What did you see this weekend -- in theatres and/or at home?
I saw:
1)Before The Rain
2)Before Sunrise
Some thoughts.... Before The Rain I had seen twice before, several years ago. I noticed a lot that I didn't notice on my previous viewings. The movie is comprised of three sections. The second one is appropriate - it fits within the context of the story, but it feels like it was directed by someone else, certainly not the same guy who masterfully handled the first and third sections. The middle section feels slightly amateur-ish, the way the scene was constructed. It is still a great movie nevertheless.
This was my first viewing of Before Sunrise. First off, let me say I liked the movie. It was enjoyable - good characters, great dialogue. Also, the fact that the movie is set in Vienna made it more enjoyable for me to watch as I have been there essentially doing the same thing Ethan Hawke's character was doing.
1) The Wedding Singer ........Sandler is a funny man
2) The Straight Story .........Watched this together with Phil and his tv signal is crappy so that ruined it!
3) The Hudsucker Proxy .......I was half a sleep most of the film but the scenes I remember were great.
Watched "Jason and the Argonauts" with my mom. Still a very fun movie.
Then, I finally, finally watched "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" on DVD. Rockwell's performance blew me away, but I'm mixed on the movie as a whole. I want to hear Clooney's commentary, and then I'll post my full comments in the appropriate forum.
Lost in Translation on Friday night. Pure Bliss.
The stomping of Duke by FSU on Saturday night. Pure Bliss.
On the Waterfront on Sunday night. Pure ironic bliss.
In theatres:
Anything Else
The Rundown
At home:
The Conversation on IFC - It was on last night, and since nothing else was on, I watched that.
Battleship Potemkin - I own it, so I felt the need to watch it again.
Aguirre, The Wrath of God - I love it so much and the DVD is amazing quality.. I watch it pretty often.
On sunday I saw 'once upon a time in Mexico'.
Jail Babes 19
Stanley Kubrick:A Life in Pictures, The School of Rock, The Rundown
half of...
Last Year At Mariendbad
The Gospel According to St. Matthew
... (high) school drains me of all my energy
Lost in Translation (second time)
Scarface @ the cinerama dome in hollywood... oh GOD, so good.
Anything Else.
Wanted to like it more than I did. Better than the last two Woodys, but nowhere near Husbands and Wives/Hannah territory. On a regular scale, I give it a 6/10; on a Woody scale, a 3 or 4/10. Biggs is an uneven actor at best, and I wish Ricci, much as I do like her, hadn't just coasted on her usual put-out sexpot routine.
lost in translation
doom generation
assault on precinct 13
day of the dead
may
The Fellowship of the Rings
25th Hour
Barton Fink
The Big Lebowski
Hero
Tigerland
QuoteI wish Ricci, much as I do like her, hadn't just coasted on her usual put-out sexpot routine.
My God man, go easy on her!
Quote from: coffeebeetleQuoteI wish Ricci, much as I do like her, hadn't just coasted on her usual put-out sexpot routine.
My God man, go easy on her!
I actually think I was... I mean, I though they were both fairly blah performances, but it was also a fairly blah script with some fairly blah direction and camerawork. I really liked the "frozen moment," however.
Sorry godardian. Kneejerk reaction.
I'm dying to see her in Prozac Nation though, and not just because of the alleged sex/nudity. I also thought she was excellent in The Man Who Cried (with a knockout cast too IMO). Have you seen?
Quote from: Cecilmay
What did you think?
I thought it was very loooong and didn't have that much plot output. Overall I was very underwhelmed.
Quote from: coffeebeetleSorry godardian. Kneejerk reaction.
I'm dying to see her in Prozac Nation though, and not just because of the alleged sex/nudity. I also thought she was excellent in The Man Who Cried (with a knockout cast too IMO). Have you seen?
Have not seen, though am always curious about Sally Potter... mostly remember Ricci from
The Opposite of Sex. Could ANYONE make Elizabeth Wurtzel into a "character" worth paying any attention to? That's a mighty tall order, Ms. Ricci!
i like may alot. i wish i could find all cheerleaders must die
cabin fever
the lady eve
miller's crossing
once upon a time in mexico
breathless (liked it much better this time round)
before night falls
moon over parador
Only one: Animal House.
Its enjoyable but so many of the jokes are just lame. A movie near perfect when you're a kid.
~rougerum
At Close Range.....finally..thanks for the suggestion
bought if for 9.99......great film..
and ...evil dead and army of darkness
..Risky Business......
