The Movie Topic (films recently watched, general discussion, etc)

[RoyalDeftonicBoy]

Buried

A great movie, not x-mas related exactly but it was pretty great.One of the best of the 2010

[chick de la lynch]

read up on Black Swan - now in the defo list thanks to my main man Vinnie Cassell - that dude rules all.

I heart Vincent Cassel. Great actor. My heart skips a beat when I see him.

[blixa]

<3

[chick de la lynch]

I saw a few films over the Christmas break. I finally watched Somersault. As much as I loved the cinematography, the music, and Australia's beautiful scenery there was something kinda wrong with this film. I can't pinpoint it, but I think it had to do with the structure of it. At times it lagged, and wasn't really as fluid as it should have been. Also, Heidi's character was a little too flighty for me. At times I could relate to her, and at other times I thought she was a bit of a whackadoo. I was also surprised to see Sam Worthington in this. I think in the back of my head I knew he was Australian, but didn't put two and two together. I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. I thought he put a lot of soul into his role. Way better than his stint on Clash of the Titans.

I also saw Persona, which was better put together. At first I thought I was watching a David Lynch film. I didn't really think Bergman got experimental, but he did. It was blatantly obvious David Lynch was heavily influenced by this film. There was a shitload of symbolism, and I feel it's definitely worth a second watch. Elizabet and Alma's relationship was one of major interest. The fact that Elizabet barely says a word in this film, yet she conveys so much in her actions and her face. The one thing I love about Bergman's films is how stripped down they are. There is so much to his films, yet they are simplistic in plot. That, and Sven Nykvist. He was a brilliant cinematographer, and is probably my favorite cinematographer. Persona is brilliant and I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of Mulholland Drive.

[blixa]

somersault is perfect aesthetically. it is an art film - it turned something that would be tragic to go through into a beautiful experience. i remember falling in love with this film so much, and i still love it, but i can't stand abbie cornish so she kind of ruins a lot of everything for me. i can think of a few other australian actresses that would have become heidi a lot better. i think the surrounding characters and their stories were the sole reason i loved the movie so much. it's just a bunch of broken people.

heaven, i think you should check out jewboy. i don't know how easy it is to get in the u.s. but definitely worth getting your hands on. it's an hour long and it's just a beautiful movie. decoder ring do the music for it too.

[blixa]

watched skellig. tim roth is such a badarse! skellig is such a fascinating character and i liked the mystery surrounding him and what he is. all the characters felt so honest to me.

i also watched splice and although i thought it was ok, it made me realise why i don't watch science fiction horror. you kind of think, okay, they must know that what they are about to do is a bad idea, but oh look, they're going to do it anyway. THIS WON'T END WELL.

[one weak]

I saw a few films over the Christmas break. I finally watched Somersault. As much as I loved the cinematography, the music, and Australia's beautiful scenery there was something kinda wrong with this film. I can't pinpoint it, but I think it had to do with the structure of it. At times it lagged, and wasn't really as fluid as it should have been. Also, Heidi's character was a little too flighty for me. At times I could relate to her, and at other times I thought she was a bit of a whackadoo. I was also surprised to see Sam Worthington in this. I think in the back of my head I knew he was Australian, but didn't put two and two together. I was pleasantly surprised by his performance. I thought he put a lot of soul into his role. Way better than his stint on Clash of the Titans.

I also saw Persona, which was better put together. At first I thought I was watching a David Lynch film. I didn't really think Bergman got experimental, but he did. It was blatantly obvious David Lynch was heavily influenced by this film. There was a shitload of symbolism, and I feel it's definitely worth a second watch. Elizabet and Alma's relationship was one of major interest. The fact that Elizabet barely says a word in this film, yet she conveys so much in her actions and her face. The one thing I love about Bergman's films is how stripped down they are. There is so much to his films, yet they are simplistic in plot. That, and Sven Nykvist. He was a brilliant cinematographer, and is probably my favorite cinematographer. Persona is brilliant and I would highly recommend this film to anyone who is a fan of Mulholland Drive.

Check out the 7th seal if you haven't already. not anywhere near as accessible as persona, in terms of visual experience, but still classic bergman.

saw the kings speech. it was great. geoffrey rush and collin firth should both win oscars.

[ben]

Seventh Seal is definitely a great film.  The last shot is one of the most eerie I've seen in cinema.

Lately, I've been on a Park binge.  Watched the Vengeance trilogy.  Oldboy is just a masterpiece.  Also been watching Kobayashi's "The Human Condition" trilogy and was shocked to see that Kubrick basically cut and pasted the first hour of the second film into Full Metal Jacket's first half. 

[defskull]

Exit Through The Gift Shop is such a great documentary.  Or is it "documentary"? I just finished watching it and it is highly entertaining. Regardless if it's fake or not , it does a great job showing how people can buy into the hype of something that is in fact clearly copying other styles. 

[bright lights, big city]

The movie blog I always go to (filmdrunk) actually gave Exit Through the Gift Shop the #1 spot for 2010, saying that it didn't really matter if it was fake or not. It was that entertaining either way. Now a few of you guys are saying how good it is, so I guess I really check this out soon.

[blixa]

The movie blog I always go to (filmdrunk) actually gave Exit Through the Gift Shop the #1 spot for 2010, saying that it didn't really matter if it was fake or not. It was that entertaining either way. Now a few of you guys are saying how good it is, so I guess I really check this out soon.

it's exceptional. you should read the interview simon hattenstone did with banksy a few years ago. it's quite good.

