Just watched the movie Look. Amazingly powerful film. I honestly can't remember the last time I had such an emotional rollercoaster while watching a movie. It's in a very similar vein to other movies like Crash, Traffic, and Babel, but I don't think any of those really had me going in so many different directions. Glee, disgust, frustration, awkwardness, suspense, distress, disbelief, and some sweet catharsis. Highly recommended.
And, as a guy, one of the best opening scenes ever. Just saying.
Marathoned all the Predator movies yesterday and then went to see Predators. It was an action movie and it wasn't ashamed of it. It didn't try to be anything else. I even managed to guess what order people died in (with one exception). Also, there was a samurai battle between predator #2 and the yakuza guy. It was awesome.
My friend made me a list of movies that I have to watch, and I trust his judgement. First up is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which I just finished. I found the morals reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim, and the way Jim Carrey's mind was presented was awesome. This may be the only good Jim Carrey movie.
Had a lot of drinks and watched Men Who Stare at Goats at a friend's place. Yeah, it sucked. Interesting idea, but way too hippie-dippie even for my super liberal friends.
I just watched A Fistful of Dollars for the first time. Clint Eastwood is a badass, and Sergio Leone's cinematography is amazing, but the story has become cliche in the past 40 years. Go figure. Apparently, critics thought it was cliche in 1964, too. I'd love to see a remake by whomever did 3:10 to Yuma.
I finally saw Sherlock Holmes. I understand what they were going for, but the follow-through wasn't nearly as engaging for me as the environment. I wish they would have incorporated even more of the sepia/lithographed look into the film, and strung out more of Holmes' insightful analysis throughout.
Just finished watching The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Really good film. The second one is playing a block down the street from me, so I'll be stopping by there sometime soon to check it out.
Just finished watchingThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Really good film.
All three of them are really good movies, but the first one made me pretty uncomfortable in certain scenes. Once I get my car I'm going to go to the library and check them out.
I just watched A Fistful of Dollars for the first time. Clint Eastwood is a badass, and Akira Kurosawa's cinematography is amazing, but the story has become cliche in the past 40 years.
Fixed that for you. While it does a few things differently, it is Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Some of the best moments are actually shot for shot exactly the same.
I just watched A Fistful of Dollars for the first time. Clint Eastwood is a badass, andAkira Kurosawa's cinematography is amazing, but the story has become cliche in the past 40 years.
Fixed that for you. While it does a few things differently, it is Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Some of the best moments are actually shot for shot exactly the same.
I remember a few years back my local PBS station had a documentary on Kurosawa's films and it showed scenes of both Yojimbo and Seven Samurai to Clint Eastwood and James Colburn respectively.
Just finished watchingThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
I've watched the first half-hour or so of it on Netflix and so far it's been a damned good adaptation of the book, although I have to say Lisbeth looks a bit more "punk" than I was picturing. Maybe I'll have time to finish it up today.
Inception is playing at the local second-run theater this week. I may see if my brother wants to go see it with me as I don't think he has seen it yet and I'd like to see it on the big screen instead of waiting for it to go to video.
So aside from Scott Pilgrim, also went to a nearby theater and watched Tales from Earthsea. As a Ghibli film, it was pretty mediocre. It was kind of weird because the movie felt like a big mish-mash of every other Ghibli movie before it. But at least it wasn't bad, just overlong and didn't have terribly endearing characters (which Ghibli is best at). Still glad I saw it, but probably won't be buying it later.
Repo Man - Like the life of a Repo Man, it is always intense. Jackie Brown - An exquisite study in perfect dialog. Long, but excellent. Mallrats - Just some good old-fashioned Kevin Smith fun.
Tales from Earthsea. As a Ghibli film, it was pretty mediocre. It was kind of weird because the movie felt like a big mish-mash of every other Ghibli movie before it. But at least it wasn't bad, just overlong and didn't have terribly endearing characters (which Ghibli is best at).
Note that Earthsea was done not by Hayao Miyazaki, but by his son, and the elder Miyazaki expressed a marked dislike for what GorÃ…Â did with the work.
Note that Earthsea was done not by Hayao Miyazaki, but by his son, and the elder Miyazaki expressed a marked dislike for what GorÃ…Â did with the work.
I don't understand how someone who is as talented as Miyazaki can be so lame as to pull that kind of nepotism. There must be tons of other talented people at Studio Ghibli that he could have had direct it instead. Who are those people, and what are they doing?
I don't understand how someone who is as talented as Miyazaki can be so lame as to pull that kind of nepotism. There must be tons of other talented people at Studio Ghibli that he could have had direct it instead. Who are those people, and what are they doing?
He's actually not that lame. He didn't want to do the project anymore by the time the studio got the rights, so Ghibli put GorÃ…Â in charge. GorÃ…Â and Hayao were also reportedly not speaking at the time, because when the decision came down there was a huge argument between the two over whether GorÃ…Â was ready to direct.
Miyazaki has a ton of integrity. He's on record as saying that he won't help any of his kids, because he doesn't want to create a "dynasty of animators," and that they'll have to make their own names to succeed. Apparently this caused a ton of stress between him and GorÃ…Â, and I suppose Tales from Earthsea shows us why--without Hayao, he's going to need to work a lot harder.
The film also took Japan's equivalent of the Golden Raspberry for Worst Picture and Worst Director.
Note that Earthsea was done not by Hayao Miyazaki, but by his son, and the elder Miyazaki expressed a marked dislike for what GorÃ…Â did with the work.
Yes, I was well aware of this fact when I went to go see it. I didn't go in with any high expectations, so it was fine.
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And, as a guy, one of the best opening scenes ever. Just saying.
The Other Guys was quite hilarious, so I was equally pleased. Probably going to go see Inception and whatever I can manage sneaking into tomorrow.
Two thumbs up.
It was incredibly tasteless and funny.
Inception is playing at the local second-run theater this week. I may see if my brother wants to go see it with me as I don't think he has seen it yet and I'd like to see it on the big screen instead of waiting for it to go to video.
Jackie Brown - An exquisite study in perfect dialog. Long, but excellent.
Mallrats - Just some good old-fashioned Kevin Smith fun. Note that Earthsea was done not by Hayao Miyazaki, but by his son, and the elder Miyazaki expressed a marked dislike for what GorÃ…Â did with the work.
Miyazaki has a ton of integrity. He's on record as saying that he won't help any of his kids, because he doesn't want to create a "dynasty of animators," and that they'll have to make their own names to succeed. Apparently this caused a ton of stress between him and GorÃ…Â, and I suppose Tales from Earthsea shows us why--without Hayao, he's going to need to work a lot harder.
The film also took Japan's equivalent of the Golden Raspberry for Worst Picture and Worst Director.