Forums >Off the Beaten Path>RA Movie Thread
Interval Junkie --Nobby
I was trying to remember what I said about this movie a few pages ago. I disagree with you on John Goodman, I thought he stole all the scenes he was in. Not sure of the rationale for including his character, but the movie really had no plot anyway, so I guess it's just because they felt like it. I agree Isaac's voice was very impressive.
I just saw this film and really liked it, but I didn't know why for a few days of mulling it over. I think Goodman (the Jazz guy) represents the professional musician. He's a choice offered (or a possible future) of Llewyn. The contrasting choice is his pop-singing friend. Or if not "choice" these are two of the options available to musicians at the time. Another choice is joining a threesome (offered by the guy in Chicago). But Llweyn wants to make it on his own or nothing. The nail in the coffin is the appearance of Bob Dylan at the end, who signals the death of Folk and the ascendance of the singer/songwriter.
I thought Goodman was too over the top. And it was the weird that the driver was the same actor who played Neil Casady in a recent "On the Road" film -- maybe that was by choice.
(4/5) for me.
2021 Goals: 50mpw 'cause there's nothing else to do
KillJoyFuckStick
I attempted to watch Nebraska the other night. I say attempted because the movie was plodding along so slowly that neither I nor DW could stay awake. Seems like a great movie if you suffer from insomnia.
You people have issues
Cool Jump Suit
Due to a deprived childhood, this was only the 4th movie I ever saw in a theater. The first 3 were something Witch Mountain, Splash, & The Karate Kid. Great movie!
The Goonies (1985) I was 13 years old, and I went to see this movie with a large group of friends from my neighborhood who were all my age. We had spent the entire summer building forts in the woods, exploring new areas, and finding creative ways to have fun. We were basically The Goonies going to see a movie about ourselves at the theater. This was a golden experience that I'll always treasure.
The Goonies (1985)
I was 13 years old, and I went to see this movie with a large group of friends from my neighborhood who were all my age. We had spent the entire summer building forts in the woods, exploring new areas, and finding creative ways to have fun. We were basically The Goonies going to see a movie about ourselves at the theater. This was a golden experience that I'll always treasure.
So bittersweet,This tragedyWon't ask for absolution;This melody,Inside of me,Still searches for solution.A twist of faith,A change of heart Cures my infatuation.A broken heart, Provides the sparkFor my determination.
Proboscis Colossus
That's funny, I'm kind of psyched to see it after reading the interview with Bruce Dern in RW. I never knew it before, but he apparently was and is a pretty hard-core ultra runner.
"God guides us on our journey, but careful with those feet." - David Lee Roth, of all people
I did not know that. But I did enjoy Nebraska, I had some comments on it a few pages ago. Dern's performance was outstanding, and a lot of the secondary characters were also very entertaining. It was directed by Alexander Payne, I like most of his films (The Descendants, Sideways, About Schmidt, Election).
Dave
I have been looking forward to Under the Skin for a while now, since I enjoyed the novel by Michel Faber, so I made a special trip to Midtown Art Cinema on my way home from work as a fun alternative to the rush hour traffic on this rainy afternoon.Under the Skin stars Scarlett Johansson as a mysterious woman who drives around the streets of Scotland in search of male hitchhikers. This is all that I can reveal about the plot without lessening the effect for unfamiliar viewers, but I highly recommend this science fiction film to anyone who enjoys eerie imagery, unhurried pacing, and narratives that do not spoon-feed the audience. Scarlett Johansson is outstanding in what must have been a challenging role, and she is surprisingly adept at conveying the reactions that an outsider might have when immersing herself into our society. Jonathan Glazer's direction is brilliantly understated, and his work here will appeal to anyone who likes the calm moments in movies when characters are simply thinking their way through situations. Mica Levi's experimental music score is integral to the unsettling feel of this film, and I was reminded several times of the music in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Finally, the scenes featuring the beautiful and foggy landscapes of the Scottish countryside made me want to travel there for some trail running.If you like the detached vibe of Stanley Kubrick's movies, the otherworldly ambiguity of Andrei Tarkovsky's films, or even the paranoia of Philip Kaufman's 1978 version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, then you will probably be mesmerized by Under the Skin. I think that this is one of the most quietly fascinating science fiction movies that I have seen in a long time, and I will be surprised if it does not have a place on my top five list at year's end.Under the Skin is a strange film, to say the least, but I loved every minute of it.
