At least he's not like Jennifer Lawrence, who always have to be paired with a much older man all because she had a crush on John Stamos. Maybe that's what killed The Rosie Project (I think they were near the same age in the actual story).
Not as good as I remember it being. Predator is still a good movie, sweatiness and all, but I liked it more when I was younger. Maybe I finally see some of the shortcomings critics saw when it came out. The plot is rather simple and to compare it to Alien is a mistake as they are completely different films. I guess that it's one of those films that when I see it now, I'm like, "that's it?". But it's still a good movie but perhaps Predator 2 is a better film.
Also, the DCP is that terrible Ultimate Hunter master rather than the 4K restoration that Europe got for its 30th anniversary.
Chungking Express is the second Criterion movie of the week on their channel. I need to actually hook up my Roku to watch this one this week (their channel is not on PSN). Unless there's a re-release, there's no way I'll ever actually own it.
Tenet: Criterion Edition. Now with more Backwards Man.
There's been a reissue rumored for some time now as Miramax lost the rights and Janus snagged them. I'm guessing that a restoration is being done (this year being it's 25th anniversary and all), which might be why it hasn't arrived yet.
A film that should have begun a trend of daring films from female filmmakers that would have defined the current decade but for some reason or another, was overshadowed by the powers that be with Lena Dunham and mumblecore. The story of a teenage girl's awakening is also a film about the undoing of a family. Dee Rees' film is naturalistic and deliberately avoids traditional film conventions with the way the story is told. It's somehow of a documentary-like film due to Bradford Young's handheld cinematography and the non-showy performances. Rees makes the characters feel like people you would run into on the street or in class.
Though Rees' later film Mudbound got all the attention, this is by far the much superior film.
Sometimes, the best romances are the ones where they don't end up together. Audrey Hepburn's breakout performance as the Princess Ann is part of what makes this film so memorable. The Rome locations, the carefree humor, and the avoidance of sentimentality sell this film about a day in the life of royalty and a newsman running into each other. I also admire that unlike many of today's films about royalty, it's really more of a criticism, as Ann seeks a simple life without the attention or the glamor.
People love a film like Coppola's Marie Antoinette as that's perceived as critical of the French aristocracy. Personally, I thought that film glorified it and Coppola's obsession with the rich. Roman Holiday feels less like Hollywood and more like what was coming out of Europe at the time. Paramount spent years trying to do a sequel but thankfully, that never happened. It would have more than likely undid what makes this film so special.
Anyone ever notice how almost every Coen Brothers movie has an element of crime to it? This is probably their most overtly crime-related (yes, more than Blood Simple and Fargo) as everyone is connected in some way to the criminal underworld. No character is truly good but nearly all of them are sympathetic in a way. You care about them and their actions, ever if they aren't the right actions. Gabriel Byrne probably gave his performance in this. He might seem like a bland character at first but his subtleties make the performance work. He's the everyman protagonist who is up to his ears in a situation that may or may not have played a role in. This was another showcase for the recently-deceased Albert Finney as the leader of the local Irish mob. He was someone who never needed to go over-the-top to make a presence. He could carry a film on presence and getting into the character. There aren't many actors today like Finney. And I'd forgotten how well Marcia Gay Harden does the vamp archetype. I'm kind of surprised that during the neo-noir boom of the mid 90's, you didn't see Harden bring back this kind of role. She would have done well in a Last Seduction/Red Rock West-type film.
I now have realized I've seen most of the Coen Brothers-directed lineup in theatres (and The Big Lebowski's playing near me next month) and yet, a few still feel elusive. Oh well, I have Blu-ray copies of the ones I'd like to see in the theatre someday.
You remarks on Predator, sayin stuff like plot is rather simple and all or Thats It?! Shame, shame, shame.
The beauty of Predator lies in each character, their sense of an alien being amongst them and yet, everyone is in the game and winner takes all, and all is killable- no matter how much mud u got or how many invisibility devices u got, its the ultimate face/off. To disguise it as an action movie is a simple jedi trick, those with feeble minds cant see through it.
