2011 New Release Database

[B-side]

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.

I'm shaking my fists in anger. You should know that this upsets me greatly.

[MadMan]

Horrible Bosses was funny. I'll see Drive sometime this week.

Moneyball-Yay

[Dukefrukem]

I'm going to have to give CEDAR RAPIDS a nay. It was cute, and had some funny elements but it was missing something.

[Raiders]

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.

You're the drunk guy who yells "Play Free Bird!" at live local bar shows, aren't you?

[Pop Trash]

Moneyball - yay

Cracking script. Cracking direction. Cracking acting.

It was also really cool seeing this in Oakland, even if the guy behind me was griping about the story being "Hollywoodized" which I don't agree with at all. This is a very cynical baseball movie, and any romance about the sport is self-concious ("it's hard to not be romantic about baseball").

[Philosophe_rouge]

Moneyball - yay

[TripZone]

Drive, nay

[Boner M]

Aaand the Drive-lash begins.

[Ezee E]

No Rango-lash yet.

[B-side]

Melancholia - yay

[Dukefrukem]

Moneyball - yay

Cracking script. Cracking direction. Cracking acting.

It was also really cool seeing this in Oakland, even if the guy behind me was griping about the story being "Hollywoodized" which I don't agree with at all. This is a very cynical baseball movie, and any romance about the sport is self-concious ("it's hard to not be romantic about baseball").

I heard it was 30 minutes longer than it needed to be.

[Boner M]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - mild nay

[B-side]

Pina - largely indifferent nay

[B-side]

A few things:

Am I seriously the only one to nay Horrible Bosses so far? Crazy.

And I don't think you've differentiated between the two Sleeping Beauty's.


SLEEPING BEAUTY - 2 out of 4
yay - Brightside, philosophe_rouge
nay - Boner M, Winston

I watched and yay'd the Breillat one titled The Sleeping Beauty, which came out in the US back in July. I can't speak for the other 3.

[Boner M]

Yeah, Rogue and B-Side are talking 'bout the Breillat; Winston and I are talking about Naked Emily Browning Movie.

Although I've also seen the Breillat and yayed it despite not really remembering why.

[B-side]

Although I've also seen the Breillat and yayed it despite not really remembering why.

Cuz it's fucking good is why.

[Philosophe_rouge]

A few things:

Am I seriously the only one to nay Horrible Bosses so far? Crazy.

And I don't think you've differentiated between the two Sleeping Beauty's.



I watched and yay'd the Breillat one titled The Sleeping Beauty, which came out in the US back in July. I can't speak for the other 3.

breillat

[Stay Puft]

Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame - nay

Hmmm. Been a while since I've seen Carina Lau in a movie, almost forgot how awesome she is. Love everything in the movie involving her and Bingbing Li, and the scene when she meets Andy Lau under the cover of night felt like old school Tsui Hark with the intercutting of the courtesan dancing - at least politically, if not aesthetically. But now getting to aesthetics... yeesh, Rowland was right. Awful special effects, and with none of the wit and verve of a film like Time and Tide... looks more like a standard Chinese wuxia television show at times. Tsui Hark's stylistic flourishes are few and far between. And while again I do love everything involving Carina Lau, and the film's treatment of Wu Zetian's dynasty, it's unfortunate that this is also wrapped up in an episode of CSI: Ancient China. Awful, convoluted, lazy plotting. Too bad, too, because I liked Andy Lau's performance as Di Renjie.

[elixir]

Road to Nowhere - nay

also, you have me down as yay for captain america, a movie I haven't seen

[NickGlass]

Drive: Yay

I'm not without reservations, but all I can think of in regards to what worked for me is "excessive minimalism."

[eternity]

Moneyball - yay

[Lucky]

Drive - yay

...wow, I need to get off the TV and watch more movies.

[Kiusagi]

Moneyball - yay

The Help - nay

Straw Dogs - nay

Our Idiot Brother - nay

[Bosco B Thug]

Road to Nowhere - nay

also, you have me down as yay for captain america, a movie I haven't seen Oh, hmm... I'll be generous and yay Road to Nowhere...

Road to Nowhere - yay

A complete failure as a credible story, and a neo-noir/mystery tale, but it has side-concerns that are strange and offbeat enough to make the ridiculous story (and questionable production values) adequately ignorable.

[baby doll]

Yeah, I couldn't even finish The Road to Nowhere. It's like a failed attempt to rip-off Roger Avary.

[TGM]

Moneyball - yay

[Lazlo]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - Mild Yay

[Rowland]

True Legend - mild yay

Easily preferrable to Detective Dee and Ong Bak 3, but still nothing to get terribly excited over.

[Lazlo]

Moneyball - Yay

[Dukefrukem]

after a 2nd viewing, can you please change my Source Code YAY to a NAY

[NickGlass]

My Week with Marilyn: Nay

[elixir]

Mysteries of Lisbon - yay

[Boner M]

Take Shelter - yay

[B-side]

Snowballs - huge yay

[Lazlo]

Contagion - Yay

[Henry Gale]

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil - yay

Nothing extraordinary, but definitely fun.

[kopello]

Road to Mehwhere - nay

[TGM]

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil - yay

Nothing extraordinary, but definitely fun.

I'm really hoping this releases in my town. Really wanna see it!

[Henry Gale]

I'm really hoping this releases in my town. Really wanna see it!

Apparently it officially opens in theatres tomorrow, but I think it's been available On Demand for about a month now in the US. Despite it being a movie that seems to have been financed with a lot of help from the Canadian government, I don't see any indication that it's coming out here theatrically whatsoever. But it looks like it's out on DVD and Blu-ray at the end of November, so either way you'll be able to see it by then.

