The original Total Recall blew me away. It's sort of a landmark in special effects for my film memory.

Apparently some clueless studio executives think that Mars is unpopular among viewers right now (it might've been mentioned in the John Carter WAYDM commentary).

I rented, for the hell of it, Room 237, the conspiracy movie about The Shining. Got twenty minutes or so in. There was a review of the film in either Skeptic Magazine or Skeptical Inquirer, which made the interesting observation that because the film covers ALL these different people with their different views on what the movie is saying, it manages to, in fact, disprove all of them, almost as if that was the intended goal of the film. I can't speak to that, as I don't think I'll be watching more of this. The movie takes the incredibly annoying tact, at least at the start, of using clips from many movies and inserting them where you would usually show the interview footage of the person talking. Thus, we see footage of Tom Cruise looking at a poster for The Shining and going into a theater while a guy talks about when he saw the film. I'm assuming neither Tom Cruise or Robert Redford actually endorse the beliefs in this movie.

Last edited by Invid (2013-10-01 23:56:52)

I make no efforts to convert people to my favorite foods. The less sushi on your plate, the more for me! 

But I agree 100% that this is a gorgeous movie. If there's on thing I have never been disappointed by in Japan, it's Japanese food. Regardless of whether or not it actually tastes any good, the presentation will always be flawless. I was literally drooling during some scenes.

Unfortunately, living in this country has pretty much made it impossible for me to enjoy foreign produced films about Japan. It's like listening to someone else tell the story of your life and getting all of the details wrong. But even worse than that, Jiro Dreams of Sushi feels like there's a much better movie underneath it all that the filmmaker simply wasn't interested in making. He just shot a lot of stunning footage, ate a lot of excellent sushi, set it all to some lovely music, The End. Actually telling a good story... Well, that didn't make it into the final cut. Still, it is a gorgeous movie.

The fact that the director was given any access at all is probably a small miracle. Artisans of Ono Jiro's caliber are notoriously camera shy in this country.

It is commonly said that there are a great many other small restaurants just like Sukiyabashi Jiro all over Japan that are considered worthy of a Michelin star (or two or three) but which have refused the honor because they don't want the fame that goes with it. I was watching a variety show a few weeks ago where various tv personalities visited half a dozen restaurants famed for their cuisine and attempted to convince the owners to let them film the place for tv. Four out of the six refused to even allow the front of the building to be shown on camera; only one gave them full access and allowed them to meet the chef.

In general, to be a master of your craft in Japan means you inhabit a very secretive world that doesn't invite scrutiny. This, of course, makes it damn near impossible to get anything even remotely resembling the drama necessary to tell a good story. For that reason, I applaud the director for even getting close. But Jiro still feels like only half a movie, and I was a bit disappointed by that.

This Is The End

It wasn't good enough for me to bother finding a poster, but it wasn't horribly bad either. Or particularly funny. The one part that struck me was a scene where Emma Watson and the six guys are in a house and one of the guys points out that they should agree to not rape her. The following discussion is not 'well duh, of course not', but about how they shouldn't even discuss the topic at all and how dare he even bring it up and make them uncomfortable. I'm not up on my feminist lingo, but it's a great demonstration of something that I'm sure there is a specific name for and fits somewhere between male privilege and rape culture.

It definitely subverts the whole "grim gritty antihero takes on the end of days" trope that's been so overplayed recently. That scene in particular is interesting for the exact reason Phi said. Emma Watson gets brought into the picture, and instead of making her an innocent romantic interest for one of the guys, she is immediately sexualized (albeit in an accidental way) and she gets the fuck out of the house.

Besides, the movie is more interested in the bromance between Jay and Seth, and the payoff of that is so fantastic. This Is The End is one of maybe 3 movies I've seen this year that would crack my Top 10 so far. Just brilliant all the way around.

The Bay (2012)
Yet another found footage horror movie. This one is like a bizarre mashup between Piranha, Shark Night and [insert found footage movie here], concept-wise. A small town in Connecticut is the epicenter of a parasitic outbreak that is a result of the evils of capitalism and environmental destruction. We get to watch about 100 different cameras of various quality and resolution cover the events the day of the outbreak. We get to follow about 100 characters as well. Yay.

What I liked:
The central idea is that a fictional info-leak website has procured and is releasing all the "classified" footage of the incident to the world. We have a central character, a reporter, who is the main through line story-wise. Even though she keeps dropping in and out of the story. But I liked that core concept, anyway, even if it wasn't a very fresh one. Also, I liked that they got a lot of extras to participate. It really did feel like the whole town was being affected instead of 10 people the producers managed to round up.

What I didn't like:
Oh, god. Pretty much everything else. Shitty camera work, terrible acting, unresolved subplots, awful characters and the ultimate sin: crappy monsters. At LEAST get the monsters right in your shitty monster movie. Found footage, when done well, can elevate a story to put you right in the action and give you a fresh perspective on things. When done poorly, as in this movie, it just makes the whole thing jagged, confusing to watch and makes you question the amount of effort expended by the director. Also, the reporter spoils most of the events before they unfold in the footage and how she feels about them, so you feel zero stakes for any of the characters.

5/10

Not worth your time.

No, it was complete and utter shit. I don't know what people see in it.

I can tell you this: it sure as shit surprised me that it was directed by Barry Levinson.

Last edited by Aural Stimulation (2013-10-07 16:01:19)

My God, what a terrifying movie. I'm a big fan of the music album, so I watched this with a very particular state of mind. How it holds up as a movie on its own, I have no idea. But the animated parts alone could make someone have trouble finding sleep the following night. The cinematography is at times really good, and some live scenes are amazing (namely, the children being processed into a machine that turns them into faceless puppets sit at school tables).

A complicated movie for a very complex album. Fascinating.

Last edited by Saniss (2013-10-09 18:03:52)

I've never been so afraid of a refrigerator.