Two Lovers
I actually saw this before Special, but forgot to write about it. I feel like story wasn't anything new, but Joaquin Phoenix's performance and the progression of the story felt very well executed. I feel like the screenplay followed everything I learned in my screenplay class, as far as format. Gwenyth Paltrow's usage in this movie bothered me, but it didn't take away from the film. You are made to hate her character, I think anyways. It was worth watching.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Movie Fest Part 5!
Special
This is going to be cute. At first I thought it was going to be kind of artsy fartsy with the camera, but overall it just seemed like a low budget indie film. Michael Rappaport (sp? lazy to check) was very convincing and good in this role and I really liked it. I think it was kind of silly sometimes in the character and situation exaggerations. But I still think it was quite clever and nicely written and shot. If I had to I would probably give it a 3/4.
This is going to be cute. At first I thought it was going to be kind of artsy fartsy with the camera, but overall it just seemed like a low budget indie film. Michael Rappaport (sp? lazy to check) was very convincing and good in this role and I really liked it. I think it was kind of silly sometimes in the character and situation exaggerations. But I still think it was quite clever and nicely written and shot. If I had to I would probably give it a 3/4.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Movie Fest Part 4!
A Christmas Tale
Honest to blog, I got tired of reading the subtitles and got side tracked and wanted to trade it in for a new movie before Blockbuster closed, so my opinion is ehhh. My first impressions were that it was intriguing with its intertwining stories all within one family, and it was creative in the shots and subjectivity. The dialogue, like in many French films, is sharp and romantically written. I felt like I was reading a nice book. At some point I thought it kind of went into mediocre territory, but it still turned around and kept its edge. I lost some story points by getting distracted and multitasking, so the ending of the movie was kind of lost on me. From what I gathered, it was a pretty good film, but I wouldn't say great.
Honest to blog, I got tired of reading the subtitles and got side tracked and wanted to trade it in for a new movie before Blockbuster closed, so my opinion is ehhh. My first impressions were that it was intriguing with its intertwining stories all within one family, and it was creative in the shots and subjectivity. The dialogue, like in many French films, is sharp and romantically written. I felt like I was reading a nice book. At some point I thought it kind of went into mediocre territory, but it still turned around and kept its edge. I lost some story points by getting distracted and multitasking, so the ending of the movie was kind of lost on me. From what I gathered, it was a pretty good film, but I wouldn't say great.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Movie Fest Part 3!
Good Dick
I like watching odd [indie] comedies, and usually they are pretty rewarding to watch. I felt like this one did not offer anything valuable to me at all. Yes, I got to see Jason Ritter's cuteness all over, and got a few giggles from awkward situations, but I feel a love story, even if it does not end happy (which this one did, somewhat) should have a take home message or redeeming quality to it. I thought plot points were conveniently included to complete the story, but was not fully evolved. The acting wasn't bad, but Jason Ritter didn't really seem to fit the part for me only because of one character quality the script decided to include. Overall, it's pretty unmemorable and stagnant.
I like watching odd [indie] comedies, and usually they are pretty rewarding to watch. I felt like this one did not offer anything valuable to me at all. Yes, I got to see Jason Ritter's cuteness all over, and got a few giggles from awkward situations, but I feel a love story, even if it does not end happy (which this one did, somewhat) should have a take home message or redeeming quality to it. I thought plot points were conveniently included to complete the story, but was not fully evolved. The acting wasn't bad, but Jason Ritter didn't really seem to fit the part for me only because of one character quality the script decided to include. Overall, it's pretty unmemorable and stagnant.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Movie Fest Break, for the theaters!
Wow, I realized this could have been a mistake when the fully black screen would shine at me bright names that would come and go and leave little images on the cone cells of my retina. WHAT.
Anyways, I have this grudge against Tarantino without a good reason. Liking something cool and innovative eventually backfires; for example: Family Guy. But the good stuff avoids this, and Tarantino films for me hasn't been an example of that. I remember liking Reservoir Dogs, and not really understanding the fame behind Pulp Fiction, but I guess the diner scene was pretty cool. My thoughts were probably something along the lines of: classic dance scene, WTF she's dying or something, WTF brains, WTF. Anyways, I remember when Death Proof came out, and I kind of defended it. I thought the dialoge was cool, but I guess in the end it was a really boring movie with too much gross stuff. So, overall, Tarantino is very overrated where people just seem to like him just because its cool. Whenever he is on Conan... he freaks me out, and not because of his face*, but because he is awkward and has a weird sense of humor.