It's just a clever, well-made horror comedy. Tyler Labine and Alan Tudyk are really funny but surprisingly not cartoonishly so, leaving room for their characters to actually feel like functioning people instead of just goofy foils. And even the movie's way of setting itself up like any other horror movie while slowly transitioning towards revealing its actual story and main threat is fairly hilarious just in itself. For that reason I almost wish they saved the title card until the end just so someone with no knowledge of the movie or its characters could potentially stumble upon it and be completely surprised by what it becomes of it all.

[Rowland]

Attack the Block - Yay

Hype lived up to, awesome.

[Bosco B Thug]

I really don't know what to give Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.

I did watch the Boner and NickGlass-viewed indie film Littlerock, though, and I'm shocked by how much I admired it. A pretty pointed and unyielding tapestry of really useless people, who then go on to represent greater national frameworks and their dissolubility and weakness.

Littlerock - yay

[B-side]

Mouchette (Bresson 67) - 8

My favorite Bresson.

[baby doll]

Melancholia - the yay of the year

[elixir]

Attack the Block - yay
How I Ended This Summer - nay

[Bosco B Thug]

My favorite Bresson. Tis good. Au Hazard Balthazar re-watch tentatively next, which I didn't like as a teen, but expect to like now considering my favorable responses to this and A Man Escaped.


Abduction - yay. Just kidding, nay.

It's watchable. Singleton seems an energetic visualist.


Drive - yay.

Valuable, artful meditation on the consequences of battle-filled, masculine lives, unabashedly romantic and mythopoeic. Very much the same strengths and weaknesses and attributes of Valhalla Rising.

[baby doll]

The Future - yay

[dreamdead]

Hobo with a Shotgun - hell to the nay

[baby doll]

Hobo with a Shotgun - hell to the naySo at least I'm not the only one who thought this movie was awful.

[Ezee E]

So at least I'm not the only one who thought this movie was awful.
A good amount of us have I think.

[Ezee E]

So at least I'm not the only one who thought this movie was awful.
And I'm not sure whether to yay Insidious because of how much enjoyment I got out of laughing at it, or to nay it because it seems to take itself so seriously.

It's certainly not like the Raimi horror, Drag Me To Hell, despite having a similar type of flash and style.

Certainly is enjoyable though.

[EyesWideOpen]

Drive - holy fuck yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Super - hell nay

[Rowland]

The Four Times - YAY

Oh. Wow.

[Stay Puft]

Oh. Wow.

Yes!

Still my favorite of the year so far.

[elixir]

Yes!

Still my favorite of the year so far.

Yeah, it's great, but...


Rear Window (Hitchcock '54) **

What?

[elixir]

The Time That Remains - nay

[Watashi]

Yeah, it's great, but...



What?
Hitchcock isn't Asian.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Bullhead - yay
Snowtown - nay

[Raiders]

50/50 - mild yay

JGL is terrific, Rogen is insufferable, the film is more sensitive than expected, working with a nicely small scale and intuitive depiction. Still, hard to get too enthusiastic.

[eternity]

Tucker and Dale vs. Evil - yay

[baby doll]

The Time That Remains - nayWhat?

Incidentally...

Womb - yay

[B-side]

Bridesmaids - entirely lukewarm yay

[NickGlass]

The Loneliest Planet: Yay

(I don't believe this has distribution, which is a damn shame--but perhaps it will before the end of the NYFF?)

[TGM]

50/50 - Yay

[Ezee E]

The Loneliest Planet: Yay

(I don't believe this has distribution, which is a damn shame--but perhaps it will before the end of the NYFF?)
Bernal and Luna are behind it. Surely it'll get a limited run somewhere...

[Ivan Drago]

Moneyball - Yay

[baby doll]

Bernal and Luna are behind it. Surely it'll get a limited run somewhere...Mexico City?

[Rowland]

Quarantine 2: Terminal - nay

I gave this a shot because of an 83% rating at RT, and it's not too bad by the standards of DTV sequels. Like a really good SyFy movie, which still kinda sucks of course.

[MadMan]

Drive-Yay (I imagine this will be my #1 of the year until I can finally see Tree of Life)

[Philosophe_rouge]

Crazy stupid Love - yay

[Watashi]

50/50 - nay

Really, critics? Outside of some good JGL moments, this was so paint-by-numbers, it became comical. Rogen was the real cancer of the film.

[Rowland]

The Reef - mild nay

Solid enough for the most part, but at its best before the characters venture out from their capsized boat into the shark infested waters, at which point its rhythms grow increasingly predictable and hysterical, requiring more finely tuned writing and performances to really work. Traucki shows some promise as a director of survivalist horror, but he's clearly no McLean yet.

[Stay Puft]

Poetry - yay

[Derek]

Poetry - yay

Nice. Seems like this is getting dubbed a "lesser" Lee, but I'd put it on par with Secret Sunshine as well.

[Stay Puft]

I was certainly impressed with both films, but I'd actually say I liked Poetry more. Best ending ever.

[elixir]

I was certainly impressed with both films, but I'd actually say I liked Poetry more. Best ending ever.

Yeah, I agree with you. Reminds me that I need to watch Oasis. It's been on my hard drive for awhile now.

[Derek]

Yeah, I agree with you. Reminds me that I need to watch Oasis. It's been on my hard drive for awhile now.

Oh, you definitely do. As much as I like those other two, I like Oasis a good deal more. Flat-out amazing.

[Rowland]

Moneyball - Yay

Better than I expected, cool.

