The Film Lovers Thread!

[Chaky]

I canNOT wait for "Control". I finished 'Touching from a Distance' and I think the movie is totally buying into the whole mysterious, cool Ian Curtis myth which after reading the book is total crap. But the images!! Its by Anton Corbijn the photographer/artist so I'm all yay!! And its in b&w, and I love the clips from it, very very stylish!!

Yes you must see this if you have not already.

I was lucky enough to attend a gala screening with cast and crew a few weeks ago. Anton Corbijn was there along with members of New Order and some of Ian Curtis' relatives.

It looks gorgeous. Corbijn said he shot it monochrome because almost all the photos of Joy Division were B&W. The screenwriter also talked about the focus on the love triangle in the film and the idea that circumstances destroyed the life of a guy who married too young and who the medical profession at the time didn't know how to help.

It's sad and moving but also in parts surprisingly funny. Plus the music is awesome.

 

[Juliet]

i just watched it two hours ago at a friends house.

i was so-so with the film. really touching at times and boring at other parts. i hated Claire Danes' character though. not really a great friend to Lila, knowing her true feelings yet pursuing her wants without really contemplating about how it'll effect others around her. i think the flashbacks and the real-time scenes could've been blended together much more smoothly than it did, but i really liked the flashback scenes. and the movie was really visually appealing. sad story nonetheless.

Hmm i do understand what you mean! Although it is unlikeable how Claire Danes' character just didn't seem to care to much who she would hurt (at first) when she was going around pursuing her wants, it is how a lot of girls are in the real world which is part of what I meant that it wasn't a completely mushy, through heart-shaped glasses account of a love story. I agree the flashbacks and real-time scenes could have been blended nicer than they were! It is a sad story, but I enjoyed much of the quotes from the "wiser generation" and it sort of is inspirational in a way..

 

[LoveMyBoots]

^ I have no sympathy towards that film, maybe only Hugh Dancy's performance- but that's it. Considering it got comparisons to The Hours and featured many great actors, I thought it was going to be one of those great literature-adapted genre of films. The flashbacks toward present and past were definitely mishandled. It seemed like there needed to be commercial breaks in between to add more to the abruptness and discongruity. The three separate storylines (the days of the wedding, mother and singer, dying old) were never really brought together as a whole. And did anyone actually believe that the Patrick Wilson character was really worthy of all that nostalgia and reminisceing? I'm sure on script that the character was supposed to be this enigma, but I'm suprised that Wilson didnt add more to the character.


But I saw another Claire Danes movie last week that I loved: Shopgirl. I remember seeing the previews when it came out, but like now, I was too young to get into rated-R movies. I absolutely loved the cinematography. It really reflects the different parts of Los Angeles, from glamorous Beverly Hills to even the kind of culture that's reflected by Universal City Walk.
Everyone gave such strong performances, especially Claire Danes and Jason Schwartzman was so endearingly funny and saved the movie from being too depressing. The film culminated really well and I just started bawling during the last scene between Steve Martin and Danes. But the only thing I did not care for was the voice over by Steve Martin. It was completely feckless and I strongly feel took away from the story.

 

[LoveMyBoots]

Oh and has anybody seen Atonement? I posted the trailer here a few weeks ago. I'm dying for this film to come out and I know it has overseas. Any reviews?

 

[Kawari]

Hey, welcome back to the thread LoveMyBoots!

If the film Evening has weird cuts I probably won't watch it. Sorry Meryl Streep. I've kind of been turned off by films that go crazy out of order, without referencing where we as the audience are supposed to be. I think it was Oliver Stone's film, Alexander that really turned me off to films like that. I had to watch it with a peice of paper, keeping track of what was going on. Very rarely are films done out of order, or without a pattern, are good for an average audience. I think Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind is one of the few that works.

I haven't seen Atonement yet, but that's because I live in a semi-small town outside San Antonio, Texas. It's a rarity I get to see movies that aren't going to be big box office draws.

