Movie/film thread: resurrected

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Lotus Eater

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Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1020 on: February 04, 2009, 05:10:20 AM »
It's taken me a while, but I watched the first 5 episodes of Sopranos tonight.

So far, interesting.  Not too bad.

Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1021 on: February 05, 2009, 03:04:29 PM »
Just like the kids seemed like real kids, I think Walt seemed like a very real person. We aren't really used to heroes in movies being like this.
Abso-freakin-lutely.  And it's because they really don't fit "hero" mold.  The two sides of the character muddy and spoil each other, taking the strength out of either sides heroic action.  Seems to me.  So it's a tough storyline to sell.

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For me, these contrasts made his character all the more real. When he talked to the girl in the basement that Toad likes I started cringing in advance because it felt like you just couldn't know "which" Walt was going to come out. We've probably all got relatives like this–you don't know what the hell they're going to say in social situations.
Yeah, that was an interesting sequence.  When it started, with Walt agreeing to go visit the zipperhead household, I was like "Whut?!", and all the way through it I was looking for signs of what the hell was going on in Walt's psyche... that actually was fascinating at least in part because it took a little while to get my head around the fact that actually Walt was pretty damn drunk!

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(This is why we see him lying on his back, arms out and blood on his hands like stigmata; he's Christ dying for the sins of everyone else...this symbolism was a little over the top.)

Does his dying solve all of the problems in the world? No. Nothing can undo or make better Sue being raped.

That was really very hard to take, you know?  Thematically, and as a story that people watch and sort of might learn lessons from, there was next to nothing in anyone's responses in that movie that paid real, true, suitable attention to Sue.

That's kind of it, really.  Walt being as he was represented pretty much undermined everything good in his own action (and thus in the story's sorta-heroic theme) not so much by being a crappy man, but by being inadequate to the stuff that went on around him.

And that wasn't what the movie told us.  I didn't tell us Walt was inadequate as a heroic themed man.  I guess it told us he was a man (with one or two big ideas) and that's it.

Which is freaky in a film because we want to pin something bigger to the hero, I think.

So I can't work out if Gran Torino was High Plains Drifter in the suburbs or just the suburbs.

See, where in the hell did Walt get the idea to finish out that way?  How did he figure it out?  Why?  Where did it come from?  Maybe I just haven't met people like that so I don't know, or maybe the movie didn't present it right.  Dunno.  Maybe I'll have to try watching it again.
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1022 on: February 06, 2009, 10:53:31 PM »
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So I can't work out if Gran Torino was High Plains Drifter in the suburbs or just the suburbs.
Sounds like I need to rustle up a copy of High Plains Drifter.

High Plains Drifter and/or Pale Rider.  Clint Classics.

I've got the uTorrent working on 2046 right now. 

I remember once I was sitting on a sofa with a wonderful girl and a very startling film was on the tube--no English.  I saw enough of it to know I had to look away--because I could see it was that good and I was missing huge chunks of it by not being able to follow the language.  It might have been 2046.  Story about a guy, something about unexpectedly being in the future, something about a big gap of time being crossed somehow... 2 policemen, one was Japanese, or maybe Korean, something about fate and future action and past consequence or... something...  Somehow just a little tiny bit like PK Dick grew up in the wrong country  :)
when ur a roamin', do as the settled do o_0

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joe

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Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1023 on: February 07, 2009, 02:15:00 AM »
Picked up a transnational chinese cinema's unit at university today, fascinating stuff.

Watching 'Not One Less' (Zhang Yimou - director of Raise the Red Lantern)

It's great...it's the story of a young female teacher who acts as a substitute in a small village. She will only be paid on the condition that when the teacher returns, all the students must still be there, hence the title. Basically one kid legs it off to the city, and she goes after him to bring him back. I'd be interested to get your views on it as teachers in china...would be great to talk about in my next class. I could upload it if its not readily available?

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Lotus Eater

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Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1024 on: February 07, 2009, 02:21:34 AM »
It's readily available.  The countryside schooling was pretty much like that until recently. 

My beef with this movie was that she left the rest of the class untaught while she 'rescued' the child who went off to earn money.    I can understand her wanting her money, but ... she didn't earn it!