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Catching up:

Margaret - YAY
The Kid With A Bike - Yay
Drive - yay
The Arbor - nay
Super 8 - nay
Meek's Cutoff - nay

[Rowland]

Husk - mild-ish yay

Surprisingly decent After Dark release here.

[StanleyK]

Bridesmaids- nay, I guess, but it's pretty much a textbook 'meh' for me.

[elixir]

The Autobiography of Nicolae Ceausescu - yes

This got a US release, btw. So did Weekend.

[Boner M]

This got a US release, btw. So did Weekend.
As did The Black Power Mixtape, Silent Souls & Resurrect Deat.

[Pop Trash]

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - yay...so dope.

[Rowland]

The Ides of March - mild yay

[Rowland]

Megan is Missing - NAY

Just because it almost kinda works on its own vile terms makes it no less a slab of contemptibly skeevy, shamelessly sensationalistic, self-righteously manipulative exploitation. Ugh, I'm gonna turn on some Spongebob.

Also of note, while scanning through the reviews at IMDB (Powerful! Important!), I happened across a message left by the director himself thanking one of the users for their response. Well, I looked up the other comments he has left on the site as an IMDB user, and discovered that he gave a perfect score and glowing review to some DTV movie starring Burt Reynolds (as well as Tom Arnold and Gary Busey) for which he was the cinematographer! He also gives a perfect score to another movie he was the cinematographer for while praising his own DVD commentary in the third-person! What a fucking weasel.

[Raiders]

Heh. He's the current President of the American Society of Cinematographers too.

[NickGlass]

The Kid with a Bike: Yay (but not my usual, requisite Dardennes YAY)

[soitgoes...]

Oh, you definitely do. As much as I like those other two, I like Oasis a good deal more. Flat-out amazing.
Yeah, Oasis is on a different level of great, which should take nothing away from Secret Sunshine or Poetry, both of which are also exceptional. Lee is far and away the best director working in S. Korea right now (ever?).

[Ezee E]

Cedar Rapids - Nay

Outside of John C. Reilly and Isiah Whitlock (who does everything he can when given something funny), there isn't a funny spot in this movie. Alia Shawkat is completely wasted as well. What an unfunny movie.

Glad Reilly was there for that drunk swimming pool scene though. That was good.

[elixir]

The Myth of the American Sleepover - mild yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Everything Must Go - yay

[Watashi]

The Ides of March - yay

[Weeping_Guitar]

Hanna - Yay
Buck - Yay
Hesher - nay

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Take Shelter - mild yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Your Highness- surprising yay

[Sycophant]

Cold Fish - yay

[Rowland]

Cold Fish - yayThe yin to your Drive yang. I didn't mind this as much as many (it has a toxic reputation in some circles), but it was a disappointment as a Sono fan. Whenever I get around to finding time for Love Exposure, I'm sure that will make up for it.

[Sycophant]

As far as Sono films, it's perhaps my least favorite to date (that I've seen) after Suicide Club (though I've been thinking I might need to revisit that one). But it's decidedly a Sono film--which is something I'm digging--and it sits pretty comfortably with his other films about the breakdown of family and identity, like Noriko's Dinner Table and Love Exposure. It's visceral and bombastic and maybe a bit redundant in Sono's filmography, but it's sitting well with me.

But, yes, Love Exposure you'll probably like. It's some kind of mastepriece.

[Rowland]

Wrecked - Nay

Another variation on the increasingly prevalent "I'm stuck!" thriller subgenre, only in this case we have Adrien Brody stuck in a car wreck. Not terrible, but by no means recommended either.

[eternity]

The Ides of March - yay, I guess

[EyesWideOpen]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - yay

[Ezee E]

BOX OFFICE (OCTOBER 9th):

Tree of Life really picking things up before its DVD release.

Drive kills it in its first month of release.

Source Code and Rango continue to remain steady, while Super 8 awaits DVD release.

Adjustment Bureau finally drops off, along with Thor. X-Men: First Class is the most successful "superhero" movie on Match Cut.

Uncle Boonmee and Certified Copy. Widely seen, but will they do anything at the Match Cut Awards?

1. Tree of Life - $380
2. Drive - $310
- Source Code - $310
- Super 8 - $310
5. Rango - $290
- Bridesmaids - $290
7. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall Past Lives - $270
8. Certified Copy - $250
- X-Men: First Class - $250
10. Hanna - $240

[Rowland]

Uncle Boonmee and Certified Copy.I keep putting these off despite having both on hand, in part because of how high my expectations are, and also because I like spacing out the more acclaimed movies so that I catch a wider range of stuff, which admittedly hasn't been the most fruitful approach lately, but sometimes you need to watch the occasional no-budget indie thriller featuring Adrien Brody's leg trapped under a dashboard to keep your perspective in check.

[Winston*]

Thor - Nay

It had me for a while and then it lost me. Least developed romance in cinema history?

[Weeping_Guitar]

Bridesmaids - yay

[dreamdead]

Troll Hunter - yay

For being one of a slew of found footage films this decade, this one is pretty cracking, with a sly sense of humor and genuine care for the seriousness of the lead character.

[Philosophe_rouge]

50/50 - yay
Whats your number - nay

[kopello]

The Troll Hunter - yay
Hanna - yay
Le Quattro Volte (The Four Times) - YAY

[Kiusagi]

50/50 - yay

Real Steel - mild yay

Machine Gun Preacher - nay

[NickGlass]

Shame: Nay

'Tis a sham, indeed.

Hugo: Let me think about this one--I'm on the fence. It's a wandering narrative, that's for sure. It's both very particular and yet utterly broad at times. Coasts on its (apt) glorification of film history.

