28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Mara]

ritch:

Oh, yay! I love Into the Woods. It might be my favorite musical ever. Maybe.

And that production is top notch. I'm seeing a live production of it this spring. I saw it live once before, but it was pretty amateur.

[Raiders]

I'm assuming that's the original Broadway production DVD? Only one I've seen of the show, but it is naturally fabulous. My favorite of his remains Sunday in the Park with George, though I always feel that I am alone in that.

[Mara]

I have a original cast recording of Sunday in the Park with George on CD signed by Mandy Patinkin.

I'm a fan. Although I think the second act was weaker.

I also met Sondheim once in person by hanging outside a stage door at 17 and being a total nerd.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I very nearly missed this. Yes, it was the Broadway production that is on Netflix streaming (there has to be a better way of referring to the Instant Viewing portion of Netflix). Loved everything about it. The songs were a blast, the play was absolutely hilarious, the performances were spot on, etc. It was a three-hour play that absolutely flew by. I had to watch one "mediatized" play for my Modern Drama class, and this had been on my queue ever since seeing Sweeney Todd. I wish it was something I could have seen live, because the forced perspective really bothered me, but I'll take what I can get.

Light in August (William Faulkner, 1932) ****

I'm equally pleased with this rating.

[Sven]

I'm pretty jazzed about Daft Punk's Electroma, which I just finished. Watched it on a whim and wasn't expecting that!

[Watashi]

I need to do a Muppets marathon in preparation for the new film. Never seen the original.

[MadMan]

I need to do a Muppets marathon in preparation for the new film. Never seen the original.

I believe the only one I've seen at least most of was Muppet Treasure Island, so yeah I haven't viewed the original, either.

The new one coming out looks pretty good.

[Mara]

I need to do a Muppets marathon in preparation for the new film. Never seen the original.

The original is great. I recently rewatched the first three (which are the only truly quality ones) and they held up wonderfully.

[Ezee E]

I'm pretty jazzed about Daft Punk's Electroma, which I just finished. Watched it on a whim and wasn't expecting that!

Tell me more.

[Sven]

Tell me more.

I was expecting something wilder. With poppin' colors and dance music and futuristic dance clubs and stuff. Y'know... something Daft Punky.

Instead, it's a minimalist deconstruction of identity, achieved through visually associating the American West with barren cosmic expansiveness. Long stretches of silence (punctuated with blissful choreographies of classic rock and classical music - no D.Punk music on the s.track) and protracted action, following machines through landscapes, achieving the affect of alienation (replacing all life with circuitry and sand) while still implicating the viewer in its deliberations. It doesn't distort the recognizable in its attempts to make its connections, but instead gazes long enough for the inherent bizarreness of photographed objects to make an impression. Like saying the same word over and over until it just sounds like a weird noise. It's hypnotizing and beautiful and sometimes (like with the gas station bathroom's flickering flourescents) a little frightening. So many great moments.

Plus, the first song is Rundgren's International Feel, playing as the duo cruises through the cosmic deserts of California. Immediate win.

[Raiders]

The original is great. I recently rewatched the first three (which are the only truly quality ones) and they held up wonderfully.

Baloney. Christmas Carol is wonderful. I feel like we've discussed this before, though.

[Ivan Drago]

I've only seen bits and pieces of Electroma, but what I saw of it was beautiful. I really want to see it in its entirety.

[MadMan]

Disclosure is a pretty good movie, even though it could have gone farther in its exploration of sexual and office politics. Oh well, I still liked it, and it has a good cast.

I realize that these days I just write reviews in my blog instead of here. Much easier to just do that instead.

[B-side]

Sisters of the Gion was fantastic, and the best Mizoguchi I've seen so far. Also has easily the longest takes I've ever seen in a film from the '30s.

[EyesWideOpen]

The original is great. I recently rewatched the first three (which are the only truly quality ones) and they held up wonderfully.

I did the same thing and I was pretty underwhelmed with all three.

[Mara]

Baloney. Christmas Carol is wonderful. I feel like we've discussed this before, though.

Extensively!

I feel like there are enjoyable elements in all the Muppet films, but I think the first three really had that mix of the wholesome and the subversive that really defines the Muppets for me.

If anything, I think The Great Muppet Caper is the most underrated. It's actually a pretty snazzy little heist film, satirizing the genre while indulging in the best kind of action/romance/comedy. And the musical numbers are some of my favorites, including Piggy's Ethel Merman spoof, Kermit's Fred Astaire spoof, and the dancing-waiters-production-number "The First Time it Happens."

[Sven]

Christmas Carol is a shrill bore, comparatively insubstantial, and all the more depressing for facilitating a flat Michael Caine performance.

And yes, we've danced this tango before.

[Fezzik]

Oh, yay! I love Into the Woods. It might be my favorite musical ever. Maybe.

And that production is top notch. I'm seeing a live production of it this spring. I saw it live once before, but it was pretty amateur.

Was the the one with Bernadette Peters as the witch? I saw it recently. Really impressive, though I felt the second act was almost a different play entirely.

[Mara]

Was the the one with Bernadette Peters as the witch? I saw it recently. Really impressive, though I felt the second act was almost a different play entirely.

A better play. The first act sets it up, and the second knocks everything down.

[Fezzik]

A better play. The first act sets it up, and the second knocks everything down.

Oh, I don't disagree. It just shocked the hell out of me

[Qrazy]

I quite liked The Edge of Heaven, can't wait for Akin to finish the trilogy. He presents a tender zaniness I find very appealing. Half Nelson on the other hand was incredibly rote and uninteresting on every level. The script was by the books but the filmmaking was also a series of mids and close-ups communicating absolutely nothing about our surroundings. I wasn't even impressed by Gosling's performance, highly overrated.

A re-watch of Brazil (fifth viewing or so) confirmed it as a favorite.

[Spinal]

The first act sets it up, and the second knocks everything down.

Exactly. That's the whole point. What happens beyond 'happily ever after'? What happens after you get your prince? Life goes on. It's really quite brilliant.

[Boner M]

I thought EoH was a big step down from Head-on, though I probably owe it another viewing.

[Qrazy]

I thought EoH was a big step down from Head-on, though I probably owe it another viewing.

Head-on is definitely better, yes.

[B-side]

Wow, they really massacred Texas Killing Fields in the editing room. Wildly inconsistent quality, inexplicable time leaps and the tension is largely absent because there's no escalation in the action, really. I was digging it starting out, but it just gets worse and worse as the edits strip away important context, mood and atmosphere and pares the whole thing down to a straightforward narrative with strange and unarticulated motifs and themes shoved in around the sides. I'd be willing to give a director's cut a chance, but as is, it's not worth bothering with. Seems we're still yet to see if Mann's talents were passed onto his daughter.