Grinning Fellow

Watched a ton of movies in the last week. Some of the more notable ones:

Up: Excellent. Pixar does it again. I don't think it quite reaches the heights of Ratatouille or WALL-E, but it is beautiful, funny, and sad. To borrow a Markism, if you don't cry at least once in the theater, you have no soul.

Gran Torino: I went back to read the diverging viewpoints between Abhi, Trace and Test. Normally I side with Test on movies, but I'm sorry, this movie was hysterical. It was a good film, and had some really interesting and subverting moments, but having geriatric Clint Eastwood growl "get off my lawn" in absolute seriousness while brandishing a shotgun and looking to keel over at any moment had me in stitches, along with most of his dialogue. I did like the movie, but it was also really unintentionally funny at points.

The Graduate: Did not like this movie at all. I guess it's a relic of its time, because it has a couple good scenes, and is totally unappealing as a whole. I normally like Mike Nichols a lot, so I was extra-disappointed at this film, which seemed to just spin its wheels.

All the President's Men: On the other hand, I liked this one a lot. I'm always game for a good conspiracy thriller, and the cast of Hoffman, Redford, Robards, Holbrook and Balsam were incredible. The ending was incredibly rushed, which would be my one problem with it, but overall, the film was a successful exercise in atmosphere.

The Lives of Others: Loved it. The performances, cinematography, score, development of the plot were all perfect. I really didn't want it to end. Definitely one you can rewatch to catch some of the finer details, or just to revel in its quiet beauty.

Don't Look Now: Awful. I like Nicolas Roeg and Donald Sutherland, and this film had several interesting themes and motifs that just failed to come together in any significant way. Instead, it ends up a confused, impressionistic mess. Sometimes I'm for that, but in this case, it just felt like a frustrating waste of time.

A roommate of mine owns and plays the bagpipes, but only when he's drunk. I'm not sure if this would make this proposed project better or not.

Watched three Oscar Best Pictures in the last couple days. Coincidentally, one was totally deserving, one arguably so, and one was really awful.

Out of Africa: I quite liked this film. Meryl Streep was excellent as usual, giving a great performance. Redford was Redford, and I never have any complaints about him. The standout for me was Klaus Maria Brandauer, whose genial philanderer character was a nice twist on things. The movie looked great, and was pleasantly slow without dragging. Pollack's directing was good and he was going off of a strong screenplay. Overall, I thought this was great.

Ordinary People: It seems like many people still have their knickers in a twist that this one beat out Raging Bull for Best Picture in 1980. Scorsese's was better (though I contend that The Elephant Man was the best that year), but I still liked this one. The story was low-key but good, everyone (especially Hutton and Moore) put in incredible performances, and it didn't feel too preachy. While I really don't think it deserved to win Best Picture, it wasn't a bad film by any stretch.

A Beautiful Mind: On the other hand, this was an undeserving Best Picture win and a pretty bad film. While Crowe did a pretty good job (though I have hard time buying a schizophrenic math nerd with the chest the size of a grand piano), but everyone else was weak. Even the always-reliable Ed Harris felt like he was phoning it in. This may be due to Akiva Goldsman's atrocious, mechanical script. Every development and obstacle felt extremely forced and fake. Moments of characterization for the supporting cast was extremely dull and the entire thing felt like rough sketches of caricatures rather than real characters. I was sorely disappointed with this film, and really can't believe it took home Best Picture or Director.

"The last king of scotland" was a shocking and depressing motion picture. Amin was scarily and wickedly switching between personalities, and at two parts (You know which ones) I almost got physically sick, which does not happen often with my stomach of steel. Whitaker's performance was brilliant, by the way.

Indeed it was. The scottish doctor, on the other hand, was such an annoying twat that I found myself almost cheering for Idi Amin at times.

Agreed. Atonement proved that James McAvoy had acting chops, but between his craven performance in this movie, as well as his preternaturally irritating protagonist in Wanted, I was totally ready to write him off.

I'm wary of Tarantino after the dire Kill Bill: Vol. 2, but the trailer has me nonetheless excited. Count me in on this one.