[Boner M]

SLEEPING BEAUTY (Breillat) - 3 out of 3
SLEEPING BEAUTY (Naked Person one) - 0 out of 2
:lol:

[DavidSeven]

The Ides of March - Nay

Was I the only one who thought every major plot point of this movie was completely over-dramatized? Even by election campaign standards, this movie was totally unbelievable. Boringly directed and told, too. Watchable, but a waste of an excellent cast.

Others:

50/50 - Yay
Drive - Yay
Limitless - Nay
Moneyball - Mild Yay
Win Win - Mild Yay

[TGM]

Real Steel - Yay!

[EyesWideOpen]

Uncle Boonmee - yay

[Philosophe_rouge]

Margaret - major yay

[eternity]

The Ides of March - Nay

Was I the only one who thought every major plot point of this movie was completely over-dramatized? Even by election campaign standards, this movie was totally unbelievable. Boringly directed and told, too. Watchable, but a waste of an excellent cast.

It was the realistic depiction of the situation that caused me to not be completely disinterested in it.

[baby doll]

Drive - yay
Good Neighbors - nay

[NickGlass]

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Yay

[ThePlashyBubbler]

Martha Marcy May Marlene: Yay

Thoughts?

[Lazlo]

The Trip - Yay

[Rowland]

Road to Nowhere - nay

Another contender for one of the year's most overrated.

[Boner M]

Has anyone rated RtN highly, aside from Hellman diehards?

[Rowland]

Has anyone rated RtN highly, aside from Hellman diehards?It has a B+ average on Indiewire (http://www.indiewire.com/film/road_to_nowhere) and a 79% at RT (http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/road_to_nowhere_2011/), so considering that I thought it kinda sucked, it qualifies as overrated, for me in any case. Looked nice though, the second film I've seen this year (Rubber being the other) that makes me really want a Canon 5D.

[Boner M]

Looked nice though, the second film I've seen this year (Rubber being the other) that makes me really want a Canon 5D.
Word. Tiny Furniture too.

[TGM]

Kevin Hart: Laugh at my Pain - Surprising yay

[Philosophe_rouge]

Elena - yay
La vie des ballets - mild yay
Guilty of Romance - yay

[Boner M]

The Skin I Live In - big yay

[B-side]

The Skin I Live In - big yay

Want now.

[Boner M]

Iconoclast: A Film About Boyd Rice - yay

A very zippy 4-hours, thanks to its subject (as a doco, it's basically just a power-point presentation with talking heads interspersed, but done with gusto).

[B-side]

Sleeping Beauty (Naked Emily Browning) - yay

[elixir]

No more ratings, huh? :)

[B-side]

No more ratings, huh? :)

I'm taking my stand against ratings. This is my "I Have a Dream" moment. Just as important.

[Weeping_Guitar]

Princess of Montpensier - yay
The Trip - yay

[Dukefrukem]

Thing nay

[Melville]

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - yay.

Stylishly understated. Tactilely evokes an era.

EDIT: though Boner's right that many of the characters are paper thin. The cinematography, story structure, and Oldman's performance do a pretty good job of developing Smiley with almost no dialogue, but a couple other characters—essential ones, too—don't have the luxury of that slow, subtle development, since they're not given much screen time.

[Bosco B Thug]

Meek's Cutoff - yay

The Woman - yay

Wheeee. Highly uneven, but it's got the McKee stamp that I wholeheartedly approve, and innocuous it definitely is not.

[eternity]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop - nay
The Trip - nay

[baby doll]

Last Night - nay

[Irish]

Last Night - nay

Did you comment on this anywhere? I've been tempted to give it a watch & I'd like to hear your thoughts.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Once upon a time in Anatolia - yay
the Turin Horse - yay
The Thing - nay

[EyesWideOpen]

Melancholia - big yay!

[Weeping_Guitar]

The Tree of Life - Yay

[NickGlass]

Goodbye First Love: Oui!

[Pop Trash]

Take Shelter - huge yay...so much better than I expected. Michael Shannon ruled my face off. Best 2011 movie I've seen since Tree of Life.

[Boner M]

Albert Nobbs - NAY

Oh look how self-effacing Glenn Close is to take on this role, oh look how stiflingly sexist turn-of-the-century Victorian society was, oh look at Close finally get in ladies garb for a day and take a run along a beach as a gesture of freedom, oh look at her fall over as a symbol of how said freedom is fleeting, zzzzzzzzzzz

Wish I saw this with NickGlass and a bottle of cheap red; instead it was in a theatrette with an appreciative elderly audience and a measly bottle of light beer. Janet McTeer and Mia Wasikowska's adorable frumpy-face slightly raise this above rock-bottom.

[baby doll]

Did you comment on this anywhere? I've been tempted to give it a watch & I'd like to hear your thoughts.Basically it's a movie about people who look like fashion models (and Griffin Dunne!) talking in huge kitchens and fancy restaurants. It makes Vicky Christina Barcelona look like La Maman et la putain.

On an unrelated note...

Two in the Wave - nay

[NickGlass]

Wish I saw this with NickGlass and a bottle of cheap red.

This shall be my epitaph.

But, yes, Nobbs is crassly melodramatic and absolutely stifling. I prefer Just One of the Guys.

[Derek]

Sleeping Beauty (Naked Emily Browning) - yay


I'm taking my stand against ratings. This is my "I Have a Dream" moment. Just as important.

Your stand was over before it began. MLK didn't beat a white kid right before giving his speech. Learn from that.

[NickGlass]

Oh, and I saw this back in April and I see it's get a release at the IFC tomorrow.

