2011 New Release Database

[Philosophe_rouge]

Forgot to mention that I recommended Trouble Every Day to Lucky McKee in my interview with him. :)
you rock!

[Philosophe_rouge]

my podcast co-host keeps raving about You Are Here, what is your take on it Boner?

[Boner M]

my podcast co-host keeps raving about You Are Here, what is your take on it Boner?
I was never not stimulated by it, but it doesn't quite escape its video-installation roots. It's made up of a bunch of interlocking vignettes, mostly based around quandaries of neuropsychology and metaphysics, and the fact that each vignette is a puzzle piece rather than a thematically-linked standalone thingy (combined with Tracy Wright as a sort-of protagonist) unfortunately shows its awkwardness at transitioning from gallery exhibition to feature film. That said, it has a wonderful dry wit that rescues it from being overly sterile, and I'd like to see it again.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I was never not stimulated by it, but it doesn't quite escape its video-installation roots. It's made up of a bunch of interlocking vignettes, mostly based around quandaries of neuropsychology and metaphysics, and the fact that each vignette is a puzzle piece rather than a thematically-linked standalone thingy (combined with Tracy Wright as a sort-of protagonist) unfortunately shows its awkwardness at transitioning from gallery exhibition to feature film. That said, it has a wonderful dry wit that rescues it from being overly sterile, and I'd like to see it again.

sounds like something he'd lov. I'll give it a go when I have the chance.

[EyesWideOpen]

Glee: The 3D Concert Movie - big yay

[Ivan Drago]

Super - Yay

Awesome despite the tonal shift towards the end.

[Spinal]

RotPotA - yay

[B-side]

Phineas and Ferb: Across the Second Dimension (Marsh et al., 2011) **1/2

Maaaaawwwwwm, Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence.

Never watched the show all the way through, but I've caught bits and pieces as my niece and nephews have watched. Seems like a decent show.

[Spinal]

Maaaaawwwwwm, Phineas and Ferb are making a title sequence.

Never watched the show all the way through, but I've caught bits and pieces as my niece and nephews have watched. Seems like a decent show.

It's pretty funny stuff. I enjoy watching it with my son.

[B-side]

It's pretty funny stuff. I enjoy watching it with my son.

Gotta appreciate a show that acknowledges its ridiculousness and makes a meta joke right in the opening theme.

[kopello]

The Trip - mildish yay

I agree with Melville, the mid-life crisis subplot is a bit lame, and takes the movie down a notch or two. Gotta love the English countryside, also its funny and stuff.

[Boner M]

Cold Weather - yay

[baby doll]

RotPotA - yayA stoner comedy about rotten pot addiction?

[Philosophe_rouge]

Final Destination 5 - nay
The Change-up - nay
The Future - yay

[Lazlo]

Arthur - Nay

[TripZone]

The Woman looks thoroughly unpleasant, but I might go see it next week. With Pina.

[B-side]

With Pina.

hate you

[dreamdead]

X-Men: First Class - nay

[Stay Puft]

Nostalgia for the Light - yay

Awesome, though the bit with the marbles at the end made me laugh since all I could think of was Men in Black.

[Stay Puft]

Also, E, you missed my 'yay' for Cold Weather.

[Weeping_Guitar]

Adjustment Bureau - yay
Arthur - nay
13 Assassins - nay
Cedar Rapids - yay
Cold Weather - nay
Green Hornet - nay
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - YAY
No Strings Attatched - yay
Rango - YAY
Potiche - yay
Source Code - yay
Submarine - YAY
Super - NAY
Super 8 - YAY
Trust - yay
Uncle Boonme - yay
Unknown - yay
X-Men: First Class - Yay

[Boner M]

Nostalgia for the Light - yay

Awesome, though the bit with the marbles at the end made me laugh since all I could think of was Men in Black.

Heh, I liked it too but kept thinking of this:

wwDKH6Q7b54

[Philosophe_rouge]

30 minutes or less - mild yay

[Boner M]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - yay
Friends With Benefits - nay

[Rowland]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - a better than expected yay, this year's best summer blockbuster that I've seen in a walk.

[Boner M]

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - a better than expected yay, this year's best summer blockbuster that I've seen in a walk.
Yup, even though the buildup to ape-upheaval seems even more hilariously (awesomely?) perfunctory in hindsight.

[elixir]

Nostalgia for the Light - yay

[Stay Puft]

Attack the Block - yay

Well I don't think it's nearly as good as Edgar Wright's films but it was a lot of fun.

[elixir]

Love Exposure - YAY

[Raiders]

Crazy, Stupid, Love. - mild yay

Yet another film that reinforces how impossible it is in Hollywood to actually be happy with a sexually carefree lifestyle. You must be damaged, incomplete and lonely. Further still, it is a film that champions the phrase "soul mate" to the point it should seek a copyright yet shows no real care in actually creating a chemistry or bond between Moore and Carrell, or even more troubling is the way the film treats as comedy the rather pathological fixation the 17 year-old babysitter has on Carrell's 40-something dad.

The "yay" is partly for the performances but moreso for the small moments in the film that are far more intelligent and graceful than I had anticipated, such as when Carrell stands outside and watches his wife call just to talk to him, unaware he can see her; or even the very ending which nicely leaves some lingering thoughts. It also manages to be pretty funny from start to finish.