Nobody leaves this place without singing the blues.
We went and saw the latest Captain America: Winter Soldier movie last night. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. Hollywood needs to box up the super hero genre for a good 10 years. There is simply nothing new or exciting about these movies and there hasn't been for several years. Here are the biggest culprits:
1) You know that none of the main "good guy" characters can die no matter what.
2) The "good guys" have unlimited ability to hit/kill/destroy anything the "baddies" send at them while the peripheral people for the "baddies" all look like buffoons even if they are allegedly well trained soldiers.
3) Cheesy scripts laced with the occasional "witty" humor
4) Physics that takes a back seat to everything
We went and had dinner last night before the movie at a teppanyaki house. One of the fellow patrons was bragging how the movie was so good that even if you took the "super hero" portion out it would still be a "10" Really? Take the super-hero portion out and you have a pretty lame story-line that mimics a "made for TV" movie from the 70s. There was no tension or "thrill" to it.
1.5/10 Socks. I'm tempted to rate it 1 but there is a pretty good shot towards the end of Scarlett Johansson's cleavage.
Excuse me while I report to the grump old man thread.
We went and saw the latest Captain America: Winter Soldier movie last night. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it. Hollywood needs to box up the super hero genre for a good 10 years. There is simply nothing new or exciting about these movies and there hasn't been for several years. Here are the biggest culprits: 1) You know that none of the main "good guy" characters can die no matter what. 2) The "good guys" have unlimited ability to hit/kill/destroy anything the "baddies" send at them while the peripheral people for the "baddies" all look like buffoons even if they are allegedly well trained soldiers. 3) Cheesy scripts laced with the occasional "witty" humor 4) Physics that takes a back seat to everything We went and had dinner last night before the movie at a teppanyaki house. One of the fellow patrons was bragging how the movie was so good that even if you took the "super hero" portion out it would still be a "10" Really? Take the super-hero portion out and you have a pretty lame story-line that mimics a "made for TV" movie from the 70s. There was no tension or "thrill" to it. 1.5/10 Socks. I'm tempted to rate it 1 but there is a pretty good shot towards the end of Scarlett Johansson's cleavage. Excuse me while I report to the grump old man thread.
OK, I am slowly backing away from your lawn. And you will have to take up this particular film with Jason. But mostly I agree with your assessment of superhero movies. They are generally relegated to when I am really bored & looking for something on On Demand (which is somewhat often actually, so I have seen a lot of them). And a few exceptions in my book, most notably some of the Spider-Mans, Iron Mans (thanks to RDJ) & X-Mens. I am particularly hooked on the X-Men & looking forward to the new one. Because I am also a sucker for time travel movies, so the combination is irresistible to me.
Milius
on Netflix
doc on John Milius (screenwriter Apocalypse Now)
If you love cinema, you'll love this.
Well, had an night for myself. Watched Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Mean Girls, and American Wedding.
Close Encounters is getting dated, though a lot of the effects and scenes still hold up. I haven't watched it in a long time, and this was probably the fourth time. On one level it's a movie about meeting up with the aliens, and on another about a man completely abandoning his family in some unexplainable (to his wife) mid-life crisis and taking off for another planet. Some parts just seem dumb now. Like when the aliens come down, and they have this musician there to play a simple 5 -note melody, and he has a scientist on the side of him going "go up a major 2nd, down a perfect 5th" etc. As if the guy couldn't memorize it! And why did the scientists assume that the aliens wanted to take some people? The had this group of people in orange jumpsuits and sunglasses all prepared to go. But in the end, they only wanted Richard Dreyfus. Small stuff like that was a bit distracting this time around. Still, it was an achievement in film about UFO's, and I won't downplay the magic I felt when I first saw it in the theater in the 70's.
Mean Girls. Not bad. Watchable. Too much narration. Not a fan of voiceover that explains to me what I'm already seeing.
American Wedding. Worst of the three American Pie movies, but I still laughed a few times at Stiffler's antics. Not enough Alyson Hannigan!
SheCan
Superhero movies are amongst the worst offenders to my main pet peeve in moves now days. I wish they'd go back to the traditional hour and half long movie. It takes a lot of discipline and attention to detail to visually tell a story well in that amount of time. The end product is more concise and interesting, and not like an old meandering story told by your half-witted great uncle.