The Catechism Cataclysm: Nay

[Stay Puft]

No Strings Attached - holy fuck no

Please don't do that again, Reitman. k thnx

[B-side]

Your stand was over before it began. MLK didn't beat a white kid right before giving his speech. Learn from that.

I can still say if something's worth watching or not! But giving out ratings makes me uncomfortable. I'll probably backslide soon.:sad:

[Philosophe_rouge]

Sleeping Beauty (aussie) - yay
Footloose - yay

[baby doll]

Snowtown - yay

Generally I'm pretty averse to serial killer movies, but this is a pretty good one. It's certainly less dubious than most Hollywood films which view murderers with a kind of awe (The Silence of the Lambs, No Country for Old Men, Zodiac).

[B-side]

It's certainly less dubious than most Hollywood films which view murderers with a kind of awe.

Why is that a problem? Serial killers are interesting.

[Irish]

No Strings Attached - holy fuck no

Please don't do that again, Reitman. k thnx

What?! Please consult this well worn formula:

Natalie Portman + underwear shots + lots of simulated humping = "YAY!"

I get so lonely sometimes. :cry:

[transmogrifier]

Snowtown - yay

Generally I'm pretty averse to serial killer movies, but this is a pretty good one. It's certainly less dubious than most Hollywood films which view murderers with a kind of awe (The Silence of the Lambs, No Country for Old Men, Zodiac).

I can kind of buy your argument for Silence and Old Men, but Zodiac? It's one of the least awed films I can think of with regards to the central killer.

[baby doll]

I can kind of buy your argument for Silence and Old Men, but Zodiac? It's one of the least awed films I can think of with regards to the central killer.While it doesn't endow its killer with super powers (i.e., the ability to appear or disappear, or to talk his cell mates into committing suicide), Fincher's film nonetheless spends the better part of three hours obsessing over carefully placed symbolism left behind the killer in much the same way as The Silence of the Lambs.

[Boner M]

Fincher's film nonetheless spends the better part of three hours obsessing over carefully placed symbolism left behind the killer in much the same way as The Silence of the Lambs.
How does that equate with 'awe'?

[baby doll]

How does that equate with 'awe'?The movie makes him out to be this mad genius who outsmarted the people trying to catch him.

[Idioteque Stalker]

The movie makes him out to be this mad genius who outsmarted the people trying to catch him.

Bingo.

[transmogrifier]

The movie makes him out to be this mad genius who outsmarted the people trying to catch him.

Really? Seems to me, it makes him brutal and arrogant, but hardly a genius (I mean, he was spotted by cops walking away from the taxi killing(. His biggest masterstroke was to stop killing people. And you can hardly call Zodiac a "Hollywood" approach to serial killers when the obsession with the codes was a true-to-life event depicted pretty matter-of-factly.

In other words, I simply don't know what you find "acceptable" for a movie about serial killers.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Really? Seems to me, it makes him brutal and arrogant, but hardly a genius (I mean, he was spotted by cops walking away from the taxi killing(. His biggest masterstroke was to stop killing people. And you can hardly call Zodiac a "Hollywood" approach to serial killers when the obsession with the codes was a true-to-life event depicted pretty matter-of-factly.

In other words, I simply don't know what you find "acceptable" for a movie about serial killers.

Especially as the codes are revealed to be rather infantile puzzles, their complexity is greatly exaggerated because of the social mystique surrounding serial killers. I'd argue that in Zodiac, the fascination and deification is done by the characters but is not reflective of the view point of the filmmaker. That perspective is actually detrimental to their ability to solve the crime.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Especially as the codes are revealed to be rather infantile puzzles, their complexity is greatly exaggerated because of the social mystique surrounding serial killers. I'd argue that in Zodiac, the fascination and deification is done by the characters but is not reflective of the view point of the filmmaker. That perspective is actually detrimental to their ability to solve the crime.

Yep. This is further evidenced by the implication of the identity of the killer at the end.

[transmogrifier]

Especially as the codes are revealed to be rather infantile puzzles, their complexity is greatly exaggerated because of the social mystique surrounding serial killers. I'd argue that in Zodiac, the fascination and deification is done by the characters but is not reflective of the view point of the filmmaker. That perspective is actually detrimental to their ability to solve the crime.

Exactly. The film itself is as far away from glorifying the actions of the killer as it could possibly be. Hell, it doesn't even SHOW the first two murders because there were no living witnesses, and they didn't want to create their own mythology.

[transmogrifier]

The movie makes him out to be this mad genius who outsmarted the people trying to catch him.

This is not even true. The movie doesn't make him out to be anything beyond which can be gleaned from the public record. The movie is about the people chasing him.

[B-side]

Again, what is the problem? Jesus, people have bizarre standards for fiction.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Harakiri: Death of a Samurai -- yay

[Stay Puft]

1911 - nay

Well... that was pretty fucking bad.

[Boner M]

Midnight in Paris - nay

[Watashi]

Midnight in Paris - nay
I am disappoint.

[Boner M]

I am disappoint.
As am I.

[Rowland]

Not even a mild nay? Your review didn't read as that negative on the whole. I was only a mild yay, found it perfectly pleasant when Woody wasn't overindulging in grating caricaturization, but I have to say it hasn't left much of an impression in the long term.

[Boner M]

Not even a mild nay? Your review didn't read as that negative on the whole. I was only a mild yay, found it perfectly pleasant when Woody wasn't overindulging in grating caricaturization, but I have to say it hasn't left much of an impression in the long term.
Yeah, I guess it's a mild one; my review focuses slightly more on the positive since I'm keeping my readers in mind (250 word limit as well). I should also have mentioned that I'm getting tired of Woody's fondness for pseudo-intellectual caricatures that cast his surrogate's virtues into relief; especially giving the endless namedropping that he engages in (elsewhere as well).

