Random Movie Talk Twelve (no, not that horrid Schumacher movie)

[powerhour24]

Don't you..forget about him...

 

[S.A.K]

Powerhour - be careful with the original cut of Ashes of Time. I bought it years ago for something like 50€ and discovered that it was the worst dvd I have ever set my eyes upon. I endured it because I love WKW (except for blueberry Nights of course ) and it was the only copy I could find but here is my recollection of the quality: It looked and sounded like a transfer from a worn out vhs copy that had been boiled in a magnetic soup full of rubble. The image seemed to have been cut something like 18 percent from the bottom. And the subtitle-translations were obviously horrid even to someone who is not a native english speaker as myself.
So, I would say this is a fun dvd to own for its strangeness, and if there are no other version, this could be the case, of the original cut it is worth collecting I guess. But you have to be serious about having completionist ocd to make it worthwhile paying the money I paid for it! Otherwise stick with the redux....

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I've got the Ashes of Time redux available On Demand, so I'll be hitting that up soon. And I really liked My Blueberry Nights so, there you go.

I spent an hour or so scrolling through the greater than 500 movies that I have available on my On Demand and I found three (!) others that stood out and that I'll be checking out in the near future. I might have been a bit too picky but, whatever.

The Last Picture Show
Mean Streets
The Cake Eaters

The first two are classics, obviously, and I've wanted to see them for years now. The third is an indie drama from a couple of years ago starring K-Stew.

 

[lazarus]

Too bad it's "Cake" and not--


You get the picture.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Yes. Yes.

I think I'm going to go with Last Picture Show tonight. I'm going into it with little to no knowledge of plot or characters or anything, and I think that's probably a good thing. So I'm pretty excited.

 

[lazarus]

Oh are you in for a treat.

Good movie, too.

 

[CrashedCarDriver]

Yeah if you have even a passing interest in docs or sports films go see SENNA.

No talking heads, no sit-down interviews, just raw, archival footage edited together with occasional voice-overs gives it a propulsive momentum. If a fictional film came out with this plot and this lead character, you'd dismiss it as unbelievable.

I watch a lot of documentaries and by 30 minutes into this one, my brain stopped treating this as reality and was just engrossed in the plot. What makes it even more heartbreaking is the crushing feeling of dread that sets in as the film makes its way to its inevitable conclusion (if you know the events).

Fantastic.

Senna (2011) Trailer - No Fear No Limits No Equal - Formula 1 Documentary HD - YouTube

Happy 1990!

Happy 1991!

Happy 1992!

Happy 1993!


^ Um... that's just a freakish scary scene right there foretelling what was to come

 

[bono_212]

So, my mom always gets me nice things for Christmas/Birthday, and she tries to put thought into it and what not and, yeah, I almost always like what she gets me, but I don't think I've ever received a gift from her that's ever made me really think, "Holy shit, there really is no more perfect gift to have been given."

I present:

(The bobbleheads, not the DVDs)

 

[LemonMelon]

Network might have the best screenplay of all time. When it comes to determining favorite scripts, sometimes it's difficult to separate the list from your list of favorite lists, but in this case it's very clear what the star of the film was. While the acting and direction are excellent, the screenplay is simply awe-inspiring. Witty, creative, poignant, and sublimely-constructed. Casablanca, Pulp Fiction, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Annie Hall would probably round out my top 5 in that regard.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Hot Fuzz is on TV right now. I'm close to halfway through it, and am loving it. Timothy Dalton is marvelous in this role. He's stealing scenes left and right.

 

[LemonMelon]

I like it more than Shaun of the Dead, which is awesome in its own right but didn't make me laugh nearly as hard. Hot Fuzz is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

Oh man, the whole extended action sequence at the end was way too much fun. That's one of the most entertaining movies I've seen in a while.

 

[bono_212]

I've only seen Hot Fuzz once and it was just SO bizarrely over the top I couldn't quite take it all in. I'm sure I'll enjoy it more a second time.

