Resurrecting the Movies thread...

[SFEnnisSF]

I saw RESERVATION ROAD tonight.  Mmmmmm, Joaquin Phoenix sportin' a beard.  

Ohhh, seeing that FOCUS FEATURES logo before a movie always does somethin' to me...

So, this movie opened on one screen in San Francisco two Friday's ago.  Last Friday it was completely removed from that theatre, and it opened at a theatre in the East Bay, a theatre in San Jose, and the theatre in Mountain View, where I saw the movie tonight.  None of these theatres are playing the movie past Thursday night.  (Meaning it played at all these theatres for only one week.)

The movie itself seems to play like a made for TV movie, but it was REALLY good.  Either that or I'm still swoonin on Joaquin and his beard.  Mark Ruffalo ain't to bad to look at either, especially in some shirtless shots, but still Joaquin wins the eye candy.  Jennifer Conley is good at being sad and depressed as she always is.  The story and suspense builds up to a final confrontation at the end that was inaudiable.  Some really bad directing or sound mixing.  Probably coulda done the shots again.  However the acting in the confrontation scene was incredible.  Just couldn't understand or hear what they said.

Now, this movie carried an R rating.  There was NOTHING in the movie IMO to make it carry the R rating.  Maybe a few cuss words.  Ok, losing your child is some tough subject matter.  Yes, it has adult themes.  There was no nudity or grotesque violence or mangled kid shots or anything.  However, I just watched the RED BAND TRAILER for BEOWULF and somehow this has gotten an official PG-13 rating?  WHAT THE FUCK?  It just doesn't compute!  What, are they adding violence and gore and Angelina Jolie naked to the trailer only?  Just really pisses me off!  Did they cut out a few things to get a PG-13 rating?  You know, fuck that.  Just release the damn thing as an R and stop being pussies.  Even as a PG-13, this is way more violent and upsetting as RESERVATION ROAD could have ever been.  Why was RESERVATION ROAD rated R?  

Over on the Beowulf boards on IMDB there's posts saying Robert Zemeckis can take his PG-13 rating and shove it.  LOL    Lotsa folks no longer interested in seeing the move no more.  Time for the film industry to stop being politically correct pussies and just release the damn movies as their intended.  Oooooh, this whole subject makes my blood boil.  Ok, /rant.

[SFEnnisSF]

Next movie I want to see is No Country for Old Men.

See the trailer here on You-Tube :

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBqmKSAHc6w[/youtube]

[serious crayons]

Is multiple viewings something that would normally come up in a conversation?  It's not something people normally talk about at work or at most places people gather.  But it's a lot more common than one would think.  Take a poll on this board.  How many have seen BBM more than once?  How many told their friends/family each and every time they went to go see it?  I'm willing to bet - not many.  That's likely one reason why we're here.  We've found someone else with whom we can talk about this movie and our fandom worship of it without fear of being thought of as wierd.

So I'm quite sure that happens with other movies as well.

After all, people buy DVDs in droves.  Why do they if they're not going to watch them again?

Why do people buy CDs or books?  Why listen to a CD or read a book more than once? 

Again, Delalluvia, what I said about kids watching movies multiple times more often than adults do (and I explicitly excluded BBM for obvious reasons) was not meant as an insult. It's simply my impression, based on what people have told me about their own viewing habits -- and yes, the subject does occasionally come up in conversation -- and things I've read, which cite it as one reason why cartoon-based, special-effects-laden blockbusters tend to make more money than critically acclaimed, character-driven Oscar contenders (another being that action flicks fare better overseas because language is not as crucial to their appeal).

You disagree. But tracking down real statistics or a Variety story about this is more trouble than I care to take. So unless someone has some figures handy, we'll just have to leave it at that. To drag this debate out based on our personal impressions does not seem worth it.

I was thinking perhaps you might have meant "Adults rarely see serious movies more than once."

But I don't know what you meant, I can only read what you put down. 

I was playing around with words. We were talking about "serious adult movies." Reusing the same words, I said something like "Serious adults rarely see movies more than once or twice ... blah blah blah."

I didn't mean anything particular by it, and I'm very sorry if it came off as an insult of you and your viewing habits, or those of people you know.

[oilgun]

I saw Lars and the Real Girl today and I absolutely LOVED it!  I wasn't prepared for how heart-breaking it turned out to be though, it's not exactly the light comedy that its marketing leads us to believe.  Gosling's character's anxiety and loneliness is palpable and I was brought to tears (literally) in many scenes.  One of the most moving and ultimately life-affirming film I've seen in a long while! 
Run, don't walk, to see it!

Move over Heath, Ryan's in town, lol!  Just kidding, I have room for both of them.  ;-)

[serious crayons]

I just got back from Michael Clayton, and I liked it a lot. I can see why they're having trouble marketing it. It's one of those movies that unfolds gradually, so everything's a little fuzzy at first but becomes clearer and clearer as the movie progresses. So if an ad came right out and said what the movie's about, it might conceivably spoil some of the suspense.

