2011 New Release Database

[Dukefrukem]

The Hangover Part II - Nay

[baby doll]

Leap Year - Nay, I'm afraid. Boring style, boring people, not especially ambitious. This won the Camera d'Or?

[Rowland]

Lowered expectations maybe? Eh, what the hell.

The Hangover II - mild yay

[Fezzik]

Time to catch up...haven't seen much at the theaters this year:

Thor - Yay
Kung Fu Panda 2 - Yay
Bridesmaids - Nay

[transmogrifier]

Rango - mild yay

Great animation and some lovely surreal sequences, but the formulaic story is formulaic. I'm over the trope where the protagonist lies about something, becomes popular, and then the lie is exposed to signal the start of the third act. And I'm not buying the idea that the movie explores those old hoary Western story structures - here, it just sticks slavishly to them. But I enjoyed it over all. Behind The Weather Man as Verbinski's best film.

[TripZone]

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu: Yay, and yay, and some more yay.

Remarkable, isn't it? Truly unique.

Also, X-Men First Class is a colossal nay.

[Boner M]

This won the Camera d'Or?
Yeah, it should've won the main UCR prize.

[transmogrifier]

I Saw the Devil- nay

Apparently, revenge is dehumanizing. Who knew? Gets all its impact from its sheer unpleasantness, rather than any sort of character work - the way the supporting characters (e.g. the father-in-law and the lead detective) are written and treated borders on the inept; they are kind of spliced in now and then to break up the repetitive cat-mouse-which--is-which dynamics.

[baby doll]

Yeah, it should've won the main UCR prize.With that line-up? Hahaha was definitely a respectable choice, but of course I'm partial to Film socialisme. I also liked Les Amours imaginaires a lot, and I Wish I Knew has its moments, even if it's unfocussed overall. (I still haven't seen Aurora, The City Below, The Strange Case of Angelica, or Tuesday, After Christmas.)

[B-side]

The Strange Case of Angelica, or Tuesday, After Christmas.

I'm sure you'll love the latter. The former is wonderful. Both are on KG with subs, btw.

[baby doll]

I'm sure you'll love the latter. The former is wonderful. Both are on KG with subs, btw.I've downloaded both, but the quality for The Strange Case of Angelica isn't very high, and I've just never gotten around to Tuesday After Christmas.

[B-side]

I've downloaded both, but the quality for The Strange Case of Angelica isn't very high, and I've just never gotten around to Tuesday After Christmas.

I don't remember finding the quality of Angelica problematic. Obviously not ideal as it's a TV rip, but hardly poor. The dual subtitles are a chore, though.

[TGM]

X-Men: First Class - Yay

[Bosco B Thug]

X-Men - Yay

[Watashi]

X-Men - yay

It could have been so much better. Vaughn isn't really an exciting director.

[Dukefrukem]

X-men yay- first x-men movie i enjoyed since the first movie

[Lazlo]

X-Men: First Class - Nay

[Lazlo]

Kaboom - Nay

[eternity]

X-Men First Class - nay

[EyesWideOpen]

X-Men - yay

It could have been so much better.

Same for me.

[Dukefrukem]

BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
Pirates

both nay

[Stay Puft]

Meek's Cutoff - yay

[Henry Gale]

X-Men: First Class - mild yay

If it was a little more of the X-Men Origins: Magneto stuff and a little less X-Men Babies ("Let's call you [superhero name]!" "Haha nice!"), then this could have been great. As it is, it's still most exciting when nothing expensive is happening, but it's still fun enough overall.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Good Neighbours - mild yay

[Dukefrukem]

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives yay

[NickGlass]

The Tree of Life: yay, indeed

Very snazzy modernist filmmaking, with intimate and poetic montage = done deal for me.

I'd recommend it, if only because the bittersweet joy those who thoroughly enjoy it will feel outweighs the disappointment for those who aren't caught by its appeal.

[Dukefrukem]

I have a feeling Tree of Life will never come to my region...

[Ezee E]

I have a feeling Tree of Life will never come to my region...
Fairly sure it will. I'm guessing it gets at least 800-1000 theaters in its release.

I'm seeing it this Saturday.

[DavidSeven]

X-Men: First Class - An unequivocal NAY.

[Bosco B Thug]

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Yay

People should see this, it really is quite good.

[Kiusagi]

Bridesmaids - mild yay

The Hangover Part II - nay

X-Men: First Class - yay

[Rowland]

Lowered expectations again? A pleasant surprise.

X-Men: First Class - mild yay

[Pop Trash]

Meek's Cutoff - yay

Haunting & hypnotic. In other words: another fine effort by Kelly Reichardt.

[soitgoes...]

Unknown - yay

[EyesWideOpen]

The Hangover Part II - mild yay

[Lazlo]

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Mild Yay

[Henry Gale]

Kung Fu Panda 2 - Bigger yay

Limitless - yay

The second of those was a much bigger surprise. I didn't expect Cooper's vehicle it to have as much of a surreal visual pallette as it did, and more or less the whole way through, even as arguably silly as it gets near the end, it's pretty thrilling.

[Philosophe_rouge]

x-Men - yay

[Henry Gale]

Oh, apparently I never formally yay'ed Super. I liked that movie, definitely more than I expected to, but it's also sat pretty well with me over the last couple of months, especially its ending.

[soitgoes...]

Winter in Wartime - yay

[TripZone]

Unknown - yay

<3

[Boner M]

The Turin Horse - a cold, lonely, dying-breathed yay

[Raiders]

No Strings Attached - NAY

God I hate Hollywood conservatism.

