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| Ghulam |
 Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:20 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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| The documentary Every Little Step shows the footage filmed during the grueling auditions for the main roles of A Chorus Line for its Broadway revival. It also shows some scenes from the casting of the original Broadway production. It is a fascinating movie, showing the ambition, drive, triumphs and heartaches of some of the brightest young men and women aspiring for Broadway stardom. Great dancing and singing. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:37 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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Marc wrote: Quote: But also more than a little dull. Maybe the dullness is intentional, to keep it from veering into action movie territory, but there was a good stretch there in the middle I found it hard to sit through.
Joe, I didn't find a single frame of THE HURT LOCKER dull.
Different tastes. Earl also found one section of it very heavy going, though he liked the movie over all a little bit more than I did. I can't imagine sitting through it again, and I think his reaction was the same. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 5:42 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Quote: But also more than a little dull. Maybe the dullness is intentional, to keep it from veering into action movie territory, but there was a good stretch there in the middle I found it hard to sit through.
Joe, I didn't find a single frame of THE HURT LOCKER dull.
Nor I. But I bet I know one part Joe found dull, because it's a scene those who nitpick this masterpiece seem to zero in on. It's the standoff against (the only way I can describe it) "the house with the windows." It seems to be played out in real time and those who aren't totally into it can check their watches at that time. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:20 am |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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Location: Montreal
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Ghulam wrote: The documentary Every Little Step shows the footage filmed during the grueling auditions for the main roles of A Chorus Line for its Broadway revival. It also shows some scenes from the casting of the original Broadway production. It is a fascinating movie, showing the ambition, drive, triumphs and heartaches of some of the brightest young men and women aspiring for Broadway stardom. Great dancing and singing.
That does sound cool, but then it's like a play within a play within a play. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:51 am |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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Quote: It's the standoff against (the only way I can describe it) "the house with the windows." It seems to be played out in real time and those who aren't totally into it can check their watches at that time
If you're referring to the desert scene involving snipers and a bunker, that scene is a masterpiece of sustained tension. An action scene with almost no action, but when the action does occur it has impact. The mere drinking of a pouch of orange juice is dramatic. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 12:10 pm |
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Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Quote: It's the standoff against (the only way I can describe it) "the house with the windows." It seems to be played out in real time and those who aren't totally into it can check their watches at that time .
If you're referring to the desert scene involving snipers and a bunker, that scene is a masterpiece of sustained tension. An action scene with almost no action, but when the action does occur it has impact. The mere drinking of a pouch of orange juice is dramatic.
That's the scene, and I couldn't agree with you more, but it's the scene that has been habitually cited as "dull" by the critics who don't think the movie is perfection. I only assume that's one of the things Joe's referring to. |
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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 12:32 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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billyweeds wrote: Marc wrote: Quote: It's the standoff against (the only way I can describe it) "the house with the windows." It seems to be played out in real time and those who aren't totally into it can check their watches at that time .
If you're referring to the desert scene involving snipers and a bunker, that scene is a masterpiece of sustained tension. An action scene with almost no action, but when the action does occur it has impact. The mere drinking of a pouch of orange juice is dramatic.
That's the scene, and I couldn't agree with you more, but it's the scene that has been habitually cited as "dull" by the critics who don't think the movie is perfection. I only assume that's one of the things Joe's referring to.
The nits I've seen picked, on imdb at least, are from the people with a military background harping on things like, "oh like an EOD with an intel background could hit a man running at 800 meters with a Barrett, it is so unrealistic it just spoiled it for me!" The type of thing that makes me just want to beat them over the head (except, they're ex-military and can probably beat my middle aged ass) while screaming, "Movie! It's a fucking MOVIE!" |
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| Ghulam |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 12:42 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Upstate NY
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lshap wrote: Ghulam wrote: The documentary Every Little Step shows the footage filmed during the grueling auditions for the main roles of A Chorus Line for its Broadway revival. It also shows some scenes from the casting of the original Broadway production. It is a fascinating movie, showing the ambition, drive, triumphs and heartaches of some of the brightest young men and women aspiring for Broadway stardom. Great dancing and singing.
That does sound cool, but then it's like a play within a play within a play.
But the struggles of the aspiring actors are real, not a play.
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:18 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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The problems I had with that desert standoff were many. I wanted to learn more about the British guys who were stuck. I found it convenient that they got picked off one by one, but none of our guys were. What was the message? That these were mercenaries who were not well-trained? What did they do wrong/differently?
And it seemed to me rather unlikely that they had captured 2 of the wanteds from the deck of playing cards.
I also had no idea what ordnance the tank and the men had, or what capabilities they possessed. As with some of the bomb defusing, I felt uninformed of what the choices were and what was a good/bad response (even after I saw one team get killed and the other team succeed). And actually when the long scene ended, I felt a bit cheated because I wanted more, since I was wondering how you actually go about ascertaining that all snipers were dead. I wanted to see how they would determine that, whether they would check the blockhouse, how they would approach it, etc.
So I was dissatisfied and wanted to know more about the Brits, more about the firepower and options open to our team, and to see the final resolution. |
Last edited by gromit on Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:56 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:41 pm |
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| No Harry Potter today. The early showing was in Spanish and the later showing in English, but I wanted the early showing. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:41 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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gromit,
When you saw THE HURT LOCKER were you expecting a dramatic fictional movie or a military training film? |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:42 pm |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:52 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Marc wrote: gromit,
When you saw THE HURT LOCKER were you expecting a dramatic fictional movie or a military training film?
I often felt like the film left the viewer (read: me) unprepared to understand or evaluate a situation. I've already mentioned where he yanks up a dozen connected wires. So I felt outside of things, not knowing what the possibilities were, what was right or wrong behavior. I was expecting to get involved in the movie and to understand the actions.
Personally I have very limited interest in the military or in weaponry of any sort. Certainly bombs were a fairly central part of the film, and left almost totally unexplained.
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And I'll go back and despoil my previous comment. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:05 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Nobody I know now or have ever known has less interest in the military, weaponry, bombs, bomb defusing, or most of the other MacGuffins of The Hurt Locker than I do. And I submit that you don't need to care about anything except the human condition to appreciate the movie. It's about the nature of courage, the value of obsession, the setting of priorities, and a lot of other things that have nothing to do with the Iraqi war. It's also about scaring the shit out of you. |
Last edited by billyweeds on Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:10 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:07 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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| I think really the perspective of the movie is that we're like the embedded journalist who wrote the screenplay -- all sorts of shit is happening around us and we don't understand it. |
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