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Post by Jeremy on Nov 2, 2021 11:22:34 GMT -8
I'll give it a look. I'll probably continue with the horror kick for a while - I've never been one to conform to the Halloween season, anyway.
I watched Alien Resurrection last night. An improvement over Alien3, though not by much. More interesting characters (who thankfully don't all look alike) and some good action scenes - the animatronics hold up far better than the CG effects, as expected - but a thin plot and a much less interesting version of Ripley than in the prior three films. The script (by a pre-problematic Joss Whedon) has its moments of wit, but they clash with the film's more serious undertones. Winona Ryder was great, in any event.
Guessing I should ignore the Alien vs. Predator films for now. Though it's interesting that the first AvP is PG-13, given how R-rated the prior two Alien films were. Kind of a blip in the franchise(s).
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 19, 2021 13:02:54 GMT -8
Saw some duds recently, but finished the week on a high note.
Con Air - Okay, I checked this out in large part due to the cast, which is a remarkable ensemble from top to bottom. Sadly, they could not elevate this loud and generally nonsensical film above B-grade action fare. Main sources of script-related entertainment come from pointing out the various '90s action clichés and the jokes/characterizations that would not fly in today's environment. Liked the actors, didn't much care for the material they were given.
Snakes on a Plane - Of course I had to follow one dumb aircraft-set movie with another. My apologies. I want to watch intelligent films, but sometimes I need movies that function mainly as background noise while I'm doing menial work. And this one succeeded on that level - it's really dumb and features a lot of one-note characters who feel straight out of a Roland Emmerich flick. Fun for a little while, and then it gets old. Certainly no victim of false advertising, though.
The Jazz Singer (1927) - Imagine my surprise to learn that Hollywood's first-ever "talkie" centered on the internal strife of a Jewish family around the High Holidays. Okay, I'm hooked! I mean, it doesn't really live up to the "talkie" angle, since a lot of it is silent, apart from some hit-or-miss musical sequences. And the story moves along at a snail's pace, constantly rehashing the same three or four points at every turn. Were audiences just slower back then? Oh well, it looks like they're building to an interesting climax... Wait, what's he... Is that... OH NOOOOOOO
Whiplash - I had never seen this one start-to-finish before, but I'm glad I finally did. A masterstroke in tension and heart-pounding drama, with a taut script that sells everything from the dual meaning of its title card to the white-knuckle dénouement. Simmons and Teller are excellent, and Chazelle's direction never misses a beat. Incredible stuff.
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Post by guttersnipe on Nov 20, 2021 5:12:49 GMT -8
I don't think I've ever met anyone who thinks The Jazz Singer is a legitimately good film; it's one of those things you'd never recommend unless you knew the recipient of that information was interested in pursuing film with a somewhat academic/historic bent or simply in cultural milestones.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 20, 2021 21:22:48 GMT -8
I decided to check out The Jazz Singer after I heard some film critic refer to it as perhaps the most hilariously unintentional anti-Semitic film ever made. However, on closer inspection, I think he was referring to one of the remakes, rather than the original. Oops!
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 8, 2021 13:21:48 GMT -8
Focused on my end-of-the-year projects right now, but I watched a couple of Japanese films this week. (They were live-action, so unlike Cowboy Bebop, I did not watch dubbed versions.)
One Cut of the Dead - What a gloriously fun little movie. It starts out as a somewhat unusual zombie action comedy (filmed as though it's all one unbroken shot), and then takes a very unexpected turn. There were parts of this film that I wasn't fully onboard with, but the final 30 minutes are spectacular. I'm being deliberately vague in description, because this is the kind of movie you need to go into knowing as little as possible. But it's absolutely worth a watch. POM!
Godzilla (1954) - This was an interesting film to watch on Pearl Harbor Day. Can't say I was too gripped by it, though. Good effects during the monster scenes, plus some naturally resonant themes for its era, but the human characters are pretty forgettable. I was vaguely tempted to watch the dubbed version of this, simply to see how badly the dialogue matched the lips, but I don't think HBO has that option available.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 8, 2021 19:46:18 GMT -8
Are you suggesting that the human characters in a Godzilla film are underdeveloped?! How DARE you, sir!
One Cut Of The Dead is apparently quite notable for generating a huge (percentage-wise) return on its tiny budget, though it appears to be on Amazon Prime, which I don't have right now. Maybe I'll give it a look at some point.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 9, 2021 8:07:12 GMT -8
I maintain that the human characters in the 2014 Godzilla film were adequate. Nothing brilliant, but at least recognizable as people instead of cannon fodder. Though it does seem to be considered an outlier in this regard.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 24, 2021 12:27:17 GMT -8
So despite finishing my "Best of 2021" lists, I've still been catching up on a lot of new releases. But still finding time for some oldies:
Raising Arizona - Even in their early days, the Coen Brothers knew how to string together a well-oiled comedy farce. I got a lot of laughs out of this one; great cast and several memorable chase scenes. The dialogue is phenomenal, made even better when delivered by Cage. Can definitely see some influences for the Fargo TV series as well.