[Rowland]

13 Assassins - Yay

I'd love to see the original cut, which according to Tom Mes features an additional 15 minutes of valuable character sketching that I suppose were deemed as too much padding for international audiences.

[Derek]

X-Men Babies - nay

[soitgoes...]

<3To be fair that yay is as borderline to a nay as a yay can be. I give Collet-Serra the positive because this film is like Citizen Kane when compared to Orphan.

[soitgoes...]

13 Assassins - Yay

I'd love to see the original cut, which according to Tom Mes features an additional 15 minutes of valuable character sketching that I suppose were deemed as too much padding for international audiences.The uncut version is floating out there on the internets with subtitles, and it's available in HD if that's your thing.

[TripZone]

Super 8 -yay

[soitgoes...]

Paul - nay

13 Assassins - Fuck. Yes. Much better than the original. My anticipation has gone up for his version of Harakiri. I have to keep telling myself that that one isn't a remake, but rather an adaptation of the same book.

Catching up on some I forgot to include:

Troll Hunter - yay
Insidious - nay

Both of the mild variety.

[Rowland]

Hobo with a Shotgun - mild yay

Essentially a Troma film, only with a bit more wit, a striking visual design, and a genuinely compelling lead presence courtesy of Hauer to almost anchor what is otherwise a deluge of archness. It's still largely an abrasive, shrill, groan-worthy, numbing experience that's about half as clever as it thinks it is, but that almost feels appropriate. So it's about as good as I can imagine a Troma-like film being before it no longer ceases to resemble one, which may be damning with faint praise but so be it. The hospital sequence is legitimately badass though, I'll give it that.

[Boner M]

Septien - nay
Attenberg - yay

[TripZone]

Sydney Film Fest started, Boner? coz turin and all

[Boner M]

Sydney Film Fest started, Boner? coz turin and all
Yup. Then Melbz in July. Then a proper holiday where I don't watch movies.

[Boner M]

Miranda July was at the Attenberg screening btw, she rated it 5/5 on her voting ballot (was standing behind her on the way out).

[NickGlass]

Miranda July was at the Attenberg screening btw, she rated it 5/5 on her voting ballot (was standing behind her on the way out).

This totally makes sense. And while I like the unique--if awfully scattered (and not in a particularly inspired way)--view of humanity, Attenberg also possesses the greatest strengths and flaws of a Miranda July movie. Its piquant and endearing, and it's difficult to really nail why it feels so alternately insightful and obnoxious when relating to its characters and their worldviews.

[Watashi]

Super 8 - yeah

[EyesWideOpen]

Gnomeo & Juliet - nay

Elton John lied to me.

[Lazlo]

Black Death - Nay

[soitgoes...]

The Housemaid - No

[Rowland]

Ong Bak 3 - nay

[Rowland]

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame - nay

This is supposed to be Hark's comeback picture? I had high expectations too...

[TripZone]

Yet you liked fucking X-Men over it, amazing.

[Boner M]

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame - nay
My yay was very mild; the atrocious CG greatly detracted. Had fun at the time but barely remember it now.

[Boner M]

Martha Marcy May Marlene - YAY
Sleeping Beauty - mild yay

[Rowland]

Yet you liked fucking X-Men over it, amazing.
And you liked fucking Easy A over Carlos/A Prophet/Of Gods and Men/Vincere/Winter's Bone? Amazing.

Or in other words, :rolleyes: :P

[Pop Trash]

No Strings Attached - No Yays Attached

I will say Ashton Kutcher was surprisingly tolerable considering I expected him to be one of the worst things about the picture. Natalie Portman's chronic cutesy mugging was much more cringe inducing.

[B-side]

Super 8 - yay

[TripZone]

And you liked fucking Easy A over Carlos/A Prophet/Of Gods and Men/Vincere/Winter's Bone? Amazing.

Or in other words, :rolleyes: :P

Didn't actually. You'll recall I never said yay for it, or not, I guess. :P

Oh wait, Winter's Bone, yes. Didn't like.

[transmogrifier]

Super 8 - mild nay

Kind of entertaining on a scene-by-scene basis, but it's very piecemeal and various side plots and characters are not well synthesized. Noah Emmerich's character is the very definition of a waste of time - it would have been better for the air force to be completely faceless - and it messes up easy plays, such as the reveal on the tape (a complete anti-climax). Meh.

[TGM]

Super 8 - Yay

[Rowland]

Didn't actually. You'll recall I never said yay for it, or not, I guess. :P

Oh wait, Winter's Bone, yes. Didn't like.*shrug* I was just going by the first post of the 2010 Database thread. My distaste for the "you liked this movie more than that movie" method of shooting down someone's perspective still stands though, even as I'll admit to falling for it myself from time to time.

[TripZone]

*shrug* I was just going by the first post of the 2010 Database thread. My distaste for the "you liked this movie more than that movie" method of shooting down someone's perspective still stands though, even as I'll admit to falling for it myself from time to time.

I know, it's pretty much the worst, but I just meant to express amazement (as in bewilderment) at people's going easy on something as clunky and rote as X-Men when exciting, thrilling spectacle stuff is being done elsewhere, and Detective Dee would be a rare example of that for me. You didn't at least find it visually striking? That's unusual for Hark in my mind (or eyes!).