[transmogrifier]

Midnight in Paris - nay

Hey, I watched this today as well. And.... nay

[Philosophe_rouge]

L'Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close) - yay
Paranormal Activity 3 - yay

[Boner M]

L'Apollonide (Souvenirs de la maison close) - yay
Dyin' to see this.

[Watashi]

I should also have mentioned that I'm getting tired of Woody's fondness for pseudo-intellectual caricatures

Isn't the whole point of Michael Sheen's character contradict this?

[Boner M]

Isn't the whole point of Michael Sheen's character contradict this?
How so?

[Lazlo]

Win Win - Yay

[StanleyK]

Again, what is the problem? Jesus, people have bizarre standards for fiction.

You don't see how someone might have a problem with a film that glorifies/glamourizes a serial killer?

[baby doll]

Really? Seems to me, it makes him brutal and arrogant, but hardly a genius (I mean, he was spotted by cops walking away from the taxi killing(. His biggest masterstroke was to stop killing people. And you can hardly call Zodiac a "Hollywood" approach to serial killers when the obsession with the codes was a true-to-life event depicted pretty matter-of-factly.

In other words, I simply don't know what you find "acceptable" for a movie about serial killers.While the movie's relationship to the detective movie genre is obviously somewhat equivocal (multiple investigators, a somewhat open ending), the plot still requires lots of teasing clues for the characters to pick over for three hours. So in that sense it is a Hollywood approach to serial killers, especially if one compares it with Snowtown where law enforcement is conspicuously absent.

[baby doll]

Midnight in Paris - It's pleasant enough and it has some funny moments (Dali's rhinoceros, "The detective is missing"). Also, it's nice to see Marion Cotillard finally get a half-way decent role in an English-language movie. But still, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't a Woody Allen completist. Incidentally, all the slights against right-wing Americans seem like a transparent attempt on Allen's part to endear himself to French viewers, since that seems to be the country where he commands the largest audience.

[Lazlo]

Hesher - Yay

[B-side]

You don't see how someone might have a problem with a film that glorifies/glamourizes a serial killer?

No. It's not a film's duty to reinforce my morality. Serial killers are interesting and often elusive, celebrity-like figures, so it wouldn't bother me if a film treated one as such.

[transmogrifier]

So in that sense it is a Hollywood approach to serial killers, especially if one compares it with Snowtown where law enforcement is conspicuously absent.

But it is completely different to the other two movies you cite (Lambs and No Country), both of which have the serial killer up front as a main(ish) character. This simply does not happen in Zodiac, and so it made me wonder what exactly this Hollywood approach was that you are dismissive of.

And the teasing clues for the main characters are simply the ones that came up in real life. So unless you are arguing life imitates art, I really don't get how it Zodiac is used as an example of your (valid or not) misgivings about Hollywood serial killers.

[transmogrifier]

No. It's not a film's duty to reinforce my morality. Serial killers are interesting and often elusive, celebrity-like figures, so it wouldn't bother me if a film treated one as such.

It really does depend on the movie. If a film is trying to sympathize with the victims and investigating the corrosive effects of evil, then glorifying the actions of the killer for the audience would work against it. But in something like Natural Born Killers, where the whole point IS the celebrity-like fascination with psychotics, then the approach is valid and works just fine.

In something like Silence of the Lambs, I don't mind the scene-stealing nature of Lector, because it fits nicely with the fascination Starling has with him. No Country for Old Men, on the other hand, just seems to be trying to create an icon out of Chigurh isolated from the rest of the film. He's quite a boring character, actually.

[B-side]

No Country for Old Men, on the other hand, just seems to be trying to create an icon out of Chigurh isolated from the rest of the film. He's quite a boring character, actually.

I see him as purely symbolic, so I didn't really have any concern about him being fleshed out. He's the personification of evil. Don't they even refer to him as a ghost in the film? Which would explain why he's often kind of invisible in the film, and nobody can seem to trace him.

[eternity]

Paranormal Activity 3 - nay

[EyesWideOpen]

Paul - nay

[baby doll]

No. It's not a film's duty to reinforce my morality. Serial killers are interesting and often elusive, celebrity-like figures, so it wouldn't bother me if a film treated one as such.For me the issue isn't so much about morality (obviously Fincher's movie is anti-killing people, even if it finds the killer bottomlessly fascinating); for me it's more about how certain topics are made pallatable as subjects for mass entertainment.

[Boner M]

It doesn't find the killer bottomlessly fascinating, though (certainly far less than Snowtown). That's why it shifts the focus from him to Graysmith's obsession.

[baby doll]

It doesn't find the killer bottomlessly fascinating, though (certainly far less than Snowtown). That's why it shifts the focus from him to Graysmith's obsession.Apart from the boring, routine subplot involving Graysmith's wife, I don't see any meaningful distinction between making a film strictly about the case and one about his obsession with it. (Is JFK not a film about far-fetched conspiracy theories but Jim Garrison's obsession with them because Sissy Spacek turns up periodically to bitch at him about not spending enough time with his family?) I mean, the only reason Graysmith is worth making a movie about in the first place is his connection to/expertise on the case, not because he's a particularly exciting figure in his own right.

[Raiders]

Meek's Cutoff - yay
The Tree of Life - yay
The Three Musketeers - yay (shut it)

I'll definitely say more for each once I actually find the time.