[soitgoes...]

Harry Potter - mild yay
Green Lantern - nay

[elixir]

Film Socialisme - nay
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives - YAY

[Boner M]

Drive - YAY

[NickGlass]

Fivenal Destination: Who cares? Oh, what the hell, I guess judging upon its entry into the FD-canon, a "nay."

[StanleyK]

The Tree of Life - BIG yay!
Melancholia - a mild sort of nay.

[transmogrifier]

The Tree of Life - BIG yay!
Melancholia - a mild sort of nay.

Pish.

[Rowland]

30 Minutes or Less - nay

[elixir]

Essential Killing - nay
Leap Year - yay
Kaboom - mild nay
Meek's Cutoff - YAY

[baby doll]

Film Socialisme - nayWhat the dilio?

[elixir]

What the dilio?

Hm...I found the whole film extremely irritating and its moments of visual beauty were too sparse to compensate for that, though admittedly it has some great montage work going for it.

[elixir]

Rango - mild yay
Cold Weather - yay

[StanleyK]

Pish.

Funnily enough, I actually remembered something you said while watching Melancholia. It was your criticism of Black Swan, Dead Ringers, etc. that movies about people with mental illness have a hard time being interesting because their behavior is random. That's what went through my mind as I watched Kirsten Dunst pee on a golf course and rape a dude.

[transmogrifier]

Only if it is the sole drive of the whole film. But here, there is a clear distinction between the behaviour of the two sisters in relation to the end of the world, and that's what makes the film worthwhile.

And Dunst is reacting/responding to the wedding as much as the people at the wedding are reacting to her. Don't really have a problem with depression on film. It's a pretty "logical" mode of behaviour that doesn't really allow for too much narrative contrivance.

[elixir]

Harry Potter - mild yay

[Philosophe_rouge]

Senna - yay

[Boner M]

William S. Burroughs: A Man Within - nay

Getting sick of docos where a bunch of familiar hip faces fawn over the subject's iconoclasm and trailblazing; esp. as the film neglects doing anything similarly radical whatsoever with the form itself.

EDIT: this was released last year, never mind me

[Bosco B Thug]

Fright Night - mild yay

I was going to mild nay Fright Night until I saw W. Chaw's 4-starring (for a pretentious, he should be more pretentious), and saw some other vaguely praiseworthy feelings from trustworthy people, and remembered that I did essentially enjoy it.

[Rowland]

W. Chaw's 4-starring (for a pretentious, he should be more pretentious)For all that he bemoans the geek cultures, he really is essentially one at heart, albeit one with better taste and a more insightful critical faculty than most. I value the guy because even when I don't agree with him, he isn't pretentious enough not to give four-star ratings to the likes of both Certified Copy and Source Code within the same effusive review, and his passion for horror cinema in unison with his willingness to discover merit in many films of the genre that most critics and fans dismiss or actively deride inspires me. Nevertheless, the four-star review for Fright Night threw me a bit given the moderate enthusiasm from assorted other trusted sources, but I'm hoping for the best.

[Boner M]

Win Win - nay nay

[eternity]

Fright Night - yay
Horrible Bosses - yay

Colin Farrell is having a good year.

[Henry Gale]

13 Assassins - yay
Attack The Block - big yay

[elixir]

Heartbeats - yay
Curling - yay
Polytechnique - nay

[Dukefrukem]

Priest fucking nay

[NickGlass]

Tabloid: Nay

I'm on the fence. Apparently it's meant to take a gossipy, fascinating subject beyond its superficiality, yet--by the end--it's still just scratching at its polished surface without much insight. Also, it's certainly no "Rashomon: The Documentary."

[dreamdead]

I Saw the Devil - nay

Apparently we're counting it as this year in U.S...

[soitgoes...]

A couple of plane ride movies I haven't mentioned:

Battle Los Angeles - Big time nay
Water for Elephants - Ditto

[soitgoes...]

Bobby Fischer Against the World - yay

[elixir]

Umshini Wam - nay
The Four Times - YAY

[Rowland]

Uncle Kent - Yay

[Lazlo]

The Conspirator - Nay

[Stay Puft]

Tetsuo: The Bullet Man - nay

I liked parts of this quite a bit (there's ten or fifteen minutes in there that seemed pretty strong, better than Body Hammer, gave me a bit of hope) but ultimately it goes nowhere and tonally it was scattershot as Tsukamoto kept dipping into the well of all of his previous films (so many pet themes and visual motifs, but adding up to what?). And then Tsukamoto's performance was so asynchronous I swore he was just taking the piss. "SO. BEAUTIFUL." "Ladies and gentlemen... let's parteeeeee."

I have no idea what Tsukamoto thought he was accomplishing with this film. All I got from this was a lack of clarity, unusual for this filmmaker. At least it has some pretty cool music courtesy of Ishikawa and Reznor, I guess.

[Henry Gale]

Fright Night - yay

A lot more enjoyable than I expected it would be, especially after being disappointed in my recent viewing of the original and this one's late-August release. I didn't see it in 3D so I can't recommend it that way, but... yeah, check it out if you get the chance. A nice surprise.

