Eagle Eye 2008

Messy all around
Grade D

I'll say this for Terriers. It's good, and probably deserved more than 1 season. That said, even if I'd discovered it while it was still airing I'm not sure it would have become appointment television for me or anything like that.

Hanna was cool, some of those long tracking shots were amazing. And the locations were really like nothing else I can remember seeing. That's not the kind of stuff I usually notice in films, but there you go. I guess the story and performances were spare enough (not in a bad way really) that I latched onto other things.

pretty much followed the Bourne blueprint of action, tension, and little actual story to tell. which is fine and entertaining, but...

soundtrack was great and Ronan is a major talent.

at first glance you think there's something more to this movie, but there's really not. it's just an enjoyable 100 minutes that plays it safe.

it helps that I like Giamatti. Sideways is one of those movies that I can watch almost anytime, because he was so perfect in that role. here he's the "caring but kinda desperate family man", which is a fastball down the middle for him. he can go deeper but the script didn't really have that kind of nuance (in a lot of facets).

I was actually most impressed at how well they captured the scene of high school wrestling. the scattered crowd, crappy blaring music as teams run in, the actual matches and scoring -- it was all pitch perfect. I mean, they even explained what a fucking tech fall was. refreshing to see, as most sports movies overdo the drama (packed arenas, Bruce Buffer entrances, hundreds of cameras flashing the entire time...for a junior varsity basketball game).

It was interesting but we may be biased because it doesn't seem like ancient history to us.

Mr W was in Vietnam, and my dad was in Saigon as a tech rep for a US defense corporation at the same time that Colby was there, so I kept an eye out for him in the photos.

It's similar to The Fog of War in some respects, but it's not particularly well made, by which I mean there is a hell of a lot of pan & zoom on still photos and a ton of talking heads. I knew many of the names and I was impressed with the access Chris Colby got (Donald Rumsfeld! yikes!) but that didn't make the documentary move any faster. I think you have to be very interested in the topic in order to find the film as engrossing as I did.

~ ~ ~
All meetings end in separation
All acquisition ends in dispersion
All life ends in death
- The Buddha

|\_/|
='_'=

Every hundred years, all new people

I had very low expectations for this film. The film is well done but overall i would not say it is very entertaining. Bliss is gonna keep it real so my next statement should not be of any shock, CONTAGION IS A PROPAGANDA FILM.

Remember the scene where the employee asks the Doctor for help with his son who has ADHD? Oh it is quite obvious the message of the film is to trust doctors and the government. The guy that was asking questions about the safety of vaccines is thrown in jail. Now how surprising is that?

A mutant bat/pig virus? lol

Grade C (i decided to be nice)

...let alone participated. But I'm getting my screeners in so I'm starting to watch.

Drive - Eh. Liked it. Didn't love it. Probably cool not seeing it again. Gosling was great.

Ides of March - Loved it. Really well done. Cloon-dogg.

The Descendents - LOVED this one. Really enjoyed it a lot. So Payne-y.

Young Adult - Nah. No thanks. Great performance by Charlize though.

Super 8 - Dug it the first time, dug it the 2nd time. Those kids are the shit.

Moneyball - Pitt is that dude. Dug it, but the baseball scenes are weak.

Hugo - Really enjoyed it, albeit long. But it's gorgeously shot.

The Invisible Man - Not as compelling as Frankenstein or Bride of Frankenstein, but I can officially now say I am a James Whale fan and look forward to seeing more of his movies. The effects were great, but I was incredibly frustrated by how long it took for the police to come up with even halfway decent ways to catch him. I also feel like I've seen Claude Rains naked so there's that.

Beginners - I tried but I couldn't do it. I got about 45 minutes in and told my girlfriend (who was loving it) that she could finish it. I went in wanting to like it but found it dull. Some people say that Wes Anderson's films are quirky for the sake of being quirky, but at least you can believe his quirky characters. I thought everyone except the father was poorly drawn and not very well acted. In that regard, why do people keep hiring Ewan to play Americans? It never rings true. When combined with the "oh look how weird we all are" element it turned budding romance into dead drollery. Blech.

The Muppets - Very possibly my favorite movie of the year, if not "Rango." Y'all already know.

