What I Watched, What You Watched: Installment #5
Whit Stillman enters my world with one from Gilliam
This week I caught up with one television show and ventured into Whit Stillman territory for the first time…
| Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: Recently I asked a group of critics prior to a film screening what they thought of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Everyone seemed to say they enjoyed it and one person said he thought it was funny. This was my second time watching this movie as I still have the HD DVD from Universal and wanted to give it another chance after not particularly taking to it the first time. When it comes down to it I have no real opinion one way or the other. The film is okay and I really want the Criterion edition for the three separate commentaries, but other than that it's simply a'ight. There is, however, one thing I did take away from it, which was its approach to Hunter S. Thompson (or Duke as Depp's character is referred to) as an ingenious writer. It shows the wild and paranoid state he was living in as his drug-filled trip through Las Vegas gets crazier and crazier. Yet, at the same time his focus on his writing is keen and there is something of a self-awareness as well as a social-awareness to his character I felt was pivotal. While I would never condone the actions Duke takes throughout this film, I think the character shows ambition as well as no regard for personal appearance, something I think many can learn from (self-included). Sure, he came off as a wacko, but he had a view of the world unlike any other. Toss the drugs and some of the disrespect out the window and a person could really learn something from this kind of behavior – no matter how crazy it appears to be, adapting it for your personal needs and advancement could end in particularly interesting results. | |
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| The Last Days of Disco (1998) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: This is the first of three titles I will be reviewing the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release of so I won't go into too much detail, but suffice to say I enjoyed it quite a bit and more so a few hours afterward and as I started going into the special features and audio commentary. Both Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny are great on screen and their male friends and suitors are equally entertaining as the lives of recent Ivy League grads are played out in a world of book publishing and late night clubbing. On top of it all, you get a peek at Drew Barrymore's mom as Tiger Lady all kinds of naked in a great scene with a great reactionary shot. | |
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| Metropolitan (1990) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: I decided to watch Whit Stillman's Metropolitan because I enjoyed The Last Days of Disco and seeing how Stillman has only three feature films to his credit I figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look at one of his other works after enjoying the first, and since it was on NetFlix Instant Play it was ready and available. With that in mind, I both enjoyed and was mildly bored by Metropolitan, a reaction I think has less to do with the film itself as much as it had to do with watching it just after watching Last Days of Disco. While Disco, I think, is a better film for a variety of reasons, less redundant being at the top of the list, Metropolitan is a decent enough film with the same whip smart dialogue and lessons of growing up as we follow a group of New York preppy teens as they act well beyond their years yet live their lives with the same insecurities people of that age tend to. Perhaps the most telling thing about this film and Disco is that reading Roger Ebert's reviews of the two films it almost sounds like he is reviewing the same film with only slight variations. Most interesting where the following lines from both reviews:
See, after eight years the one thing Stillman managed to do is convince Ebert not only "might" Fitzgerald be comfortable with his films, but he would actually "feel at home" in them. Nevertheless, they are both great movies, just put some time between watching one and then the other. One of these days I will be sure to check out Barcelona, which Ebert coincidentally says, "The movie's plot is as lighthearted as a Scott Fitzgerald short story, all about young people skimming the surface of the pond of life, flitting here and there, making small talk and flirting." I'm seeing a pattern here… | |
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| Dexter – Season Three |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: I mentioned in my "On DVD and Blu-ray" post on Tuesday how this one hadn't arrived, and after a quick email and a couple of days it was here and I rushed through all 12 episodes. I will have a review online soon of the overall package, but I will say that while the attention to the Jimmy Smits character can get a bit tedious at times, this season was no less entertaining and had some wonderful one-liners, my favorite being one from Dexter's monologue of consideration, "Do I see sheets of plastic in your future?" Strangely enough, it also got me thinking about Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds as well. While watching "Dexter" the writers have made us relatively comfortable with Dexter's serial killing, primarily because he is killing people that have done wrong and gotten away with it. You can find the exact same comfort with the killing in Inglourious Basterds. | |
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| Adventureland (2009) |
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| QUICK THOUGHTS: Yup, another title for review, but it caps off a week of some great home entertainment. I really like this movie and particularly for the reason that it focuses on twenty-somethings which doesn't make the story so far out of reach. Most of all, it justifies the drinking. So often these films are about high school or even college age kids and the drinking is all done by underage teens, which is fine for the sex romp comedies they are making, but it is nice to see a film that doesn't necessarily have to use adolescent stupidity to sell its comedy. There are plenty of stupid decisions all age groups make in life and why not take a risk and make a film about an age group that doesn't always get as much screen time? There was an air of honesty that went into this film I enjoyed, and even though it had its share of outrageous behavior, for the most part it really worked. | |
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There you have it. Now share your weekly recaps and weigh in with any thoughts you may have on the films I saw. And remember to connect with my Netflix queue by clicking here, I have already added several titles from those that have already linked up.