Honestly, it's true. My roommate bought that "1001 Movies to See Before You Die" book, and, sucker as I am for lists, I've been trying to go through it as fast as I can. Even though it has ones I know won't be good, I'm trying to catch up on a lot of classics from a bygone era I haven't seen yet. Next up include The English Patient, Rain Man, Out of Africa, and All the President's Men.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid: A fun, engaging, lighthearted western. Newman and Redford are always fun and engaging to watch. It was interesting to see this film's main theme be the placement of cowboys in a time that's passed them by. It's interesting that both this and the same year's The Wild Bunch played on this, albeit this film in a much more superficial sense. Overall a fun movie, though far from the westerns of Leone, Peckinpah and Ford.

The Full Monty: A lighthearted, fluffy affair. What set it above other light comedies for me was that each major character possessed a storyline. Even if the resolution wasn't perfect for everyone, I was glad to see the backing characters were more than just cardboard cut-outs, and had arcs to follow. Also, I will pretty much watch anything with Tom Wilkinson. Not a great movie, but fun.

Doubt: I found the direction in this movie to be a bit overwrought, and the writing to occasionally be more ham-handed, but this is to be expected by a primarily stage leader. On the other hand, the acting was incredible. Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman are both in my top ten actors, and they show off their talents incredibily in this film. Viola Davis is good despite her small screen-time. Amy Adams pales to the titans of Streep and Hoffman, but it's clear to see she's getting there. Overall, not a great movie, but a very engaging and enjoyable one.

I'm looking forward to Where The Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze (with a screenplay by Dave Eggers, and muic by Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O and Carter Burwell), The Fantastic Mr.Fox (Wes Anderson directed stop-motion animated adaptation of the Roald Dahl book), Up (the new Pixar, which you lucky americans are getting this week, while I have to wait till October), Scott Pilgrim Versus The World (adaptation of the series of graphic novels), and several others I can't seem to recall.

Continuing my diametric opposition to Slinker's film opinions, hook me up, Seth. That sounds amazing.

Have watched a bunch in the last little while. Some highlights:

Network: Absolutely brilliant. Career performances from Finch, Holden and Dunaway. Chayefsky's script worked well as a biting satire and a serious drama. Lumet's direction was at its best. My favourite Lumet film, and a strong contender for one of my all-time favourites.

Atonement: Another good one. Two more notable performances from James McAvoy and Keira Knightley, neither of whom I'd ever put much stock into before. The costumes, music, and direction were beautiful. The storyline never lagged, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

The Reader: This one was pretty good. Again, solid acting from two veterans, although the actor playing young-Ralph Fiennes impressed me most. I enjoyed the film's intentional avoiding a catharsis, and not trying to rationalize the romance portrayed. Not a groundbreaking film, but a good one.

Raging Bull: Quite a great film, although I maybe didn't like it as much as everyone else, which makes me think I didn't get it. Scorsese's direction was brilliant, and De Niro and Pesci were note-perfect. It clipped along nicely, and was the perfect remedy to over-wrought boxing dramas like Rocky. And yet, I don't entirely understand all its accolades. It's certainly good, but it's not even my favourite Scorsese film. Perhaps, as I mentioned, I just missed something, but I didn't think it was one of the all-time greatest films.

Dead Ringers: I admit, I was a bit skeptical with Mr. Rohne hyping this up as Cronenberg's best. However, upon having seen it, I must say that, while not my absolute favourite, it's a contender in that blood-streaked fight for the top. The movie is cold and detatched, but not to such an extent as Crash, and the direction is subtle but incredible. Of course the centerpiece is Jeremy Irons, who is tremendous in his dual role, mastering two characters who are both extremely alike and vastly different. I enjoyed how Cronenberg's perpetual themes of bodily fascination-manipulation-horror appear in the storyline, but don't entirely take the center stage. As a nuanced character study, an existential nightmare or a restrained continuation of films like Videodrome and The Fly (as well as a predecessor to Crash), this film is simply incredible.

Closer: Was a bit wary going into this film, as I'd heard mixed things. Shouldn't have worried, though. Mike Nichols' direction and Patrick Marber's words completely encapsulated me. Not that the actors were slouches either. Again, I had worried, because even though I like the cast, they have all put in some truly terrible performances in their careers. However, they were all on top-form here, with Clive Owen as a particular favourite, in perhaps his best role. The film is twisty and witty and runs between flaring passions and emotionless distance that gets more muddled as it goes on. I'm probably doing it no justice, but it's definitely worth your time.

