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Author Topic: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon  (Read 75464 times)

Bondo

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #260 on: October 23, 2010, 08:40:39 AM »
I think it was probably a film that never had a chance to be more than a 3/5 with me (which is what I gave it) given my dislike of dislikable characters and awkwardness like the toast scene. I recognize that these things can be very real on poignant, but the fact that I'm sitting their watching, willing to give anything for the scene to end kind of hurts my viewing experience. I like more escapism and a little more joy I guess.

sdedalus

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #261 on: October 23, 2010, 01:24:27 PM »
And really good after that one scene, in my opinion.   But that scene... wow.  Why?  Why?  Why?

I like the craziness of the wedding.  It seems appropriate for these ultra-rich, ultra-liberal music industry types that their wedding would be this kind of idealized globalized mashup of cultures.  Add the tragic family history and Kym's inability to yet fit in to this world, and you've got the central conflict of the film: despite the liberal perfection of the family, it still has this dark tragedy that the main character simply cannot resolve.
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chardy999

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #262 on: October 23, 2010, 11:43:47 PM »
That rating is bizarre given all those 5's. The awkwardness is thrown in your face all film but it's still acceptable. Dishwasher scene springs to mind.
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oldkid

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #263 on: October 24, 2010, 09:36:30 AM »
That rating is bizarre given all those 5's. The awkwardness is thrown in your face all film but it's still acceptable. Dishwasher scene springs to mind.

The ranking IS bizarre.  Or, perhaps, the number of 5s are.  I don't get it myself.  I was blown away by RGM-- and the dishwasher scene is one of my favorites.  The only thing I can think of is the level of discomfort that exists in the film, as Bondo suggests.  I don't have a rating for that.  For instance, I'd give pretty good marks for Million Dollar Baby overall, but the ending just destroys me, and I will never watch it again.  RGM isn't so bad, because I'm somewhat familiar with the situation, but it hurts watching it.  There is a lot of interest, but for me, the pain overrides the joy-- which is probably the point.  And with other favorites of mine that have a lot of pain-- The Mission and Wendy and Lucy come to mind-- there is nobility behind the pain, and I can appreciate that.  Here, there is no nobility-- except a little when Rachel cleans up Kym-- and so very little to redeem the situation.  I need some redemption in my films filled with pain.

The other thing we need to realize is that a top 100, when we're talking as many films as we've seen, is like arranging our favorite 100 grains of rice out of a 50 lb bag.  Just because they are in the top 100 makes them our favorites, and RGM is in there.  So it doesn't make my top 10 or 20, even with high ratings.   I can't put everything that stands out in a film in my ratings, even though I have more than almost anyone.  And my ranking is pretty much my feeling.  My rating is how I am trying to analyze my feelings.  And I am learning that there is this arbitrariness that comes into every experience.  I have so much to learn about myself.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #264 on: October 24, 2010, 10:36:51 PM »
Grizzly Man


Werner and his new friend

Werner Herzog is a freak.  I know this because I really believe that he makes movies about people who he sees being like himself.  Fitzadcarlo was a freak.  Deiter was a mild freak, but certainly an odd standout.  And Timothy Treadwell was a freak of the highest order.  A nice freak.  A compassionate freak.  But a freak, nevertheless.  And, admittedly, freaks make for compelling film.

Most of the film is edited from Timothy’s more than a hundred hours of film of himself documenting the months he spent each year alone with grizzly bears.  They clearly expressed his philosophy and his reasoning.  But why did Herzog make this film?  Herzog, in his narration, says that he didn’t agree with all—or even most—of Treadwell’s philosophy.  I think that Herzog just found the man fascinating and just wanted to get his story out there.



And Herzog did a great job not only showing who Timothy Treadwell was in his complexity, but also the different reactions to him: his ex-girlfriend, his co-workers, his parents, those who thought he was insane, and the schoolchildren whom he spoke to.  This is an almost perfect documentary of a complex man.

Technical—5/5—It is really well edited.  Even Treadwell’s own film was good.  I wish Herzog would get someone else to narrate for him, but even that makes it more of a personal story.  Herzog is a great filmmaker.
Interest—3/5—My interest waned at times.  Treadwell went on and on.  As did Herzog.  There was always something to perk me up after my attention waned, but it was just a bit too long.


Best. Coroner. Ever.

