EnMasse

thwap · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 1:08 am Post subject:

I didn't see it in 3-D. I still thought it was pretty neat.
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F. · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 2578

Tehanu · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 4:05 pm Post subject:

elmateo · Posted: Mon Jan 25, 2010 5:07 pm Post subject:

My viewmaster was quite static. I'll complain to my parents now.

Hephaestion · Posted: Thu Jan 28, 2010 4:37 pm Post subject:

Tired Old Queen at the Movies, Part 16

Steve Hayes. He's got a bunch of these online now, and they're all great. I agree with Joe Jervis -- somebody needs to give this guy his own TV show.
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

Hephaestion · Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2010 2:53 am Post subject:

This one from Sundance sounds like it's got loads of potential:

voice of the damned · Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 9:31 pm Post subject:

I'm not sure if this is the only thread where people are discussiong Avatar, but I'll post this here anyway. Apparently, some Palestinian activists are taking the film's alleged anti-colonial message to heart.

thwap · Posted: Fri Mar 05, 2010 1:17 pm Post subject:

Don't know if anybody has mentioned it already, but "American Gangster" is a good film. Good acting. Good recreation of the atmosphere of the period.

Being from Hamilton, I was going to see the Hamilton-based flick with Woody Harrelson "Defendor", even though I heard it was a so-so movie.

It made me chuckle a couple of times, but it's a little hokey and unable to decide if it's a comedy or a tragedy.
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

Timebandit · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 11 Apr 2006 Posts: 854

I saw three movies on planes in the last month. "An Education" was brilliant, the best coming of age movie I've ever seen. "The Invention of Lying" was actually pretty good, and I also saw a German movie called "Männerherzen" (Hearts of Men) which was much better than the synopsis. It followed the love lives of 5 men who frequent the same gym and follows their love lives. Well written film.

TS. · Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 6:31 am Post subject:

I just got back from seeing Alice in Wonderland. Definitely a trippy movie in the Tim Burton way. Generally, I liked it. It was very immersive, and the graphics were stellar. Helena Bonham Carter did a fantastic job as the Red Queen, but I was a bit disappointed with Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter. There was a bit too much weird for the sake of weird going on with him. The pacing felt a bit off toward the end, and the conclusion felt rushed. The rushing at the end felt odd because it isn't a long movie, at 1:48. Burton had time to put a bit more into the ending. As it was, the ending felt a little unsatisfying.

Overall though, I did enjoy it, and it was very entertaining. I'd recommend it.
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"Question with boldness even the existence of a God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason, than that of blind-folded fear." - Thomas Jefferson

Hephaestion · Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 7:44 pm Post subject:

Academy Award winning movie trailer

*chortle*
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

voice of the damned · Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 6:25 pm Post subject:

Just watched Time After Time, from 1979. I never had much interest in this movie, since the idea of H.G. Wells getting into a time machine and going to late-70s San Francisco in pursuit of Jack The Ripper just seemed kind of gimmicky, if you know what I mean.

But I somehow stumbled across it in Korea, so gave it a screening, with no great hopes, and was quite pleasantly surprised. Instead of just focussing on the corny sci-fi aspects of time travel, the script actually dwells quite a bit on deconstructing H.G. Wells' social philosophy(or at least what the script takes to be Wells' social philosophy, which did pretty much jive with my mostly second-hand understanding).

The basic set-up: Wells in the Victorian era envisions the late 20th-Century as a socialist utopia, then gets into his machine and winds up smack-dab in the middle of a modern American Big City. Anyway, you see where that's going.

Ultimately a conservative message, since Wells comes around to the supposed realization that the social ills he sought to banish will always be part of the human condition, and that the only thing worth fighting for is Love. Still, though, the film does treat Wells' progressive views respectfully, albeit critically, and offers up a bit more food-for-thought than is to be found in your average late 70s slasher flick.

sparqui · Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 12:37 am Post subject:

I watched In the Loop a few nights ago and it was very entertaining. It was up for a screenplay award at the last Oscars.
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

Hephaestion · Posted: Thu Apr 08, 2010 9:35 pm Post subject:

Watch: Oscar-Winning Animated Short 'Logorama'

Hephaestion · Posted: Fri May 14, 2010 11:26 pm Post subject:

Roger Ebert: Why I Hate 3-D (and You Should Too)
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

voice of the damned · Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 4:36 am Post subject:

I watched The Ghost Writer last week. Much as I think Polanski deserves anything he gets, legally speaking, I was glad that he was able to finish this one.

