MOVIE COMMENT CATCH-ALL THREAD

[jaedmc]

Watched a bunch of stuff.

 

Sanshiro Sugata (Kurosawa, 1943) This is Kurosawa's debut feature, but includes a lot of Kurosawa-isms that he'd refine in better movies. This isn't bad, but it's been cut up a little by Japanese regulations for wartime entertainment. The plot is pretty interesting about the rivalry between judo and jiujitsu. It's so cool to watch Kurosawa film judo like a waltz, and it's even better when one of the fighters is Takashi Shimura. I recommend it if you're a Akiro Kurosawa fan, and want to learn more about his film language. Like Hitchcock I find the more I watch of him the more I see what he's doing across all his films. 

 

Also here's some shot composition analysis that I did of one of the scenes: http://jaekrenfrow.blogspot.com/2013/11/shot-through-heart-sanshiro-sugata.html

[Tabe]

I know you guys are dying to know what I've watched the last couple days...

 

Safe - Jason Statham action vehicle.  Plot is convoluted but basically there's mathematical genius Chinese girl that three rival groups (Chinese mob, Russian mob, dirty cops) are all trying to get ahold of.  Statham rescues her.  The end.  Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of bodies falling in this one.  Pretty good movie for what it tried to be.  I enjoyed it.  6/10.

 

Twelve - White Mike is about 20 and he buys drugs from 50 Cent and then sells them to rich white kids.  Jessica is a hot girl who gets hooked on the designer drug "Twelve" and screws 50 Cent to get more.  Sarah is the hottie everybody wants and who manipulates to get what she wants.  This is all narrated by Kiefer Sutherland in a "this is all really cool and serious" tone.  Movie tries really hard to be really deep and really cool.  It fails on both but still manages to tell its story of bored rich kids and their empty lives.  I liked it.  6.5/10.

[S.K.o.S.]

Huh, according to imdb, 50 Cent was in 13 right after he was in Twelve.

[John Austin]

 

We Steal Secrets - Documentary on Wikileaks and Julian Assange.  This one's pretty great, interviewing Wikileaks employees and lots of other people.  Starts out as really positive but does a lot of trashing of Assange once the story gets to the rape allegations against him.  Oddly enough, the movie seems to be supportive of his accusers but both women pretty much state that they claimed he raped them because he didn't use a condom or the condom broke.  Anyway, this was really good.  8/10.

Watched this based on your review. Fully agree. Loved it. I don't have to see the fifth estate now. I've been fascinated with the whole story and this does a real good job with it all

[Tabe]

See DVDVR movie people, not ALL of my reviews are completely crazy!

[Marty Sugar]

Zoe and I watched THE ZOOKEEPER last night. Lots of fun.  Joe Rogan, whom I despise, was very entertaining.  Sylvester Stallone was an admirable lion, but I kept thinking Hulk Hogan would've been better. Just picture it...

[assfax]

This fat guy at the end of Carlito's Way is fucking hilarious.

[Reed]

Zero Dark Thirty: Good movie, but I think they may have focused on Jessica Chastain's character for too long. Yeah, we know she's neurotic but brilliant, you don't have to keep reminding us every other minute. I was actually very grateful when they finally got around to the raid, partly because she wasn't the focus of it.

 

I wish they'd given the Navy seals or even the torturer guy at the start more to do. James Gandolfini is so great in his two scenes as Leon Panetta, you really wish he had more than glorified cameo too. Dan was way more interesting than Maya was, especially the way he'd go from regular guy to sociopathic nutjob in about 30 seconds.

 

I think the mistake was trying to make it too much of a character piece, when it should have been an ensemble. 

[Elsalvajeloco]

Zero Dark Thirty: Good movie, but I think they may have focused on Jessica Chastain's character for too long. Yeah, we know she's neurotic but brilliant, you don't have to keep reminding us every other minute. I was actually very grateful when they finally got around to the raid, partly because she wasn't the focus of it.

