Movie/film thread: resurrected

Vi är bäst! ("We are the best!") (2013)

Charming.

In 1982, two early-teen girls decide they'll be a punk band. They rope in a third to teach them how to play. The story goes a bit mundane once boys are introduced, but that's not until much later. For the larger part, the movie is delightful.

 

Bună, ce faci? (Hello! How Are You?) (2010)

Romanian romantic comedy. Gabriel and Gabriela (Gabby and Gabby) are so alike in their boredom and disappointment that they meet in a chatroom and fall in love despite already being married, to each other, having a son, and living in the same house. Now I've seen everything.

Sin City-A Dame To Kill For: I liked the first Sin City. This one was silly, The Johnny story line made no sense, the continuity seemed completely off. It was like a sequel and a prequel at the same time. I had expected better.

A Walk Among the Tombstones: Liam Neeson delivers excellent noir. Good movie but I enjoyed the book more.

Versus (2000)

Cult classique 

In Japan, when one particular group of Yakuza make someone disappear, they end up in a particular forest. One day, the boss tells his men to kidnap a girl and meet two prison escapees in that forest. While waiting for the boss himself to show up, one of the escapees starts an argument with the goons, and that's when they all find out why it's called a Forest of Resurrection.

Kung fu samurai ghost zombies reincarnated with guns!

Jersey Boys (2014)

Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons biopic - music plus a movie. The movie surrounding the music is innocuous, and kind of drama-lite. It tells a very familiar kind of story these days, I guess. The music is, of course, great. I had fun. The strongest character is that voice.

 

"THE JUDGE": (142mins) Robert Downey Junior really played his part well as the smug city Lawyer who specialises in defending the guilty. The part of the Judge is played by Robert Duval who is now in his 80s. The movie becomes a cross-examination of a father-son relationship as the past comes boiling to the surface. I  didn't mind this and I think some of you guys might take a look. It is getting about a 3 star rating here.

"Gone Girl":(149mins) Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star in this missing persons thriller.  Movie reviewers have given this one 4 and a half stars. Perhaps it is again "just me", but I'd love to hear what you guys think of it.

"THE JUDGE": (142mins) Robert Downey Junior really played his part well as the smug city Lawyer who specialises in defending the guilty. The part of the Judge is played by Robert Duval who is now in his 80s. The movie becomes a cross-examination of a father-son relationship as the past comes boiling to the surface. I  didn't mind this and I think some of you guys might take a look. It is getting about a 3 star rating here.

"Gone Girl":(149mins) Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike star in this missing persons thriller.  Movie reviewers have given this one 4 and a half stars. Perhaps it is again "just me", but I'd love to hear what you guys think of it.

Both of those sound good. I'm looking forward to getting them here in China…may take a while, though.

We watched Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend. Pretty standard stuff, not that interesting.

"The Little Death":  This is a comedy about sex, love, relationships in a multi story narrative as we peer behind the closed doors of a seemingly normal suburban street.  I took my neighbour to see it and she learned a few more things about sex.   I laughed my head off. I think the younger movie patrons were surprised to hear this old fart laughing at things they apparently didn't see.  I don't call this a "chick flick", so I reckon some of you guys will get a laugh.

Saw "The Judge" and enjoyed it very much by the end.  Was impatient when Duvall and Downey were not on the screen much at first, but patience paid off. Had a very poignant scene about his dad's aging and dignity which I thought was outstanding and even cutting edge for mainstream movies.  And, what a cast!!!

Also saw "Gone Girl". Just my experience, (and my sister who went with me), but couldn't stand it. Never bought into it and knew how it would end after about 15 minutes.  Was even more angry that I couldn't fall asleep in my chair. However, my son who is in the business, loved it.

Would recommend "Kill The Messenger". Jeremy Renner in a big role about an historical event in the U.S.  Always tough to make a movie about journalism, but this one does okay. 

Thanks A-Train.  I'm glad that  someone else shared my view on "Gone Girl", especially after it received a high rating here in Oz.

Thanks A-Train.  I'm glad that  someone else shared my view on "Gone Girl", especially after it received a high rating here in Oz.

My son tells me that it's a work of genius. Says the plot is just a, (predictable), structure that allows the director to give us a meditation on relationships and what is real and unreal about them.  But, he's a self-admitted David Fincher groupie.  I'll have to watch it again, (for free), with this in mind.

I'll be interested to hear if you change your mind A-Train.  For my part, I don't  think too deeply about the movie I'm seeing, I just like to let it unfold. I have learned, particularly by listening to my elderly neighbour, that people certainly see things from a different perspective. Sometimes I am left wondering if we were even watching the same movie. I have also heard folks discussing movies and to my way of thinking, they often appear to have  missed the point. I often think that if a group of people were to see a movie and then had to write a precis on what they saw BEFORE they speak to anyone else about it, it would be a real eye opener.

Coherence (2013)

A truly excellent slow-build scifi variation on bump-in-the-night.

This is a dinner party movie, closely focused on eight old and new friends around a table, and then the power goes out.

 

"Breakup Buddies" - Xin Hua Lv Fang - 心花路放 - (2014)

Goofy

Where Lost in Thailand stayed goofy right through to the end, Breakup Buddies has more substance, more heart, as it follows two guys down the road after one of them gets a divorce, but it's still kind of goofy. A native speaker would likely have a lot more fun with it though. I missed a lot of the early humor just because they speak so fast and the subtitles can't keep up. The narrative structure is episodic (not unlike Touch of Sin) right up until a very cool narrative twist that's very pleasing. Meanwhile, it's fun. Seems like there might be a number of in-jokes too. I'd watch it again with a better quality copy to enjoy the scenery and maybe catch more of the story.

 

A Most Wanted Man

Philip Seymour Hoffman's last starring role. He is the nearly-disillusioned spy master, Günther Bachmann, who happens upon Issa Karpov, a recently arrived Russian/Chechen refugee in Hamburg. Soon everyone wants to know where Karpov is hiding and what Bachmann thinks he's up to. This is a curious movie because it's very attractive to look at, but strangely cold. The Cold War sensibility used on modern terrorism makes for a puzzlingly desperate mix, and Hoffman is very hard to read. Some would say the whole story's right there on his face, but still I found the mix of bitter and earnest to be opaque. Perhaps it's supposed to be.

 


Addendum: a damnably attractive mix of Tom Wait's Hoist That Rag plays over the credits, and as far as I can tell that's the only place you can hear it. You listening, media distributors? If you made this stuff available for download at the same time as the movie, normal people would buy it you idiots!