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Post by Jeremy on Dec 2, 2017 18:41:11 GMT -8
Dunkirk is getting its DVD release in a couple of weeks. I'll probably check it out before I put together my "Best Films of the Year" list. (My first ever for the main site!)
Any other 2017 films I need to check out before the year is up? I've heard good stuff about The Big Sick, A Ghost Story, Detroit, Lady Bird, Three Billboards, Mudbound, First They Killed My Father, I Am Not Your Negro, plus a handful of forthcoming December releases. I'll try to squeeze some of them in over the next few weeks, but let me know if any are worth prioritizing.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 2, 2017 19:50:37 GMT -8
That's a fair grading scale. I think 9s and above should be reserved for best-of-the-year material. What would you give Dunkirk? It felt like a 9 to me. Yeah, I gave Dunkirk 4 1/2-out-of-5 Stars. So, a 9. It was too good on the level of craft to go any lower than an 8, and I found it really tense and involving. Right now that places it as my #1 for the year, but I still have a ton of films to see. I hope to check out The Shape of Water and The Florida Project (Jeremy, take note of both of these) soon, as well as Call Me By Your Name, The Disaster Artist, and A Fantastic Woman, and I might even give that little film set in a galaxy far, far away a look. BTW, Jer, I've heard Dunkirk loses something on the small screen, but such is life. The verticality of the IMAX screen cannot be replicated at home, unless you can project the IMAX-ratio footage on the side of your apartment building. |
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 2, 2017 20:08:51 GMT -8
Yeah, I'll definitely be checking out The Last Jedi and The Disaster Artist. And perhaps The Shape of Water, The Greatest Showman and Pitch Perfect 3. Lot of big releases yet to come before the year is out. I actually hadn't heard about The Florida Project, but it sounds pretty interesting. Screenings in my area are pretty limited, though. BTW, Jer, I've heard Dunkirk loses something on the small screen, but such is life. The verticality of the IMAX screen cannot be replicated at home, unless you can project the IMAX-ratio footage on the side of your apartment building. Hey, I first watched Gravity on a ten-inch screen and still loved it. Big screens are great, but once a film sucks me in, I'm good to go. |
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 2, 2017 20:30:20 GMT -8
The previous film from the director of The Florida Project was a movie called Tangerine, a dramedy about transvestite hookers that was all shot (well shot!) on an iPhone. At first, the main characters come off as rather obnoxious, but their charisma ultimately shines through, and the film is very funny, and quite poignant down the stretch. Also very short, and available to view on Netflix.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 2, 2017 21:00:42 GMT -8
Some guy at my college actually did a write-up on Tangerine last year. I was rather surprised to discover how little the film had to do with fruit.
I'm not sure if you're recommending the film to me based on the transvestite hookers or the being shot on an iPhone. I'm kinda hoping it's some blend of the two.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 3, 2017 16:35:34 GMT -8
Honestly, it's just a rather sweet and funny film. Two sisters looking out for one another. Certainly coarse in nature, but it's pretty easy to sympathize with members of society who are so ostracized.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 3, 2017 17:41:46 GMT -8
The director was also apparently one of the creators of Greg the Bunny. That was... unexpected.
Not sure if it's my speed, but sure, on the list it goes.
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 3, 2017 18:23:24 GMT -8
Hey, Charlie Kaufman, one of the great screenwriters of our time, wrote for Ned and Stacey. You've gotta start somewhere.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 3, 2017 19:01:18 GMT -8
Oh, I know. It's just that most folks don't get their start on a sitcom about a group of foul-mouthed Muppets.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Dec 3, 2017 20:34:30 GMT -8
Oh, I know. It's just that most folks don't get their start on a sitcom about a group of foul-mouthed Muppets. Are you still taking potshots at Farscape? |
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 4, 2017 13:13:46 GMT -8
I very rarely give out 5-out-of-5, or even 4 1/2, to anything, so if something gets a 4-Star rating from me on Letterboxd, chances are it's making my list of ten favourite films for the year. For instance, I gave both Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which I saw on Tuesday, a 4. Most films that I like, and that I think are simply "good", I give 3 1/2 to. Films that are perhaps a touch above-average, but that I'm mixed on, get a 3. Basically, you won't see me give grades on either extreme very often, because I feel most films fall in the mediocre-to-pretty-good (2-to-3 1/2) range. Critics that regularly give out 1-Star ratings (especially when the content of their reviews read more mixed), I generally mistrust. People on Letterboxd who only seem to give out 5s and 1s typically have the emotional maturity of a teenager. That sounds about right to me as I too very rarely feel a film deserves 1/10 or 10/10 (only about a dozen for the former, and sixty or seventy for the latter). I think I provided full explanations (with examples) on the old forum if they need resubmitting. That's a fair grading scale. I think 9s and above should be reserved for best-of-the-year material. What would you give Dunkirk? It felt like a 9 to me. I called it an 8/10. For