Supermovie Topic

[Uximadesk]

By the way, I just saw "Book of Eli" yesterday, and I found it more enjoyable than I expected. It could have been deeper in some parts given the setting of the plot, but is actually well driven.
At first I thought it was going to be a Mad Max ripoff, but there is more to the movie than you might think.

[Mysterious F.]

Saw The Last Picture Show (1971), Peter Bogdanovich's controversial look at small-town life in the early 1950s that predates American Beauty by almost 30 years. Still, I'm somewhat mixed. The cast is awesome, and though I'm not an expert on 1950s American small-town life, I guess its presentation of the transition towards the modern era at the time is fairly accurate. Still, it's even more sexual than American Beauty, so much so it often felt pornographic, and I couldn't help but feel that it was somewhat contrived. Overall, I liked it, but it isn't the masterpiece people often make it out to be. 6/10

Also, got finished watching Groundhog Day for the billionth time. LLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE it. 10/10

[MagmarFire]

Also, got finished watching Groundhog Day for the billionth time. LLLLOOOOVVVVEEEE it. 10/10

Oooh, yeah. Good movie, that. Epic character development.

[Twilight Wolf]

I just saw Avatar. Freakin' awesome. Definitely a must-see, guys. It was gorgeous, and the story, while admittedly not really unique, is told in such a way that it feels brand-new. As for any paralells between Avatar and Dances With Wolves, well, I've never seen the latter, so don't ask if I noticed any.

Last week, I saw The Lovely Bones. I thought it was a very well made movie, and my Mom, who read the book, enjoyed it as well, in spite of the "why the heck did they change that?"-style alterations that are present in every book-based movie. You know, the really stupid changes that were made for seemingly no reason -- like, for example, one character's hair is dark in a film when it was blond in the book it was based on. The kind of things that don't need to be changed but are for some reason.

Prior to that, I saw three Coen brothers movies: Raising Arizona, Fargo, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?  All were great and very enjoyable. Raising Arizona has a highly-enjoyable story with a good flavor of humor. Nicolas Cage plays his part well! Fargo -- now that's a great movie. I can definitely see why it's considered such a classic. Very well-written script, excellent characters, and great acting. Wonderful! O Brother, Where Art Thou?, based on Homer's Odyssey, does a fantastic job of illustrating a Dustbowl-era South, from the landscaping and the soundtrack employed to the cultural cues and fashion. Recommended!

[Hi no Seijin]

Last week, I saw The Lovely Bones. I thought it was a very well made movie, and my Mom, who read the book, enjoyed it as well, in spite of the "why the heck did they change that?"-style alterations that are present in every book-based movie. You know, the really stupid changes that were made for seemingly no reason -- like, for example, one character's hair is dark in a film when it was blond in the book it was based on. The kind of things that don't need to be changed but are for some reason.

That's why I like watching the "making of" specials some DVDs come with.

The Lovely Bones is a movie of the book?  Hm, I'll have to see if I can't find the book and read it before I watch the movie.  But it'll have to wait until I finish Lord of Chaos, A Crown of Swords, and Rhapsody.

[Mysterious F.]

Oooh, yeah. Good movie, that. Epic character development.

Don't you just love how he must have spent 100 years worth of Groundhog Days doing everything he did?

I just saw Avatar. Freakin' awesome. Definitely a must-see, guys. It was gorgeous, and the story, while admittedly not really unique, is told in such a way that it feels brand-new. As for any paralells between Avatar and Dances With Wolves, well, I've never seen the latter, so don't ask if I noticed any.

Last week, I saw The Lovely Bones. I thought it was a very well made movie, and my Mom, who read the book, enjoyed it as well, in spite of the "why the heck did they change that?"-style alterations that are present in every book-based movie. You know, the really stupid changes that were made for seemingly no reason -- like, for example, one character's hair is dark in a film when it was blond in the book it was based on. The kind of things that don't need to be changed but are for some reason.

Prior to that, I saw three Coen brothers movies: Raising Arizona, Fargo, and O Brother, Where Art Thou?  All were great and very enjoyable. Raising Arizona has a highly-enjoyable story with a good flavor of humor. Nicolas Cage plays his part well! Fargo -- now that's a great movie. I can definitely see why it's considered such a classic. Very well-written script, excellent characters, and great acting. Wonderful! O Brother, Where Art Thou?, based on Homer's Odyssey, does a fantastic job of illustrating a Dustbowl-era South, from the landscaping and the soundtrack employed to the cultural cues and fashion. Recommended!

Dances with Wolves has the exact same problems Avatar has been said to have (pretentious, White Messiah, Noble Savages, overlong, preachy, simplified, and several others) but I really liked it as an adventure film that doesn't rely so much on action as it does on mood.

I've pretty much heard nothing but bad things about The Lovely Bones (except praise for Ronan's and Tucci's performances), most of them about the abrupt genre changes or complaints about it being over-produced. Still, I was very bored by Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Well, I haven't seen Part 2, but I've seen enough) so I can't say it's on my to-see list for 2009.

As for the Coen Brothers, I've seen Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and Burn After Reading and I don't liked either of them. Their films, to me, basically feel like stuck-up film school fare, the characters are pretty thin, and loaded down with false philosophies (especially No Country for Old Men)

[Hi no Seijin]

I've pretty much heard nothing but bad things about The Lovely Bones (except praise for Ronan's and Tucci's performances), most of them about the abrupt genre changes or complaints about it being over-produced. Still, I was very bored by Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy (Well, I haven't seen Part 2, but I've seen enough) so I can't say it's on my to-see list for 2009.

