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

[lazarus]

Just got back from seeing Martha Marcy May Marlene (fantastic, by the way)

No comments on the lovely Miss Olsen?

 

[lazarus]

and I noticed that the Alamo is running a midnight movies series this month under the banner... Solid Goldblum.

Never forget.

Spoiler

 

[Imperor]

No comments on the lovely Miss Olsen?

She's pretty choice, isn't she?

 

[deep]

No comments on the lovely Miss Olsen?

it would have been a completely different movie without her
I am tempted to say she makes the movie, but I don't want to discount all of the other sure-handedness in the film
I would not be surprised if she got some noms,
I want to see more work from her, I just hope this is not a one off, where all the stars were aligned to achieve this.

Jennifer Lawrence was great in Winter's Bone, the next couple films, not a stand out.

 

[powerhour24]

I disagree, Lawrence brought a lot to The Beaver. She & Anton Yelchin's story is the element that works perfectly in that flawed movie. Other than that what has she been in besides X-Men First Class? Playing Mystique was never going to be a masterclass in the craft of acting. She's got a big part in Like Crazy (again with Anton Yelchin) but it hasn't come out near me yet.

For what it's worth, I would have given her the Oscar last year, even as a longtime Natalie Portman Fan & a huge admirer of Darren Aronofsky.

 

[deep]

I just couldn't bring myself to watch the Beaver, and I do watch a lot of crap.

I may catch it when it hits cable.

The kid in True Grit did a bang up job. It will be interesting to see how she does.
I guess once Hunger Games breaks we will have more Lawrence to judge.

BlackSwan is not as good of a movie as most people think it is. Portman is terrible casting. The only good argument for her is she plays well off of Kunis.

But, both of them are not believable as ballet dancers at all, especially primas.

Summer Glau would have been much better casting. She is an accomplished ballet dancer and does that crazy look naturally.

 

[powerhour24]

You're kidding right? I think it's more important for the movie to buy the performance than to nitpick the dancing, since 99% of the audience are laypeople when it comes to primo ballet, and Glau shouldn't even be called an actress.

As for The Beaver, there's a reason it topped the Black List before it was made, it is however a very difficult film to pull off because of all the different spinning plates of tone & character. For the most part it holds together well, Foster's character is a bit underwritten as are some of Gibson's coworkers, but overall I actually really liked it, aided a lot by Yelchin & Lawrence like I said.

 

[lazarus]

I don't know if I ever commented on the Fassbinder set I bought last year, but I finally finished the last BRD film, Lola, and I just wanted to comment a bit on the set in general.

What's pretty amazing about BRD is how divergent in styles the three films are, while still sticking to the same general themes about post-WWII West Germany, specifically from female viewpoints.

Visually, each work is astounding, yet they all look completely different. I was really taken aback by the color in Lola, from the photography itself to the costumes and design to the colored spotlights that are used for each character. It should be over the top but Fassbinder's naturalism in the way the actors are handled keeps things grounded in a peculiar way.

I'd probably say The Marriage of Maria Braun is my favorite of the three, but I imagine that with these films it's something that will change often with mood.

Without a doubt one of the best things I've purchased from Criterion, if not the best period. And a great introduction to Fassbinder for anyone who wants to dive right in.

 

[Inner El Guapo]

and I do watch a lot of crap.

.

Nah, really?

That just puts you on par with the other toolbags in this subforum.

At least you are honest.

But seriously, if I never had to read a Lancemc post again, this place would be kind of tolerable.

 

[Lancemc]

hey guys

 

[powerhour24]

 

[Hewson]

Intolerable.

 

[lazarus]

More like Inner El Guano, amirite??

 

[deep]

for all the hype

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4S9a5V9ODuY&feature=player_embedded

this does not look very good​

 

[powerhour24]

Barring a few design choices, they matched the book pretty exactly. Also, that only serves as an introduction to the first third of the book or so, the games themselves are the bulk of the running time/action.

 

[gump]

I don't know if I ever commented on the Fassbinder set I bought last year, but I finally finished the last BRD film, Lola, and I just wanted to comment a bit on the set in general.

What's pretty amazing about BRD is how divergent in styles the three films are, while still sticking to the same general themes about post-WWII West Germany, specifically from female viewpoints.

Visually, each work is astounding, yet they all look completely different. I was really taken aback by the color in Lola, from the photography itself to the costumes and design to the colored spotlights that are used for each character. It should be over the top but Fassbinder's naturalism in the way the actors are handled keeps things grounded in a peculiar way.