 

I wish they'd given the Navy seals or even the torturer guy at the start more to do. James Gandolfini is so great in his two scenes as Leon Panetta, you really wish he had more than glorified cameo too. Dan was way more interesting than Maya was, especially the way he'd go from regular guy to sociopathic nutjob in about 30 seconds.

 

I think the mistake was trying to make it too much of a character piece, when it should have been an ensemble. 

 

Yes, this is how I felt. Chastain was good, but Oscar good? Not in my opinion. She was offscreen for like 20+ minutes at one point, and I forgot she was even in the fucking movie.

[Reed]

Part of the problem was she was so much like the Carrie character in Homeland, it had a seen-it-all-before feel to it. 

 

It's not so much I disliked her or felt Chastain wasn't good, but I definitely think Maya should have been a supporting character that faded into the background after they found the courier.

 

Like, when they focused on the Seal who shot Bin Laden and he's understandably overwhelmed by it all. I thought "Oh, this is going somewhere interesting, let's hear what he has to say" but, no. They just went back to Maya  and how she was dealing with it. 

[Tabe]

Three more from my Netflix queue:

An Officer and a Gentleman - The movie that made Richard Here and Debra Winger major stars. Gere is an officer candidate trying to become a naval pilot. Winger is the townie he falls in love with. Louis Gossett Jr is his drill sergeant. Good movie but not great. Here's delivery of a few lines is laughably bad to the point that he sounds borderline retarded. 7/10.

One Fall - James is a felon returning home after 3 years. Seems he fell off a 200 for cliff before and somehow survived and also developed supernatural healing powers. He starts healing people at the local hospital but only in return for cash. Quirky movie with unusual characters and a story that's told in a sweet, quiet way. Not at all the movie I was expecting and so much better than it could have been. 7/10.

The Numbers Station - John Cusack is a CIA assassin who gets reassigned after a particularly nasty mission. His new job is to guard Malin Akerman, who is a civilian cryptographer working at a numbers station broadcasting codes to agents. They get attacked, Cusack kills a bunch of people and Akerman saves the day. Good movie, good action, and the smoking hot Akerman. I'd watch her read the phone book, which is almost what she's doing here. 7/10.

[driver]

Watched V/H/S and Redemption last night. I really liked V/H/S. Redemption was okay for a Jason Statham movie. He seems to be very comfortable being the new Charles Bronson.

[Reed]

I miss when Jason Statham had range.

[Bustronaut]

I was disappointed by ALL IS LOST.

Lots of bad choices made by the director/writer pulled down what could have been an amazing film. Every shot was a medium or close-up, which lessened the scale of the struggle the unnamed man went through and made some scenes look like they were taking place on a soundstage, rather than at sea.

Actually, even Redford's performance was a letdown. Everything that was thrown at him, he took in stride. He was TOO capable, and it took a bunch of drama out of the already tiny hint of a storyline.

[humanhorrorfilm]

I miss when Jason Statham had range.

 

I liked when he did movies where he didn't have to kick someone's teeth in.

 

Snatch, Lock Stock and 2 Soking Barrels, and The Bank Job.

 

Also, wa having a discussion with a friend......has STatham EVER gotten his ass handed to him in a movie?

[Marty Sugar]

I watched MOON the other night. Sam Rockwell is great; but I think the movie tried a little hard in parts to be sneaky/smart after the big reveal, but overall I felt it was really good.  The damn emoticons on the Spacey-voiced "GERTY" were fucking creepy.

