The Film Lovers Thread!

[oolie coco]

Hi!

I decided maybe it would be nice if we had a thread to discuss movies in general

- what movies we have seen recently, if we'd like to discuss them with others
- if we have questions about movies, like things we don't understand
- to recommend good movies or warn people away from bad ones!
- but be considerate about spoilers, please!

I asked pointup about this idea and she said it would be fine, so thank you!

In "Last Movie You Saw" oftentimes people just like to list the movies and refrain from discussing them.... and we have "Your Favourite Film" but that is a list of all-time favourites only.... so maybe this would be good for actual discussion..

I hope you guys like the idea... So we will test it out and see

I LOVE MOVIES! And I know many of you do too!

 

[nextnewface]

Great idea oolie

By the way great review of Lost In Translation back in the other thread

 

[oolie coco]

Thank you so much! I hope this thread idea works!

 

[bleuFunk]

So Oolie, did you see Virgin Suicides? What did you think of that one (if so)? I liked it, though it put me in the mind of Wes Anderson movies, and it wasn't as good as his movies, IMO.

 

[susie_bubble]

Ok....I love movies too. But I'm gonna have to start this thread with a negative review.
Don't see Match Point!

I went into this movie with anticipation since I had heard US critics hailing this as a Woody Allen comeback (I kinda liked Melinda & Melinda though) and it's always great to see a London based film.
I cannot stress enough how UN-Woody Allen this film is. Apart from the social climbing aspect that was seen in Manhattan, there is nothing Woody Allen about this film at all.
Already, the film had started off badly by presenting us with the cliched line of 'Life is so dependent on luck' using a supposedly clever metaphor of a ball going back and forth over a tennis net. I nearly burst out laughing at this. The real one that got me was when Chris Wilton, the social climber in this film, a tennis coach says 'I was never gonna be a Rusedski or Agassi'. Come on Woody, if you had done two seconds of Google work, you would know that the comparisom is just ridiculous!

The inherent flaw in this movie is the poor poor poor dialogue. Every line ended up sounding unintentionally funny. Everything was stunted and unnatural. Chris Wilton (played by Jonathan Rhys Meyers) announcing his love for opera or asking things like 'Have you seen my Strimberg?' all sounded so contrived and everyone in the cinema was sniggering. Once his and Nola Rice (played by Scarlett Johanssen)'s affair begins, it's just a slippery slope down to no man's land.

The cast were not to blame....they really had no room for manouvre. Emily Mortimer and the guy who played her brother did a fine job. Really...all the characters were so despicable and annoying you had to wonder whether this was a morality tale or just a super cynical view of life and the people in it.

Then there's my other gripe with this. The depiction of London as this picturesque place where everyone shops on Bond Street and everyone is in and out of the Tate Modern. Nola Rice, a supposedly struggling actress apparently gets to live in a cushy place in Sloane Square. Lines like 'Oh...I'll show you around. I grew up in Sloane Square' made everyone giggle (not in a good way). Even the real Sloane Rangers with their pearls and Brora jumpers don't say stuff like that. Woody just got London ALL wrong.

If you're a diehard Woody fan, you've probably already seen it. If you haven't, don't waste your money.

 

[oolie coco]

Very, very interesting review, so thank you very much susie bubble. THat is disappointing because after all of the RAVE reviews I had high hopes for this film. However, I usually do not like Woody's films, so who knows?

I really treasure good dialogue and I never really like Woody's style. It's so unnatural to me.. I just can't relate to his characters.

 

[oolie coco]

So Oolie, did you see Virgin Suicides? What did you think of that one (if so)? I liked it, though it put me in the mind of Wes Anderson movies, and it wasn't as good as his movies, IMO.

Yes, I saw Virgin Suicides a long, long time ago and I remember it being very beautiful. Even though I said I hated Lost In Translation I thought it was a very good-looking movie with beautiful music.. both movies present a great atmosphere. The substance of VS was kinda lacking though...

I'm a big fan of Rushmore/Royal Tenenbaums (<-- my second favourite movie!) but I absolutely hated The Life Aquatic! Did you guys know that TLA was the only film that Owen WIlson DIDN'T co-write with Anderson? I find that so interesting because I really hated the spirit of the film....

 

[susie_bubble]

I agree about The Life Aquatic. I love Wes Anderson's distinctive style in his films as seen in Rushmore/Royal Tenenbaums. But TLA seemed to drag too much and it didn't seem to be going anywhere. I felt like it was too much of a Bill Murray set piece heavily relying on his performance with nothing to back it up.

I also agree with you about Lost in Translation. For the life of me I don't understand why this film was so revered and why Scarlett Johannssen got so much praise for it. It was beautifully shot and I liked the 'feel' of it. Yet there was also something very empty about it.

