SF Film/Cinema Thread

[Go Surface]

I saw Baby Mama today, and I thought it was hilarious. Amy Poehler kicks ass.

 

[mps23]

having lived in los angeles for a while, i really missed the quantity & quality of art house cinema one can pursue in NYC. LA has that theater & video shop right off of sawtelle blvd, & that video shop in santa monica, but nothing really compares to the arthouse cinemas in nyc & Kim's video (basically an institution at this point).

also, NYC's moma has some of the best collection of unreleased films. i remember before criterion released "berlin alexanderplatz," one could only see it on screen at the moma on special occasions.

anyway, i finally caught "there will be blood" & i noticed how the film basically looks like terrence mallick's "days of heaven." that's a good thing. & jonny greenwood's score really works w/ the film.

also, another poster mentioned "mongol," which i hear is quite good. interestingly enough, i heard rumors that channing tatum was the original choice to play ghenghis khan before tadanobu asano.

on the other hand, i really did not like "the apartment" nor did any of my friends. it felt like a poor man's hitchcock-chabrol thriller. although a sexy bellucci is almost worth it.

 

[landho]

Watched Royal Tramp, directed by Wong Jing and starring Stephen Chow.

 

[dkzzzz]

Originally Posted by mps23

having lived in los angeles for a while, i really missed the quantity & quality of art house cinema one can pursue in NYC. LA has that theater & video shop right off of sawtelle blvd, & that video shop in santa monica, but nothing really compares to the arthouse cinemas in nyc & Kim's video (basically an institution at this point).

also, NYC's moma has some of the best collection of unreleased films. i remember before criterion released "berlin alexanderplatz," one could only see it on screen at the moma on special occasions.

anyway, i finally caught "there will be blood" & i noticed how the film basically looks like terrence mallick's "days of heaven." that's a good thing. & jonny greenwood's score really works w/ the film.

also, another poster mentioned "mongol," which i hear is quite good. interestingly enough, i heard rumors that channing tatum was the original choice to play ghenghis khan before tadanobu asano.

on the other hand, i really did not like "the apartment" nor did any of my friends. it felt like a poor man's hitchcock-chabrol thriller. although a sexy bellucci is almost worth it.

Mongol is going to be horrible. Mark my words. It is going to be like Telle Novella set in Steppe and directed by a mongol with Hollywood ambitions.

 

[Fade to Black]

Just watched Ironman. It was ******* awesome. They showed the preview for Speed Racer, that looks like it's gonna be ******* awesome as well. Looks like it's gonna be a good summer for movies...

 

[denimdestroyedmylife]

I liked The Savages, too, 'black. The Brechtian dramatic/epic dynamic was rich, particularly when PSH character weeps at the rehearsal of his sister's production. I saw Vadim's Don Juan (if DJ was a woman) with Bardot and Birkin. Seeing the two women together swayed me to the Bardot camp, having camped on the Birkin grounds for some time. I then followed up the viewing with Gainsbourg's Initials BB album, which I now prefer over his record with Birkin.

 

[Fade to Black]

really liked the scene where PSH broke down in front of his girlfriend and sister after the polish girl cooked him eggs too...that moment really communicated the dysfunctional inability of his character. And the classroom scene, after he receives the phone call and the student asks the question about plot, brief pause before cut to hospital....that was a nice subtle scene.

 

[denimdestroyedmylife]

what is the difference between plot and narrative, anyway? anyway, good to see cats from the Wire getting roles in feature films

 

[Fade to Black]

haha that's a good question...i think that was done precisely to highlight the fact dude was totally lost and a lot more depressed than he seemed to be letting off.

 

[dexterhaven]

Originally Posted by denimdestroyedmylife

what is the difference between plot and narrative, anyway?
I haven't seen the film you're discussing, so excuse me if I completely botch this, but I'm going to try to shed some light on this question. The narrative, or story, is simply a sequence of events. A happens, then B happens, then C happens. And when you collect together A, B, and C, you have yourself a story. The plot is similar in that it too consists of a sequence of events. But with one important difference: The ABC of a plot are linked together by causality. A causes B, B causes C, and so on. They do not simply follow one another in time like dumb blunt objects. That's rudimentary, but I hope it helps. If you want a detailed discussion, read Aspects of the Novel, by E. M. Forster. It was very helpful to me.

 

[denimdestroyedmylife]

Aha! I will pick up that Forster book. I read Passage to India and thought it was brilliant. Not usually one that buys all that **** about constructing a novel with a blueprint in hand, preferring a zen approach, myself, but it is nice to brush up on the rudiments.

 

[dkzzzz]

Originally Posted by denimdestroyedmylife

I liked The Savages, too, 'black. The Brechtian dramatic/epic dynamic was rich, particularly when PSH character weeps at the rehearsal of his sister's production.


I saw Vadim's Don Juan (if DJ was a woman) with Bardot and Birkin. Seeing the two women together swayed me to the Bardot camp, having camped on the Birkin grounds for some time. I then followed up the viewing with Gainsbourg's Initials BB album, which I now prefer over his record with Birkin.

"The Savages" is a surprisingly strong and coherent film despite being directed and written by a woman. This one is a gem.

 

[Nick M]

Originally Posted by Fade to Black

Just watched Ironman. It was ******* awesome.

I came into the thread to post this exact phrase. It's not deep, but it's really well produced, everyone puts in a good performance, and it's tremendous fun. Best superhero flick ever, in my opinion.

If you're a comic book fan, stay until after the credits. You will pee your pants.

 

[Fade to Black]

goddamn it, there was a Chinese subtitles that flashed briefly to tell people to stay for the credits as there was something special afterwards...i hung around for the animated credits and then came the real credits, i thought the animation was it and everyone was leaving so i left...could you tell me what was the surprise clip?

Robert Downey Jr. is back...good to see that. he really occupies the Tony Stark character with an effortless charm. Also loved the brief Ghostface cameo on that video on Stark's private jet...makes sense they included him since Ghost based his persona originally on the TS character and even named his debut album Ironman.

 

[bigbadbuff]

Things I've seen recently (a real mishmash)...

TWBB: I am not a big PTA fan or anything, but I did like Boogie Nights and Magnolia. I thought it started off great, slowed down, and then got almost ludicrous. DDL was as good as advertised, Paul Dano overacted 95% of his scenes, really annoying. It's obvious that the attempt was to make something epic, and that didn't happen, but it was above average, certainly. And I liked most of Greenwood's music, it more often than not 'worked' for me.

The Savages: very good. I really like Laura Linney, she's got to be one of the best actresses working today, and she's good looking to boot. I didn't think the direction/cinematography meshed really well with the tone of a lot of scenes, especially in the beginning. Many moments were spot on, though... I don't know the story behind the script, but I would think there has to be some autobiographical elements to it. Made me think quite a bit about how unbelievably hard and sad it is for parents and children when that stage of life is reached.

Death At a Funeral- above average, some good British humor. Worth a watch.

Assassination of Jesse James- not at all what I expected. Many aspects of it were superb- seeing it now, I think it was shockingly robbed of awards. About the only thing I didn't like was the narration, and that there was a decent amount of filler.

Michael Clayton- better than run of the mill, but I didn't think it lived up to the hype. The final 15 minutes were by far the best.

No Country For Old Men- instant classic. Unfuckingbelievable.

Lake of Fire- given that Tony Kaye directed American History X, I had high hopes- ugh. People against abortion are crazy caricatures, and people for it are sane and reasonable. Quite a few very disturbing scenes.

Stardust- a lot of fun, unique and entertaining.