Let the Right One In: I guess I'm on an emotionally-restraining movie kick. Along with the other two, I loved this one. Vampires done right! Beautiful cinematography, absolutely stunning performances from the two leads, and one of the most unflinchingly realistic films I've seen (even if it is about vampires). It's dark and cold and often vicious and has an undercurrent of extreme love and is pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a vampire movie. I'm sure the American remake will destroy a piece of my soul.

EDIT - reposted in the right thread.

I'm still not entirely sold on

Having read the final issue a few more times, there are some things I like about it.

, but stuff like the above just feels very incomplete to me.

Interesting, Atticus. I just saw State of Play last night as well, and I would almost entirely agree with you. I thought the performances were excellent (even Affleck, though he was certainly the weakest in the ensemble). However, I found that last twist to be just too ridiculous, and also obfuscated several plot points, or otherwise made them completely nonsensical. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie that was so badly let down by it's last fifteen or so minutes that I have to completely re-evaluate it.

Other films I've seen this week include:

Separate Tables: a quaint melodrama about a bunch of people living in a French hotel. While it started out strong, being witty and engaging, it rapidly devolved into a tedious affair. Not even Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr and David Niven could save it. I'm also surprised Niven won a Best Actor for the role, since he wasn't even the lead male actor in the movie, and his role wasn't too impressive. It wasn't terrible, merely okay.

Ocean's Eleven: The remake. First time I've ever seen it, which is seen as a crime by my friends. Overall, I liked it. It was extremely light on plot and character development, but made up for it with heavy doses of flashy style, and an overwhelming sense of fun. The plot holes didnt' even bother me in this one, because it was going for cool entertainment, and nothing else.

Wild at Heart: I really don't know how to feel about this one. On the one hand, it has a strong cast, and I enjoyed this more "light-hearted" (relatively speaking) side to Lynch, with a more parodical approach to violence and Americana. However, it felt way too forced at times, sacrificing its story for aesthetic purposes. It's still a pretty good piece of cinema, with lots of Lynch's trademarks working in good effect here, but certainly inferior to the likes of Blue Velvet.

It's a hell of a song, alright. You probably haven't heard the New York Sessions version - the whole album was written and recorded when he suddenly decided, a few weeks before release, that he wasn't quite happy with it, and re-recorded about half of the songs in completely-different arrangements (and, in a few cases, with very different lyrics)*. The final album is probably the better of the two versions overall, but the earlier takes are all well worth hearing, and the NY versions of some songs are definitely better than the later reworkings. 'Idiot Wind' is probably the one which changed most drastically, since the original arrangement is a very quiet, much more nakedly-vulnerable performance, with none of the howling rage of the final take. I honestly don't know which I prefer.

 

Here, decide for yourself.

 

 

*I think all of the major alternate takes have now been released, scattered across a couple of different rarities/outtakes collections (which is something in itself, since so many of his best songs/alternate versions are still in the vaults, only available as bootlegs if at all), but it's a shame there's never been a decent Special Edition of Blood On The Tracks with the outtakes collected on a bonus disc. Some of the live performances from '75-'76 would be worth including, as well - there's an absolutely sizzling take on 'Idiot Wind' on the Hard Rain live album, for example.

Thanks for the link, will give it a listen after dinner.

 

I had forgotten Peter Ostrusko, Mandolin master heard for years on A Prairie Home Companion, got an uncredited job playing on If you see her, say hello.

 

I really should spend some more time with Dylan. Don't know why it never lit a fire under me--other than his being very popular among my friends, and me too stubborn at the time to take suggestions often.

 

Double for Nick Cave. I know next to nothing about him. That youtube clip above is powerful! But not the thing to start your day with...

Mark or Sethos should ultimately be deferred to on all things Cave, but to offer my opinion, I'd say that Murder Ballads would be his best introductory album. I find that it encompasses much of the influences of his older body of work (morbid narratives of death and depravity with a heavy bluesy/folksy vibe) and gives a bit of foreshadowing to some of his later career (quieter, minimalistic, introspective tunes with more of an impressionistic bent). And, on top of it all, it's a pretty fun album. Not one of my favourites (as noted above), but it's got a pretty well-rounded list, hitting all the major targets from sinister ("Song of Joy", "Where the Wild Roses Go"), funny ("Stagger Lee", "The Curse of Millhaven") and tragic ("Henry Lee", and a pretty great cover of Dylan's "Death is Not the End"). Overall, I think it gives a pretty thorough look into Cave's body of work, while being good on its own merits. From there, you can branch out to his more eclectic (and better) stuff.

