Now Watching

[Analogman]

Criminal Minds

 

 

Similar to a lot of other crime shows, it has probably been on too long at this point.

 

I just started watching it not to long ago. So it is new to me.

 

Two of the shows I use to watch are no longer on - so I am looking for some new shows to watch.

[GtrPlyr]

 

I'm a big blaxploitation fan, but this one is particularly cheesy I must say. If it weren't for some fine looking ladies this one would have little else going for it.

[PopTodd]

Saw Scott Pilgrim last night. It was awesome. Nearly impossible to describe, but a helluva lot of fun.

Also, Kieran Culkin was surprisingly great as Scott's leering, slutty gay roommate (and voice of reason). I could see him getting a Supporting Actor nod, if the Academy were to pay attention.

[GtrPlyr]

Started watching this last night:

 

[Oil Can Boyd]

[u2roolz]

The 1st 2 episodes were hilarious and a real pleasure to have them back doing something new and fresh. The 3rd episode was ok and not as funny.

Episodes 4-6 were just as funny as the 1st 2. The final 2 episodes are on IFC Friday @10p.m.

Or you can pick up the DVD in a store. The show or "mini-series" originally aired this January through March on the CBC.

 

Edit: It's kind of scary to think that Dave Foley looks exactly like Isabella Rossellini. And Mark McKinney looks like A.J. Burnett.

 

Some funny characters: Scott Thompson's Crim Hollingsworth - a Native American with a Canadian accent who freebases hand sanitizer.

Kevin McDonald's Marnie is a middle-aged delivery driver for the local pizzeria who is prone to frequent spells of forgetfulness and ends up investigating the town murders a la Angela Lansbury.

Surprisingly, Dave Foley seems like he has the least amount of screen time.

[Beltmann]

I am a huge fan of both The Hit and This Is England. Now watching:

 

[Oil Can Boyd]

I am a huge fan of both The Hit and This Is England.

I had never heard of This is England before last night. I was flipping around the channels and saw it was about to start so I watched. It was great.

[Beltmann]

I had never heard of This is England before last night. I was flipping around the channels and saw it was about to start so I watched. It was great.

It was actually one of my favorite movies that year. Here's what I said at the time: "Mining his own memories of wearing steel-toe boots, Shane Meadows crafts a convincing, social-realist portrait of tribalism and forgotten youth. At stake is the soul of a prickly, 12-year-old outcast taken under the wings of two surrogate dads, first a genial skinhead and later a bullying ex-con spewing National Front propaganda. This is about England in the post-punk Eighties, yes, but it’s also about the serious choices of every childhood, including how to search for an identity, how to pick friends, and how to navigate a major conflict of loyalty."

 

Meadows is the real deal. He made a second film with the lead actor, Thomas Turgoose, called Somers Town. It's a much slighter, lighter movie, but I liked that one a lot, too.

[Synthesizer Patel]

"This Is England 86" actually started on British TV last night. It's a four part - 1 hour - show, seeing what the characters are up to in 1986. It's the World Cup Year, which is why they chose that year, apparently (I heard he might do one for 90 too, in the future) - I also think the backdrop of the world cup and Maradona's "hand of god" goal against england will probably feature at some point, as the film had The Falkland's War, so it will tie in nicely. I thought it was really good tv, perhaps not as immediately engaging as the film, but then this gives him more room to explore the characters.

[Beltmann]

"This Is England 86" actually started on British TV last night.

I had read about that series, and was very intrigued. Hopefully I'll be able to see it on DVD at some point. Glad to hear your positive review!

[GtrPlyr]

 

A Robert Crumb double bill. It's been quite a few years since I last saw Crumb. There was some nice extras on the DVD including extra footage and commentary from 2006 by director Terry Zwigoff and Roger Ebert.

[Beltmann]

I'm gearing up for the Milwaukee Film Festival, which starts Sept. 23. I'm enthused to see Blue Valentine, A Film Unfinished, Cell 211, Jack Goes Boating, Waiting for Superman, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Vengeance, Last Train Home, No One Knows About Persian Cats, Katalin Varga, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, A Somewhat Gentle Man, and Buried, among others.

[Sir Stewart]

I'm gearing up for the Milwaukee Film Festival, which starts Sept. 23. I'm enthused to see Blue Valentine, A Film Unfinished, Cell 211, Jack Goes Boating, Waiting for Superman, It's Kind of a Funny Story, Vengeance, Last Train Home, No One Knows About Persian Cats, Katalin Varga, Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, A Somewhat Gentle Man, and Buried, among others.

 

Black Swan gonna be there? If so, good luck!

[Oil Can Boyd]

 

I forgot how much I like this movie. (And given the prominence of the Feelies, you'd think I'd remember.) Some great cameos including John Waters as a car salesman and John Sayles as a cop.

