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Author Topic: Respond to the last movie you watched (Jan 2011 - Nov 2013)  (Read 2531568 times)

Corndog

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7010 on: September 01, 2011, 09:04:19 PM »
@smirnoff re:MMA Well I didn't think the film made it all that blood and violence in terms of how they treated the sport and as for me personally I don't like MMA because of how violent it is and I think that comes down from being able to still hit a guy when he is down, whereas in boxing you can't. That sort of makes it more of a brawl than an organized fight imo. I definitely don't think the motives of the guys who do MMA involve blood lust or anything like that. And in terms of deaths and things like that I think that is something that is an athlete to athlete basis. I say that because the very nature of either sport is violent and it is up to the athletes to 1. accept the risk and 2. know when it call the fight or tap out, and also for the referee to know when to stop a fight. And going even further when to hang 'em up for your career.
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Bondo

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7011 on: September 01, 2011, 09:22:43 PM »
Pray The Devil Back To Hell

This is a documentary about the Liberian civil war of the early 00s. There is nothing overly stylish about the production that set it out as a great documentary, but it does do a solid job capturing that event. The film does have a very particular purpose, and that is to highlight the role of a large organization of women in pushing for peace. In this come some of my concerns with a film that I otherwise liked.

While I have no doubt that the overwhelming majority of the fighters in the war were male and the overwhelming majority of the peace movement was female, I get no sense and would actually doubt that the majority of males were fighters or the majority of females were activists. Yet this film seems to slice things in a pretty clear men-bad, women-good binary. Men rape and kill and battle for power and lucre while women are raped and stand up for peace. I don't want to lessen the achievement of the women here, or the very real likelihood that the world would be drastically improved if women made up half of all politicians, but this sits uncomfortably with me. What of the men described in the story as being forced to watch their young daughters or their wives raped before being killed?

All that said, hearing (and seeing) bits of this horror it is one of those things where I almost can't fathom it. Certainly such barbarism is present in the history of most cultures; this isn't an African thing, though that is where it is more present in modern times. I mean, how do so many people on both sides of the battle decide that indiscriminate robbery, rape and murder is an acceptable practice. I know they've done this that and the other psychological study showing the human propensity to give into really terrible behavior given various situations and maybe it is just naivety or something that makes me feel I wouldn't, that I would willingly die before doing something like that. The film doesn't really explore this aspect of the horrors at all. That isn't its purpose I suppose, it really was about the peace activism, but that is something that strikes me as more complex and interesting.

4/5

BlueVoid

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7012 on: September 01, 2011, 11:27:13 PM »
Red State -
I remember a few years ago when Smith first talked about doing this film my interest was peaqued. Could the filthy mouth director pull off a horror film? Over the years I've followed the development of the film closely so I was particularly eager to see it. It was released on iTunes and VoD today, so naturally I had to pony up the $10.

What you've heard is true. This is not your typical Kevin Smith film. Going in without knowledge of who directed it, you would probably never get to Smith. This is in no way, shape or form a comedy. Other than the opening in which Smith indulges in a licentious setup to get into the thick of things with the Cooper clan, he doesn't come close to his usual shtick. This is a gritty, brutal and unforgiving film. It's hard to pinpoint it's genre. It's not quite a horror, but not really a thriller either. It's more a dark fable than anything.

While I really enjoyed the film, it was far from perfect. The plot is a bit stringy, and Smith opts to use heavy exposition rather than letting us really get to know the Cooper family. The narrative is a little sloppy, and plot points seem to disappear.  A lot of people die. They die in a very matter of fact way. I love this hyper-real, almost surreal handling of the violence, but wish that it had more emotional impact. Unfortunately there wasn't enough time spent with the characters and the plot jumped around too much for this to really take a hold. With a bit less hand holding exposition, and some more time spent getting to know this family, it could have been a a truly emotionally charged experience.

Besides the content, this film differs from Smith's previous work because of the look. Normally Smith is known for his minimalism. Clerks was shot in black in white, with virtually no camera movement. While he has expanded upon this gradually throughout his career, this is the first time where he involves the camera in the story telling. For the most part I appreciated what he and cinematographer David Klein were able to do. Overall it looked slick. There were a few scenes where they went overboard with the handheld camera work however, and it really wreaked havoc on the effectiveness of the scenes. It's nice to see Smith branching out with camera, but reining it in a little would have been nice.

The crowning achievement of this movie is the acting. Both John Goodman and Melissa Leo were fantastic in their roles. However Micheal Park steals the show. His unsettling performance as Abin Cooper was absolutely captivating. With his gruff, completely insane, yet somehow restrained portrayal of the demented pastor is reason enough to watch the movie. Smith was equally enamored with Parks and gives him plenty of material to chew on. I'm pretty sure I could watch another 90 minutes of just Abin Cooper giving a sermon and I'd be perfectly happy.

It was apparent, and Smith has admitted, that he was emulating Quentin Tarantino making this film. He doesn't quite reach the level of polish as Quentin, but it was a stunning jump in a new direction for Smith. He has clearly shown he can be a versatile writer and director. This is a chilling portrait of a fundamentalist cult that never wandered into the territory of a one dimensional parody. The Cooper family was a complex character in it's own right and I applaud Smith for how he handled this material.
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Bondo

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7013 on: September 02, 2011, 12:30:01 AM »
I concur.