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Finally Watched Oldboy And Wow. What A Great Movie.
Oldboy 10/10
The Fall 9/10
Miss Petigrew Lives For A Day 7/10
Knowing 8/10
Flannel Pajamas 8/10
The Minus Man 6/10
8/16-8/22:
The Majestic – 3/10
Inglourious Basterds – 10/10
District 9 – 10/10
In Bruges (rewatch) – 10/10
Basterds is my favorite movie of the year so far, a true masterpiece.
The Boat That Rocked (2009) – 7/10
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) – 8,5/10
Almost Famous (2000) – 9/10
In the Loop (2009) – 7/10
Le salaire de la peur (1953) – 10/10
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) – 10/10
Vratn̩ lahve (2007) Р8/10
Some great movies I've seen this week :)
Glad to see you are a fan of Dexter, it's my current favorite show on television.
As for what I watched
District 9: Definitely not what I expected from it, but in a great way. Easily ranked in the top 5 Sci-fi films of the last 10-20 years. 8/10.
Death Proof (I skipped Planet Terror): In preparation for "Basterds" I decided to pay Quentin a visit. Instead of going with one of the films I love I decided to go with the only one of his films that I have claimed to hate. After seeing it again (third time overall) I will say it has begun to grow on me a little bit. I still consider the first half of the film a bit of a drag, but once we meet the second group of ladies things do pick up. I love Kurt Russell in it, but I think it still ranks as the lowest of his films in my humble opinion. 6/10
He Got Game: I'd seen it a few years back and had been on the fence about it. After re-watching it I like it. No one part is fantastic (Denzel plays Denzel throughout, Ray Allen effectively shoots a basketball; ineffectively acts, most of the supporting cast is in the Okay range) but it all comes together in a way that strangely works. The pick-up game at the end probably has a lot to do with it, I loved it the first time and loved it again. Probably the only part of the film everyone involved with nails. 7.5/10
Inglorious Basterds: While it's placement as QT's "Masterpiece" remains in doubt (I seriously doubt he'll ever top Pulp Fiction. It's perfect) I.B. is probably his second best film to date. Christoph Waltz is one of the most magnetic precenses in recent cinema, you hate him but he never ceases to entertain. Pitt as Raine is a perfect counterpoint and is given quite a few great moments to play with. Without spoiling anything, his Italian is superb. The rest of the cast is unformly great but it's two leads are so well crafted and their stories so engaging that I have to rank this as the best picture of the year thus far. If it weren't for a few tell tale signs I never would have thought this a QT film and I mean that in the best way possible. 9.0/10
My favorite season of Dexter has to be the first. Such intrigue, intertwined plotlines, and great reveals. Then comes season three, then season two. Though the show is now becoming more and more hyperbolic and unbelievable (how can they not know he's a serial killer by now?), it's still very entertaining. And some have said the new season looks great with the first episode leaked over the Internet a few days ago.
This past week, I saw:
"Donnie Brasco" (7/10): I've seen too many gangster movies and this one falls flat in the dramatic aspect. Al Pacino shows us that he can play any body in the chain of command in the mafia. But this film market the decline of his film career ("The Recruit," "Two for the Money," to follow).