what it's worth, there are a bunch of years where I've not given a single 9/10. Dunkirk is getting its DVD release in a couple of weeks. I'll probably check it out before I put together my "Best Films of the Year" list. (My first ever for the main site!) Any other 2017 films I need to check out before the year is up? I've heard good stuff about The Big Sick, A Ghost Story, Detroit, Lady Bird, Three Billboards, Mudbound, First They Killed My Father, I Am Not Your Negro, plus a handful of forthcoming December releases. I'll try to squeeze some of them in over the next few weeks, but let me know if any are worth prioritizing. I'll probably be able to throw a couple of recommendations your way when I have more time, but I can highly endorse I Am Not Your Negro. And this is slightly tangential, but First They Killed My Father is produced (and probably mentored) by Rithy Panh who has basically devoted his life to chronicling the Khmer Rouge takeover of his homeland, and his documentary The Missing Picture is stunning. BTW, Jer, I've heard Dunkirk loses something on the small screen, but such is life. The verticality of the IMAX screen cannot be replicated at home, unless you can project the IMAX-ratio footage on the side of your apartment building. Hey, I first watched Gravity on a ten-inch screen and still loved it. Big screens are great, but once a film sucks me in, I'm good to go. This has the potential to thoroughly derail the thread, but there was an attempt several years ago on another forum to vilify me for being largely indifferent to the format and means by which I watch films. A lot of my very favourite films I've seen in less-than-'optimal' conditions, such as on YouTube or via a VHS recording of a screening on one of the 'hidden' cheapo channels (Bad Day at Black Rock springs to mind). My nutshell argument has always been that a worthy picture's artistry should shine through regardless of the circumstances of its broadcast, which I why I kept hold of this quote I encountered way back in 2011 w/r/t Park Chan-wook's iPhone film Night Fishing: "If I give a pro photographer an iPhone and give an amateur who doesn't know the first thing about photography my Mamiya 7 I'm putting all my money on the pro to take the better photo". As long as nothing's actually missing (a crop, for example), one should still be able to process, assess and feel the cinematography. These days I watch most films on the cheap Beko portable TV I liberated from my mum's old caravan. Have you ever heard of Beko? Of course you haven't. |
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Post by guttersnipe on Dec 4, 2017 13:21:38 GMT -8
Anyone else fancy doing their own Oscars history? Mine didn't take terribly long, but then my film log is geared to make that kind of info easy to grab.
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 4, 2017 16:39:31 GMT -8
This has the potential to thoroughly derail the thread, but there was an attempt several years ago on another forum to vilify me for being largely indifferent to the format and means by which I watch films. A lot of my very favourite films I've seen in less-than-'optimal' conditions, such as on YouTube or via a VHS recording of a screening on one of the 'hidden' cheapo channels (Bad Day at Black Rock springs to mind). My nutshell argument has always been that a worthy picture's artistry should shine through regardless of the circumstances of its broadcast, which I why I kept hold of this quote I encountered way back in 2011 w/r/t Park Chan-wook's iPhone film Night Fishing: "If I give a pro photographer an iPhone and give an amateur who doesn't know the first thing about photography my Mamiya 7 I'm putting all my money on the pro to take the better photo". As long as nothing's actually missing (a crop, for example), one should still be able to process, assess and feel the cinematography. These days I watch most films on the cheap Beko portable TV I liberated from my mum's old caravan. Have you ever heard of Beko? Of course you haven't. I watched The Big Sick on my phone last night, and the small screen didn't really detract from mt experience. I do generally try to watch films on larger TV/computer screens, but they're not always available, so I take what I can get. (I tend to watch a lot of TV sitcoms on my phone, since most sitcoms are not very visually weighty in the first place, so there's little chance of me missing out on anything.) |
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Post by ThirdMan on Dec 4, 2017 17:27:46 GMT -8
Jer, The Big Sick's appeal depends far more on its character work and dialogue than anything visual (an area where it's pretty ordinary), so I'm sure it would play fine on a tiny screen. Anyone else fancy doing their own Oscars history? Mine didn't take terribly long, but then my film log is geared to make that kind of info easy to grab. I thought about doing that, but to be honest, I don't know if I have a personal favourite from some of those years. |
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Post by Jeremy on Dec 4, 2017 18:39:30 GMT -8
Jer, The Big Sick's appeal depends far more on its character work and dialogue than anything visual (an area where it's pretty ordinary), so I'm sure it would play fine on a tiny screen. Yeah, I'm less likely to watch something like Dunkirk on a phone screen, since I do want to catch some of the visual dynamics. I do see the appeal of watching visually-driven films on a larger screen, but sometimes I'll just as soon wait for the DVD. (As was the case with The Walk, which was shown exclusively in 3D at my local theater. Much as I was pumped for the film, 3D just isn't my speed. Sorry, Zemeckis.) |
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