The Movie Thread

[janvanvurpa]

Actually I'd recommend almost all of Clint's modern stuff. I've heard mixed things about American Sniper but want to see it to make my own mind up. Most of the stuff he's done including and since Unforgiven has been worth watching IMO, complex plots, murky morals and a focus on violence which is a world away from Hollywood blastfests. He likes looking at the type of personality that is drawn to it and especially the impact it has on the people that get involved who are internally scarred for life.

Gadjo, I'd also recommend Terence Mallick's stuff though whether you'd consider him as 'mainstream' I don't know.

Malbec, mon sewer, Malick !!!!! No not mainstream.... Not in same ocean as whatever stream runs into it..So facinated with his treatment of the great James Jones
Here's wiki's intro:
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American ensemble epic war film written and directed by Terrence Malick. Based on the novel by James Jones, it tells a fictionalized version of the Battle of Mount Austen, which was part of the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II. It portrays soldiers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, played by Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Elias Koteas and Ben Chaplin. Although the title may seem to reference a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Tommy", from Barrack-Room Ballads, in which he calls foot soldiers "the thin red line of heroes",^[2] referring to the stand of the 93rd Regiment in the Battle of Balaclava of the Crimean War, it is in reality a quote from the book which reads "they discover the thin red line that divides the sane from the mad... and the living from the dead..."

A man who returns to filmaking after 20 years 'in the wildernesss" cannot be at all mainstream.

The subject in "The Thin Red Line" was maybe especially interesting to me having of course read Jones' novel years earlier and having had a good friend who was a Marine who fought there--and lost his right arm from bad wounds that became horribly infected....I would roll certain funny, fat cigarettes for him which were then illegal, but now in my enlightened State are finally legal And as i rolled he talked about Guadalcanal, and we talked about movies.....John Ford's great ones, and war movies--he was an academic so the point of view was about the creation of the Mythos ---which is about as close as most Americans get to war.....
And interestingly we predicted that when we lost the stupid war America was then fighting--once again in the jungles---that there would be some real crap movies glorifying the people as heroes because you could possibly make on critical of the policies...

Looks like it is once again the era of paeans to individuals, without serious context of what they were doing.

[airshifter]

Actually I'd recommend almost all of Clint's modern stuff. I've heard mixed things about American Sniper but want to see it to make my own mind up. Most of the stuff he's done including and since Unforgiven has been worth watching IMO, complex plots, murky morals and a focus on violence which is a world away from Hollywood blastfests. He likes looking at the type of personality that is drawn to it and especially the impact it has on the people that get involved who are internally scarred for life.

Gadjo, I'd also recommend Terence Mallick's stuff though whether you'd consider him as 'mainstream' I don't know.

Since Gran Torino I've liked the style Clint has, and agree that the plots and morals often step over the line of the norm. But I enjoy the complexities that he shows in humans. I usually don't have much time for movies, but have a couple more of his on my "to watch" list.

Bradley Cooper is also in 'Aloha', seems lighter material than 'American Sniper'.
http://youtu.be/O3mf_ewjc7s trailer

http://youtu.be/28r87OzTVeo (Good Kill trailer) - drone movie from Andrew Niccol/ Ethan Hawke - will probably create a bit of discussion. I wonder if Top Gun 2 will be the same or just a whizz bang movie. The drone pilot who 'spoke out' had a reported tally of 1626 , ten times Kyle's. Long term drone pilots must have some large tallies.

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http://youtu.be/ji8Tsuj3u0c (Housebound trailer -nz horror comedy)there is probably too much kiwi vernacular in this movie for a wide release - therefore it will get a Hollywood/ new line remake.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment...ilm-housebound

I thought Cooper did a good job in American Sniper, but to be honest I didn't see it as the stand out performance many make it to be. And that is said not to take anything away from him as an actor. But often the "big" recognized movies end up with a bazillion nominations for awards for everything from food catering service, to music, to acting.