Red State (Kevin Smith, 2011)

When I put my top directors list out there and Kevin Smith is in the top ten, invariably someone chimes in with the thought that Kevin Smith is actually a pretty mediocre director (and perhaps he'd say so himself) but that he's a strong screenwriter and that ultimately carries through to a quality product. Previously I've defended it by taking up the semantic argument that for me a top director is the one who produces the best films, not some reductive technical argument. With Red State, I think Kevin Smith makes a start at proving he has some technical chops as well. With the help of his cinematographer, this is a film that looks fantastic and has a lot of interesting camerawork with only a few moments that seem to overwhelm him. It is also a film that relies as much on the direction of action as on the words. It certainly isn't his best film but it may be his best directing effort.

The first half of Red State had me ready to write about how it was one of the first truly original horror films in a long time. Aside from my love for Smith's films, the premise was just irresistible, playing off Westboro Baptist for a horror film is a great setting and he was just nailing the plot. The second half, really with the coming of dawn, opens the film up and almost completely removes it from the horror category into more of an action film, and almost vaguely a black comedy at that. He does some interesting things here but it just doesn't have that same magic that I was feeling halfway in. It moved it from a truly great film to a good and interesting film.

A few notes on the cast. Michael Parks deserves the praise he has gotten playing the head of the Cooper clan. He plays the fanatic Abin with that right balance of charisma and passion that makes you believe he could lead people to such dark places. His sermon that is the centerpiece of the first half is almost convincing in its theology if one is to buy into theology at all. However, once the tone shifts he is given far less convincing things to do. John Goodman dominates the second half and most of the humor is from or plays off of his character. A lesser actor probably would have let the second half implode. Kerry Bishe, who I was familiar with from late-era Scrubs has a few good moments here but her character probably represents more than anyone the fickle attention the film pays to character development. While her presence is noted early on, she only bursts into focus with any character depth for a fairly short section of the film. It helps push the plot forward but doesn't feel like a full character arc onto itself.

Finally, this is actually a pretty shallow film. It borrows upon serious issues as a source but does so for mood or a quick joke more than to make any deep social commentary. This is neither good nor bad, and there is something to appreciate about the fact that all parties of the film come in for some ridicule. At the end of the day it is genre puree that adds up to an absurdist farce that most compares, in some way, to Burn After Reading. Anyway, good stuff that I recommend. Probably in for a filmspot nom or two and a definite sign that Smith hasn't lost it, not that I was panicked just because of Cop Out, which I've still not seen.

4/5

worm@work

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7014 on: September 02, 2011, 07:54:43 AM »
Senso (Luchino Visconti, 1954)
Calling it sumptuous is so reductive and obvious but every frame feels like a painting come to life. Alida Valli is gorgeous alright but Farley Granger is even prettier (Visconti always seems to cast the prettiest men). I love the reversal of the traditional gender relationship in films and the fact that here it's the man who prostitutes himself. Despite the melodramatic tone, the story is pretty nuanced. I love that Alida Valli's character is not portrayed as a victim at all. She seems as much to blame for her fate as Mahler. Visconti is yet to disappoint me.

oneaprilday

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7015 on: September 02, 2011, 10:52:21 AM »
Visconti is yet to disappoint me.
I haven't seen anything of his - just added Senso and a number of others to my queue.  How would you rank the films you've seen, worm?

MartinTeller

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7016 on: September 02, 2011, 10:54:50 AM »
Visconti is yet to disappoint me.
I haven't seen anything of his - just added Senso and a number of others to my queue.  How would you rank the films you've seen, worm?

Funny you should ask!

(worm hasn't updated her post, though)

worm@work

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7017 on: September 02, 2011, 11:02:23 AM »
Visconti is yet to disappoint me.
I haven't seen anything of his - just added Senso and a number of others to my queue.  How would you rank the films you've seen, worm?

Ranking them is hard for me. I love them all for somewhat different reasons I think. Maybe this works.
The Leopard
Senso
Rocco and his Brothers

The first one is not really melodramatic at all imo. Very restrained and absolutely beautiful. But something about the lack of emotional restraint displayed in the other two really speaks to me. It also feels very literary (I watched it in lieu of rewatching Mysteries of Lisbon) and reminded me of some of my favorite Russian novels.

It's also rather interesting seeing the contrast between the realism of Rocco and the operatic glamour of Senso.

worm@work

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7018 on: September 02, 2011, 11:08:04 AM »
Visconti is yet to disappoint me.
I haven't seen anything of his - just added Senso and a number of others to my queue.  How would you rank the films you've seen, worm?

Funny you should ask!

(worm hasn't updated her post, though)

Just did :). I think my next 3 are going to be Obsession, Ludwig and White Nights.
 
roujin and Bondo, this made me want to give Saawariya another look. I bet Bhansali loves this one!

oneaprilday

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Re: Write about the last movie you watched
« Reply #7019 on: September 02, 2011, 11:22:58 AM »
Funny you should ask!
Thanks!  I was just going to go look for this. :)


Ranking them is hard for me. I love them all for somewhat different reasons I think. Maybe this works.
The Leopard
Senso
Rocco and his Brothers

The first one is not really melodramatic at all imo. Very restrained and absolutely beautiful. But something about the lack of emotional restraint displayed in the other two really speaks to me. It also feels very literary (I watched it in lieu of rewatching Mysteries of Lisbon) and reminded me of some of my favorite Russian novels.

It's also rather interesting seeing the contrast between the realism of Rocco and the operatic glamour of Senso.
Those sound great - I like the idea of contrast among films by the same director.  All three are in my queue.

 

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