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| bartist |
 Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:40 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6965
Location: Black Hills
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Quote: When was the last time a movie directed by a major film maker was created with the sole intention of blowing your mind, not merely with special effects but with grand metaphysical aspirations?
It's been a while. A Bardo-ish trip sounds interesting -- the Tibetans IIRC believe that this present life is also a Bardo, as well, so I would approach it with a mind open to the story being about this life as well as something in some hypothetical other dimension of existence.
The Penis-Cam sounds fun, though I might have steered around the adjective "jaw-dropping" to describe it.  |
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| knox |
| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:11 pm |
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Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1246
Location: St. Louis
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I would approach any Noe film with caution, as my stomach for extreme violence is not cast iron. Any film like Irreversible or Enter the Void is to be seen as a cinematic experience, not as entertainment, and I think that's the main understanding to be taken into the moviehouse, that you are not going to be entertained and you are not going to readily empathize with the characters -- IOW, you are about to experience things that are wretched and horrible. You are learning what film, as an art form, does when it doesn't care about your amusement or comfort. And maybe film needs to do that occasionally, if it is to be taken seriously as an art form and not just a diversion with pretty pictures in a dark room.
This is what Noe said, in an interview about ETV:
[The film is about] the sentimentality of mammals and the shimmering vacuity of the human experience.
IOW, the sort of things that painters and sculptors and other visual artists are often heard to say, while we ordinary mortals stand by and scratch our heads. (or tear out our hair)
The thing is, I can stand in a museum and look at a sculpture that makes me uncomfortable...perhaps experience the shimmering vacuity of life...but I can move on whenever I want to. A two-and-a-half hour movie, that's more of a commitment -- you're sitting there and you've paid only for that movie and nothing else. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 12:46 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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A visit to Nebraska in January supplies "the shimmering vacuity of the human experience." As WP said elsewhere, regarding a trip to Prescott, AZ, the snow is too white.
I like your contrast of art-induced misery/discomfort/despair in a museum v. the moviehouse.
It's funny, I can feel reluctance to commit to buying the ticket to a Noe sort of film, but I also hate it when directors approach such dark subjects without taking any risks and showing fear of getting their hands too dirty -- e.g. Inception. Inception seemed to shy away from showing us the dirty plumbings and entrails of the human subconscious, and many scenes were too polished and sterile. So, point being, maybe we need to applaud the artists who take chances and generally refuse to pander. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 3:19 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| The new version of Enter The Void will play at the IFC Center from January 14 through January 20. The film will also play at The Landmark Nuart Theater in Los Angeles on January 21 for a special midnight showing. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 4:57 pm |
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Guest
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| When is it playing at Cine Colombia - Multiplex Santa Fé? |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 10:04 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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Well, I finally got around to seeing "I Love You Phillip Morris" tonight, after trying last night and finding it sold out (there were maybe twenty people in the audience tonight, so I don't know what the deal was). Anyway, it was terrific. I was impressed by Carrey's skill in smart cons (though his brilliance kept sputtering out when the cops showed up), and McGregor was adorable. Both of them were so far away from the last roles I saw them in that they could have been different actors.
My only big question: Why did Steven and Phillip stay in Texas? Run away, run away, I kept wanting to tell them. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:39 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| sigh |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Wed Jan 12, 2011 11:58 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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Bart,
I agree; I also found Nolan's realisation of the human subconcious in Inception to be sterile and banal. I can just imagine what NOe or Terry Gilliam, say, would have made of it. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:55 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Had a great time at the movies tonight with a film that polarized people, getting some appreciative notices and some terrible ones. It's How Do You Know, the latest by James L. Brooks, whose Spanglish likewise was a love-it-or-hate-it item (I loved it). How Do You Know features the best performance yet by Jack Lemmon reincarnation Paul Rudd and by far the sexiest and yummiest by Reese Witherspoon, who I have often admired but never drooled over before. Add a delectable comic turn by Owen Wilson and a committed though unsubtle one by Jack Nicholson and you have a delightful romantic comedy with an occasionally philosophical bent.
