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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched (Jan 2011 - Nov 2013)  (Read 2532264 times)

MartinTeller

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15790 on: October 27, 2012, 11:54:02 PM »

Waiting for Happiness - The coastal Mauritanian town of Nouhadhibou is a waypoint, a stopping point on your way to somewhere else.  Abdallah (Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Mohamed) is a young man on his way to Europe, stopping to visit his mother (Fatimetou Mint Ahmeda) and other relatives.  He’s been studying somewhere else and knows little of the native language.  Khatra (Khatra Ould Abder Kader) is a small orphan boy who teaches Abdallah a few words, but mostly he works as an apprecentice to the crabby electrician Maata (Maata Ould Mohamed Abeid).

There is not much plot synopsis to give.  It’s a film that speaks primarily in small bursts, little scenes that don’t suggest a lot of forward momentum, but evoke the feeling of lingering in a warm place.  It is what some call “contemplative cinema” so if you’re averse that sort of thing, this isn’t for you.  But I thought it was a wonder.  This is the type of film that keeps me searching out for new avenues to explore.  Although it’s not a joyful film, it does emanate warmth and quiet dignity, visiting a place caught between two cultures — native and Western — but finding a comfortable middle ground.  The town feels like a close-knit group, where folks pine for friends who have departed for other shores, where life moves at a gentle pace.

Abdallah and Khatra are on different sides of the cultural divide.  Abdallah is thoroughly Westernized, trying to connect with his roots.  As a party goes on outside, the music carrying throughout the town, he puts down his book and steps outside and dances by himself.  He seems mildly obsessed with others’ footwear, as if trying to decide what kind of shoes he should wear.  Khatra is trying to learn modern skills, to position himself for a future in a land edging ever closer to Western society.  Hulking ships linger on the horizon.

And they aren’t the only citizens we meet.  There’s Nakan, a beachcomber who picks up the detritus of technology that washes ashore.  A little girl is being taught music by her mother, the songs of her ancestors.  Tchu, a Chinese man who sells watches and courts one of the locals.  Director Abderrahmane Sissako builds a strong sense of community in a place where community is somewhat transient.  The director himself has a cross-cultural background, having been schooled in Russia.

The images throughout are stunning.  The poetry of the narrative is matched by the poetry of the visuals, gorgeous use of color and light and cultural detail.  Also a spectacular soundtrack, highlighting the beautiful West African music.  Hypnotic, poetic, lovely, both melancholy and celebratory… one of the best films I’ve seen all year.  Rating: Masterpiece (96)

Devil

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15791 on: October 28, 2012, 12:28:34 AM »

Vampires: Los Muertos (2002) Tommy Lee Wallace - Livin on a prayer is how Derek Bliss (Jon Bon Jovi) approaches his job as a Vampire Hunter, knowing that Good Guys Don't Always Wear White he hires his services out on the down low to Save the World from this Social Disease of vampirism . We are introduced to him on a not so Silent Night down south where he dishes out some Bad Medicine to a blood sucker who is about to strike a fellow she had duped into thinking he was about to have One Wild Night. Everyday he lives his life he is Wanted Dead or Alive (mainly dead) by those he hunts but with No Regrets he says "It's My Life" and travels from town to town upon his steel horse/jeep where once again he will be Superman Tonight and spill Blood on Blood. Teaming up with a priest(Cristián de la Fuente, famed for his role in the Stallone flick Driven) so that he is no longer Living in Sin, some kid who shouldn't be there(Diego Luna, you'll know him as "I think i've seen him in something else"), obligatory African-American  (Darius McCrary, Eddie Winslow from Family Matters... wait really? Awesome!)and a bad actress (Natasha Wagner, less talented daughter of Natalie Wood) you could say though that She's a Mystery(spoiler: she's not it's just getting tough to fit in Bon Jovi songs... she's part vampire). It unfolds as generic and uninspired as Lost Highway and leaves an after taste like Bitter Wine

Screw it i'm done it was rubbish!!

I score it a You Give Love a Bad Name on the track listing for Slippery When Wet

"Raise Your Hands bloodsucker and let me give you Something for the Pain" .... help I can't stop!!
« Last Edit: October 28, 2012, 12:30:12 AM by Devil »
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1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15792 on: October 28, 2012, 12:39:31 AM »
Snow White and the Huntsman
Not as bad as I feared, but the three leads are out of whack. I don't bag on Kristen Stewart. I've seen her do good work. I know she's capable, but even at her best she's no Charlize Theron. Theron's best work here is when she dials it down a bit. Too much yelling. As for Hemsworth it's too much Thor meets Gerard Butler, which is fine but not at all impressive.

