Spawn of What Movies Have You Seen This Week

moneyp · March-21st-2003, 01:05 AM

Our movie discussion thread.

Anyone see SPIDER yet?

graypencil · March-21st-2003, 01:39 AM

Not seen Spider, but I have seen a wonderful movie on HBO starring Jessica Lange called "Normal" ..

it's a wonderfully written and produced story about a farm equipment salesman in the midwest who decides to undergo a sex change. Everything about it is well done ..( Doug , listen to the odd musical score ..)

Also, thanks to PPV, I just caught up with the remake of the spy film with Matt Damon ( Bourne Identity ) .. it was extremely well done ..and particularly well shot and edited ..great chase stuff!!

Jazzooo · March-21st-2003, 10:51 AM

yes, GP--I did notice the score. I don't remember it now but I do remember enjoying it. My favorite score so far is About Schmidt, composed by Rolfe Kent. It's mostly acoustic instruments--maybe a 15 piece orchestra, stripped down, but done with a Twin Peaks feel (not a lot of dynamics). Romantic harmonies.

RBS · March-21st-2003, 10:59 AM

Maybe it's because of the war, but this week I've seen some real mindless entertainment!

First up: "Undercover Brother" starring Eddie Griffin. Very funny, hilarious in spots, but mindless.

Then, "Double Take" with Orlando Jones and Eddie Griffin. Another funny movie, but altogether not as good as "Undercover Brother."

mjb · March-21st-2003, 11:36 AM

I recently watched "Ringu" and "The Ring" one after the other.

Ringu was by far the least explicit and so, for me, more interesting. The Ring, while well done, really took every mystery or shade and ironed it flat, including the main concept.

I just found "Stalker" on DVD and am waiting for the right time to tackle it.

March-21st-2003, 12:07 PM

not sure if this was brought up on the "old" site "old thread:

Anyone see the amazing "Rivers and Tides?"
it's a doc about the artist Andy Goldsworthy, and it's
a beautiful pleasure. Music by Fred Frith too is very nice.

Jazzooo · March-21st-2003, 01:00 PM

River s and Tides has been on my 'must see" list for a long time, thanks for the reminder.

moneyp · March-21st-2003, 01:58 PM

Dancer in the Dark:

Bjork plays Selma, a factory worker with a love for musicals who is going blind. She accidently shoots her neighbor when he tries to steal her money. If this sounds like a pretty heavy plot for a musical, it is.

I love Bjork, I love Lars Von Trier but this movie is rough sledding. For something so overwrought, it should have far more substance than it does, and for all of Von Trier's accomplishments, he comes up short when in constructing the musical sequences, which suffer from weak choreography and haphazard editing. Another problem is that these are clearly Bjork songs, and asking the other actors to sing like Bjork just doesn't work.

I should have loved this movie, but I found it a mild ordeal and was tempted to bail at several points throughout. Very disappointing.

elizabethbrion · March-21st-2003, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by RBS
Maybe it's because of the war, but this week I've seen some real mindless entertainment!

First up: "Undercover Brother" starring Eddie Griffin. Very funny, hilarious in spots, but mindless.

I saw this in the theater when it came out; I was surprised that it didn't do better. It had the same appeal as the Austin Powers films, but without the gross-out humor. An excellent choice for those of you who might find yourself in need of comic relief this week.

So are there any decent comedies in theaters these days? My husband and I went to see "Bringing Down The House" and ended up walking out after half an hour, and we're not really walk-out-of-movies people. Escapist entertainment has been a rare commodity...

Jazzooo · March-21st-2003, 07:04 PM

Welcome, Elizabeth.

I literally hated Bringing Down The House, though Queen Latifah and Steve Martin have undeniable individual charisma. But the pat racisicm-played-for-laughs was embarrassingly awful.

perhaps something funny is opening this weekend...

Dr Dave · March-21st-2003, 09:41 PM

Dancer in the Dark was embarrassing.

I finally got around to seeing Adaptation, and I now feel smarter than 90 percent of movie critics (I know, this is no great achievement) because I understood that the ending was part of the joke, that the movie we are meant to see changes radically when Charlie's brother Doug gets involved. I mean, Drugs! Sex! A chase through a swamp! The sudden intervention of an alligator! Nicolas Cage should get two Oscars.