The closest I can come to describing it is it's like Erin Brokovich, but with George Clooney playing the Julia Roberts role (sans cleavage). It's not as cute and sprightly and upbeat as EB, it's grimmer. But the gist of the plot is vaguely similar.

Oilgun, glad to hear you enjoyed Lars. The one review I read made me feel kind of iffy about it. But with your endorsement I'll be sure to see it as soon as it reaches my local theater. As I've probably mentioned numerous times on this thread already, I love Ryan Gosling.

[oilgun]

Oilgun, glad to hear you enjoyed Lars. The one review I read made me feel kind of iffy about it. But with your endorsement I'll be sure to see it as soon as it reaches my local theater. As I've probably mentioned numerous times on this thread already, I love Ryan Gosling.

Ineedcrayons:  Apparently, Richard Roeper didn't like Lars so that says it all as far as I'm concerned, LOL!  Definitely see it!

I just got back from seeing Gone, Baby, Gone and it was a real shock to the system after just seeing Lars yesterday.  Come to think of it, it was like the antithesis of Lars.


I even loath the title.  It was probably the most unpleasant movie-going experiences I've had since, I don't know, Ted Bundy?  I actually felt like taking a shower afterwards.  I only went to see it because I quite like Casey Affleck and boy, do I regret it.  It seemed that every character was scuzzier than the next (In Boston, the greeting of choice seems to be "f*ck you, mudderf*ckin' c*cks*cka".  And that's just the kids!) and as for the story, it was disjointed, predictable and worst of all, about a third of the way through I started feeling really manipulated and once that happens they've lost me as a viewer. 

I'd love to hear other opinions.

[serious crayons]

Well, you won't hear my opinion of Gone, Baby, Gone because your comments above are enough to convince me that there's no way I would see it! 

I decided some time ago that my mental instability is such that I can't see movies that are depressing and bleak, no matter how well made they are. A sad movie is OK, obviously, since I loved BBM. But depressing, no way. BTW, I made this resolution after seeing Affliction, a good movie starring an actor I like, Nick Nolte, but one that ended on a very grim note. No more, I told myself afterward.

[oilgun]

Well, you won't hear my opinion of Gone, Baby, Gone because your comments above are enough to convince me that there's no way I would see it! 

I decided some time ago that my mental instability is such that I can't see movies that are depressing and bleak, no matter how well made they are. A sad movie is OK, obviously, since I loved BBM. But depressing, no way. BTW, I made this resolution after seeing Affliction, a good movie starring an actor I like, Nick Nolte, but one that ended on a very grim note. No more, I told myself afterward.

Then you should definitely stay away. Calling Gone, Baby, Gone bleak would actually be an understatement, it makes Mystic River, a movie it's been compared to because of themes and location, feel positively Capra-esque, LOL!  Oh and I take back that comment about Ted Bundy.  At least that movie doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is, a gore-filled B horror fest.

[Kd5000]

I saw INTO THE WILD last night. The breathtaking scenery reminded me of Brokeback Mountain.  The film is based on the nonfiction bestseller of a young man who gave away his life savings to embrace nature. He also left his family behind without a note or explanation. As far as they were concerned, he had just vanished.

He journeys all over America, (staying away from cities) and the film is a recollection of his adventures and some of the ppl he met along the way.  He ended up in Alaska, living in a bus, wanting to live in the wild.  Well you can't get a place with more wilderness then Alaska.  It had been his lifelong ambition, the great trek to Alaska

The film was quite well acted, directed by Sean Penn.  I'm not going to spoil the ending, though everyone I know seems to know how it turns out.  He kept a journal referencing Tolstoy and Thoreau.  He had many interesting philosophical insights.

I'm surprised the film has not been released in more theaters (only 600) as it should be a box office hit. The book and his story are quite well know.

[MaineWriter]

Ineedcrayons:  Apparently, Richard Roeper didn't like Lars so that says it all as far as I'm concerned, LOL!  Definitely see it!

I just got back from seeing Gone, Baby, Gone and it was a real shock to the system after just seeing Lars yesterday.  Come to think of it, it was like the antithesis of Lars.

I even loath the title.  It was probably the most unpleasant movie-going experiences I've had since, I don't know, Ted Bundy?  I actually felt like taking a shower afterwards.  I only went to see it because I quite like Casey Affleck and boy, do I regret it.  It seemed that every character was scuzzier than the next (In Boston, the greeting of choice seems to be "f*ck you, mudderf*ckin' c*cks*cka".  And that's just the kids!) and as for the story, it was disjointed, predictable and worst of all, about a third of the way through I started feeling really manipulated and once that happens they've lost me as a viewer. 

I'd love to hear other opinions.

Your reaction is interesting because it is at 92% on rottentomatoes and it appears that most of the critics are raving about it.

L