[Tabe]

Last night's fare:

 

Pink Ribbons, Inc - Documentary on the "pink industry" that surrounds breast cancer.  Starts with a premise that I can get behind - that "breast cancer awareness" has essentially become a business, co-opted for profit by various groups, but wanders a bit off-track along the way.  Instead of focusing entirely on things like "Where is all the money going?"  and "Why haven't we seen more results?"  and other things like companies spending more money on advertising their breast cancer donations than the actual donations or companies that both have cancer-causing products and cancer medications, the doc gets a bit lost in discussions of other stuff.  There's some good bits in there, like the history of the pink ribbon, but other stuff like people complaining about the use of the word "survivor" or "fighting the battle", while interesting, seem to be a bit off-focus.  In the end, what could have been a really hard-hitting documentary instead ends just being interesting.  Worth a watch but not great.  6/10.

[caley]

I just finished Cloud Atlas, I thought with it being almost 3 hours, I'd parcel it out in half hour viewings over a week or so, but, damn, if I wasn't completely engrossed and polished it off in two viewings.  It kinda feels like there wasn't enough talk about this because I really, really dug it.  I found every story compelling and fairly moving (With the futuristic one being the most enthralling and could have really been its own movie) and loved all the performances (And I'm usually not to into Halle Berry's acting) and the visuals were just staggering and it had a terrific score.  And the credits come up and you go "Oh, I didn't realize that was him there! Or "Wait, was that white woman really Halle Berry?!"  I'd probably entertain having this at or near my favourite films from 2012 were I so inclined to redo the poll (And I am sorta considering it/running a (very late) mid-year correction).

[Tabe]

A couple more:

21 Grams - Three lives intertwine as a result of a horrific car accident.  You've got recovering drug addict Naomi Watts, doing the "pretty woman made to look average" thing, whose family is killed.  You've got Benicio Del Toro, the driver who killed her family.  And Sean Penn, who gets a new heart from it.  The story is told as a mix of flashback and present.  It's pretty obvious that this movie was aiming high, with a great cast and an attempt at a deep storyline.  Doesn't really work though.  Tries really hard to be GRITTY and DEEP and ARTSY with all the flashbacks and hey THERE'S SERIOUS ACTING GOING ON HERE and all that, it just doesn't work.  Movie is (in)famous for a scene where Watts' nipples are very (VERY) prominently on display.  That's a real highlight but ends being about the only one.  5/10.

Shut Up Little Man - In 1987, two friends moved from Wisconsin to San Francisco.  They ended up in a cheap apartment next to a couple of alcoholics who had screaming, profane fights with each other.  The fights had some humorous dialogue and the friends ended up recording them.  They shared the tapes with friends and something of a cottage industry sprung up as a result.  Comic books, magazine articles, a play, and some movie stuff all came out of it.  This documentary tracks the whole history of that, seeks out the fighting neighbors and talks to everyone involved (that's still alive).  Problem is, every single person involved is a scumbag.  You've got the alcoholic jackasses.  You've got the friends who, instead of calling the cops, record the fights - by taping a microphone to a ski pole and putting it outside the neighbors' window.  Knowing that the fights sometimes turn violent they naturally....make calls designed to provoke more fights and conflict.  Then, when it's all said and done, they set up a web site years later and sell the tapes and CDs profit off of the misery of the neighbors.  You've got the various artists, playwrights, and movie people who use the tapes as the basis for their own works, all without talking to the neighbors.  Or the movie guys who simply get the neighbors drunk and have them sign releases in return for $10.  The title of the documentary comes from words that one of the neighbors would yell at the other frequently.  Admittedly, a lot of the fights ARE pretty funny but, in the end, it's hard to get past the exploitive nature of the whole thing and not be disgusted by absolutely everyone.  5/10.

[Marty Sugar]

Yeah, SHUT UP LITTLE MAN takes a very dark and dreary turn and everyone involved stops looking funny and just comes off as awful and sad and...yeah. I tried to listen to the actual clips after watching the documentary, and couldn't. It wasn't funny anymore.

[Neil Koch]

 

I miss when Jason Statham had range.

 

I liked when he did movies where he didn't have to kick someone's teeth in.

 

Snatch, Lock Stock and 2 Soking Barrels, and The Bank Job.