With that said, I really did not want to like Inglourious Basterds and only went to see it because 1) it's the only decent thing out in theaters and 2) I wanted to see for myself and form a true opinion. I tried to watch it online, but the beginning had no visible subtitles and that was not cool.
Anyways, when it started it was interesting. I thought it was funny how Landa said that he wanted to switch to English. I thought it was another way for Hollywood to switch to the preferred language, but it turned out to be part of the plot as well. Good job Tarantino. Even though I knew that scalping would happen, it still grossed me out. I know that Tarantino is kind of known for his violence and whatnot, but it still is gross and I don't see how it is crucial to the story or the already nicely shot scenes. I guess its that's part of the guy factor though. Brad Pitt's accent is horrible and annoying, but still funny unfortunately. Oh yeah, I have a grudge against Pitt as well. The deafening music to cause drama didn't work out for me, as well as the slow close-ups that were way too close. It was way dramaticized, like a lot of the movie was. Everything is overdid in this movie, overall. The movie was long, the scenes were too long, etc. The only part that was shorter than I thought was the part with BJ Novak and Pitt together. I was a little sad about that. It seemed like they had more screen time. But a great thing about this movie was the guy who played Landa of course. He is awesome. The end.
As for the story, I thought it was a cool story and it's always good when everything comes together in the end. I could have had more of the girl story, but I see that it was pretty unnecessary to the already long movie. I can't recall every minute of it, but I think a few scenes could have been compressed, especially the bar scene. I can't really take any time away from the Landa scenes, but maybe some Pitt scenes** and the close up of violent acts**.
I was going to give it a 3... but my scoring system is flawed, because when I watch cable movies I always look at the rating and 2 1/2 was never good enough for me to watch and I feel like it's a failing score and is too harsh... but... actually it's still good according to rotten tomatoes. I GIVE IT A 2 1/2. K BYE
*Partially because of his face and voice and overall package.
**Due to grudge
Anyways, I have this grudge against Tarantino without a good reason. Liking something cool and innovative eventually backfires; for example: Family Guy. But the good stuff avoids this, and Tarantino films for me hasn't been an example of that. I remember liking Reservoir Dogs, and not really understanding the fame behind Pulp Fiction, but I guess the diner scene was pretty cool. My thoughts were probably something along the lines of: classic dance scene, WTF she's dying or something, WTF brains, WTF. Anyways, I remember when Death Proof came out, and I kind of defended it. I thought the dialoge was cool, but I guess in the end it was a really boring movie with too much gross stuff. So, overall, Tarantino is very overrated where people just seem to like him just because its cool. Whenever he is on Conan... he freaks me out, and not because of his face*, but because he is awkward and has a weird sense of humor.
With that said, I really did not want to like Inglourious Basterds and only went to see it because 1) it's the only decent thing out in theaters and 2) I wanted to see for myself and form a true opinion. I tried to watch it online, but the beginning had no visible subtitles and that was not cool.
Anyways, when it started it was interesting. I thought it was funny how Landa said that he wanted to switch to English. I thought it was another way for Hollywood to switch to the preferred language, but it turned out to be part of the plot as well. Good job Tarantino. Even though I knew that scalping would happen, it still grossed me out. I know that Tarantino is kind of known for his violence and whatnot, but it still is gross and I don't see how it is crucial to the story or the already nicely shot scenes. I guess its that's part of the guy factor though. Brad Pitt's accent is horrible and annoying, but still funny unfortunately. Oh yeah, I have a grudge against Pitt as well. The deafening music to cause drama didn't work out for me, as well as the slow close-ups that were way too close. It was way dramaticized, like a lot of the movie was. Everything is overdid in this movie, overall. The movie was long, the scenes were too long, etc. The only part that was shorter than I thought was the part with BJ Novak and Pitt together. I was a little sad about that. It seemed like they had more screen time. But a great thing about this movie was the guy who played Landa of course. He is awesome. The end.
As for the story, I thought it was a cool story and it's always good when everything comes together in the end. I could have had more of the girl story, but I see that it was pretty unnecessary to the already long movie. I can't recall every minute of it, but I think a few scenes could have been compressed, especially the bar scene. I can't really take any time away from the Landa scenes, but maybe some Pitt scenes** and the close up of violent acts**.
I was going to give it a 3... but my scoring system is flawed, because when I watch cable movies I always look at the rating and 2 1/2 was never good enough for me to watch and I feel like it's a failing score and is too harsh... but... actually it's still good according to rotten tomatoes. I GIVE IT A 2 1/2. K BYE
*Partially because of his face and voice and overall package.
**Due to grudge
Movie Fest Part 2!
