28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Boner M]

Ratings of my Adelaide Film Festival experience:

The Four Times ****
The Arbor **½
Harmony and Me **½
Nostalgia for the Light *** (need to rewatch; slept during most of the last 1/2 hour)
The Illusionist **
Mysteries of Lisbon ***½
Snowtown ***½
Waiting for "Superman" **½
Dream Home ***
Bill Cunningham: New York ***
Here I Am *½
Lola **½
Troll Hunter **½
Useful Life **½
Hail ***
Honey **
Incendies ***

Revivals:

Walkabout ***
The Last Wave ***

Snowtown and Hail, for all their flaws, give me a lot of hope for Aussie cinema. For those who found Animal Kingdom cliched or lacking in general, Snowtown is a must-see. Amazingly disturbing stuff.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Actually, you can. The theatrical cuts are on the limited edition DVDs. In non-anamorphic widescreen, bur it's pretty good.

Yeah, I snapped these up as soon as they were released. It's weird to take so much pleasure in watching a film the way it was originally made. I think Lucas's revisions to THX-1138 were even worse. They were ugly and completely discordant with the "found" sets and inventions of the picture.

[D_Davis]

Actually, you can. The theatrical cuts are on the limited edition DVDs. In non-anamorphic widescreen, bur it's pretty good.

Ah - never bought those.

[soitgoes...]

The Illusionist **
Honey **

Oof.

At least you were spot on with The Troll Hunter, though that it is rated higher than the above two is pretty baffling..

[Boner M]

Oof.

At least you were spot on with The Troll Hunter, though that it is rated higher than the above two is pretty baffling..

I walked into The Illusionist 10 mins late, which is perhaps more detrimental to the film's delicate progression than most films. But on a scene-by-scene basis I just found it alternately unfunny or maudlin; a long, painful slog. Even the animation got boring by the end. Can't really do better than Michael Sicinski's take. Reading all the positive responses here is like heiroglyphics. Just. don't. geddit.

Honey is just bland festival filler, which makes its Golden Bear award even more baffling. Beautifully shot, of course, but just an endless litany of clunky coming-of-age metaphors. Pretty much what I imagine Ghost World's "The Flower That Drank the Moon" to look like. Blah.

[B-side]

Ratings of my Adelaide Film Festival experience:

Mysteries of Lisbon ***½

Thoughts?

[baby doll]

Revivals:

Walkabout ***

This seems conspicuously low, given its reputation as a classic.

[Mr. Pink]

Oof.

At least you were spot on with The Troll Hunter, though that it is rated higher than the above two is pretty baffling..

What did you guys not like about Troll Hunter?

[number8]

Ah - never bought those.

They were just lazy transfers of the laserdisc release. Kind of shitty quality, but whatever, it's the original theatricals on DVD. You make do. I bought all three and never watched the special editions included.

[Dukefrukem]

This weekend I'm going to watch:

Rubber 2011 (AOD)
Monsters 2010 (AOD)

and

maybe I'll finally get to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: 1932

[endingcredits]

Incendies (Villeneuve, 2010) was a slow, painfully tedious melodrama that ended in disappointment.

[Spinal]

I walked into The Illusionist 10 mins late, which is perhaps more detrimental to the film's delicate progression than most films.

Come on, now. Talk to us when you've seen the film.

[EyesWideOpen]

Come on, now. Talk to us when you've seen the film.

Reminds me of this review I read for Summer Wars recently. Where the reviewer who didn't like the film said in his review "Part of the reason for this is because I like movies where I can just walk away for a minute, make a bacon sandwich, grab some cola, maybe a can of peanuts and not feel like I missed a major event in the movie that puts me at a disadvantage for the duration of the film".

Um what?

[Skitch]

Took me all week but I finally finished Mesrine: Part 1. Not quite as action packed as the trailer would lead one to believe, definately more of a mini-series feel, but quite enjoyable. Very interesting. Looking forward to Part 2.

[number8]

Reminds me of this review I read for Summer Wars recently. Where the reviewer who didn't like the film said in his review "Part of the reason for this is because I like movies where I can just walk away for a minute, make a bacon sandwich, grab some cola, maybe a can of peanuts and not feel like I missed a major event in the movie that puts me at a disadvantage for the duration of the film".

Um what?

That's about the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Who is this reviewer and where is his face so I can put a mallet to it?

[Spun Lepton]

Reminds me of this review I read for Summer Wars recently. Where the reviewer who didn't like the film said in his review "Part of the reason for this is because I like movies where I can just walk away for a minute, make a bacon sandwich, grab some cola, maybe a can of peanuts and not feel like I missed a major event in the movie that puts me at a disadvantage for the duration of the film".

Um what?

Who wrote that and why would anybody take him seriously?

[Skitch]

Wow. I wanna watch movies where if at the opening credits I realize I have to pee I'll be so gripped I'll hold it through the whole film because I wouldn't want to miss a single frame.

[Spinal]

Boner's an excellent viewer, so I don't mean to be too harsh. But when your reaction varies wildly from the majority and you're the one who missed over 10% of the movie, then maybe I'd look to that first before implying that the rest of us are nuts.

[Eleven]

And I want a book that I can flip through randomly, read either backwards or forwards or upside down, and not feel like I missed a major plot point that puts me at a disadvantage for the duration of my reading.

[MadMan]

My friend Brad did an "Ultimate Bond-a-thon" this past weekend. I wasn't really up for going (life complications and general tiredness), but it was apparently a big hit. They watched every single Bond movie, ranked each one from one to ten, and they assembled a pretty neat video of it here.

Heh, most radical. I'm a huge Bond fan, so that sounds like it would be a lot of fun. I'd have to take a break somewhere in between, though, as some of them are longer than others.

Even when I've viewed bad movies I've tried to make sure I don't miss anything. A review who willfully skips out on even a small chunk of the movie (I'm not talking merely a couple minutes, but rather say 10 minutes at least) cannot really review said movie properly imo. Even when I was watching Caligulia I sat through the entire thing, although granted that was so I could eagerly bash it afterwards because hot damn that movie was awful.

[number8]

Boner's an excellent viewer, so I don't mean to be too harsh. But when your reaction varies wildly from the majority and you're the one who missed over 10% of the movie, then maybe I'd look to that first before implying that the rest of us are nuts.

Yeah, especially when the first 10 minutes of the film in question are so funny, heartbreaking, and a masterful character introduction, while the rest of the movie is boring and inert.

[B-side]

Yeah, especially when the first 10 minutes of the film in question are so funny, heartbreaking, and a masterful character introduction, while the rest of the movie is boring and inert.

YOU'RE boring and inert.

[number8]

Yeah, especially when the first 10 minutes of the film in question are so funny, heartbreaking, and a masterful character introduction, while the rest of the movie is boring and inert.

In before someone makes the "We're discussing Up?" joke.

[B-side]

In before someone makes the "We're discussing Up?" joke.

Heh. Now that you mention it... :P

[number8]

Heh. Now that you mention it... :P

YOU'RE now that you mention it.