A.I is one of the worst movies ever made, so I wouldn't put it in the same sentence with any of Speilberg's or any other filmmakers other works. Never saw the Lost World, but read the book, an I really liked Minority Report and you know why I like Minority Report better, because War of the Worlds is a REMAKE!!

This is for Susan, the last film I watched was by her poppi Terence Malick. The Thin Red Line, and no I still haven't seen The New World though I yearn to deeply (okay, maybe I'm being nelodramatic for your benefit). This is a remarkable film and I can hear certain people mumbling "oh come the f*** on, that psychological/religious voice over was so hokey", but I think it is the backbone of the film where all the other stories and the personal truth of the characters come from. This made me a fan of Jim Caveizel and everyone else is just fantastic especially Nick Nolte, Elias Koteas, Ben Chaplin, Sean Penn and Dash Mihok (who I haven't seen in anything else but he;s really great in this). Cue Susan's reply...       

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

Weird thing about Terrence Malick. I LOVED Badlands and Days of Heaven, not just the first time but every time. How excited was I back in the mid-90s when we all heard a NEW film was finally on its way -- The Thin Red Line. Who was there the opening day -- a totally full theater in Westwood where my friend and I had to split up sitting three rows apart, left of center and close to the screen? I was.

Oh, it started off so promising with the murky green water and the slooooooooow crocodile and his perfect snout. But then slooooooooooooooow was the operative word from there on out. I confess to probably having dozed off. I remember the odd appearances of movie stars and thinking what, was George Clooney doing a USO appearance back then? John Travolta too? Then all the foot soldiers looking like every other soldier so they blended together and I didn't know who was who half the time. And didn't they ALL have brown eyes too? The girl back home with the wispy Andrew Wyeth curtains. Oh, yech, what a colossal let-down.

Maybe it deserves a second chance but I know it would require a keg of caffeine to make it through in one sitting. I'll try, Smokey. This was my dad's war, even though he was in the navy. But it was the South Pacific all the same so maybe I could give it another shot. My husband never saw it so maybe I can slip it into the Netflix queue without his noticing. Maybe he won't remember all the mean things I've said about it. Maybe he won't remember that The New World was another dreadful Malick movie I made him watch.

I had great expectations for that one too, remember? I loved the website! It was a great story. How could you make that boring? We know it would be shot magnificently and the historical details would be immaculate. But still...

Speaking of slow to develop, I gave up on the latest of my Henri-Clouzot films, winner of Cannes 1953, Wages of Fear. Since I lasted through the entire Le Corbeau (1943) and was disappointed, I wasn't going to go the distance with this one if it had the same shortcomings. It did. And I didn't. It's back in the red envelope ready to go the day after MLK day.

I don't know. Is my attention span shrinking? Or do I get the drift of the Europeans hanging in a stinkin' dusty hot Honduras village, drinking, throwing rocks at dogs, hitting on beautiful floor-washing barmaids and waiting to do something I assume to be "wages of fear." I gave it a good 48 minutes of its 148 and nothing happened. Maybe I needed popcorn or red vines. I don't know. I see on IMDB that it's a beloved film and someone compared it to Treasure of the Sierra Madre, which I loved. I don't know but I think I'm outta touch. The last movie I loved... was Laura. Not bad. That was only a couple months ago...

Last night's two-hour 24 didn't do it for me either. Torture makes me sick. Violence is fine but I just really really hate torture and 24 has a torture fetish. Oh well, tonight is a big night -- Golden Globes and the Red Carpet! I don't care about the show -- just the clothes! Now that I know will be thoroughing engrossing!!!

Susan

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

John Carpenter's Vampires.  Good stuff, I enjoyed it a lot.

I've just watched ER and I have two words to say... John... Stamos...

~ 'I will give you my finest hour, the one I spent watching you shower' ~

Crash

One thing that jumped into my mind as I watched this movie was the scene in Taxi Driver when De Niro takes Cybill Shepherd to the movies. They watch, much to Cybill's chagrin, the Swedish film Kärlekens språk. Wikipedia has this to say about it: "It is called a sex education film or a sexploitation film of the "white coater" variety (a pornographic film masquerading as a documentary or scientific film)."

