Pretty stunning. No political agenda whatsoever. Just US soldiers laid bare in one of the deadliest outposts of Afghanistan, the Korengal valley, for 15 months. They go through everything from firefights several times a day to long periods of nothing but themselves and their heads and the guys around 'em. Moments of terror, sadness, and surprisingly, humor with guns on them at all times.


Regardless of how I feel about war I was left with nothing but admiration for these guys. Fucking horrible shithole of a place.

The Other Guys was fucking hilarious.

The Other Guys was fucking hilarious.

yeah, it cemented my belief that Ferrell is only funny in Adam McKay movies.

Saw Scott Pilgrim last night, really enjoyed it. I'm sure 98% of this board would hate it, but it does a good job of holding up the tone/feel of the books. I'm not sure how it would translate to people who aren't familiar with the books, since the source materials revolves heavily around manga and video games. Everyone's blaming its failure on Michael Cera backlash, which doesn't really surprise me, but then I haven't seen that many of his movies so it was all jake with me.

I loved this movie. Saw it twice on opening weekend. It definitely nailed the books. Made me giddy with excitement with how grand it is.

I'm not surprised (although disappointed) that the movie is bombing at the box office. Maybe they should have focused more on the "hey, this is the director who brought us Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz!" I mean, people love those movies.

Albert and David Maysles, pioneers in the cinéma vérité movement of documentary filmmaking, chose for their subjects of this film a mother and daughter with celebrity connections. Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edie (or, as they are called by the brothers, Big Edie and Little Edie), are aunt and cousin to Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. In the early '70s, their 28-room mansion in Long Island's tony community of East Hampton was found to be a health hazard, and the two women, in their seventies and fifties, were threatened with eviction. Jacqueline Onassis paid for the house to be put in good order, and two years later, the Maysles paid the ladies a series of follow-up visits. This is not fly-on-the-wall filmmaking; the brothers are sometimes shown on-camera, and both women talk directly to them. Big Edie reminisces about her husband (from whom she has long been separated) and her youthful singing career; Little Edie ruminates over memories of her thwarted romances and confides that she has to get out of Grey Gardens (the name of their estate), although she has been living there since 1952; and the two women pick at each other for transgressions past and present. The women share their home with at least five cats and several raccoons, for whom Little Edie leaves out food in the attic. They are not recluses; they host a modest 79th birthday party for Big Edie, they employ a gardener, and they are often visited by Jerry, a young handyman/lost soul whom Little Edie calls "the Marble Faun," after the Nathaniel Hawthorne story. "It's very difficult to keep the line between the past and the present," Little Edie says near the beginning of the film, and it becomes clear that both women are much more comfortable reliving their respective youths (in some ways, Little Edie has never left hers) than facing their rather bleak old and middle age.

Thinking about Salt in the backyard tonight.

Might be a little too highbrow though.

got 'Grey Gardens' last night....gonna watch it this weekend hopefully...

We watched about half of this the other night on the Netflix stream. Somewhat intriguing but man, what a couple of fucking disasters. Nothing like seeing a barely clothed overweight elderly woman falling out of her clothes.

Also, any mention of Maysles Brothers always reminds me that the Stones referred to them as the "Measles Brothers"

Isn't there some feature film equivalent of that with Drew Barrymore and maybe Vanessa Redgrave? Also, Dov, Chris and Frank - please turn in your man card for having any interest in this

Stagecoach- Criterion film that might be one of the best westerns I've seen. Great story, great characters. 4.5/5
Walkabout- Criterion film about kids in wilderness. Rises above the normal dreck with good characters and cool creative touches. 4/5

A young British clerk in a gloomy North Country undertaker's office, Billy is bombarded daily by the propaganda of the media that all things are for the asking. This transparently false doctrine, coupled with the humdrum job and his wild imagination, leads him on frequent flights to "Ambrosia," a mythical kingdom where he is crowned king, general, lover or any idealized hero the real situation of the moment makes him desire. His vacillating commitment and post-adolescent immaturity have created situations which make Ambrosia all the more attractive. He's succeeded in becoming engaged to two different girls, simultaneously, while in love with a third, Liz. He's in hot water with his employer, having spent a rather large sum of postage money on his personal frivolities. And last, but not least, his dream of becoming a highly-paid, famous scriptwriter in London seems doomed to failure. The only person in his life capable of bringing him down to earth is Liz, and she's having a difficult time of it. Finally, he gets his life sufficiently in order to leave for London with his true love. Billy still hasn't come to grips with the real world by the end of the film. He leaves the train to buy milk from a vending machine and watches the train slowly pull out for London with Liz aboard. He returns to the more comfortable shelter of his parents home, Ambrosia and his imagination.

People never seem to mention how sexually charged Walkabout is. Is it because Agutter was 16 when this was filmed and she's naked a few times, thus they don't want to seem like pervs (or molos)?