"The Sopranos" Season 1&2 (7/10): Plot lines become boring when all they do is try to whack each other in the end of every season. I skipped ahead to the series finale and was disappointed with the open ending. This show also attempts to glorify the mob and justify some of the atrocities they commit, as compared to Coppola who showed how a good man eventually became evil because of his choices. The show struck me as a ploy from David Chase to use a platform to justify the reverse discrimination used by gangsters. But hey I'm still a fan of fat Tony and his crazy escapades. Salut.
"Flightplan" (7.5/10): I love airplane and airport movies for some reason. They remind me of the international intermingling between all elasticities and passengers. The movie was a good thriller and I'm still a huge Jodie Foster fan. The rest of the cast played their parts beautifully when they were maddeningly unhelpful in her search.
"Lost" Season 5 finale (9.5/10): I watch this episode time and time again because I love this show. I can't wait for the final season and how everything ties together. I must say that at this point, I really dislike the character of Kate and her flippant and capricious ways. But knowing the writers, they'll find a way to redeem her character like they did with Sawyer.
That's all folks. Next week I hope to check out "Jackie Brown."
So, the week began with 'In The Bedroom', which I thought was well done, and superbly acted. No surprise, considering the oscar nominationss it received
A rewatch of Stranger Than Fiction, which is a favorite of mine. It's painful for me to see the dialogue bounce back and forth between poor and excellent, and I'm not a fan of the 'quirky' direction/the screen was the director's whiteboard to write things on, but I still love the movie something awful.
Julia, I thought, was simply wonderful. Meryl Streep was more magnetic than anyone rightfully should be. I actually didn't have the problem most critics seemed to about Julie being unlikeable – I liked her ok, and cared, I just thought that section seemed to be of lower-quality filmmaking. I liked District 9 a lot… the end. And Inglorious Basterds… I absolutely adored the first scene, and most of the talking scenes, but I thought that for once, Mr. Tarantino needed to cool it with the bombastic direction. Just this time, I thought the movie would have been sufficiently served by his incredible pacing and ability to construct dialogue.
I loved Babel. I loved the direction quite a bit, and wonder if it would have done better at the Oscars if it wasn't so similar in subject and tone to Crash. And I adored the editing. Critics seemed to say that they thought it was problematic because it was about nothing (or at least, wasn't about much)…. but I don't think it had to be about something. Notes on a Scandal wasn't criticized for not having a message, because it was a character study. And I think that after the infamous Crash, which wasn't a character study, and wasn't about anything, people expected anything remotely… global in scope to have a message. But it seemed to me to be a character study. Any thoughts?
The Last Days of Disco left no impression on me. I don't remember anything (except for the fact that I thought the Kate Beckinsale's character was pretty annoying). I've always wanted to buy the soundtrack, though.
As for Dexter, Season Three may be my favourite one so far. This show is getting better with each season!!
What I watched this week:
- Se Nada Mais Der Certo (If Nothing Else Works Out, on a literal translation): brazilian movie about an unlikely friendship between an unemployed journalist, a taxi driver and a tomboy girl. The characters are really nice, the dialogue is interesting, and the interaction between the characters is good. Didn't like the climax very much though. Anyway, a nice addition to the current state of brazilian cinema. 7,5/10
- Drop Dead Gorgeous (re-watch): I can't believe how outrageous this movie is. No wonder it was a failure at the box office. It couldn't be made now – it's just too politically incorrect. Amy Adams was always lovely, since her first movie. Allison Janney is nothing short of brilliant. "I got some!", it always make me laugh. 10/10
- Sense and Sensibility (re-watch): After spending a vacation in England, watching this movie is so fun. The dialogue is top-notch. All the performances are great. It is so nice to see the little reactions on Emma Thompson's face. And the last bit between Edward Ferrars (Hugh Grant) and the Dashwood family is a rare treat for me: it makes me cry and laugh at the same time. A
- Jacob's Ladder (re-watch): In the end, what's left is this huge feeling of sadness for Jacob. As much as I like Fatal Attraction, this is the first time that Adrian Lyne really really shone. The Macaulay Culkin bits are quite touching. I watched it last night, and on my way to bed I was scared. A
I mixed 1-to-10 grades with this A-to-F system you american people use. Sorry about that.