[Kurosawa Fan]

13 Assassins - YAY

[elixir]

Source Code - nay

[Kiusagi]

Captain America - yay
Crazy Stupid Love - yay
Fright Night - yay
Friends with Benefits - nay

By the way, I'm listed under "nay" for Tree of Life. I meant to yay it.

[Henry Gale]

Friends with Benefits - nay

This pretty much entirely sucked, and I say that as someone that yay'd No Strings Attached. The movie seems to think that just because it's extremely self-aware about the clichés and shortcomings of bad romantic comedies that it should automatically get a pass and function as something above them. Nope. It's every bit as predictable and forced (both in its "charm" and plotting) as the sort of typical Katherine Heigl romantic comedies it calls out from very beginning and what it parodies with the fake Jason Segel / Rashida Jones rom-com the characters watch twice (which is admittedly one of the funnier things in the movie).

Also, I'm just realizing now that this was actually an R-rated comedy, which is easy to forget since most of the raunch and profanity was packed into its first half, leaving room for all the TV-friendly scenes of sudden sentimentality later on. You have Richard Jenkins, Patricia Clarkson, Woody Harrelson and even Jenna Elfman trying their best to elevate the material they're given, but in the end their just there to push character development out of the leads or show up when needed for extra gags in Harrelson's case. Kunis is perfectly fine, but between this and Bad Teacher, Timberlake has proven to me that he can't carry himself in comedic roles when he's not singing (which explains his comfort in most of his best SNL work). EDIT: I'm trying to forget Timberlake also managed to be the least funny person in The Love Guru. And honestly, how many lame things specific to 2011 could they fit in here? Oh look, flash mobs! Playstation Move! They're swearing on a bible... app!

So yeah, we already got the better version of this in January with Reitman's film, if you find yourself caring enough to choose between them.

[Rowland]

Priest - mild nay

As unabashedly pulpy genre mash-ups are concerned, this isn't too bad. Low expectations and a taste for cheese, as with director Stewart's similarly halfway-enjoyable mild-nay, Legion, go a long way here.

[Lazlo]

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives - http://www.seeklogo.com/images/M/Mr_Horse-logo-71F6388CDC-seeklogo.com.gif

[Ivan Drago]

Fright Night - yay

[TGM]

Another Earth - Yay

[Rowland]

Battle: Los Angeles - mild but surprisingly sturdy yay

[Boner M]

The Guard - fookity fooking yay
The Three Musketeers - amiably hacky yay

[TGM]

My yay for Another Earth was marked as a nay. :\

[soitgoes...]

Source Code - a disappointing yay

[Rowland]

Cold Weather - yay

[MadMan]

Battle: Los Angeles - mild but surprisingly sturdy yayReally? I found the film to be awful in a really strong mediocre kind of way.

Rubber-Yay (yeah I'm surprised too)

[Dukefrukem]

Fright Night yay!

[eternity]

Our Idiot Brother - nay

[B-side]

Mysteries of Lisbon - a sadly somewhat indifferent yay

[Thirdmango]

Adjustment Bureau -- Yay.

[Ivan Drago]

Drive Angry - yay

[Derek]

Battle: Los Angeles - mild but surprisingly sturdy yay

Shit does harden and over time and eventually the stink mostly goes away, but shit it always remains.

EDIT: E, please add my nay for this.

[eternity]

Kaboom - yay

[Ivan Drago]

Hobo With A Shotgun - Yay

[Bosco B Thug]

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - nay

A drive-thru view, which is not advisable for a dark movie like this. The action scenes seemed pretty cool, so I'm sure they would've been even cooler if I'd been able to see things better. But alas, everything around the scares is generic as all get-out. Slant Mag's review is pretty spot-on. Inexplicable Rx references...

[TGM]

Fright Night - Yay

[Lazlo]

Limitless - Mild Nay

[EyesWideOpen]

Insidious - mild yay

[Stay Puft]

Tales from the Golden Age - yay

A very funny and entertaining collection of urban legends from the Golden Age of Romania. I don't recognize any of the filmmakers involved besides Mungiu (because he won the Palme d'Or a couple years ago, obv). My personal favorite was the legend of the official visit, just for the carousel scene at the end. "You said everybody!"

[kopello]

13 Assassins - nay

[Henry Gale]

Final Destination 5 - yay, but that doesn't mean I think it's very good.

It's the sort of problem I had with Drive Angry which, Fichtner aside, I didn't think made enough of an effort to infuse the right sort of crazy B-movie goods in between its pedestrian, boring non-action scenes to make it as much of fun, silly, 3D-upgraded time at the movies as it could have been. Final Destination 5, though just as slow in spots, at least seems to have a better idea as to what someone like me actually wants to see out of it. It's ridiculous, super gory, and even funny in some unexpectedly self-aware ways that lets it wink at the audience just as much any of the over-the-top 3D deaths reaching at them. It has the same problem as all the other sequels in that it peaks way too early with his premonition massacre of choice (this time the collapsing bridge sequence, which looks surprisingly great from an effects and 3D standpoint), but by making these characters distinct enough and making some revisions to Death's rules for Tony Todd to deliver, it's more enjoyable than not just most entries in this franchise, but most major horror franchise pictures these days. FD5 is to supernatural horror movies what Fast Five is to international heist movies. And I do mean that as a compliment.

It also has a pretty great ending that I didn't see coming, allowing me and my friends to leave the theatre on just the right note, happily grinning ear to ear.