Shanghai Express - Another film I wanted to love but left disappointed. The Scarlet Empress = Great. The Blue Angel = True classic. Shanghai Express = Too little to stand up. I appreciated some of the treatment of female sexuality, especially in regards to Dietrich's ability to choose what she did and with whom, but at the end of the day she was still won over when I wanted her to stay independent. Maybe this is unfair because her independence was also at the root of some of her sadness, but I genuinely felt that if she hadn't met her former lover she could have continued on happily. The real problem though was the inclusion of all the Chinese Civil War stuff. It added "drama," but I was more intrigued by the love story than any fight going on outside. If anything it should have been more peripheral - nothing much was added by the general trying to get with Dietrich cause it was all too obvious it would never happen anyway.

Broadway Danny Rose - Nothing earth shattering but really enjoyable. The thing I'm reminded of most watching Woody's 80s output is just how strong his tie to Mia was. Sadly... she's no Diane Keaton. Not her fault, but I can't help thinking about it. I did find this movie effortlessly funny, and quiet as kept Woody works a plot better than almost anybody in movie history. Thumbs up.

Wings of Desire - My first Wenders and I still can't decide if I want there to be more. I was entranced the whole time by the hypnotic camera movement, but I also wanted to call bullshit at times. I know that as a screenwriter it is a necessity to create a world in which the story takes place, but I couldn't buy how high thinking EVERYone in the movie was. Would Peter Falk be thinking about his career? Sure. Would there be at least one person in a library who thinks poetically? I hope so. Does a dying man reflect on what every thing means? If he doesn't why not go ahead and go out. Still, at some point I broke - maybe a certain poetry was lost in translation, but after a while things that seemed interesting in the first five minutes became pretentious in the second hour. And I'll give you one Nick Cave performance in a movie but two was too long of a focus on an inconsequential performance sequence. And back to Peter Falk - was he all that necessary? I'm sure he prolly helped get the film some extra funding, but he took up a large chunk of time for what was basically one bitter punchline that realistically could have been delivered by anyone. To move back to the positive, Bruno Gans had the perfect face for this film, there was a palpable pull to the "real" world, the camera movement was phenomenal as I said before, and I felt genuine pain for the second observer left to watch his former friend. All in all there was a lot I loved, but there was also a lot that left a bitter taste in my mouth, especially the great romantic meeting. Wenders... we'll see.

American Movie - I had seen the first 45 minutes of this movie years ago but the DVD was screwy and I never finished it. I'm not sure why it took me so long to get around to watching the full thing but I am incredibly glad I did. I hate calling this (or any documentary for that matter) a "comedy," because I too often felt bad for laughing. That is something of the power of this movie - I know Mark didn't make it big, but I still alternated between wanting to see him make his film and hating him for being a fuck up. At times I was disheartened because I saw my own plight in it, but I'm sure the same could be said of the filmmakers so the framing is intentionally tragic. And speaking of tragic, few things in film have affected me as much as Uncle Bill's "songs" to his dead wife. "I don't think so... I don't think so." There is an awful moment in a bank early on when Mark comes off pushy and Uncle Bill defenseless (which he certainly is) but the way the filmmakers allowed Bill to have real moments of regret shined a light into his eyes that was beautiful to see. I haven't even spoken on Mike Schank, but wouldn't everybody love to have that guy as their best friend? Great movie all around.

Badlands - I thought this film was better than my appreciation for it. To its credit I never turned it off, but I knew almost instantly that it would be too existential for me. I didn't like Camus when I was forced to read "The Stranger" and I didn't like this for the same reasons. I understand that this particular brand of sociopathic behavior is interesting/revealing to some people, but I need more than general malaise to really feel that I love a character. Again, I was impressed that all of my natural inclinations to not enjoy this film were pushed back by the relative speed of the narrative, but I won't be watching this again. I will however definitely recommend it to a few people.

Lovely Lelaine (Ryder) falls for lazy ass nigga troy(Hawke).
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!

I just saw a film like this a few weeks ago about a lovely young woman, in a dead end job, keeping company with slackers. I am talking about girl 6. In that film her ex boyfriend was a shoplifter too, lol.
Both films get the same failing grade D.

Harmless silly fun.
Grade A

What a great film. Really stayed with me too. Gonna have to read the book now. I heard a critic sum it up quite well:

"we all construct delicate fictions to mask the dehumanization of modern life".

Funny thing is....the reviewer was arguing that this theme didn't translate well in the movie. But I never read the book and read that brief summation after seeing the movie...I thought it was spot on.

I looked around for a post about it here and found nothing. I've got high hopes for Romanek's future endeavors. 'One Hour Photo' was great too.