Inglourious Basterds – A
District 9 – A
Le Samourai – A
GI Joe – D-
Inglourious Basterds was absolutely fantastic and i thought Christophe Waltz was amazing and deserves an oscar nomination
District 9 was brilliant and i loved the originality of the film and the fantastic third act
Le Samourai was great and now holds a position in my top five films of all time
GI Joe was an absolute waist of time and shouldn't have been made
Really liked Adventureland, I saw that back when it was released, but here are the films I've watched recently. There's a couple Michael Mann works because I've been watching a lot of Depp and Mann since Public Enemies…
Inglourious Baterds: 4/4
Thief: 3.5/4
Manhunter: 3/4
Killshot: 1.5/4
Following: 3.5/4
Frailty: 3.5/4
Adventureland is one of my top movies of the year, love it to pieces. Also, glad you enjoy Last Days of Disco, nice to see it getting the Criterion treatment. It's been an under-appreciated gem for years.
I saw Dr. Strangelove and the original version of The Manchurian Candidate over the weekend. Both of them brilliant.
i watched
the last samurai 9/10 tom cruise's best performance IMO
king arthur (2004) -8/10 i dont understand the hate for this movie, it may be inaccurate but it has strong entertainment value, and is very well cast and acted
saving private ryan- 10/10 a lot has been said about this movie, and its all true, well the positive things atleast.
in bruges- 9/10 simply amazing, beautiful score.
Two Lovers – 7/10. Excellent performance by Phoenix. Whether it's a hoax or not, I don't believe for one second that he won't act again.
The Haunting in Connecticut – 3/10. Not much to recommend here.
The Unborn – 5/10. Decent cast, fairly standard storyline, with some good FX.
Let The Right One In – 6/10. Due to great reviews my expectations were high. I was left slightly disappointed, although I felt it was a very original take on a vampire movie. It will be interesting to see how the remake turns out.
@ddurden33: It depends on which version of King Arthur you were watching. The theatrical version was a PG-13 watered down mess. By the time the DVD was released all that was added back in was the gore and violence, which I agree turned it into a more entertaining movie, but it still remains a film Antoine Fuqua was shackled on and never allowed to turn into a cohesive vision. It was originally slated to be an R-rated holiday release, but was moved into the summer at the last minute.
Darkman – 7/10
Erin Brockovich – 8/10
Color Me Kubrick – 5/10
Straw Dogs – 8/10
Inglorious Basterds – 9/10
@Brad Brevet: i watched the bluray director's cut and you are right its more graphic than the theatrical version, and i had a feeling that jerry b had fuqua on a short leash, there is an interesting round table extra on the dvd, where the cast, the director, and the producer chime in on their experience, and you can clearly see the over powering presence of bruckheimer. its still a good watch, my friends liked it too. BTW i heard there is a new Excalibur movie being made, is that true ? i am a big fan of arthur and merlin, and right now waiting for the new season of merlin on nbc.
Pontypool
A great addition to the zombie(ish) genre. I recommend watching it alone with headphones/ear buds on.
Traitor
Thoughtful and a joy to watch. I remember people (rightfully) talking about Cheadle's performance when it came out but I'd say Guy Pearce is just as great.
I did have the time to continue my Blade Runner education, I'll get back to it this week.
Watched Inglourious Basterds. Very good movie. Great dialogue. It has flaws. 8.5/10
Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. I knew this movie was crap. It delivered, especially Chris Klein. 1/10
Seven Samurai. Kurosawa's best known film. It was a Criterion. A simple story that should not be 3 1/2 hours long. 8/10
District 9. A different take on the sci-fi genre. It has flaws, but the ride is well worth it. 8/10
I Love You, Man: 7/10 – I thought it had some funny moments but I think when you take a "Judd Apatow Cast" and remove the Judd Apatow, you can feel the difference. It just isn't the same, no matter how hard it tries. Decent rental, nothing more.
Knocked Up (re-watch) 9/10 : Great movie all around. It's nice to see one of the original "R-Rated Comedy with Heart" movies. Plenty of movies trying to rip off this genre since this release as well as The 40-Year Old Virgin.
Transporter 3 7/10 : More of the same. I really like Statham, but this franchise should stop here.