What did you watch today? v 33.0

[The Professor]

Welcome to version 33, the Egg McMuffin of discussions. 

 

The first post in this thread will be # 14,394. 

 

The ghost of George Sanders reminds you to link your films, and that one should feel free to move on if bored. 

[Knaldskalle]

Osama. First Afghan post-Taliban movie. At times it has impressive cinematography, at times it is compelling and overall it's not at all a bad effort for a third-world country (I've seen much worse from more experienced film countries), but at the same time there's some poor acting and some strange actions by some of the characters (they seem irrational, but it's so hard to tell whether it's cultural differences or bad scripting). Ultimately I thought it was worth my time (if only to see a stretch of Afghanistan that isn't a news bit) and there are flashes of talent.

[spiderpig]

Chronicle - Mostly decent flick about what happens when teenage boys acquire telekinesis powers. Okay, yeah, pretty much exactly what you'd expect to happen when teenage boys acquire telekinesis powers happens, but there are actually a couple of "surprising" events (heh I expected a lot more Zapped moments but it wasn't that kind of film). I like Michael B Jordan on FNL and I liked him in this also. 3.5 stars

 

The Grey - Are you fucking kidding me with that ending? Fuck you very much. 2 stars.

[David]

The ending didn't bother me.

[eviltimes]

Men In Black III   IMDb   2012   PG-13   106 min   Digital Projection

Last weekend at the grocery store in the $10 rack were two brand new BluRays.  Men In Black and Men In Black II.  Each package contained a ticket worth $10 to see MIB 3 at a participating theater (of which, our fave was on the list).  So we just went to see MIB 3 for free!

As awesome as the first and better than the second.  Totally enjoyable with plenty of things you think are going to happen - then turn into something else.  None of the awkward, silly scenes that marred MIB 2.  This one's a keeper. 

And Josh Brolin is perfect as Tommy Lee Jones!   10/10

[David]

Stand By Me--Rob Reiner film about boys looking for a dead kid in the Oregon wilderness, a good 50's period piece.

Last Summer--three teens hang out on Fire Island, sort of coming of age film, not great but early performance by Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, et al.

[David]

The Grey--action, adventure film.  I enjoyed it quite a bit. four stars.

[macroman]

Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing (2004)=fairly interesting doc on the history of movie editing and some of the famous editors of the past and present.

  The average film has an incredible amount of footage that must be whittled down to the finished product we see on screen.

  Each frame is 1/24 of a second and the editor goes frame by frame in a meticulous, painstakingly slow process, usually in conjunction with the director.

  Overall, an informative film about an important but hidden aspect of moviemaking.

  3.5 stars.

Steve Miller Band: Live from Chicago (2004)=For Steve Miller fans, a good concert of 15-18 of their best-known hits, plus some covers.

  Included are Fly Like an Eagle, Abracadabra, Living in the USA, Wild Mountain Honey, The Joker, Take the Money and Run and Dance, Dance, Dance, Dance.

  3.5 stars

Coming Monday:

Hawaiian Paradise: Disc 2=travel video of the Aloha State.  A rewatch.  About 90 min long as I remember it.

[eviltimes]

The ghost of George Sanders reminds you to link your films

 

[Nerves]

Chisum (1970)

3/5 Stars

Well done cinematography in a beautiful Durango, Mexico location in this old-school Western. Andrew McLaglen, director of this film and 95 episodes of Gunsmoke knows how to shoot an action sequence but aside from the high production level the film seems like a long television episode. You can feel the commercial breaks coming. In his commentary McLaglen confesses he doesn't understand the new-school Western (something about the anti-hero as hero is his guess) and this film proves the point: there is no moral ambiguity in this film and violence solves everything (as long as the Bible-toting, Bible quoting good guys win in the end). I was surprised that Warner Brothers was still plugging songs in their films as late as the 70's. The inclusion of some songs sung by Merle Haggard was done in post-production but McLaglen states that they really added something to a particular sequence. To me it was out of place and all it added was a trashy commercial feel.

[Mr. Bad]

[Nerves]

The title song is corny as hell too. The song I'm thinking of in particular is "Turn Me Around" which plays when Billy the Kid heads out of town with a group of men to get supplies for Chisum's store. 

[Mr. Bad]

The character of Billy was especially ludicrous. One expects sparkles to glint off his smiling teeth and baby blue eyes. The whole film has the quality of a dying culture having one last wild west fantasy.