2014 MOVIE OMNIBUS THREAD

[Tabe]

Am I the only person who wasn't distraught by Requiem for a Dream? I'm an easy target for emotional films. Throw in some strings to a sad scene and you've probably got me, so it's not a case of being soulless. I actually can't even recall much of the film, so it obviously didn't hit me in any way at all.

Nope.  Didn't have an effect on me either.

[Tabe]

It was a movie-watching weekend for Tabe so here we go:

 

Lovelace - Amanda Seyfried plays porn star Linda Lovelace in this bio pic.  It's based on Linda's version of events and this is highly suspect at best.  They ignore stuff that goes against Linda's story (like her...uh...love for dogs) and generally paint everybody that isn't her as a major scumbag.  The movie itself isn't all that well-done either.  It's essentially a half-movie done twice, with the second half being the "real" version of events.  Seyfried is good enough as Lovelace but isn't given too much to work with.  The rest of the cast is fine, this just never reaches any heights.  Watch Inside Deep Throat instead.  5/10.

 

Lifeguard - Kristen Bell is a 29-year old AP reporter who is really angsty over her life so she quits her job, moves back home with her parents, takes her old high school job as a lifeguard and screws a local teenager to figure everything out.  This movie hits all the indie checkboxes - Disproportionate number of characters smoke?  Check.  Smoking plays a role in multiple scenes?  Check.  Angsty characters who are all angsty for no apparent reason?  Check.  The only semi-stable adults portrayed as being the bad characters because they're not dope-smoking idiots banging teenagers?  Check.  Angsty guitar folk hipster soundtrack?  Check.  This movie is just a mess with Bell's character being just...unlikeable.  Ugh.  4/10. 

 

Godzilla - Saw this in 3D and liked it a lot.  Godzilla looks like Godzilla (except the head being a bit small) and there's a suitable amount of carnage.  I could quibble over the major fights all being done at night so we don't get a great look at them but that's a quibble.  The 3D was a non-factor in the heart of the movie so save your money.  Bring on the sequel!  8/10.

 

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - Bruno is the 8-year old son of a Nazi concentration camp commandant.  Being an innocent, he thinks the camp (which he can see from his window) is a farm.  While exploring, he goes up to the camp and meets Shmuel, an 8-year old prisoner in the camp.  They strike up a friendship, each not knowing about the situation to be able to fully comprehend what is going on.  This is a heartbreaking movie told with a very deft touch.  The two young actors (Asa Butterfield and Jack Scanlon) are absolutely brilliant.  I'm told this was a book but I have not read it.  Anyway, the movie is fantastic and well worth watching.  9/10.

[caley]

I watched Bad Grandpa last night.  It's basically the old man sketches from Jackass strung out over a 90 minute film so...yeah, I won't lie, it was pretty great.  There's a terrible attempt at a plotline and the kid isn't terribly funny, but I can watch Johnny Knoxville as a old man getting his dick stuck in a soda machine, hitting on women, spraying shit on the wall and especially 

dancing around a nightclub with hilariously over-exaggerated distended testicles to shrieking women

 

It's not really a movie, per se, but it's got some laughs.  I could have done with more footage of actual people's reactions to the goings-on but it was silly.

[Antacular]

Lord of War is criminally underrated. Borderline classic.

[Brian Fowler]

Did no one mention the death of Gordon Willis, or did I just miss it?

 

Either way, film lost an absolute master.

[Antacular]

Yup. His last great role. Best part is when Gen. Oliver "South" let's him go after Interpol catches him.

[Elsalvajeloco]

Did no one mention the death of Gordon Willis, or did I just miss it?

 

Either way, film lost an absolute master.

 

I don't think so, but he definitely deserves a mention. 

[Reed]

It was a movie-watching weekend for Tabe so here we go:

 

Lovelace - Amanda Seyfried plays porn star Linda Lovelace in this bio pic.  It's based on Linda's version of events and this is highly suspect at best.  They ignore stuff that goes against Linda's story (like her...uh...love for dogs) and generally paint everybody that isn't her as a major scumbag.  The movie itself isn't all that well-done either.  It's essentially a half-movie done twice, with the second half being the "real" version of events.  Seyfried is good enough as Lovelace but isn't given too much to work with.  The rest of the cast is fine, this just never reaches any heights.  Watch Inside Deep Throat instead.  5/10.

 

Is it? From what's been said, it's pretty accurate. There was an interview ages ago where her accusations were brought up to her husband and he didn't even attempt to deny it.

 

I know the whole "porn is bad and these women get exploited!" talking point isn't what people necessarily want to hear, but in Lovelace's case, at least, it's probably true.

