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| inlareviewer |
 Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 2:43 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Befade: That is not an isolated response to Carol, by any means, and can only say that it's all SO under the surface, that it took us a second time to locate where/how La Blanchett and Ms. Mara were subterraneously connecting. But it's certainly a chilly and hyper-internalized work, to be sure. Am now intrigued to see The Danish Girl, which I keep forgetting about and don't ask me why.
willybeeds: Go in to Anomalisa as tabula rasa as possible, lord knows we did, knowing beforehand only that it was The Kaufman and stop-motion puppets. We hope it doesn't disappoint.
Syd: I believe you are, seriously, the first person to review Quentin's Newest Iconoclasm, and great review, thanks. That's the other Film I keep forgetting needs to go on the Catch-Up List, which is starting to get very stuffed indeed. |
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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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| whiskeypriest |
| Posted: Sun Jan 03, 2016 8:48 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 6916
Location: "It's a Dry Heat."
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billyweeds wrote: whiskeypriest wrote: billyweeds wrote: Can't wait to see Anomalisa ...because if there is one thing I would think you would be eager to see it is a Charlie Kaufman production.
ROTFLMAO. Though I did find Adaptation more than watchable. As for the three other Kaufman "masterpieces," one of them (S.NY) is forever on my Least Favorite List and the other two are on my Most Overrated List, so yeah, Kaufman ain't my cuppa.
But I'm still looking forward to Anomalisa. Hope springs eternal. |
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I ask you, Velvel, as a rational man, which of us is possessed? |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:35 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| My feelings about The Danish Girl are twofold: that Eddie Redmayne is (as I thought he was in The Theory of Everything) a highly skilled but very suoerficial actor; and that Alicia Vikander steals the movie lock, stock, and barrel. She is more beautiful than a great actress should ever be. Not since Sophia Loren has such an amazing acting talent been housed in such drop-dead gorgeosity. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 11:08 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6963
Location: Black Hills
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She's too Swedish looking for my taste, but chacun a son gout.
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 12:57 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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Whoa.....I would never compare Alicia V. To Sophia Loren. She doesn't have that kind of voluptuousness. Her beauty is in her facial features and yes, in her mesmerizing acting ability. Eddie R. does not appeal to me. He does come across as a gawky, big Howdy Doody type doll. There was a lot of beauty in the film and it is a compelling story.
Inla...I'm not going to watch Carol twice........I guess I'm left with chilly. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Mon Jan 04, 2016 1:47 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Befade, and no reason not to be -- it is winter, after all. 
bartist:  !!!
whiskeypriest: Re: The Kaufman's oeuvre, ditto, and ESOTSM is one of our all-time faves.
willybeeds: Hmm. As someone who was mortally impressed with Mr. Redmayne's channeling of Stephen Hawking, am nonetheless inclined to agree in principle with what you say, yet concur with Befade on the source of Ms. Vikander's charms.
Was quite bedazzled by her in Ex Machina, by the bye, not least because where does one find the internal resources to play a burgeoning artificial intelligence without coming off either overtly knowing or innately boring? And she was absolutely neither of those things, from where we sat, anyhoo. |
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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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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 10:32 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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Finally got a substantial haul of 2015 films -- just in time for 2016 of course.
The Lobster -- a Greek film
Trumbo
Steve Jobs
The Big Short
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Joy
Memories on Stone -- from a country which doesn't yet exist (Iraki Kurdistan, as the cover states.
I almost picked up The Little Prince, but it was a Portuguese edition, and had French, Mandarin and Portuguese vocal tracks. But I'd rather wait for an English dub so I can decide whether I prefer that or English subs.
I've been in movie watching mode lately, primarily rewatching old faves. Maybe I'll put a quick post in Couch on the films I've rewatched lately, if I can remember all/most/sme of them ...
Also picked up Flicker Alley's 3-disc Chaplin Essanay short films.
And Mister Johnson, a 1990 Aussie film put out by Criterion.
The 2015 which were available but I skipped:
Brooklyn
Carol
Danish Girl
Room
Spotlight
Anyone want to put in a heartfelt plea for any of those?
I might take a plunge on any of them later, but didn't have a strong enough urge to spend my hard-earned Chairman money on them. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 1:15 pm |
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Joined: 30 Oct 2014
Posts: 278
Location: Winnipeg: It's a dry cold.
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| Brooklyn and Spotlight are both very good. I haven't seen the other three. |
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Big bang, shmig bang; still doesn't explain how anything starts. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 1:20 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
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Location: Lawrence, KS
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| gromit: Would strongly advocate for Room and Brooklyn. Have done enough Caroling for one season, and haven't seen the other two. |
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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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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 2:47 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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Spotlight sounded like a drag.