I hadn't heard of Good Kill, and it might be an interesting angle to the complexities of modern day warfare and people taking lives from safe environments. I'd personally like if they made the politicians driving these wars at a minimum "push the red button" on operations such as this, in hopes that a more personal involvement might alter their view on policies. I'd bet that if they were the ones being asked to take human life things might change.

Malbec, mon sewer, Malick !!!!! No not mainstream.... Not in same ocean as whatever stream runs into it..So facinated with his treatment of the great James Jones
Here's wiki's intro:
The Thin Red Line is a 1998 American ensemble epic war film written and directed by Terrence Malick. Based on the novel by James Jones, it tells a fictionalized version of the Battle of Mount Austen, which was part of the Guadalcanal Campaign in the Pacific Theater of World War II. It portrays soldiers of C Company, 1st Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, played by Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Nick Nolte, Elias Koteas and Ben Chaplin. Although the title may seem to reference a line from Rudyard Kipling's poem "Tommy", from Barrack-Room Ballads, in which he calls foot soldiers "the thin red line of heroes",^[2] referring to the stand of the 93rd Regiment in the Battle of Balaclava of the Crimean War, it is in reality a quote from the book which reads "they discover the thin red line that divides the sane from the mad... and the living from the dead..."

A man who returns to filmaking after 20 years 'in the wildernesss" cannot be at all mainstream.

The subject in "The Thin Red Line" was maybe especially interesting to me having of course read Jones' novel years earlier and having had a good friend who was a Marine who fought there--and lost his right arm from bad wounds that became horribly infected....I would roll certain funny, fat cigarettes for him which were then illegal, but now in my enlightened State are finally legal And as i rolled he talked about Guadalcanal, and we talked about movies.....John Ford's great ones, and war movies--he was an academic so the point of view was about the creation of the Mythos ---which is about as close as most Americans get to war.....
And interestingly we predicted that when we lost the stupid war America was then fighting--once again in the jungles---that there would be some real crap movies glorifying the people as heroes because you could possibly make on critical of the policies...

Looks like it is once again the era of paeans to individuals, without serious context of what they were doing.

I'm often critical of any historical inaccuracies in military type movies, and a couple of friends that saw The Thin Red Line prompted me to decide not to view it. But I was critical of a few of the scenes in American Sniper as well, but overall appreciated the movie.

As for your closing comments, I think that is something that is misunderstood by people who have not served in a military role. Much like your friend that served in the Pacific, once in that situation those people have little time to look at the overall context, political influences, and long term policy blunders. I think most of them are living in their own "here and now" and adapt in whatever way they feel needed. The struggles many of them have later in life are in my opinion the conflict they face in dealing with the consequences of their decisions, as well as the public opinion of the rights and wrongs involved.

Without some focus on the individuals, the story would often be lost. But I do agree that when those individuals are glorified, it's only one side of the story. That's why I enjoy the films that focus on the entire picture more showing how those individuals, loved or hated, cope with their own decisions.

[Malbec]

The subject in "The Thin Red Line" was maybe especially interesting to me having of course read Jones' novel years earlier and having had a good friend who was a Marine who fought there--and lost his right arm from bad wounds that became horribly infected....I would roll certain funny, fat cigarettes for him which were then illegal, but now in my enlightened State are finally legal And as i rolled he talked about Guadalcanal, and we talked about movies.....John Ford's great ones, and war movies--he was an academic so the point of view was about the creation of the Mythos ---which is about as close as most Americans get to war.....

Interesting, I saw the Thin Red Line about the same time as I read the Naked and the Dead, and I thought the film much inferior until I realised what Mallick was trying to do. Apart from showing the men's struggle for the most important things in their lives, their sanity and indeed life itself I thought he was showing how insignificant all this is or was compared to the living breathing being that the island itself is. One minute we see the Americans encounter the Japanese for the first time with horrific results, men dropping like flies everywhere, artillery blasting the world to bits and battle hardened sergeants lose their minds. The next minute the fighting has stopped, the long grass claims all the casualties and the island swallows all evidence of the fighting as if it had never happened. The very final shot I thought indicates that long after all the men have gone home and died of old age, long after the battle of Guadalcanal is forgotten completely, long after the USA and Japan have ceased to exist the island will still be there, crocodiles, palm trees and all. I thought he was trying to show how insignificant we are in the grand scheme of things, whether as individuals, nations or even as a species and how egotistical we are for thinking otherwise.