The reason that this popped in my head was the scene where the "gang" are sitting around watching a documentary about car crashes while getting aroused. The film is in Swedish. Cronenberg had probably not planned it that way, but it works extremely well.

As for the movie itself, it is very interesting, and Cronenberg's flat TV aesthetic compliments the characters' lack of emotion. That's not a positive though.
The dialogue between Spader and his wife while he's rear-ending her after she almost is rear-ended by Koteas' car is pretty laughable though; "what do you think his anus looks like?".

For the most part it seems that it's Cronenberg's intelligence that keeps his work from going STV (his earliest work mainly, even if that came out before video), or maybe a more apt acronym in these modern times, and when dealing with Cronenberg would be STD-VD.

That's interesting. I have seen very little of Cronenberg's but somehow I was always under the impression that, on the contrary, he was very cinematic. I connected his films with images, not words and I thought his stories in his films were told by means of showing them rather than dressing them up in words.

But this impression can well be wrong because like I said I have seen really little of his and even that was long ago.

P.S. Excuse me but the last post of the user "Mel Gibson"... wasn't that too much of "freedom of speech"? I don't know about the current moderating rules on the board here but IMO that case called for some.
 

Bobi 1 Kenobi

B. Beware
O. Of
B. BOB 

My buddy Luis loaned me Oldboy today. From what he said and what I've heard about it here, I'm looking forward to watching it. I am hoping to make it down to the Music Box tonight for a midnight showing of Mulholland Drive. I'll be back with more later.

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

Pulp Fiction

One of those films where all the elements come together wonderfully. Considering all of the critical and audience praise it's received over the years, it would be easy to say it's overrated, and yet I feel that it deserves all of its accolades.

Clerks 2

I don't hate Kevin Smith (which I guess makes me the biggest Kevin Smith fan on the Internet), and I thought this was a pretty likable movie. Even Jay and Bob came off well (thanks to the rehab, I guess).

Scream

Actually, no, I don't give a sh*t about "scary" movies.

Logic Hat Online- logichat.org

Just when I thought I was out...

...they pulled me back in!

Yeah, I've made some really poor Netflix choices lately and movies were just bothering me in new and different ways with each red envelope's arrival.

But last night we decided to go through the OnDemand "new releases" and see if there was something worthwhile.  We settled on Friends With Money and what a pleasant surprise!  Catherine Keener was splendid as always!  Jennifer Aniston really is a good actress in the right vehicle such as this and The Good Girl.  I loved Scott Caan.  What a perfectly recognizable character.  I felt like I discovered him back in 2001 when we went to see him in an itsy bitsy theater in LA.  He wrote the play and starred in it.  I thought he was a guy waiting to break away from the pack.  Nepotism or no, he is damned talented!  The gay or not gay husband - fantastic! 

I wonder how this film played in other parts of the country or around the world since.  It is so regionally West Los Angeles.

Superbly well written and well performed.  I loved it.  David fell asleep half way through after proclaiming, "This is a chick flick, isn't it?"

Susan 

     
“Half a truth is often a great lie.”

Ben Franklin

Rocky Balboa

Best. Movie. Ever. 

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

OldBoy- okay, this movie is totally f-ed up, but I loved it!! The action sequences were interestinng and hey, nice use of hammer. The final reveal and I was "Oh my god, he was....". O may have to buy this film someday once I recover from the first viewing. Really well directed, acted and shot!!!!

House of Sand and Fog -superb film, I would have picked Ben Kingsley over Sean Penn for best actor that year. O would say more but Evie just popped up for a chat!        

"Every day holds a new beginning and every hour holds the promise of an Invitation to Love." 

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

I found the beginning of the film excellent. I liked it up until he was released. But from then on I thought it was shit. And I agree on the twist at the end. 

That god damn trailer's more popular than Uncle's Day in a whorehouse!