[Boner M]

Cave of Forgotten Dreams - mild yay
The Future - NAY
Kill List - yay

[Rowland]

exciting, thrilling spectacle stuff is being done elsewhere, and Detective Dee would be a rare example of that for me. You didn't at least find it visually striking? That's unusual for Hark in my mind (or eyes!).See, I thought the movie was chintzy looking, and its action sequences were weightless, riddled with CGI that would have looked cheap in the mid-90's, and almost incoherent direction (lots of CU's and quick edits), and I say that as someone who usually enjoys Hark's madcap approach.

[TripZone]

See, I thought the movie was chintzy looking, and its action sequences were weightless, riddled with CGI that would have looked cheap in the mid-90's, and almost incoherent direction (lots of CU's and quick edits), and I say that as someone who usually enjoys Hark's madcap approach.

Alrighty then! :lol:

[Spinal]

Wow, you're so quick with the tally. You have them up there before I even get my yays in. :)

[Ezee E]

Wow, you're so quick with the tally. You have them up there before I even get my yays in. :)
:)

...AND I haven't been corrected for quite a while.

[DavidSeven]

I guess I never officially pronounced my "yay" for Bridesmaids.

So, yay and what not.

[Winston*]

Limitless - mild yay.

Though I think low expectations had a lot to do with my enjoyment of this movie. It is very stupid.

[Lazlo]

Super 8 - Huge Yay

[Rowland]

Super 8 - yay

Also, I wouldn't be surprised if nobody else sees it, but a nay for Ong Bak 3.

[Rowland]

The Ward - Nay

Boner's positive response gave me some hope, but nope, this didn't work for me at all. Carpenter uses the steadicam more than he has in a long time, I liked how the score incorporates some old-school synths to reference his glory days, and... that's about all I can think of that's positive. It reminds me a great deal of an underrated chiller from the early aughts that many derided for its very similar twist, but frankly, that film was a masterpiece compared to this uninspired drivel.

[Boner M]

So alone.

[Boner M]

Cedar Rapids - a perfect amiable nay
Tyrannosaur - yay almost solely for Olivia Colman's performance
Terri - massive yay; so much better than it has any right to be

[Pop Trash]

It reminds me a great deal of an underrated chiller from the early aughts that many derided for its very similar twist, but frankly, that film was a masterpiece compared to this uninspired drivel.

Hmm...Identity?

[elixir]

The Tree of Life - YAY

[dreamdead]

Tree of Life - YAY

Boner, any thoughts on Sleeping Beauty?

[Rowland]

Hmm...Identity?Yep, it's like that movie meets Shutter Island, only terrible.

[Pop Trash]

Yep, it's like that movie meets Shutter Island, only terrible.

That sucks. I'm a pretty big Carpenter fan, but I didn't even like either of those very much. Mostly because of the rather ridiculous endings.

[Henry Gale]

Super 8 - Yay Yay Yaybrams

Also, it looks like I was accidentally counted twice for X-Men. My "yay" definitely wasn't that strong for it.

[Philosophe_rouge]

super 8 - yay

[Boner M]

Boner, any thoughts on Sleeping Beauty?
Very accomplished for a debut feature, great mood piece. But also oblique without making the particulars vivid enough that I cared to join the dots myself. Didn't help that Julia Leigh answered questions afterwards and basically didn't seem to know what she was talking about or didn't seem to have any vision for the project outside of provoking/not spoonfeeding the audience a tidy plot. Yawn.

[Lazlo]

When We Leave - Yay

[Pop Trash]

Super 8 - yay

[Thirdmango]

Midnight in Paris -- Huge Yay

[Lazlo]

American: The Bill Hicks Story - Yay

[Lazlo]

The Company Men - Nay

And my vote for American: The Bill Hicks Story was counted as a "Nay" when it should be "Yay".

[Pop Trash]

The Company Men


Isn't this 2010?

[Lazlo]

Isn't this 2010?

IMDB says January 21, 2011.

[Pop Trash]

IMDB says January 21, 2011.

Yeah you're right. I think the Weinsteins pushed it back after they realized it wasn't going to get any Oscar noms.

[eternity]

The Tree of Life - reluctant yay

[eternity]

The Company Men had a qualifying run in 2010.

[Lazlo]

The Company Men had a qualifying run in 2010.

If we can't go by IMDB it becomes anarchy.

Or don't count it. I don't really care.

[Thirdmango]

did it receive yay nays in the 2010 thread? If not put it here.

[Bosco B Thug]

The Adjustment Bureau - Nay

I did not get this movie. Maybe partly because I'm theologically unversed. Such a whack film.

[Boner M]

Hobo With a Shotgun - yay

After an unpromising credits sequence, I was surprised at how much of a world of its own Eisner creates here. Hauer's bear story & the following scene was just perfect. Actually I think Hauer should be in the running for year-end awards.

[Rowland]

Yeah, Hobo wouldn't work without Hauer, a genuine casting coup whose dignified performance amidst all the primary lighting schemes, splatter effects, and intentionally shrill overacting is the film's most striking special effect. I agree as well that beyond Hauer, Eisner's chief accomplishment is his visual world-building; if only more low-budget features were as boldly and playfully realized. My response would have been more enthusiastic had I not found so much of it abrasive, one-note, and plainly calculated in its schlocky parade of vulgarities and grotesqueries, but I recognize that this is kinda what it was going for, and also that this very quality renders scenes like the aforementioned bear story and the maternity ward speech all the more weirdly affecting in context.

