Sunday, September 28, 2008

Open Discussion

Get something off your chest this morning (whilst I putter about planning ahead for next week)

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did anyone check out Empire's "The Greatest Movies of All Time", where The Dark Knight finishes at 15th place (one spot ahead of 2001: A Space Odyssey) and the 46 greatest films in the world are all English language features? It's recommended for some solid laughs.

Anonymous said...

well that was based on fan voting man, what did you expect? i figure considering the fact that there were a bunch of fanboys voting and such thats actually a pretty decent list

Anonymous said...

OK, that explains it. Phew.

NATHANIEL R said...

you know what I've never understood about such lists... why don't they just call them "The Greatest Hollywood Movies of All Time" and they'd seem so much less, i don't know, dismissive. Just narrow it down in some way people.

Or even "greatest movies of the last 10 years" which is the only fair way to get an accurate read of public feeling since most people don't see anything older than that.

here's the list mikdadzuki was talking about.

Anonymous said...

saw choke last night, was dissappointed while it had a few good bits it did not add u to a good movie

Slayton said...

I DESPISE MADONNA

:(

Also, The Dark Knight is, like, not good. It drags more than perhaps any other film I've seen. But, then again, Empire is a shitty mag anyway.

NATHANIEL R said...

slayton -- are you trying to tell me something about that red carpet rendezous post?

Film Knower said...

I'm in love with Cape Fear '91. I think Juliette Lewis is absolutely phenomenal (even though it took me till tonight, my 5th viewing, to realise this). Nolte was fantastic. Lange should have been given more to do, because her shaky plea to Cady at the end, her faux confession about thinking about him all the time, is making me fall in love with that actress. The three family members all play their characters so well, but so differently to how so many other actors would have approached their roles, and that is really fantastic. HOWEVER. DeNiro was predictable and loud, his final scenes were a charicature. What I'm getting off my chest is that I don't like DeNiro as an actor. I haven't seen a lot of his key roles, but between this and the over-rated Taxi Driver, I can't fathom how he is constantly ranked among the greats like Streep, Nicholson and Pacino.

NATHANIEL R said...

I love that movie too and agree with pretty much everything you've stated there. It's one of my favorite Lange performances... primarily because I don't think she's trying as hard as she usually does, realizing the film doesn't rest on her shoulders alone.

but i don't love DeNiro in it.

Drew said...

Movie-related: Last night I watched May. Loved it! It was depressing in both a narrative sense, and because such a darkly humorous and creepy movie can only get released in 9 theaters. There is no justice.

Not movie-related: I have a date today and I woke up to find an insidiously red pimple right below my lip. I should just go ahead and make a T-shirt that says "Yes, I Have Herpes."

Film Knower said...

OMG! I LOVE MAY! Like, a top 10 film. Angela Bettis gives one of my favourite performances, and how good was Faris in it?

And Nat, I haven't really seen Lange in anything other than Cape Fear and Hush, which flatout sucked and made me hate her.

ryansumera said...
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Chris Na Taraja said...

Why is planning to go to the movies such a chore! Why don't I have friends that just want to see what i want to see, when I want to see it.

It's not an event at the Rainbow room, it's just a movie!!!!

ryansumera said...

i don't understand when they say jeffrey wright is such a good actor

Anonymous said...

I saw "Happy-Go-Lucky" last night at NYFF, and I was so happy and punch drunk on life that I had to go dancing and karaoke-ing.

Dame James said...

I just saw The First Wives Club for the first time last night and, afterward, I couldn't believe it had taken me so long. Not only does it have Midler, Hawn and Keaton, but Stockard Channing, Marcia Gay Harden, Sarah Jessica Parker and Dame Maggie Smith are all in there! What a perfect cast (and the movie's great too)!

Dr. S said...

I would like to say that I think that stupidity really freakin' sucks. A lot.

That's not in relation to anything on this page. I'm just responding to the invitation to get something off my chest.

