Random Movie Talk, Louis the XIVth Edition

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The camerawork on that long tracking shot during the party scene was fantastic.

Whatever the shortcomings of the script may be, the whole thing is very well-directed. And I loved the analog look of the film. Aside from a cell phone I don't think you see anything digital throughout, which produces a real classic atmosphere.
 
I thought it was terrific on many levels. Acting, direction, cinematography, score, etc. But I've got to say, the story left me cold. It felt a bit stale, at least compared to Oldboy, which hit me hard.

Also, the tone wasn't quite right. It all felt a bit too absurd, yet the film seemed to take itself very seriously. I'm not sure those involved knew what they wanted to do with it. Should it be deathly serious? And if so, what is it trying to convey? What is the message and subtext? It missed goofy slasher by some distance. As a Shadow of a Doubt homage, well, suffice it to say that I prefer the original, which sent a chill down my spine without making any overt effort to do so.

But it is a well crafted film and I appreciate that. Glad I watched it.
 
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Fandango Gift Card :drool:

Her, WOWS and try and wait for Inside Llewyn Davis to show up around these parts. :dance:
 
for some reason, my mother and brother will not get the message (which is hey, the dozen or so dvds you've given me over the years? i have not watched a single one), and i wound up with copies of looper, inception, seven psychopaths, and mud. none of which i have very much interest in ever seeing. popcorn and raisinets as well (blech), and i'm fairly suspicious since they didn't know what to get me, i got what they would have liked someone to get them.
 
Looper is watchable but nothing essential. Inception is fantastic. I haven't seen the others.
 
Looper enjoys being a science fiction flick, playing with tropes and having a blast doing it. Inception is the exact opposite: dour, constantly gray, boring bullshit.
 
I have seldom been more excited by the possibilities of the medium than I was watching Inception for the first time. Say what you will about the narrative and performances (which I personally enjoy), it's an absolute blast to watch on a good TV. Plus, Zimmer didn't entirely sleepwalk through the score!
 
Inception is my least favorite Nolan film. Not counting Insomnia, which butchers the excellent Norwegian original.
 
Inception is maybe my second favorite Nolan film actually, though it is in fact dour grey bullshit for the most part (The Prestige still holds up pretty well... I genuinely like that one quite a bit), but I am at a complete loss to imagine what about it could excite one of "the possibilities of the medium" so thoroughly. It's inventive, but only insofar as cross-cutting several different concurrent narratives (that itself is a technique almost 100 years old) which have vastly different relationships to one another in terms of rate and time within the story, where their duration on screen to us plays out equitably, but take place within ever expanding amounts of real-world time within one another. That's the exciting thing about the film, and it's a really great feat of logistics to execute properly, but even then it's still just a twist on fundamental film grammar with very little else going on around it.

Looper on the other hand, I haven't actually gone back to revisit though I'd like to, has just about as many interesting things to do with narrative logic, but actually has a lot of fun doing it, and embraces the batshit turns it takes along the way for what they're worth.
 
Inception is maybe my second favorite Nolan film actually, though it is in fact dour grey bullshit for the most part (The Prestige still holds up pretty well... I genuinely like that one quite a bit), but I am at a complete loss to imagine what about it could excite one of "the possibilities of the medium" so thoroughly. It's inventive, but only insofar as cross-cutting several different concurrent narratives (that itself is a technique almost 100 years old) which have vastly different relationships to one another in terms of rate and time within the story, where their duration on screen to us plays out equitably, but take place within ever expanding amounts of real-world time within one another. That's the exciting thing about the film, and it's a really great feat of logistics to execute properly, but even then it's still just a twist on fundamental film grammar with very little else going on around it.

Looper on the other hand, I haven't actually gone back to revisit though I'd like to, has just about as many interesting things to do with narrative logic, but actually has a lot of fun doing it, and embraces the batshit turns it takes along the way for what they're worth.


In one of his last articles for the Voice, J. Hoberman said that if you mashed up the action scenes in TRON: Legacy with the last 40 minutes of Inception you'd have a perfect B-movie. It's tough to disagree with him for the reasons that you mention: the cross-cutting between the varying levels of dreams in conjunction with Zimmer's booming sonic paint job create an overbearing immediacy. You're bowled over by the enormity of the spectacle since Nolan's films power through with a strong forward momentum (except when they're punctuated by characters reminding each other & the audience of the "stakes").

My biggest issue that the Nolan-powered strum and drang rarely amount to anything as formally exciting from what I look forward to in a blockbuster or as engaging intellectually as the "high-minded" flicks he strives toward. The dude is middle-brow personified. Even if there's an setpiece in his flicks worth watching or a performance or two that works, what's it in service of? I agree that The Prestige comes together well, but I'd like to see a heist film made by someone fun, a superhero film made by someone with a visual sense, or a detective story made by someone with a regard for storytelling mechanics, or any regard for humanity (let alone women) in any of his work.

In short, Nolan sucks. Interstellar will be a tremendous waste of acting talent. Give Shane Carruth 1/10th of the budget and you may get an amazing science fiction story.

Rian Johnson is the anti-Nolan to the point where I'd like to assume the universe created him as a counterpoint. If they're in the same room together, watch the fabric of space/time begin to unravel.
 
In one of his last articles for the Voice, J. Hoberman said that if you mashed up the action scenes in TRON: Legacy with the last 40 minutes of Inception you'd have a perfect B-movie. It's tough to disagree with him for the reasons that you mention: the cross-cutting between the varying levels of dreams in conjunction with Zimmer's booming sonic paint job create an overbearing immediacy. You're bowled over by the enormity of the spectacle since Nolan's films power through with a strong forward momentum (except when they're punctuated by characters reminding each other & the audience of the "stakes").

My biggest issue that the Nolan-powered strum and drang rarely amount to anything as formally exciting from what I look forward to in a blockbuster or as engaging intellectually as the "high-minded" flicks he strives toward. The dude is middle-brow personified. Even if there's an setpiece in his flicks worth watching or a performance or two that works, what's it in service of? I agree that The Prestige comes together well, but I'd like to see a heist film made by someone fun, a superhero film made by someone with a visual sense, or a detective story made by someone with a regard for storytelling mechanics, or any regard for humanity (let alone women) in any of his work.

In short, Nolan sucks. Interstellar will be a tremendous waste of acting talent. Give Shane Carruth 1/10th of the budget and you may get an amazing science fiction story.

Rian Johnson is the anti-Nolan to the point where I'd like to assume the universe created him as a counterpoint. If they're in the same room together, watch the fabric of space/time begin to unravel.

Couldn't agree more. Aside from the fact that Upstream Color is my least favorite viewing experience in years. Wouldn't piss on Shane Carruth if he were on fire.
 
Drab color palette aside (one consistently shitty aspect any Nolan film), "dour, grey, boring bullshit" is precisely the opposite of how I would describe Inception. And, after scanning that old thread, it doesn't exactly resemble the typical first reaction either. Maybe I just need to OVER ANALYZE it.

Before Sunset/Before Midnight doubleheader on tap for tonight. I haven't truly fallen in love with any new films yet this year, so I'm hoping to turn that around here.
 
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Once the "over analyze" it gauntlet gets dropped, y'all know that the conversation is officially over.
 
We all appreciate movies in our own way, so there's no point in going there. If someone is willing to be open minded about something I like, that allows for a great deal of leeway in discussion. If they're setting aside their personal time to understand it, that's even better.

With some people though, I do admittedly prefer the CrashedCarDriver style of debate.
 
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