The director indulges in special effects and Art Direction, but the trailer led me to expect that going in. Rookie mistakes are made but a good deal of it entertains, though not in any memorable way because it all feels derivative of other films. Here is where Mrs. 1SO takes over because this was her least favorite film of the day. Everything in Snow White can be traced back to LOTR, Narnia, Stardust, Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland and (most surprisingly) Princess Mononoke. Slight spoiler alert but click the dot below...


I wasn't really mad at this one because it was cool to see that scene from Mononoke played in live action. Made me wish they were doing CGI Mononoke instead of Snow White. (I'm a huge fan of both originals in their animated form. This scene just made me think how awesome a live action Mononoke might look in the right hands.) Mrs. 1SO was also distracted by famous actors as the dwarfs, Stewart and Hemsworth trying accents, and Stewart bungling her rousing speech. In her defense it's the only time she though Stewart completely blew it and admitted the speech was poorly written to begin with. In the end, this is barely recommendable. Not even as fresh or passionate as John Carter and certainly not as exciting and swift as Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.
RATING: * * *
Mrs. 1SO: * *

1SO

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15793 on: October 28, 2012, 12:48:59 AM »
Martin, while “contemplative cinema” is usually not for me, your review does have me interested. What brought it to your attention? Have you seen other works by Abderrahmane Sissako?

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15794 on: October 28, 2012, 01:01:20 AM »
Snow White and the Huntsman

Yeah, mostly agreed. Looks great, doesn't feel like anything. Theron's good (better in Prometheus), but it's her weirdo brother that steals the scene for me. Total nutjob.
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MartinTeller

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15795 on: October 28, 2012, 01:05:57 AM »
Martin, while “contemplative cinema” is usually not for me, your review does have me interested. What brought it to your attention? Have you seen other works by Abderrahmane Sissako?

I can't recall, and no.

I don't think you'd like it nearly as much as I did.

verbALs

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15796 on: October 28, 2012, 04:11:28 AM »
Body and Soul


There's room at the top they're telling you still
But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill

A working class hero is something to be
If you want to be a hero well just follow me

Robert Rossen, a real working class hero. I don't know the fella, but you can either be an artist condescending to tell working class stories with the telltale signs of superiority over the dopes, or telling stories about one of your own. Rossen's Charly Davis and Eddie Felsen live in worlds where talent will only get you a foot in the door. The door is opened by people who either invite you in with a devil's compact attached, or throw you back out on the street. Rossen's films have the fatalistic brittleness, that the support of the connected can be yanked away at any moment; that the working class hero doesn't belong.  Of course, the greedy mug would be a two-dimensional character. The stupidly, guilelessly ambitious loser who can be dismissed isn't a compelling beast. Body and Soul takes tender, loving care in presenting Charly Davis' story. The murder of his father because of the rough neighbourhood they have to live in, the desire of his mother to see Charly educate his way out of the hole they occupy and the sparkling salemanship of his childhood friend who does the talking for Davis, flesh out the backstory and provide for the moment when Garfield's character launches into his lust for fast money.

This is a movie of beautifully rounded characters. Even the George C Scott- equivalent fight promoter is much more than an evil grin. His power is giving people what they want in a way that corrupts them for his gain. Whilst Scott's Bert Gordon becomes as big a personality as Felsen in The Hustler, Abraham Polonsky's scripted shorthand means we get both sides of this story of manipulation. The movie watches Charly Davis twisting and turning in the grip of powerful men. Contrast the shiny grin of Garfield's lawyer in Force of Evil, a corrupted man, acting respectable, versus the lowly Davis struggling upwards and, promised advancement, corrupting himself as he goes. The working man translating all of this power into "dough" in his head and making himself easy to tempt, for another dollar bill.

There is a gorgeous duality between the younger Davis and the older fighter Ben, who has a timebomb ticking in his head. Davis could see where he is going if he turns his head from the prize and sees what has become of Ben, but of course he is too busy keeping his eyes on "one last payout". The Ben character is a black fighter, and that is worth mentioning for the great performance of Canada Lee. Again, a white man's condescension to the poor black man would be easy to spot in how the man is written and it simply isn't in the writing at all. A 1946 movie with a fully functioning black character is a rare and precious thing.

This is "just" a sports movie as much as The Hustler is. The standard rags to riches boxing spiel is the framework, but the movie stops to allow the characters to talk to each other. It actually makes Scorcese's beautiful lingering voyeurism of the boxing aesthetic, Raging Bull, look like it was made by a studious middle class artist wanting to glorify the heroism of the little man. Condescending, as I said, because the man outside the ring is a disgusting creature. The boxer is a colossus. Garfield's Davis remains Garfield's Davis in and out of the ring. I'll give Rossen the credit for understanding the plight of the small man from small beginnings, because his films show that he knows. He knows like John Lennon knows when he speaks to his own people and spits out;

Keep you doped with religion and sex and TV
And you think you're so clever and classless and free
But you're still ****ing peasants as far as I can see
A working class hero is something to be
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15797 on: October 28, 2012, 10:25:29 AM »
Waiting for Happiness

Not at my library. :(


Vampires: Los Muertos

Always you make me laugh. :D Have a Nice Day!