Having said all of that, if you're making a choice between what's out right now, see Fright Night instead.

[soitgoes...]

X-Men - what an awful experience

[Boner M]

Submarine - mild yay

Frequently funny and clever, a considerable degree of emotional depth beneath the twee/precious surface, stellar cast (esp. Noah Taylor, carrying over memories of Flirting/The Year My Voice Broke for added extra-textual poignance), and I especially liked that the two self-defined misfits are also portrayed as bullies and unwitting conformists. But I still grew tired of the Wes Anderson/Richard Lester/Nouvelle Vague pillaging, and it doesn't really add much new to the coming-of-age canon.

[Raiders]

One Day - holy fucking christ nay

[MadMan]

IP Man 2: Legend of the Grandmaster-Yay

This movie worked as a much improved remake of Rocky IV. I approved.

[EyesWideOpen]

Our Idiot Brother - yay

[eternity]

Martha Marcy May Marlene - yay

[Pop Trash]

Our Idiot Brother - nay

Paul Rudd deserves a better movie. His character is interesting, but the movie around him is just so half baked with flat direction. It's mostly sort of "there" then it ends.

[Watashi]

The Guard - big fucking yay

[Barty]

The Guard - big fucking yay

Yes

[soitgoes...]

Hanna - yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Our Idiot Brother - nay

Paul Rudd deserves a better movie. His character is interesting, but the movie around him is just so half baked with flat direction. It's mostly sort of "there" then it ends.

I kind of liked that about it. It wasn't trying to be flashy and over the top like most recent comedies it was just like you said "there" and for me it fit in well with the personality of Rudd's character.

[Dukefrukem]

Blue Valentine yay
The Adjustment Bureau yay
Your Highness meh
The Tree of Life nay
Limitless yay
Fright Night yay

[Bosco B Thug]

Our Idiot Brother - yay

I thought it was well-measured comedy and drama, even if otherwise undistinguished. Nothing more than innocuous, but it still had its keen insights to give about perceptions of maturity and competence. Enjoyed it thoroughly, and it has a superb ensemble giving equally matched performances, only Rashida Jones and Adam Scott being given the mere cameo, friendly-allies characters.

[soitgoes...]

Your Highness - Nay

[TripZone]

X-Men - what an awful experience


Hanna - yay

<3

[Weeping_Guitar]

Last Night - yay
Rio - nay
Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff - yay
Poetry - yay

[Rowland]

We Are What We Are - mild yay

A pleasant surprise considering my low expectations. Nothing great, but a fine debut.

[B-side]

Hanna - yay

[Winston*]

Ape Planet - Yay

[baby doll]

The Last Circus - Can I nay this after fifty minutes or do I have to watch the whole friggin' thing?

[Winston*]

RANGO (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?p=329567#post32 9567) - 28 out of 28
yay - Sxottlan, EyesWideOpen, Lazlo, watashi, Stay Puft, Raiders, philosophe_rouge, Winston, kiusagi, Fezzik, eternity, Sven, Spinal, Boner M, NickGlass, Ivan Drago, lovejuice, dukefrukem, Henry Gale, transmogrifier, soitgoes, Derek, Ezee E, kopello, Rowland, weeping_guitar, Elixir


Who will nay?

[B-side]

Who will nay?

Challenge accepted.

[Ezee E]

Really liked The Artist. Pretty sure Match Cut will too. Whoever played Paddy was lovely.

[transmogrifier]

Hanna - holy hell NAY.

Abysmal script. Every single imaginable cliche pureed into quasi-philosophical drivel. Hated it intensely.

[B-side]

Red State - a pleasantly surprised yay

[eternity]

Red State - nay

[Bosco B Thug]

RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - 15 out of 15
yay - watashi, fezzik, Pop Trash, Idioteque Stalker, EyesWideOpen, kiusagi, philosophe_rouge, TGM, Henry Gale, Lazlo, Spinal, Boner M, Rowland, Ezee E, winston Fiiiirrsssttt.

RotPotA - nay

I've chosen not to ignore how skimpy and circumspect the human element is, despite the glimmers of interest when it's a monkey prison drama.

[eternity]

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN - yay

[soitgoes...]

Meek's Cutoff - yay

[Watashi]

monkey prison drama.

That needs to be its own genre.

[Bosco B Thug]

That needs to be its own genre.
Is what it is. Fernando Croce's twitter review (thought mine up before reading his):


RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES. Pretty flat. Briefly flickers to life as simian UN PROPHETE. Verhoeven would have done wonders with this.

[Bosco B Thug]

The Ward - a glad yay

Maybe for a Boner's sake, maybe not. Don't know why y'all are so harsh, it's much more good than bad.

[Boner M]

Maybe for a Boner's sake
I'm sure yaying it must've felt that good.

[Bosco B Thug]

I'm sure yaying it must've felt that good. It's like the positive version of the salacious one I get naying Insidious.

[Rowland]

it's much more good than bad.*shrug* I can't think of much good to say about it, to be perfectly honest. It usually looks and moves pretty nicely, I appreciated the minor grace note afforded to the girls with the dancing scene, and the opening credits were nifty. Granted, if it weren't a Carpenter flick, I'd probably have given it a two-star better-luck-next-time rating, but eh, context can be a bitch. Just compare the haunting closing to Prince of Darkness with the flaccid fizzle here.

