MOVIES: What are you watching?

Trouble With the Curve- enjoyable

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Originally posted by The Old Man:

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Originally posted by wine+art:
Once Upon a Time in America

I've never liked it.

That surprises me.

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Originally posted by wine+art:

quote:

Originally posted by The Old Man:

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
Once Upon a Time in America

I've never liked it.

That surprises me.

Well, now that I finished it I'd say I like it more than I did in the past, but it wouldn't crack my top 100. One, for the reason I said above and two, Elizabeth McGovern is no Claudia Cardinale. If only Jennifer Connelly was grownup at the time and could have played Deborah.

quote:

Originally posted by The Old Man:


Claudia Cardinale.

Searching for Sugar Man

Get Low.

Happy Gilmore.

Finally got around to watching Black Swan...wished I skipped it. As much as I love Mila Kunis, couldn't get past the story

Killing Them Softly

Skyfall. I was not impressed.

This weekend:
Superman Unbound --with my son. Wow, DC doesn't shy away from gruesome killings anymore, even if they are cartoon.

Silver Linings Playbook --Unsettling, as I have a close family member who closely resembles the main character, both physically and mentally.

John Dies in the End --Pretty bizzare. I'm not sure what the movie was all about.

Warm Bodies --The first zom rom com. Not bad.

The Princess Bride

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Bevo:
The Princess Bride

My happy movie. I've seen it more than any other 3 movies combined. Such love for it.

quote:

Originally posted by winetarelli:

quote:

Originally posted by Vino Bevo:
The Princess Bride

My happy movie. I've seen it more than any other 3 movies combined. Such love for it.

Agreed - one of my all time favorites.

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:

quote:

Originally posted by jorgerunfrombulls:
It's considered a brilliant hoax by Banksy with some interesting underlying social commentary regarding street art suddenly becoming so mainstream, but the actual story told in the documentary is considered fiction.

Which part is fiction? Banksy as a character or Mr. BW? Or just the whole thing? No real art show?

Pretty much what the Old Man said.

The whole idea that MBW was this crazy guy who just followed them around and "was willing to document" Banksy when "no one else would". Then it turns out MBW is crazy, knows nothing about film, so Banksy takes all the footage and makes the documentary himself while hyping up MBW as someone who betrayed him.

Everyone and their mother wanted to do a documentary on Banksy, and they all would have gladly played by his rules of anonymity (just take the Robbo vs Banksy doc I linked to above as an example).

MBW is widely considered a creation of Banksy, one that Banksy uses as an alternate vessel to sell art. The actual art is done by Banksy and his team.

The documentary was also his way of poking fun at the art world.

Of course, this is all theory. But if you do some research it becomes pretty obvious. I watched Exit again after reading a few more articles and stories about the hoax, and with that knowledge in mind, it seemed pretty clear that it was a hoax, and it's certainly the general consensus amongst the street art community.

The Pianist with Adrien Brody. He deserved the oscar. He played the role masterfully. I loved the set decoration in this movie. The concentration camp and war scenes were spot on.

IW

Super 8, on Blue Ray DVD - fun, kid friendly, Sat afternoon popcorn flick. My only complaint was the sound levels were all over the place and I was either lowering (action) or raising the volume (dialogue) the whole time.

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Originally posted by jorgerunfrombulls:

quote:

Originally posted by GlennK:

quote:

Originally posted by jorgerunfrombulls:
It's considered a brilliant hoax by Banksy with some interesting underlying social commentary regarding street art suddenly becoming so mainstream, but the actual story told in the documentary is considered fiction.

Which part is fiction? Banksy as a character or Mr. BW? Or just the whole thing? No real art show?

Pretty much what the Old Man said.

The whole idea that MBW was this crazy guy who just followed them around and "was willing to document" Banksy when "no one else would". Then it turns out MBW is crazy, knows nothing about film, so Banksy takes all the footage and makes the documentary himself while hyping up MBW as someone who betrayed him.

Everyone and their mother wanted to do a documentary on Banksy, and they all would have gladly played by his rules of anonymity (just take the Robbo vs Banksy doc I linked to above as an example).

MBW is widely considered a creation of Banksy, one that Banksy uses as an alternate vessel to sell art. The actual art is done by Banksy and his team.

The documentary was also his way of poking fun at the art world.

Of course, this is all theory. But if you do some research it becomes pretty obvious. I watched Exit again after reading a few more articles and stories about the hoax, and with that knowledge in mind, it seemed pretty clear that it was a hoax, and it's certainly the general consensus amongst the street art community.

I could buy that and if true Banksy might be more of a genius than people thought. I actually hope it is Banksy pulling the strings because I didn’t like the thought of MBW cashing in that big after seeing what a tool he was.

We watched the latest Batman this weekend. My least favorite of the 3 with Bale as Batman. It was too long, the story of Bane didn’t do much for me and Hathaway was about as believable as an action hero as I am as an NBA player.

Really, what team are you on?