I've found it interesting also that there are many people who don't know Cage started out as a comic actor. I hope to get many of my fellow Americans to rent Raising Arizona so they can see what they've been missing. "BRING ME A TODDLER!" etc.

Jazzooo · March-22nd-2003, 02:20 AM

Well, I remember when a movie had to be a lot funnier than Videw From The Top to stand out, but at least it doesn't suck. In fact, aside from a mostly painful and unfortunately reoccuring cameo by Mike Myers, and a kind of forced end-credits sequence, this is a cute and well-done fluffy comedy about a small-town girl's dream of becoming a flight attendent. Gwynneth Paltrow is quite terrific.

elizabethbrion · March-22nd-2003, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jazzooo
Welcome, Elizabeth.

I literally hated Bringing Down The House, though Queen Latifah and Steve Martin have undeniable individual charisma. But the pat racisicm-played-for-laughs was embarrassingly awful.

Thanks for the welcome! I've actually been here for a while; I just didn't post very often because my computers and the old site hated each other. :-)

Agreed totally on Bringing Down The House. I don't mind racial-issues-as-comedy if it's done well; this seemed like it had been written by someone who'd never met any black people *or* any white people before, but watched a lot of bad TV shows about them.

We're about to leave for a week in LA, where it looks as if a few potentially good independent films are showing. This whole small-town-living thing is truly overrated.

Jazzooo · March-22nd-2003, 06:57 PM

[QUOTE

Agreed totally on Bringing Down The House. I don't mind racial-issues-as-comedy if it's done well; this seemed like it had been written by someone who'd never met any black people *or* any white people before, but watched a lot of bad TV shows about them.

We're about to leave for a week in LA, where it looks as if a few potentially good independent films are showing. This whole small-town-living thing is truly overrated. [/B][/QUOTE]

Yes, but you can always just run over to Robyn's in Cambria!

Squaredancecalling Steve · March-22nd-2003, 07:13 PM

THE BANGER SISTERS -- Predictable fluff, but fun nevertheless, with Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon as middle aged ex-groupies.

WHEN WE WERE KINGS -- Fabulous documentary on the Ali-Foreman Rumble in The Jungle, the accompanying concert (James Brown, B.B. King, Spinners), the poltical situation in Zaire, commentaries by Norman Mailer and George Plimpton... hadn't seen it since it came out and it's even better than I'd remembered. Highly recommended.

Mike Goodbar · March-22nd-2003, 09:55 PM

Rented "The Good Girl" last weekend at my wife's insistence.

I don't know if Aniston was going for bland or if she was showing us her actual range. I like John C. Reilly, and he was really trying to inject some badly needed energy into this film.

Jazzooo · March-25th-2003, 02:31 AM

I really enjoyed The Good Girl myself.

now today i saw a movie--HOLY MOLY, what a mess! Dreamcatcher, the new Steven King movie directed by Lawrence Kasdan, is basically John Carpenter's The Thing, Stand By Me, Outbreak, First Blood, Harry Potter, Men In Black, Flowers For Algernon, Insomnia and Independence Day all rolled into one movie. One kind of really bad movie, in fact.

That's not say that i wasn't entertained and yes, scared at certain points. And it is one handsome movie--great effects--wait, i just rmembered that there was also some Dune, some Fugitive, and some A Few Good Men in there as well. But overall it's pretty awful--a bad script and way too many plots to care about and too many holes to believe in.

Reid · March-25th-2003, 03:40 PM

The script in Dreamcatcher was not good, I agree. I'm surprised you didn't comment about Morgan Freeman's bushy eyebrows! I figured that, right there, would have ruined the movie for you.

-------

Lost in La Mancha (7 out of 10)

This is a documentary about Terry Gilliam's attempt to make a movie adaptation of Don Quixote. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in the filmmaking process.

Sergio Zamora · March-25th-2003, 04:34 PM

I saw 'Tears of the Sun'. It's crap-tastic.

