The Film Lovers Thread!

[Kawari]

I did it the other way round and must say I much preferred the book........not that they did a bad job with the movie and I thought Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson perfectly conveyed the disillusionment of their characters. Hers boring unhappiness and his extreme lack of achievement and inferiority.
Also in the movie Jenifer Connelly's character although mainly passive anyway, barely registers.[/quote]

I think it's one of those things where you can do more with a novel than a film. The two are just so different.

 

[Ferdinanda]

Has anyone seen Traffic?? I just saw it last night. Benicio is so dirty sexxaay. I just about fainted with his Spanish.

 

[LoveMyBoots]

I think I have watched Traffic. But my memory isn't good, so I think I may have only catched it on television or something.



But I finally watched Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb- amazing! Mindblowingly amazing! I rented the film a year or so ago but never got past the first thirty minutes because the dvd was scratched. I think a year has made a tremendous difference because I now remember finding more humor in the irony on this viewing than I did before. Taking US History probably really helped this time because I actually understood what the film was about- instead of just renting and watching yet having no clue about the plot, the Cold War, or the reputations of Peter Sellers and Stanley Kubrick.

The film was laugh-out loud funny, smart, and original. The fact it was released during the time of the Cold War, an event the film satirizes so well makes me admire it even more. You would have thought that Kubrick could have only written the screenplay with the perspective gained years after the fear and paranoia had occurred. But yet it touches on all the aspects of what made the Cold War between Russia and the US ridiculous. These two countries were playing tug-o-war and looking at nuclear weapons like some kind of silly board game.

And the characters themselves, and the caricatures they represented, were so hilarous! Politically relevant and so funny at the same time! Dr. Strangelove holding back with all his might to keep himself from doing the Nazi salute. Since NY Times is my major source of news and my home page that simple line "our source was the NY Times!" was probably the funniest IMO.

 

[blue.]

anyone like andrei tarkovsky? Ive seen "mirror" and yesterday i watched solyaris or "solaris". IT WAS AMAZING!! i dont see how the remake of it can top it. theres just no way!

 

[sailormoon]

^ooh il try and watch those, or at least one of them. bt has anyone seen Jules et Jim? jst its on at this cinema and i dont want to fork out £5 if its not much good

 

[sailormoon]

oh my this guy is a genious! blue. and any other tarkovsky fans just HAVE to watch his interview on art and cinema, and some really interesting ideas there, like art is only here because of an imperfect world, i dont completely agree with him but i can deffinitely see where he is coming from

 

[sailormoon]

il post the link or what ever later , its on you tube somewhere if ne1 cares lol bt not got time

 

[sailormoon]

here tis
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ENrzp_hZNxM&feature=related

 

[sailormoon]

and on art
http://youtube.com/watch?v=V27XlEDLdtE&feature=related

 

[cestmagique]

I watched The Conformist recently and I have to say, it immediately came into my favorites list-- it's amazing. I have a habit of getting distracted during movies or finding myself a little bit bored, even when they're good, but I was drawn to this. Jean-Louis Trintignant is phenomenal in his role and the cinematography is incredibly beautiful; in minor ways it has a similar feel to The Godfather (which came after), probably because of the music... such a rich, tragic film. Anyone else seen it?

 

[Gincat]

The Conformist? So funny you should mention that, because it was just brought up in a book I'm reading. The characters go to watch it, and one of them is described to be confused by her feelings upon watching it. She doesn't understand her reaction to it. (She has not been exposed to much, she is a young woman who acts like a child and thinks she lives in a "classic" hollywood movie...a bit of a simpleton). That, plus your description of it is making really, really want to see it now.

 

[papa_levante]

I am getting tired of Hollywood's mainstream comedies. Many of them aren't even funny.

For one thing, I am getting really sick of Will Ferrell's sad waste of film with movies like "Blades of Glory." It was awful. I can't believe I wasted my time.

But, one movie that was really decent and actually made me laugh was "You, Me and Dupree." I haven't seen a recent comedy in a long time that was actually funny.

 

[cestmagique]

^It's so subjective though; for example, I thought Blades Of Glory was okay but I found You, Me, And Dupree really annoying. As far as wastes of film go, I think Will Farrell and Owen Wilson are pretty equal. There's so much schtick and repetition in their characters it's unbelievable. But I definitely agree that the mainstream comedies as a whole, SUCK. All the humour in them is generally condensed into the trailers.

@ Gincat: I really do hope you get to see it-- let me know how you like it if you do!

 

[Gincat]

Definitely. Hopefully I can see it this weekend.

 

[Mary-Anne]

Has anyone seen the movie Jules & Jim? If so.. I would love to hear what you thought. I have been meaning to watch it, but heard a few negative comments from some people recently which put me off... any thoughts?

 

[kismine]

just re-watched no country for old men the other day (partly because i didn't completely get the ending the first time around)

a friend and i both were discussing the symbolism in the film and we came to the conclusion that javier bardem's character is symbolic of god because he possesses the ability to decide who lives and who dies.

thoughts anyone? am i completely over-analyzing the film?

otherwise, i really like the coen's brother's interpretation of the book. i also like how there wasn't a score that went along with the film, i actually liked the lack of music because it made the film even more suspenseful

 

[cestmagique]

^Hmmm... I didn't get that impression when I watched it. He was basically symbolic of pure evil; he had (or represented) the power and the scope that you might think of God as having, but definitely none of the benevolence. Personally I didn't see the film as having any religious references. IMO the important themes are pulled together at the end by the dream that Jones's character recounts to his wife.

By the way, can anyone recommend me some Jack Lemmon or Lew Ayres films? I kind of love those two now. Of Jack's I've seen Bell, Book, and Candle and Some Like It Hot, and of Lew's I've seen All Quiet On The Western Front and Holiday (he was fantastic in this one! ).

 

[Manuva]

Has anyone watched a documentry called The Bridge? Very powerful stuff, but really worth watching I think.

 

[IncurableLunatic]

Has anyone watched a documentry called The Bridge? Very powerful stuff, but really worth watching I think.

is this the one with Andrea Corr? i don't know if we're talking about the same thing because The Bridge with Andrea Corr is a short film which is equally powerful

 

[Manuva]

^Heh. I just imdb'd The Bridge - I didn't realise there were so many films called The Bridge. This one is about people comitting suicide on the Golden Gate bridge, and interviews with their families - here's the imdb link to it:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0799954/

(and it's available to watch online on quiet a few places)