Movie @ MindSay 
fun
I hate when good things are butchered. Look at Death Note. Good story. The movie? Butchered, of course. Doesn't follow the story at all! They left out Near, Mello, and countless others! Plus, Fujiwara looks like a chipmunk and I can't help but laugh every time I see him.
*Sigh* Oh well. I still enjoy the books. I think they picked the right guy to play Marius in the movie. He looks very... Roman-ish. I think Marius is my favorite character.
Who is YOUR favorite vampire from the Anne Rice novels?
A distant memory of Peter Lorre's unique screen presence has stayed with me since I first saw him in Casablanca in my youth: his expressive eyes, hunched back, pudgy face, and somehow diabolical screen presence. Now, seeing Fritz Lang's German film M, starring Lorre as a kindermord or child murderer, I understand better the Peter Lorre mystique. Only he could inhabit the definitive doppelgรคnger character of M.
The picture above displays the complex, rich dualities of the film: mirroring, marking, darkness, fear. True, it is an "old" film, but after reading this and listening briefly to the Criterion Collection's DVD commentary, M is even better than you could think. Made in 1930, the film beautifully portrays the paralytic government of the Weimar Republic and the social disorder that led to Nazism.
All the scenes develop the film's intellectual framework, and it's weird to see camera and audio combined so well, considering that M was Lang's first film with sound -- perhaps M is the first great film with sound, since the technology had only just been developed. Many films play off the parallel organizational styles of the cops and the crooks, but Lang flashes between the two groups at work trying to catch the villain, who eventually carries the "M" mark of Cain.
Pathological criminals often seek to be caught, so we know how the film will end. Lorre's kindermord character is eventually brought to justice by the underworld, foreshadowing the rise of Nazi power from the ground up. Like all great filmmakers, Lang is markedly patient with the camera and his cuts, requiring some patience, but I found M as suspenseful as any drama I can recall, much like Kurosawa's Yojimbo. Indeed, it takes an intelligent film for me to think, "Get that bastard!"
O.k. I don't know where to even begin.....
My Hats off to Eli Roth.
First let me start with my experience with the movie. I don't know all the ins and outs of movies as far as how they work and who does what or whatever. I usually base my viewing of movies on the trailer or what people have said about the movie. I do watch independent movies because some are really good and you don't know for sure unless you watch them. I saw the previews for the this movie and it looked like a movie I'd want to see as a horror buff but then I saw presented by Quentin Tarantino I thought "no way" this movie is going to rock.
When the movie came out I couldn't wait to see it. I left there like "whoah" that blows my mind ...a place where people pay to kill other people. So I'm driving home and I'm thinking about the movie because it still blew me away that it was a place where people paid to kill people. I must say I didn't see it coming at all and I was thinking what the hell is this place? Are they going to sell their organs? What do they do here? Why are they doing this to these people? Then the fact it turns out that people we paying someone to kill other people...That was f'in brilliant! The concept, no one had ever done a movie about that or thought about that.
So I'm thinking back on the movie and I'm like, I have to tell my best friend Beth about this movie its going to f'in blow her mind. She has to go see this movie. To me for me it was like the Sixth Sense I couldn't stop talking about it. So of course I bought the movie when it came out and watched it again and I loved the second one equally. I recently bought the second dvd which when I was viewing it I pressed for the subtitles to come on because I didn't understand when someone said something and when I pressed for the subtitles I saw all this other stuff you could view and decided to watch it after the movie was over and what I realized after I put on the subtitles that there was alot of stuff being said in the background you just make out as chitter chatter but it was actually the actors talking and a bunch of other dialogue I had originally missed so it made the movie that much better for me as if that was possible. So when the movie was over I started it back to the beginning with subtitles to see what I missed from the beginning making me love the movie that much more. So when the movie was over I wanted to know everything about it and listened to the interview and saw the gag reels and listened to his commentary.
And I'm like are you f'in serious this was this guys first movie to write. This guy is a f'in genius. Kind of like Eminem. I know you may not like Eminems' music but you have to say he was a f'in genius. His lyrics, he could wrap and here is this white rapper saying these things. He was genius in representing how the younger generation feels sometimes, they don't talk about it but they feel those feelings. But anyway back to the movie. So he made this movie on $3 million dollars unbelieveable. It had the quality and feel of a big movie. These actors were just genius, the fact that he just happened or thought about including these actors and they fit so perfectly to the charactar was unremarkable. So I'm listening about his intentions for the movie and how he wanted the audience to feel and so I went back and watched the movie again and it worked perfectly. I didn't realize it but his intentions were for us to really like Josh and see the world through Joshs eyes and really care about Josh and when he was killed off it was a real let down because Paxton was a jerk and Oli was just along for the ride. Then you find yourself feeling sorry for this Jerk when he realizes hes all along and things are getting really weird. I liked how Eli kind of drew you to the softer side of Paxton when they were walking down the street talking about the drowning it made Paxton alot more likeable before he killed off Josh. Eli just thought of everything.