[Tabe]

Everybody involved in the making of the movie contradicts her versions of the events. And she lied about making her bestiality movies even after their r existence had been proven. Not exactly the most credible source.

[Reed]

Everybody involved in the making of the movie contradicts her versions of the events. And she lied about making her bestiality movies even after their r existence had been proven. Not exactly the most credible source.

 

Because they'd be willing to admit "Yeah, we sat around and did nothing as her husband beat her up and threatened to kill her between takes"?

 

Definitely I find the idea she was somewhat coerced into it easier to believe than she went along happily with it then did a huge turnaround one day simply so she could be buddies with Gloria Steinem. Especially since her husband was a well-known nutcase, even by porn standards.

[jaedmc]

The webiste I write for is doing a Cannes retro by discussing the winners from the 1960's. With so many great choices I went with a Brazilian film that hasn't even had a VHS distribution in the United States - let alone DVD or BD. It's called O Pagador de Promessas and it's pretty fucking amazing: http://www.soundonsight.org/o-pagador-de-promessas/

 

I highly recommend it, and I think it's a real shame that someone like Kino or Criterion hasn't bought it and put out a disc for people to check out.

[Tabe]

 

Everybody involved in the making of the movie contradicts her versions of the events. And she lied about making her bestiality movies even after their r existence had been proven. Not exactly the most credible source.

 

Because they'd be willing to admit "Yeah, we sat around and did nothing as her husband beat her up and threatened to kill her between takes"?

 

Definitely I find the idea she was somewhat coerced into it easier to believe than she went along happily with it then did a huge turnaround one day simply so she could be buddies with Gloria Steinem. Especially since her husband was a well-known nutcase, even by porn standards.

 

Well, she flip-flopped on the Gloria Steinems too ("they just want my money!")  Point is, with that many people around, there'd be at least a couple that say something like "I didn't think anything of it at the time but..." and then give an example of something that could easily be dismissed. 

 

I have no problem with believing she flip-flopped - she had a book to sell.

[odessasteps]

Did no one mention the death of Gordon Willis, or did I just miss it?

Either way, film lost an absolute master.

When i didnt see a thread, i figured it woild be discussed in the omnibus thread. I didnt have time to write a long post about it so i ended not making one at all.

[nate]

I gotta stop perusing the blog Rupert Pupkin Speaks. Either that, or go broke.

[Tabe]

Another Netflix documentary:

 

Dear Mr. Watterson - Here's a fabulous idea for a movie.  Take a book - a not particularly well-received book - written by somebody else and then copy that book, only in movie form.  Be nice about it, though, so you can get the author of the book to participate in your movie.  And that's what we have here as Joel Allen Schroeder copies the book Looking for Calvin & Hobbes by going to Bill Watterson's hometown and interviewing lots of people about him and his comics.  While there's some useful information here (though not much), in the end we don't learn much.  Watterson, as always, didn't participate, so we don't get anything from him.  So we're left with a bunch of cartoonists talking about how awesome C&H was, mixed in with a visit to the library at Ohio State where almost all of Watterson's original artwork is stored.  Whoop dee doo.  3/10.

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

So, yeah, Calvary pretty much has the most attention grabbing opening line I've ever heard in a while:

 

Man in confessional box to Gleeson's priest: 'I first tasted semen when I was 7 yrs old'

 

Chap in front of us at cinema let out a slight guffaw and then was caught in two minds over whether he should have guffawed at said line. I think it was probably the reaction McDonagh was looking for to be fair.

 

The editing's a bit suspect as it becomes just a series of vignettes with Gleeson being Gleeson (ie great) surrounded by bonkers caricatures played by every Irish actor that ever lived, including Aidan Gillen in full on man of a thousand voices mode sporting his Little Finger beard but, yeah, really good overall. Re: the ending:

 

Chris O'Dowd, in the first real dramatic scene I can recall seeing him in, knocks it out of the park, particularly with the did you cry when you read about all those children line. A lot of naturally funny dudes usually make for great dramatic actors.

 

Not sure how many people on here have seen it, I think it's not out in the US for a while but, yeah, if you liked The Guard, I'd recommend it. It's powerful and dark and funny all at once.

[piranesi]

The movie re-do of MY FAVORITE MARTIAN that you and I both forgot happened in on t.v. now. 

 

I'm not going to watch it, but looking at the guide info, I'm wondering if any list of stars could more scream "It's the late 90s!  Let's take Allanis Morisette seriously and watch POPULAR on the WB!!!" than:

 

Chritopher Lloyd

Jeff Daniels

Elizabeth Hurley?

 

 

Oh, shit Micheal Lerner and Wallace Shawn!!!!

 

Troy Evans!!!!

 

Fuck, yeah.  Movies like this are character actor heaven.