 

Also, wa having a discussion with a friend......has STatham EVER gotten his ass handed to him in a movie?

 

 

I just watched Parker and he gets beaten up, shot, and left for dead early on in the movie.  It's a decent movie overall.  It tries really hard to be Payback but isn't as cool as it think it is - really drags during the second act.  Some good violent fight/action scenes though.

[Tabe]

Yeah, SHUT UP LITTLE MAN takes a very dark and dreary turn and everyone involved stops looking funny and just comes off as awful and sad and...yeah. I tried to listen to the actual clips after watching the documentary, and couldn't. It wasn't funny anymore.

For me, it stopped being funny real early on when they play the tape of the two roommates actually physically fighting.  At that point, it just stopped being funny and I found myself mad at the young guys for not calling the cops.  And then you get to the end and you've got third third roommate, Tony, asking where the one guy's grave is so he can go piss on it and the various filmmakers all just using and manipulating the old drunks...yeah.

[jaedmc]

I'm still trying to figure out how tow rite about this movie, but it's my favorite movie of the year, easy:

 

HARMONY LESSONS

 

Plot wise, it's about a Aslan who is bullied by a gang of kids at school and of course, how he plots his revenge. It's from Kazakhstan but it feels completely familiar to the American condition. There's a moment in class where they're learning about how a bullet works, and the next they're learning about Gandhi. It feels not unlike our own schooling, where we learn about the benefits we've gained from fighting war, while at the same time preaching peace and celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. On the technical side, the cinematography is drop dead gorgeous and every frame illicit specific feelings that translates the message more than any subtitles could do. Really a beautiful, dark, and important movie. It's still moving through the festival circuit I think, but I really can't recommend finding it when it eventually gets distributed on DVD or VOD.

 

If you're in the mood for screwball comedy, get a hold of The Awful Truth with Cary Grant and Irene Dunne. It's a ton of fun, with some great gags and one liners. Grant and Dunne decide to get a divorce. She falls for some hayseed and Grant realizes he still loves her - screwballness ensues. 

 

Dredd(2013)

There's a LOT to like about this. Urban is perfect as Dredd. The broke lady from Game of Thrones is fucking fantastic as the main villain. Most of the action is pretty fun, despite a couple of missteps in editing. The story itself is pretty generic, but I prefer this to some stupid origin story. One drawback is that it didn't feel MegaCity enough to me. I always feel like Mega City is smothering with people, and this felt very sparse at times. The shoot out in the mall for example seemed pretty devoid of people, even though they were being evacuated. Obviously not enough money to hire a gajillion extras - but that stood out to me. I also feel like some of the bite was taken out of the police state fascism that is the ground work for the philosophy of Dredd world. I would have liked a lot more of that injected, but with this generic Die-Hard-trapped-in-the-building story, there wasn't a whole lot of room to bring it with out sounding too hamfisted. 

 

Fun movie, but it feels like it was a trial run for the real deal, which sadly probably won't happen. I wish it would though, because Urban should have a career playing this guy.

[Curt McGirt]

So nothing happened with that signature campaign for a sequel? After reading about the plans for 2 to be an origin film and 3 to feature Judge Death, I'm gonna be so pissed if nothing happens with it.

[J.T.]

What Jae said.  Part of the fun of Judge Dredd is appreciating the same sort of dystopian moral ambiguity paradox that Masamune Shirow loaded into Appleseed. 

 

Dredd is an honorable if grim fellow doing his part to protect society.  You can pull for him and still having issues with what he represents (ie. a totalitarian state) the same way that you hope that Dunan and Briareos defeat the enemies of Olympus while realizing that Olympus is a pretty fucked up place... 

 

That aspect of the Dredd comics was definitely diluted in the movie, but there is only so much you can do with a limited budget.

 

Here's hoping the Dredd Sequel petition has legs and the DVD sales help justify some sort of sequel.