Resurrecting the Movies thread...

[oilgun]

The Midnight Meat Train (2008)

A very stylish slasher with a cool twist at the end (If you haven't read the Clive Barker short story it's based on) The cinematography is gorgeous and the screenplay is fairly tight.

The blood and guts quotient is quite high - at least I thought so but then I'm not a connoisseur of the genre - but the stylish camera work and some of the F/X are a bit cartoon-ish (at one point a victim's eyeballs go flying out from the impact of a hammer blow to the back of the head) so it helps keep the gruesome action at a safe distance from the viewer and man is it ever gruesome!

Vinnie Jones makes an effective villain and it's always nice to see Brooke Shields. Highly recommended and it would make a great double bill with THE END OF THE LINE, another subway horror, as the appetizer.

[Meryl]

I was invited to a screening of "Milk" tonight, which stars Sean Penn as the gay activist Harvey Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant.  I do think it's a must-see for Brokies, if only because it features the Castro Theater! 

**SPOILERS BELOW**

I thought it was very well done, with a few reservations.  Gus Van Sant did a great job of mixing together live action with clips of actual events of the 70's.  You get a real feel for the time and place.  The characters are well drawn and believable, with the possible exception of Dan White (Josh Brolin), who I think needed to be better developed in order for us to fully absorb the events at the end of the film. 

Sean Penn's performance is excellent, as you might expect.  He portrays Harvey Milk as an outgoing, friendly, feeling man who is inspired at age 40 to give up his closeted life and live openly in San Francisco with his lover, played by James Franco.  They move from New York in 1970 to the largely gay Castro district in San Francisco.  The camera shop that they open soon becomes a neighborhood gathering place, and Harvey decides to run for office to make a difference in how gays are perceived and treated by the local police and city government.  He's a natural leader, passionate about his cause, and unapologetic about his homosexuality.  He does battle not only with bigots but with closeted homosexuals in positions of power who don't want him to make too many waves.  It's moving to see his ups and downs, both in love and politics, and his eventual triumph in getting elected to the Board of Supervisors of SF in 1977.  Sean Penn plays him with absolute conviction and naturalness, and his body language is terrific.

Some of my favorite scenes involved Harvey standing up to a State Senator who was pushing the passage of Proposition 6, which would have given the state the right to fire not only gay teachers but teachers who expressed support for them.  There were numerous clips of Anita Bryant preaching her awful, self-righteous sermons about how evil homosexuals were (I had forgotten how truly smug and loathesome she was).  When, against all hope, Harvey saw the proposal defeated, it was a joy to see him rewarded for all his hard work.  This is the real strength of the film, I think.  It really connects the viewer to the feelings and hopes of the men and women who so needed to be told that their lives counted for something and that they had a right to be who they were.

If I have a criticism of the movie, it would be that I wish it were more edgy.  The music had a Hallmark-y quality to it, kind of like it was asking you to get all teary-eyed, and it didn't jive with the grittiness of the story.  Also, though Harvey's affability and passion were clear, his darker side wasn't explored much.  The buildup to his death at the hands of his disturbed former colleague lacked the right tension, and the climax suffered accordingly.  The ending was moving, but it had an overly sentimental feel to it.  It was here that I most missed Ang Lee's spareness and silence, so devastating in BBM.

Watching this, it was impossible not to think of the current situation in California with Proposition 8.  If this film had been released a few months earlier, it might have made a difference in the outcome of the vote.  Harvey Milk would have reached out from the grave to once again remind his fellow citizens that everyone, EVERYONE, deserves to have their rights, to have HOPE (a word he adopted long before the Obama campaign came along and made it their own).

[Lynne]

Meryl,

Thank you so much for the analysis of Milk and bringing your unique Brokie analysis to the table.  I have only seen the documentary, but I am really looking forward to this film also.

Teri Gross interviewed James Franco today on Fresh Air, but I tuned in a bit late...seemed to me they talked about everything except Milk, like boxing lessons in preparation for Annapolis  disappointing.

And yes, I think I understand your point about the timing vis a vis Proposition 8.   

Lynne

[Ellemeno]

I'm behind the times again.  I forget this thread is here. 

K, I'm sad we differ on The Player, but in all fairness to it, if you fell asleep during it, maybe you were super-tired, and refreshed and lively you might have enjoyed it more.  It's one of my favorite movies.  I am curious, which movies do you think did it better?

Meryl, thanks for your thoughts on Milk, I'm very excited to see it.  That was such a confusing time.

Paul, thanks for yours on Rachel Gets Married.  I might have said this already in this thread, but I have very high regard for both Bill Irwin and Anna Deveare Smith, so am excited about that.

[retropian]

I was invited to a screening of "Milk" tonight, which stars Sean Penn as the gay activist Harvey Milk, directed by Gus Van Sant.  I do think it's a must-see for Brokies, if only because it features the Castro Theater! 

