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| Ghulam |
 Posted: Fri Mar 13, 2015 1:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 4742
Location: Upstate NY
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The Australian spooky movie The Babadook is a directorial achievement for Jennifer Kent. The story of a young widow and her 9 year old son takes us from preoccupation with ghost stories and magic tricks, to frightful perceptions of the house being haunted by a "Mr. Babadook", to the themes of unresolved grief and trauma, and to questions of an incipient psychosis. I do not know of any horror film receiving so many rave reviews as well as awards before. All well deserved!
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 12:05 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6961
Location: Black Hills
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Have heard nothing but raves for it. Plan to see asap.
Finally caught A Walk Among the Tombstones. Liamgrrr Neesongrr isgrr excellentgrrr as Matt Scudder. Block himself is on record as saying Neeson was his dream pick. Stylish smart thriller, ably helmed (and scripted) by Scott Frank, who did the underappreciated The Lookout. Which was shot around some Canadian town nobody ever heard of. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 9:06 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: Liamgrrr Neesongrr isgrr excellentgrrr
Are you channeling Long John Silver? |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 10:20 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Let me consult with my parrot....
...no, just trying to convey Neeson's growl in print.  |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2015 11:20 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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bartist wrote: Let me consult with my parrot....
...no, just trying to convey Neeson's growl in print.
Funny. This, unfortunately, is EXACTLY what Clint Eastwood did in Gran Torino, my choice for worst star performance of the last ten years. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2015 11:01 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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Whiplash is brilliant. It seems to me that what some here saw as endorsement of sadism (as pedagogical method), or overblown histrionics, is really a clever and slightly surreal way to go deep into what makes greatness in music (or other performing art) - how pushing back against something, not giving in, riding out whatever people throw at you, turning your Rage Monster and your ego trip into practicing your ass off....is simply what it takes. Sure, Fletcher (JKS) is a screwed-up human being- so the standard story of love/hate between teacher and student is ratcheted a bit beyond the more restrained abuse (the slight frown, the quiet reassignment to a lower chair....my musician sigboth can tell you all about it) that most music students encounter. This is a drama, a story to expose a dynamic that might ride more under the polite surface in real life. And it's not pretending to be in search of some heart of gold - it does search for the heart of jazz, which I think it finds: anarchy and discipline, paradoxically welded into a sublime moment when all the nastiness and ego melt away.
5 stars, 2 thumbs up, and unless Still Alice or Foxcatcher really blow me away, best movie of 2014. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 3:05 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Wouldn't go quite as far as bartist on the "best movie" deal, but for an award-winning film, Whiplash has been underrated by many. Simmons is absolutely stunning, but so is Miles Teller as his student. And the criticism (which I've heard more than once) that SImmons's character is overstated falls apart when subjected to bartist's spot-on analysis. The movie is surreal in a sense, but also a study of how "turning your Rage Monster and your ego trip into practicing your ass off" (thanks, bart) can make you great. Or, to quote the cliche, "no pain no gain."
Teller's performance has been underappreciated in the rush to honor Simmons, but he was every bit as crucial to the film's indubitable success. A marvelous movie--just not as marvelous as Boyhood (or Selma or Nightcrawler or Birdman). |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2015 8:58 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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| I can see, in the greater scheme, that Boyhood (which also earned my "best" rave) and Selma are better movies, and maybe Birdman. Whiplash just happened to hit me deep, touched a nerve, and yes, Teller is also outstanding. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:19 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Quote: The Woman Who Froze in Fargo
The new movie ‘Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter’ tells the story of a Japanese woman on a quest for riches who was lured to the brutal cold of the Midwest by a Coen brothers film. The woman was real, even if the story isn’t entirely true. And it’s been told before, by a documentarian
http://grantland.com/features/kumiko-the-treasure-hunter-fargo/ |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sun Mar 22, 2015 6:07 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Quote: Whiplash is brilliant. It seems to me that what some here saw as endorsement of sadism (as pedagogical method), or overblown histrionics, is really a clever and slightly surreal way to go deep into what makes greatness in music (or other performing art) - how pushing back against something, not giving in, riding out whatever people throw at you, turning your Rage Monster and your ego trip into practicing your ass off....is simply what it takes. Sure, Fletcher (JKS) is a screwed-up human being- so the standard story of love/hate between teacher and student is ratcheted a bit beyond the more restrained abuse (the slight frown, the quiet reassignment to a lower chair....my musician sigboth can tell you all about it) that most music students encounter. This is a drama, a story to expose a dynamic that might ride more under the polite surface in real life. And it's not pretending to be in search of some heart of gold - it does search for the heart of jazz, which I think it finds: anarchy and discipline, paradoxically welded into a sublime moment when all the nastiness and ego melt away.