The Reader
The movie was about two hours and although it felt like it, the story unfolded itself like a book. That's cool since the movie was based on a book. There weren't much of dull moments, and often very beautiful and heart-wrenching moments. In the beginning, I realized my immaturity because I kept giggling and feeling embarrassed for watching it. I felt that the characters themselves could have been developed more, unless I missed something (probably everything in the book). But of course, Kate Winslet is good in it, although I don't see the academy award winner quality... but who am I to say. Plus I don't know all the nominees and haven't watched them all. It's just a thought. Like everything else. Beautifully shot. The end.
The movie was about two hours and although it felt like it, the story unfolded itself like a book. That's cool since the movie was based on a book. There weren't much of dull moments, and often very beautiful and heart-wrenching moments. In the beginning, I realized my immaturity because I kept giggling and feeling embarrassed for watching it. I felt that the characters themselves could have been developed more, unless I missed something (probably everything in the book). But of course, Kate Winslet is good in it, although I don't see the academy award winner quality... but who am I to say. Plus I don't know all the nominees and haven't watched them all. It's just a thought. Like everything else. Beautifully shot. The end.
Movie Fest!
So, I have a little more than a week off. I decided to take part of this Blockbuster deal which is $10 for a week and you can exchange one movie as many times as you want. I am also reading Harry Potter and hopefully will start The Neverending Story and The Corrections. So... instead of writing my stupid little entries, I'll just write a few thoughts on each movie I watch.
Synecdoche, New York
During the beginning, I just kept thinking, when will the good stuff start? Only to realize that this was all there was going to be, thus I started to doze off a little. I had to start the last 20 minutes over after I woke up. The last 30 minutes is where its at (out of two hours), and that is not really a cool factor in my book. But overall, the story is really complex and I think it calls for a second watching since it is Kaufman material. It plays out a really dramatic and long character arc, which could be very meaningful... But, I only have a week to watch as many movies as I can and milk that Blockbuster teet. I laughed out loud during a few good moments, but not quite memorable were they as say... Eternal Sunshine or Adaptation.
Next up... The Reader
Synecdoche, New York
During the beginning, I just kept thinking, when will the good stuff start? Only to realize that this was all there was going to be, thus I started to doze off a little. I had to start the last 20 minutes over after I woke up. The last 30 minutes is where its at (out of two hours), and that is not really a cool factor in my book. But overall, the story is really complex and I think it calls for a second watching since it is Kaufman material. It plays out a really dramatic and long character arc, which could be very meaningful... But, I only have a week to watch as many movies as I can and milk that Blockbuster teet. I laughed out loud during a few good moments, but not quite memorable were they as say... Eternal Sunshine or Adaptation.
Next up... The Reader
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
Boy in the Striped Pajamas
I am not sure what to think of this movie, because every year a WWII movie comes out that is always sad and sometimes resolving. I rented it knowing it would be sad, especially because children are involved. What did I expect exactly?
I think I expected more of the children's spirit taking over the movie, and in this case it was showcased but was not the main thread in the movie. I very much loved the characters the two boys played and found it a little frustrating that they would include such a silly character as the daughter and mother. It tried to include the spectrum of situations that the Germans of this era had to suffer. I thought it was interesting, because not all movies have done that, and necessary for the same reason (for it to branch off).
I was a little irked by the long delays when a character would be staring off-screen and then you can sort of guess what they're looking at, but they eventually cut to it. Suspense, mystery, useless? I liked the camerawork otherwise, and it seemed visually pleasing. In the end, it was pretty dramatic and emotional, thus pretty well executed. It was good, but I am partially on the fence because you can't just say it's bad for some reason. More than trying to tell the stories of the children, I think it was just to give some awareness of consequences and stuff. I'll get back to ya on that.
3 out of 4.
I think I expected more of the children's spirit taking over the movie, and in this case it was showcased but was not the main thread in the movie. I very much loved the characters the two boys played and found it a little frustrating that they would include such a silly character as the daughter and mother. It tried to include the spectrum of situations that the Germans of this era had to suffer. I thought it was interesting, because not all movies have done that, and necessary for the same reason (for it to branch off).
I was a little irked by the long delays when a character would be staring off-screen and then you can sort of guess what they're looking at, but they eventually cut to it. Suspense, mystery, useless? I liked the camerawork otherwise, and it seemed visually pleasing. In the end, it was pretty dramatic and emotional, thus pretty well executed. It was good, but I am partially on the fence because you can't just say it's bad for some reason. More than trying to tell the stories of the children, I think it was just to give some awareness of consequences and stuff. I'll get back to ya on that.
3 out of 4.
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