 

[Fade to Black]

In the past half-year I've watched one movie...it's a Hong Kong film titled "Election" (entered the Cannes Film Festival last year), it's a movie about a struggle between two men for the top position of a Hong Kong triad gang, and the events that transpire during the time one of them is trying to stop the other from taking the spot. Decent movie, solid performance by Leung Ka Fai as the hot headed triad boss. The dialogue was a bit too clean for triad talk, so some points are lost for degree of how realistic it was, but understandable given HK film censors are strict about swearing in films in the native language. The movie was entertaining, and in a weird way refreshing because it manages to engage the viewer throughout the whole movie without a single drop of blood shed (rare for gangster films).

 

[bleuFunk]

I didn't hate Life Aquatic, but it's definitely my least favorite of the bunch. There were funny bits but it tried to be meaningful and smug at the same time. Didn't work so well for me. I also love Royal Tenenbaums. Rushmore is great as well, and i enjoyed Bottle Rockets.

And i agree that Lost In Translation felt empty, but for me that seemed intentional. You know? I felt the emptiness and it meant something to me.

This thread is fun!

 

[Fade to Black]

I agree about The Life Aquatic. I love Wes Anderson's distinctive style in his films as seen in Rushmore/Royal Tenenbaums. But TLA seemed to drag too much and it didn't seem to be going anywhere. I felt like it was too much of a Bill Murray set piece heavily relying on his performance with nothing to back it up.

I also agree with you about Lost in Translation. For the life of me I don't understand why this film was so revered and why Scarlett Johannssen got so much praise for it. It was beautifully shot and I liked the 'feel' of it. Yet there was also something very empty about it.

Yeah I didn't like the Life Aquatic, and I'm usually a fan of Anderson's offbeat style of humor. TLA felt kind of pretentious to me...the first half was all obscure, high-brow references to nature specials and what not, fell flat in its attempt at humor due to the obscurity of it all. And then it seemed to take a 180 in the second half at slap stick humor, i dunno i felt this movie was trying too hard.

I loved Lost in Translation though, to me that movie isn't even so much about the substance as it is just engaging yourself in the kind of atmosphere. I dunno maybe I liked it because I kinda relate to Bill Murray's character in some ways, the sense of alienation and just wandering about as if lost, it was a good "mood" piece to me.

 

[susie_bubble]

^Yeah...thanks to Oolie Coco for starting it!

I'll come here to vent my frustrations about crap films or gush about the good ones. I really am a film addict.

 

[oolie coco]

Me too. I loooooooooooooove talking about movies!

 

[Colette_B]

i hope people here also like classics, cause i've been watching a lot of them recently...

 

[Cosette]

oolic coco, brilliant idea for a thread

I just want to say that I watched The Virgin Suicides for first time the other day, and I love this line...

"She was the still point of the turning world, man." - Trip Fontaine

 

[GorguzLaChick]

Aww i like "under the tuscan sun",,, the story is cute and the scene in italy was gorgeous. I love Italy....i wanna go there someday!

 

[AlterEcko]

The Virgin Suicides is a great movie. I saw it for the first time in 9th grade (5 years ago?) and loved it.

But, movies are getting more and more un-original. I have started watching foreign movies and independant movies more, and I am not dissapointed. Has anyone seen 3 iron? that is probably one of the best korean movies of all time, and the main character doesnt even talk! The last American movie that I can remember that was really original was Garden State. That movie is great. Everything about it is great. One of my favorite movies of all time is Poolhall Junkies. I love to play pool, and it was filmed in Utah...but that doesnt even matter, the movie is just awesome. The story, jokes, screenplay... You can tell that the actors/actress' really put their hearts in to it. And as I said in the other thread...The Shawshank Redemption. Stephen King is a genious. I missed out on something that great for years. All of the movies I have listed, i HIGHLY reccomend.

 

[adorefaith]

thx for the review of match point, susie....
i was looking forward to seeing it.... i usually appreciate woody allen's kookiness and sense of humour....
i may have to see it just out of sheer curiosity now....
i quite liked melinda and melinda too.... though i would have preferred it more had they just stuck to the comedic storyline....


i have to ask.... of those who have seen brokeback mountain, gay storyline aside, what did you think....??
in my circles, this seemed to be hyped as possibly one of the greatest love stories of all time....
and while i was impressed with heath's acting... actually everyone put in a nice performance.... i really wasnt blown away, for the most part...
as eager as i was to walk away in awe, i really couldnt... and i left with a little bit of disappointment....

i hear the book is incredible... perhaps i will have to read it to find some of the depth i felt was lacking in the screen adaptation....
i'm curious to hear everyone else's opinions....
i wish i could submit an absolute rave review.....good movie.... at times even great.... but i dont know about 'phenomonal'....

 

[oolie coco]

Melinda and Melinda I found a bit boring. It was well done, great acting, and I was blown away by Radha Mitchell - she is very talented! But other than that... meh? I couldn't get too interested in it. I think with a creative idea like that, they could have done so much more.

 

[Colette_B]

kontroll, wow great movie, fun characters, and i've developed a crush on sandor csanyi