[Stennick]

Man I loved Elizabeth Hurley in like 1999.

[Swift]

Match Point seems to have elicited mixed feelings over the years. I like Woody Allen, so I had an idea of what I was going to get going in, except set in England. It turned into something completely unexpected in the last hour. Practically Hitchcockian with its nicely planned out plot.

 

Watched both Speed movies recently for the first time since they came out. The first one still holds up as probably one of the best action thrillers of the 90s. Great set pieces, Keanu Reeves is really good in that "yes ma'am" cop who doesn't have to show too much emotion, and Sandra Bullock is decent too. There's a scene where the bus hits a pram, and even though its obviously not going to be a baby in there, Bullock's distraught reaction to it makes you think there's a chance there might be a baby in there. In the second movie, they've made her into a ditz who can't stop yammering on uselessly. I thought it was pretty bad. Then I listened to the How Did This Get Made? episode and it convinced me that it was much worse than bad. Still surprised it has a 3.6 rating on IMDB though. There are much, much worse films.

 

I'm So Excited is Almodovar's latest. Didn't care for it. Too much crassness involving sex and blowjobs.

 

Herzog's Into The Abyss is well worth watching. It features interviews with two guys who were convicted of a random, triple murder. One got life, the other is a week away from execution. Also has interviews with relatives of the victims. Herzog obviously has an agenda against the death penalty, but he never really lets it surface too much. He still interjects quite a bit, and gets focused sometimes on completely random comments made by his subjects. I think if you've seen a few Herzog documentaries, you know his style, and either love him or hate him. I fall into the former category. Then watched his 30 min documentary on texting and driving, From One Second to the Next, which features interviews with both victims and perpetrators of these accidents. Herzog wisely keeps his commentary out of this one. Very powerful.

 

Had a run of rubbish movies - the second Ghost Rider movie, Anchorman 2, Kick-Ass 2 and while not quite rubbish, The World's End didn't live up to expectations. Wag The Dog was pretty bad too.

 

Enjoyed Killing Them Softly and I want to recommend Of Gods and Men, a French movie where monks living in Algeria have a run in with Islamic fundamentalists. Beautifully shot, very low key, and quite moving. The Hunt is also recommended. Mads Mikkelson plays a teacher's aide who is falsely accused of pedophilia in a small Danish town. Melancholia was stunning to look at, and it'll grow on me with future viewings. Didn't care much for the characters. Killer Elite was better than the general consensus led me to believe. And Modern Times was amazing. The set design on this was simply stunning. Jae touched on it recently, but Chaplin to me is the quintessential movie star. He's mesmerizing any time he's on screen.

[Brian Fowler]

I really liked The World's End, but I think the fact that it wasn't a pure genre parody comedy threw a lot of people off.  It was more just a straight up body snatcher movie that happens to have some (imo very funny) jokes spread through it.

[Kuetsar]

I really liked The World's End, but I think the fact that it wasn't a pure genre parody comedy threw a lot of people off.  It was more just a straight up body snatcher movie that happens to have some (imo very funny) jokes spread through it.

For a Pegg/Frost comedy it was a disappointment, but by normal standards it wasn't bad. A solid three star affair, but when Shaun and Hot fuzz are four or five stars, there was some let down. . . 

[jaedmc]

Chaplin to me is the quintessential movie star. He's mesmerizing any time he's on screen.

I popped in The Great Dictator a few weeks ago and it took Chaplin 2 minutess before he had my son laughing his ass off. He's timeless.

[Kuetsar]

 

Chaplin to me is the quintessential movie star. He's mesmerizing any time he's on screen.

I popped in The Great Dictator a few weeks ago and it took Chaplin 2 minutess before he had my son laughing his ass off. He's timeless.

 

The Marx brothers are the same way. Groucho was a freakin GOD. . . 

[Brian Fowler]

 

I really liked The World's End, but I think the fact that it wasn't a pure genre parody comedy threw a lot of people off.  It was more just a straight up body snatcher movie that happens to have some (imo very funny) jokes spread through it.

For a Pegg/Frost comedy it was a disappointment, but by normal standards it wasn't bad. A solid three star affair, but when Shaun and Hot fuzz are four or five stars, there was some let down. . . 

 

 

I think I might actually prefer it to Hot Fuzz, although I'd need to rewatch both to make that a definitive statement.

 

Really, I should rewatch all 4 of Wright's movies just because they are awesome.

[JRGoldman]

You could play Charlie Chaplin scenes to people of any age, any upbringing, in any culture or language, and I firmly believe that the only reaction would be pure unbridled joy. I would love to see someone take little tramp shorts or something like City Lights in to the amazon and just film the reactions.