What Movies Are You Watching?

[Chazro]

Just so's you don't think I'm a complete animal (!;), last night I saw 'Searching For Sugar Man', the documentary about Sixto Rodriguez, it was very good. Hard to believe this man's story but, incredibly enough, it happened. Highly recommended on this site due to it's link to music and the industry.

[LennyH]

I've read that Scorcese's taking a few hits due to the subject matter and the way it's depicted. This really makes me laugh, as if the subject matter in his greatest movies was ever g-rated.

People really are ridiculous. How anyone could watch this film and come away with the notion that the depiction of their over-the-top, drug-fueled excesses and illegal, fraudulent, selfish behavior was somehow glamorized and something to be emulated is beyond me. I mean, at the end of it all *Spoiler Alert* he was fucking incarcerated and his wife left him and his life was pretty much ruined. He's still being hounded by the IRS today because he's only paid back a fraction his fines. They're after him now for money he made on his books because of all of this.

The idea that they shouldn't make a movie about someone who's an all around bad person because that person might profit from it is equally ridiculous.

[Monte Smith]

This is 40 was amusing in parts, never tremendously so. The one unalloyed good was the elder daughter's face, which was contorted into a mask of embarrassed outrage in every scene. The movie should have focused only on her and been called This is 14. As it stands, the film has no intellectual or moral standing or worthy characters or plot. No Montes. Godless entertainment.

Blue Sunshine. A boring man with no discernible characteristics has one chance to save the 1970s after graduates of Stanford begin losing their hair and going psycho from bad acid they bought ten years before. I think the filmmakers must have paid all their money out just for that awesome premise and had nothing leftover for a writer, actors, or cinematography. This was horrible. All it lacked was the dude and two robots in the righthand corner, and in fact wiki shows that other works by this director have found a welcome home on the Satellite of Love. No Montes. I loved it.

[walto]

Drinking Buddies, an "alternativey" film with very little plot, very good acting, and a lot of tension (mostly sexual). A little like an old Cassavetes movie that way.

The beautiful Olivia Wilde has a soulmate at the brewery where she works. The two have a ton of fun and hang out incessantly both during and often after work. Unlike in TV's "The Office" though, they BOTH have significant others. The longing and pain and anticipatory guilt is hard to watch when there's so little plot, but I still think it's quite good. The characters and situations are extremely realistic.

My daughter heard the writer/director speak in Chicago and says the majority of the dialog is improvised from instructions regarding what the scene is supposed to accomplish. Terrific cast, including Wilde's real-life hubby, Jason Sudeikis, who has a small role as brewery boss, and the protagonist from Office Space who plays the guy Wilde lives with (and who hasn't aged a day since that classic).

[Monte Smith]

Valhalla Rising is awful. I liked it the first time I saw it, when it had energy but no Vikings and was called Apocalypse Now. Even the sequel, Aguirre, Wrath of God had something going for it. But this? No.

[LennyH]

Good summary of Drinking Buddies, walto. That film stuck with me for a day or so. They didn't doll Olivia Wilde up at all and she still looked terrific.

By 10 minutes in or so, I recognized the improvised style; Lynn Shelton (Your Sister's Sister) and others are using a similar technique these days and these films have a common feel but I think it worked unusually well in Drinking Buddies. It really does feel like real people in real situations and, aside from the tension, it also becomes quite complicated (wondering what they are thinking and what their motivations are, etc).

