Great spy caper flick with Walter Matthau. I was charmed by this back in the day (1980), and it hasn't lost a step. Bill Murray should star in a remake.

Interesting interviews with character actors, but rather disjointed. There's not much of a flow and very little other than talking heads.

There's a funny moment in the middle where the talk about how all of them have done Star Trek, some several times.

I also rewatched The Hudsucker Proxy and Trading Places, both of which are terrific.

Last edited by Zarban (2013-07-18 18:19:02)

Nope. The list is here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That_Guy.. … That_Thing

I will say, Željko Ivanek, it's your own damned fault that no one knows your name. "Jeff Ivan" not good enough for you?

Redbox-a-palooza yesterday:
Spring Breakers - based on the review I read, I was expecting softcore about college girls in Florida for spring break, plus James Franco; but instead it was closer to Boondock Saints meets Natural Born Killers (and not in a good way), plus James Franco.  James Franco as a southern hick rapper was almost worth the price of admission (which was $1.00), otherwise it was pretty awful.
The Dictator - I've had no real desire to watch this, but I listened to Jason Mantzoukas on Kevin Pollak's Chat Show earlier this week and decided to check it out for him - big JM fan.  There again, his scenes were great, but not many laughs otherwise (taking out the trash got the biggest non-JM laugh).
Premium Rush - this was fun, not Earth-shattering, but fun. Michael Shannon was a hoot as the "bad guy" - he seemed to be really enjoying his part.  Also starred the annoying actress from Heroes 2nd season who would cry black goo and kill everybody...but she didn't do that in this.  Didn't stop me from commenting on it every time she was on screen though.

Last edited by dbngaa (2013-07-20 19:01:53)

Just finished watching Killer Joe. Classic gothic noire with plenty of white trash mixed in. Not many movies can leave you feeling so uncomfortable yet unable to look way like this one did. Spend 2 hours basking in the glow of Matthew McConaughey and Emile Hersh. Gonna follow it up with "Super" & "Let the Right One In", two more uplifting films. After that I'll blast some My Chemical Romance while I cut myself.

Actually, I would like to see what the guys think of LTROI or the American version "Let Me In". Double feature for October, we can wash the taste of twilight out of our mouths with "LTROI or LMI" and pair it of with something like Nosferatu (1922) or The Lonely Boys or 30 Days of Night. The guys have had zombie double-features & found-footage double features, how about a vampire one? Then maybe we can get to the bottom as to why Teague doesn't quite get about the vampire mythos.

^^
I really need to watch that movie...

Watched Blowout for the first time (shiny Criterion bluray), and fucking christ is De Palma the man. The framing and cinematography is amazing, Travolta is awesome, John Lithgow is a scary fucking bad-guy. One of the more fucked up endings I've seen (goes without saying that something like this would never get released today), and the climax has one of the most striking shots I've seen in a long time(rotating around Travolta with fireworks going off in the background).

The Shadow (1994) - 5/10

Alex Baldwin as comic book character. Feels fairly dated at this point, but the noir elements are pretty much timeless, and the film has a classic film sort of way to it. Cinematography is overall pretty impressive. The plot and such are pretty harmless, Tim Curry is in it. Very decent.

A History Of Violence (2005) - 7/10

Cronenberg. Very odd style to the storytelling. Extremely minimalist in concept and execution, but everything that is here matters. Still very well acted and once you "fall" into the slow tempo of the film, it is quite riveting. Exceptional use of silence and minimalist sound design. Most dialogue unfortunately sounds pretty ADRed, but I think they had to to make sure they had complete control over the ambient sounds from the environment. Noteworthy for this aspect alone.

Only God Forgives (2013) - 8/10

Hell yes. Winding-Refn continues to make art films that really grab you despite being very minimalist. If you liked Drive... that is not a guarantee that this is your cup of tea. If you have any interest in photography or cinematography, this is absolutely required viewing. Incredibly beautiful film shot on the Arri Alexa, the next best thing to actual film. Just stunning visuals, framings and compositions in this film. The plot can seem almost nonexistant, but the title and some other hints in the film can reveal some symbolic underpinnings that the film rests on. If you think it might be your thing, do not miss it.

