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| marantzo |
 Posted: Wed Jul 24, 2013 7:32 pm |
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'It had some good scenes. Massive robot machines and massive evil monsters.'
I made a mistake there. Some of the battles were fun to watch but the good scenes that I was thinking of were some of the back stories and ones with Becket and Mako, the Japanese woman etc. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 12:05 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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| Guillermo del Toro doesn't make bad films, but I don't think he has made one so devoid of true grist or resonance. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 8:05 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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billyweeds wrote: Marc wrote: We're reviewing more reviews than film in CURRENT FILM.
Oh, shut up, you prig.
But here's my take on Much Ado About Nothing anyway.
I prefer the Branagh/Thompson version, but this Joss Whedon b&w movie is offhand and charming although a little slapdash for my taste. I liked most of the performances, but Alexis Denisof as Benedick did next to nothing for me, which severely damaged my liking for the film since so much depends on this character. Denisof's readings often missed the mark IMO, but Amy Acker was fine as Beatrice, and I really liked Nathan Fillion's Dogberry (though not as much as Michael Keaton's in the Branagh version) and Reed Diamond's Don Pedro (more than Denzel Washington's in the you know what). Movie was more than okay but not all that.
Agree that Denisof was a weak link in the ensemble. Fillion was great, but some of the audience appreciation at the screening we attended last night may have been "meta." Pluses for me were the B/W photography, soundtrack (including Whedon's own original compositions), Clark Gregg (Leonato), Amy Acker, and humorous and seamless blends of original Elizabethan dialog with modernity - smartphones, missing car keys, handheld camera, etc.
And generally, innuendos are brought to fairly vivid life. The Shakespeare scholar Doug Moston has a famous quote, "If you think a line is bawdy, it’s bawdy. If you don’t think it’s bawdy — it’s only because you haven’t worked it out yet." This ensemble has worked it out. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 10:04 am |
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jeremy wrote: Guillermo del Toro doesn't make bad films, but I don't think he has made one so devoid of true grist or resonance.
del Toro was the main reason I went to see Pacific Rim. If you haven't seen the movie, when you do, watch the credits at the end because Ron Perlman has a funny bit. |
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| Joe Vitus |
| Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:48 pm |
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billyweeds wrote: Joe, I didn't make it cleear that I meant really new films, which is what I expected (perhaps unrealistically) from Hulu Plus. Also expected more of a selection of Criterion classics.
I believe the complete Criterion collection is on Hulu. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 2:54 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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[quote="Joe Vitus"]billyweeds wrote: Joe, I didn't make it cleear that I meant really new films, which is what I expected (perhaps unrealistically) from Hulu Plus. Also expected more of a selection of Criterion classics.
I believe the complete Criterion collection is on Hulu.[/quote
Just for starters, try to access Sirk's Written on the Wind. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 4:57 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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[quote="billyweeds"]Joe Vitus wrote: billyweeds wrote: Joe, I didn't make it cleear that I meant really new films, which is what I expected (perhaps unrealistically) from Hulu Plus. Also expected more of a selection of Criterion classics.
I believe the complete Criterion collection is on Hulu.[/quote
Just for starters, try to access Sirk's Written on the Wind.
Criterion no longer has licenses for some of their titles. That must be one of them. The Silence of the Lambs and RoboCop are a couple of others. If they ever do an HD release of Written on the Wind, then it will appear.
There are a lot of films that are in the Criterion Collection that stream on Huluplus but the Wikipedia article says they don't. (Many of Rossellini's films, for example, including the War Trilogy.) It's possible the source for these may be something other than the Criterion Collection. They have more than a dozen Naruse films and Criterion's only released one of them. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Jul 25, 2013 5:34 pm |
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| My one and only great memory of Hulu Plus was Rossellini's The Flowers of St. Francis, a unique and absolutely lovely film. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:10 am |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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Location: Montreal
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Are there any current films worth seeing?
Yes, I read the last couple of pages and noticed the surprising groundswell of support for Lone Ranger (seriously?) and Gary's mild recommendation of Pacific Rim, but have there been any films that set the bar higher than, "Not as bad as expected"?