Tension—3/5—Interestingly, Herzog tells us pretty close to the beginning of the film Treadwell’s fate.  But as we go on there is more and more detail until finally we are told we don’t get any more, and we realize that we really don’t want more detail.  The scene where Herzog and Timothy’s girlfriend are talking about the recording of his final moments is as intense as any re-creation of it.
Emotional—2/5—It all felt very distant.
Characters—5/5—Timothy was a great character, worthwhile doing a movie on.  And Herzog is also a great character.  I love listening to him work.
Theme—4/5—I don’t know if Herzog is saying that we should pursue that which might kill us, or a warning that we might become so single minded that we could die.


After watching the film, my family and I decided to adopt.

Ethics—5/5—There are a lot of ethical questions here.  Should Timothy have done what he did?  Did he help or harm bears?  Was his sacrifice worth it?  Herzog wisely doesn’t answer them, but gives us plenty of information for us to make our own decisions.
Personal—4/5—I, too, am a man somewhat driven by a single passion, like Treadwell.  I, too, have had warnings about my own peril.  And I, too have ignored almost all of them.  I wonder how many people look at me like I see Timothy Treadwell—an obsessed freak.  I’m good with that.


The foxes were the real stars of the film.  So cute!

There are a trilogy of films about men who surrender themselves to nature in Alaska and “go native” with the environment: Never Cry Wolf, Into the Wild and Grizzly Man.  I think that Into the Wild is the best made of the trilogy.  Never Cry Wolf is the one I enjoyed most, personally.  But Grizzly Man is the truest of the three.  We adapt to that which we live in.

1. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
2. In America
3. Rear Window
4. Amelie
5. The Red Shoes
6. Edward Scissorhands
7. Princess Mononoke
8. The Dark Knight
9. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
10. Tideland
11. The Brothers Bloom
12. I [Heart] Huckabees
13. I’m Not There
14. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
15. Dog Day Afternoon
16. Brick
17. District 9
18. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
19. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
20. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
21. 50 First Dates
22. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
23. Rachel Getting Married
24. The Son (2003)
25. Raising Arizona
26. Do The Right Thing
27. Adaptation
28. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
29. Scizopolis
30. Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension
31. *ucking Amal/Show Me Love
32. Three Kings
33. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
34. The Science of Sleep
35. Grizzly Man
36. Scarecrow
37. Fitzcaraldo
38. Zelig
39. Harold and Maude
40. Repulsion
41. Mister Roberts
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

Bondo

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #265 on: October 24, 2010, 11:06:48 PM »
I think the fact that I spent most of the film wanting to punch Treadwell in the face got in the way of me rationally considering the documentary's merits. Besides, the bear beat me to it, so that's was a downer. (too soon?)

MartinTeller

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #266 on: October 24, 2010, 11:17:05 PM »
The film doesn't ask you to love Timothy Treadwell or feel sorry for him.  I think of one of the great things about Grizzly Man is that Herzog clearly doesn't think much of Treadwell, and yet understands him and is fascinated by him. 

zarodinu

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #267 on: October 25, 2010, 12:10:16 AM »
I think the fact that I spent most of the film wanting to punch Treadwell in the face got in the way of me rationally considering the documentary's merits. Besides, the bear beat me to it, so that's was a downer. (too soon?)

I suspect that Herzog agrees with your sentiment, I definetly do as well, though I am also strangely fascinated by him.  Either way the documentary is not meant to show him in a good light, he is a real life Aguirre.  I like your reviews oldboy, but don't understand how either the writing or the various scores correlate with the ultimate ranking of the movie compared to other films.
I’ve lied to men who wear belts. I’ve lied to men who wear suspenders. But I’d never be so stupid as to lie to a man who wears both a belt and suspenders.

oldkid

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #268 on: October 25, 2010, 12:15:53 AM »
I think that Grizzly Man was pretty straightforward as far as ranking.    It wasn't a favorite.  As far as the writing, I am specifically trying to pick movies that I love and asking others to choose some that they think I might love.  So I can give an okay review, but rank it low on the list.  Grizzly man was good, and Herzog is a great director.  But it won't rank high compared to others.
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

oldkid

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Re: Oldkid's Ultimately Cool (And Long) Top 100 Marathon
« Reply #269 on: November 02, 2010, 12:22:36 AM »
In honor of my 5000th post, an epic review of the epic,

The Godfather



In general, I don’t like mobster films.  I don’t like seeing a movie where the point seems to be watching people murder, commit adultery and make excuses for themselves.  But the Godfather films really are different.  Not only are they amazing cinematic achievements, but they are also truly compelling characterizations.  The ensemble of performers are perfect, as is the direction and cinematography.  It is a remarkable achievement.  If only there was redemption as well….



