817 replies to this topic

[M_Rots]

I have to admit, I saw Titanic the first time based on Cameron's reputation for staging spectacle, and when he finally got around to it, the spectacle was... spectacular. But it's most of three hours getting there, so it needed to enage me at story level, and for one viewing it was fine. Not amazing; not so engrossing and nuanced that repeat viewing were called for, but enough to keep me watching until the boat sank.

It'd never make my list of All Time Faves. If the list were of Significant Films, though, it'd earn a place. You gotta pay some kind of attention to any movie that grosses a billion dollars.

The sinking is virtually the entire 2nd half of the film.

Sort of. But there's all that stuff going on with the storyline - it isn't like the chase scenes Cameron specialized in on stuff like Terminator 2 or True Lies, which are spectacle for the sake of spectacle. The ship is sinking, but it isn't like I sat there enthralled with that - I was paying attention to Leo and Katie and Billy.

That Monty comparison nailed it.

[held]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

in a word... yes

[held]

You liked cliched swill like The Ice Storm and Good Will Hunting and thought Titanic was overrated?

Tony, please to be moving Titanic into the cliched swill column. Thx.

Titanic was aware of the cliches and was using them for expressive purposes. The other two I mentioned thought they were all deep and shit.

right you are farmer anthony! up to your ears in it..

edit-psst I loved 'Stalker' too but 'Ivan's still my fav

[Magnus Malcolm]

edit-psst I loved 'Stalker' too but 'Ivan's still my fav

I love Stalker and Solyaris, but I think Ivan's Childhood may be my favorite as well, I've seen it more recently however, so once I've revisited them all I'll be more sure.

All this Tarkovsky talk inspired me to put Mirror in the player today. I was pretty disorientated first time I saw that one.

[held]

Did you guys know that "never-ending" is synonymous with "interminable"?

[killerparties]

So, I watched Van Helsing on TNT last night. Oh. Sweet. Lord. I mean, not just bad, but REALLY bad. Special effects were laughable, script was awful, and they somehow fucked up all the best monsters.

[held]

This is pretty exciting, for whomever hasn't already read about this. (took this from imdb)

"Lost footage from cult sci-fi film Metropolis has been discovered in Argentina.

The director's cut of Fritz Lang's 1927 classic, featuring an extra 30 minutes, was believed to have vanished forever after it was cut by Paramount bosses because of bad reviews.

However, the curator of the Buenos Aires Film Museum discovered a copy of the movie in his archives - and a projectionist noticed it was longer than all other versions of the iconic film.

Film restorer Martin Koerber, who is one of the few people to see the lost footage, says, "No matter how bad the condition of the material may be, the original intention of the film, including all of its sub-plots, is now once again tangible for the normal viewer. The rhythm of the film has been restored.""

they interviewed the museum director this morning on NPR. I guess its her ex-husband who eluded to the 'buried treasurer' in the archives. the footage was located on 16mm negs so we'll see how it'll turn out when they bump it up to 35.

she also mentioned locating three of argentinas lost silent films which made for a total of 13 that are now known to still exist. there were also three other international films that were located but none with the same significance as 'metropolis'.

the funny part was she admitted to believing that 'metropolis' isn't that good even with the newly discovered footage. Just a more complex plot at best and not really one of Lang's best works.

So, I watched Van Helsing on TNT last night.

Oh. Sweet. Lord.

I mean, not just bad, but REALLY bad. Special effects were laughable, script was awful, and they somehow fucked up all the best monsters.

yeah that was pretty much pathetic all around.

[Magnus Malcolm]

Alright, someone help me with this.



I like pretty much everyone involved with this. Gaghan has proved he can be a good-if not great-director. I like Bratt alright. Holmes, in my opinion, is a good actress and she's certainly easy on the eyes. The same with Zooey Deschanel. What is so wrong with this film? I keep hearing terrible things. And then, the other day, I read a review of this claiming that all the the bad buzz was incorrect, going with the "people didn't understand it" argument. Is it really all that bad?

I'm kind of on a Holmes kick, after watching Thank You for Smoking and Batman Begins again, and realizing I liked her acting along with her looks. Let's hope she gets back to interesting projects after whatever play she's doing. I need to see The Gift, which I heard about because of A- Harold & Kumar or whatever, and B- because people claim Keanu Reeves is actually good in it.

[Ogawa]

You're on a.... Katie Holmes kick? I was not aware such a thing was possible.

About Abandon, it looked terrible in the previews, but I never got around to wasting my time on it. It seems completely different from anything else Gaghan has been involved with. Though, he did write Havoc...

[Magnus Malcolm]

You're on a.... Katie Holmes kick? I was not aware such a thing was possible.

Fair enough. I don't think that was a fair description, seeing as those were the only two films I watched with her in them. I'm considering watching some other stuff she's in though..might as well count it as a kick.

