Movie Board Volume 2.1

[RocDoc]

_{...I've never been the kind of person who enjoys something just because it's "cute".}


'just because'?

actually no-one here said anything about 'cute' being the yardstick either. maybe that's not how you meant it, but...

'cute' all by itself is pretty damned flat.

yes, this sort of movie tends to traffic in 'cute' but that's just for the kid-angle, a necessity in the most shallow fuzzy way.

but madagascar (#1 and even more #2 now) for one and the wall-e for another, honestly have some astonishing depth to them.
especially wall-e.

yeah juxtapose a cgi penguin (with its cuteness as a given) as a mastermind criminal talking like a junior edward g robinson and then give him a doll fetish (cute to the kids but sorta disturbing when it approaches that weird-ass sounding lars+doll movie), and it is the overall cleverness that ropes me in.

like daffy duck running clean off the edge of the film frame during a chase scene...stuff like that where they fuck with the medium...or reference other 'classics'.

and i'd have to assume that sorta thing hooks thorn as well.

~

ice age 2 is far better than the first (which is still ok, if just for the squirrel whose nut keeps destroying the world) basically because there they dispense with the poorly animated eskimo/aboriginals (and the bigeyed helpless poopy baby) and they deal with the extinction of all this parade of beautifully visualized (and anthropomorphosized) neurotic dinosaurs.

oh yeah, cars sucked, BIG.
hate the damned concept like i do barney and the teletubbies...oh, and handy manny, bob the builder ('yes we can'...why oh whytf did the obama celebration start chanting THAT shit? AI!) and their talking tools.

loved monsters inc and likewise nemo.
in orlando 2 weeks ago, we saw a stage show based on it (nemo that is...)...big hand-held puppets which the actors voiced while running around holding them.
with projection screen backgrounds.
weird but ending up being pretty darned good.
it was at the disney animal kingdom park which was an absoLUTE knockout as a concept and in their execution of it.

ratatouille i really didn't WANT to like, but they pulled it off so well, with such a ridiculous concept.
likewise 'flushed away' with rats and frogs fighting it out in the sewers...of london, i believe?

re chicken run, ANYthing by aardman animation fucking rules!

the wallace and gromit features especially...'the wrong trousers' is pure genius.
with another criminal mastermind penguin, in fact.

those inscrutable penguins.
ya never know what they're onto.

[JACkory]

My wife likes 'em well enough. My son loved 'em until he turned 13 and decided he wanted nothing more to do with them. I just have never liked them. I can appreciate the classic cartoons but a good deal of their value is in the artistry of the people who illustrated and animated them. No doubt there are reasons, just as valid though quite different, that CGI animation is worth the same degree of critical attention. It doesn't effect my disposition for them. They're loud, they're gaudy, they're too "cute". Like watching a really long sketch on Sesame Street.

[RocDoc]

_{They're loud, they're gaudy, they're too "cute".}

well, ok then.

ouch.

with a 4 year old in the house, 'silly' is a way of life here.
i see no other possibility thank you.

and frankly i wouldn't have it any other way because i am loving it.

_{...cue tom waits' "i don't wanna grow up"...quickly!}

[Weeping_Guitar]

Wall*E is incredible. Simply.

Most anticipated fall/winter:

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A Christmas Tale
Quantum of Solace [saw. really enjoyed.]
The Brothers Bloom
Synecdoche, New York
Rachel Getting Married
Doubt

A thin list I guess, but I hope there's others than sneak up from off the radar.

[Ayinger]

Speaking of 'sneaking up off the radar' I just saw the preview for next year's TREK movie.....was a bit ho-hum at the idea of a story of the younger Kirk, Spock, etc., but by the trailer I've reversed my thinking!

[rocknroller]

Genuine horror. Loved it. Scared me! That and the lovely, luscious Liv Tyler...

[rockkid]

Personally hoping to catch Slumdog Millionaire.
Debatable if a theater near here will get it though.

[Ayinger]

Saw the trailer for "Cadillac Records" -the story of Leonard Chess & Chess Records- and wasn't all that impressed. Think I'll wait for the DVD.

"The Day The Earth Stood Still" remake will still probably be the only one I'll see in the theater this season....can't hack the cost right now but THAT will need a big screen!

[Thorngrub]

[Thorngrub]

This actually looks way better than you would think. I'm looking forward to seeing JCVD.

[Thorngrub]

And it was a mixed bag. Nowhere near as excellent as its predecessor Casino Royale, Quantum drops the ball BIGtime with its insistence on re-introducing PREPOSTEROUS ACTION SEQUENCES. Seriously though - - Quantum's cool storyline and well-realized villain (played with creepy cool style by newcomer Mathieu Amalric) way too often take a back seat to ridiculously staged action sequences trying to please that demographic which demanded that sort of thing in their Bond movies, I guess. Bad move. Whereas Casino Royale was executed with 100% cool finesse and realism (for the most part), I found Quantum Of Solace to Fast-Forward too quickly to our expectations of what a Bond movie should be, and in so doing, it completely de-railed the direction in which this re-booted franchise was heading.