[Bosco B Thug]

*shrug* I can't think of much good to say about it, to be perfectly honest. It usually looks and moves pretty nicely, I appreciated the minor grace note afforded to the girls with the dancing scene, and the opening credits were nifty. Granted, if it weren't a Carpenter flick, I'd probably have given it a two-star better-luck-next-time rating, but eh, context can be a bitch. Just compare the haunting closing to Prince of Darkness with the flaccid fizzle here. It is a nice-looking film (the glossy cinematography and dissolve-heavy expressionistic editing made it remind me a lot of The Woods), snappily paced, everyone seems to mention the dancing scene but it's a bit too transparently grace-notey, is it not? (though the power outage that comes right after the dancing was one of my favorite bits), and while comparing it to Carpenter's other works may bode ill, I'm kind of admiring of the fact that, IMO, it matches up against its easy comparisons Sucker Punch and Shutter Island. It's the least ambitious and praiseworthy script, but the Carpenter classical over Snyder/Scorsese overload evens it out.

And the ending was cool. It's kinda awesome how it doesn't make much logical sense.

[Rowland]

It is a nice-looking film (the glossy cinematography and dissolve-heavy expressionistic editing made it remind me a lot of The Woods), snappily pacedIt's nice-looking, and I appreciated all the smooth steadicam work, which he seemed to have increasingly abandoned with his later work, but I didn't find the mood of the film to be all that stylish or expressive. It certainly failed for me to evoke much in the way of atmosphere or tension, and the same goes for the excessively snappy pacing, which especially didn't feel Carpenter-y at all. The thing rarely had a moment to breathe, which is why I appreciated small moments like:
everyone seems to mention the dancing scene but it's a bit too transparently grace-notey, is it not? It also helps that in a film with so many actresses unable to make anything of their lousy dialogue (and direction?), they were afforded a moment to just shut up and have some fun.
it matches up against its easy comparisons Sucker Punch and Shutter Island. It's the least ambitious and praiseworthy script, but the Carpenter classical over Snyder/Scorsese overload evens it out.I haven't seen Sucker Punch, but Shutter Island struck me as an all-around much more solid effort, and even that I only gave two-and-a-half stars. Ditto Identity.

And the ending was cool. It's kinda awesome how it doesn't make much logical sense.I couldn't help thinking about how blatantly it evoked Prince of Darkness, only in a markedly half-assed manner.

[Henry Gale]

The Greatest Movie Ever Sold - yay

Enjoyable, even if there wasn't much I personally learned from it. One of the few things in it that I was entirely unaware of and couldn't believe was the whole Channel One News thing in thousands of American schools, and how time is taken out of classes to watch it (with tons of commercials, of course!). Maybe it's a commonly known and accepted thing in the States, but it just seems so confusing and alien to me. At the same time, this movie would probably be a great thing to show in schools.

The section with Tarantino, Abrams, Berg and Ratner talking about product placement in their movies was probably one of my favourites too, even if you can probably guess who ended up taking the silliest stance.

[Raiders]

Jane Eyre - yay for the wonderful visuals and Wasikowska's understated, physical performance. Wasn't really feeling it for most of its running time though. I admired Fukunaga's intense focus on Jane and Wasikowska's face, neck and hands (to the point he seemed intentionally to drown out all else), but it made the film a tonal wash as Jane is only effective if we contrast her to everyone and everything else and from Rochester to St. John to her childhood, there's a lot of shorthand and leaps made to satisfy hitting all the narrative stops.

[Rowland]

Fright Night 3D - Yay

Far superior to the middling original, and the most fun I've had in the theater this summer.

[Lazlo]

13 Assassins - Yay

[Watashi]

Warrior - yay
Fright Night - nay

[Raiders]

Hobo With a Shotgun - hell nay

I can respect the film's use of Hauer as a solemn force of nature amidst the batshit insane world created here (which also deserves kudos for being so well sketched), but jesus fucking christ is this an obnoxious, monotonous film with the worst, most insincerely vulgar dialogue I have ever heard. Every line not uttered by Hauer is so abrasively conceived and so proud of its own gruesome conception. I wanted to turn this film off about ten different times, but persevered merely to prove to myself that I could.

If this is indeed indicative of a "true" grindhouse film, a subgenre I am only marginally versed on, then I can only wonder why the fuck you would want to actually recreate that in today's cinema.

[Watashi]

Hobo with a Shotgun is not a grindhouse film, it's a Troma film.

Didn't you ever see The Toxic Avenger?

[Raiders]

Hobo with a Shotgun is not a grindhouse film, it's a Troma film.

Didn't you ever see The Toxic Avenger?

No, and I really don't want to now.

[eternity]

I would call Hobo with a Shotgun a grindhouse film. It's something pulled from the same throwback ideas of Thankskilling and Werewolf Women of the S.S.

[EyesWideOpen]

The Tree of Life - nay

[Melville]

The Guard - yay

[Boner M]

ELENA - yay

Tweet: clear-eyed morality play transpiring in a material world etched with bracing, near-obsessive specificity. Titular performance, wow.

Also, bizarre that I still haven't seen Zvyagintsev's The Return.

