Review the last movie you viewed (NO LISTS) III

[Dalton]

As a guy raised by a single mother, I would like to give a solid "FUCK YOU" to Waitress. Dumbest message to a movie I have seen in years.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Waitress

5/10

I was seriously underwhelmed by this movie. I am filled with meh.

Really? I was planning on renting this during winter break and still might, but I've heard split reviews on this one. Part of me wonders if all the accolades are only because the director was murdered (you know, the whole "laud the dead" type deal).

 

[corianderstem]

I might have just been cranky. If I'd been in a different mood, I might have liked it more. 5/10 might have been a little harsh, but I stand by the "meh" that it made me feel.

I know a lot of people really liked it though, so I wouldn't go by my opinion alone.

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

I'll probably still give it a shot, and when I do I will be back with a review.

 

[got_edge]

I'm watching Eastern Promises right now. Blood. Lots of blood.

More like: lots of awesome.

 

[LMP]

Glengarry Glen Ross

You really couldn't go wrong with a stellar cast and excellent script. I wish my school could do this play next year, but the 769 times they use "fuck" hurts my case. Pacino's monologues are ballin', but the real stand-out here is Jack Lemmon as Shelly, the sack of shit. God, I really enjoyed this movie, but I don't think I could watch it for a while, you've gotta be in the mood for it.

8/10

 

[No spoken words]

"Fuck you, THAT'S my name"

 

[Lancemc]

The beat goes round and round.

 

[LMP]

"Will you go to lunch? Go to lunch. WILL you GO to LUNCH?"

 

[lazarus]

Lemmon should have AT LEAST been nominated for an Oscar. Fucking disgrace. One of his 2 or 3 best performances.

 

[*browneyedgirl*]

How about Schindler's List?

 

[No spoken words]

Uh-oh.

Sauce time

 

[Lancemc]

How about Schindler's List?

How about it...

 

[LMP]

Yeah, most definitely. Pacino was already nominated (and won) in the Best Actor category that year anyway.

"Fuck the Machine!"

 

[No spoken words]

"Fuck the Machine? Fuck the machine.....FUCK the machine!"

 

[No spoken words]

How about it...

Oh, Lance, why?

 

[LMP]

"PUT THAT COFFEE DOWN!"

 

[Lancemc]

Laz, I'll have you know I got into a bit of a debate on RT earlier where I was trying to explain the craptitude of the last 30 minutes of Schindler's List. You would have been proud.

 

[No spoken words]

Proud like a Papa.

 

[lazarus]

Laz, I'll have you know I got into a bit of a debate on RT earlier where I was trying to explain the craptitude of the last 30 minutes of Schindler's List. You would have been proud.

Good...good....

 

[*browneyedgirl*]

How about it...

RIGHT!

 

[lazarus]

Down to the Bone (dir. Debra Granik, 2004)

Been meaning to see this for a while now, as this film stars my current crush Vera Farmiga (known to most as the love interest of both Matt Damon & Leonardo DiCaprio's characters in The Departed). Down to the Bone came to my attention because the Los Angeles Film Critics awarder Farmiga Best Actress a few years back for this film, which was a small hit at Sundance but otherwise was fairly unknown outside critical circles.

Plotwise it's nothing very unique or exciting: a married mother of two attempts to quit doing cocaine, and the film follows her struggle to do so. What is unique about the film is the matter-of-fact way everything is shown, and how as a viewer you feel very much like a fly on the wall, eavesdropping (or peeping) into these people's lives. The photography isn't pretty (at times it looks like it could have been shot on video), but of course the washed-out look is appropriate to the material, and there are many little visually poetic moments captured even within this style.

The director deserves credit for bringing out very natural performances from the entire cast, including the young children, but Farmiga really stands out here in a performance that should have heralded a huge new talent. I imagine snagging the role in The Departed (likely over better-known actresses) is due to her work in this film (and she also had a great supporting turn as a prostitute in Anthony Minghella's little seen and fantastic Breaking & Entering from last year), but from what I've read she heavily researches anything she auditions for, going so far as to dress up like the character and shooting her own scenes at home as tests. Hopefully the future will see her in better and meatier roles. This film is worth seeing just for her work alone.

 

[deep]

Atonement

2/10

a major disappointment

below a snippet from A O Scott - NYtimes

There are some powerful images — of scared and tired soldiers in France, of bloody wounds and shattered limbs in London — but the film’s treatment of the war has a detached, secondhand feeling. And even the most impressive sequences have an empty, arty virtuosity. The impression left by a long, complicated battlefield tracking shot is pretty much “Wow, that’s quite a tracking shot,” when it should be “My God, what a horrible experience that must have been.”

The main casualty of the film’s long, murky middle and end sections is the big moral theme — and also the ingenious formal gimmick — that provides the book with some of its intensity and much of its cachet. As the title suggests, “Atonement” is fundamentally about guilt and the attempt to overcome it, and about the tricky, tragically imperfect power of art to compensate for real-life crimes and misdemeanors.

 

[lazarus]

Lance vs. Deep

Go.

 

[corianderstem]

Nerts to that. I wasn't noticing the long tracking shot on the beach. Not all of us are paying attention to the filmmaking. Some of us get caught up in the story.

I stand by my high rating.

 

[lazarus]

I'm not above criticizing the techincal aspects of a film mentally while I'm watching it, but I'm also not resistant to a story that engages with well-drawn characters and/or an involving story.

Plus, I imagine this film is up my alley anyway. Epics that are immaculately shot, taking place over long periods of time that deal with regret, etc.

Unfortunately Atonement isn't playing in this shithole I'm working in, so I'll have to wait.

 

[No spoken words]

I'd like to see a long tracking shot of Laz as he wanders up and down International Drive, looking for a movie theater that plays Atonement.

 

[deep]

I'm not above criticizing the technical aspects of a film mentally while I'm watching it, but I'm also not resistant to a story that engages with well-drawn characters and/or an involving story.

Plus, I imagine this film is up my alley anyway. Epics that are immaculately shot, taking place over long periods of time that deal with regret, etc.

Unfortunately Atonement isn't playing in this shithole I'm working in, so I'll have to wait.

I really do enjoy epics

and expected to enjoy this film a lot

It began with some promise

but never went anywhere

the technical aspects of the film were very good

the tracking shot is impressive
they introduce a couple of characters with the miscast lead (he was really good in Last king of Scotland) but never works in this film

the characters are not well drawn at all

there is no reason to care for or about them

I did enjoy Vanessa Redgrave, she is a living legend
and her screen time is a joy to watch

there was a smaller budget movie awhile back called

"Swimming Pool" that is similar to this movie in some ways

I believe it works much better

the characters are much better developed

 

[deep]

Epics that are immaculately shot, taking place over long periods of time that deal with regret, etc.

I love a movie that knocks you out with regret.

I imagine Kite Runner will fit that bill.


A film I saw recently that involved regret that was outstanding is called:
After the Wedding.


In the late 80's I watched Claude Berri's two films:

Jean de Florette
and Manon of the Spring

I would put them at the top of the list for films about regret.



Abonement

 

[lazarus]

I'd like to see a long tracking shot of Laz as he wanders up and down International Drive, looking for a movie theater that plays Atonement.

That would probably be faster than driving down it on a Saturday afternoon, which I just endured.

Who the fuck are these people and where are they going.

No offense folks, but I've been to Florida many times over the years, and even lived here for a month straight, and I feel confident in saying this state sucks.