Brooklyn sounds kind of formulaic.
But that's primarily from skimming the back cover blurb.
I could pass on Carol and never give it another thought -- though I do like Blanchett, who is usually very good.
Will start tuning into the word/buzz on Room.
I'm trying to do a better job of avoiding films that aren't my type or just aren't good.
Will skim back for reviews here when I have a chance.
I wasn't really interested in the Jobs film at all, but all the praise for it here turned me around.
The Lobster is supposed to be a very odd interesting film. I've heard good things about it. Though it seems polarizing as well. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Jan 05, 2016 7:43 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
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Location: New York City
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Befade (and inla too)--I only compared Alicia Vikander to Sophia Loren in that both are amazingly beautiful (and yes, in totally different ways) and possessed of superior acting chops. Some actresses are beautiful (Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, etc.) and can do great work but are not inherently super-talented. Vikander, I suspect, is--and if the Loren comparison doesn't quite work for you, how about (I forgot her momentarily) Ingrid Bergman? I mean...wow.
For the record, I think Elizabeth Taylor and Halle Berry are both gorgeous but neither does a thing for me. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 8:57 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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The Stanford Prison Experiment was quite interesting. Most people know the basic summary of the experiment, but it's interesting to see the specifics of how the "guards" abused the "prisoners." Pretty remarkable since were talking about middle class Stanford University students. Some basic props, uniforms for the guards and batons, sunglasses, sort of sackcloth dresses for the prisoners and a mock prison in the basement of a university buildings, and voila, folks take their roles rather seriously, and get carried away with power and persecution.
Some issues include how the experimenter and his colleagues become bound up in their roles running the faux-prison, and don't reign in abusive behavior and unethical actions. Amazing that it all goes to hell starting on the 2nd day and an experiment which was intended to run for 2 weeks was ended after 6 days due to the abuses.
You have to wonder if the guards get sadistic largely because they have one guard who takes the lead and doling out punishments and psychological abuse. That participant later claimed he was trying to be dramatic and modeling his behavior on Cool Hand Luke. If there wasn't a leader who got weird, or a leader of the guards emerged who was fair and decent, the experiment might have turned out quite different. Still reportedly 4 of the 12 guards acted sadistically in the actual experiment, which is troubling, while the others apparently didn't remonstrate.
The film does a nice job of keeping things claustrophobic with close-ups and showing a few confrontations and then aftermath (such as a prisoner lying on a concrete floor hogtied). It's also quite interesting that most of the study participants expressed interest in being prisoners rather than guards, either thinking that was the easy role (not a job) or finding guards/authority distasteful.
You also have to wonder how the time period -- 1971 -- plays into how things turn out. And the mustaches and bushy hair at least reminds the viewer of the period. I would assume the social revolution and Vietnam War and whatnot contributed to the preference to be prisoners rather than guards. And the law and order movement and crime and general Nixonian creepiness might have impacted the guards behavior. Also, you'd ideally want a prison in which the administrators would train and restrain the guards, and long term guards would want a peaceful work environment, rather than a constant struggle. But some people thrive on tension, or were brought up with such insecurity. And Abu Ghraib shows how easily a group of guards can relish abusing their captives with limited oversight -- even to the extent of flouting their abuses by taking lots of photos.
Degrading others can make one feel big and important. If people have to follow your arbitrary commands, then you are powerful. Hell, that's the almost traditional patriarchal family dynamics, as skewered in Bigger Than Life.
Anyway, some of the original PSE was filmed and some of that footage is apparently online, so I'll peep around and see if I can unearth it. Certainly a film that makes you think about issues. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 10:13 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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I should have mentioned that all of the roles -- prisoners and guards -- were chosen by coin flip.
Here's a BBC show with clips from the actual experiment along with interviews with participants a few years after the experiment and more interviews some 30+ years later.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptQTtGcACvM
It's especially interesting to see how the lead bad guard dissociates himself from his behavior and tries to excuse his actions. No one likes to think of themselves as a bad person or complete asshole, so they concoct stories they tell themselves to explain away whatever bad behavior. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:22 pm |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
Posts: 6963
Location: Black Hills
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| Well, that last bit explains the political personality. When I worked as a counselor, we sometimes called that "petting the dog." People who do terrible things have an inner story in which they emphasize that they are basically good people who, hey, always stop to pet the dog. All that nasty stuff is just what their circumstances demanded, and was needed for them to look out for their friends/family/tribe/constituents/whatever. That film is one of those films whose lessons I want to absorb, but without actually having to see the film. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| inlareviewer |
| Posted: Wed Jan 06, 2016 12:35 pm |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2004
Posts: 1949
Location: Lawrence, KS
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willybeeds: Oh, well, that's very different. Never mind.
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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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