Tales from Cinematic Motions

[auto-da-fey]

Should I go see a matinee of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead? I'd rather see Southland Tales or Redacted, but this is in my hood, it's cheap, and I'm poor and lazy. It doesn't seem like a movie that screams out to be seen on the big screen (though the ones at the Los Feliz 3 hardly merit the word "big") rather than DVD, but I'm just kinda in the mood. I dunno, I'll wash some dishes, takes a shower, and see how I feel.

[Mike24]

Saw a preview for I'm Not There last night, and Cate Blanchett makes a surprisingly convincing young Dylan.  I might just have to watch that.  on the  other hand, fuck Heath Ledger.

[martin_van_buren]

Should I go see a matinee of Before the Devil Knows You're Dead?

I'd go see it. I mean, that last Lumet movie with Vin Diesel really sucked, but dude did Network and Dog Day Afternoon and so on back in the day, so I'd give benefit of the doubt. And this one looks like it might be pretty awesome to me. Also: nice Yes reference.

[coldforge]

Got great reviews.

[melancolley]

Saw a preview for I'm Not There last night, and Cate Blanchett makes a surprisingly convincing young Dylan.  I might just have to watch that.  on the  other hand, fuck Heath Ledger.

Heath Ledger has played many annoying roles. But have you seen Brokeback Mountain? Cos if you haven't, your opinion of him means nothing. He was that good.

I want to see the Dylan movie badly. Blanchett plays the mid-60's one, doesn't she?

[Mike24]

I've seen Brokeback Mountain and didn't think it was anything special, really, the story or the acting.  actually, i seem to recall that it's pretty evident on both of their faces that they were uncomfortable with the make-out scene. (this is not projection)

and yeah, looks like early to mid 60s to me.  it's perfect cause he was pretty girly back then with his mop of curls and baby-face.

There was also a preview for a new p.t. anderson movie that i hadn't heard about that looks real good.  it's got daniel day lewis and the silent dude from little miss sunshine who plays some psycho preacher out of the 1880s or something.  thank god the summer blockbuster months are over -- cue oscar-bait months.

[dieblucasdie]

Saw a preview for I'm Not There last night, and Cate Blanchett makes a surprisingly convincing young Dylan.  I might just have to watch that.  on the  other hand, fuck Heath Ledger.

Heath Ledger has played many annoying roles. But have you seen 10 Things I Hate About You? Cos if you haven't, your opinion of him means nothing. He was that good.

I want to see the Dylan movie badly. Blanchett plays the mid-60's one, doesn't she?

fixed

Seriously though, I could go either way on Ledger.  I think I'm just going to judge him solely on how well he does as the Joker.

[difficult]

re: Ledger. What i liked about the BBM perf is that he was really channelling Clint, and was pretty convincing at it. Made a nice change to his usual overconfident schtick - traditionally he does play pretty much variations round the same character, and its one that bores me. I like him much better as a muted but strong presence.

[dieblucasdie]

He's OK, he's no Bikini Kill or The Raincoats.

[auto-da-fey]

i seem to recall that it's pretty evident on both of their faces that they were uncomfortable with the make-out scene.

I don't recall this, but I would consider it in character--it's not like Jack and Ennis were swingin' queer liberationists comfortable in their identities.

Anyway, I did go to Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. It packed a real wallop, getting under my skin like few films do in its utter hopelessness about the human condition. The cast is amazing, from the stars on down through the supporting players, and Lumet has his early-70s visual sense going strong, even if the structure and sense of desperation were more in line with Kubrick's The Killing. Only the ending dropped the ball, overreaching wildly in a misguided effort to reach tragic proportions the film didn't need.

[auto-da-fey]

van_buren, did you actually see Lumet's Vin Diesel movie? I was thinking about checking it out because I've been having some real Lumet love lately (The Hill, The Offence, this), but the man's filmography is definitely uneven. That didn't stop my Friedkinmania from extending to watching The Hunted, though, so maybe I should just go for it.