[Boner M]

The Guard - yay
Awesome, thoughts? It really is one of the biggest surprises of the year for me.

[Lazlo]

Senna - Huge Yay

[Stay Puft]

Black Death - nay

I'm not sure what this film wants to say about faith/religion but I was in hysterics almost the entire time. It's such a dramatic mess, I was even calling bullshit on an obvious plot twist I called forty minutes earlier. Best unintentional laughs of the year. AMEN.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Fright Night - yay for Colin

[Watashi]

Awesome, thoughts? It really is one of the biggest surprises of the year for me.
I gave it a yay too.

[Boner M]

I gave it a yay too.

But a yay from Melville is a the match-cut equivalent of a Dodo eclipse.

[Watashi]

I wish I was cool as Melville. :sad:

[Boner M]

Horrible Bosses - yay

[Stay Puft]

Curling - nay

[Melville]

Awesome, thoughts?
Not really. I was pretty brain-dead when watching it. It was amusing. The random-reference-based humor worked pretty well within the context of, rather than overwhelming, the character-based humor. The performances together with the cinematographic and musical hijinks helped keep the crazy-cop-plus-straitlaced-cop and culture-clash formulas feeling entertaining and fresh rather than hackneyed.

I happen to be about a quarter way through Oblomov by Goncharov. Maybe there will be some character parallel that would lend that reference meaning, though at this point in the book it seems unlikely.


But a yay from Melville is a the match-cut equivalent of a Dodo eclipse.
Hey, I've given yays to 6 out of the 8 movies I've seen this year. Though one of those movies I saw this year I saw two years ago.


I wish I was cool as Melville. :sad:
People call me cucumber boy.

[Ezee E]

Nay for Limitless. It's a silly story in which everything around it tries to make up for it.

[Stay Puft]

Love Crime - nay

An entertaining trifle, but ends up going on for far too long. Would have been a lot better if the film didn't walk through every step of the big plan with black & white flashbacks, which just ruin the fun.

[Lazlo]

In a Better World - Yay

[Lazlo]

Paul - Yay

[Weeping_Guitar]

Everything Must Go - yay
Paul - Nay

[TripZone]

dump

Cave of Forgotten Dreams -yay
Ceremony -whoa, nay
City of Life and Death -nay
Cold Weather -yay
Curling -yay
The Debt -nay
Essential Killing -yay
Fast Five -naay
Hanna -yay
How I Ended This Summer -nay
If I Want to Whistle, I Fucking Do -nay
Jane Eyre -ugh, nay
The Kid on the Bike -yay
Le Havre -YAY
Martha Marcy May Marlene -ummm, hmm. Yay, just.
Meek's Cutoff -yay
Melancholia -yay
Mysteries of Lisbon -yaay
Of Gods and Men -just nay
Oki's Movie -big yay
Pina -mild yay
Princess of Montpensier -mild nay
Submarine -nay
Sucker Punch -nay
Take Shelter -mild nay
Terri -yay
Thor -colossal nay
Tree of Life -yaay
The Turin Horse -yaay
Unknown -yay
A Useful Life -yay
The Woman -nay

The Innkeepers -yay
Jess + Moss -nay
Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu -yay
Post Mortem -yay
Silent Souls -mild nay

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia -yaay
The Day He Arrives -yay
Outside Satan -yay
Memories of a Morning -yay
Tales of a Night -yay
El Velador -yay
Good Bye -mild yay

[soitgoes...]

Attack the Block - yay

[Winston*]

The Guard - Yay

[Thirdmango]

Who will nay?

Not me.

Rango Yay.

[EyesWideOpen]

The Help - surprisingly big yay

[Boner M]

Super - nay
Last Days Here - yay
Umshini Wam - nay (more *shrug*)

Since the last one counts, I'll add:

The Terrys - YAY

[Lazlo]

The Arbor - Yay

[Ezee E]

Wow, EyesWideOpen is apparently the first to see The Help.

[EyesWideOpen]

Wow, EyesWideOpen is apparently the first to see The Help.

I couldn't believe that either especially since it's gonna get (deservedly so) a bunch of oscar noms.

[transmogrifier]

Catch up:

Oki's Movie - nay
The Man from Nowhere - nay
The Lincoln Lawyer - nay

[Rowland]

Contagion - mild nay

[Derek]

Contagion - mild nay

Ditto.

Crazy Stupid Love - nay
30 Minutes or Less - nay
Our Idiot Brother - mild yay
Fright Night - mild yay

[Watashi]

Well, I'll mild yay it.

[Boner M]

Better This World - yay

[Kiusagi]

Warrior - yay

The Debt - mild yay

30 Minutes or Less - nay

[Boner M]

Hey E, you missed my votes for these from a while back:


Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles - yay
Beginners - yay
The Innkeepers - yay
Littlerock - nay
Michael - nay
The Kid With the Bike - yay
The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye - yay
Finisterrae - yay
The Black Power Mixtape - yay
Sodankylä Forever - nay
It May Be That Beauty Has Strengthened Our Resolve: Masao Adachi - yay
Hanna - yay
Polisse - nay
Winter Vacation - yay
The Yellow Sea - yay
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia - yay
Outside Satan - nay
The Day He Arrives - yay
Skoonheid - yay
Familiar Ground - yay

[NickGlass]

Contagion: nay

Contagion? More like Contangent.