[Boner M]

The Three Musketeers - yay (shut it)
:pritch:

The 35 on metacritic for this is absurd. Anyone who hates on it is a joyless prig, full stop.

[Raiders]

:pritch:

The 35 on metacritic for this is absurd. Anyone who hates on it is a joyless prig, full stop.

Granted, my liking it was probably a foregone conclusion, and my response was more tepid than I expected--I actually found some of the action scenes disappointing for PWSA (he had some great spatial compositions again, but his editing was a bit too quick). Honestly though, it's likely the most gleefully silly, over-the-top and redonkulous film of the year. Orlando Bloom is shockingly good as being cartoonishly sinister without overdoing it.

[eternity]

The Rum Diary - yay

[Henry Gale]

Melancholia - big yay

[kopello]

Bill Cunningham New York - yay

Wonderful little documentary. It's on netflix instant now for those who didn't know.

[Lazlo]

The Ides of March - Yay

[Ivan Drago]

Paranormal Activity 3 - Yay

Never before has a movie felt like a cross between direct and narrative cinema, and also manage to scare me out of my pants.

[Henry Gale]

Crazy, Stupid, Love. - nay

This is a movie with some extremely charming, even genuinely moving moments (particularly the scenes that eventually get Gosling and Stone together or the one Raiders previously mentioned in this thread where Moore calls Carell and pretends to be talked through fixing something in the house, not knowing he can see her from outside doing nothing at all), but all of those moments happen before the third act, where things absolutely fall apart. I can't think of another time a movie as straightforward and adequately unremarkable as this suddenly decided to bring in a big, ill-conceived (and entirely unnecessary) twist out of nowhere, only causing the wholething to be profoundly derailed. Really? Offhandedly talking about a "Nana" character who we never see is somehow your way of cryptically planting that Carell and Moore have a third, older child named Hannah with that nickname? AND OMG THAT'S EMMA STONE. But she's already fallen in love with Gosling's character who Carell has become pretty close with! But wait, Carell doesn't trust him because he's a womanizer that taught him everything he knows! How will this resolve itself?! :frustrated: It doesn't help that it's revealed right before an awful sequence where everyone's misunderstandings collide into one big, over the top confrontation with yelling, tackling, and then "I think you should leave. :sad:" moments to close with.

And then it never recovers. The big graduation speech scene with the 13-year-old song declaring "Love sucks, people!", interrupted by Carell's character to tell everyone otherwise... ugh. There's a good movie in it somewhere, and I really like everyone in this cast, so it's really disappointing that all of those smarter and livelier elements are thrown into something that's so inaffective otherwise. The movie feels like a lackluster remake of a foreign romantic comedy, American-ized and punched up with a fantastic cast. I only wish that better original version actually existed.

[TripZone]

"Nana" isn't the only clue. Other characters are revealed to have closer connections:
Tomei as teacher, his friend as the dad of the babysitter, etc.
Though I'm not disagreeing that it's all retarded. The scene in the backyard is particularly horrendous, and the sentimental speech crap at the end is unbelievably idiotic.

It should have had more of Carell's face in Gosling's crotch, but not obstructed.

[Henry Gale]

"Nana" isn't the only clue. Other characters are revealed to have closer connections:
Tomei as teacher, his friend as the dad of the babysitter, etc.
Though I'm not disagreeing that it's all retarded. The scene in the backyard is particularly horrendous, and the sentimental speech crap at the end is unbelievably idiotic.

The thing is, by the time the "Nana" character is revealed, it's no wonder we wouldn't know anything about what she's been going through during the early phase of the divorce since the movie took so much time away from her there that the whole thing almost feels like a non-revelation. Even if there were other clues, they didn't give a real reason to pay attention to them at the time.

And I figured out the Tomei thing just by having her voice but not her face shown in one pivotal scene. The babysitter thing was just confusing to me because I had honestly thought Bacon was supposed to be her dad, with little things like Carell's son bringing up the her name infront of him in his mom's office. Way too many unnecessary and gimmicky twists. Like, wouldn't it at least have served up some tension beforehand if we knew who Tomei's character was when Carell and Moore were waiting outside her room?


It should have had more of Carell's face in Gosling's crotch, but not obstructed.

I think it's funny the way that Stone's character gets mad when her friend describes the way she lives her life as "PG-13" no matter how adamant she is that it's R-rated considering how the movie plays gags like that one (as well as showing anything involving actual sex), it could almost be read as unintentional meta comedy about how safe and silly the movie often is.

[Bosco B Thug]

Le Havre - mild yay
The Skin I Live In - mild yay

Both my introductions to two respected European auteurs, both a bit disappointing. I'm very hopeful about Almodovar, though.

[Rowland]

Meek's Cutoff - yay

[TripZone]

Life Without Principle (2011?) -yay

[NickGlass]

I can't decide whether to give a yay or a nay to Snowtown and Take Shelter. Snowtown has aged well, while Take Shelter has not. Anyone want to persuade me? I'm a swing-vote.

[Thirdmango]

green lantern yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Attack the Block - yay

[Fezzik]

Huge NAY on Three Musketeers.

somewhat big YAY to Attack the Block

[Fezzik]

:pritch:

The 35 on metacritic for this is absurd. Anyone who hates on it is a joyless prig, full stop.

I find it weird that usually, I'm the one who likes the over the top, seemingly void of any artistic value action vehicles, and here it appears I am in the minority.

There were some decent things in it, but as someone who holds the original dear to my heart, I couldn't get past it.

Granted, I think if it hadn't been called The Three Musketeers I would have liked it more, and the Musketeers themselves were great.