Visconti, how was 28 Weeks Later in comparison to the frist one? I've been debating whether or not I want to buy it for my mom. I loved the first one and actually ended up writing a whole essay on the theme of rage and the disasterous effects it can have but the second one just seemed like a run-of-the-mill horror film. But if it does delve slightly into the idea of urban warfare, I will have to at least rent it.

I re-watched Hard Candy and loved it! From one perspective, I was happy it was a good film on digital proving that a good movie is a good movie. They've been going crazy at my lunch table on the whole film vs. digital debate. Ellen Page was amazing and she's def. one of the young up and coming actresses I'm looking foward to seeing more from.

I have not seen Little Children yet, but I can finally buy it legally without having to ask my mom awkwardly and explaining what the film is about. Plus, the guy from Hard Candy is in it. I'm hoping to get The Dreamers too.

FYI: Does anyone know of a website where I can buy classic and foreign films? I've been looking for classic films for awhile now-I'm taking a theater design class and am doing comparisons of film and stage- but I can't seem to find them in stores. So I've been looking for websites that are reliable.

 

[carioca]

i agree LoveMyBoots. i think that the movie didn't portray the love between Dane and Wilson's character as true love and not worthy of remembering. it seemed more like lust, and the whole scene when they have separate lives, made me question how that all happened. parts of the movie seemed so rushed, and then there are parts that are so long and unnecessary to the film's story.
Like Kawari said, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is the only movie that i can really think of that can blends past memories with real-time really well.

has anyone seen Black Orpheus (Orfeu Negro) that Brasilian film from 1959 that won an Oscar. if so what did you think of it? i think i appreciated it more because i'm really interested in the times, more than the story i guess. and i'm not that familiar with the story of Orpheus and Eurycide.

 

[IncurableLunatic]

has anyone here seen Julie Delpy's 2 Days in Paris? it was directed and written by her and she, Adam Goldberg and Daniel Bruhl stars in it. it's very funny and if you liked Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (which Delpy co-wrote), you'll enjoy this one.

 

[Chaky]

I saw Atonement a couple of months ago. I was not totally bowled over by it but actually some of the people I saw it with thought it was the best film they've seen this year.

It is incredibly well made and the performances are pretty much top notch.

The film is in two parts: a summer at the country home of the Tallis family, and then a few years later during World War II.

Keira Knightley finally gets the perfect role for her - slightly icy on the surface and romantic at the core. During the war period she seemed to me to be channelling Celia Johnson in Brief Encounter. She plays opposite James McAvoy who is probably one of the best young actors from the UK working right now. He's very good in this but not quite as good as Last King of Scotland which I thought was actually a much more difficult role to pull off.

The story here is told mainly from the viewpoint of the younger sister, Briony Tallis, who is played by three actresses in different periods of the film. The little girl who plays her in the pre-war scenes (Saoirse Ronan) is actually superb. I wouldn't be surprised if she starts grabbing awards very soon. During the war she's played by Romola Garai who I like very much and has a tough job to do of conveying Briony's internal turmoil without a lot of dialogue. In the present day Vanessa Redgrave is the elderly Briony and comes close to stealing the show.

Overall it feels a lot like one or two Anthony Minghella films I've seen. It was not surprising to see Minghella turn up in a cameo in this.

Some of the scale is epic, but there's also a lot of intimacy. I really like the way the scenes at the house in the first half were shot, giving a sense of the summer heat and the smouldering undercurrent of passion.

The movie is a tearjerker I guess. Quite a few people I've spoken to said they were crying at several points. For me it didn't go that far. I suppose I was not as emotionally hooked as others. But if you like your wartime romances I would certainly recommend this.

 

[blue.]

another great film shot on digital was david lynch's INLAND EMPIRE. he said he enjoyed the whole experience so much that he is giving up shooting movies with film. ooh and another great film shot in digital is MANIC starring zooey deschanel. amazing. i prefer the look of film but with todays technology you can make digital look like film too.

 

[Chaky]

Lynch actually shot INLAND EMPIRE on a very cheap digital camera (a Sony PD-150 which I think costs under $2000). Afterwards he said he would never shoot on that camera again. I read an interview somewhere where he said he will now shoot on a more expensive digital camera and then degrade the picture in post-production until it looks like the cheap one!