Hmmm........Bart.......I don't know about that. I know that some celebrated artists overcame serious dissing at the hands of teachers, etc. (Walt Disney for one) But what I wonder is how do these teachers actually feel about their students? Are the teachers sick of spending time at jobs where they are supposed to encourage other people's creativity? Would they rather be doing their own thing and getting appreciated for it? Do they hate most of the crap their students produce?
I know that when I taught elementary art I might have been the exception. I actually love kids' art and think their creative process is fascinating. I used encouragement to propel kids to give their all. But my idea of encouragement wasn't to say "Good Job." I would focus on what I saw that was worth complementing and maybe add that they could consider using another ingredient in their project........trying to widen their perspective.
I didn't enjoy watching Whiplash......it was too intense and combative. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| knox |
| Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 11:58 am |
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Location: St. Louis
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I kind of agree on the greatness of Whiplash - for me, it rises to the level of an allegory about performance. But it's not easy to watch, which is also true of other great movies. I like your approach, Befade, making concrete suggestions rather than the just "good job." I think, in music, your highest praise from a conductor is when he doesn't say anything and rarely looks your way - in my experience, that means you are doing a good job.  |
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| carrobin |
| Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 12:04 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
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Location: NYC
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Befade wrote:
I know that when I taught elementary art I might have been the exception. I actually love kids' art and think their creative process is fascinating. I used encouragement to propel kids to give their all. But my idea of encouragement wasn't to say "Good Job." I would focus on what I saw that was worth complementing and maybe add that they could consider using another ingredient in their project……..trying to widen their perspective.
My mother told me more than once that the advice that made the strongest impression on her when she was in an art class at school was when she'd been painting trees and the teacher asked, "How many different kinds of green do you see?" (She actually got pretty good at it, but didn't follow up.) |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Mon Mar 23, 2015 12:19 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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I had a drill instructor for conga drum. A Santeria babalao (priest). His house was a shrine to the twenty-two orishas, or deities.
After the first lesson and many others I was shaking. After six months I insisted we start to relax a bit. We argued some (first time!), and then he fired me on the spot. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 7:26 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Despite several moments where the long arm of coincidence seems to belong to Plastic Man, and in spite of the almost constant need to suspend disbelief, Run All Night is an action thriller which adds up to pretty solid entertainment. This is mainly due to acting which transcends the action genre, and character development worthy of Miller or O'Neill. Liam Neeson plays an aging hit man still in thrall to his long-time gangster pal Ed Harris and thoroughly estranged from his good-citizen son Joel Kinnaman. When Neeson is forced to kill Harris's son in order to save Kinnaman's life, the shit hits the fan big time. And from then on it's all but uninterrupted mayhem.
This is often way over the top, but as directed by Jaume Collet-Serra (many exciting zoom shots, awesome camera setups) and acted to the hilt by Neeson, Harris, Vincent D'Onofrio as a cop blissfully devoid of the annoying methody crap D'Onofrio dragged into Law & Order, Common as a relentless hit man, and (quintessentially) Swedish-born Kinnaman (IMO the only earthly reason to watch the misbegotten TV series The Killing) it pretty well pins your attention to the wall. Don't run all night to see Run All Night, but walk five minutes for sure. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2015 8:53 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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I really liked Kinnaman aka Nordstrom in The Killing (which otherwise didn't really prove my cup o tea). Sweden seems to be producing a lot of fine novelists, directors, and actors, for a country with a smaller population than Ohio. (can't resist pointing out that, in showbiz, used to be a Joel Kinnaman would change his name to Charles Nordstrom, not the other way around....)
Will walk the 5 mins. |
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