I never saw the movie because I loved the bbc miniseries

~ ~ ~
All meetings end in separation
All acquisition ends in dispersion
All life ends in death
- The Buddha

|\_/|
='_'=

Every hundred years, all new people

last night

well not half

1/3-1/4. i fell asleep :o/

gonna finish it today.

...i forgot how funny Head Of State was ..SECURITY!

....i've seen Housesitter b4, but it's been a while and i've always loved this movie..still great...

..i was watching Small Soldiers and then it occured to me that this was probably Phil Hartman's last movie, and that made me a lil sad...

Hallmark/Lifetime/We/Oxygen be havin the WORST movies yo....THEEE WORST, but i watched bout 3 hallmark joints this past weekend...the last one was about some witch and was so bad that i finally got mad at myself for sitting thru that bs...

...Flipped was REALLY REALLY excellent, altho i wish certain aspects in the movie had been fleshed out a bit more...

that burn Notice movie was hot Oscar the Grouch bait..i like Bruce Campbell, but damn homie...the women WERE fine tho...

finally saw The Dilemma...ugh....

Awesome, Awesome, Awesome.......No, No, No not imo and i know i am in the minority. Some parts of the story were not that clear. What was that crystal cube thing? What was Red Skull's weapon? I remember him saying he could control thought. Then the next thing you know he was gonna blow shit up with some sorta wmd,Idk, it was confusing too me.Oh yeah and as i recall the army was still segregated during WW2 but they have a black guy in their unit. I am not on a rant just making an observation. You can enjoy CA if you don't ask too many questions. Those of you who enjoyed this film would probably make good soldiers. Uncle Sam wants you, he don't want me I'm too fat.ha ha ha.

Captain America B-

Grade B

Pi (1998)
Kabbalahdeygook

216 is the secret sacred number of the universe.lol. A scientist discovers that the number is the key to unlocking the secret code of the Torah. He later goes insane. I guess some *secrets* are too much for some people to handle. Dude should have put 216 on the p9ck three.

Grade C

Requeim of a Dream (2000)

Uneven but still interesting ideas here. The story about the widow and her addictions is the most interesting. IMO this is Mcluhan philosophy being dramatized here.
WARNING IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH MClUHAN PLEASE DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK HIS IDEAS ARE NOT FOR SIMPLE MINDED FOLKS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSIcgnQcsqc


Terrance McKenna on Marshall Mcluhan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ql7cDR0uha8

I DID NOT WATCH THE DIRECTOR'S CUT AND FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND IT HAD A LESBIAN SEX SCENE,LOL, i guess you have to throw shit like that in there for the arthouse folks, (yawn). The storylines involving the widow's son and his friends were just not interesting to me.

Grade C+

Zodiac - Meh. The case itself was interesting, but the characters weren't. Like, how'd a cartoonist put more effort into a case than several jurisdictions of the law? And the real case is unsolved, so that just takes more out of the film.

The Road - One of those movies where I'd have enjoyed it more if I had seen it alone. Watching with someone trying to jone every scene, text, and complain is horrible.

This is another classic film that was a big letdown. I understand this film may have been considered groundbreaking in its day but to me it is a bore a snoozefest and not very funny.

Grade D

You betta watch yourself or you gonna get slapped like that white dude Mr. Tibbs slapped in that film , In The Heat of the Night,lol.

ITHOTN (1967), that is a great movi e.

ITHOTN and Too sir with love(1967)>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> The Graduate

i always thought the graduate was boring as hell

It also still has major relevance in society today.

I don't find much of it "laugh out loud funny" (especially the back half) but I still think dismissing it on the basis of it "not being funny" is missing the point and the reason why it's still considered a widely influential piece.

i don't feel like it holds up that well though. not to say it's bad, but all it really did for me was made me think about the impact it had when it came out

And gave Raging Bull a whole letter grade lower.

And I know she gave Network at least a D.

It's just the continuing saga of someone with very fascinating tastes.

.

Why was Benjamin so disillusioned with his future?

