Movie Reviews part 13: How many movies will Jessica Chastain star in?

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1. Kill Bill 1 & 2
2. Pulp Fiction
3. Django Unchained
4. Inglorious Basterds
5. Reservoir Dogs
6. Jackie Brown
7. Death Proof

Good filmography. I hope Tarantino does an ultimate martial arts movie next.
 
Rust and Bone 7.7
one of the better films I have seen in awhile. I think this may be my second favorite Marion Cotillard film behind La vie en rose. The third act is a bit contrived, but as a whole, a very good film.

Barbara
7.5
a German film set in East Germany in the early 80s. The lead actress is very strong, location shots and cinematography very good.

Promised Land 5
Gus Van Sant has made some pretty good films. This is almost cringe worthy. Good actors in a bad film.
 
deep is going to start giving numerical scores to each of his reviews? Down to the decimal?

This is a red letter day for the message board.
 
I liked Django more. I even enjoyed Cloud Atlas more, I am thinking of going back and seeing it a 3rd time this weekend. I see it is at my discount theater. It will never be as good when it is not on a big screen.
I think A Prophet is better than R and B because it is consistent. The 3rd act just falls short in R and B.
 
I've seen Cloud Atlas twice, and I'm eagerly awaiting its opening in the cheap theatres here.

I'm trying to convince as many of my friends to see it as I can.

Will likely catch Rust & Bone this weekend, also hoping to catch On The Road or Not Fade Away as well.
 
I remember when you started recommending it. And I found that picture of Zachry and Hallie and said it looked bad. Well, every time I saw the previews it all looked great, especially the Neo Seoul segment but not the Zachry, Old Georgie segment. funny looking at the stills and previews, I could pick the parts I would like and the one part I think is really bad. So 4/5 a great movie and 1/5 weak, still leaves us with a real good movie, that these film makers have made to be seen on a large screen.


for you and NSW, a Rust and Bone sneak peak.

SNEAK PEEK: Marion Cotillard Revealed In "Rust and Bone"

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Can't make up my mind on Not Fade Away or The Sessions.
I am kind of indifferent to both concepts. But keep reading or hearing they are worth the effort.

I have no interest in the Bill Murray FDR film, after viewing the previews dozens of times it seems pointless.
 
My interpretation is that you should have shared your thoughts on the film.
 
Ok....

Anyone that loves books always thinks the book is better than the film, and I don't necessarily disagree. I can think of a few exceptions, but by and large it holds up. That being said, it's an unfair comparison to make for obvious reasons. And so I usually put my feelings for a book aside if I'm going to see an adaptation. I'm an avid reader and movie go-er so I try to have balance.

But I love Cloud Atlas very dearly, so it was difficult if not impossible not to make constant comparisons. I wish I knew what I'd have thought of the film if I was able to just watch it on its own terms and merits.

I think that the filmmakers made a mistake in not adhering to the book's structure. Part of the true beauty of the book is the cascade back down, once you get to the middle story. Connective themes start to better reveal themselves, both specific to the order of the stories and on a more macro level. I love how each abandoned story is picked up, hell, I loved how each story was abandoned in the first place. So to do away with that, either due to need or because they felt not doing so would be an improvement was a mistake to me.....but maybe the restructure was truly what's best for cinema, I simply do not know. I will not quibble with any adjustments made to each individual story, to me that's minor. Lastly, putting the book aside, the jumping around from story to story might have prevented one from getting heavily invested in each story, a character from that story, etc....maybe not, unsure. I guess the crosscutting makes it easier to start really driving home certain themes instead of letting them reveal themselves to the viewer, if you can trust the viewer.

Another issue would be that at times, the use of the same actors in heavy makeup took me out of the film....this was when the make up was bad, at least to my eyes...it was just hard for me to not view the character as the actor his or herself.

That being said, I did admire the use of the same cast, it seemed a natural extension of one of the books connective threads. So, if the execution was not perfect, to me the idea behind it was noble enough.

And, of course, kudos to all involved for making such a big-ass movie. The film has a little bit of everything....humor, romance, action, mystery, etc.....not easy to juggle the shifting tones of the book, but, they did as good a job as possible, I think. I'm sure different portions resonated with different people but I thought they really nailed the Sonmi portion, as well as the Forbisher portion. I could have watched a full movie based on either. The Cavendish portion was good, too, obviously the funniest part. The Ewing portion was the weakest, to me.

I don't know, I liked it more than I disliked it for sure, the more I type about it the more I think I'd have liked it even more if I could have removed myself from the comparisons....and I guess the best compliment I could pay it would be is that I'd love to see it again. Nobody could accuse the Wachowskis or Tykwer of not taking a major swing at this....they aimed high for sure.
 
It's a damn good book.

Thanks, Mike :) I've been dying to read your reaction to it.

I don't know if you went back to find our initial conversations about the movie (I'm sure you didn't), but basically, I almost entirely hated the Sloosha's Crossin' section, but Frobisher and Cavendish were pretty brilliant. I couldn't really get much attached to the Ewing film character and I really couldn't separate myself from the book when it came to Sonmi's section. The changes were too much for me. Luisa Rey was hit or miss.

Basically, I liked it, but it doesn't come close to touching the book.

And I couldn't handle Korean Hugo Weaving.
 
Korean Hugo Weaving was an example of my being taken out of the film for a bit.

The Sonmi changes were.....strong, let's say....but I really did try to not let the story to story changes impact me....I liked that portion despite the changes, maybe because of all the stories, that one appealed to me most in general. I LIKE DYSTOPIAN SHIT.
 
I am sure that without the source material, I would have loved the Sonmi bit.

I also disagree with you about the structure. It was fairly Hollywood to have the soaring moments of the stories constantly intersecting, but I am a sucker for that shit.
 
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