[Dukefrukem]

super 8 yay

[Dukefrukem]

Hobo With a Shotgun - yay

After an unpromising credits sequence, I was surprised at how much of a world of its own Eisner creates here. Hauer's bear story & the following scene was just perfect. Actually I think Hauer should be in the running for year-end awards.

Hmmm. I'm trying to decipher his "world" that you think he created here. It doesn't feel like a world, country, state, city... more like a corner of a town with two streets and a parking lot.

[baby doll]

Hmmm. I'm trying to decipher his "world" that you think he created here. It doesn't feel like a world, country, state, city... more like a corner of a town with two streets and a parking lot.Yeah, that's Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

[Boner M]

Tree of Life - YAY (surprise)

[Rowland]

Film Socialisme - yay

[Pop Trash]

Film Socialisme - yay

I'm more curious to see this after the blow-out argument over it on "At the Movies."

[Rowland]

Into Eternity - Yay

[Pop Trash]

Into Eternity - Yay

Match-Cut porn?

[Boner M]

I Wish I Knew - nay

Pretty tedious aside from the cityscape shots; very few talking heads scenes that I didn't zone out of completely. Baby doll, how did you hate 24 City but yay this?

[baby doll]

I Wish I Knew - nay

Pretty tedious aside from the cityscape shots; very few talking heads scenes that I didn't zone out of completely. Baby doll, how did you hate 24 City but yay this?Maybe because I've been to Shanghai? Also, I wasn't expecting something more like Still Life with a story and characters. (Incidentally, I need to take another look at 24 City.)

[NickGlass]

Super 8: Nay

[EDIT: From now on I'll try my best to put thoughts in the appropriate film thread, and not just dump them here.]

[Bosco B Thug]

Match-Cut porn? I guffawed. So appropriate it following his "reluctant yay"-ing of Tree of Life. (Sorry eternity.)

[Ezee E]

Michael Madsen directed Match Cut porn. Coool.

[Pop Trash]

Hanna - yay

Fun, hyper-stylized, really liked it while I was watching it, but kind of immediately disappeared from my mind when it was over. A bit like Run Lola Run in that regard.

Cate Blanchett's overcooked southern accent kept going in and out.

Still not quite sure how much I like Joe Wright.

[Henry Gale]

Take Me Home Tonight - yay

When a movie like this sits on the shelf for years, then is finally released theatrically (though strangely not here in Canada) with little to no positive attention from either critics or audiences, my expectations can only rest on what I saw as mild potential from its trailers and other footage, but luckily I went ahead and watched this because it's pretty charming movie, although a bit too unremarkable to be able to have any significant praise for.

The leads are particularly good in it, with only Fogler coming off as a weak link (probably because he has the most weakly written of the main roles), but people like Chris Pratt and Demetri Martin also manage to keep the movie fresh and energetic in smaller parts along the way, even to the point where I felt the movie needed them a lot more. At the same time, they have Bob Odenkirk play Fogler's boss and don't give him a single line of dialogue. I have to assume all of his other scenes were deleted, because otherwise what the hell?

I smiled a lot more than I outright laughed, most of the big wacky comedic setpieces feel pretty forced, the soundtrack is predictably just a wave of '80s mega-hits, and the story isn't really anything that hasn't been done before (especially when its basic premise was already done a lot better in the also-'80s-set Adventureland), but as a surprisingly character driven all-in-one-night comedy that nicely submerges itself in its era without dressing up its pop culture references with anachronistic irony or parody, it worked well enough for me as breezy entertainment on lazy weeknight.

Also, despite the fact that it was only released this year, the movie was shot in 2007, a couple of years before 500 Days of Summer existed in any form. I bring this up because this movie has its own, and nearly identical, "penis game" scene, even though it'll now unfairly seem like a rip-off. I feel like both scenes should be the only times that this game should be thought of as anything resembling hilarity. "Oh because they said 'penis' loudly and people looked! Hahaha."

[Rowland]

Into Eternity is in the No Set Date section, but it had an official release in NYC back in February.

[Boner M]

End of Animal - yay
Letters From the Big Man - mild yay
Silent Souls - yay
Tabloid - nay
Surviving Life - mild yay

Also E, Septien gets a release July 6th.

[NickGlass]

Cave of Forgotten Dreams: Nay

I did not see this in 3D, so perhaps I was let down from the start. It feels important but, as a film, weightless. I walked in 5 minutes late, but I still feel like I only saw half a film. The postscript is amusing, but more because for self-parody than actual significance.

[NickGlass]

FUTURE, THE - 0 out of 1
nay - Boner M


I moderately "yay"ed this in the beginning of May.


Some Boston film fest screenings:

Have distribution/2011 release date:

The Future: Yay
The Catechism Cataclysm: Nay

Does not have distribution, but is just as good as The Future:

Littlerock: Yay

[Stay Puft]

Tabloid - nay

Thoughts?

[Ivan Drago]

Super 8 - Yay

[dmk]

the tree of life - yay

[Ezee E]

BOX OFFICE (June 16th)
1. Certified Copy - $230
2. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall Past Lives - $220
3. Thor - $210
3. Rango - $210
3. Source Code - $210
6. Bridesmaids - $190
7. X-Men: First Class - $160
8. Super 8 - $150
8. The Hangover Part 2 - $150
10. The Green Hornet - $140
10. The Adjustment Bureau - $140
10. Hanna - $140

[Boner M]

Thoughts?
Fun while it lasts; a shoulder-shrug once it ends. I suppose it's silly to ask Morris to explore the ethics of tabloid journalism since it's not exactly an ambiguous area, but dressing up a decades-old story with superimposed headline phrases and typewriter sound effects isn't exactly productive filmmaking, no matter how gasp-worthy the content.

