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| bartist |
 Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 12:08 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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grace wrote: Not to keep beating the "movies I plan to see" drum, but I saw that John Dies at the End was picked up at the TIFF. Paul Giamatti is one of the mains, and the plot sounds up my alley - a couple of quasi-slackers trying to save the world from a stealth invasion.
I'm there - and "quasi-slackers trying to save the world from a stealth invasion" seems to be some kind of subgenre these days. And I plan to rent "Bernie," which you mentioned at the other, quieter, thread.
I love that title. Hope it's not a spoiler. 
Edit: Directed by Don Coscarelli, who did Bubba Ho-Tep. The synop I saw described Giamatti's role as small, which somewhat tones down my enthusiasm. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 4:31 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Grace.........what a story!! Wish I'd been there. He admits to having a big ego.......and it is a fascinating book. |
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| grace |
| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:50 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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bartist wrote: Edit: The synop I saw described Giamatti's role as small, which somewhat tones down my enthusiasm.
You know, you're right. I read this synopsis -- It's a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't. -- and for some reason thought Arnie, Giamatti's character, was one of the slackers. The slackers actually are, for those who can read, John and David. Wishful thinking on my part, probably. I might check it out anyway, depends what else is playing when it comes around.
Befade, thanks for the rec on the Langella book. I read up on it, and it sounds quite juicy; I didn't think of Langella and Montgomery Clift as being in the same time frame at all, for one thing. (Juicy in the conventional sense, too, of course, the Clift mention just caught my eye.) |
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| grace |
| Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2012 5:58 pm |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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| inla, thank you so much for the recommendation via roommate re The Intouchables. Saw it today; and while the story was a little formulaic, the main characters were great fun to watch -- actually, all of them were, but the mains carried the flick -- and in the end it was ... maybe calling it uplifting is overkill, but I walked out smiling. Without your mention, I would likely have passed it by, and I am glad that I did not. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:29 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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| grace, my pleasure, so glad you enjoyed it. Hopefully the annual deluge of screener DiViDs will resume this autumn-to-winter, for it's doubtful I'll manage to see it in the cinematechque before it vanishes, but will try, since it sounds quite my cuppa. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 2:35 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Thanks ever so. Was already interested, so will keep a lookout for it, preferably with my electric fan plugged in. |
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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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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 8:55 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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The Master is a strange, strange movie. Can't say I liked it, but that's sort of what it's after. It's deliberately alienating. The acting is strong and individual scenes of "processing" people into a cult are fascinating, but the overall effect is just not very entertaining or enlightening.
P.S. Just read the review by Marc. Nothing to add. His review is spot on, not least in his appreciation of the two lead performances, showy as hell, actory beyond description, but undeniably brilliant. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2012 11:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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| I've been waiting anxiously for the screen return of Joaquin Phoenix. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 5:12 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Befade wrote: I've been waiting anxiously for the screen return of Joaquin Phoenix.
He does not disappoint, although I prefer Phoenix in his less "actory," more comedic performances. My two favorites are his relatively unappreciated turns in 8MM and Signs. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 5:38 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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The morning after, I feel more negative about The Master than I did coming out of the theater. It's easy to be snake-oiled into thinking it's a better movie than it is because of weird, creepy scenes showing cultish activity and other scenes between Hoffman and Phoenix which show two skilled actors showing off their skills. It's later (like this morning) that one realizes there's even less there there than one originally suspected. As some people know, Boogie Nights is one of my all-time top ten movies. But IMO P.T. Anderson has gone somewhat steadily downhill from there.
On the other hand, Margaret is growing in my regard 24 hours later. It's a truly great film, one that should have won Oscars for Kenneth Lonergan and Anna Paquin and nominations for others and secured Kenneth Lonergan a permanent place in the cinema pantheon. Instead the buzz goes to the likes of The Master??? Yuck.
Looooove Marc's comparison of Anderson's age with that of F.W. Murnau. Wunderkind? I. Don't. Think. So. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 8:37 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Quote: He does not disappoint, although I prefer Phoenix in his less "actory," more comedic performances. My two favorites are his relatively unappreciated turns in 8MM and Signs.
Word. Less comedic JP role I liked - guilt-ridden father in Reservation Rd. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 9:13 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Of course Margaret's messy history and delayed release worked against it.
I keep forgetting to check if the Blu Ray here indeed has the director's cut as an SD extra. I suspect not, though the packaging says it does. Actually I did try to check once, just not at a shop which actually has the BR. |
Last edited by gromit on Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 11:09 am |
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Punch-Drunk Love was the only Anderson movie I've really liked. Boogie Nights was a mish-mash with the odd good scene and many silly scenes. Magnolia was far more well done, but didn't grab me. A few of impressive scenes. He has a tendency to lay it on with a trowel.
Punch-Drunk Love is a movie that he didn't make a mess of. In fact he did use things he had tried in the previous films and they were a good fit, not over-done. Besides, the movie was a good length, not like the previous wanderings of the others. Very good and a very original one. Strangely the acting was tops except for P.S. Hoffman. His role was unneeded and a little stupid so it wasn't entirely his fault. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 4:58 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: AZ
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Boogie Nights is one of my all time favorite movies. I still think the tone of Margaret was unrelentingly strident........and for me that made it off-balance
and unsettling. The mother was played by Lonergan's wife. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2012 7:41 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 14498
Location: Houston
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| Can't manage to love Boogie Nights. Am impressed by many things in it, and I like it more than I once did, but that's as far as it goes. |
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