As you may have noticed,
most people here do all their reviews at once,
thus making it much easier for people to react to one or more of their reviews at once.
If you could please in the future put each of your reviews as a reply to your own original post it will be much easier for people to interact with you AND to navigate quickly to other people's reviews.
Review whatever you like however you like,
but it would be courteous to put all of your stuff in one place.

maybe because my attention span sucks

or maybe because when i'm watching a lot of stuff, i tend to do the same thing, and post as i go along

But it's easier to go straight to people's reviews when they are all grouped together.
All I ask is that in the future whomever posts in said style posts his or her new review as a reply (with the new film title obviously) to his or her original post.
That way when scrolling through it appears as

A
B
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
D

instead of
A
C
B
C
D
C
C
C
E
C
F
C
G
C
C

Dysfunctional Family Dramas

Both are good films very realistic situations. I think both films did a good job of showing that family conflict is something that cannot always be resolved. People just learn how to tolerate one another because people never really change.

The ending of the Grifters was kinda bad that is my only problem with the film.

The Grifters B+
The Savages A

Just watched that earlier tonight.
The premise was to me one of the coolest in recent memory, but the movie didn't execute it very well. Timberlake sucked, the rich girl had almost no personality... I didn't get why they all had those retro cars...

I was amused that although no one aging past 25 was a part of the plot, no one was even unattractive or overweight. I was land of the beautiful people.

The premise was so cool to me that I really wish it was better, but it was watchable.

>I was amused that although no one aging past 25 was a part of
>the plot, no one was even unattractive or overweight. I was
>land of the beautiful people.
I had no idea what this film was about. Sounds fun.

>The premise was so cool to me that I really wish it was
>better, but it was watchable.
Kinda reminds me of Limitless. I liked that film a lot even tho it was a bit flawed.

86.Colombiana @ 1/2
87.Contagion @@@@
88.Troll Hunter @@@ 1/2
89.Mesrine 1 & 2 @@@
90.I'm through with White Girls @@@
91.Medicine for Melancholy @@@ 1/2
92.beautiful Losers @@@
93.Conan @@
94.the Devil's Double @@@@
95.30min or Less @@ 1/2
96.Crazy Sexy Love @@@ 1/2
97.Our Idiot Brother @@
98.Harry Potter @@@ 1/2
99.Fright Night @@@
100.Friend with Benefits@@
101.The Sitter @@@
102.Sherlock Holmes @@@@
103.The Beginners @@@
104.Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy @@@
105.Carnage @@@ 1/2 (maybe 4 though)*
106.Warrior @@@@*
107.Midnight In Paris @@@
108.Moneyball @@@@*
109.Straw Dogs @@ 1/2
110.Margin Call @@@@*

*contained some of the best acting performances i've seen this year

>102.Sherlock Holmes @@@@
I really did not like the first one it was kinda silly. How is this one better?

>110.Margin Call @@@@*
I am gonna check it out.
>
>*contained some of the best acting performances i've seen this
>year

the first Sherlock, i doubt you'll enjoy the new one. i thought the first one was aight, but really enjoyed the new because overall it was executed much better. i found it funnier, the plot more succinct and the action more captivating

PrettY good dam show.

Having seen Trueblood first I expected something different here, really like it

it's one of HBO's best series and with the run of quality tv series that they've put out that's saying something.

i hope you are able to watch all 6? seasons and make it until the finale. it's probably one of the most emotionally affecting montages to end a series.

liked it

I liked it a lot but it wasn't my favorite film of the year and I didn't even see that many films LOL

On the weekend we also watched Sanshiro Sugata and Sanshiro Sugata part 2, Incident at Loch Ness, and The Cook, the Thief, his Wife and her Lover.

And I watched a couple more episodes of Friday Night Lights, S5.


~ ~ ~
All meetings end in separation
All acquisition ends in dispersion
All life ends in death
- The Buddha

|\_/|
='_'=

Every hundred years, all new people

I thought the special effects were subpar, but I remember really loving it.

I was just trying to mess with Mr W's head this weekend. He liked it but he still is iffy on Herzog. He LOVED Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans and he's been chasing the dragon ever since LOL

~ ~ ~
All meetings end in separation
All acquisition ends in dispersion
All life ends in death
- The Buddha

|\_/|
='_'=

Every hundred years, all new people

I was more surprised to learn that Werner DIDN'T direct this film than anything else.
What's your Herzog plan of attack - hit him with the classic 70s narrative films,
or go the Cult of Werner route with Grizzly Man, Burden of Dreams, and My Best Fiend?

a follow on to The Cook et al

~ ~ ~
All meetings end in separation
All acquisition ends in dispersion
All life ends in death
- The Buddha

|\_/|
='_'=

Every hundred years, all new people