 

[blue.]

thats insane! and brilliant at the same time

 

[cutxpaste]

I haven't been to this thread in an AGE!

The last few movies I saw in theaters were The Darjeeling Limited, No Country For Old Men, Across The Universe and Lars and The Real Girl. I absolutely adored Lars and the Real Girl I really liked how Lars got over his profound sadness at the end and went with Margot...it was an absolutely beautiful film and one I feel like people can relate to on so many levels .
I might be one of the only people who thought Across The Universe was fantastic, but I'm fine with that. I know it got heavily criticized for a lackluster storyline and for being too long, but I disagree. I thought that seeing the movie was such an experience that the fact that it didn't have absolutely brillant storytelling didn't matter to me. I thought the visuals and the songs were so powerful and even though I didn't grow up in the 60s', the movie was so emotional and visceral for me. Plus, it totally helped that Jim Strugess is gorgeous
I have to admit, Wes Anderson is falling out of favor for me. Rushmore is one of my favorite films and I really like The Royal Tenenbaums, but I was dissapointed with The Darjeeling Limited. People kept telling me how funny it was, but I just thought it was kind of sad. All the characters were so depressed and self-medicating. Sure, at the end of the movie they abandon their emotional and literal baggage, but I just feel like I didn't really sense any joy in the movie. I don't know....talking about Wes Anderson only reminds me that I need to see The Life Aquatic again.
No Country For Old Men was scary as sh*t. It wasn't like a typical thriller or action movie where there are loud non-stop shotouts and car chases... this was actually a very quiet movie, and that made it all the more suspense and chilling. Javier Bardem scares the living sh*t out of me now, though after seeing this. I don't think I'll ever be able to see another movie with him in it and not think of him shooting people with his creepy air canister gun. This film was so distrubing...I can't get that image of the woman floating dead in the swimming pool out of my mind. I really loved the cinemotography,though- they shot South Texas like they would shot the Serengeti in Africa- and I thought the script was really good.
I'm so psyched for some of the movies coming out soon though. I NEED to see:
*Margot at the Wedding
*Control
*Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten
*2 Days in Paris (I love Julie Delpy!)
*I'm Not There


I think I might want to see The Savages with Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour, but I'm not sure. The movie Teeth could be funny (it's about a girl with teeth in her vagina) but then again it could also be so, so terrible. I really don't want to see Juno but my dad does so I'm gonna be dragged to that...hmmmm...
What do people here think about Cassandra's Dream? It's a Woody Allen film coming out soon that's said to be in the same vein as Match Point. Anyone here excited to see it?

 

[blue.]

im very excited about woody allen's new movie! isnt this one going to have scarlett johansson and penelope cruz?

i got the new FLY dvd magazine and the films are beautiful! you guys should really check it out. amazing short films with models and designed by top names like miu miu and yves saint laurent. here is their website if you want to find out more. www.insidefly.com

 

[cutxpaste]

^no, this one has colin farrell in it.

blue. that site sounds really cool. i'm going to check it out

 

[stersita]

^There's also Vicky Cristina Barcelona in post-production according to imdb, with Penelope and Scarlett, and Javier Bardem
I was in Barcelona while they were shooting

 

[cutxpaste]

ahhhhh javier bardem

 

[stersita]

Yes

 

[snowqueen]

god this thread is making my list of films that i need to see even longer i think i need to hibinate and just watch films lol only way ill find time

 

[cutxpaste]

I'm going to try to do that later today! I got A Clockwork Orange, Bonnie & Clyde, Band of Outsiders and Breakfast At Tiffanys.

 

[IncurableLunatic]

i'm dying to see Gerald McMorrow's "Franklyn" on 2008. Sam Riley (Control) stars alongside Eva Green B)


Synopsis: Set between the parallel worlds of contemporary London and a future metropolis of Meanwhile City, dominated by faith, weaves the tale of four lost souls divided by two parallel worlds on course for an explosive collision when a single bullet will decide all their fates.