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| Syd |
 Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:27 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The Secret World of Arrietty, on the other hand is a pleasant if not too exciting Studio Ghibli adaptation of a Borrowers novel, and is really striking when you see things from Arrietty's point of view. There is a dollhouse built by suspecting humans that is really beautiful. There's a theme running through it about the dangerous, often fatal world the Borrowers live in. It's not too intense for small children, but it may leave them thoughtful.
Miyazaki adapted it into Japanese, but for American audiences it's been flawlessly dubbed into English, and the voiceovers are impeccable.
14 year old Arietty lives with her mother and father beneath the floorboards of a house occupied by a caretaker when a human boy about her own age sees her but is quiet about it. That night he sees her during her "borrowing" and talks quietly to her, but she is too scared to talk back. Borrowers have an unpleasant history of what can happen to them when humans find out about them; indeed, this family worries they may be the last three Borrowers left.
The boy has a dangerous heart condition and is resting in preparation for a operation which he half-expects may kill him. He's come to terms with this, which makes him more sympathetic to the dangers faced by a four-inch tall girl.
This would probably have been an Oscar nominee in 2010 or 2011, but it seems to have fallen through the eligibility cracks. Either that, or it's eligible for the next Oscars.
It looks like we're going to have some excellent animated films this year after a lackluster 2011. |
Last edited by Syd on Sat Feb 18, 2012 10:16 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:39 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
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Location: SF Bay Area
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Syd wrote: [i]......It looks like we're going to have some excellent animated films this year after a lackluster 2011.
I've been to Habana twice. I love it for its decadent beauty, and the film is supposed to get it exactly right. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:45 pm |
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yambu wrote: Syd wrote: ......It looks like we're going to have some excellent animated films this year after a lackluster 2011. I hope that among them will be Chico and Rita. Because of my medical condition, I don't usually go to the big screen, but I can't pass this up. For Cuban music aficionados, it's a dream, with tunes by Dizzy Gillespie, Bebo Valdes, and the immortal Chano Pozo on congas.(Chano's sudden, fearful demise is played out.)
I've been to Habana twice. I love it for its decadent beauty, and the film is supposed to get it exactly right.
I'm including Chico and Rita, which supposedly is being released nationally by now. I'm also including Brave and The Lorax and, I really hope, A Cat in Paris, which may get a national release if (1) it wins the Oscar, or (2) is dubbed into English. Hell, even Madagascar 3 looks pretty good. |
Last edited by Syd on Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:51 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 9:48 pm |
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| By the way, the preview for Mirror, Mirror is pretty awful. I'm not sold on Snow White and the Huntsman, either, although at least the Evil Queen is indeed the fairest of them all. For a while, at least. But Salmon Fishing in the Yemen looks like a gem, with genuine romantic chemistry between Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt. I hope it makes it into the vicinity. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:22 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
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| Safe House is a solid action film with a car chase scene that rivals the famous chase in Bullitt. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 7:00 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Marc wrote: Safe House is a solid action film with a car chase scene that rivals the famous chase in Bullitt.
Disagree here. The chase was certainly kinetic--I'll give it that--but it was difficult to follow the action spatially--something that was never the case in Bullitt or in my personal favorite car-chase scene, the one from The French Connection. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 1:21 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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| Don't forget Ronin. One of the best car chases ever. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:13 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
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Location: SF Bay Area
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billyweeds wrote: Marc wrote: Safe House is a solid action film with a car chase scene that rivals the famous chase in Bullitt.
Disagree here. The chase was certainly kinetic--I'll give it that--but it was difficult to follow the action spatially--something that was never the case in Bullitt.....[/i] |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 5:31 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| The car chase early in "Drive" ranks with the classics, I think. (Partly because the darkness added a glamorous edge to the tension.) |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:12 am |
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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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| Apart from being short of the usual Pixar instant classic, I don't think 2011 was so bad for animation. Rango was excellent, as was Arrietty . It is interesting to see that they have changed Arrietty's title slightly for its American release. The distributors don't seem to trust American audiences to work it out for themselves. |
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| chillywilly |
| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:32 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Salt Lake City
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billyweeds wrote: Totally agree with that last statement. If you see only one movie this year, it has to be A Separation. It truly blows every other 2011 film out of the water.
Adding this one to my list, which I didn't already have. War Horse, The Descendants and The Artist. |
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Chilly
"If you should die before me / Ask if you could bring a friend" |
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| chillywilly |
| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 6:40 pm |
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bartist wrote: Don't forget Ronin. One of the best car chases ever.
For me so far, it was the car chase in The Bourne Supremacy. |
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Chilly
"If you should die before me / Ask if you could bring a friend" |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 9:57 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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| Yeah, it would be a close call, now that I think about TBS -- the TBS chase deserved some kind of award for Most Concussions Miraculously Not Sustained, iirc. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 10:28 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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| Has everybody but me forgotten The French Connection? That chase was awesome, baby. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 11:49 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| I've never seen it and probably should. But I can't think of a single William Friedkin movie I've ever liked. |
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