[girl]

No Country for Old Men is playing in West Hartford right now! Apparently there's some fancy new movie theatre there. I'm going to see it tomorrow!

[martin_van_buren]

van_buren, did you actually see Lumet's Vin Diesel movie? I was thinking about checking it out because I've been having some real Lumet love lately (The Hill, The Offence, this), but the man's filmography is definitely uneven. That didn't stop my Friedkinmania from extending to watching The Hunted, though, so maybe I should just go for it.

I did, and its not really any good. I mean you won't hurt yourself seeing it, its not painful, but it is pretty lousy

Your description of BtDKYD makes me excited, though. I think I'm gonna go see it Monday.

[G.C.R]

He's OK, he's no Bikini Kill or The Raincoats.

oh lord that made me laugh.

[auto-da-fey]

So I thought The Host was supposed to be some kind of modern horror classic or something, but we watched it last night and it was just okay--a fun monster, some cool moments, but also a draggy plot and a desperate need of editing. I suppose the (modest) anti-Americanism might have played well in Korea (?), and I'm all for a critique of shady government actions, but none of that made it a particularly memorable film for me.

[morgan]

Most people here would label it as comedy rather than horror.  I found a lot of it to be pretty damn funny, but maybe you have to live here to get some of the comedic aspects?  I'd have to watch it again and think about it.  I liked it, but not as much as everyone else seemed to.

[auto-da-fey]

Yeah, I could see how all of that would be the case, especially the comedy classification. I think I just came at it from the wrong angle; my knowledge of Korean cinema is pretty limited (though I did like The President's Last Bang), and despite all my movie-love, I don't really read reviews, so I think I just picked up a vague horror buzz by sheer internet-addiction osmosis.

[morgan]

Ah, fair enough.  I can recommend some good Korean movies sometime, if you want!

[auto-da-fey]

I'd be all ears! Granted, my Netflix queue already approaches epic proportions, so there'd be a decent chance of them getting lost somewhere in its murky depths, but still, I'm always open to suggestion.

[girl]

No Country for Old Men is playing in West Hartford right now! Apparently there's some fancy new movie theatre there. I'm going to see it tomorrow!

The movie theatre is supposed to be one of those fancy ones that serve wine and stuff, but tickets were $10.50, I had an incredibly mediocre cup of coffee for $2.75, and it's not even comfortable stadium seating, also parking in the garage was $5.25. I won't go back there unless I really have to to see something I urgently need to see that's not playing anyhwere else, sort of like tonight. The movie, though, I LOVED IT! THERE WAS NOT A SINGLE WRONG MOVE IN THE ENTIRE FILM!

[Andrew_TSKS]

Yeah, I could see how all of that would be the case, especially the comedy classification. I think I just came at it from the wrong angle; my knowledge of Korean cinema is pretty limited (though I did like The President's Last Bang), and despite all my movie-love, I don't really read reviews, so I think I just picked up a vague horror buzz by sheer internet-addiction osmosis.

dude, i totally back the not-reading-reviews thing. i find that reading reviews (or watching trailers, or reading plot synopses) of any narratively-focused art hurts my enjoyment of said art. i will enjoy it the most if i don't know one single goddamn thing that's going to happen in it. i can read reviews of music fine, because no amount of description can objectively tell you what you're going to hear when you listen to it, but movies/books are a completely different thing.

[hannah]

Do you read them after you see the film/read the book?

[Andrew_TSKS]

i don't seek them out... i might if i run across them in a magazine i'm already reading.

[auto-da-fey]

Do you read them after you see the film/read the book?

I often do, but for some moronic/populist reason, I find myself more attracted to IMDB discussion threads than the collected "real" reviews on rottentomatoes. Maybe it's the fear of accidentally reading David Denby.

[hannah]

Yikes! I understand. Should you ever need them, though, I'll happily point you to the good and/or interesting critics out there.