[chick de la lynch]

Check out the 7th seal if you haven't already. not anywhere near as accessible as persona, in terms of visual experience, but still classic bergman.

That was the first Bergman film I ever saw. I've seen a few other Bergman films since then, but The Seventh Seal is still a classic. I watched it at a time when I was questioning God's existence and could consider myself more of an Agnostic. I'm probably more of an Atheist now, but still label myself as the former. The religious aspect hit me hard during that time period, and I instantly latched on to this film. I think there are Bergman films that are plot wise better than The Seventh Seal, but this one is still my favorite of his. And of course, it was visually beautiful.

Exit Through The Gift Shop is such a great documentary.  Or is it "documentary"? I just finished watching it and it is highly entertaining. Regardless if it's fake or not , it does a great job showing how people can buy into the hype of something that is in fact clearly copying other styles. 

I've been meaning to see it since it came out. I love Banksy's artwork. Definitely sounds like Banksy!

Anyway, I've been trying to plow through my Netflix queue since some of the movies I have on my list are expiring Saturday. I first saw Dead Man Walking, which was a tearjerker. Performances were solid, and I thought it was cool seeing Peter Sarsgaard in his first film performance.

I just finished watching Faithless, which was written by Ingmar Bergman but directed by Liv Ullman, his former lover. This film was definitely more personal than any other Bergman film I've seen. The film reeked of Bergman, but Liv still managed to make it her own. I think it helped that she directed this film. The central character is a woman. Bergman's films have had women as central characters in the past but it's obvious it comes from the perspective of a man. This time it had a feminine touch to it, which made the film that much better. The film is a little drawn out, but otherwise well done. Anyone who is ever been apart of an affair or had an affair could definitely relate to this film.

[ben]

Saw true grit, didn't like it. It needed to strike a better balance between homage and realism .  And the lead girl really pissed me off .

I really really liked black swan.  Was not expecting such a perverted and weird movie.

[bright lights, big city]

you're talking about Mattie? the girl with Bridges' character? I thought she did a fantastic job with the part. Not really an amazing movie overall (for some reason I was going into it looking for a sort of No Country vibe), but I still really liked it, like most of the Coen movies. Definitely one of the best better flicks of 2010.

[ben]

I have a pet peeve with kids who act like eloquent scholars.  I can see why others would even love the film, but that one thing completely ruined it for me.

[lukas989]

Ah christmas - the receipt of some dough from the missus' folks (plus some input from yours truly) saw the purchase of a fine Bravia TV and a lovely blu-ray player, so finally joining the rest of the movie loving world in the realms of high quality.  As a rule, I like to stay a couple of years behind technology, just so as to avoid getting ridden like Sea Biscuit on the price.  Thankfully I noticed Amazon are selling hdmi cables at a fraction of the price of other filthy profiteering assbreaths - unfortunately though, this means suffering the wait of the lil buggers being posted through to me with the murky waters of holiday delivery schedules delaying the fun an extra few days.  Anyway, back on topic - just watched Terry Gilliams tideland - a gift from my maw funnily enough.  its out there - but worth a watch if you're a fan of Pans Labyrinth et al.

[RoyalDeftonicBoy]

I saw The Wolfman (2010) I really dont know why people hated this film so much,I tought it was fucking awesome ! Maybe lack of story and characters development?I dont know but I think it was awesome.If you dont see any hate on this movie you should go to imdb.com and see that its rating is 6 which is fucking bullshit !

[chick de la lynch]

I saw a shitload of films this weekend.

I saw Harold and Maude, and I must say I was rather disappointed. It didn't really keep my attention as far as plot goes. It's a shame, too because I am really into quirky films. Harold and Maude were interesting characters to watch, I just wish the film had been better written.

I also watched Following, which was Christopher Nolan's film debut. For the film being shot on a very low budget, it was pretty well made. Nolan had an interesting idea and ran with it, which was great. I think if this film had more money behind it and experienced actors, this film would have been amazing.

Barry Lyndon was the next film I saw. Not one of Stanley Kubrick's best, but it kept my interest going up to the end. There was really nothing memorable about the film, at least compared with other Kubrick films. When it comes to period pieces, it's a hit or miss with me and this one was a miss.

Next, I saw Dirty Harry which was a great action film. Clint Eastwood can be rather frightening at times, but he can also be amusing with his asshole-ish demeanor. I enjoyed watching it.

The next day I saw Hour of the Wolf. I found it weird rather than scary. Not one of my favorites by Bergman, but that doesn't mean it wasn't  good. The ending was when it really started getting interesting. Overall, I liked it.

I saw Tadpole after that. I like smart films, but this one was trying way too hard. A part of me thinks that that was the whole point, a satirical point of view from the rich and wealthy and another part thinks this guy was really trying to make a snobbish film. Either way, the film just rubbed me the wrong way. I thought the actor who played Oscar was charismatic, but his precociousness was just too overwhelming and dragged the movie down a bit.

The last film I saw was The Shining. Jack Nicholson scared the living hell out of me, and it was awesome. I could have done without Shelley Duvall. That was probably one of the worst acting performances I have ever seen, but I'm sympathetic towards her since I read Kubrick rode her pretty hard. Otherwise, I loved this film, and would be one of my favorite Kubrick films.

[bright lights, big city]

A Clockwork Orange completely blows The Shining away, as far as Kubrick films go. It is a great movie, don't get me wrong, but these days I get more amusement out of the Simpsons spoof of the Shining than the actual source material.

[one weak]

damn, i think the shining is his best. the book, pretty good.