[Boner M]

Project Nim - yay
Post Mortem - yay

[MadMan]

Super 8-YAY

[Rowland]

Essential Killing - A surprised and disappointed mild nay

[NickGlass]

Weekend: yay

[eternity]

The Art of Getting By - nay

Hahahahahahahahaha. What a pile.

[endingcredits]

Tree of Life - yay

[MadMan]

Drive Angry-Yay

[TGM]

The Green Lantern - Yay

[kopello]

The Double Hour - mild yay

Relies a little too heavily on the film's twist near the end, but the execution is so cool it gets a yay from me.

Also, Super 8 - yay

[Pop Trash]

The Tree of Life - yeah, sure, why not?

[Bosco B Thug]

Green Lantern - Nay.

Good will is slowly seeped from you as it goes on and it somehow gets increasingly sillier. Nothing memorable here, and screwy themes about "overcoming fear."

[eternity]

Super 8 - yay

[soitgoes...]

The Adjustment Bureau - a mild yay
Sucker Punch - an emphatic nay

[Boner M]

HERE - yay
Corman's World - yay

[Bosco B Thug]

The Adjustment Bureau - a mild yay I don't understand!!! Please help me understand!!!!

[Ivan Drago]

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Motherfuckin' Lives - Yay

[Kurosawa Fan]

Super 8 - Yay

[B-side]

Midnight in Paris - yay
Jackass 3.5 - yay

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Midnight in Paris - nay
Tree of Life - YAY

[soitgoes...]

I don't understand!!! Please help me understand!!!!
I thought it was entertaining for the first two thirds before it spiraled into meh towards the end. Damon and Blunt had good chemistry, and Dick's story, per usual, was interesting enough. Having not read his short story, I'm not sure if it was Dick's or Nolfi's fault for the ending. Don't read too much into a "yay." It could very well be a "nay," but I was feeling somewhat generous after watching the awful Sucker Punch.

[Stay Puft]

The Tree of Life - yay

Quite a bit to absorb in one viewing, though. But we'll see. The New World left me similarly adrift on my first viewing (meaning an absence of any cumulative effect, I suppose), but after seeing it again last week it's pretty much my favorite movie ever.

[Bosco B Thug]

I thought it was entertaining for the first two thirds before it spiraled into meh towards the end. Damon and Blunt had good chemistry, and Dick's story, per usual, was interesting enough. Having not read his short story, I'm not sure if it was Dick's or Nolfi's fault for the ending. Don't read too much into a "yay." It could very well be a "nay," but I was feeling somewhat generous after watching the awful Sucker Punch. The romance and flirting was way too treacly from the get-go, which is why all I could do was react violently when I realized the whole movie's point was validating the treacliness. And I fully went in expecting an edgy thriller. So I admit to a disproportion of hate via rude awakening.

[soitgoes...]

The romance and flirting was way too treacly from the get-go, which is why all I could do was react violently when I realized the whole movie's point was validating the treacliness. And I fully went in expecting an edgy thriller. So I admit to a disproportion of hate via rude awakening.I was actually expecting some sort of espionage thriller. I hadn't watched any of the trailers or read any synopses on it, so all I was going on was the awful poster of Damon running away from something with girl in tow. The fact that it wasn't what I was expecting was refreshing, and also might have to do with me being positive on it.

[Rowland]

Silent Souls - mild nay... sure is gorgeous though.

This is apparently getting some official US theatrical distribution later this year, so I'm presuming it will eventually count as a 2011 release.

[Boner M]

Silent Souls - mild nay

This is apparently getting some official US theatrical distribution later this year, so I'm presuming it will eventually count as a 2011 release.
That ending killed a shitload of goodwill for me. Found it immensely intriguing til then, without being particularly fascinated with the actual rituals (more fascinated by the film's fascination... I 'spose). Upward pan of the dual prostitutes lying in ecstasy on the floor is one of the most lingering shots in recent memory.

[Rowland]

Upward pan of the dual prostitutes lying in ecstasy on the floor is one of the most lingering shots in recent memory.Hmm, I thought that shot was kinda ludicrous, more for the content than the shot itself, which is certainly lovely in a self-contained way. In fact, the entire film is pretty gorgeous, and I give it credit for how rigorously its compositional sense and editorial rhythms reinforce its elegiac tone and temporal themes. Lots of it just didn't work for me (did the caged birds have to foreground every other composition?), and I was turned off by what struck me as an almost pervasive sort of antiseptic sexism, which didn't exactly correlate with the film's wholly unconvincing suggestion that the only constant in our existence is love.

[TGM]

Jackass 3.5 - yay

Wait, how is that a 2011 movie? :\

[Boner M]

Hmm, I thought that shot was kinda ludicrous, more for the content
Expound.

[Rowland]

Expound.Well, should one take the scene at face value, we have the camera tracking up the naked bodies of two prostitutes who begin writhing in ecstasy as they are presumably mounted side-by-side by two morose middle/upper-age johns while an atmospheric drone washes over the soundtrack. It appears to strive for some sort of lyricism, but I didn't find any, even in the context of the characters' grief, and especially when it's considered in context of how the film largely treats its female characters, which Michael Koresky amusingly and astutely distinguishes as either "flaccid, naked lumps" or "mute, sexual beings," in both instances seeming fetishized over more than loved. This wouldn't be so bothersome mind you had the film given any apparent suggestion that there's any form of self-awareness at play here, but there doesn't seem to be, which clashes with how often the film reminds us with graven intonation that love is valued above all else by the Meryan. When it ends with the repeated line "Only love has no end" over the image of an obviously symbolic flowing river, followed by the loving footage of the husband and his wife over the end credits, the cumulative effect of the film struck me as deeply false and unearned in its sentimentality.

