Author Topic: Resurrecting the Movies thread...  (Read 1022244 times)

Offline opinionista

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #200 on: June 03, 2007, 07:04:39 pm »
I just saw Zodiac. When Jake delivers his first line I immediately thought of Jack Twist. That lasted about one second.

Well, the movie is good and interesting but not thought provoking. Jake is good in it but i was more impressed with Mark Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr. I thought Downey Jr. was superb in his role.
Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement. -Mark Twain.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #201 on: June 03, 2007, 07:29:48 pm »
I've seen Waitress and LOVED it.  Best time I've had at the movie theater in...  I don't know how long.  It's beautifully-written - the dialogue is so natural and perfect.  Adrienne Shelly totally got how people really talk.  It's such a crying shame that we won't get to see any more films from her.  She was a wonderful director and a very good actor, too.  But Keri Russell is the star here, and she is absolutely adorable in every way.  What a talent.

... Even the tough stuff (like watching Jenna struggle through an emotionally abusive marriage) was interesting to watch because Shelly never goes over the top with her dialogue, situations, or actors.

You are so right, Barb! I saw it this afternoon and loved it, too. Cute, touching, restrained, ambiguous, sad. Keri Russell was good, and so were the other waitresses, including Adrienne Shelly  :'(. Lots of nice little details, like the way the writing on Andy Griffith's card looked shaky (thought he was excellent too, BTW). And the way the marriage was portrayed -- terrible, yes, but without descending into the melodramatic horrors that a lesser writer might be tempted to show. The guy who played the loathesome husband was good, too.

And I loved hearing the dialogue with its nonagreeing pronouns and verbs ("you was ..." "we was ..." etc.) -- reminded me of you-know-who!

Funny; the reviews I read were sort of mixed. I'm going to rottentomatoes to see if women reviewers liked it better. It's a bit of a chick flick, but in the good sense of the term.


Offline ednbarby

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #202 on: June 03, 2007, 08:58:14 pm »
Yeah - I don't get that it gets any mixed reviews at all.  I thought it was damn near perfect.

Meanwhile, against my better judgment, I saw "Knocked Up" today, which the nimrod MALE reviewer in our local paper gave FOUR FUCKING STARS.  (That's out of four.)

I walked out of it thinking, "Yeah, that was certainly a solid 2 1/2 stars, bordering on 3, but FOUR FUCKING STARS?"

Men writing for men (and really young and/or immature ones at that).  Gag.

I think I'll go watch "Waitress" again and be cleansed.

 :P
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Offline memento

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #203 on: June 04, 2007, 08:26:39 pm »
I loved how Waitress  used pies as a metaphor for Jenna's life - I Hate My Husband pie, I Don't Want Earl's Baby pie, Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining My Life pie. I really enjoyed its quirkiness and its message, which was in Andy Griffith's words: "Start fresh. It’s never too late."

Offline ednbarby

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #204 on: June 04, 2007, 09:15:14 pm »
I loved how Waitress  used pies as a metaphor for Jenna's life - I Hate My Husband pie, I Don't Want Earl's Baby pie, Baby Screaming Its Head Off in the Middle of the Night and Ruining My Life pie. I really enjoyed its quirkiness and its message, which was in Andy Griffith's words: "Start fresh. It’s never too late."

Excellently put.  I couldn't agree more.  :)

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Offline delalluvia

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #205 on: June 15, 2007, 09:04:49 pm »
Has anybody seen Black Snake Moan? It's getting mixed reviews here, so I am not sure if we should go and see it.... :-\ 

My best friend is a feminist and she loved it considering its strange premise.

Quote
I wonder why? I wonder why actors hardly ever come to premieres in Holland. Amsterdam is a pretty cool city, right?  :-\

Dunno, too small an audience I suppose.  Doing promotion junkets is tiring for the actors, so they just hit the bigger markets.

Offline Meryl

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #206 on: July 10, 2007, 04:26:37 pm »
I got to see a preview of "Hairspray" last night and had the best time!  I haven't seen the stage show, so I was not familiar with the music, which is a spot on recreation of those 1960's tunes popular when I was in junior high and high school.  The adorable cast simply kept singing and dancing practically nonstop, and although the plot deals with serious stuff like racism and stereotypes, it was handled so adroitly and with such a light touch that it didn't get bogged down like it might have.

The girl they found to play Tracey, Nikki Blonsky, is just right--irrepressibly good-natured, full of life and of course plump, and she sings and dances beautifully.  As her parents, John Travolta and Christopher Walken are an utter hoot.  Michelle Pfeiffer does a great job as the villainous ex-beauty queen, and the small roles are perfect cameos: Jerry Stiller as the cheesy owner of a shop for big girls, Queen Latifah as a soulful record shop owner, and Allison Janney as an evangelical terror of a mom.  John Waters and Ricki Lake, the writer and star of the original movie, made quick (and appropriate) appearances, too.

It was so energizing, what with one catchy number after another, that I went in feeling tired and sleepy and came out wanting to dance down the street!  Go see it when you need a pick-me-up.  ;D
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Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...Factory Girl
« Reply #207 on: July 30, 2007, 12:28:52 pm »
I just bought the uncut version of  Factory Girl, and really enjoyed it.  I didn't see the theatrical version so I can't compare the two but I thought this one was quite good. 

Sienna Miller, who really didn't impress me in Casanova, was a revelation as poor little rich girl Edie Sedgwick but I absolutely LOVED Guy Pearce as a child-like petulant Warhol.  He completely disappears in the role and is a joy to watch.  His performance rivals that of PSH's as Capote, it's that good.  A lot of people didn't like Hayden Christiansen as "the folk singer" but I thought it was uncanny how much he looked and sounded like Dylan.

Anyway, I pronounce it an underrated gem, lol!

Offline delalluvia

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...Factory Girl
« Reply #208 on: July 30, 2007, 09:14:47 pm »
I just bought the uncut version of  Factory Girl, and really enjoyed it.  I didn't see the theatrical version so I can't compare the two but I thought this one was quite good. 

Sienna Miller, who really didn't impress me in Casanova, was a revelation as poor little rich girl Edie Sedgwick but I absolutely LOVED Guy Pearce as a child-like petulant Warhol.  He completely disappears in the role and is a joy to watch.  His performance rivals that of PSH's as Capote, it's that good.  A lot of people didn't like Hayden Christiansen as "the folk singer" but I thought it was uncanny how much he looked and sounded like Dylan.

Anyway, I pronounce it an underrated gem, lol!

I want to see both "Factory Girl" and "Casanova" as I seemed to have missed both in the theaters.  Guy Pearce disappears so much in the character that I didn't recognize him.  At first, I thought Warhol was being placed by James Marsden!

Offline shortfiction

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #209 on: July 31, 2007, 01:14:23 am »
I'm off to Blockbuster tomorrow to see what I can find, but mostly I watch Netflix movies.  I'm going through the Black Adder series and I also bought all four seasons of A Bit of Fry and Laurie, as I am a fan of eccentric, absurdist, wacky British humor.   
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