“One time I wrestled a giraffe to the ground with my bare hands.” — Dale
I knew someone who called this the worst movie ever made just because the title had a plus sign instead of an ampersand. I, however, would call this the best of the modern Shakespeare updates. Personally, I'm not much for Shakespeare's written word and have found many of the modern literal adaptations (such as Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing and Michael Almyareda's many films) poor but this one works incredibly well. It's very stylish but Shakespeare had a certain flair and Luhrmann marries his own style perfectly. The performances are quite good (I'm surprised DiCaprio was sort of panned for his Romeo when it came out, I thought he did well with a difficult role) but the star is the technical aspects. The production design is excellent and the world building is impressive. And the sound mix is pretty good too (I believe this was one of the earliest films with four different sound mixes, which means you probably got a good sound experience anywhere you saw it).
In the end, I think that any future adaptation of Shakespeare (unless it was Branagh's Hamlet) was going to look inferior to this one as Luhrmann gave us something we'd never seen before and the element of surprise would never be the same after November 1st, 1996.
Anyone else notice that this is basically a feature-length update of the Seinfeld episode The Opposite? Though of course, George, Jerry, and Kramer didn't conspire to steal money from Steinbrenner. Anyway, this might be the benchmark of workplace comedies. No other film or show (especially the massively overrated American version of The Office) is going to top Office Space in how it skewers the generally accepted culture of the corporate ladder. In fact, I'd say this is how to do it. Don't make us accept people never questioning their horrible boss and why they still work there while an annoying confession cam interrupts the flow. Make us relate to the characters. The ordinary person wants to be Peter Gibbons (except for the whole getting caught part). And Lumbergh, unlike Michael Scott, works as an antagonist because we're supposed to hate him. He is evil incarnate in a business suit and glasses (it's not hard to compare him to Agent Smith from The Matrix, with the slow voice and methodical sociopathy).
I remember first seeing the film when it hit home video but I must wonder how it was received in theatres. Did the few people respond to the characters or were audiences disappointed that it wasn't like Beavis and Butt-head or King of the Hill? Oh, I found that it had a C+ Cinemascore so it seems as if it was a real "love it or hate it" movie then.
Up next: it's supposed to be Glory but the screening might not happen. Otherwise, it would be the recently restored Police Story and Police Story 2 shown as a double feature.
Earlier this month, I mentioned that Predator wasn't as good as I remembered. This time, I saw a movie that was better than I remembered. Glory might be the best film ever made about the Civil War. The depiction of war is some of the best designed technically and it also manages to move you with its message of tolerance and how it saved a nation and won a war. It's also seemingly one of the few war films told from the Union perspective, as Hollywood is more interested in redoing Gone with the Wind than telling the truth.
And the DCP is one of the best I've seen and heard for an old movie. It seems that the 4K master was used because I don't remember it looking this good. The sound mix (I'm guessing based on the 70mm mix) has excellent surrounds and for a movie from the 80's, you don't often get that. Too bad there were so few at the screening.
While many people are watching another predictable Oscar ceremony, I spent my evening watching these newly restored Jackie Chan movies. While the first is the better film overall, the second is the more fun movie. Also, watching these on the big screen in their original languages and aspect ratios really gets you notice the strengths of Jackie Chan the director. The way he creates a fight scene puts a lot of American filmmakers that depend on quick cuts and CGI to shame. Chan, being the perfectionist that he is, puts on emphasis on his cast and stuntpeople going through all this toil and pain to get the shot. You have to have balls to be the toughest one in the room and Chan has ones made of brass.
These two movies also put my Criterion list at 43. Next month, I have The Breakfast Club and hope to attend a free screening of Pierrot le Fou.
Final February tally (unless I do actually see something in the next few days):
- 19 films
- 5 decades covered (6 overall, 1950's was the only new decade this month)
- 4 Criterions