As for the Coen Brothers, I've seen Fargo, No Country for Old Men, and Burn After Reading and I don't liked either of them. Their films, to me, basically feel like stuck-up film school fare, the characters are pretty thin, and loaded down with false philosophies (especially No Country for Old Men)

Life is full of abrupt genre changes.  Why can't a movie reflect that?

As for the Coen Brothers, I haven't seen the first two, but like I said about Burn After Reading, it could have been a good movie if they actually took the time to finish the movie properly.  Instead of seeing the final events unfold, we're told about it; it didn't bring me the closure I'm sure the Coen Brothers were hoping for.

[Mysterious F.]

Life is full of abrupt genre changes.  Why can't a movie reflect that?

Because it is inconsistent. Duh. 

Also, created a poll for 2009's Oscars. Vote for what you think should win, and stuff. Unless it has to do with the Oscars, I'll keep any movie discussion here, though.

[MagmarFire]

Don't you just love how he must have spent 100 years worth of Groundhog Days doing everything he did?

At least. Knowing what goes on every single second and learning about every single person, along with learning a whole buttload of things to try to impress Rita, such as French poetry and ice sculpting, makes a century seem like only a wedge of the cheese.

And obviously, I like it more due to the parallels I can draw between it and Majora's Mask. It really does make it quite apparent that MM was influenced by it, to the point where learning about everyone's schedule, down to the last minute, during a particular cycle becomes a gameplay concept!

[The Glamour Nazi]

I really liked groundhog day.

I wanna put Monty Python and the Holy Grail on this supermovie thread along with

Napolean Dynamite
and
Kung Pow - Enter the fist

[Mysterious F.]

Finally saw Memento (2000). I'm going to agree with its detractors that the complex narrative style (which is so confusing I won't tell you about it, so anyone who does not know what it is about can start fresh) is hiding a really messy film with an absurd plot. However, the point here is to make such a narratively experimental film that we're more concerned with solving it all than about realism, and Guy Pearce gives an awesome performance. I much prefer this to director Nolan's later The Dark Knight. 7/10

[Mysterious F.]

Recent viewing:

1. Andrei Rublev (1966) - The great Andrei Tarkovsky's second feature is about the 15th century icon painter, but uses that as a building point for the difficulty of maintaining religion in the material world, and the tragedies many artists face. It can be difficult, but it's certainly a masterpiece. 10/10

2. Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) - Woody Allen's most famous film of the 1980's. It follows Hannah, her two sisters, and the two men that cross their paths several times. It's very funny, insightful, and well-acted enough that you'll forgive the usual worship of the Allen character. 9/10

3. The Stranger (1946) - The third movie of Orson Welles' career, after Citizen Kane and The Magnificent Ambersons. Welles plays an ex-Nazi hiding in Connecticut that must conceal his identity from a federal agent. The script is a mess, and it's somewhat empty compared to Welles' other films, but The Stranger is still an original and involving noir thriller. 8/10

4. The Cat Returns (2002) - Another gem of a family film from Studio Ghibli, this one directed by Hiroyuki Kondo. A girl saves the prince of the Cat Kingdom, accidentally ends up become engaged to him, and is rescued by the Baron statue and the cat Moon from previous Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart. While as a piece of storytelling this faulters compared to their best, this is mostly just fun spectacle, and it succeeds at that. 7/10

5. Tales from Earthsea (2006) - Hayao Miyazaki's son Goro's debut feature is a huge disappointment, and Ghibli's only failure to date. The characters are all built around the barest of emotions, and there is so much plot in such little time (only two hours) that things rarely make much sense. Even though Ghibli has some of the best animation in the entire industry, the quality here somewhat bottom of the barrel for them. 3/10

[Mysterious F.]

One of the new characters being introduced in Toy Story 3 is one of the cutest things I have ever seen! 

[Mysterious F.]

I have seen:

• Bright Star 10/10
  
• The Class 9/10
  
• District 9 6/10
  
• Fantastic Mr. Fox 7/10
  
• Gomorrah 7/10
  
• The Hurt Locker 3/10
  
• Moon 8/10
  
• Ponyo 8/10
  
• Two Lovers 9/10
  
  I still have to see:
  
  1. 24 City
  2. 35 Shots of Rum
  3. (500) Days of Summer
  4. 9
  5. Anvil! The Story of Anvil
  6. Avatar
  7. Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
  8. The Beaches of Agnes
  9. Broken Embraces
  10. Burma VJ
  11. Coraline
  12. The Cove
  13. Il Divo
  14. An Education
  15. Flame & Citron
  16. The Headless Woman
  17. In the Loop
  18. Inglourious Basterds
  19. The Limits of Control
  20. Mary and Max
  21. Munyurangabo
  22. Night and Day
  23. Of Time and the City
  24. Police, Adjective
  25. Precious
  26. Red Cliff
  27. Revanche
  28. The Road
  29. A Serious Man
  30. Sin Nombre
  31. A Single Man
  32. Still Walking
  33. Summer Hours
  34. The Sun
  35. Three Monkeys
  36. Tokyo Sonata
  37. Tokyo!
  38. Up
  39. Up in the Air
  40. Where the Wild Things Are
  41. The White Ribbon
  
  Recommend me some you think I would like, or want me to see.
  
  Also, this list includes non-2009 films first given a theatrical release in the US during 2009. (Such as Red Cliff and The Hurt Locker)

[MagmarFire]

Moving to the Supermovie topic.