I can only hope now that the makers and producers of the new Bond franchise scale back the preposterous-action bullshit for the 3rd entry. Yet all is not lost in Quantum Of Solace. It does have its merits. Either see it for matinee price, or save it for the dollar theater. Daniel Craig still maintains his role very nicely. Judy Dench as M is perfect. Their relationship is at the heart of this movie, and I consider Quantum Of Solace a "side stop" on the newly re-booted Bond franchise. It sets a certain foundation - - a second layer after Casino Royale, if you will -- for Bond's position in the M16 specifically as M's agent. Aside from establishing his position relative to M in the British Secret Intelligence Service, Quantum Of Solace does not offer much else in terms of originality for the series. A notable exception to this, I think, is the villain Dominic Greene and his association with the criminal organisation Quantum. His ploy to secure control of Bolivia's water supply is incredibly topical, and one of the things that salvages the movie from being a total train wreck.

To be clear on my feelings about this movie - - like I said at the beginning of this review, they are mixed - - I would rate Quantum Of Solace at least 6.5 out of 10 stars, leaning generously towards 7 but feeling that it did not live up to the hype established clearly by Casino Royale (which I would give a 9 out of 10 without thinking about it).

So there you have it. Daniel Craig works overtime in Quantum Of Solace to desperately hang onto whatever credibility he garnered in Casino Royale, and he is pretty darned good at it. Given that Craig's Bond is one hard motherfucker, but is learning the subtleties that perforce come with the job, I grant Quantum Of Solace a "pass" and have my fingers crossed tighter than ever that the producers of these new Bond flicks get their fucking shit together for the 3rd outing. Keep the action realistic dammit. There's plenty of time to re-introduce the old characteristics we all came to adore in the old Bond movies: the nicer suits, the growing reputation, the ladykilling ethic, the gradual sophistication of what started out as a hired thug, etc. These are the real reasons to be excited about the new Bond movies. We get to watch how Bond acquired these characteristics, over time, as he gains more wealth and experience from working as the UK's most efficient secret agent killing machine. Here's to the 3rd new Bond movie, and that it delivers the goods with a far more assured sense of balance than Quantum Of Solace did.

[Ayinger]

A few of my absolute favorites in there Matt -- I REALLY need to see Dog Day Afternoon again as it's been flippin' ages for that one.

Speaking of old flicks, I watched To Kill A Mockingbird again over the weekend and what a knockout film! A marvel in showing a piece of the world through the eyes of children and how out of control in can become in the hands of adults.

[Ayinger]

Rebel Without a Cause
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Strangers on a Train
The Andromeda Strain
Ordinary People
Dog Day Afternoon
Cool Hand Luke
Casablanca
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
The Day the Earth Stood Still

I've seen all of the above. Rebel w/o A Cause has many good scenes but my favorite has to be early on when Jim's parents are babbling at him at the police station and Dean's moment of crying out "You're tearing me apart" --- just spot-on!

Just watched Mr. Smith again in the past couple of months --- Stewart's filibuster is classic of a man who's principals won't be beaten.

Casablanca is just hard not to watch whenever it's on...just never EVER gets old. That and The Maltese Falcon....the reason for the phrase 'they don't make 'em like that anymore.....'

Dog Day Afternoon has this glorious sweaty feel of the best of films shot in the early/mid 70's. Up there in my favorites with The Last Detail (Nicholson) and Scarecrow (earlier Pacino).

I'm looking forward to this month's remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still -- the original is great sci-fi but more of the mind than being chock-ful of lazerguns and monsters.

You didn't say which version of Of Mice and Men you're getting --- don't think I ever saw the oldie with Burgess Meredith but the remake with John Malkovich was good stuff (hey, it's Steinbeck....).

The Doom Generation I know I took home with me some night when I was back in the business of running a video store. Can't recall a thing about it but I believe it was a good film. Think it was out around another film I liked: S.F.W. --- which I ranked over Natural Born Killers in how it portrayed how the media can so twist shit up and build a story into a legend.

[rocknroller]

Watched "The Dark Knight" last night. It was fantastic. Thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Heath Ledger's "Joker" was superb. Loved comparing his performance to Jack Nicholson's "Joker." I'm still not sure who's Joker is better. Will be interesting to see if Ledger wins a posthumous Oscar as I know he will be nominated for one like he was for a Golden Globe today. I'm betting he will even win. The question I have is if Ledger were still alive would he be getting all the accolades?

[rockkid]

My money would be on no (were he alive that is)