To me the most boring scenes in movies today are the action scenes between the heroes and the bad guys. The more visual effects they have, the more they drag these out. UGH! And superhero directors do this the most. I watched Man of Steel the other day, and finally just had to walk away. DH called me back at the end, so I could watch it, but I told him, I just didn't care by then. Maybe it's just me, and I agree there are a few of the movies that are somewhat better, but overall, I'd be happy not to have to see any of this genre for a while. Now if I could only get DH to stop dragging me to see them!
Cherie
"We do not become the people who this world needs simply by turning our backs on anyone we don’t like, trust, or deem healthy enough to be in our presence. " ---- Shasta Nelson
There are more interesting scenes happening on TV between villians and psychopaths and sociopaths and heroes and villians (pick a match up). Without any special effects. You pretty much know how it's going to turn out in the superhero movies. And the action scenes are kind of all the same, so I understand what you mean, Cherie. Take a scene from any Tarantino movie, like the opening one in Inglorious Basterds, and you can't look away, the tension is too great, and all that's going on is a conversation.
Perhaps, this is just part of aging. I'm sure the kids still love the superhero movies.
Over the weekend and past few days...
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957)
This is my favorite cinematic treatment of the subject. This one focuses more on the friendship between Wyatt Earp (Burt Lancaster) and Doc Holliday (Kirk Douglas) than subsequent movies, and it's also a beautiful-looking VistaVision color film from that decade, with beautiful shadowy indoor shots and magnificent outdoor on-location shots. Lee Van Cleef and Dennis Hopper are both excellent in their minor roles. Gunfight at the O.K, Corral might not be as historically accurate as the other films that would follow, but this is how I would like for the events to have happened, and that's what counts.
Lonely are the Brave (1962)
Kirk Douglas, in his role as a cowboy who resists bending with the wind as the West changes around him, has just the right blend of charisma and tragic fatalism. This is an underrated Western classic showing how the highways and conveniences figuratively and literally wreaked havoc on the old ways.
Rio Bravo (1959)
Rio Bravo is one of the great John Wayne films, and it's right up there with Stagecoach and The Searchers in my book. Dean Martin has an amazing sympathetic role as an alcoholic deputy, while Angie Dickinson is one of cinema's greatest beauties. This Western, with its protagonist battling against considerable odds from a cornered location, was an influence on another one of my favorite films, John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 (1976).
3:10 to Yuma (1957)
This original version of 3:10 to Yuma blows the 2007 remake out of the sky. Glenn Ford, who starred in several film noirs and whom most contemporary viewers will recognize as Superman's father in Superman: The Movie (1978), is perfect as the villain gunfighter Ben Wade, while another film noir veteran, Van Heflin, plays the earnest rancher, Dan Evans, who must transport him to the train stop to Yuma. The dialogue between the two in the hotel room as they await the train is the movie's high point.
We watched At Middleton over the weekend from the RedBox. The movie stars Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga who have a "meet cute" while bringing their teen children to a college tour. Frankly I was just looking for a fun rom-com to watch with DW. I wanted to like this movie, I really did. But 2 minutes after they meet they are talking to each other like they've been best friends for their whole life. Both of them are married that doesn't seem to make a difference to either. I just didn't buy into it at all. Then to make matters worse about an hour in the movie it goes further south with some outlandish scenes that I won't spoil here. Yes, there is one scene that is good and it does explain some of the pretense but, not really.
3/10 socks.
We watched At Middleton over the weekend from the RedBox. The movie stars Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga who have a "meet cute" while bringing their teen children to a college tour. Frankly I was just looking for a fun rom-com to watch with DW. I wanted to like this movie, I really did. But 2 minutes after they meet they are talking to each other like they've been best friends for their whole life. Both of them are married that doesn't seem to make a difference to either. I just didn't buy into it at all. Then to make matters worse about an hour in the movie it goes further south with some outlandish scenes that I won't spoil here. Yes, there is one scene that is good and it does explain some of the pretense but, not really. 3/10 socks.
This sounds like one of those movies where you see it & think "Hmm, this looks interesting, and has some big stars, and there are some funny bits in the trailer, why haven't I heard of it?" Then you watch it & find out why. Probably went straight to video, predictable storyline, and the trailer had all the funny bits there were. Made that mistake a bunch of times, but try to avoid it.