*crickets*

[Boner M]

NO SET DATE:
Autobiography of Nicolae Ceauşescu - 3 out of 3
yay - NickGlass, Boner M, Tripzone

The Black Power Mixtape - 1 out of 1
yay - Boner M

Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles - 1 out of 1
yay - Ezee E
These all got limited releases in the last few weeks, btw (also, I yay'd RD:TMotTT, not you :) )

[TGM]

Contagion - Mild yay

[Rowland]

These all got limited releases in the last few weeks, btw (also, I yay'd RD:TMotTT, not you :) )Ditto Silent Souls.

[eternity]

Gnomeo and Juliet - nay

[Philosophe_rouge]

The Help - nay
Shame - yay
Melancholia - yay
We Need to Talk About Kevin -yay
Martha Marcy May Marlene - yay
Twixt - yay
Outside Satan - yay
Miss Bala - yay
Trishna -nay

[TGM]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - Yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Contagion - yay

[Derek]

Contagion: nay

Contagion? More like Contangent.

*crickets*

Heh, aside from the completely pointless Cotillard thread, I actually kind of liked how tangential it was, almost to the point where it seemed like Soderbergh reveled in the mundanity and sheer boredom of the administrative aspects of the outbreak. Doesn't make for a compelling film unfortunately, but I at least appreciate that he went that route.

[Derek]

Also, E, please put me down for a yay for Kaboom. You can put yourself down for a yay in my stead if you want. Unlike Boner and Rowland, I take no issue with your living vicariously through me.

[Ivan Drago]

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - Nay

Biggest disappointment of the year.

[Raiders]

Warrior - the mildest of yays... only O'Connor's superior handling of the fights, and the presence of Nick Nolte, take this schematic film above mediocrity

Contagion - solid yay... agree with those in the film's thread that the clinical, non-sensationalist tone makes an intriguing and noteworthy effort. Soderbergh always has an angle, and though this one doesn't make the most compelling film, seeing an entire roster of A-list actors essentially cogs in a bureaucratic system marching towards inevitability was very effective.

[Ivan Drago]

The Future - Yay

Big improvement over Me and You and Everyone We Know.

[kopello]

Cold Weather - yay

The first mumblecore mystery movie? I liked it more than I thought I would.

[EyesWideOpen]

Bellflower - mild yay

[Ezee E]

Super - Nay

That was awful.

[eternity]

Drive - yay

[Henry Gale]

Drive - huge yay

[B-side]

Terri - yay

[B-side]

The Kid with a Bike - yay

[elixir]

Oki's Movie - nay
Terri - yay
Poetry - YAY

and I forgot one from a few months back, The Double Hour - mild yay

[Ivan Drago]

Drive - YAY

[baby doll]

Bridesmaids - yay
The Tree of Life - yay

[Philosophe_rouge]

drive - yay

[Watashi]

Crazy, Stupid, Love - hell nay

Should have saw the other Gosling movie.

[Pop Trash]

Drive - yay but I didn't like it as much as I expected
The Future - nay but I didn't dislike it as much as I expected

[elixir]

Tuesday, After Christmas - mild yay
Hahaha - yay

[Boner M]

Senna - yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Hobo with a Shotgun - nay

[kopello]

Drive - yay, but with reservations

[Rowland]

Drive - Big Yay

[Raiders]

Drive - yay, of course

A real hero.

[StanleyK]

The Turin Horse - yay

[elixir]

Hanna - nay
I Wish I Knew - nay

[NickGlass]

Not sure which of these will definitely be released in 2011 (except for Nobbs), but here you go:

DAMSELS IN DISTRESS (Stillman): Yay

ALPS (Lanthimos): Disappointed nay

JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME (Duplass Bros.): Nay

YOUR SISTER'S SISTER (Shelton): Very mild yay

WHORES' GLORY (Glawogger): Hmm, yay?

DARK HORSE (Solondz): Nay

ALBERT NOBBS (Garcia): NAY

KILL LIST (Wheatley): Mild nay

OSLO, AUGUST 31ST (Trier): Yay

[NickGlass]

Oh, and this as well (I must've fogotten it...)

MELANCHOLIA (von Trier): An ambivalent nay

[TGM]

Drive - Big Yay!

[Lazlo]

Drive - Massive Yay

[Weeping_Guitar]

Win Win - yay

[Melville]

Drive - big yay for awesomeness

[Philosophe_rouge]

straw dogs - nay

[B-side]

Drive - yay, naturally

[Ezee E]

Match Cut Best Picture possibilities:

MOST LIKELY IN:
Drive
Tree of Life

POSSIBLE:
Certified Copy
Rango
Uncle Boonmee

NEEDS MORE VIEWERS:
13 Assassins
Melancholia
Poetry

WELL SEEN, BUT NO:
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Source Code
Super 8

[Boner M]

I think Drive has a shot at challenging Tree of Life for #1. And as much as I like the former, I don't want another fanboy movie topping the list.

[Watashi]

Drive - yay of course

[Boner M]

Oh what the hell, I'll predict our eventual year-end top ten:

1. Tree of Life
2. Drive
3. Certified Copy
4. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
5. Martha Marcy May Marlene
6. Melancholia
7. Rango
8. Take Shelter
9. Meek's Cutoff
10. Uncle Boonmee

[Boner M]

Red State - nay

A shrill mess, though it at least has a sense of purpose.