Anonymous said...

I have officially started hating IMDB. Some morons are calling Marion Cotillard the greatest actress alive based on one gimmicky performance in that awful Edith Piaf-film.

Anonymous said...

Just wanted to know if anyone else here has seen the new trailer for Benjamn Button?

Sally Belle said...

Please tell me why everyone thinks Tina Fey is such a genius?

And winning an acting award over Mary Louise Parker?
Criminal.

Anonymous said...

scarjo and ryan 'superhot' reynolds got married. happy for them.

Anonymous said...

I didn't think that Barack Obama won the debate on Friday. I actually think that neither him or John McCain were that impressing...

NATHANIEL R said...

dr s. are you sure that's not based on anything... like, oh, POLITICS this month.

ayiyiyiyiyiyi

chris i know the feeling. which is why i go to so many movies alone. well, that, and critics screenings.

Anonymous said...

I just realized again how amazing Gong Li is. Swoon. I hope she gets her due one day. Unfortunately the stankness that are Miami Vice and Hannibal Rising muddle things a bit.

Anonymous said...

I had finally seen Michael Clayton in all its (running-time) glory.

After seeing it one time in the theater and falling asleep just to wake up to the ending and really liking it ( although my movie-mates hated it and called it stupid), and taking it one time so me and my parents could see it and then only they saw it, and then taking it twice from the video store i work and not seeing it, I Viewed it during my shift only to get shouted at by my employer.

Totally worth it.

... i want to watch that ending again.

Sam Brooks said...

Why do all TV shows involving a teenager at some point have that stupid baby test where they have to keep it safe for a week or whatever?

Has anybody ever done this? Is there no other device writers can use to forward plot/character development/waste time? It's incredibly frustrating.

Anonymous said...

I just finished Korean actor Do-Yeon Jeon's all 11 movies! My favorite is Secret Sunshine.

Missy said...

I'm just gonna come out and say it.
Richard Roeper is the worst Twitter ever. All he does is talk about baseball. I'd figured him being a movie critic and all that he would occasionally talk about them! Two Thumbs Down!!!!

Anonymous said...

There's too much hate on Duke basketball. I understand we are the most prestigious basketball program in the country, but why the hate?

Oh, and that top 500 list is an incredible joke. The Dark Knight is certainly not in the top 20 of greatest films of ALL TIME. And, Jaws and Raiders of the Lost Ark are not in the top 5.

Final thing, did you know that Tyler Perry's "Why Did I get Married" made more than There Will Be Blood domestically. It doesn't upset me or anything. I just know that I can't be friends with like 95 percent of America.

elgringo said...

He Shot Cyrus is hosting the "My Best Post" blog-a-thon from October 3rd-5th.

Pick out the best post you've written so far and send me a link! Easy, huh? You've already written your post, come show it off.

http://he-shot-cyrus.blogspot.com/2008/09/big-announcement-best-post-blog-thon.html

Unknown said...

just got back from seeing "Los Girasoles Ciegos" (Blind Sunflowers?), Spain's submission to the FL Oscars.

wow. but in a very subtle way...

excellent portrait of another time, my grandparents' Spain (when they were young), with my Dad pointing out some things that were still done when he first came to Spain in the late 60s early 70s (street crier at night to make sure "all's well", a neighborhood watchman who had keys to houses).

Maribel Verdu and Javier Camara's acting is rather muted (excellent job, but no "awards baity moments"), as befits a couple who live in fear of discovery (he's a "republican" writer, this is right after the Civil War, so that means execution if he's found out, he hides in a hole behind their bedroom closet). And the actor who plays the priest... brrr! gave me the chills!

I just don't know how well it will play on the other side of the Atlantic, and to the Academy. It's not an "uplifting" film, or a "message" film. It just portrays the lives some people had to live once their country had been taken over by fascism. I think it's pretty accurate also in the portrayal of religion as a part of everyday life and linked to the political situation of the era. But in a non-catholic country? I think that part might be a bit lost on some people...

in any case, excellent movie! :o)

Anonymous said...