Seven Psychopaths (2012) - 8/10

Really entertaining film. I would compare the feel to something like Smokin' Aces. Really entertaining, lots of great characters, and an interesting structure to the film. It's self-aware, it's a bit hip, but it also manages to really emotionally move you. All the actors are superb, Walken does an amazing job. Rockwell, Colin Farrell... Seriously, see it. Great comedic performances and a very enjoyable ride.

G.I Joe: Retaliation (2013) - 5/10

Low intelligence, average filmmaking. I wasn't completely bored throughout though. I didn't see it alone however, so that might be it. If the first one didn't do anything for you, this does nothing new.

Piggy (2012) - 6/10

Drama-Thriller about guy who wants revenge after his brother is murdered. Pretty solid film actually, you get the feeling that there is a legitimate filmmaker behind this. Still, pretty depressing and drab film overall. Noteworthy for the cinematography which is mostly night settings.

Amusement (2008) - 3/10

Absolute rubbish. From the writer of "When a Stranger Calls" and "The Hitcher" remake (Wohoo...). Inept from start to end, in ways that boggle your mind. Cinematography and set design and make-up are very good, everything else is complete garbage.The movie makes no sense, the character actions make no sense, every 5 minute chunk of film makes no sense to the 5 minutes preceeding it. Dear lord this is terrible.

Hard Candy - 7/10

This however is a great little tense film. 5 credited actors in the film, and for the most part it's just Ellen Page and Patrick Wilson. Patrick Wilson in particular gives a great performance as a suspected pedophile who meets up with Ellen Pages character. Ellen Page is also good, unless you are allergic to her you will probably enjoy this. It's a bit of a "1 place, 2 characters" setup. Cinematography and camera work is superb. Recommended.

Last edited by TechNoir (2013-07-25 10:31:15)

And I always feel I should watch more varied material, but never get around to it.

A History Of Violence really is quite unique in my head. Parts of it played almost a bit amateurish to me when I watched it. It just felt to bare-bones. Also the dialogue really is obviously ADR, meaning it never really feels like the characters are in the room talking, and the intonations and emotions behind the words are sometimes just a bit off. Though I have to wonder if that isn't intentional with this level of filmmaking. But because of the very muted and sparse soundtrack, with almost only dialogue with little room sound, and not much else, there is just something hypnotic about it. Every line from the actors grab your attention, and the slightly off-kilter dialogue ADR almost makes it feel a bit surreal.

OGF: Yeah, it definitely feels like an experiment, or more a movie about basic symbolism as portrayed by actors. The trivia for it reveals some interesting directions to the actors about how to play their roles. I really feel like there isn't really alot more than meets the eye to be honest, the characters aren't just underwritten to the point of mystery, they are underwritten to the point where they don't have much of a character at all. And I think that is the point, it's not so much about layered characters as it is about stripped-down simplicity in basic interactions. I'd compare it to the difference of a real human in a brightly, evenly lit room, and a flat lifesize doll in a wonderfully decorated room, lit with sharp spotlights to create contours around the features of the doll, and areas of darkness and mystery. In the example of the human being in a boring room, the amount of interest for it is probably not particularly high. It is a human being with intricacies and layers upon layers, but the doll in the wonderfully decorated room with the lighting and surroundings helping to give it shape and context would probably draw your eye more, despite being less complex.
The environments are almost their own characters in the film. Some people (myself included just a few years ago) would much rather have focused on the human, but now I find myself more intrigued by the elaborately staged and lit doll, and trying to find meaning in the way it is staged, dressed, lit and framed.

And Ellen Page is pretty cute in my opinion, also she does this which doesn't hurt:

Ellen Page reminds me too much of a coworker.

Besides, Hollywood is full of pretty faces

So derailing this thread...sorry

Last 3 are imdb links so that might be it

Yeah, I saw that coming lol