MOVIES THREAD

I'm going this evening or tomorrow morning. My work schedule did not permit me to see it on Friday. This is the first Cronenberg film since The Fly that I did not see on opening day.

I'm anxiously awaiting Michael Haneke's English remake of Funny Games [due in April 2008]. His original was amazing. I have yet to be disappointed by any of his films.

 

Liked the bit at the end:

News flash! This just in! Reese Witherspoon is hot! Also, Colin Farrell and George Clooney!

 

I'll take you both on with that one.

Indy 4 will be considered a flop in the same way that Pirates 3 has been -- it will make a lot of money, but not finish in the Top 3 of the summer. The under-25 crowd has no cultural reference to Indy the way they did, say, Transformers or Spider-Man. If you doubt me, youtube Shia LaBeouf's "big announcement" of the movie's name at the VMA's last week (a name which has already been critically panned, by the way). Watch how the name goes over like a lead balloon, despite Shia's insistence that "this is a big deal!"

As for what's coming up the rest of the year...

I am Legend will be the No. 1 movie of the fourth quarter -- despite being open for only 2 weeks of it.
Walk Hard will get a lot of laugh attention.
And my movie sources say the most talked about movie among cinephiles will be Atonement.

Jesse James is a butt-number, Michael Clayton is a bit boring, Eastern Promises is entertaining but lacks the depth an ultra-violent movie needs -- or so I'm hearing from my friends at TIFF and Venice FF.

The Lookout remains my favorite movie of the year; Ratatouille a close second.

In the Shadow of the Moon is the best documentary, and will win the Oscar, IMO.

 

Butt-number?

 

Oh, I just figured it out. A movie that drags on too long and numbs the butt. I read it as number, as in 1, 2, 4, 88, 983.

 

I went to see Across the Universe and if you are a fan of the Beatles, you must go see this flick. It is essentially a Beatles soundtrack.

I was worried that Marilyn Manson would make a guest appearance in this because his girlfriend is in it. Can you imagine him singing I am a Walrus or Strawberry Fields? Oh god!

 

I had a movie rating system based on this at an a departed (thanks Katrina) cinema where you sat at tables and could drink beer. Had the worst unpadded swivel seats in the world. If the movie was good enough that you didn't notice how bad your a$$ hurt, it was really good.

I saw "The Brave One" this weekend and while not a great movie, it's a good revenge flick.

 

How does Transformers have a greater cultural reference for the under-25 crowd than Indian Jones does?

It seems like Transformers had almost no presence in toy stores or on TV for years (probably going back to the mid-80s) before the announcement of the live action movie.

Indiana Jones is quite ingrained in pop culture. You can bet most of the young'uns could spot the fedora and pick him out of the crowd even if they haven's seen one or all of the movies.

I'd be willing to bet more are familiar with Indy than are familiar with Iron Man. Iron Man doesn't transcend the comic book culture the way Spider Man, Super Man or Batman do. They were all well-known enough even to people who aren't in that niche of comic book lovers that they were a big draw.

He wouldn't even have the draw that Transformers did (was Iron Man ever a successful cartoon or action figure? Not on the scale Transformers were).

I'm not sure Iron Man has that broad appeal outside of the comic niche, whereas I think Indy does. And The Dark Knight will have more appeal than both, with a recent movie under its belt and the return of the Joker.

 

Who is Iron Man? And did he have his own reality TV show a few years ago?

 

A comicbook superhero, apparently. I had never heard of the character until Esquire profiled Robert Downey Jr. I was not impressed by the trailer. It basically just looked like the Rocketeer on crack.

 

I watched a movie called "Last Days" yesterday and was curious if anyone had seen it. It is a parallel to Kurt Cobain's life and it was one of the stranger movies I have seen in my time.
One of my favorite parts is when the Mormon missionaries come to the house. Just hysterical. Though one of them was wearing a blue shirt, which wouldn't happen.

I also watched "Live from Baghdad" again recently and I really like that movie a lot. It spawned some interesting conversation between my girlfriend and I whether or not we would have the guts to cover an assignment like that.

 

I've had Last Days sitting in my collection for over a year now. I'm a big fan of Gus Van Sant. His directing style can be quirky at times, but I've always liked his ability to tell a story. If you haven't seen Elephant, it might be worthwhile to check it out. It's essentially a Columbine-like shooting spree told from the viewpoints of several characters. Powerful stuff.