Review The Movie You Viewed Part VIII: Lance's Mom Takes Manhattan

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^^ This one speaks the truth. Aside from the quality of the song at the end.

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Just watched the James Natchwey documentary War Photographer. If you're down with photography docs, this is definitely one to see. a solid 9/10. 10x better than the last one I saw, William Eggleston In the Real World. I'm not sure why I hadnt watched it up until today. If you're a photo nerd, theres a nice little feature where they've mounted a tiny video camera on top of Natchwey's digital camera display that records while he's shooting. It gives a little insight into how he frames shots and you can see the settings on his camera :drool:
 
The excitement never ends in the corianderstem household: an avian double-feature!

Winged Migration

Hey, did you know birds migrate? Often over some stunning scenery?

March of the Penguins

I had no idea penguins were so frickin' awesome.
 
Well I finally got around to seeing 500 Days of Summer (I'm not writing that with the fucking parenthesis), and I liked it a decent amount. Love both the leads, some pretty spot-on observations, and only had issues with a few scenes (the IKEA thing was retarded). Definitely a few LOL moments.

However, and I know I'm going to take some heat for this, but as far as indie-rock rom-coms go, I GREATLY preferred Garden State, which a lot of people seem to loathe for some reason. I felt the characters weren't as interesting as the structure, and the damaged nature of all the people in Braff's film appealed to me. Had Gordon-Levitt starred in it instead of Braff (probably what most people dislike the most about the film), would have been a perfect combo. I didn't think 500 Days had a very interesting visual style aside from the gimmickry, and it's ironic that it referenced The Graduate so strongly, because I feel Braff's film is directed with the same thoughtful and artistic eye, and was much more successful at capturing the zeitgeist of its period, whereas 500 Days seems like a bit of a cutesy nostalgia trip (hey, it's The Smiths! hey, Pixies at karaoke!) set in the up-and-coming downtown Los Angeles to give it current street cred.

It sounds like I'm hating, and I'm not. An enjoyable film. But it didn't transcend the genre like I'd been led to believe, and I feel that Garden State, not to mention Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, did a better job of breaking out of it.
 
I feel pretty much exactly the same way re. 500 Days. Even considering Garden State. I was watching parts of that again the other week. Still holds up too. That one has quite a bit more going on under the hood, and Braff handles everything with a bit more subtlety which is appreciated.
 
Away We Go

Loved it! It was both hilarious (omg, Maggie Gyllenhaal) and heartbreaking (Montreal and Miami). Loved it.
 
corianderstem said:
Away We Go

Loved it! It was both hilarious (omg, Maggie Gyllenhaal) and heartbreaking (Montreal and Miami). Loved it.
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It was a lot funnier than I expected, particularly that random kid talking about suffocating his baby brother. The individual segments were great by themselves, but when you step away from it and think about the whole thing, it's just a series of contrivances.

Why do Bert and Verona not have any real friends? Why do they even go to Phoenix and Madison in the first place? Why the hell do they have to sit on the trampoline at the end and tell themselves AND THE AUDIENCE what they've learned from their wacky, yet sobering adventure?

I don't know, I think there are a lot of interesting elements in there, and I loved Maya Rudolph way more than I expected to. Jim Halpert with a Beard was welcome, I guess, but I don't think Krasinski has the range for those scenes where he really has to emote at this point in his career. Goofy and lovable? Yes, and that's about it.

I'm not familiar with Eggers/Vida's work, but I hope most of the preciousness and obliqueness is due more to Mendes' direction. It was a hell of a lot less self-assured than something like Road to Perdition or American Beauty, probably because it's the first time Mendes has dealt with such overt comedy; it's almost kind of lost within the melodrama.

But that's just me. Glad you dug it though.
 
I saw The Invention of Lying. Failed to hold my attention after the pizza box thing. I have a hard time seeing Ricky Gervais as a romantic lead anyway. 5/10
 
I thought Ghost Town was good in a funny/cute kind of way. I assume The Invention of Lying has a similar vibe?
 
lazarus said:
Well I finally got around to seeing 500 Days of Summer (I'm not writing that with the fucking parenthesis), and I liked it a decent amount. Love both the leads, some pretty spot-on observations, and only had issues with a few scenes (the IKEA thing was retarded). Definitely a few LOL moments.

However, and I know I'm going to take some heat for this, but as far as indie-rock rom-coms go, I GREATLY preferred Garden State, which a lot of people seem to loathe for some reason. I felt the characters weren't as interesting as the structure, and the damaged nature of all the people in Braff's film appealed to me. Had Gordon-Levitt starred in it instead of Braff (probably what most people dislike the most about the film), would have been a perfect combo. I didn't think 500 Days had a very interesting visual style aside from the gimmickry, and it's ironic that it referenced The Graduate so strongly, because I feel Braff's film is directed with the same thoughtful and artistic eye, and was much more successful at capturing the zeitgeist of its period, whereas 500 Days seems like a bit of a cutesy nostalgia trip (hey, it's The Smiths! hey, Pixies at karaoke!) set in the up-and-coming downtown Los Angeles to give it current street cred.

It sounds like I'm hating, and I'm not. An enjoyable film. But it didn't transcend the genre like I'd been led to believe, and I feel that Garden State, not to mention Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, did a better job of breaking out of it.
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I adore Garden State, even more than I loved this one, but I don't think it's fair to compare the two. Aside from them both being "indie-rock rom-coms" (fair description) they deal with different subject matters in a, as you noted, differing visual style. Yeah, both of the lead males seem a bit lost in their mid twentie, but that's really it. What were The Graduate references you mentioned?

