El Picador Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 I started watching this one last night. My girlfriend saw this years ago and recommended it to me. I'm still in disbelief that she was not only able to make it through some of the scenes, but actually enjoyed it enough to recommend that I watch it. Should I be worried? Link to post Share on other sites
GtrPlyr Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Watched these 2 the other night: ..... Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Black Swan Simply amazing. My head is still spinning from last night. I can't really get into details without spoiling where the story takes us, but there's plenty to chew on to discuss with friends afterwards. Aronofsky employs a muted color palette except in a few key scenes and does a lot of camera tricks. Natalie Portman gives one of the best female performances in years. To discuss what she's done would be to give away the gist of the story. I figured I'd throw on a conversation that I had with a friend of mine that is pretty much my review. I will keep this in spoilers for those of you that haven't seen it. See I think you could take the film at face value and she actually died after reaching perfection. Or the young virginal repressed Nina "died" and thus she was born a woman. To me that was the biggest theme of the film: her lack of independence and most importantly, her womanhood. She was kept in a state of frozen adolescence. She was too busy pleasing her mother and her stage director. Then, of course, she finally started to please herself, as we saw literally. I believe that she never had a boyfriend in her life. Take a look at her creepy room filled with pink and stuffed animals. She was like a little girl, especially her body type. And her mother was way too overbearing: being in her room while Nina was sleeping and masturbating, acting creepy letting her daughter lick frosting off of her fingers, and undressing her like a child. Didn't Nina tell her mother, "Mommy, I got the part!" So it is possible that she literally became a woman before our very eyes, while performing the ballet dance sequences. She even starts to look older and more like a woman. This is most noticeable when she comes over to Thomas and begins to kiss him and seduce him. Aronofsky's use of a simple palette of blacks, whites, and grays was great. It made it even more profound when she was at the nightclub and the whole scene exploded into colors showing that she was finally experiencing life and somewhat rebelling for the first time in her late 20s. Excellent film. LOL. So what are your thoughts? Remember we saw her bleed and pull off her skin earlier in the film, who is to say that that isn't what happened in the end? Edit: Actually, a completely different friend of mine thought of something that made my head spin: the mother may not be real at all. @ uncoolpillow: Have you & your wife seen Me & Orson Welles? Yes, I know that it stars Zac Efron, but it is still pretty damn good. I love all of Linklater's films. Tape is another great, simple film with 3 excellent performances in one tiny location. Much like the following film, it also deals with rape. {Edit: I'm due for a Linklater retrospective. I realize that The Newton Boys gets little love. A Scanner Darkly is an amazing film. It looks great in HD. Fast Food Nation is another one that I haven't seen since the theaters. I'm eagerly awaiting his 13 years in the making project with Ethan Hawke & Patricia Arquette where they get together once a year to shoot a segment with a boy who plays their son. I think it's due in 2013. Boyhood He also has a film coming out this April called Bernie. } @El Picador: I wouldn't be too shocked. I mean, Gaspar Noe is a daring cutting edge filmmaker that tackles tough topics. The thing that I love about that film is that nothing was sugar coated to make it seem less brutal. We were treated like adults as an audience. It showed Monica Bellucci in love with Vincent Cassel in bed. Of course, this was shown after "the scene", but we know that it really happened before the scene and makes it that much more painful. Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Have you & your wife seen Me & Orson Welles?Let me second this recommendation. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, and Christian McKay's expert channeling of Orson Welles makes it a must-see. I'm a big fan of Linklater, too--although I'd say only Before Sunset is a bona fide classic, and largely because it's such a spellbinding ode to the magic of good conversation. Its real-time eruption of language and emotion feels exactly like two old friends rediscovering each other. While his camera gently eavesdrops, Linklater draws poetic, thorny blossoms of talk from Hawke and Delpy, who surely deserve equal credit for the screenplay's punch-drunk naturalism. At first hesitant and awkward, Jesse and Celine's walking tour of the Latin Quarter eventually eases into flirtatious, soulful banter, but before they've reached the Seine, their sentences have sharpened into a more urgent form of candor: As each tries to make every last word count before Jesse must board the plane, their phrases lurch and spasm right along with their hearts. What's astonishing is how the weight of years--on their lives, on their emotions, on their faces--deepens the context of Jesse and Celine's conversation. While their first youthful encounter grooved on the bloodrush of spontaneous idealism, this newer, more deceptively modest anecdote courses equally with regret, frustration, the fearsome power of memory, the betrayals of dreams. As these soulmates excavate their own lives, you gasp, cry, and laugh in anticipation of what they are going to confess next, and it has the effect of a mirror: Haven't we all asked that most treacherous of questions, If I had turned different corners, who might I have been? The movie is finally a masterpiece for the way it eloquently depicts the perils--and the bliss--of such speculation. I really, really love that movie. Gaspar Noe is a daring cutting edge filmmaker that tackles tough topics.Indeed. Still, I admired I Stand Alone more than Irreversible. I'm eager to see the new one. Link to post Share on other sites
uncool2pillow Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 @ uncoolpillow: Have you & your wife seen Me & Orson Welles? Yes, I know that it stars Zac Efron, but it is still pretty damn good. I love all of Linklater's films,Thanks for the reminder. I tend to get all my movies from the public library. They usually have an excellent selection, but don't have that. I will search out other channels or ask the library to buy it. They usually but requested items. Link to post Share on other sites