Has there been anything thus far in 2013 that you guys consider remotely great? 'Cause I've seen absolutely nuthin'.
On the other hand, I finally started watching some good TV -- Game of Thrones and Homeland (what a fantastic show). More evidence that every writer worth a damn has ceded the big screen to 16-year-old boys and headed to cable television. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 7:39 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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lshap wrote: Are there any current films worth seeing?
Yes, I read the last couple of pages and noticed the surprising groundswell of support for Lone Ranger (seriously?) and Gary's mild recommendation of Pacific Rim, but have there been any films that set the bar higher than, "Not as bad as expected"?
Has there been anything thus far in 2013 that you guys consider remotely great? 'Cause I've seen absolutely nuthin'.
On the other hand, I finally started watching some good TV -- Game of Thrones and Homeland (what a fantastic show). More evidence that every writer worth a damn has ceded the big screen to 16-year-old boys and headed to cable television.
Maybe something more than two pages back? Not sure what's back there, but I recall some films that were considered good, if not great. Despite my qualified praise, and that offered by Bweeds et al., I did really like Much Ado About Nothing (which was mentioned within these 2 pages past, sirrah).
Kind of agree about Homeland, etc. - does seem like the good writers have been seeking the steady gig. But I'm not sure that they have entirely departed the cinema - it's just that it is, well, SUMMER. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:16 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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I've seen three movies in 2013 that I would recommend without reservation. Whether they're absolutely "great" or not, they're considerably better than "good."
In alphabetical order: Disconnect, The Place Beyond the Pines, Side Effects.
The Lone Ranger I would recommend if I know the person I'm recommending it to. Obviously a lot of people dislike it to the extent where I have to consider it of limited appeal. |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:13 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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billyweeds wrote: I've seen three movies in 2013 that I would recommend without reservation. Whether they're absolutely "great" or not, they're considerably better than "good."
In alphabetical order: Disconnect, The Place Beyond the Pines, Side Effects.
The Lone Ranger I would recommend if I know the person I'm recommending it to. Obviously a lot of people dislike it to the extent where I have to consider it of limited appeal.
Good grief, Bill... I haven't heard of any of those films on your recommended list. Before I lose another piece of my soul at another blockbuster, I've gotta' get back to the downtown art-film cinemas.
Thanks! |
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| lshap |
| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:21 pm |
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Joined: 12 May 2004
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bartist wrote: Maybe something more than two pages back? Not sure what's back there, but I recall some films that were considered good, if not great. Despite my qualified praise, and that offered by Bweeds et al., I did really like Much Ado About Nothing (which was mentioned within these 2 pages past, sirrah).
Kind of agree about Homeland, etc. - does seem like the good writers have been seeking the steady gig. But I'm not sure that they have entirely departed the cinema - it's just that it is, well, SUMMER.
A wider margin of acceptable stupidity during Summer ("Hockey Pre-Season" in Montreal) is nothing new, but I found myself in the weird position of wanting to see a film and having no decent-looking options. Nothing. Not even a clever blockbuster to make my glands happy. Maybe I'll give Pacific Rim a try... and isn't there a Matt Damon film coming out?
Part of my meh attitude towards film is because TV's become so much better, plus it's convenient. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 6:45 pm |
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| The Lone Ranger is better than Pacific Rim. Not that PR is bad, but TLR is a better movie and entertaining from beginning to end. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Fri Jul 26, 2013 8:03 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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lshap wrote: Are there any current films worth seeing?
...
It's a perennial complaint, but Hollywood seems to produce little worth watching. In a case of bad currency chasing out the good, the relative cheapness of special effects and the importance of overseas markets (less in tune with theatrical nuances) seems to have elbowed out what little substance, blockbusters use to contain. There have been a slew of repetitive and formulaic generation clueless and rom coms, and I dispair that Grown Ups 2 exists. However, as always, their are always a few grains of gold to be sifted out from all slit and slurry.
I don't know the release schedules in your part of the world, but current examples of cinematic alchemy currently include After Midnight and Rust and Bone. For some light relief, I am also looking forward to the new Wright, Frost and Pegg release, The World's End.
PS I said The Lone Ranger would be crap. It bore all the signs of a formula in search of a vehicle. |
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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