I just saw "Nights in Rodanthe" (okay, I should have protested harder). Even though the movie is empty, boring, nothing happens, and it doesn't really have any characterization written in to it -- still I ask you, is that a reason to not have costumes? If you only have two actors and (cough) it isn't really "realistic", why can't they both have a decent haircut and some great outfits (like Lane did in "Under the Tuscan Sun")?

And oh, if you're in the mood for a light romantic comedy that doesn't make you feel cheap afterwards, go see Ricky Gervais and Tea Leoni in "Ghost Town".

Anonymous said...

I was VERY pleasantly surprised (ecstatic even) that Spirit of the Beehive cracked the Empire top 100. That movie can never get enough love in my opinion. The list as a whole is a complete mess, especially the more you get up there, but it was honestly a lot better than I expected (though I in general have low expectations for people who read Empire).

I should be doing schoolwork right now...

Chris Na Taraja said...

Tina Fey is a genius. Here's why?

She's a succesful female comedian. John Belushi said that women aren't funny, and many male camedians feel that women shouldn't be in comedy. Not true, of course.

Although there are many strong women in comedy now, Ms. Fey is in the forefront.

She wirtes, produces and acts and pulls it all off. Very few people have success in one of these fields, she has in all 3.

And she bought funny back to SNL, which has been painfully in need of some laughs for some time now.

She's smart, she's funny, she's sexy...i like her.

Sorry that you don't, Sally. Love and the stars are completely subjective.

Anonymous said...

why wasn't gwyneth paltrow nominated for proof,the talented mr ripley,flesh and blood and sylvia

Dr. S said...

Oh, yeah, it's *ABOUT* stuff, including politics. I just didn't want the people who'd posted before me to think I was reacting to them.

Mogulman said...

Well, I've been following The Road lately, and rumor has it that there's a trailer out there somewhere, and it recieved an R rating. Relief.

The Pretentious Know it All said...
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The Pretentious Know it All said...

I saw Todd Field and AO Scott at a guest lecture and they're just as interesting/humble and pompous/boring (respectively) as you'd expect them to be. I think I actually saw Todd Field roll his eyes during the TEN STRAIGHT MINUTES that Scott spent praising Clint Eastwood and comparing him to Mike Leigh. I puked.
So basically what I'm getting off my chest is my annoyance/hatred(?) of AO Scott.

Anonymous said...

I just went to the national portrait gallery - made it by one day to see kate hepburn exhibit. im wondering if those were really her oscars - or some sort of duplicates. three of the newer ones....on the plaque said "Academy First Award." only two of them had the year inscribed (1967 / 1968). I saw Patty Duke's in person a few years ago. academy award....the year....best actress in a supporting role.....her name...then on the bottom line was "The Miracle Worker." i think i read somewhere hepburn really didn't care about her oscars, so she gave them away. so, i think those were some kind of duplicates at the museum.....not that any of this matters. just wondering.

Sally Belle said...

I know Todd Field.
Todd Field is funny.
Todd Field is genius.
Todd Field is smarter then you and me.
But most of all, Todd Field is a true human...a real person...a man who puts family and friends first...a mensch.

Love him truly!

Glenn said...

I miss Grace Jones.

Also, that Empire Top 500 list is so frustratimng. How can the same page (#478-#473) include stuff like Rebel Without a Cause, Andy Warhol's Flesh and Santa Strange and then.. and then... Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest?

These sort of lists are always great slash terrible. So many mistakes, yet so much good. Although, to be honest, with a list made of 500 titles (to celebrate their 500th issue, right?) you're bound to stumble across SOME good stuff I suppose so...

The Jaded Armchair Reviewer said...

I won the argument and now I'm going to film school.