And interestingly we predicted that when we lost the stupid war America was then fighting--once again in the jungles---that there would be some real crap movies glorifying the people as heroes because you could possibly make on critical of the policies...

Looks like it is once again the era of paeans to individuals, without serious context of what they were doing.

I'd be interested to see what you think of Flags of Our Fathers then, which shows three soldiers associated (and I use that word deliberately) with the famous photo of the Marines hoisting up the flag on mount Suribachi and how they are used by the US government back home to maintain interest in a war that is rapidly losing the attention of Americans back home. Three men who are definitely not heroes and who struggle to cope with the aftermath of the horrors they saw and the contrast with the adulation heaped on them by the American public.

[gadjo_dilo]

I saw Stockholm, a Spanish movie directed by Rodrigo Sorogoyen. What can I say? I loved it. Probably the best movie I've seen in the last year. Malbec, you'll definitely like it.
The title doesn't come from Sweden capital but from Stockholm syndrome. Actually the action takes place in Madrid .
A boy meets a girl in a club and does anything to seduce her because she's reticent. After he did it, things change radically.
The boy is charming, he's aware of his charisma but he's vain, playing with the girls as he wishes. The girl is sensitive, fragile, even shy, the introvert type. He wants just to seduce her, he's not interested at all to know her or her emotions.
The interaction between these two ( the only characters of the movie) starts like a nice love story but will end dramatically.
Loved every minute of this movie, but I'm afraid I took it too personally....
Maybe I needed this movie to open my eyes......?????

PS Whenever I go to the movies the theater is empty, this time it was half full. It's really weird .....
Most of the audience were people over 40 yo, also weird for a movie about youngsters.

PS2 My exuberance after watching a great movie disappeared on my way home because of a terrible car crash in the neighbourhood. 3 deaths and 6 seriously wounded in the middle of the city, at the middle of the day and on a zebra.....I could have been right in that place if we hadn't decided to have a coffee before going home.

[Big Ben]

funny thing, i was listening on Friday or Saturday on the radio talking about Stockholm and thought I'm sure Gadjo's going to that one

PS the Romanian are probably the most retarded drivers in the EU. Every time I'm in traffic, in my car or on my bike I thing everybody else is out there to kill me.

[Big Ben]

I've never gave a crap about the Oscars and I've never understood the hype. I hear boyhood and the grand hotel budapest are big deal this year. I've tried to watch boyhood but gave up 3/4 into the movie. It was just slightly more interesting than filming a tree growing over 12 years. I watched the grand hotel budapest too. wtf is that movie?

[gadjo_dilo]

funny thing, i was listening on Friday or Saturday on the radio talking about Stockholm and thought I'm sure Gadjo's going to that one

In the future don't be so sure cos unfortunately I don't go to any movie I want. I follow only what is broadcast at Cinema Studio. Next week will be a hungarian movie.

You should go to Stockholm ( the movie not the city ). It's not boring at all. Not to mention it won the grand prix at Transilvania Film festival.

[gadjo_dilo]

If it's Wednesday it must be Telecinemateca on our public television. This time it was The Invisible Man, produced in 1933. Enjoyed it and since I can't be arsed with special effects I'm sure I wouldn't like too much a recent version.


www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1lm1YH7BKE

[Tazio]

......and Samaras .......and Neymar ..........

Sorryyyyyyyy

From todays f1 practice:

14:39 Football fans will be delighted with Williams right now, with Brazilian ace and Barcelona star Neymar visiting countryman Felipe Massa in the garage.

Sorrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry

[gadjo_dilo]

Cool