Jazzooo · March-25th-2003, 05:11 PM

Well, I couldn't take my eyes off of his flattop, Reid. I'm sure he couldn't take his eyes off the paycheck on this one.

Monte Smith · March-26th-2003, 01:00 AM

Haha...the wife and I saw DREAMCATCHER over the weekend. Have to agree with your assessment. It was sloppy, a little overlong--and quite entertaining. I liked the inside-the-head-of-Jonesy stuff, the ass weasels, the fart jokes, Morgan Freeman's new do, and the acting job of the guy that played Jonesy (aka Captain Winters from HBO's BAND OF BROTHERS). I didn't like how the film couldn't decide if it was X-Files, THE THING or Stephen King's IT, that excruciating Jason Lee scene with the toothpick, or Donnie Wahlburg. No slam on Donnie Wahlburg (also of BAND OF BROTHERS). I preferred the earlier Duddits.

Reid · March-26th-2003, 11:56 PM

To Live and Die in LA

Jazzooo, were you the one who recommended this one to me? Anyway, it does have one of the best car chase scenes I've ever seen. I thought the casting wasn't right though. There were some elements in the plot that I found hard to take, too.

Jazzooo · March-27th-2003, 02:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Reid
To Live and Die in LA

Jazzooo, were you the one who recommended this one to me? Anyway, it does have one of the best car chase scenes I've ever seen. I thought the casting wasn't right though. There were some elements in the plot that I found hard to take, too.

I don't think it was me, Reid. I remember thinking that it was ok.

I just saw Quiet American. actually, I went to see Irreversible, a controversial film dealing with, apparently, a male homosexual rape. I say apprently because after sitting through 15 sickening minutes of the camera spinning around like a film school student on Extasy, only occasionally focusing on anything poertaining to a storyline, I left. Incomprehensible. I expected to be shocked, not bored. Anway, I went to the theater right next door and caught The Quiet American--very impressive and interesting. Hard to see why it wasn't nominated for Best Picture. Not a completel knockout, but it left Gangs of NY in the dust, imo.

Vince Kargatis · March-27th-2003, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Dr Dave
I finally got around to seeing Adaptation, and I now feel smarter than 90 percent of movie critics (I know, this is no great achievement) because I understood that the ending was part of the joke, that the movie we are meant to see changes radically when Charlie's brother Doug gets involved. I mean, Drugs! Sex! A chase through a swamp! The sudden intervention of an alligator!

I'm not sure most critics missed that the 3rd act was a joke. The question is, is it a good one? That's where the disagreement lies, I think. Personally, for a while I couldn't understand the motivation for it at all - why would Charlie (either the real or fictional one) indulge in any of the elements he so rightly disparaged right from the beginning? Where's the motivation? Now, presumably the implication is that 'Donald' was responsible for it, but why would Charlie give into him/pressure/Hollywood? I honestly think there was no sufficient motivation *shown*, and whatever might be implied doesn't work for me either. That's what I was (maybe am) missing.

Now, someone suggested something to me that may save it - she said that the 3rd act pretty much started *immediately* after Charlie asked Donald for help. If that's the case, then I'm sold - to go from the request to immediate Donald pollution *is* a good joke. But is that the case? I can't honestly remember the timeline of the film closely enough. If the 3rd act didn't start right after, then I'm still unconvinced why Charlie would give in. Giving in in and of itself does not a good joke make.

This point aside, I found the script just about brilliant. Great work by all.

I just returned from 4 weeks in the States, where I saw a bunch of films that hadn't reached Greece yet: About Schmidt, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Talk To Her, Adaptation, Punch Drunk Love, Chicago, The Hours, Lost in La Mancha, The Pianist.

Kinda hated CHICAGO (a loose string of glitzy show numbers - where was the film?? This was not a return to the 'grand Hollywood musical'), enjoyed LOST, thought THE HOURS was overwrought, but had good performances, and really-liked-to-loved the others.

Although I was truly pained to see CHICAGO win Best Picture, I was pleased to see THE PIANIST win the 'virtual' BP: Best Director + Screenplay + Actor != CHICAGO.