Quote from: kotteTigerland
....... :yabbse-thumbup:
I didn't watch one single movie this weekend! It feel weird...not in a good way either. I was THIS close to seeing Once Upon a Time in Mexico which I've been dying to see...but I missed out. We were on vacation in Martha's Vineyard...which fucking rocks...but there was only one little movie theatre and they got rid of it on the sunday I would have been able to see it. I was in a wedding (not a boring one, a good one) the day before so I didn't really have the time.
So I'm really in for it this weekend and Columbus weekend. I gotta see Lost in Translation, School of Rock, Kill Bill, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and maybe Elephant and Mystic River if they get released early. Man, great years for movies can be exhausting...but in a good way! The best way! I just have some catching up to do.
Quote from: ebeamanwho cares what he wrote
HE'S BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what a happy little reunion week this has been.
welcome back Ebe's!!
Kill Bill.
Intolerable Cruelty.
Kill Bill (2 times)
Chasing Amy
kill bill, intolerable cruelty, mystic river, school of rock
went to see Baraka on friday...kinda cool, but it just felt and looked sooooooo 90's to me...there were some brilliant moments, though...
The Big Lebowski on saturday like for the 1002978973th time...and it worked again...
So, maybe that's why I felt kind of dessapointed with Intolerable Cruelty on saturday night...it was funny, but not THAT funny...most of the time it felt like: "are you checking this out???, It's over the top, it's funny!!!"...but the George Clooney Zeta Jones scenes were fucking great...and Clooney is at his best here...
Watched the entire Season 1 of the BBC's "The Office" on DVD, and fell in love with it.
The thread I was hoping to get some discussion in is here, in a somewhat odd place:
http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?t=3635
-I Fidanzati
-The Hanging Tree
The summary of all last week. All of them for the first time.
Rio Bravo - Great film
May - Good but not really scary, although it freaked me out a little bit.
Bowling for Columbine - Powerful doc.
North by Northwest - WOW, it deserves its own thread, loved the outdoors shots.
All the Real Girls - The first five minutes thought it was so boring, by the time they reach the cafe I was hooked, and Zooey is a goddess. Loved the film.
Nicotina - Mexican film with Diego Luna, it was fairly entertaining.
Finding Nemo- 2nd time
Italian Job- eh
Barfly - hated it
Last Temptation Of Christ - of course, loved it as always
39 Steps (commentary) - had to turn off, woman is sooooo annoying
Quote from: SoNowThen39 Steps (commentary) - had to turn off, woman is sooooo annoying
Ugh, I hate Marian Keane's commentaries. She's also on the "Spellbound" and "Notorious" DVDs. Says she's a Hitchcock scholar, but I disagree with a lot of what she says.
I know. I got so depressed because I thought she was on ALL the Hitch CC dvds. Luckily, Rebecca is Marian-free. She reminds me of Annette Isindorff (sp?) on the Day For Night dvd. Phony, phony, phony, and not in the least insightful. That's why I've been dreading listening to my Three Colors commentaries.
I wrote a letter to Criterion asking them to never ever let that lady do a commentary again. I don't know if it'll be worth anything, but let's hope...
"Phallic symbol here, phallic symbol there", according to Marian Keane, Hitch has quite the cock obsession.
25th Hour
Chaplin
Permanent Midnight
First time seeing all 3.
Quote from: SoNowThenI know. I got so depressed because I thought she was on ALL the Hitch CC dvds. Luckily, Rebecca is Marian-free. She reminds me of Annette Isindorff (sp?) on the Day For Night dvd. Phony, phony, phony, and not in the least insightful. That's why I've been dreading listening to my Three Colors commentaries.
I wrote a letter to Criterion asking them to never ever let that lady do a commentary again. I don't know if it'll be worth anything, but let's hope...
"Phallic symbol here, phallic symbol there", according to Marian Keane, Hitch has quite the cock obsession.
I honestly wouldn't doubt that last part- Camille Paglia's book on
The Birds is full of the same thing, and the Freudian is quite unavoidable in his work- but I agree that the commentaries are no good. Much too jovial and conversational, like she's doing it on her lunch break. The tone is that of a high school art teacher (picture Iliana Douglas in
Ghost World), not someone who's approaching the film with any real seriousness. Much worse along these lines: Jane Shattuc's trivializing, patronizing commentary on the
Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant DVD. Infinitely superior along these lines: Laura Mulvey's wonderful commentary for the
Peeping Tom DVD.