I'd probably say The Marriage of Maria Braun is my favorite of the three, but I imagine that with these films it's something that will change often with mood.

Without a doubt one of the best things I've purchased from Criterion, if not the best period. And a great introduction to Fassbinder for anyone who wants to dive right in.

I've had this set for quite a while and haven't had a chance to watch all of it yet. This gave me new excitement to give it a go soon.

In other news, I got the Three Colors Trilogy and Carlos in this new Criterion sale.

 

[Lancemc]

Criterion's treatment of Assayas' work so far has been stunning. Really would love them to pick up some of his older films like Cold Water or Late August, Early September. Better yet, Demonlover in HD, hawwww.

 

[phanan]

So naturally 12 Angry Men is coming out one day after the Criterion sale ends. I hate when they do that.

 

[gump]

Speaking of Fassbinder, Criterion announced this for February:

 

[lazarus]

So fucking pumped for that.

And really glad they kept that new poster art. It's perfect.

 

[Lancemc]

Outside of the Fassy, of which I'm thrilled, kind of a dull month. A couple marginally exciting format upgrades, predictably quirky-indy-not-terribly-exciting contemporary new film, the 78th Malle to add to the collection. The Gosha film is the only other one that could be interesting, but I know next to nothing about it.

 

[LMP]

What, you don't like Tiny Furniture? I'm pumped for World on a Wire and Anatomy of a Murder.

 

[powerhour24]

I was only interested in checking out the Fassbinder that month (why in the hell are they releasing Tiny Furniture?!!), but I didn't realize they were releasing Anatomy of a Murder on Blu, I love that movie, .

 

[Lancemc]

Fuck yeeeeeah, film canon and movies already released everywhere else.

 

[deep]

I sat through a screening of Tiny Furniture, pretty terrible, except for Jemima

Jemima Kirke recently made a scene-stealing debut in the indie film Tiny Furniture, which was directed, written and starred in by a friend from her NYC high school days, Lena Dunham.

 

[LMP]

I was only interested in checking out the Fassbinder that month (why in the hell are they releasing Tiny Furniture?!!), but I didn't realize they were releasing Anatomy of a Murder on Blu, I love that movie, .

Criterion's has a deal in place with IFC, hence the inclusion of Tiny Furniture. Fish Tank, Antichrist, Hunger, and Carlos are among the other titles.

 

[lazarus]

Anatomy of a Murder is great, and I own the regular DVD, but I couldn't care less about having it on Blu-ray.

 

[lazarus]

So the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art (a.k.a. LACMA) is hosting a new monthly series created and curated by Jason Reitman called "Live Reads", which features a group of actors performing famous screenplays aloud in front of a live audience, Reitman narrating the screen/stage direction.

The first one was The Breakfast Club, and featured Aaron Paul, Jennifer Garner, James Van Der Beek, JK Simmons, and Patton Oswald.

A friend of mine had tickets to this month's installment, a reading of Billy Wilder's The Apartment. The cast is kept secret so we had no idea who was showing up until showtime. Some of the smaller roles were played by Mindy Kaling (from The Office), Ken Jeong, and a couple actors I wasn't familiar with that are probably on TV,

Then the big guns came out. In the Fred McMurray role, Pierce Brosnan. In the Jack Lemmon role, Steve Carrell. And in Shirley MacLaine's role...NATALIE FUCKING PORTMAN. Yes, my friends. Padme Amidala, in the flesh.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun, the actors mostly nailed their roles; Ken Jeong's exaggerated portrayal of the waiter in the Chinese restaurant had everyone screaming with laughter. Behind the actors they projected static shots from the film to indicate which locations the scenes took place. As this is easily one of the greatest scripts ever written, it was a real treat to hear it stripped down to just the dialogue. And yet it made me want to watch the film again soon.

Will likely be attending another one; I think next month's is (from the clue we were given at the end) The Princess Bride.

 

[bono_212]

Holy shit, That's really exciting stuff.

Would've loved to see his Simmons in the breakfast club. Was he the principal or the janitor? (He's the guy currently in the farmers insurance commercials, right? I haven't looked to be sure. Juno's dad, as Travis calls him.

 

[monkeyskin]

Vern Schillinger would take Juno's Dad on the first day and make him his new prag.

But that reading series sounds awesome.