[Spoilers] Luke keeps pushing his girlfriend to make wedding plans, seemingly undeterred by any feelings for Kate. He and Kate are all over each other, very touchy-feely, but there's no real evidence that he wants to take that further or that he's getting "pleasure" from touching her. He doesn't seem to be jealous at all of her boyfriend. When she sleeps with their co-worker, Luke is extremely hurt and upset, ostensibly, initially at least, because he has nothing but disdain for the co-worker. But it starts to become clear that there's real jealousy too. Kate had been going through the motions with her boyfriend in a similar way. They don't seem right for each other (the scene where she forgets to use a coaster seems more significant when you see her apartment later). It's very clear that Kate and Luke relate to each other and connect in ways that they don't relate to their significant others. They don't act on any feelings they have for each other but later, when they have it out about her sleeping with the co-worker, she blames him for not stopping her. Is she blaming him because he should have been there as a friend to keep her from doing stupid things when she's drunk or because Luke should have been the one that stayed and slept with her? Kate seems so together. She's beautiful and smart and funny and does a great job at work, but certain signs start to emerge: She drinks a lot. When she's upset, she shows up early for work and immediately pours a beer. Moving day is a crucial part of the film. Luke walks into her apartment and sees the birthday party decorations and the beer bottles, cake crumbs, etc, from who knows how long ago. He later cuts himself and she's of absolutely no help. They argue and, later, she's cold to him and her friend from work comes to help finish unloading the moving truck. She then ditches Luke and their diner plans to go out drinking instead. She's not really a functional human being and this day made that very clear. Luke goes home and a functional person helps him with his wound. After she tells him her secret, it rolls right off of him; maybe it goes down a bit easier because it's very clear to him that she's actually a functional person and a grown-up and the type of person he needs to be with. The make up scene between Kate and Luke is touching but it's pretty clear that the friendship will be different from then on. [/Spoilers]

Ha, didn't mean to write all of that. Once I got started it just sort of happened. My long-winded point is that, with all of those dynamics going on, more plot isn't really necessary. It's got lots of depth without it.

Anyway, of the 2013 films I've seen, I'd rank this film ahead of Gravity (easily) and The Wolf of Wall Street. I lot of people would think I'm nuts for thinking this, I'm sure.

[LennyH]

Valhalla Rising is awful. I liked it the first time I saw it, when it had energy but no Vikings and was called Apocalypse Now. Even the sequel, Aguirre, Wrath of God had something going for it. But this? No.

I saw it a couple of years ago. I got through it. I didn't think it was awful but I'd say a 2.5 star movie, which means that it was barely worth watching.

[Monte Smith]

Anchorman 2. So sad to have wasted 19 dollars of my life on this.

[LennyH]

Did you like the first one, Monte? Me not so much.

I've seen a couple recently:
Don Jon - Joseph Gordon-Levit is the writer/director/star. Pretty good first effort.

Ain't them Bodies Saints - I hereby give this the 2013 award for most Terrence Malicky.

[LennyH]

I always found Ferrell funny as hell on SNL, but his movies have been busts.

Haven't seen Anchorman 2, but the first one was horrendous.

Talladega Nights is a classic. I can live without the rest.

[sozamora]

I always found Ferrell funny as hell on SNL, but his movies have been busts.

Haven't seen Anchorman 2, but the first one was horrendous.

Talladega Nights is a classic. I can live without the rest.

I've enjoyed all Ferrell/McKay movies to one extent or another, but Talladega Nights stands out as the best by far.

[Monte Smith]

Hobbit 2. Boilerplate thrill-ride suck.

[Jazzooo]

Fecha de Caducidad, an excellent Mexican black comedy;

Saving Mr Banks--some weak moments but mostly fun and interesting. Brought me back to my childhood.

Trouble With the Curve--Eastwood. Watchable but nothing more.

[stonemonkts]

Another Scandinavian film, this time from Norway, called Troubled Water. Very good.

Young careless teen and his dopier friend take an unattended baby stroller for a joy run into the woods, and accidental mayhem occurs. Our hero lands in prison where he learns how to play the church organ like a young Bach....gets out, finds a job as a church organist, dazzles the congregation, but is finally recognized by the mother of the poor kid he destroyed years prior.

These dramas represent high water marks for a certain style of depiction, realistic and truthful I suppose, for lack of a better term. For a while I was looking to Asian filmmakers to scratch this particular itch but I have to say the people up there in Denmark, Sweden (naturally), Norway, and come to think of it, Germany and Russia are recently doing it for me.

[stonemonkts]

Ain't them Bodies Saints - I hereby give this the 2013 award for most Terrence Malicky.

Yeah I also thought of Mallick. It wasn't a bad film. I like Casey Affleck, most of the time. The one where he played an evil cop was good. And I loved him in that Jesse James movie with Pitt (he was good in it too).

