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| carrobin |
 Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 9:49 am |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 7795
Location: NYC
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 10:54 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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Manchester by the Sea didn't do much for me. I didn't like its somewhat choppy editing rhythm. And the flashback structure seemed a bit clunky. The music didn't really work for me. And I thought the acting was okay, but nothing special. A few scenes looked like actors acting. Overall, the plot felt overly schematic (is that the word I want?)
It was entirely okay, but seemed like the kind of film I'll forget about entirely within a few weeks. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Fri Mar 31, 2017 11:02 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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I really didn't find much to like in '16.
Though I still have a few well-regarded films to go.
I picked up Paterson, but the disc didn't play. Need to return it.
Fences is around, and I'll get to that.
Here's my Top 10 so far, and I thought Man by the Sea was just okay and didn't like Moonlight much. Also seemed forgettable to me. My #10 I thought was basically a poor film ...
1. Aferim!
2. Childhood of a Leader
3. Kubo and the Two Strings
4. The Jungle Book
5. Manchester by the Sea
6. Moonlight
7. April and the Extraordinary World
8. The Lobster
9. 20th Century Women
10. Hail, Caesar! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 7:21 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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Got a replacement Paterson.
Also picked up Fences and Timbuktu.
Has anyone seen Neruda, which might be good or not?
Looked potentially interesting ... |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 12:52 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Paterson is an outstandingly sweet film. A bus driver friend in Seattle is gathering his coworkers to see it tomorrow. |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 1:10 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Somebody whose opinion I respect enormously thinks Paterson is the best American film of the last five years. I probably won't agree, but this makes it a must-see for me. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Sat Apr 01, 2017 9:35 pm |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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I really liked Paterson.
It's low-key quirky, but grounded in the daily routine of work and home life, walking the dog and having a beer. A very sweet film. I liked the repetitions and the compositions, most notably the way the couple sleep together. Some other nice shots such as the city going by/coming near in the bus front windshield.
I think it helps to be from/near NJ, but that's not really important.
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Bonus:
On the Abbott & Costello Show, Lou is one of 3 game show contestants:
The Host asks the first contestant her name and where she's from.
Contestant #1: I'm Mabel Shelly and I'm from LA.
Host: Oh right here in sunny Los Angeles ...
C #1: No, Louisiana.
Host: Uh, Contestant #2 what's your name and where are you from?
C#2: Joe Norman and I'm also from LA.
Host (a little wary): LA? Uh, you're also from Louisiana ...?
C#2: No, Lake Arrowhead
Host: So Contestant #3 what's your name and where are you from?
C#3: I'm Lou Costello and I'm from LA too.
Host (very wary): LA, that wouldn't be Los Angeles would it?
Lou: No, Paterson, New Jersey.
(and with that Abbott, who happens to be standing directly behind Costello for some reason, whacks him with his hat and tells him to behave).
I always liked where it's headed (wacky LA place names) and how Costello throws a monkey wrench into the proceedings. Along with his innocent desire to fit in and say the same as the others, yet tell the truth. And indeed he was Lou Costello from Paterson, NJ. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 6:37 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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gromit wrote:
___________________________________________________
Bonus:
On the Abbott & Costello Show, Lou is one of 3 game show contestants:
The Host asks the first contestant her name and where she's from.
Contestant #1: I'm Mabel Shelly and I'm from LA.
Host: Oh right here in sunny Los Angeles ...
C #1: No, Louisiana.
This is resonating with me at the moment, since I'm going to New Orleans tomorrow and Los Angeles in June, and I always have to specify when I'm telling people about LA.  |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Sun Apr 02, 2017 2:41 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12929
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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inlareviewer wrote: Don't throw things, but we really dug the new Beauty and the Beast. Just saying -- have been humming "Belle" and "Gaston" and "Be Our Guest" for days now. It doesn't supplant the original (impossible), but it doesn't feel like a money-grabbing Why? piece either, providing a persuasive (and technically jaw-dropping) alternative. La Belle Emma, Beastly Mr. Stevens, Almost Steals It Gaston Evans and Ye Gad LeFou Forever are particularly choice, but the whole thing is both dazzlingly escapist and contextually expressive, and we certainly could use its central message at present. Plus, the tweaks to the story give it more resonance/relevance, not least the decision to pull the anthropomorphic servants into the life-or-death stakes of the spell and the narrative resolution. Howard Ashman lives. There must be more than this provincial life.
I just got back from it. I agree about the tweaks. It made for some very moving scenes toward the end. I got the impression that the enchantress's spell was also meant to make the servants into more caring people. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Mon Apr 03, 2017 3:47 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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billyweeds wrote: gromit wrote:
___________________________________________________
Bonus:
On the Abbott & Costello Show, Lou is one of 3 game show contestants:
The Host asks the first contestant her name and where she's from.
Contestant #1: I'm Mabel Shelly and I'm from LA.
Host: Oh right here in sunny Los Angeles ...
C #1: No, Louisiana.
This is resonating with me at the moment, since I'm going to New Orleans tomorrow and Los Angeles in June, and I always have to specify when I'm telling people about LA.
Just let us know when you get back from Lake Arrowhead ... |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 12:26 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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Fences didn't really interest me. Mostly just Denzel Washington acting showy. Not much attempt to open up the play. The dialogue often sounded very written. I've never been a fan of filmed plays. And sometimes I think I'd rather just that -- to see the actual play filmed, instead of a film made from a play. Fences didn't really seem to have that much to say, and the ground it covered felt rather familiar.
Viola Davis is good in a limited role. The son and friend Bono barely have anything to do. Doubt this will stick in my mind for long.
Well at least now my 2016 Top 10 contains films I actually like or think are okay. Glad to get 20th C Women and the Coens misfire off my list. That might be the best thing about Fences, along with Viola Davis and the baseball on a rope. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| yambu |
| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 5:26 pm |
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Joined: 23 May 2004
Posts: 6441
Location: SF Bay Area
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You're right about the stagy dialogue. At times the baseball metaphors are all the patter we think we'll get.
But I found plenty to be moved about. Denzel is both brave and hard-hearted. He has a great family who wants to support him, but he has no idea how to reach their love.
Reminds me, in a way, of Willie Loman. Time I saw the Lee J. Cobb version again. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Tue Apr 04, 2017 11:08 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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| Fences is like Death of a Salesman rewritten (in other words, overwritten) by Eugene O'Neill. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 12:12 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9015
Location: Shanghai
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Yeah, it was very much a black Death of a Salesman.
Too much so. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Wed Apr 05, 2017 5:58 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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yambu wrote: Time I saw the Lee J. Cobb version again.
Where can one see Cobb do Loman? Fredric March did the movie, and Dustin Hoffman later, but AFAIK Cobb never committed it to the screen. Tell! |
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