So anyway I love his political views you should listen to them I agree and they make alot of sense and the movie does coincide with politics and money and greed. Where ultimately the rich can't get rich enough, they are bored and ultimately they have all the power and use it in violence.
The fact that some of the people who stood in the movie but weren't actors they had a role on the set but they fit perfectly in that role. All so genius.
So anyway I think there should be a Hostel 3 I want one. This time I think Beth should come back for them. Shes smart, she has a ton of money and she is the type of person that would have to put an end to this. But how does she go about doing it if they have their hands in everything? So how is she going to put an end to this and go into how the factory operates, how do they get their clients?, how come all these people are involved but no one important not involved hasn't found out? Eli your a genius you can do it.
Rating: A, 98/100, 10/10
Charlie Kaufman explores the depression of Caden Cotard, a playwright/ hypochondriac (Philip Seymour Hoffman). It all stems from his wife (Catherine Keener), but he knows and the audience knows that she is not the cause of all his problems, although she is quite unsettling.
We are introduced to Hazal (Samantha Morton), a sweet distraction from his decaying family life. However, his sense of loyalty stands in the way of anything meaningful happening with her.
As he grows older, Caden becomes acutely aware of the things that are missing from his life. His focus is on himself, but in his myopic state he cannot identify the problem. So he comes up with the best solution he can. He'll make a play of his life. And in so doing, maybe he'll find out what went wrong. Maybe he'll find out who he is. Maybe he'll only continue to destroy his life.
Sammy, the actor who plays Caden in the play, seems to overtake Caden's life and becomes more like Caden than Caden himself could ever be. Lines of fantasy and reality blur as Sammy makes creative choices about the character of Caden that Caden disagrees with. Then, as if that weren't enough, the role mutates to the point where actress Millicent Weems (Dianne Wiest) takes over the role. She becomes Caden's doppelganger, taking control of Caden's life, when he is unable to cope.
The film starts in October, 2005 and continues over forty years into the future. Nothing much changes in the world around the characters. The only thing that is constant is time, spinning out of control. When his grown up daughter, Olive, falsely accuses him of ruining her life, her perception totally skewed, Caden begs to be forgiven in what is a very moving scene.
Not to be overlooked is Hope Davis' psychotherapist character. She plays the straight guy, nodding, asking how Caden feels. Oh it feels bad? Good! Her collection of self-help books (all written by her) don't help Caden solve his problems. They are only false remedies that Caden tries, in effort to satisfy him in his life. Caden either projects his health problems onto her, or she has problems of her own (a grotesque blister on her toe that mirrors the boils on Caden's legs).
Emily Watson plays an actress that is portraying Hazal's character. To me, she and Samantha Morton are like the same person, the same actress. I only saw their similarities. However, apparently, Charlie Kaufman cast them because of their differences. Also, the characters are supposed to be extremely different. But at first, the overwhelming similarities are often confounding. Emily Watson takes over Hazal's character and acts in ways Hazal would never act, just as Sammy and Millicent overstepped their bounds with the Caden character.
What is moving about this movie? Certainly Caden's connection with his daughter, Olive. Certainly his affection for Hazal, the closest thing he has to a soulmate. Yet he always manages to screw things up with her, no matter what. Also, death is explored in this movie, the idea that we're all going to die one day. That everyone is the main character of their own story. That we all have choices.
Synecdoche, New York is a gross and weird movie too, different from anything that you'll see this year. That's ultimately why I love it. It attempts to show the truth through all the seemingly unimportant details, yet they are tied together in a nice bow without the movie seeming too perfect. It's offensive to many, the way life is shown, yet I laughed at the things I should have been shocked by.
After this film, it almost doesn't make any sense to see any movie by anyone except for Charlie Kaufman. No one has more sense of oneself (and everyone else) and yet no one is more lost and wandering (and boy, I thought I was bad!). Kudos to Kaufman for succeeding yet again, when he could have taken the easy way out and written something more simplistic or less gut-wrenching.
Showing 1 - 5. [ Next ]