, rather it was a conversation between Herzog and Treadwell about nature.

This aspect of Grizzly Man fascinated me. On the one hand you have Treadwell, a man who takes a sentimental view of nature, a man who believes that humanity can impose its will upon nature and live in harmony with nature as a result. At the opposite end of the spectrum resides Herzog, for him nature is anything but harmonious and the mere existence of man within nature leads to nothing but death, destruction and strife. In essence Grizzly Man is the argument of naturalism versus chaos theory, the idea that nature can be understood versus the idea that nature is wild and can’t be understood by the mind of man.

Throughout Grizzly Man Herzog allows for Treadwell’s viewpoint to be given ample time. He never smothers what Treadwell has to say, instead opting for the approach of every once in a while interjecting his own thoughts on nature and how his views differ from Treadwell. He frames this argument, or debate, around the looming death of the subject of his documentary. This gives Grizzly Man an eerie quality, and eeriness that is only enhanced by the beautiful visuals supplied by both Herzog and Treadwell. The idea of a well thought out debate about nature taking place over the top of beautiful nature shots while we await the death of the central figure in the film is only something I would ever think to get out of a Herzog film.

Grizzly Man didn’t change the way I look at documentaries, I still dislike the genre a great deal. Instead Grizzly Man reaffirmed the brilliance that I find in Werner Herzog and showed that he has the ability to take something I have utter disdain for and make it interesting. Grizzly Man is a bit slow going at times, and could have used a smidgen of narrative tightening, but it is an interesting debate and in many ways a dark comedy. In short, Grizzly Man is a Werner Herzog film.

 

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