 

[monkeyskin]

Put me down as a Shaun > Fuzz fan. Despite featuring a zombie uprising, Shaun's main plot (his late-20s life crisis) and setting felt much more grounded, the pacing was spot on and the humour played to their strengths.

Whereas in Fuzz the decision to make the entire film a send up of buddy cop movies meant there was no emotional core to the film and if a joke or sequence fell flat then there was nothing to fall back on. The extended action and multiple endings at the finale were too much, should have been spread out more. And the old trick of fast cutting/close zooms of mundane tasks felt old by then.

But humour wise I find them equally funny, with great supporting casts. It's just Shaun has a bit more to offer overall.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I loved all the Shakespeare references.

One of my favorite moments of the film was Timothy Dalton's delivery of the line "For never was a story of more woe/Than this of Juliet and her Romeo" as the decapitated heads of the actors sit in the middle of the street and he cruises off in his convertible. Perfect.

I'm a bit of a Shakespeare nerd, though, so that might have something to do with it.

 

[LemonMelon]

Watching Scarface right now. I realize I'm now on the shitlist of every hip-hop artist in the business, but this is awful. The acting is sloppy, the story is derivative, the dialogue is asinine, and I've wanted to smack the shit out of Michelle Pfeiffer for being so prissy, useless and irritating since the moment she sauntered on screen. Then there's that retarded Push It To The Limit coke pushing montage that moved the film forward about 6 months in 3 minutes in order to skip all the gritty details of realistically building an empire (see: Godfather II, Casino) to force in more FUCK YOUs and shootouts.

I've been laughing my ass off though. There must be a brilliant drinking game for this. Fuck the fucking Diaz brothers!

 

[LemonMelon]

Hahaha the last 20 minutes are priceless though. Still crap, but at least it ends well.

Apparently, DePalma was nominated for a Razzie for Scarface back in the day, which he didn't deserve. I'm very disappointed Pfeiffer didn't receive one though.

 

[Lancemc]

Probably my least favorite De Palma film now... Even worse than The Black Dhalia.

 

[bono_212]

There were parts I liked, but most of it I pretty much agree with Travis on. Best character/plot was Manny's, I liked him a lot, and got a *little* choked up when he was shot.

 

[cobl04]

Isn't Scarface like one of the most revered films of all time? Or am I mistaken?

 

[lazarus]

Not a fan either.

 

[lazarus]

I like it more than Shaun of the Dead, which is awesome in its own right but didn't make me laugh nearly as hard. Hot Fuzz is one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

This.

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

I'm a slasher....OF PRICES!

Spoiler

 

[powerhour24]

I just watched that again last week, even the parts that I have memorized still had me laughing more than probably any movie in the past 5 years.

Yo, Laz, , I just saw your pro-Tom Tykwer comment on AwardsDaily, I'm not sold on this new one, but he is severely underrated. Particularly for The Princess and the Warrior.

 

[lazarus]

Yeah, that one is my favorite as well. Perfume was criminally underseen, and I don't think The International was anywhere near as bad as people were making it out to be. That shootout at the Guggenheim was a tour-de-force of action staging.

 

[powerhour24]

I agree with all of the above. Hands down one of the best action sequences of the decade.

 

[Hewson]

Isn't Scarface like one of the most revered films of all time? Or am I mistaken?

I don't know about most revered of all time, but it had/has a following...not because its a great film, but because of the over the top violence, swearing (The 182 Blink 182's name refers to the 182 times "fuck" is said by Tony in the movie) and crazy performance by Pacino.

Michelle Pfeiffer was horrible as Lemon Melon noted.

"Fuck Caspar Gomez and fuck the fucking Diaz brothers...I kill those cockaroches".

 

[GirlsAloudFan]

(The 182 Blink 182's name refers to the 182 times "fuck" is said by Tony in the movie)

Apparently that's not actually the case:

Hoppus on Music - How Blink-182 Got Their Name - YouTube

 

[lazarus]

Maybe Taylor Swift should name her next album Spank 182 in your honor.

 

[cobl04]

So it's "revered" in the sense that Hotel California is "revered" then?