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Posted: **January 28th, 2014, 12:48 pm**

Been wanting to check out Fassbinder for a while, so I finally rented The Marriage of Maria Braun.

I didn't like it too much. It was original though, I'll give it that. Not awful, just didn't grab me.

Posted: **January 28th, 2014, 3:59 pm**

Jazzooo wrote:
Monte, I'm disappointed but different strokes. I thought the biggest flaw of I, Frankenstein wasn't the incomprehensible plot, but the fact that the movie was basically without humor. Lots of missed opportunities to not take itself too seriously.

Yes, different strokes. I recall that you liked another film, LEGION. It was similar to this one, I think, in being a CGI arena for battling bands of angels. Something about such a contest must appeal to you, because you seem rather generous in your appraisals of films like that. I admit I'm working with a small data sample. They need to make PARADISE LOST.

Posted: **January 28th, 2014, 7:45 pm**

Monte Smith wrote:They need to make PARADISE LOST.

Believe it or not, it was actually in the works at one point. It never got to production and afaik it's in development hell (no pun intended).

Posted: **January 31st, 2014, 9:13 pm**

I have Freda at home but haven't watched it yet. Rewatching the Sopranos. Some of that stuff is so funny. I keep thinking about Silvio talking about "anti-Italian discrimination" and Junior telling his doc "you tell me to take a crap on the deck of the Queen Mary, an hour later they're hosin' her down with disinfectant." Of course it's much funnier the way Uncle June says it.

Ooops, but I'm off topic. Came on to say that I was devastated for 3 or 4 days after watching Blackfish. Don't know why - I mean there's so much more human turmoil to be troubled over, but for whatever reason, this one absolutely slayed me. Also watched Blue Jasmine. I gotta say, I didn't care for it all that much even though it does have fairly interesting plot. I have long been a fan of Blanchett too but thought her Eastern drawl was a little exaggerated. Maybe it's that none of the characters had much in the charm department. Anyway, one person's opinion. Hope you guys's is good.

Posted: **February 1st, 2014, 6:44 am**

Also watched Blue Jasmine. I gotta say, I didn't care for it all that much even though it does have fairly interesting plot.

I'm with you. Wildly overrated flick, I think.

Posted: **February 1st, 2014, 8:16 am**

"Wildly overrated" makes me think of someone running down the street, frothing at the mouth and eyes bulging, yelling "THIS IS AMAZING!!!!!"

I saw Caught in the Web, a Chinese black comedy (I assume) about viral gossip in the age of the internet. It was interesting but a bit silly in the end.

Inside Llewyn Davis--interesting but a little monotonous. The actor in the lead role seemed to be channeling early Pacino (the Michael Corleone years) and it got old to me, even though he was talented.

Posted: **February 1st, 2014, 2:11 pm**

tippy wrote:Came on to say that I was devastated for 3 or 4 days after watching Blackfish. Don't know why - I mean there's so much more human turmoil to be troubled over, but for whatever reason, this one absolutely slayed me.

Me too. It was hard to watch but I hope people keep seeing it. There continues to be pressure on entertainers to avoid performing at Sea World and it's working to a degree.

A couple of weeks ago, I was in French Polynesia. We were in a small boat; one of those motor boats that's inflatable and the outside is cylindrical. One of the guides shouted "dolphins!" and we did a hard right to go meet them. Within seconds they had surrounded the boat. They were swimming with us on all sides and jumping all around. They do this just for fun It lasted for a few minutes and then they went on their way. I could have reached over and touched them. It was amazing. We have a kinship with dolphins like we have with no other wild animal. Killer Whales are really dolphins, of course.

Posted: **February 6th, 2014, 9:38 pm**

I saw 47 Ronin tonight, a Keanu Reeves/Japanese action fantasy. Keanu, alternating between his two facial expressions of 'annoyed' and 'confused and annoyed' didn't ruin the movie. Shot in Japan with an all-Japanese cast (save for Reeves) by a non-Japanese director, it borders parody too many times to ignore. But the actors and writers obviously took it very seriously. It's a good looking stupid action fantasy movie. I wish I could say something even vaguely about the ending besides the fact that it's pretty damned weird, but it might ruin the experience for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Posted: **February 10th, 2014, 8:26 pm**

The Wolf of Wall Street is such an ebullient film. Basically a buddy comedy. I enjoyed it thoroughly. Another winner for Scorsese.

Posted: **February 11th, 2014, 5:44 am**

Blue Jasmine - clever idea, very well executed. Andrew Dice Clay is fantastic. Blanchet is just amazing, especially the fleeting looks she flashes which convey her inner hysteria/mania/lunacy better than the dialogue. Fans of Bobby Cannavale will enjoy his Stanley Kowalski, especially the grocery store scene (brilliant!). The unknown actress playing the sister is excellent.

My expectations were slightly lowered going in but I can safely say I was not disappointed. Loved the music too.

Posted: **February 11th, 2014, 6:13 am**

stonemonkts wrote:Blue Jasmine - clever idea, very well executed. Andrew Dice Clay is fantastic. Blanchet is just amazing, especially the fleeting looks she flashes which convey her inner hysteria/mania/lunacy better than the dialogue. Fans of Bobby Cannavale will enjoy his Stanley Kowalski, especially the grocery store scene (brilliant!). The unknown actress playing the sister is excellent.

My expectations were slightly lowered going in but I can safely say I was not disappointed. Loved the music too.