The thing with Bloom is that I don't trust him enough as an actor to believe he did that "sinister, over-the-top" thing on purpose. If a different actor had been in the part, maybe, so perhaps my built in biases are preventing me from coming around on it.

[Lazlo]

Page One: Inside the New York Times - Yay

[Fezzik]

A big surprise for me here, but a rather twisted, bizarre YAY for "Puss in Boots"

[TGM]

Attack the Block - Yay
Puss in Boots - Yay

[Watashi]

Take Shelter - HUGE YAY

Michael Shannon is so fucking good.

[eternity]

The Guard - nay

[elixir]

Weekend - YAY

One of the year's best.

[elixir]

Tomboy - yay

[baby doll]

I can't decide whether to give a yay or a nay to Snowtown and Take Shelter. Snowtown has aged well, while Take Shelter has not. Anyone want to persuade me? I'm a swing-vote.I can't speak for Take Shelter, but Snowtown improves in certain respects on second viewing due to the film's somewhat casual approach to exposition.

[Boner M]

I can't decide whether to give a yay or a nay to Snowtown and Take Shelter. Snowtown has aged well, while Take Shelter has not. Anyone want to persuade me? I'm a swing-vote.
Both are among the best of the year. Yay both. (there's a review of Snowtown on my blog)

[Watashi]

Puss in Boots - yay

It's serviceable and has plenty of cat jokes. Story was kind of lame.

Still better than Cars 2.

[Pop Trash]

Martha Marcy May Marlene - yay...I think. I'll have to think about it. I could see turning on it, despite it being technically superb.

[NickGlass]

Both are among the best of the year. Yay both. (there's a review of Snowtown on my blog)

Snowtown: Yay

[origami_mustache]

BEGINNERS - yay
CEDAR RAPIDS - nay
CITY OF LIFE AND DEATH - yay
COLD FISH - nay
CONTAGION - yay
DRIVE - yay
FUTURE, THE - yay
THE GREEN HORNET - yay
HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2 - nay
MELANCHOLIA - yay
OKI'S MOVIE - yay
RED STATE - nay
SUPER 8 - nay
TAKE SHELTER - yay
TERRI - yay
TETSUO: THE BULLET MAN - yay
TREE OF LIFE - yay

[Kurosawa Fan]

Horrible Bosses - Nay

Just wasn't very funny.

[Winston*]

Cave of Forgotten Dreams - Yay

Kind of self-parodic as a Herzog film, particularly in the epilogue, but as a vessel for letting the audience experience its subject matter its more valuable than most films I think.

[Boner M]

Contagion - yay

[Kiusagi]

Footloose - yay

The Thing - nay

The Three Musketeers - nay

In Time - yay

[Lazlo]

Attack the Block - Yay

[Philosophe_rouge]

Contagion - yay

[Rowland]

Nostalgia for the Light - Mega Yay

It's fascinating how thematically complementary some of the year's best films are proving to be.

[Rowland]

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

wwDKH6Q7b54:lol:

[Ezee E]

Have an ambitious idea of how to do that Match Cut Awards this year....

[transmogrifier]

Have an ambitious idea of how to do that Match Cut Awards this year....

Pity it'll all be in service of finding out who comes second to The Tree of Life.

[baby doll]

The Four Times - yay

[NickGlass]

The Skin I Live In: Yay

Calculated to be silly and shallow, despite playing with themes of depth--it's nonetheless scintillating. It's really refreshing after the interminable Broken Embraces.

[Rowland]

The Woman - yay

[Henry Gale]

30 Minutes or Less - mild yay

Not great, but fast-paced and enjoyable enough to deliver in its short runtime. Michael Pena somehow ended up getting the biggest laughs out of me in his few scenes.

It's built more like a throwback action comedy than something striving to hit a ratio of jokes or improv gags every thirty seconds like so many other big R-rated comedies are structured to nowadays (even ones with some of these same actors). Basically, I laughed about as much as I did during Zombieland, which was ultimately another zippy genre-specific picture from Fleischer, but that movie was better, slightly longer, and had more to offer up than just comedy. So if that prospect or this movie's cast and premise don't sound particularly exciting to you, then there's probably very little you can get out of it. It puts everything in place and then gets in and out cleanly and quickly, almost like a less eventful bank robbery than the one it depicts. But really, if you don't like it, the most you'll lose is eighty-something minutes.

[TGM]

In Time - Yay

[Boner M]

Our Idiot Brother - nay

Holy hell, way to tick every studio-indie box. Paul Rudd owns though, and what a babin' cast.

[Rowland]

The Robber - Yay

Just as Nostalgia for the Light is thematically complementary with both The Tree of Life and The Four Times, this is a fascinating companion piece with Drive.

Oh yeah, and Skew - Nay

Crap indie horror.

[MadMan]

Attack The Block-Alien filled YAY

[Lucky]

X-Men - yay
Source Code - nay

[Boner M]

Moneyball - yay

More a 'mild yay' but I missed the first 20 minutes (traffic accident on the bridge) so I'll give it the benefit of a doubt.

[kopello]

Attack the Block - yay
Horrible Bosses - nay
Take Shelter - yay

[eternity]

Underground Comedy - nay
Limitless - nay

[Ivan Drago]

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas - YAY

[Henry Gale]

A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas - yay

I concur with Drago. It's a return to form for the franchise, one that I now hope continues endlessly. Neil Patrick Harris' sequence is particularly inspired.

[Pop Trash]

The Skin I Live In - mild nay

Didn't do much for me...not sure if the whole concept was too silly or if I just get tired of the setup-setup-reveal screenplay structure, or maybe I'm just bored of Almodovar.

But always a big yay for the hotness of Elena Anaya.