[u2roolz]

Loved this one. Although, filling this film with 3 very current leads of the times: Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba & Kate Hudson; it felt a bit anachronistic at times. The main thing weighing this down in the 1950s was the dark story (written by Jim Thompson who also wrote The Grifters) and amazing performance of Casey Affleck. Edit: I really wanted to beat the crap out of Affleck's character for what he was doing in the film. What we've seen of him in the past and how he comes off in the film makes him that much scarier.

Overall, the film is dark, brutal, misogynistic, fucked up and beautiful. They don't make films like these anymore. The last couple of ones that came out in wide release were The Black Dahlia & L.A. Confidential. Stanley Kubrick was a huge fan of the novel (he worked with Thompson on The Killing) and had this to say about it "probably the most chilling and believable first-person story of a criminally warped mind I have ever encountered."

What a great, quiet, meditative and restrained film this was from Anton Corbijn & George Clooney who actually gets to remove his persona for once. This is pretty much an art house European film that somehow is in wide release. Pretty obvious why due to Clooney. This is a film that has suspense without pushing you and pulling you to feel that emotion with music. The Italian locale was beautiful, as were the 2 female leads. It definitely felt like an old late 60s or 70s film out of Europe. There's something so intense and exploratory about people who kill and how they can be saved and loved from a woman. We've seen it a lot in films. Even Michael Keaton's gem of a little seen film The Merry Gentleman explored this. Grosse Point Blank toyed around with the concept. Even I have an idea that I've been kicking around since 2000. Scarily enough this film almost comes close to what I had in mind except for the quiet nature of this. This film is pretty much a metaphor for a few things which I won't go into, but can easily be interpreted due to certain conversations (there aren't many words spoken) and locations.

 

Lastly, Violante Placido is gorgeous. She is the embodiment of a female Italian Goddess that Clooney gets involved with. Her nakedness is not only beautiful and refreshing to see in today's 'fraidy-cat' world that we live in, but it also speaks volumes about her comfort and trust that she has with Clooney's character. Of course, not knowing what it is that he does exactly. edit part 2: (seriously, are we only allowed nudity from both genders in horror films?)

 

Edit Part Troix: I think Black Swan was at Toronto and Venice's film festivals only. It opens limited on December 1st and is expected to expand throughout the month into January. Depending on how much steam it picks up in terms of Oscar talk is relative to how wide it gets released per week.

 

Some Terrence Malick news: I almost started a thread about this, but The Thin Red Line is finally getting the Criterion treatment and it will be released on September 28th w/commentaries, behind the scenes documentaries and 14 minutes of excised footage featuring Mickey Rourke in a few scenes and a 2nd scene with George Clooney. Also, Malick's upcoming film The Tree Of Life will be released sometime in 2011. I have heard that it is epic and a low key human story. Hmm.

[Beltmann]

I forgot how much I like this movie. (And given the prominence of the Feelies, you'd think I'd remember.) Some great cameos including John Waters as a car salesman and John Sayles as a cop.

That's probably one of my ten favorite movies of all-time. I re-watch it every few years, and get the same jolt every time. (I'm not saying it's one of the ten best movies of all time...)

 

Black Swan gonna be there? If so, good luck!

No, it's not. But I wish it was!

[Beltmann]

 

OSS 117: Lost in Rio is not as fresh and inspired as the first OSS 117 movie, but the lead performance is still enjoyable and a welcome parody of how James Bond always was a bit of a dandy.

[uncool2pillow]

That's probably one of my ten favorite movies of all-time. I re-watch it every few years, and get the same jolt every time. (I'm not saying it's one of the ten best movies of all time...)

I agree about the jolt. The first time I saw it, I was expecting nothing but comedy. Ray Liotta scared the hell out of me. Very few movies give me the visceral reaction. The adrenaline shot scene in Pulp Fiction is the only other one that immediately comes to mind.

 

In other news, I watched Big Fan with Patton Oswalt last night. It was very good. It was difficult to get past the voice of Remy from Ratatouille though.

[Oil Can Boyd]

I agree about the jolt. The first time I saw it, I was expecting nothing but comedy. Ray Liotta scared the hell out of me. Very few movies give me the visceral reaction.

I agree. I didn't know much about it the first time I saw it and I thought it was a quirky comedy (which it is for a while). But then it got dark very fast.

 

I remember going back to the theater and seeing it again a few days after I saw it for the first time.

 

One piece of trivia I just learned - the two old ladies who run the junk shop where they buy Jeff Daniels a new suit are Demme's mother and David Byrne's mother.

[Moss]

I just finished the last episode of Arrested Development. I always hate coming to the end of a good series.

 

The good news is, I just started season 4 of Dexter.

[GtrPlyr]

[GtrPlyr]

 

Great music and the subject of the doc Howard Armstrong is a real funny and entertaining storyteller.

[Beltmann]

 

I liked Blue Valentine, but I'm not sure how much I liked it. Still, there's no doubt about the terrific acting by Michelle Williams and especially Ryan Gosling.

[mpolak21]

 

One of my all-time favs. Benigni always leaves me smiling my ass off everytime I see it.

 

--Mike