Body and Soul

Not sure if it fits, but your review made me think of this:

When you're one
Really one
You get things done

Like they never been done
So hold on

Lobby

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15798 on: October 28, 2012, 11:17:52 AM »
Skyfall (Sam Mendes, UK, 2012)

And now I'm a believer

For some people Skyfall is the most anticipated movie of the year. I wasn't one of those to be honest. I'm not exactly a Bond hater, but let's put it this way: I thought it was time to consider sending him to retirement.

All those "g-words" that worked so well in the 70s had become irrevocably dated, not up to par with the standard I expect from a film. The girls, the gadgets, the gags, the gambling and the glamorous settings - I was done with it. Done with clichés. Done with misogyny. Shaken or stirred - I didn't care anymore. Enough was enough.

Considering this skepticism you may wonder why I bothered to see the film at all. And what can I say? I guess it's a case of "for old love's sake" and nostalgia. There's something about the Bond theme that puts even me - an unbeliever - in a mood of anticipation. Besides the first reports I had heard from people who had seen it were quite favorable. And when I gave it a closer thought I realized that while action isn't my favorite genre, I still enjoy having a rollercoaster run once in a while. And that was at least something that I expected the Bond franchise to deliver.
 
So I ignored the fact that it was one of the first sunny days we've had for months, which is a great sin in Sweden, where the sun is worshiped more than any other deity. Instead I joined the abysmal audience for a midday screening in the largest theatre in my city, because I knew from experience that in the case of Bond movies, the size is essential. The bigger screen, the better it gets.

It turned out that I wasn't the only one who had been mulling over the need to put Bond at rest. As a matter of fact it was the red thread that went through the entire film. James Bond's physical and mental capability to work as an agent was questioned - but also MI6's working methods and reason to exist. Who needs spies anymore?

A convert
Two and a half hours later I came out from the film as a convert. I hope it's not a spoiler to say that the movie ends with a message to the audience that Bond will be back. Before watching Skyfall, this message would have made me sigh a little. "Why?" "Really?" "Can't you come up with something new?" Now I received the information, if not with surprise, at least with an approving nod. More Bond? Yes, please, as long as it is in this version!

Gone are the days of when the main occupation of Bond was to drink and mess around with innumerous women in minimal swimming suits, only interrupted when he needed to perform yet another chasing scene in a vehicle that had been adjusted for underwater purposes.

Now they haven't ridden themselves with the girls completely. There's at least one typical "Bond chick" around, whose main purpose is to provide eye-candy to the male audience. But compared to how it used to be, we've come a long way.

Rather than focusing on Bond being smarter, richer, fitter and getting more girls than anyone else, it focuses on existential and psychological questions - such as aging issues and the exact nature of the relationship between M and the agents. We also get glimpses of the early life of Bond, which could be used as a set-up for the next few Bond movies to come.

I'm not sure what fans of old-school Bond will think of it. If the playboy lifestyle was what attracted you most to the franchise, you might get disappointed. If you ask me, all I say is: "good riddance".

However I think that those who disapprove of the change of environment and tone still won't have anything bad to say about the action. From the initial pre-credit chasing scene to the final blow-up, it holds the level you can expect from a movie with this kind of budget: exciting, sometimes jaw-dropping and with enough of variation for it to never get boring.

The cast
Finally I have to say something about the cast, because it's just so good.

I love Javier Bardem's villain - evil, dark, crazy and intelligent as you can expect from a bad guy of this caliber, but with a back story that brings you some insight to from where he's coming. Judi Dench has been around for long, but this time she gets a great deal more screentime than we're used to, and is as much the main character of the film as Bond. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Ralph Fiennes - one of my favorite actors - and completely charmed by the new, young version of Q (or "cute", as I promptly re-named him), in the form of Ben Whishaw.

After watching Skyfall I sent this tweet: "I was reluctantly impressed and entertained. Pre-movie I advocated his retirement. Not anymore".

I will look forward to the next Bond movie, even though I could do with a little less of publicity around it than we've seen for Skyfall.  The media coverage is just a little bit too much, and the risk is that you get an overdose of Bond before you've even watched it.

And that would be a shame on such a good film.

My rating: 4,5/5
« Last Edit: October 28, 2012, 11:19:50 AM by Lobby »
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verbALs

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Re: Respond to the last movie you watched
« Reply #15799 on: October 28, 2012, 11:52:56 AM »
I think Casino Royale made all of the changes that you enjoyed so much about this one, and CR is better. Skyfall looks good compared to Quantum of Solace (a "tiny piece of comfort", huh?). A half mark short of perfection? Really?
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