Ozu is great! Late Spring and Floating Weeds by him are also fantastic.
Ozu is great! Late Spring and Floating Weeds by him are also fantastic.
The Smash Brothers - East Point Productions
Four hour long episodic independent documentary made about the underground and, today, mainstream esports, professional scene of Super Smash Brothers Melee, possibly the best fighting game ever designed and currently the most watched figting game on the pro circuit. I think the average age of poster on litnet is around mid 40's so the subject matter, music, style and age of the participants would probably be grating. If you haven't played the game you won't have any idea what is happening, but if you have you will be dumbstruck by what can be done with the engine. The game is played so fast that professional players can and do develop serious wrist and hand problems (as do Starcraft players), and this is seriously worth a watch if you're young enough to get hyped over a video game tournament. Freely available on youtube.
9/10
Last edited by Clopin; 02-01-2015 at 08:20 PM.
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
Hey Clopin, I tried watching Maboroshi no Hikari but after the key incident in the beginning, and seeing Yumiko's face and body posture immediately afterwards, I just couldn't take it. When I feel better I'll try again.
Highly mannered film performances of Sherlock Holmes have been mandatory for some time and Rupert Everett's contribution to the genre
is no exception. In 'Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking' he plays the master detective as an extremely arrogant and dismissive
character with a totally ruthless desire to solve the case at any cost.
It's not by Conan Doyle and therefore has leeway to set the villain as a foot fetishist who murders young women on account of their shoes.
This unlikely tale is given some credence by the very good production values and atmospheric direction that creates a genuine feel for the
period. The usual Holmes idiosyncrasies: the narcotics, violin playing, moodiness etc. are on display but they don't detract from a fast
moving story that has genuine excitement.
This is a different kind of performance to Jeremy Brett's and in some ways its better but I suspect that it's due to the director Simon Cellan
Jones as much as Rupert Everett.
8/10
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
I watched the documentary on Vivian Maier - the unknown photographer who lept to fame posthumously. 10 out of 10.
Magic in the Moonlight, the latest Woody Allen movie. It was great, Colin Firths character was brilliant, I loved it.
"I have irrational positive feelings towards her"
"This meaningless world can still have magic"
these are not exact quotes from the movie but close, great movie.
I hope death is joyful, and I hope I'll never return -Frida Khalo
If I seem insensitive to what you are going through, understand it's the way I am- Mr. Spock
Personally, I think that the unique and supreme delight lies in the certainty of doing 'evil'–and men and women know from birth that all pleasure lies in evil. - Baudelaire
I just found about Vivian Maier yesterday! She's fantastic, isn't she?
Yeh that's understandable. I watched Late Spring, An Autumn Afternoon and Floating Weeds recently and enjoyed them all very much. The idea of quiet, unnoticed suffering and deep disappointments masked by a culture of polite nods and regimented social customs of behaviour is plenty interesting to me as a Westerner, even though I suspect the movies would be even more impactful were I Japanese.Originally Posted by Lykren
Hiroshima Mon Amour - Alain Resnais/Marguerite Duras
I really liked it, the movie opened strong and waned only a little, felt fresh despite its age and was very watchable. It was also nice to watch a movie in a language I sort of know (though I still needed subtitles) after all the Swedish and Japanese. The actress who narrates or speaks through most of the film has an incredible voice, it was beautiful to listen to and a lot of the dialogue was enjoyable and memorable as well "First your eyes go, then it swallows your voice".
9/10
Last edited by Clopin; 02-04-2015 at 09:50 PM.
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
Well, I finished Maboroshi no Hikari. Thank you, it was fantastic! The music added a lot, don't you think?
I only remember noticing it during the funeral procession scene. Actually I'm watching movies now on my tablet and the speakers are really subpar, it's defintely hurting my ability to appreciate the music and sounds of the films and that's something I actually really care about. A bigger screen would be nice, but the audio is more important I think.
Breathless - Jean-Luc Godard
Yeh it was okay, watching it fifty five years after release I'm not wowed by anything that would have seemed groundbreaking to film audiences in 1960. I was hoping the girl would go to jail with Michel for being such a moron "you killed a police officer? Tee hee, lets go get dinner" but I was relatively satisfied with the ending anyway.
7/10 (but a weak 7)
So with the courage of a clown, or a cur, or a kite jerkin tight at it's tether
I saw that, too! Really enjoyed it (8/10) and plan to get one of the books of her photography. She's quite a fascinating character.
Saw American Sniper the first weekend it opened. I didn't see it as a screed for war, but rather the story of a man very damaged by the war. I think the word hero gets bandied about a lot these days, so I don't know that I think he's a hero. He did something he believed in, I guess. I also heard that he wasn't such a nice guy in real life.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its' own reason for existing." ~ Albert Einstein
"Remember, no matter where you go, there you are." Buckaroo Bonzai "Some people say I done alright for a girl." Melanie Safka
I just finished watching "A Month by the Lake". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113849/
In a resort in Italy an older couple (Vanessa Redgrave and Edward Fox) meet but can't seem to connect until a young girl (Uma Thurman) gets between them and then brings them together. It's complicated.
Score: 7/10
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
Two Days, One Night is the latest movie from the Dardenne brothers, who specialize in bleak, minimalist dramas. The solar panel factory where our heroine (Marion Cotillard, now that the Dardennes can afford her) works is over-staffed. They offer the 16 workers a vote -- each will get a 1000 Euro bonus, and Cotillard will get fired, or Cotillard keeps her job and nobody gets a bonus.
Cotillard, who is recovering from Depression, runs around grim, suburban Liege asking her co-workers to vote that she gets to stay. The movie is like a piece of Phillip Glass music -- Cotillard tracks down each of her co-workers and goes through the same, rehearsed speech (it's only two sentences, thank God). Each of them reacts in his or her own way. It's a theme and variation.
I liked the last Dardenne movie (Kid with a Bike) -- but this one is a little too grim, visually dull, and repetitive for my taste (despite getting excellent reviews from others). The situation is a bit too forced to be realistic. It's a fairy-tale situation, with all the magic removed. There is no music; there is no beauty (even Cotillard looks haggard and plain, as astonishing as that may seem). Cotillard is an excellent actress, and the Dardennes (I think) accomplish their goals as filmmakers. But did I really enjoy my participation?
I just finished watching Coffee Town: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2234025/
This is about a guy who doesn't want the coffee shop he uses as his workplace, because of the free wifi, to turn into a bistro and so he takes matters into his own hands. There is also a cute girl whom he likes and a bartender whom he doesn't like who also likes the girl. This gets the males to start competing as best they can and complicates the plot, but don't worry. You won't be required to think too hard. This guy also has two friends who are idiots.
All in all, it was quite enjoyable nonsense. Score: 9/10
My blog: https://frankhubeny.blog/
I was hooked when I read in my Film Guide: 'Parachutists pass through a red mist and disappear into thin air. And before long you will too! There is little point in sticking around to find out it's alian Maurice Evans putting skydivers in suspended animation and substituting duplicates. Talky, laughably low-budget and hopelessly inept.' I must admit that my hand did hover over the delete button more than once but we British are made of stern stuff and I watched it until the ultra embarrassing end.
2/10 For the nostalgia element of seeing the usual British suspects in both leading and supporting roles.
"L'art de la statistique est de tirer des conclusions erronèes a partir de chiffres exacts." Napoléon Bonaparte.
"Je crois que beaucoup de gens sont dans cet état d’esprit: au fond, ils ne sentent pas concernés par l’Histoire. Mais pourtant, de temps à autre, l’Histoire pose sa main sur eux." Michel Houellebecq.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