[soitgoes...]

Wait, how is that a 2011 movie? :\Because it was released in 2011?

[Ezee E]

Wait, how is that a 2011 movie? :\
It isn't. It's just #3 with extra scenes. A different version I guess, but not counting.

[Boner M]

Well, should one take the scene at face value, we have the camera tracking up the naked bodies of two prostitutes who begin writhing in ecstasy as they are presumably mounted side-by-side by two morose middle/upper-age johns while an atmospheric drone washes over the soundtrack. It appears to strive for some sort of lyricism, but I didn't find any, even in the context of the characters' grief, and especially when it's considered in context of how the film largely treats its female characters, which Michael Koresky amusingly and astutely distinguishes as either "flaccid, naked lumps" or "mute, sexual beings," in both instances seeming fetishized over more than loved. This wouldn't be so bothersome mind you had the film given any apparent suggestion that there's any form of self-awareness at play here, but there doesn't seem to be, which clashes with how often the film reminds us with graven intonation that love is valued above all else by the Meryan. When it ends with the repeated line "Only love has no end" over the image of an obviously symbolic flowing river, followed by the loving footage of the husband and his wife over the end credits, the cumulative effect of the film struck me as deeply false and unearned in its sentimentality.

Not getting your criticisms here. The film isn't an outright love letter to Meryan customs - I'd say there's a tacit comment on the stronghold that the traditions have on their relationships, and the discrepancy between 'teachings' about love and the real thing. They're profoundly alienated people with emotions largely sublimated, and the film largely assumes their perspectives, so it makes sense that the film depicts the women in their lives that way. As for the offending shot, well, it's the surrealism of it and how it outlines the strange proximity of these two men that makes it so lingering.

[endingcredits]

X-Men: First Class - yay

[soitgoes...]

It isn't. It's just #3 with extra scenes. A different version I guess, but not counting.I'm pretty sure it isn't a retread of the third film, just scenes and interviews that weren't used, therefore all unseen material. It wasn't released until April of this year. I'm not sure why it wouldn't be counted, but then again I won't be seeing it, so whatever.

[B-side]

Wait, how is that a 2011 movie? :\

Because it was released in April and is a new film comprised of unseen footage and interviews.

[TGM]

Because it was released in April and is a new film comprised of unseen footage and interviews.

Is it really? Huh, I figured it was just a "special edition" of the third movie, with some additional footage added to the rest of the movie...

[Melville]

X-Men: First Class - yay
Certified Copy - nay

[StanleyK]

I'm beginning to think that endingcredits and Melville are, in fact, the same person.

[Melville]

I'm beginning to think that endingcredits and Melville are, in fact, the same person.
The posters who have met both of us can confirm or deny.

[Boner M]

The posters who have met both of us can confirm or deny.
confirm

[Boner M]

Green Hornet - mild yay

Surprisingly amiable for the most part; mostly until the climax.

[B-side]

X-Men: First Class - yay
Certified Copy - nay

No... no... no...

[DavidSeven]

X-Men: First Class - yay
Certified Copy - nay

Damn, Melville. DAMN.

[Melville]

confirm
Haha


Damn, Melville. DAMN.
X-Men was campy fun, enjoyably flamboyant and ridiculous, anchored by solid performances by McAvoy as Smarmy Professor and Fassbender as Magneto, Nazi Hunter.

Certified Copy was a 'so what' study of authenticity and repetition, built on a foundation of cliched scenes of a tired relationship.

[Spinal]

Super 8 - yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Super 8 - big yay

[eternity]

It isn't. It's just #3 with extra scenes. A different version I guess, but not counting.

Most of it if not all of it is original footage. They just take the deleted scenes and make whole new movies out of it.

[soitgoes...]

Super 8 - yay

[Bosco B Thug]

X-Men was campy fun, enjoyably flamboyant and ridiculous, anchored by solid performances by McAvoy as Smarmy Professor and Fassbender as Magneto, Nazi Hunter. Thumbs up.


Source Code - yay

[Henry Gale]

Green Lantern - nay

In only five years, Martin Campbell has gone from making one of the best examples of mainstream action entertainment to one of the absolute worst. Hopefully Reynolds finds something bigger and better soon, because there's no way this shit is gonna fly as a franchise.

[Lazlo]

Carancho - Yay

[Rowland]

Midnight in Paris - mild-ish yay

[transmogrifier]

Green Lantern - nay

In only five years, Martin Campbell has gone from making one of the best examples of mainstream action entertainment to one of the absolute worst. Hopefully Reynolds finds something bigger and better soon, because there's no way this shit is gonna fly as a franchise.

I'm sure Vertical Limit was more than 5 years ago. Man that was complete crap.

[Henry Gale]

I'm sure Vertical Limit was more than 5 years ago. Man that was complete crap.

I think I see what you're doing here.