[transmogrifier]

I think Drive has a shot at challenging Tree of Life for #1. And as much as I like the former, I don't want another fanboy movie topping the list.

Tree of Life IS a fanboy movie, just a different type of fanboy.

[baby doll]

The Guard - Hey my brother made a movie, so I'll do pretty much the same thing (same dark humor, same lead actor), but with a different set of macho genre conventions (the drug bust movie in lieu of the hitman movie), a different quaint setting, and a different Hollywood actor to make the film appealing to foreign distributors. This has some funny moments, but it's all so bloody familiar. Incidentally, this is one seriously ugly looking movie--almost the ugliest I've seen this year just behind Hobo With a Shotgun. I guess HD video is really unforgiving of crappy lighting and set design. That's a nay, by the way.

[Raiders]

I think Drive has a shot at challenging Tree of Life for #1. And as much as I like the former, I don't want another fanboy movie topping the list.

I thought I read this wrong. Though I still shamefully haven't seen it, no way is a new Malick film, in the online film community at least, not a fanboy movie. Moreso than Refn's film I would think.

[Boner M]

Malick has fanboys, but he doesn't make fanboy movies. Ala Nolan's last two, Children of Men, Inglorious Basterds, No Country For Old Men (our winners since '06). Whatever their virtues - and not to sound to Armond-ish - they're all fashionably dark/cynical & meretricious pieces of filmmaking.

[Rowland]

they're all meretricious pieces of filmmaking.Your use of the word meretricious is meretricious.

[Watashi]

Every movie is a fanboy movie.

[Rowland]

Uruguayan horror film La Casa Muda (The Silent House) evidently had a limited theatrical release and has just debuted on DVD, though it isn't yet available through Netflix, so that can be moved out of the No Set Date section. I bet many here would dig it, granted you can look past some hoary cliches. As an exercise in atmosphere and the suggestive manipulation of negative/off-screen-space to induce dread, it's a pretty strong piece.

Also, Silent Souls and 3 Backyards don't belong in the No Set Date section anymore either.

[soitgoes...]

Scream 4 - nay
Jane Eyre - yay
Winnie the Pooh - nay
The Tree of Life - yay

[Rowland]

Winnie the Pooh - nayThank you for making me feel like less of an asshole. :pritch:

[soitgoes...]

Thank you for making me feel like less of an asshole. :pritch:Of course! It was a nothing film that's already mostly out of my mind. The songs are forgettable. Not awful, but I don't really know why it was made. For a great adaptation of Winnie the Pooh check out the Russian shorts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqdiEUp6s4E).

[Watashi]

I'm pretty sure Winnie the Pooh was made for kids under the age of 7.

[Kiusagi]

Drive - big time yay

Contagion - less enthusiastic yay

[soitgoes...]

I'm pretty sure Winnie the Pooh was made for kids under the age of 7.
And it flopped with its target audience that normally flocks to see a summer animated movie.

[Watashi]

And it flopped with its target audience that normally flocks to see a summer animated movie.
But it wasn't in CG and didn't have toilet humor.

Kung Fu Panda 2 also was did very underwhelming numbers.

The highest grossing animated movie so far this year is Cars 2.

[Ezee E]

I don't think I saw one preview or discussion or billboard for Winnie the Pooh.

[Ezee E]

Oh what the hell, I'll predict our eventual year-end top ten:

1. Tree of Life
2. Drive
3. Certified Copy
4. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
5. Martha Marcy May Marlene
6. Melancholia
7. Rango
8. Take Shelter
9. Meek's Cutoff
10. Uncle Boonmee
Surely, Real Steel is gonna surprise.

And Malick is Match Cut Fanboy. The New World was #1 for its year.

[Rowland]

I'm pretty sure Winnie the Pooh was made for kids under the age of 7.And my reaction to it was a critically objective one, not that an older viewer can't enjoy the film. Michael Sicinski gave it a 7, arguing that its formal qualities were more than enough to engage him.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - yay

[Ezee E]

I picture Stake Land as the movie that people thought The Road would be like. At least, those who didn't see The Road.

That, itself, is not a criticism. In fact, it works for quite a while, but it eventually gets overlong on itself, and it's religious commentary is a little forcefed and uninteresting.

There is a very good scene 2/3 of the way in involving a military drop though. That was unexpected and extremely well-crafted.

[Rowland]

Wake Wood - nay

[MadMan]

Everything Must Go-Yay

[Watashi]

Moneyball - big yay

[Henry Gale]

The Tree of Life - yeah, absolutely.

[soitgoes...]

Bridesmaids - mild nay

[MadMan]

\Hesher/-\Yay/

[TGM]

Killer Elite - Nay

[Weeping_Guitar]

Moneyball - Yay

[dreamdead]

Drive - Yay!

[B-side]

Horrible Bosses - nay

[Sycophant]

13 Assassins - yay
Bridsemaids - yay
Midnight in paris - yay
Horrible Bosses - yay
Drive - nay

[B-side]

Horrible Bosses - yay
Drive - nay

Oh, come on.

[Sycophant]

Horrible Bosses is a "mild" yay, if it makes you feel better. I was on the fence about it.

I didn't care for Drive.