Definitely agree with you on Eternal Sunshine though and I'd throw in Annie Hall too for the lost love / playful narrative style.

---------

I also really dug Away We Go a couple of weeks back and didn't really have the issues that LMP brought up, except Phoenix and Maddison could have been condensed into one (crazy parents we don't want to be like!). But as Cori said, post-Maddison it was quite touching and poignant. Plus it had Dylan and Harrison on the soundtrack.
 
corianderstem said:
I can easily agree with the things you brought up. Was it a great movie? Nah. I just enjoyed it a lot, which means I can forgive a lot. :)
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Awesome. I liked it, too, just had a hard time getting past those things.

monkeyskin said:
I adore Garden State, even more than I loved this one, but I don't think it's fair to compare the two. Aside from them both being "indie-rock rom-coms" (fair description) they deal with different subject matters in a, as you noted, differing visual style. Yeah, both of the lead males seem a bit lost in their mid twentie, but that's really it. What were The Graduate references you mentioned?

Definitely agree with you on Eternal Sunshine though and I'd throw in Annie Hall too for the lost love / playful narrative style.

---------

I also really dug Away We Go a couple of weeks back and didn't really have the issues that LMP brought up, except Phoenix and Maddison could have been condensed into one (crazy parents we don't want to be like!). But as Cori said, post-Maddison it was quite touching and poignant. Plus it had Dylan and Harrison on the soundtrack.
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The lead character in 500 Days mentions that his idea of love is influenced by The Graduate, and later in the film the couple goes to see it a theater. They show the ending on the bus and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character is enthralled while Zooey's bursting into tears.

I'd go on a limb and say that 500 Days is the closest any romantic comedy that I've seen has come to being like Annie Hall, in style and tone moreso than quality. Both use post-modern techniques, 500 Days especially so, but at their core, they're both about guys who fall for the "women of their dreams" based around the facts that society and the influence of popular culture have brought to them.

I could certainly connect to 500 Days more than Eternal Sunshine and Garden State, then again, give me a few more years and I may feel differently.
 
Heh, totally forgot that Graduate scene, I even watched it for the first time in a while ths weekend.

That's what I had in mind with the Annie Hall comparison, both stylistically and how they chart the course of a doomed relationship whose failure completely blindsides the smitten guy. I like how they both have a brief segment where both men try to recreate a memorable date with another girl and just can't find the magic again.

And that's why I think films about love and life are the most rewarding over the years, due to our own life experiences changing what we take away from them with each viewing. I'd be curious to see a third Before Sunrise / Sunset film to see how life has changed Jesse and Celine once more, but their story has already ended perfectly enough twice.
 
monkeyskin said:
Heh, totally forgot that Graduate scene, I even watched it for the first time in a while ths weekend.

That's what I had in mind with the Annie Hall comparison, both stylistically and how they chart the course of a doomed relationship whose failure completely blindsides the smitten guy. I like how they both have a brief segment where both men try to recreate a memorable date with another girl and just can't find the magic again.

And that's why I think films about love and life are the most rewarding over the years, due to our own life experiences changing what we take away from them with each viewing. I'd be curious to see a third Before Sunrise / Sunset film to see how life has changed Jesse and Celine once more, but their story has already ended perfectly enough twice.
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Not only that, but 500 Days has that fantastic split-screen scene with Tom's Expectations vs. Reality. That was probably my favorite part of the whole thing.

Definitely, and I'd love to check those two films out soon.
 
Curious Case of Benjamin Button 8.25 / 10.

As a father of a 2 1/2 year old and a newborn, I found the last 30 or minutes highly disturbing, but I couldn't stop watching. The rest of the movie was pretty good. Aside from backwards again and the words "Benjamin Button" the movie had almost nothing to do with the short story. It was like watching Forest Gump if aging backwards.
 
Aladdin

Solid, and I particularly liked Abu, but the rape scene was a little too much even for a Disney vehicle.
 
Extract.

Very funny shit. Didn't hit the highs of Office Space, or the satirical content of Idiocracy, but it was probably more consistent than the latter. Bateman was Bateman, doing what he does best, Affleck was a fucking hoot, and Mila Kunis was so hot she managed to explode some of the unpopped kernels in my popcorn bag.

Well worth a matinee (especially when it's $2).
 
impy13 said:
Obligatory:

gran-torino-clint-eastwood.jpg



Still refuse to see it.
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Why?
It wasn't bad...but the asian girl was a TERRIBLE actress


Here are some movies I've seen recently:
- Inglourious Basterds (9/10) LOVED IT! (10/10 for the opening scene)
- Paranormal Activity (7.5/10)
- The Informat! (7/10)
- A Serious Man (8.5/10)
- Hostel (Eli Roth was awesome in IB so I thought "Hey I should watch one of his movies"...:reject:) (5/10)
- Alien and Alien 2 (Felt like watching it cause I haven't in a while) (10/10) (10/10)
- District 9 (Very unique story) (8/10)

Oh and this B.A better win an Oscar:
Christopher_Waltz.jpg

Heard he was gunna be in The Green Hornet (WTF?)

And Melanie Laurent deserves some respect, she was pretty B.A too:
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I was pretty pissed off that she died
 
^Oh come on...it wasn't "shit". It wasn't very great, but it wasn't "shit".
 
It's really not worth getting into again here, but it continues to amaze me how widely and how well received that film was. It's absolutely irrefutable "shit," but I'm not sure how to make the case, as the film seems to have laid a veil of mass delusion over the American film-viewing public.
 
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