Quote from: godardianThe tone is that of a high school art teacher (picture Iliana Douglas in Ghost World), not someone who's approaching the film with any real seriousness.
That's exactly what I put in my email to John Mulvaney. It reminded me of my high school English teachers who's droning would always wreck great literature...
tcm w/ biel
kill bill
anatomy 2
versus
ararat
willard
wrong thread
The Usual Suspects (3rd time)
Major League 2
Strangers on the Train
Quote from: Ceciltcm w/ biel
kill bill
anatomy 2
versus
ararat
willard
What did you make of
Ararat, Cecil?
I've been wanting to see
Willard, too...
Quote from: SoNowThenI know. I got so depressed because I thought she was on ALL the Hitch CC dvds. Luckily, Rebecca is Marian-free. She reminds me of Annette Isindorff (sp?) on the Day For Night dvd. Phony, phony, phony, and not in the least insightful. That's why I've been dreading listening to my Three Colors commentaries.
I listened to part of the Insdorf (sp?) commentary on Blue, and I turned it off after a few minutes. It sounded like she was reading off a paper. I don't usually listen to that type of commentary unless I am interested in a scholarly take on a certain film. Some of those Criterion scholar tracks are pretty interesting, like the one on Hiroshima Mon Amour.
Quote from: GloriaStrangers on the Train
:yabbse-thumbup:
Empire of the Sun - great action sequences, but lame
Casino - Hell yeah
ararat was okay. im not a fan of egoyan but this one i enyoyed. i think everyone should see it for the issues it deals with and questions raised alone
i saw matchstick men on saturday. it was really good and i was pleasantly surprised to see ms. melora there, even if only for about 30 seconds. the only movies i've seen in the past two weeks were in theaters, which is weird, because before kill bill came out, the last movie i saw in theaters was freddy vs. jason.
happy 1500. :)
oh dear, it has been that many, hasn't it?
yeah yeah, pretend like you dont pay attention to your post count
Rabbit Proof Fence
As powerful a movie as "Magdalene Sisters" was. The scene where the girls are taken away had me in tears. You can't help but get caught up in the girls' journey, feeling their pain and suffering of weathering the elements working against them. Beautiful cinematography where every frame in the open desert was like a painting.
I saw a really sadistic Japanese coming-of-age film called Blue Spring. It was really good, about a bunch of destructive high school nerds who took over their school and just kinda beat the shit out of everyone. It's really stark and really good, not as optimistic as Battle Royale, though just as violent in its depiction of kids-on-kids crimes.
started watching invincible (by Herzog), I saw it a while before, but was too put-off by the terribly-dubbed dialogue, now I'm trying to get over that and watch it again.
Monster (bleh), The Philadelphia Story (okay), and Lost in Translation (amazing, of course). Pretty good weekend, I'd say. I have Coming Home, Atlantic City, and Permanent Midnight waiting for me, but Coming Home is so incredibly boring that I haven't been able to finish it in two tries. That hasn't happened with a movie in a while: that I've been so apathetic I didn't even want to finish it. And I thought the "anomie" element brought up in another thread would make it interesting enough to see (which is why I checked it out in the first place).
I saw My Architect. Fantastic documentary. There's a scene at the end that is one of the most perfect explanations of great art that I've ever seen/heard.
Good call on Rabbit Proof Fence, Mac. One of my favorites of last year.
I saw
Kentucky Fried Movie
and
Deathstalker
Saturday: Triplets of Belleville, City of God
Sunday: Lost in Translation (3rd time), 50 First Dates
I really liked all of them, even 50 First Dates, which was surprisingly good and heartwarming.
The Son's Room - i think it gave me OCD :( ..small price to pay.
Fuckland - i hav built a tolerance for shaky camera, this was pretty fascinating.
saw secondhand lions - the girlfriend's sister lent it to us. mildly entartaining, far from memorable.
saw perfect blue. pretty cool flick. i like how it really got me thinking throughout the film, without trying too hard to go over my head. and now i know where aranofsky got that shot. asshole.
will try to see my valentine's gift tonight, tillie's punctured romance (http://imdb.com/title/tt0004707/).