(spoilers ahead)

Granted, I'm a sucker for anything political. But TGW is stronger on atmosphere, and character, than it is on plot. Actually, the story took a few cheesy turns, and ended up being an updated version of The Manchurian Candidate, with one particular plot device I last recall seeing in an old Columbo re-run.

As well, the film offers what I would regard as a pretty simplistic explanation for Tony Blair's alliance with Bush(see previous comments about The Manchurian Candidate), which has the effect, intended or otherwise, of divorcing the analysis of Blair's policies from any overall context of historical factors.

Recommended nonetheless. Tom Wilkinson's performance as the tweedy right-wing academic was worth the price of admission.

Hephaestion · Posted: Wed May 19, 2010 4:44 pm Post subject:

Winnebago Man: The Documentary
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"The dignity of an animal is measured by his capacity to revolt in the face of oppression." -- Mikhail Bakunin

voice of the damned · Posted: Sat Jul 17, 2010 5:13 pm Post subject:

I just wacthed The Edge Of Darkness, a political thriller starring Mel Gibson and produced by his Icon Films, along with BBC.

SPOILERS AHEAD

Obviously a Mel Gibson production, his character is portrayed as a devout Catholic Boston cop with crucifixes all over his house. And I suppose it's not entirely uncharitable to view the film's criticism of the neo-con War On Terror through the prism of Gibson's well-established anti-semtism.

But the film also panders to the left somewhat by showing the other anti-government protagonists as being left-wing activist types.

All in all, though, recommended. One of the better of the post-911 political thrillers, albeit still containing the usual implausibilities common to the thriller genre.

thwap · Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 3:24 pm Post subject:

We tried to watch "Married to the Mob" from the 1980s with Michelle Pfieffer and Matthew Modine. We were looking for comedies that were likely to be on YouTube and I'd heard it was pretty good. If you go to that rottentomatoes link you'll see it's got a 91% "fresh" rating.

The movie sucks! It's terribly written, badly acted, implausible, embarrassing to watch.

Ephemeral said maybe standards were lower in the 1980s.

We also watched "Fantastic Mr. Fox". We liked that one a lot. I liked the way some animal characters' ears would twitch and they'd growl when irritated.
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sparqui · Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 4:58 pm Post subject:

You should have picked up, "Goodfellas", also from the 80s and about gangsters.
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

thwap · Posted: Sat Feb 12, 2011 5:10 pm Post subject:

Oh, I've got that one at home! Seen it more than five times. Have you seen "Married to the Mob" though?
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

sparqui · Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 1:35 am Post subject:

I did see it back in the day (circa 1980s) in the theatre. I remember it being amusing in parts but not much more.
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

Maestro · Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:35 am Post subject:

Watched Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" with Larry David.

I'm not a Larry David fan, so I was reluctant to spend the cash, but I am a Woody Allen fan, and I guess I was curious enough to go for it.

Not disappointed. Shows once again that Woody Allen is the only person to produce original movies in the USA (for many years).

The movie follows Boris Yelnikoff (Larry David) as he travels through life and love, always with a very jaundiced view of humanity, and a very sharp tongue. On the other hand, his view of life (expressed at the end of the movie) is to do 'whatever works' to find happiness.

As always with Allen movies, the music is terrific. The movie is filled with scenes so achingly real they make you fell like a voyeur. Allen also has this directorial style in which most of the directing is done in the casting. In other words, he knows what the actor will look like and do before casting the part. After that, the actor is on their own, although it can take some time to get exactly what Allen wants.

I read about one scene in one movie where he had this bit part player walk across the street. Had to walk across the street 60 times before getting what Allen wanted. He asked Allen what he was looking for, but Allen just said, 'just walk across the street', so he walked across the street until he was told to stop.

I know Allen is an acquired taste, and his movies are different enough that you can like one, and not be able to sit through the next. I'll say that "Whatever Works" is worth the time.
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On the wilds of the Drive

sparqui · Posted: Sun Feb 13, 2011 4:55 pm Post subject:

Nice review, Maestro. I like Woody Allen when he does character studies best.
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

thwap · Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:43 am Post subject:

We very much liked "Wallace and Gromit: the curse of the wererabbit."