Technical—5/5—A masterwork.  A marvel.  From the very first few seconds right to the door being closed on Diane Keaton, this has to go next to Citizen Kane as one of the most amazing technical achievements ever.  The editing of the wedding scene and the baptism scene, the way the blood slowly emerges in the horse head scene, the increased use of the musical theme as the movie progresses… it is all a wonder to behold.
Interest—5/5—I started watching at eleven at night.  I said to myself, “I’ll just take a break around the middle and get some sleep.”  Oh, what foolish thinking.  I couldn’t bear to stop it at any point.  Even as I see Michael’s moral self-destruction, I am compelled to watch.
Tension—5/5—Very tense, very powerful.



Emotional—3.5/5—All the characters were good, but I didn’t feel for everyone.  Part of the problem is the number of characters we are introduced to.  When the baptism scene happened, I couldn’t keep track of all those who were killed or why.  I needed a scorecard.  When a character like Moe is introduced in one scene and then killed in the next one he was in, how is that supposed to have any real impact?  It honestly moved to fast to have much deep emotional impact.  The one scene that really got me is the car exploding in Sicily.
Characters—5/5—Yes, they came and went fast, most of them.  But every character was played perfectly.  Pacino and Brando were stunning.  But a number of the supporting characters were amazing as well.  Lenny Montana as Luca Brasi, Al Lettieri as Virgil Sollozzo, Abe Vigoda as Tessio—these and many other performances were top notch.  Just about the whole cast deserves Oscars.
Theme— 4/5 Honor above ethics.



Ethics—1/5  The most important idea in The Godfather is honor.  Everyone is expecting “respect” and honor must be shown in every situation.  A man’s life is not as important as his honor.  This is an ancient idea and entire civilizations were built upon it, the Roman Empire not least.  And here we have a movie that speaks of the corruption of honor, how honor can create a monster from a war hero.  But we are supposed to step with Michael every bit of the way.  As a war hero he is supposed to be taking the moral high ground, and that life is really what Kay represents.  Not only does he reject that way of life, but he later puts on the façade of a moral, religious man but in the end allowing honor to corrupt him completely.  We follow this progression, understanding and even agreeing with almost every step he takes.  And this is the moral corruption of the film.  We may not like what Michael has become by the end of the film, but what would we have done differently?  The film doesn’t allow us to question that.  We just find ourselves with Michael as a corrupt individual.  This film is celebrating corruption and evil and just showing what it is.  There is no judgment of it, no reconsideration.  It just is what it is.  And this, I think, is the greatest weakness of one of the most powerful films of all time.
Personal—1/5—I have no personal connection to this film at all.

And this is my dilemma.  I find this to be one of the best made, most stunning film of all time, but ethically I find it extremely weak, and thus disturbing, even a little offensive.  Because of the greatness of the film I might put it in my top 100, but it certainly won’t be as high as years past.

1. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind
2. In America
3. Rear Window
4. Amelie
5. The Red Shoes
6. Edward Scissorhands
7. Princess Mononoke
8. The Dark Knight
9. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
10. Tideland
11. The Brothers Bloom
12. I [Heart] Huckabees
13. I’m Not There
14. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
15. Dog Day Afternoon
16. Brick
17. District 9
18. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
19. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl
20. Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter... and Spring
21. 50 First Dates
22. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
23. Rachel Getting Married
24. The Godfather
25. The Son (2003)
26. Raising Arizona
27. Do The Right Thing
28. Adaptation
29. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
30. Scizopolis
31. Buckaroo Bonzai Across the Eighth Dimension
32. Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai
33. *ucking Amal/Show Me Love
34. Three Kings
35. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
36. The Science of Sleep
37. Grizzly Man
38. Scarecrow
39. Fitzcaraldo
40. Zelig
41. Harold and Maude
42. Repulsion
43. Mister Roberts
"It's not art unless it has the potential to be a disaster." Bansky

 

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