Quote from: MacGuffinRabbit Proof Fence
As powerful a movie as "Magdalene Sisters" was. The scene where the girls are taken away had me in tears. You can't help but get caught up in the girls' journey, feeling their pain and suffering of weathering the elements working against them. Beautiful cinematography where every frame in the open desert was like a painting.
whoa that's funny, I rented that this weekend too. I saw it at the theaters, the "world music" soundtrack was kinda cheesy but the cinematographer was just amazing. Christopher Doyle IS the best cinematographer working out there right now. So versatile and so knowledgeble. Oh I worship that guy. And I just found out that when he was in Taiwan he used to work under my mom doing gruntwork for this art institution my mom was at...that was before he found his calling as a cinematographer.)
I watched Azumi on Saturday. The fight scenes and cinematography are fantastic. Japanese R2 DVD review here (http://www.dvddebate.com/article.php?sid=3824&mode=&order=0)
Quote from: SHAFTRI saw
Kentucky Fried Movie
and
Deathstalker
Whoa. Best...weekend...ever.
I definitely want to attend your film festival. :-D
I saw In My Skin this weekend, which isn't all that satisfying, dramatically (the narrative seems to stop two thirds of the way through the movie), but is worth seeing just for the squeamish factor, which is delightful. And if you think French women mutilating themselves is sexy, you defintiely shouldn't miss this.
Then I theater hopped into Calendar Girls for about thirty minutes, long enough to figure out everything that had and would happen in the rest of the movie (and also to catch the random cameo by Anthrax); then I skipped into the movie I REALLY wanted to sneak into, which was Japanese Story. It was mostly beautiful, mostly very good, but it lacked the subtlety that would have made it really great. Imagine if you had heard what Bob said at the end of Lost In Translation and it had been incredibly sappy...that's sort of what this movie is like. Those of you who thought Lost In Translation was good but way too understated (I don't understand you, by the waY) will probably love this one, and it's good enough for me to recommend it to everyone else as well. Toni Collette is marvelous in it.
I also saw Run Ronnie Run on DVD. Pretty damn funny. That asian kid was crazy.
I've always liked Toni Collette, but thought Japanese Story did, indeed, look sappy.
Speaking of Colette, saw a trailer for a movie with her and Nia Vardalos. It's for a movie where they play drag queens. I don't have high hopes for it, but if there's nothing else or I happen to catch it on video, I wouldn't mind, even if just for Colette.
The trailer was before The Dreamers, which I saw this weekend and have been raving about all afternoon and will continue to do so 'til my throat's dry and everyone just wants me to shut up (I'm sure you all know the feeling :) ).
I've managed to miss every advance screening of The Dreamers, and was heartbroken to discover that it wasn't opening in Dallas this weekend, as I had anticipated, and that I now have to wait until NEXT Friday to see it.
Quote from: Find Your MagaliQuote from: SHAFTRI saw
Kentucky Fried Movie
and
Deathstalker
Whoa. Best...weekend...ever.
I definitely want to attend your film festival. :-D
you saw Deathstalker!!!
alright, let everyone know how good it is.
Quote from: godardianSpeaking of Colette, saw a trailer for a movie with her and Nia Vardalos. It's for a movie where they play drag queens.
are they playing women impersonating men, men impersonating women, or women impersonating men impersonating women?
i saw ratcatcher this weekend. and spy kids 2. i was going to watch barton fink, but didn't have time.
Quote from: taz.are they playing women impersonating men, men impersonating women, or women impersonating men impersonating women?
Trailer
here. (http://movies.yahoo.com/movies/feature/connieandcarlaqt1.html)Premise: Two traveling female dinner theater singers, Connie (Vardalos) and Carla (Collette) are (somehow) forced to go undercover and disguise themselves as drag queens while performing in Los Angeles (Stephen Spinella plays a West Hollywood queen/chanteuse; David Duchovny plays a guy searching for his drag queen brother who becomes Vardalos' "romantic interest" along the way).
Quote from: taz.Quote from: godardianSpeaking of Colette, saw a trailer for a movie with her and Nia Vardalos. It's for a movie where they play drag queens.
are they playing women impersonating men, men impersonating women, or women impersonating men impersonating women?
i saw ratcatcher this weekend. and spy kids 2. i was going to watch barton fink, but didn't have time.
I hope you'll share your impression of
Ratcatcher somewhere... the Morvern Callar thread would be fine, probably.
right here would be a fine place, too.
well, i've just turned into a lynne ramsay fan, officially. i just enjoy the way she can create situations that are totally believable, and though sometimes you can't sympathize with what her characters are doing, you can always empathize with them. for example, in morvern callar, morvern takes advantage of her situation in a way i would never do. do i agree with what she's done? no. but i completely understand why she did it. i really like the way that she can make a movie's running time seem to fly by because it just seems like you're floating through the world that she's created - ratcatcher especially. her movies are never condescending, she never is pointing things out to her audience or making things feel over important.
i do, however, think that the short films included on the ratcatcher dvd were a bit stronger than ratcatcher itself. i really do have to see it again. after it was over i kind of just forgot a lot of what i saw. maybe that's part of the beauty of it. after a lynne ramsay film is over, it's not the situations that endear to your memory, it's the characters.