Jazzooo · March-27th-2003, 11:17 AM

Vince, I do believe the timeline is as it was suggested to you. I also saw the motivation for Charlie to make the ending more Donal-like was to honor his dead twin. It didn't work completely for me, but I've forgiven it since.

Vince Kargatis · March-27th-2003, 12:48 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jazzooo
I also saw the motivation for Charlie to make the ending more Donal-like was to honor his dead twin.

Hm, not sure this really flies, by itself - I think it's pretty convincing that, within the film, Donald is a complete fantasy/alter-ego of Charlie's - I can't imagine either the fictional or real Charlie wanting to pay homage to a now-subsumed personality... (Donald of course is completely fictional in this world.)

moneyp · March-27th-2003, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Jazzooo
Vince, I do believe the timeline is as it was suggested to you. I also saw the motivation for Charlie to make the ending more Donal-like was to honor his dead twin. It didn't work completely for me, but I've forgiven it since.

Since "Donald" is writing the final third of the movie, he isn't really dead, if you know what I mean. Donald writes his own death scene, not Charlie, so it's his perspective you have to look at it from.

RBS · March-27th-2003, 02:33 PM

My friend and I saw "Dreamcatcher." Yeah, it was a bit of a mess, but I really enjoyed sitting back and not trying to make much sense out of it. The acting was very good, and for popcorn fluff kind of hoo-hah, I enjoyed it.

I saw "A Day in the Death of Joe Egg" on Broadway last night and it was horrible! It starred Eddie Izzard, who is normally a stand-up comedian, I believe. Not only does he look like an alcoholic in real life, but I'll be honest....

The play is about a relationship between two people that is torn apart by the mother's taking care of their spastic, epileptic, mentally retarded daughter.

Eddie Izzard might very well have given one of the worst performances I've ever seen! He showed no love for the daughter and was just kind of crabby and cranky throughout the entire play! He was surrounded by professional actors which made him all the more excruciating to watch!

But that's theater...back to movies:

"Y Tu Mama Tambien" -- people loved it. I thought it sucked. I really did. OOOH -- another deep foreign film about sex and death.

And if you really want to talk about sucky movies, try see "Breaking the Waves." Why I want to go to the movies to watch a bleak, depressed woman get more bleak and depressed is beyond me.

"The Pianist" -- just wonderful. Shows what happened to a real-life musician who survived the Holocaust. Just beautiful.

Reid · March-29th-2003, 06:25 PM

Quiet American

There were some interesting ideas in the film. My favorite line: "Sometimes you have to choose sides to remain human" or something to that effect. I didn't think Michael Caine's performance was especially good, and I like Michael Caine. Then again, at times I had a hard time concentrating on the film and enjoying it because I kept thinking about the parallels between the war and the situation in the movie. Plus, the war is not going as well as expected. (I'm a worrier.)

Anyway, I agree with Jazzooo that it was better than *Gangs of New York*

RBS,

I thought Y Tu Mama Tambien wasn't that great as well. However, I didn't care for The Pianist. I loved the moment when he's playing the piano in front of the German officer, but other than that. I felt like I saw the same movie in The Killing Fields (except a different context).

-----
RE: Adaptation

I liked the imagination and creativity that went in the film, but on some level I felt dissatisfied. The jokes were based the cleverness of the writer and because of that they were a bit empty for me. The other thing is that I thought he had an interesting story and characters developing--Streep and Cooper--but instead of doing hard work and finding a resolution, he opts for the clever joke-ending. It's sort of like a really intelligent student writing part of a good paper, but because she doesn't know how it will end opts for a clever, but easy out.

Jazzooo · March-29th-2003, 06:55 PM

Another string of rave reviews from Reid!

I do agree about the ending of Adaptation though i've reconciled it by now.

I just saw The Core--a big, ridiculous but fun adventure movie. Some nice chemistry between characters, a kitchen sink approach to casting and plot development, science that is rather unbelievable from the first 5 minutes but still kind of stimulating to consider...good editing and beautiful photography though the special efx were kind of just ok. I give it a marginal thumbs up, but it's entertaining.

Oh, and bad hair for Stanely Tucci (who has no hair, so that should tell you something!)