That may have come out wrong. Nobody would confuse me for an NBA player and IMO nobody would confuse Hathaway for an action star. Bad casting I think.

I was having a little joke.

I got the point.

This is 40.

Quite good.

Neil

quote:

Originally posted by Italian Wino:
The Pianist with Adrien Brody. He deserved the oscar. He played the role masterfully. I loved the set decoration in this movie. The concentration camp and war scenes were spot on.

IW

I agree that is a masterpiece. In a different year I agree Brody would have deserved the Oscar. That year he did not. (Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher in Gangs of New York.)

quote:

Originally posted by Neil K.:
This is 40.

Quite good.

Neil

First I have heard that review.

Blowup, Antonioni's 1966 movie.

The Conversation, 1974 Coppola.

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Originally posted by wine+art:

quote:

Originally posted by Neil K.:
This is 40.

Quite good.

Neil

First I have heard that review.

My wife and I were on opposite sides of the spectrum, I enjoyed it, she did not....at all!

Re: This is 40.

Yes, the reviews were generally negative. I think many of them were of "the how dare you get somewhat serious and introspective" variety. One's personal situation would definitely impact their enjoyment of the movie.

Leaving aside the usual semi-gross out, offensive humor, I thought the potrayal of the grandfathers were particularly good.

Neil

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
Blowup, Antonioni's 1966 movie.

The Conversation, 1974 Coppola.

The perfect bookends, and in the middle you can throw in De Palma's mess Blowout

Re: This is 40

Somehow, while being both well intentioned and well executed, it was not a pleasant movie for me.

A few points (both positive and negative).

- Judd Apatow seems to take Jack Nicholson's advice from As Good as it Gets when writing women, "I think of a man; then I take away reason and accountability." It is surprising to me that his real-life wife was so up on this (almost borderline misogynist at times) movie.

- The characters are uniformly LA-shallow. And their problems seem not to be of the universal sort, but of the upper-middle-class, self-indulgent, self-loathing, lost, LA sort.

- It is difficult to see the love between the couple other than that they say they love each other. There are moments, but far more where you just don't get it.

- John Lithgow was good, but the character was extraneous and unintegrated. And just oddly placed.

- The movie is WAY too long for what it is. This is one weekend in the life of a privileged, healthy couple of 40 year olds taking about as long to tell as Spielberg's telling of Lincoln.

- Albert Brooks as Paul Rudd's dad was absolutely fantastic. I assume he ad-libbed / wrote most of his own lines. There is one guilt-trip line that he delivers so perfectly...

- Apatow's real-life kids are likable.

I liked This is 40 even though Winetarelli's criticism is mostly correct also. Probably because I am 40 - was anyway when I saw the flick that I liked it anyway

Anna Karenina (2012 version w/ the wife). Interesting sets, costumes, direction, but other than that was a bit stale.

Death at a Funeral (British version). Really funny ensemble cast and film. We saw the US version first (with Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence et al) but it doesn't hold up to the original by a long shot. Peter Dinklage is in both films which is great.

Lawless

quote:

Originally posted by The Old Man:

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
Blowup, Antonioni's 1966 movie.

The Conversation, 1974 Coppola.

The perfect bookends, and in the middle you can throw in De Palma's mess Blowout

I have't seen either for awhile, but I always thought that the Conversation held up while Blowup made me cringe with its pretentiousness. The only thing I liked about Blowup was watching the short bit with Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck perform with the Yardbirds. It did however make me read the short story it was based on by Julio Cortazar. The story is ambiguous, but much better than the film.

quote:

Originally posted by The Old Man:

quote:

Originally posted by wine+art:
Blowup, Antonioni's 1966 movie.

The Conversation, 1974 Coppola.

The perfect bookends, and in the middle you can throw in De Palma's mess Blowout

While I do not think Blowout should be mentioned in the same sentence as the two others, I see your point.

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Originally posted by Neil K.:
Re: This is 40.

I thought the potrayal of the grandfathers were particularly good.

That is the only part of the movie I enjoyed, and I'm being kind.

Thanks for your thoughts.

quote:

Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
I liked This is 40 even though Winetarelli's criticism is mostly correct also. Probably because I am 40 - was anyway when I saw the flick that I liked it anyway

+1. At 39 with young children I found a number of relatable parts. My wife enjoyed as well.

Neither of us went with the mindset that it was anything more than a good laugh.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

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Originally posted by patespo1:

quote:

Originally posted by Jcocktosten:
I liked This is 40 even though Winetarelli's criticism is mostly correct also. Probably because I am 40 - was anyway when I saw the flick that I liked it anyway

+1. At 39 with young children I found a number of relatable parts. My wife enjoyed as well.

Neither of us went with the mindset that it was anything more than a good laugh.

I forgot my strongest criticism of the movie...

I am (all too) aware that when parents have mid-life crises they sometimes allow those to affect their children. And even sometimes they take out their own problems on their children. In This is 40 the parents, almost relentlessly, take out their mid-life crises on their children and the movie's point of view gives the parents a free pass on it. The free pass really turned me off.