El Picador Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 @El Picador: I wouldn't be too shocked. I mean, Gaspar Noe is a daring cutting edge filmmaker that tackles tough topics. The thing that I love about that film is that nothing was sugar coated to make it seem less brutal. We were treated like adults as an audience. It showed Monica Bellucci in love with Vincent Cassel in bed. Of course, this was shown after "the scene", but we know that it really happened before the scene and makes it that much more painful. Yeah, not really too shocked - she has excellent taste in films. It was kinda funny because I was watching it last night and she called me right after I finished watching "the scene". We talked for a minute and she asked me "isn't Monica Belucci beautiful in that film?" Anyway...she made a similar comment about the graphic violence in the film being "real" and therefore acceptable. My personal opinion: I can't stop thinking about the film and will likely watch it again and analyze. I Stand Alone will be watched very soon. Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Yeah, not really too shocked - she has excellent taste in films. It was kinda funny because I was watching it last night and she called me right after I finished watching "the scene". We talked for a minute and she asked me "isn't Monica Belucci beautiful in that film?" Anyway...she made a similar comment about the graphic violence in the film being "real" and therefore acceptable. My personal opinion: I can't stop thinking about the film and will likely watch it again and analyze. I Stand Alone will be watched very soon. I agree with that. Anyways, Noe's Enter The Void hits Netflix Streaming on January 25th. Can't wait for it. Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Just watched this. That's Montgomery Clift honey! Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 3, 2011 Share Posted January 3, 2011 Thanks for the reminder. I tend to get all my movies from the public library. They usually have an excellent selection, but don't have that. I will search out other channels or ask the library to buy it. They usually but requested items. Hmm. I was surprised that the librarian didn't mention an Interlibrary loan. This is how I get a bunch of my Philosophy & " " books. Basically, if my library does not have a book or a film they check throughout the whole state and put in a request for it. It may take up to a month or so to actually get it. It may also be on Redbox for a $1 rental. Link to post Share on other sites
mfwahl Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 I had fun watching this. This is one of those movies that tries to keep you guessing until the end and actually kept me guessing until the end. Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Black Swan was a blast.The Invention of Lying was intoxicating until it ran out of steam ("too bad it had to remember it was a movie" I said to Lady S. afterward). Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Black Swan was a blast.The Invention of Lying was intoxicating until it ran out of steam ("too bad it had to remember it was a movie" I said to Lady S. afterward).Ditto (on both counts). Link to post Share on other sites
u2roolz Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 The Invention of Lying was intoxicating until it ran out of steam ("too bad it had to remember it was a movie" I said to Lady S. afterward). I'm in the scene where Ricky Gervais walks out of the bank with money that he lied to get. He actually started a brief conversation with me and another extra on set. I've talked about it many times before on here. Anyways, the thing with Ricky as director was that he shot extremely quick and it shows up in the final product. The film has a dead air quality to it which is a shame because the concept and script were amazingly original. Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Damn, I still have not seen this. I heard it played on VH1 1,000 times but I missed it. Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 Not really interested in it, but what a great poster ^^ Watched For Your Consideration over the weekend, and enjoyed it thoroughly. My expectations were low since the overall reviews made it seem like a limp, tired extension of the Guest troupe movies, so I was pleasantly surprised. I'm not a huge fan of Guffman/Mighty Wind/Best In Show, but I like them, and this one is right up there with those. Guest's director character was oddly magnetic, and the weather woman with the monkey puppet was wtf awesome. Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted January 10, 2011 Author Share Posted January 10, 2011 Damn, I still have not seen this. I heard it played on VH1 1,000 times but I missed it. The bonus disc has some great footage. I don't think they showed that on VH1. Link to post Share on other sites
El Picador Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 The bonus disc has some great footage. I don't think they showed that on VH1. I was just thinking the same thing. My son and I watched it last night. This DVD set is worth checking out, even if you're not a fan of Rush but a fan of music. There is much to like about this band besides the music. Link to post Share on other sites
Moss Posted January 10, 2011 Share Posted January 10, 2011 I was just thinking the same thing. My son and I watched it last night. This DVD set is worth checking out, even if you're not a fan of Rush but a fan of music. There is much to like about this band besides the music. I'm convinced, I have an Amazon gift certificate just waiting to be spent. Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted January 21, 2011 Author Share Posted January 21, 2011 Jeremiah (TV series 2002-2004) I recall seeing episodes of this show years ago. It was originally on Showtime. I must have seen it on USA or the Sci-Fi channel. The whole run of the show is on Hulu. Link to post Share on other sites
Sweet Papa Crimbo Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aS4hoOSlzo Just saw this one today...Sweet Fancy Moses what a wonderful movie Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 Watched Green Zone last night. A complete POS. Link to post Share on other sites
PopTodd Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Just saw Superbad for the first time over the weekend. Outstanding. Hilarious. I will watch it again. Link to post Share on other sites
Beltmann Posted January 24, 2011 Share Posted January 24, 2011 Even though it's slicker and more willing to exist as a genre picture, Atom Egoyan's remake of Nathalie... (2003) may actually improve upon the (very good) original--despite the new thriller elements, Egoyan still winds up mining deeper psychological territory. Link to post Share on other sites
Oil Can Boyd Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I hadn't seen this movie in a long time but it's still great. Link to post Share on other sites
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