**SPOILERS BELOW**

I thought it was very well done, with a few reservations.  Gus Van Sant did a great job of mixing together live action with clips of actual events of the 70's.  You get a real feel for the time and place.  The characters are well drawn and believable, with the possible exception of Dan White (Josh Brolin), who I think needed to be better developed in order for us to fully absorb the events at the end of the film. 

Sean Penn's performance is excellent, as you might expect.  He portrays Harvey Milk as an outgoing, friendly, feeling man who is inspired at age 40 to give up his closeted life and live openly in San Francisco with his lover, played by James Franco.  They move from New York in 1970 to the largely gay Castro district in San Francisco.  The camera shop that they open soon becomes a neighborhood gathering place, and Harvey decides to run for office to make a difference in how gays are perceived and treated by the local police and city government.  He's a natural leader, passionate about his cause, and unapologetic about his homosexuality.  He does battle not only with bigots but with closeted homosexuals in positions of power who don't want him to make too many waves.  It's moving to see his ups and downs, both in love and politics, and his eventual triumph in getting elected to the Board of Supervisors of SF in 1977.  Sean Penn plays him with absolute conviction and naturalness, and his body language is terrific.

Some of my favorite scenes involved Harvey standing up to a State Senator who was pushing the passage of Proposition 6, which would have given the state the right to fire not only gay teachers but teachers who expressed support for them.  There were numerous clips of Anita Bryant preaching her awful, self-righteous sermons about how evil homosexuals were (I had forgotten how truly smug and loathesome she was).  When, against all hope, Harvey saw the proposal defeated, it was a joy to see him rewarded for all his hard work.  This is the real strength of the film, I think.  It really connects the viewer to the feelings and hopes of the men and women who so needed to be told that their lives counted for something and that they had a right to be who they were.

If I have a criticism of the movie, it would be that I wished it were more edgy.  The music had a kind of Hallmark-y quality to it, kind of like it was asking you to get all teary-eyed, and it didn't jive with the grittiness of the story.  Also, though Harvey's affability and passion were clear, his darker side wasn't explored much.  The buiidup to his death at the hands of his disturbed former colleague lacked the right tension, and the climax suffered accordingly.  The ending was moving, but it had an overly sentimental feeling to it.  It was here that I most missed Ang Lee's spareness and silence, so devastating in BBM.

Watching this, it was impossible not to think of the current situation in California with Proposition 8.  If this film had been released a few months earlier, it might have made a difference in the outcome of the vote.  Harvey Milk would have reached out from the grave to once again remind his fellow citizens that everyone, EVERYONE, deserves to have their rights, to have HOPE (a word he adopted long before the Obama campaign came along and made it their own).

Thanks for your review. I haven't seen it yet, but plan on doing so this week for sure. Harvey Milk is a Hero.

[oilgun]

[...]
If I have a criticism of the movie, it would be that I wished it were more edgy.  The music had a kind of Hallmark-y quality to it, kind of like it was asking you to get all teary-eyed, and it didn't jive with the grittiness of the story.  Also, though Harvey's affability and passion were clear, his darker side wasn't explored much.  The buiidup to his death at the hands of his disturbed former colleague lacked the right tension, and the climax suffered accordingly.  The ending was moving, but it had an overly sentimental feeling to it.  It was here that I most missed Ang Lee's spareness and silence, so devastating in BBM.
[...]

Thanks Meryl for the great write-up!  I read somewhere else that MILK is Gus' most mainstream work since FINDING FORRESTER which is my least favourite of his films.  That worries me because I've really enjoyed his last few movies which are anything but mainstream.

[oilgun]

Last night I watched THE STRANGERS with Liv Tyler and Can-cutie Scott Speedman looking strangely like John Kennedy Jr. at times.  Despite the story having a few holes it does a good job of slowly generating tension.  It's a rather grim story and although there is a torture scene it isn't extended or gratuitous.  I was on the edge of my seat pretty much the whole time.  The leads are excellent in what is essentially a two-hander.

[ednbarby]

Elle, The Player is one of my favorite movies, too.   

I'm psyched to see Milk.

I saw Role Models this past weekend, for lack of anything more interesting to me playing.  It was entertaining, mostly because Paul Rudd is so fun to watch, but probably a better candidate for DVD rental than anything else.  I was a little perturbed by the vast array of homosexual jokes.  They were at least relatively subtle, but it was disconcerting that there were so many references to anal sex that weren't at all positive.  Did Judd Apatow write this, or what?

[serious crayons]

Elle and Barb, I've always counted The Player among my favorite movies, too, so I was surprised and disappointed by my reaction. Has either of you seen it lately, and if so did you like it as much as ever?

Maybe it's just me. I wrote the last post as I was preparing to watch Quiz Show, and as it happened I fell asleep during that, too! Maybe I just need to start the movies earlier in the evening.

Meryl, excellent review of Milk. I am looking forward to seeing it, and to being reminded that things used to be more draconian even than they are now.

[ednbarby]

Oh, no!  I LOVE Quiz Show, too.

I do think that's one you need to watch when you're very much awake and alert.  The dialogue is so literate and layered, you'll easily miss a lot if you're the least bit sleepy.