loved Savages!

holy shit was this good



excellent editing, storytelling and ability to show an array of emotions dealing with loss, identity, self-consciousness, etc. The concert scenes did an stellar job of bringing the viewer in to feel the beauty that is the shared ecstasy of a concert event like this. They featured a James Murphy and Chuck Klosterman interview throughout and ran some of the dialogue against everyday monotony of Murphy's life off the stage. It didn't feel pretentious, it was as real as a doc like this can be.

Just saw Ted and it was funny. Although, I think that it would have been better had I seen it a couple of weeks earlier, before I heard how amazingly funny it was. Expectations were too high.
It WAS funny, just didn't meet expectations.

under normal circumstances I would give Matthew McConaughy movies a wide berth
as it was his film Sahara from a few years ago that resulted in my last walkout of a cinema.
But blimey charlie, he's in 2 bloody movies out at the World of Cine this week
and if they ain't both rather unexpectedly good! Killer Joe especially, will always
come back to haunt me if I ever set foot in a "Kay Fry See" again, whilst
Magic Mike is more than just an American Full Monty and has some really good
laugh out loud bits n bobbins. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would,
but I probably looked a bit of a saddo sitting in the middle of a row on my own surrounded by hen parties

In light of the events in Aurora, CO, I offer this, without comment:

NRA sets 1000 killed in school shooting as amount after which organization would consider gun control appropriate

Went to see Amazing Spider-Man last night. Pretty good Spider-Man movie. Debatable whether or not it's better than the first two Sam Raimi ones, but it stands up to them. The casting is good, and the characters play off of each other well. Plot-wise it was silly even for a superhero movie, but like most of them, that wasn't too hard to overlook.

Also a week or so ago we watched the last Transformers movie on Netflix streaming. Took us three separate sittings to make it through all 2-and-a-half hours of it. It was so unbelievably retarded as to come back around and be sort of entertaining in its preposterousness. Like I'd heard that it was better than the second one and figured there was no way it could not be (the second one was just plain awful), but I was kind of shocked to see that this mirrored almost every single stupid aspect of the second one. It's truly amazing how Michael Bay can continually manage to surpass what was already way over the top. There was a review somewhere of the second movie that said it "peered down on 'over the top' from a great height" or words to that effect, and this somehow managed to go beyond even that. And not just in terms of crazy effects and ridiculous actions sequences, but actually in terms of dialogue and character interactions. Like giant transforming alien robots are pretty believable compared to some of the things that come out of the human characters' mouths. I feel like sometime in the distant future these last two Transformers movies will be viewed as the hilariously awful B-movies of our times. Except that instead of being the product of limited resources and naivete, they're born out of unlimited resources and unchecked whims.

Yeah I d/led the 2nd Transformers movie and didn't finish it, it was so bad. Scared to try the third.

Recent watches:

Merantau - same lead actor/director duo that did Raid Redemption. Reaaaaalllly generic story, but once it gets rolling, the fights are pretty sweet, and the "Silat Harimau" fighting style is just different enough to give it some unique flavor.

The Nude Bomb - Yes, the old Maxwell Smart movie from 1980. Silly and entertaining.

Beverly Hills Cop trilogy. Upon re-watching, these movies really have a weird flow, especially in Part 2 where Murphy has these bizarre comedy routines that seem to take place in another universe separate from the rest of the action movie. Also, Part 1 has a great 80s soundtrack.

Chad and I saw this last night and I think I can speak for both of us when I say that all of the above is accurate. This will be added to my library for my history of rock class. I'm not even an LCD fan, but it was a compelling film.

Goon - Not the biggest hockey fan in the world, but I fucking loved this.

This is the first that I have heard of this. But a hockey movie with SWS sounds like a winner.

Written by Jay Baruchel, one of the lesser known (but not lesser lights) of the Apatow Repetory Company. If you like this, go on & see The Trotsky. (Bonus: early screen work of the future ex Mrs Don Draper.)

I do believe this is now streaming on Netflix.

L'Atalante
This is a classic, but too many of the attitudes towards women were really archaic, making the whole effect hard to appreciate in 2012. But aside from that, well, there is a reason L'Atalante is classic--it's just really well done.
4/5


La Jetee
Really enjoyed this short sci-fi film (would eventually inspire Gilliam's 12 Monkeys), and its unique utilization of sequenced still photos and narration really works in its favor.
5/5


Sans Soleil
At its best, a vibrant and close examination of Japan through the eyes of an outsider. At its worst, messy and scattered. Mostly the good outweighs the bad.
3.5/5


Blue
A beautiful rendering of what happens to a woman when her famous husband and her daughter are killed in an accident. Kieślowski is the kind of director where quick synopsis doesn't come close to pegging his films, so I'll leave it at "I was blown away."
5/5


White
More Kieślowski, this time following a man on a revenge scheme while he climbs society's ladder. Lacks the emotional impact of Blue, but intentionally so, this time with more humor and absurdities.
4/5


The Dark Knight Rises
Catwoman saves this, in my eyes. She was delightful to watch onscreen--steals every scene she's in. The rest of the movie had a "been there, done that" feel to it. It's like drinking Yeungling Lager--it's comfortable and safe, but there is nothing about it to revolutionize the drinking experience.
3/5

this is probably going to rake awards. joaquin phoenix and philip seymour hoffman are terrific. it also looks beautiful. the story is pretty good. but the execution, especially through the second half, left me a little underwhelmed.

add shitterer above the title too

bleu is one of my favorite movies. now you have to see red and by all means check out camera buff by kieslowski as well.

verne fucking troyer.

Yes! Fantastic film.

....


Wife and I are big Jaws fans, so we picked up the new BR of it. It looks soooo good. It's probably the best looking 1970s film I've seen on BR. They really cleaned it up--even from the 30th (?) anniversary version on DVD. Tons of extras too. Really impressed.

I knew a ton about Marley but hearing it from his family and people involved definitely makes it come to life. Lots of archival footage that hasn't been seen. Highly rec'd.

i'm not sure how this will be received, but i thought it was very entertaining.

Anyone seen Sleepwalk With Me yet?

seeing it thursday

i definitely want to see it but am a little put off by joseph gordon-levitt's makeup. i know the idea behind it but it just seems kind of weird.

I think they wanted to cast Shia Le Boeuf, but he was too pricey. So, they got somebody about the same age/build, who can be made up easily to look like Shia.