[LennyH]

Ain't them Bodies Saints - I hereby give this the 2013 award for most Terrence Malicky.

Yeah I also thought of Mallick. It wasn't a bad film. I like Casey Affleck, most of the time. The one where he played an evil cop was good. And I loved him in that Jesse James movie with Pitt (he was good in it too).

Which movie is the evil cop one? I don't recall that.

I liked the Jesse James film a lot. Thought it was quite underrated.

[stonemonkts]

The Killer Inside Me



By the way, you'll need a shower after watching this...quite dark, and more than a little disturbing.

[walto]

Continuing my trek through the Woody Allen movies I've missed, I watched Hollywood Ending yesterday. It's a screwball comedy in which Allen plays a neurotic movie director (!) who's down on his luck. His ex-wife (Tia Leone) is now a producer and gets him a nice gig, but the stress causes him to get hysterical blindness. He then kind of "directs" the shooting without being able to see any of it. It's very silly but kind of sweet, in the old-fashioned Allen movies way. And Leone reminded me of an old boss of mine.

[steve(thelil)]

Continuing my trek through the Woody Allen movies I've missed, I watched Hollywood Ending yesterday. It's a screwball comedy in which Allen plays a neurotic movie director (!) who's down on his luck. His ex-wife (Tia Leone) is now a producer and gets him a nice gig, but the stress causes him to get hysterical blindness. He then kind of "directs" the shooting without being able to see any of it. It's very silly but kind of sweet, in the old-fashioned Allen movies way. And Leone reminded me of an old boss of mine.

Wow. I'm surprised. I thought it was a piece of crap and proof that Woody was totally done. I was shocked when I enjoyed a subsequent film of his (I forget which, maybe the one with the European babes and the menage a trois or something like that) At points I even found myself thinking "You can tell the director is blind" (confusing the director IN the film with the director OF the film)

[walto]

It's a stupid, unbelievable plot, certainly. And I had to fast forward through one painful and endless scene where Allen kept feeling around for chairs and knocking things over. Also, there are only a small handful of funny lines. But I'd still give it a couple of Montes just for sweetness and psychological acuity--something of which his movies are usually completely empty.

It's not one of his better efforts, I don't think. But I also think he's made a bunch of worse ones.

[Jazzooo]

We just watched Elton John, From Russia With Love, which chronicled his rather historic 1979 concerts in Leningrad and Moscow with percussionist Ray Cooper (who plays like a demon and looks like a demented civil servant). A good reminder of what a talented composer John was back in the day. A very strong rock pianist as well.

[Monte Smith]

Saving Mr Banks--some weak moments but mostly fun and interesting. Brought me back to my childhood.

I watched that this afternoon. I liked it, probably because I like movies about movies. Having read Neil Gabler's Disney tome, I enjoyed the biographical aspects of this picture. Only thing I didn't like was the title, which is easily mockable as SAVING MR HANKS. Come on. He starred in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN. His last picture could have been called SAVING CAPTAIN PHILLIPS. His first picture could have been called SAVING A PRETTY FISH LADY. It's too much.

Three Montes.

[Chazro]

Lone Survivor - I had the same reaction to the movie as I had when I read the book; heartbreak and pride. This man next to me brought a young boy (son?) and the kid was crying when the end credits rolled, he wasn't the only one. One of the best war movies ever made.

[walto]

BTW, thelil's remark made me second guess my judgement so I just rummaged around the internet to see if the critics generally agreed with him about Hollywood Ending. I was happy to see that a couple of guys I respect, Roger Ebert and Mick LaSalle, basically saw it pretty much as I did--not one of Allen's great efforts, but one of his better ones.

(Not that there's anything wrong with hating it!)

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/hollywood-ending-2002
http://www.sfgate.com/movies/article/Al ... 841587.php

[Jazzooo]

Trying to catch up, as most movies open in MX far later the in the states. Wolf of Wall Stret still isn't here yet.

I saw two lately: Blue Jasmine and American Hustle. I thought both were good enough to hold my interest. Cate B was excellent, twitchy and sad. Andre Dice Clay surprised me by being as good as he was. Louis CK was more effective for me in American Hustle, which held my interest. I didn't think it was best picture material, though.