In part two of Grin Rediscovering the Classics He'd Previously Written Off, my girlfriend dumped a ton of rock albums on my computer--including Exile on Main Street, which I had listened to before and categorized as "not my thing", perhaps because I was too busy eating paint chips. Definitely one of the most absorbing rock albums I've ever heard. Especially the balls-out opener "Rocks Off" and the deeply-soulful "Shine A Light" (and "Tumbling Dice" of course, but that's a pretty mainstream one). I've been listening to the album almost non-stop on my walks to work. It's truly something.

I've also attempted to narrow down my top five Nick Cave albums, and--with some difficulty--I think I've managed to do so. After much deliberation, I'm thinking:

1. Tender Prey

2. Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus

3. Henry's Dream

4. Your Funeral...My Trial

5. Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!!

I will celebrate this entirely-arbitrary listing by enjoying the entirety of Cave's catalogue.

I'm sort of with slinker here. It felt like a very rushed ending.

Overall, though I was quite disappointed with this final issue, I'm still glad I read this series and it is without a doubt one of my all-time favourite comic experiences.

Have been listening to David Bowie obsessively this week. Now that I've really sat down and focused on it, I'd have to say that Low is probably my favourite while Station to Station is an underrated classic. Both offer a musical and dramatic side of Bowie I seem to enjoy much more than his balls-out glam rock phase. And in the case of the former, we have Brian Eno's inimitable hand guiding Bowie's arrangements. Props to "Heroes" as well, but Low has me with rapt attention.

That's awesome, Venk! I lurk on the same boards, and saw that shotglass in that parody ad, and I've wanted one ever since. Is it full of Cuervo Gold?

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist: Agreed with Tom. Lifeless, boring and unfunny. Michael Cera plays the same character in every movie, and it kind of wears as well. The lead actress was alright, and I enjoyed her deadpanning, but overall, it fell completely flat for me.

Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang: On the other hand, I loved this one. While the overall plot wasn't that great, Downey Jr.'s magnetic screen presence was excellent. Kilmer and Monaghan were great as well, and the rapid-fire script was perfect. It got a bit to self-involved towards the end, but it was an overall great film.

Shoot 'Em Up: Have to disagree with Tom on this one, as I really enjoyed it as well. Thin and unbelievably stupid, but in a purposeful, self-conscious way that made it a lot of fun. Paul Giamatti was note-perfect in the unbelievably terrible, over-the-top bad guy.

Le Samourai: Figured I needed something a bit more low-brow after the thoughtfest that preceded this one. Stylish and cool, with amazing camera-work and a dream-like edge to it. Melville's certainly a master of the craft. That said, I think I appreciated it more than I liked it. It's a very slow, oftentimes dull movie. While I get that's the point, and it is a true work of art, it's not something I'd watch repeatedly.

Malin speaks the truth.

Explosions in the Sky

Truth.

oaky, i'm rpetyy driunk. i like wine, it appears. my keyboard is skitcky. I think I love everyone aon the thoe bards. peraps i should not ve psoting. but id ot'c are it, is fun. it is butsy at unvietsy, but ihop e to love iup to expectaitons.

Congratulations! That's simply wonderful.

Rashomon: Second time I've seen this film, and it's still my favourite of Kurosawa's. Short and not epic, but beautifully shot, ambiguous, and incredibly human. With pretty much three sets, Kurosawa is able to construct one of the most sweeping, mysterious, and captivating tales ever. One of my favourite films.

Throne of Blood: First time on this one, but it was great, and definitely occupies a spot on my Top Three Kurosawa (not sure where it fits in relation to Seven Samurai). This probably has Mifune's best performance, and the shots in the forest are simply incredible. Probably the best translation of Macbeth to the screen as well. Overall, an incredibly good and disturbing picture.

Sanjuro: A lot to like about this sequel. Mifune's character remains note-perfect, and is actually a lot deeper and more interesting than in Yojimbo. Kurosawa effortlessly balances drama and humour, and it has some genuine laugh-out-loud scenes, as well as some gorgeous imagery and one of the best blood-splosions I've ever seen. Overall, the movie wasn't quite as great as its predecessor, but still tremendously enjoyable.

The Hidden Fortress: On the other hand, I wasn't crazy on this one. It was extremely slow, and Mifune's character did little other than shout. There was some interesting things about this film, but it's probably my least favourite Kurosawa to date.