Fun for the whole frikken family.
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

thwap · Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:51 pm Post subject:

eph was right: This German movie is really beautiful.
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

thwap · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 11:57 am Post subject:

seen a good flic lately? NO. Me and eph are reading about how Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon are going to be in Toronto talking about "Thelma and Louise" and we decide to watch it.

By the time Thelma has left the hitch-hiker alone in their motel room (where she and Louise are staying whilst on the run for killing a rapist) allowing said hitch-hiker to steal all of Louise's savings (needed for her flight to Mexico), I was ready (if I'd been Louise) to shoot her myself.

It also seemed totally unrealistic that Thelma would be horny for anyone within 24 hours of being viciously slapped around and raped.

I couldn't watch anymore of it. I knew the gist of the story, but the middle part was a blank for me. Very disappointed.
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

sparqui · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 3:22 pm Post subject:

Speaking of "chick flicks", we watched the Michael Curtiz directed "Mildred Pierce" in anticipation of the Kate Winslet mini-series. I've seen that creepy but suspenseful classic numerous times and still love it. After three episodes, I have to say the mini-series is excellent. Far more intense and nuanced characters.
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

thwap · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 4:15 pm Post subject:

i read that the Winslet vehicle is pretty restrained compared to the ... was it Joan Crawford in the original?

It's pretty good but not as memorable as the original was the conclusion.
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

sparqui · Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:13 pm Post subject:

The original was Hollywood OTT goodness, shot with a film noir feel and look. Joan Crawford was intense for sure but her and the other characters were one-dimensional.

This new one is intriguing since it captures the 30s depression era. The class struggle and American Dream ambitions are explored more so than in the original. Also, Mildred is much more than just a gal with gumption and desire to give the best she can to her children in the new version. She kicks her husband out. She initiates affairs. She scolds her daughter for her contempt for the working class and social climbing ambitions but she also admits that she also believes she is above that status. Mildred was more a hapless victim of circumstance in the original film.
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

thwap · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 6:28 pm Post subject:

I watched "What's Up Doc? again for the first time in a while. I always liked the chase scene at the end when I was a kid and I'm happy to say that it holds up.

I had to have a laugh that I watched it so soon after reading Daniel Ellsberg's memoir of the "Pentagon Paper" years, what with one of the bags belonging to a guy trying to leak government secrets.
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Man! I hate them fancy-lads!

voice of the damned · Posted: Sun Jul 10, 2011 8:33 pm Post subject:

Last night, I watched "...And Justice For All", Canadian director Norman Jewison's contributtion to 1970s gritty urban realism.

As with What's Up Doc and Ellesberg, it was interesting to watch AJFA in the wake of the Strauss-Kahn case, since the main plot thread focusses on a lawyer(Al Pacino) defending a prominent judge charged with rape.

Overall, I enjoyed it quite a bit, and it was fun to see the surreal image I remember seeing in the newspaper ads as a kid played out on the screen.

Oddly enough, Pacino gave one of the more sedate performances in the film, until the famous climactic scene.

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 3:24 am Post subject:

I saw And Justice for All in the good ol' Place Riel cinema on the U of S campus back in the 70s. I don't remember much about it, except that corruption was everywhere. There was a Richard Dreyfus movie I went to a couple of times back then, called The Big Fix, that I really liked. I haven't seen a glimpse of it since.

I liked Married to the Mob. I thought Matthew Modine was charming, and Michelle Pfeiffer was, well, Michelle Pfeiffer.
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

thwap · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 12:37 pm Post subject:

Married to the Mob is such a piece of shit. I bitched about it here somewhere.

It's trying to be cornball, but it just goes way beyond into embarrassing and then shmaltzy.
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al-Qa'bong · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 5:23 pm Post subject:

ronb · Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2011 7:29 pm Post subject:

Tree of Life was really very good. You should go. It's more of a visual poem than a conventional movie, but you're not likely to see anything even remotely like it ion the big screen for a very long time. So go while you can.

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 12:11 am Post subject:

I hadn't heard of that picture before. Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, though? Apparently...yes.

I checked a few reviews, including one which asked, "Is this the greatest film ever made?"

I'll keep an eye out for it.

Did I ever mention that I bought a DVD copy of "Queen of Outer Space?"
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Sat Jul 23, 2011 5:00 pm Post subject:

A couple of nights ago we went to the Broadway Theatre to see Deneuve and Depardieu in a goofy film called Potiche. Feminists might like it. Not since L.A Confidential have I seen such a lame ending to a movie, though.

