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| gromit |
 Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:49 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Need longer posts at the bottom of a page.
Enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom last night.
The girl was really good -- seemed like a future Goth, and came across as a real personality.
The boy was a little harder to get a hold on.
Not sure why the girl's Mom has a megaphone but it was kind of amusing.
Good costumes and tents throughout.
Ed Norton kind of reminded me of Kevin Spacey but gentler. I got a kick out of Tilda Swinton's icy Social Service lady, which was almost like a fairy tale evil stepmother or something.
I liked how we don't see the lead boy until more than 15 minutes in, and their adventure is thwarted after around 45 minutes. Then we go in for more scheming like in an old serial. It all worked quite well for me, and I've been pretty up and down on Wes A.
Thought Bottle Rocket was slight but mostly amusing; Rushmore kind of average; loved Tenenbaums; hated Steve Zissou and Darjeeling. Mr. Fox was okay, though I had a kind of poor early pirate copy and never went back to watch a good print. (I should have waited another week or two).
So I'd easily put Moonlight K in 2nd. |
Last edited by gromit on Wed Sep 26, 2012 5:03 pm; edited 1 time in total
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| grace |
| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:57 am |
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Joined: 11 Nov 2005
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I took a class called Norse Mythology in college. I pictured Odin, Thor, Loki, Valkyries, etc. The course essentially turned out to be based on Tolkien. I took the F, and it was in my major.
I really enjoyed Moonrise Kingdom as well, and thank you, gromit, for stating a bunch of reasons why. I loved that the Tilda Swinton character had not name except Social Services and yeah, she was totally a caricature; and while many did not appreciate Bob Balaban, I loved his scenes as well. Must watch again. Many times. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 10:16 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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gromit wrote: I don't think I ever tried to read Tolkien.
Watership Down was enough for me ....
(yes, that's a joke)
I saw a sign in a butcher shop in suburban London which read, "Watership Down: You've Read the Book. You've Seen the Movie. Now, eat the cast!"
As for the "trio of taste," make that a quartet (or maybe quintet) of taste! What BWeed said. At least Trekkies have a fascinating and somewhat plausible universe to obsess over. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 6:38 pm |
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billyweeds wrote: marantzo wrote:
I also have a story about his son and his wife who is a Winnipeg woman who lived down the street from me and I disliked (she hated me). I think I wrote about it before. I'll write it again if anyone is interested. 
Yes, please.
OK, Billy. A close friend of mine whose family were close friends of Tolkien Jr's wife's family. When the couple were in Winnipeg they went to visit Danny, my friend. He was a big Jazz fan and put on One of his jazz records that he liked best. Tolkien Jr's wife said, "We don't care for jungle music."
Danny was absolutely stunned by her comment.
Another little story (that doesn't include any Tolkien). When I was out for dinner with Steinberg in NY one night, during our conversation he told about when he was at some kind of ceremony with Queen Elizabeth when he was in London and his girlfriend from the past, Tolkien Jr's wife was there. It was a surprise of course. I couldn't help myself, I asked him, "What did you ever see in her? She was an obnoxious snob."
He wasn't offended and nodded in agreement. She dumped him, by the way. He wasn't famous then. |
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| mitty |
| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:20 pm |
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Joined: 02 Aug 2004
Posts: 1359
Location: Way Down Yonder.......
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I've looked, but see no posts on The Master. Am I just missing them? Entirely possible. 
Charles and I went to see it the other day down in N.O., and I think I almost need a re-watch to get it straight. The acting and camera work was phenomenal, but my head is still spinning a bit.
What say you guys? |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:31 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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| Hmm. Interesting, Mitty. I'm hoping to see it soon, but with me, I wouldn't hold my breath. Btw, did you read any reviews before seeing it? |
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| mitty |
| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:39 pm |
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Joined: 02 Aug 2004
Posts: 1359
Location: Way Down Yonder.......
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Yes, the thing that attracted me was the fact the reviews said that Phoenix was again at the top of his game. And, boy, oh boy, is he ever. His whole stance, appearance is amazing. His whole physicality is changed and enhanced. Bloody amazing. Hoffman is wonderful. I just love him in anything.