But really, looking over Campbell's filmography, aside from his two Bond films, it's baffling how much crap he's made. I mean, ten-year-old me really liked Mask of Zorro, but I have a feeling that wouldn't hold up particularly well either. I have no clue how he managed to get the job for Green Lantern at all, especially since Vertical Limit was probably the film of his that had the most effects of anything he'd done before, and even that doesn't come close to the massive (and mostly undercooked) amount of CG that Lantern has.

[Pop Trash]

I'm sure Vertical Limit was more than 5 years ago. Man that was complete crap.

I thought about making a similar joke. Then I realized it would make me seem like an asshole, and more importantly, isn't funny.

[soitgoes...]

Rango - solid yay

[transmogrifier]

I think I see what you're doing here..

Heh - I misread your post as "some of the best examples of mainstream action entertainment", which sounded like he was consistently good up until 5 years ago, rather than that he made one good film five years ago.

Still, Vertical Limit, what a pile of crap.

[transmogrifier]

I thought about making a similar joke. Then I realized it would make me seem like an asshole, and more importantly, isn't funny.

Well, just between you and me, this post pretty much accomplishes all of that for you anyway.

[Raiders]

The Mask of Zorro is still an awesome film. Campbell's best. He should stick to the more grounded, less CGI-required action films. This superhero thing did not work out well for him.

[B-side]

The Tree of Life - yay, duh

[Pop Trash]

Midnight in Paris - an amicable yay

[Ivan Drago]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - yay

[B-side]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - yay

I'll go with a yay on this, too, I guess.

[baby doll]

Oki's Movie - mild nay

[Henry Gale]

Cars 2 - sadly nay

I tried to like it, I really did. At least it shows Pixar is human too.

[eternity]

Bad Teacher - nay

[NickGlass]

On Tour - yay

How has this lifeforce of a film escaped every North American festival (New York, Toronto, New Directors/New Films, etc) since its Cannes comp slot & Best Director win?

It just played at BAMcinemaFest, and the programmer pointed out (rather haughtily, as he bummed a cigarette from me) that he was baffled by its absence at fest this past year, especially since it will likely never see release in the US. Apparently the permission costs for the music in the film would be too large.

Oh, and despite possessing a naturalistic sensibility I tend to enjoy, I thought it frequently wavered between tedious and schematic:

On Tour: Nay

[Lazlo]

The Adjustment Bureau - Yay

What a goofy movie. Fun stuff and the chemistry between Damon and Blunt is great but it strikes me as something too weird to get major studio backing like it did.

[Bosco B Thug]

The Adjustment Bureau - Yay

What a goofy movie. Fun stuff and the chemistry between Damon and Blunt is great but it strikes me as something too weird to get major studio backing like it did. The cornballness just completely canceled out the chemistry for me. We get it, neither of you really care about getting to the lamppost first!

In any case, I think I'm coming to terms with this movie, as long as people keep on tempering their enjoyment of the film with words like "goofy" and other backhanded compliments (see also Ebert Presents's Ignatiy Vishnevetsky on this film).

[Boner M]

Oh, and despite possessing a naturalistic sensibility I tend to enjoy, I thought it frequently wavered between tedious and schematic:
Schematic? How so?

[Bosco B Thug]

Bad Teacher - Nay.

What a weird, pointless movie. Almost translucently thin in story and real-life-resembling connective tissue. (It's not unenjoyable, though.)

[Henry Gale]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - yay

I found it to be a pretty fascinating, unfiltered and hilarious piece of work. Ideally, I would have liked it to have found a way early on to focus more on Conan's emotional context immediately after all the Tonight Show business, but realistically, there wouldn't have been any cameras around him 24/7 at that point to capture all of that. Still, the movie is entirely about him and how he, at such a particular (objectively low) point in his career, appears to be using this tour as a way of making sense of himself, first as an entertainer, and then hopefully as a person after that once he emerges from the emotional and physical exhaustion of it all. The title of the film arguably boils that thesis down too, but even if you don't think it tries to go much deeper, it still remains as a really enjoyable film to watch, especially with its endless scenes of Conan pushing his anger and frustration into his comedic comfort zone before those around him (however biting and dark as he decides to go with it), acting as eventual entertainment for us as an audience.

[soitgoes...]

Rio - nay

[Rowland]

Drive Angry - mild yay

[Derek]

Bad Teacher - Nay.

What a weird, pointless movie. Almost translucently thin in story and real-life-resembling connective tissue. (It's not unenjoyable, though.)

This.

[Stay Puft]

True Legend - yay

The narrative doesn't entirely work for me and the drunken boxing stuff is a bit tired after everything that comes before (and in and of itself, it's cliche... like Ip Man 2 in twenty minutes), but a yay nonetheless for some fucking amazing action sequences scattered throughout. A terribly inconsistent film but when it's on it's probably the best action film so far this year.

[Watashi]

Cars 2 - nay

[Pop Trash]

Cars 2 - nay

A moment of silence please.

[Watashi]

A moment of silence please.
It wasn't terrible or horribly offensive. It was just dull.

I don't understand this universe.

[baby doll]

Polytechnique - yay

[Ivan Drago]

The Tree of Life - YAY

[Henry Gale]

It wasn't terrible or horribly offensive. It was just dull.

I don't understand this universe.

Basically. Would you agree that the opening action sequence is the strongest thing in the movie? During that bit, I was honestly thinking to myself "How could people not like this?!". Then Mater came in and the rest of it happened.

[Dukefrukem]

Transformers is a confirmed yay

[NickGlass]

Schematic? How so?