Léon: The Professional - One of the unspoken rules of cinema is that no non-sequel movie should ever have a colon in the title. But I'm starting to see there are exceptions to this rule. This film is an engaging and atmospheric film that combines dark and light elements into a thrilling blend, and features great lead performances from Jean Reno and a young Natalie Portman. (Gary Oldman is, per usual, a bit hammy as the villain, but I wouldn't call that a bad thing.)
Used Cars - I wasn't particularly interested in seeing this so much as I was interested in completing the Robert Zemeckis oeuvre. It's a fun comedy, but marred by a streak of mean-spirited humor that clashes with the light slapstick. I'm not against cruel humor per se, but a lot of the adult jokes felt forced. Zemeckis may have agreed; this was his only attempt at an R-rated movie for over 30 years.
I expect to cross another several dozen films off my watchlist in the first few weeks of 2022. Will I succeed, or is this more wishful bluster? Stay tuned.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 24, 2021 13:39:37 GMT -8
Gary Oldman is, per usual, a bit hammy as the villain, but I wouldn't call that a bad thing. It's actually quite funny, given the number of ridiculously over-the-top performances that Oldman has given in his career, that he's probably now best known to mainstream audiences for playing the rather reserved Commissioner Gordon in Chris Nolan's Batman films.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 25, 2021 19:44:06 GMT -8
I remember when Oldman's performance as the villain in Lost in Space briefly became an Internet meme. ("Spiders!") He's definitely had a string of over-the-top performances, particularly as a string of movie villains in the '90s, but I think he's mellowed out a bit since then.
Random Movie Question corner: I see there are two versions of Apocalypse Now available to stream - the original and Redux. Which of these is the better viewing experience? I'm leaning towards the original because it's a good 45 minutes shorter, but am open to hearing why I should check out the (gulp) 202-minute version instead.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 26, 2021 1:54:43 GMT -8
Random Movie Question corner: I see there are two versions of Apocalypse Now available to stream - the original and Redux. Which of these is the better viewing experience? I'm leaning towards the original because it's a good 45 minutes shorter, but am open to hearing why I should check out the (gulp) 202-minute version instead. I'd just go with the original, shorter version. There's also apparently a "Final Cut" version that's longer than the original, but shorter than Redux, but I'd still stick with the original. That's the version that was far-and-away the best-received by critics and film fans.
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 26, 2021 11:22:17 GMT -8
Counterpoint: I recommend the Redux. I had this same dispute with a friend maybe, damn, twenty years ago?? The conclusion I've always arrived at it that the material in the Redux arguably isn't of particular substance (largely we're talking the scenes with the USO girls and at the French plantation), but the scope of the film is so vast and sprawling that it strikes me as something of an injustice to truncate it in any way.
This isn't a spoiler, Jer, but the fundamental arc of the film is Willard's journey from madness to sanity to madness again, and given the languid nature of the film, that's not easy to convey if the boat arrives at the temple complex before the two-hour mark. I view the film as closer to The Great American Novel in terms of its density, and great epics are known to meander for breathing space and to let the weigher scenes carry more impact. When we meet Dennis Hopper's unhinged photojournalist in the longer versions, his mental detachment comes as no surprise for having made a similar trajectory.
Generally speaking, I hew to the director's cut almost every time, because for better or worse, that's the version most consistent with their vision. In this instance, I not only understand Coppola's intentions with the DC scenes but his frustration that the theatrical cut was borne out of an attempt to make a "difficult" auteur picture more like a conventional war film. When I watched the FC in theatres it was remarkable and refreshing for an audience to sit silent and ramrod-straight in reverence to a long and quiet psychological drama against the panoply of a still-misunderstood conflict.
(The way the French are introduced is also pretty indelible, emerging as they do from the fog like spectres of the 19th century.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 26, 2021 13:30:04 GMT -8
Ah yes, the scenes with the USO girls. Good times, good times. (The plantation scene is also quite interesting.) I change my position. By all means, watch Redux instead.
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 26, 2021 15:26:04 GMT -8
In the somewhat unlikely event that you express an interest in Das Boot, that's the same scenario: seek out the 4½hr version because the theatrical is what's made palatable to the masses.
In fact, right now Donnie Darko is the only film I can think of where the original was already perfect and the later director's cut was a concession to a mainstream audience.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 26, 2021 15:47:14 GMT -8
In fact, right now Donnie Darko is the only film I can think of where the original was already perfect and the later director's cut was a concession to a mainstream audience. I would suggest that the Director's Cuts of Terminator 2, ET, and the original Star Wars trilogy are, in fact, inferior. I mean, the longer cut of T2 has some interesting elements, but it really screws with the pacing. I also prefer the original (studio-imposed) cut of Touch Of Evil, with the score laid over the opening sequence, as opposed to the street music.
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