The camera work is.....wow. Clear as a bell and intense.
Some scenes made me cringe a bit, but they were certainly realistic. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2012 9:46 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: Manhattan
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 1:54 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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marantzo wrote: "We don't care for jungle music."
To offer up a possible explanation:
Duke Ellington's band in the late '20's developed a wild sound at the Cotton Club during the Harlem Renaissance of the late 20's. With plunger-mute growling trumpets and trombones plus rhythmic drums and such it became known as the jungle sound or jungle music. The music was exotic to white Americans, and part of the idea was to conjure up a supposed Africa.*
Whether this was what she was referring to, or if jungle music became a later dismissive term for jazz, or a certain type of edgy non-sweet jazz, I don't know.
Quote: * Bubber Miley's wah-wah trumpet (originally an imitation of the blues shouting of Mamie Smith, whom he accompanied in 1921) was as essential as Ellington's piano. The growling sound of both his trumpet and "Tricky Sam" Nanton's trombone lent the band's sound its "savage" appeal. Couple with Sonny Greer's primordial drumming, they evoked the African jungle, and therefore was advertised as "jungle music".
Quote: Like Bubber Miley, Nanton extensively used rough-edged, slurred and vocalised sounds, which wrenched the music away from the traditionally "sweet" sounds of a conventional dance band.
Quote: Between 1927 and 1931 Ellington performed at Harlem's "Cotton Club", in front of an audience that was mostly white. These shows were occasionally broadcasted live, a fact that made Ellington a nation-wide celebrity. He owed it to white manager and publisher Irving Mills, the man who promoted his music as "jungle" music, who found him the contract at the "Cotton Club", and who made sure the shows were broadcasted on the radio.
In 1929-30, a few recordings, including his breakthrough national hit Mood Indigo, were credited to Duke Ellington and His Jungle Band.
My guess is she wouldn't call Glenn Miller "jungle music" but might, mistakenly, dub bebop such. So there probably was an unpleasant racial angle to the comment. But you're going to have to contact Steinberg and find out whose record he played that day. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:19 am |
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| It wasn't Steinberg who played the record. He was already on the comedy circuit. The record wasn't Ellington. It might have been Nat Adderley or Dizzy Gillespie, I'm not sure. The comment made was definitely racist. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 10:54 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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I was impressed by the perfs in The Master, but agree with Marc that they constitute "acting riffs" rather than bringing real people to life. I agree with Marc's comment, at Dangerous Minds -
Quote: Frankly, I’m fucking tired of film makers who demand that their audiences fill in the blanks. There’s a mighty big difference between films that compel one to think and those that ask the viewer to co-write the script. Like the Rorschach test that appears early in the film, The Master asks us to make something out of a series of beautiful blots on the screen.
A pretty empty experience, for me. And, unlike Watership Down, I can't eat the cast. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 12:43 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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I made the mistake of taking some Benedril before The Master, so I was fighting to keep my eyes open during the movie (and the previews, so it wasn't the movie's fault, at least not entirely). It seemed to be rather lightweight. Hoffman and Adams were quite good, but by telling the story from Freddie's point of view, the movie lost a lot of potential. It's like telling the story of Watergate from the janitor's point of view.
I was having fun afterward picturing this story with Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis the two leads, with Yvonne de Carlo and Pat Priest as the Dodd women. Carolyn Jones could be the ex-girlfriend, with Marie Blake her mother. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:34 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: Houston
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| I don't know. Zora Neale Hurston, in her essay "How It Feels to be Colored Me" writes about jazz as jungle music. She writes about being pulled back in time to when she was a wild savage who wore paint on her face for the tribal rituals of the jungle. No one would accuse Hurston of racism. So why is he necessarily racist for a similar statement? |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 4:50 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Maybe he put on this 1962 album:
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Marj |
| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2012 5:23 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 10497
Location: Manhattan
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marantzo wrote: It wasn't Steinberg who played the record. He was already on the comedy circuit. The record wasn't Ellington. It might have been Nat Adderley or Dizzy Gillespie, I'm not sure. The comment made was definitely racist.
And shocking and sickening. Period. |
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