What's it about? Is that necessary? Woman juggles two men. Duh. It's a romantic comedy. But--and here's the important part--it's a terrific one.
Brooks takes the time to let scenes play out at a relaxed but always appropriate rhythm. This allows Witherspoon (a genuine movie star) to create tangible and funny sexual chemistry with both Rudd and Wilson. This performance is easily her best since her early triumphs in Freeway and Election, and this one is infinitely hotter. The lady sizzles, and I never thought I'd say that about her. Rudd, as noted, has the skill and charm of Lemmon, and I've never liked Owen Wilson more. This is a seriously underrated movie and a worthy addition to the list of great rom-coms. I recommend it without reservation. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:22 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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If this means a return of Owen Wilson (i.e. Early Owen Wilson, the brilliant comic actor in Bottle Rocket and Shanghai Noon), I am so there.
Rudd seems to have come a long way from his "Friends" gig. He's a fellow Kansan, so I'm rooting for him. |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:24 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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| I've always liked Owen Wilson, and his brother Luke too. Nice to know there's another movie worth seeing out there in the January cold. Though I still need to see "Harry Potter and the etc." first. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 1:36 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Somebody asked about Blue Valentine (Gromit), with Ryan Gosling, and I notice there's another Gosling film, also out at the end of 2010 in limited release in the US -- a crime drama, "All Good Things." Co-stars Frank Langella and Kristen Dunst. Anyone seen this?
Carrobin: I don't know if any movie is worth seeing out there in the January cold. I prefer indoor theaters, myself. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 3:45 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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While it does sound rather extraordinary, am afraid I must say Noe to Entry, lest my medulla oblongata disintegrate. Conversely, will relent if I can get next Saturday midnight cleared on the up-and-down reviewing/LADCC schedule (the Nuart late night crowd is typically its own additional fun factor), and can assemble sufficient supplies of sedative for afterwards.
Future Current Film Dept.:
Although this really ought to be posted in Theatreville, buried deep toward the end of today's announcement that the Broadway cast of Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage -- Jeff Daniels, Hope Davis, James Gandolfini and Marcia Gay Harden -- will repeat at the Ahmanson in April comes the reminder that Roman Polanski is prepping the film version, from a screenplay co-written by himself and playwright Reza, for stars Jodie Foster, Christoph Waltz, Kate Winslet and John C. Reilly.
L.A. Times/Culture Monster: Original Broadway cast of 'God of Carnage' coming to Ahmanson Theatre
Given how well Rabbit Hole turned out, am rather excitable about this, in theorem, anyhow.
Current reports from Buzzwerks, with AMPAS ballots due back today (Friday, 1/14/11) and the Gilded Globules nominally potent advert/campaign-fueling input coming Sunday, inform that The Fighter and True Grit are gaining roughly equal force as potential spoilers in the Social/King's face-off; Natalie Pointeman and Annette B. Toklas remain in a virtual dead-heat for Best Actress; Melissa Leo is closing in on Helena Bonham-Carter, Geoffrey Rush catching up to Christian Bale for Supporting honors; nobody is remotely close to unseating Colin Firth for Best Actor (nor will they). More developments as they develop mental.
Am seeing Grit this weekend, Fighter thereafter, Blue Valentine next week, and have a whole buncha Foreign Language films whenever I can slot 'em in. It's always like this. |
Last edited by inlareviewer on Fri Jan 14, 2011 9:42 pm; edited 4 times in total
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| Marj |
| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:09 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Thu Jan 13, 2011 4:15 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| Ah, mon petit Marjorine, c'est mon privilege. |
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"And take extra care with strangers/Even flowers have their dangers/And though scary is exciting/Nice is different than good." --Stephen Sondheim |
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