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Spaghetti

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Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1025 on: February 15, 2009, 09:57:18 AM »
Saw The Wrestler while back home. I actually cried during two moments of the film.  bibibibibi I also enjoyed seeing a small time guy like Necro Butcher get a really big, arty spotlight shined upon him. In a perfect world, his work in The Wrestler would be similar to what "Thunderlips" did for Hulk Hogan's career after Rocky III. Mickey Rourke is great in this, but the press are acting like he just came out of exile for this film. People forget eh was one of the few good things about Sin City three years ago. The guy never once lost his talent. He simply lost his mind. Still, that's a gripe about the pr machine. Great film. I look forward to what Aranofsky will do with Robocop.  ababababab

I also caught The Wackness, which is a great, character driven dramadey that reminded me of classic 70s era American cinema like Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Smile, etc. It's st during the summer of 1994 and follows a pot dealer who befriends a stoner shrink in a pot-for-therapy exchange, falls for his daughter, and the nutty people he does business with over the season.
"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be an individual."
Haruki Murakami

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AMonk

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Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1026 on: February 15, 2009, 10:57:07 AM »
WARNING !!


The following shows are finishing up this year.....Prison Break, Housewives, Lost.







Moderation....in most things...

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decurso

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Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1027 on: February 15, 2009, 08:13:42 PM »
WARNING !!


The following shows are finishing up this year.....Prison Break, Housewives, Lost.

 This is very good news.

 Mickey Rourke has always been brilliant, he just hasn't appeared in anything decent for 20 years or so because he's a complete nut job. Check out his performances in The Pope of Greenwhich Village, Angel Heart and Barfly.









Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1028 on: February 15, 2009, 08:48:06 PM »
Just finished the second season of The Tudors. 'Twas fun, and now I'm stuck in a new program called Leverage. As to movies, I recently watched Yes Man and Ghost Town. I preferred Yes Man to Ghost Town because it was funnier. Both stories were good, though, and I love both Jim Carrey and Ricky Gervais. Worth renting or streaming. I was told that Milk was phenomenal, so that's on the to-be-watched list.

Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1029 on: February 15, 2009, 08:55:20 PM »
I am still hunting down the second season of the Tudors. "Yes Man" looks hilarious.
I just watched "Music and Lyrics by" with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. I thought it was rather funny. Tried watching the re-make of "The Omen" but couldn't. It was so bad. Crappy remakes of great movies should be banned.
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.

"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.

Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1030 on: February 15, 2009, 09:02:13 PM »
Nearly all of the second season of The Tudors is online at watchtvsitcoms.com. Yes Man was quite good, and I appreciated the philosophy presented. Forgot to mention I also saw Bedtime Stories. Adam Sandler is one of my favorites.

Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1031 on: February 15, 2009, 09:08:39 PM »
will check out that site. Fire_Dragon, where have you been? Your posting has been sorely missed.
"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination." Oscar Wilde.

"It's all oojah cum spiffy". Bertie Wooster.
"The stars are God's daisy chain" Madeleine Bassett.

Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1032 on: February 15, 2009, 09:14:38 PM »
I've been swamped with work :) As is, I got home from work this evening a little after 9pm (MST). My school duties are mountainous! The only reason I've watched so many movies and TV shows is due to Netflix.

ETR, the website is good -- hope you can access it from China. There are lots of options, including cartoons if you enjoy those. Let me know how it works out for you. And thanks so much for asking about me :)

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Spaghetti

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Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1033 on: February 15, 2009, 09:35:36 PM »
quote author=AMonk link=topic=166.msg63974#msg63974 date=1234645027]
WARNING !!


The following shows are finishing up this year.....Prison Break, Housewives, Lost.

 This is very good news.


I agree. The end of those shows means I won't have to explain to a thousand-plus students why I don't watch them and why we won't be discussing them in class. Probably the worst of American television, ranking below anything claiming to be "reality" television.

In deeply sad, American television news: Moral Orel wrapped up its final season.

I did see an utterly fantastic documentary series on PBS back home, called Make 'Em Laugh, which was a six part chronicle of American television comedy. Not only did it make me laugh at nearly 60 years of television, but it was great documentary filmmaking.
"Most young people were getting jobs in big companies, becoming company men. I wanted to be an individual."
Haruki Murakami

Re: Movie/film thread: resurrected
« Reply #1034 on: February 16, 2009, 04:40:02 PM »
Ooh, I'm not having that about Lost!

While it's true that series 2 and 3 were a bit of a dip, 4 and 5 have been superb so far. 
It is too early to say.