The way the backstories of certain characters (the manager's family, in particular) were sketched out, it all felt so written, therefore betraying the naturalistic sensibility it seemed to strive for. Perhaps it's also the acting limitations of a majority of the cast that makes a lot of (the little) narrative push feel strained. Despite the grainy, Dardennes-back-of-the-head cinematography, the gritty aesthetic felt contrived. I was nodding off.

I went to a screening at BAM, actually, and they had an open bar post-screening reception with the four leads performing their burlesque acts. That was more fun.

[Lazlo]

The Rite - Slight Nay

[Henry Gale]

Transrobots 3(D) - nay, but the closest to a yay out of them all for me

[Dukefrukem]

Transrobots 3(D) - nay, but the closest to a yay out of them all for me

From a grading perspective, wouldn't 2 1/2 stars suggest its a yay?

[Henry Gale]

From a grading perspective, wouldn't 2 1/2 stars suggest its a yay?

Eh... it's kind of just a neutral rating for me, like I could go either way, but for me, **1/2 generally tends to mean that though I thought there was some genuine good stuff in a movie, I just don't have enough enthusiasm towards it overall to actually say I liked it.

In terms of the Transformers series, the first two always seemed like two creative sides at odds with each other (the action, and then the story along with everything else), with the worse of the two significantly bringing down whatever mindless entertainment was successful in making them tolerable (so, basically two stars for both). With this one, the good found a way to outweigh the bad a little bit more, but still not quite enough for me, so it's a step up, but still a borderline nay.

[TGM]

Tree of Life - NAY!

[Melville]

Midnight in Paris - yay

[Ivan Drago]

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - yay

Final hour of G!@NTR0BOTAWSUMFIGHT is incredible but comes after one and 1/2 hours of meh.

[Rowland]

The Arbor - Yay

[Melville]

Attack the Block - nay

[eternity]

Green Lantern - yay

And I definitely never saw Conan O'Brien Can't Stop

[Ezee E]

Got you mixed up with Brightside...

How does that make you feel?

[eternity]

Got you mixed up with Brightside...

How does that make you feel?

Full of pretense.

[B-side]

Full of pretense.

Hey now.

[MadMan]

Thor-Yay.

[Bosco B Thug]

Bridesmaids - Yay.

Larry Crowne - Nay. Ha, an inexplicable view.

[Raiders]

Not sure if we're counting it...

Hot Coffee - nay

[TGM]

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Nay

[Stay Puft]

Polytechnique - yay

[eternity]

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - nay

[Rowland]

The Housemaid - minor yay

I'm as conflicted here as I was with the original, albeit for considerably different reasons. I'll say this though, that while the remake is more conventionally satisfying, the original is the more interesting of the two.

[eternity]

Hey now.

http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ljkq3nATxs1qdp82do1_500 .jpg

[Lazlo]

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Yay

[Stay Puft]

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - nay

"Middle East - Illegal Nuclear Site" is the funniest thing I've ever seen.

[Kiusagi]

Fast Five - yay

Midnight in Paris - yay

Transformers - nay

[Rowland]

Dream Home - nay

[Boner M]

Dream Home - nay
Aww man, I really dug this.

Dream Home - yay

[Rowland]

Aww man, I really dug this.

Dream Home - yayIt's a pretty strong *½, if only because I got a kick out of the eye-popping (hyuck!) grand guignol in a leering fan-service kinda way, but beyond that and the admittedly gorgeous cinematography courtesy of Jia Zhangke's go-to guy, I found most of it clunky, heavy-handed, mean-spirited, and largely devoid of tension, rhythm, or convincing pathos. I did however like the scene where the kids replace "over" with "asshole" while communicating through their makeshift telephone, that was cute.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Dream Home - nay
Polytechnique - yay
Larry Crowne - nay
Bad Teacher - nay
Judy Moody and the Not so Bummer Summer - nay

[Boner M]

Bridesmaids - mild yay

[Rowland]

Rubber - mild nay

[Henry Gale]

The Adjustment Bureau - mild yay

It definitely finds ways of being sillier and sillier as it goes on, and I'd say the place the whole mystery side of it starts out is much more interesting than where it leaves things at the end, but I still found it all pretty entertaining throughout. Most of all, I think it's Damon and Blunt that completely make the story work as well as it does. The way they work together on screen is fairly amazing and I was always able to buy into them amongst all the other heavy supernatural sci-fi thriller threads dangling about. I wouldn't be surprised if I were to find out that their early, flirty scenes were mostly improvised, but that's only because they play them so naturally and charmingly that thinking they're unscripted just feels like the easiest assumption. I'd love to see them work together again at some point.

[Bosco B Thug]

The Adjustment Bureau - mild yay

Most of all, I think it's Damon and Blunt that completely make the story work as well as it does. The way they work together on screen is fairly amazing... If one more person mentions how wonderful Matt Damon and Emily Blunt were together in The Adjustment Bureau, I will begin to vomit painful rainbows all over this place I swear to god, and deem you all "Match-Girlies."

;)

[baby doll]

Rubber - big yay

[Henry Gale]

If one more person mentions how wonderful Matt Damon and Emily Blunt were together in The Adjustment Bureau, I will begin to vomit painful rainbows all over this place I swear to god, and deem you all "Match-Girlies."

;)

Haha yeah, after I wrote that blurb, I checked out its main thread, and had an awkward realization of "oook, so apparently I wasn't the only one to think this" after seeing that basically everyone else that liked the movie chose to point out their chemistry. We such softies.

[MadMan]

Hobo With a Shotgun-Yay