Last night we went to see Rachid Bouchareb's Hors de loi, about the struggle for Algerian independence from France. I liked it, although apparently it didn't go over well with French veterans of the Guerre d'Algerie, who protested against the film at Cannes.
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

Tehanu · Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2011 4:50 am Post subject:

There's a fairly short list of reasons I would go see a movie in a theatre, and special effects is definitely one of them. So I went to see Harry Potter tonight. And enjoyed it thoroughly.

Except -- and I'm afraid I'm falling into curmudgeon role, and people will say "what did you expect, it's a kids' movie" (except it's a little rough for a kids' movie) -- what the hell is up with the kids these days! I'm pretty sure that on the relatively rare occasion I got to see a movie as a small one, I didn't spend the entire time talking.

Talking. Not whispering, not texting, not throwing popcorn, just talking. A constant running commentary was taking place on either side of me, in front of me, and behind me. Explaining to each other what was going on, exclaiming happily when something was about to occur, blah, blah, blah. And the parents futilely exhorting their 10-year-olds to please hush.

Argh!

But my enduring Alan Rickman crush is maintained, nonetheless. He stole the show, as usual, and this time round he made me cry.

F. · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 2578

Ever wonder what it would look like if Alejandro González Iñárritu made a horror film?

The other night I saw something called We Are What We Are. Like those Romero zombie movies, the politics are the best part. I don't want to spoil anything, so I'll just say that the violence in the movie isn't the source of the horror, rather it's a symptom of the larger horrors of class oppression. It's always neat when a genre film pulls off that trick really well.

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 3:46 pm Post subject:

I finally saw It Conquered the World last night.

It's a fairly average Level B Sci Fi film from the 50s (including a spoken, not just a metaphorical, reference to the dangers of Communism), but I've wanted to see it for a while since it is mentioned in Frank Zappa's Cheepnis.

thwap · Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2011 5:11 pm Post subject:

It looks like the whole thing is on YouTube.
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Fidel · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 04 May 2006 Posts: 812

My 13 year-old nephew says the movie Paul was pretty good. I like Simon Pegg movies. He was hilarious as the keyed-up policeman-officer Nicholas Angel in Hot Fuzz. Laff a minute low budget Brit films are pretty good sometimes.
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Democracy should more appropriately be referred to as Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. - George Washington

sparqui · Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2011 4:20 pm Post subject:

I loved "Shaun of the Dead".

Don't Stop Me Now fight scene
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“If my grandmother had wheels, she'd be a tractor.”

-- Gilles Duceppe

Fidel · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 04 May 2006 Posts: 812

Good Queen! Well they were hardly going to sit back with a cold pint at the Winchester until the "whole thing blows over." Laughing

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Democracy should more appropriately be referred to as Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power. - George Washington

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 3:15 am Post subject:

voice of the damned · Posted: Sat Oct 15, 2011 3:57 pm Post subject:

I just finished watching The Conspirator, a Robert Redford-directed film about the military trial of Mary Surratt, one of the accused conspirators in the Lincoln assassination. Fairly up-front allegory about the War On Terror, and consideraby better than Redford's last foray into similar political terrain, the rather incoherent Lions For Lambs.

al-Qa'bong · Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 5:54 pm Post subject:

Apparently there's a new Meryl Streep film about Margaret Thatcher. I don't believe I'll go see it.

Doesn't Streep realise that the Margaret Thatcher character in Sophie's Choice would have been the guy forcing Sophie to choose?

Anyway, here is some fine artistic commentary on Thatcher:

Renaud - Miss Maggie

The English Beat - Stand Down Margaret

UB40 - Madame Medusa

And everybody's favourite: The Exploited - Maggie
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"The purpose of government is to protect the weak from the powerful" Hammurabi

"We can't all be Sam the Sham; some of us have to be Pharoahs" Larry, brother of Darrel, and his other brother Daryl

ronb · Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 7:10 pm Post subject:

That's a great list of reasons to despise Thatcher and her ideology, but I'm not sure that the reviewer has even seen the film. The trailer I saw for it in the theatre last night made Thatcher look like a monster, so I'm going to reserve judgement until the reviews are in I guess. I thought Helen Mirren in The Queen made the royal family look like complete vultures, so I'm no ready to pile onto this one just yet. Although I admit "from the people who brought you Mamma Mia" doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.

F. · Fulltime enMasse Member Joined: 13 Apr 2006 Posts: 2578