Well said. The character Chili played by Cannavale was terrific. Very tragic story all around.

Interesting double bill (a couple days apart).

The Butler
Remains Of The Day

Posted: **February 13th, 2014, 9:45 pm**

I finally saw Wolf of Wall Street and I have to admit that I really liked it. My expectations had been lowered by the negative comments about the length and the profanity--I don't mind language at all, but it sounded like it was going to be tedious. While I do think it could have been 20 minutes shorter, I really wasn't terribly impatient. And Leonardo--who I sometimes don't buy as an actor--really nailed this one. I liked the use of music, the photography, the script...pretty much everything. Matthew McConnaughy was outstanding and Jonah Hill really created a great, strange character. Scorcese should be proud--another somewhat epic flick about people who choose to do the wrong thing.

As I was driving home, I started comparing it to Goodfellas and realized that it was almost the exact same movie, albeit a less compelling one that GF, which is a favorite of mine. But it had most of the same elements and story twists--young ambition, conspicuous consumption of drugs and alcohol, likable bad guys and unlikeable bad guys, criminal investigations, helicopters, drug addiction, paranoia, missed opportunities for redemption and more.

Posted: **February 14th, 2014, 4:29 am**

Ah, another helicopter flick.

Posted: **February 14th, 2014, 1:28 pm**

Don't want to spoil anything, but the helicopter falls off a boat and drowns.

Posted: **February 14th, 2014, 3:19 pm**

Speaking of miserable endings, John Dies at the End has one. It is completely in tune with the rest of the film, which is an absolute shitfest. Plainly, the film makers expect their audience to be on drugs when watching this. They caught me in a lean decade.

Posted: **February 15th, 2014, 9:30 pm**

I saw two excellent films and Robocop.

Robocop could have been worse. Interesting to cast the strange looking partner from The Killing in the lead. Parts were very '60s sci-fi.

A Late Quartet is a fascinating and beautiful film about a string quartet that has been together for 25 years when one of them finds out he has a serious health problem. Christopher Walken, Kathleen Keener, Philip Seymour Hoffmann...yeah, it's that good. The actress who plays the daughter of two of the main musicians is not only entertaining, but last her name is 'Poots' and I think that's worth mentioning for some reason.

A French movie on netflix called All Together--a sweet and sad comedy about 5 elderly friends (the only actress I knew was Jane Fonda, who speaks excellent French) who decided to move in together. Really funny in parts and overall powerful.

Posted: **February 17th, 2014, 4:11 am**

42 - Gets the Jackie Robinson story told without sugar-coating it.

The Master - A wonder! Amy Adams is amazing. Supurb performances all around.

I've been curious about A Late Quartet. Will check it out.

Posted: **February 17th, 2014, 5:29 am**

I liked A Late Quartet too. Added bonus is if you actually like the music, it also has that going for it.

After not liking Fassbinder's The Marriage of Maria Braun I was encouraged to check out Ali: Fear Eats the Soul.
Glad I did. Superb.

Posted: **February 19th, 2014, 6:01 am**

Dallas Buyers Club - Excellent
Gravity - Gripping blockbuster fare
Shame - I feel so dirty

Posted: **February 19th, 2014, 6:49 am**

Thanks, stone. How could I have forgotten to mention the music in "a late quartet"? Loved it.

Posted: **February 22nd, 2014, 9:11 pm**

Nebraska - Fantastic (good to see Bruce Dern again)
Captain Philips - Boring
Don Jon - Interesting

Posted: **February 22nd, 2014, 10:11 pm**

Big Star. To me captured the essence of the glorious feeling of creating music - it's about the jamming - without totally overdramatizing unique and troubled personalities (which in truth occur across all walks of life from ditch digger to POTUS).

I think I've seen all the Magnolia recent documentary releases now (advertised on one another). Isn't that Tom Cruise's company?

Posted: **February 23rd, 2014, 4:19 pm**

Pompeii. It's Bulwer-Lytton-riffic.

Posted: **March 2nd, 2014, 1:10 pm**

Blue is the Warmest Color

To enjoy this film, you'd better enjoy watching Adele. Over the course of almost 3 hours, the camera is never away from her for very long. She's (I'll never remember or be able to pronounce the actress's last name) so obviously the director's muse and I think it comes across as obsession.

I liked the film quite a bit and it never dragged for me, even though over 2.5 hours is pretty much spent focusing on Adele's face. A lot has been made about the sex scenes, and they're certainly graphic but, based on all the fuss, I expected there to be like a half hour of sex or something. That's not the case. Graphic but not particularly gratuitous, IMO.

Posted: **March 2nd, 2014, 1:35 pm**

Watched Fellini's 8 1/2 again, and enjoyed it more than when I first viewed it ages ago. Actually I watched it twice, if you count the commentary version. This is the type of film that can be enjoyed purely from a visual perspective, sound off, not knowing nor caring wtf is going on. But quite a lot is going on, of course, inside Marcello Mastorianni's head, and all around him. Memory mixed with desire. Is this his most Felliniesque movie?

Also watched a Norwegian film called Oslo, August 31st which I liked. A day in the life of a (not so much) recovering addict. I continue to be impressed with contemporary Scandinavian drama.

Other films of note which I streamed from Netflix are Frances Ha, and Slacker (1991). Enjoyed both of them. I thought I was going to hate Frances Ha but after 10 minutes I was won over completely. I'm a big fan of Noah Baumbach.

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