I saw Triplets of Belleville (again) and Amelie on DVD.
I saw "The Dreamers". It's the best film I've seen this year even though which may not be saying much cause I've seen only so few but with this and "Once Upon a Time in the West", I am officially a Bertolucci fan. The man is a genius.
Quote from: ebeamanI saw "The Dreamers". It's the best film I've seen this year even though which may not be saying much cause I've seen only so few but with this and "Once Upon a Time in the West", I am officially a Bertolucci fan. The man is a genius.
:) Glad you liked it. I think I actually feel the same way about it, though since the year is sooooo young it's a bit premature, but: Yes,
The Dreamers is the best film of 2004. Circa February.
argh, torn emotions. keep going back and forth between being interested or not in seeing The Dreamers. its only playing 10 block away, but i've yet to go to the theatres in 2004. should this be first?
What's there to be torn about? I can't wait to see it myself.
Quote from: OnomatopoeiaWhat's there to be torn about? I can't wait to see it myself.
i dont think i'll like it. but others praise makes me want to see for myself.
I finally saw Chasing Amy this weekend. Kevin Smith's films have walked the edge of good & bad with me, so going into it I was a bit iffy. I thought the movie, overall, was good though. I enjoyed it. However, there were times where I was, for the lack of a better word, "embarassed" to watch it. It's mainly during those highly emotional moments where, IMHO, bad acting prevails (specific scenes are Alyssa's breakdown in the rain and at the hockey game).
I just hated those parts. Everything else was fine with me and Jason Lee is the greatest part of that movie.
I also saw Amelie, again, this weekend. This time with the commentary. Jeunet is quite entertaining!
Quote from: ebeamanwith this and "Once Upon a Time in the West", I am officially a Bertolucci fan.
"Once Upon A Time..." is Leone. Unless you mean story credit wise.
Quote from: themodernage02argh, torn emotions. keep going back and forth between being interested or not in seeing The Dreamers. its only playing 10 block away, but i've yet to go to the theatres in 2004. should this be first?
Of course I'm going to recommend that it should cause I liked it but even disregarding my opinion I still would suggest you see it just for the film clips and references alone which should at least be fun to see even if the story itself doesn't interest you too much. I won't spoil any of the them for you but I think you'll really get a kick out of at least a few of them, the way they are interweaved with the movie. It's done really well, it doesn't feel like the story is stopping, the references don't feel forced. It can really remind you why you love cinema, it's certainly one of those movies that reminded me. I think that makes it a great first film of the year to see in theatres but don't listen to me, what do I know.
I think that actor is great, Michael Pitt I think his name is. I hope to see him in some more stuff. I'm going to see "Wonderland" just cause he's in it. A lot of critics thought him to be dull but I think he's really really arresting. He reminds me of Dirk or Johnny Doe in a weird way. I could totally see him turning up in "Boogie Nights" as an extra or something. Anyway, he's really cool. He's going to be in a movie with Gummo's Jacob Reynolds that I can't wait to see for those that care.....it's called "West Memphis Three" I think.
Quote from: MacGuffinQuote from: ebeamanwith this and "Once Upon a Time in the West", I am officially a Bertolucci fan.
"Once Upon A Time..." is Leone. Unless you mean story credit wise.
Yea yea, that's exactly what I meant, probably should have specified, I know it's Leone....love him too.
just watched Leon (the professional) for the first time, and now rewatched autofocus.
the professional - i loved it, but seemed very plot oriented in order to push a theme. i guess, i just wanted to see more character stuff. for instance, i liked the milk thing, and the reason he always did sit-ups.
autofocus - such a brilliant film the 2nd time around. the film has a lot of rich substance and provides an interesting look at television. the colors and style are just right.
Quote from: ebeamanI think that actor is great, Michael Pitt I think his name is. I hope to see him in some more stuff. I'm going to see "Wonderland" just cause he's in it.
You should totally watch Dawson's Creek season three ... you know, just because he was in it. And Murder by Numbers with Sandra Bullock ... you know, just because he was in it.