[Ogawa]

The Gift is an OK picture. From what I remember Sam Raimi shows a little bit of his old inventiveness, but nothing special. The acting from Keanu Reeves and Cate Blanchett is entertaining. And Katie takes her top off.

[Magnus Malcolm]

That's nearly the only thing I remember from that Harold & Kumar movie, my roommate had me watch it, and I remember them going on about her being topless. And a racist cop, he was kinda funny.

[Slackmo]

I really liked Wonder Boys, and Holmes was a bit of a revelation in that movie.

[Ogawa]

Weird. I forgot she was in Wonder Boys. Now that you mention it, I think I liked her in that as well.

[killerparties]

Wonder Boys has such an amazing cast. My favorite Tobey Maguire performance...probably my favorite Michael Douglas.

[theremin]

Abandon was a passable thriller. There was a nice twist at the end, but nothing worth going out of the way for. If it's on late-night cable, watch it. THE GIFT. Now there is a fucking movie. Theremin's top 10 of 2001 (created in 2002...I should probably update it). 1. Amelie 2. The Royal Tenenbaums 3. Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring 4. A Beautiful Mind 5. Memento 6. The Gift 7. The Man Who Wasn't There 8. Ghost World 9. Monsters, Inc. 10. A.I. Artificial Intelligence I'm sure I've seen something better that A.I. since then...

[caley]

Abandon was a passable thriller. There was a nice twist at the end, but nothing worth going out of the way for. If it's on late-night cable, watch it.

THE GIFT. Now there is a fucking movie.

Theremin's top 10 of 2001 (created in 2002...I should probably update it).

1. Amelie
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship Of The Ring
4. A Beautiful Mind
5. Memento
6. The Gift
7. The Man Who Wasn't There
8. Ghost World
9. Monsters, Inc.
10. A.I. Artificial Intelligence

I'm sure I've seen something better that A.I. since then...

I haven't seen The Gift or Abandon, but I just like posting lists.

Caley's Top Movies of 01 (Created just now, and including a ton of stuff that I didn't see until many years after 01)
01. Amelie (Jeunet, 2001)
02. The Happiness of the Katakuris (Miike, 2001)
03. Warm Water Under A Red Bridge (Imamura, 2001)
04. Donnie Darko (Kelly, 2001)
05. A.I. (Spielberg, 2001)
06. Ghost World (Zwigoff, 2001)
07. Shaolin Soccer (Chow, 2001)
08. The Royal Tenenbaums (Anderson, 2001)
09. Black Hawk Down (Scott, 2001)
10. In the Bedroom (Field, 2001)
11. Take Care of My Cat (Jeong, 2001)
12. Visitor Q (Miike, 2001)

Man, that 1-8 is pretty stellar but falls off dramatically from 9-12

[killerparties]

01. Moulin Rouge! 02. Hedwig and the Angry Inch 03. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 04. Ghost World 05. The Royal Tenenbaums 06. Mulholland Drive 07. Monsoon Wedding 08. Wet Hot American Summer 09. The Others 10. What Time is it There? 11. Sexy Beast 12. The Gleaners and I 13. Waking Life 14. Donnie Darko 15. The Man Who Wasn't There

[Magnus Malcolm]

Abandon was a passable thriller. There was a nice twist at the end, but nothing worth going out of the way for. If it's on late-night cable, watch it.

THE GIFT. Now there is a fucking movie.

I'm sure I've seen something better that A.I. since then...

I'm glad someone liked The Gift, you've given me a push to go see it. I may even check out Abandon. I'm just still confused how the guy who directed Syriana also crafted a "passable thriller." That said, didn't like Traffic either.

I've still never watched A.I. I'm so worried to see Spielberg carrying out Kubrick's vision that every time a chance to see it arises, I shy away. I also tend to dislike Jude Law, so that's probably another reason.

EDIT- My list, why not (all I've got worth posting is 8)-

1. The Fellowship of the Ring
2. The Royal Tenenbaums
3. Black Hawk Down
4. Amelie
5. In The Bedroom
6. Memento
7. Mulholland Drive
8. Monsters, Inc.

I've only watched Amelie once, I really need to catch it again. Don't hate me for it, but I can't stand Donnie Darko, thus no appearance.

EDIT again- Oh, I'm loving all the praise going to Ghost World, it'll boost me right along to see it. I love Johansson and Buscemi.

[Agrimorfee]

I've still never watched A.I. I'm so worried to see Spielberg carrying out Kubrick's vision that every time a chance to see it arises, I shy away. I also tend to dislike Jude Law, so that's probably another reason.

The first 30 minutes or so are Kubrickian...eveything else is pretty much Spielberg. If you don't like Jude Law, there's probably no hope for you as far as this movie is concerned, but he does a fine job in the role. I don't care what anyone thinks, I think Haley Joel Osment should have gotten an Oscar nom at the least. But what I think you'll really be turned off by is "Dr. Know". (I'll say no more...)