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Bride Flight 7/10
A small Dutch period piece about an air race to New Zealand. That's about what the official description said about it, but really the air race is only the turning point in the story. The rest is about the four main characters lives in this new land, their whole lives. It's also periodically intercut with the present where they are having the funeral of one of the main characters. Overall, i really liked it, the acting was really good from everyone, the chemistry between the main characters was fantastic. Even with the desaturated color correction of the scenes in the past, the scenery was beautiful. I really hope to experience New Zealand some day. The production design was pretty good. The main problem came with lack of focus, The fact that it starts off with the funeral of one of the characters, it seems like that character is the main protagonist. While you could argue that he is intercut with all of the other three's lives, there times that we don't see him for quite a while. Also with trying to show the most important moments of 4 people's lives in 2 hours it get's a bit episodic in nature. Still, even with it's faults, i really enjoyed it and felt what it was trying to say.


Rio 2/10
Garbage. These film makers should go work on the nickelodeon channel or some other garbage outlet. This is prime example of why people still see animated films as just for kids. by the numbers plotline, awful awful dialogue. It's no wonder Pixar has such a hard time trying to get academy voters and others to take their films serious and as films for everyone, not only for those of lower mental ability.


Submarine 5/10
(just a note: i saw this late at night with my mind fuddled by tiredness) That being said, i enjoyed what i understood of it. Story-wise, it was downright weird. Technical-wise it was ten times as much as that. I mean, there were jump-cuts, weird camera angles, i think i even saw a zoom out and if i'm not mistaken the character acknowledges it. Back to the story, There are a lot of different descriptions of what it's about, but a lot of them seem off to me. I think that is because the film makers purpose of the film was for it not to fit in a neat little box. What i got out of it anyway, was a boy not being able to cope with what was happening around him and he might not be totally right in the head either.


Arrietty 3/10
sigh. maybe i just have too high hopes for ghibli films after mononoke, howl's castle etc, but their last three films have not been very good. To be fair, Arriety is better than ponyo and earthsea, but still has many problems. One of the problems and one that irked me the most was the old-maid 'villain' of the story. She has no purpose other than to be the evil incarnate of whoever it is that wants to destroy the endangered species of this world. It also doesn't help that Miyazaki writes his 'villains' morally ambiguous. She is poorly written, about the last 10 minutes of the movie they try to give her a few justifications with a few lines thrown in about the borrowers stealing and whatnot. which brings me to the main problem, the fact that personal moral convictions are given priority over story. I have nothing against environmentalism, in fact i agree with a lot of their views and think humans should be more conscious and responsible of what happens to the world. Still, the story is compromised over his views. Up till the halfway of the film, there hasn't been much dialogue, more contemplative, then there is about a 10 minute monologue about dying species and whose fault it is, yada yada. I really wanted to like it, the animation is wonderful like most Ghibli films are, the sound design was quite unique, switching between how we normally hear things, to how a little person might hear things. The main girl was quite likable

Griff the Invisible 6/10
Australia's entry in the crazy-humans-who-think-they-are-superheroes genre. The two main characters were likable, Ryan Kwanten's acting was surprisingly good. It ends a bit different than most films in this genre, but there was nothing about it really made it stand out

You do know that Arrietty is based on a book (which was previously adapted as a 1993 miniseries and a 1998 film with John Goodman, Jim Broadbent, Mark Williams and a young Tom Felton), don't you? Some of the film's problems may be due to the source material rather than Ghibli. I haven't read the book so I wouldn't really know how close it is.

I think you were more than a little harsh on both Submarine and Arriety, UDM. Maybe your state of mind affected your viewing pleasure, as I found both, though equally flawed, to be very charming movies in their own rights. You say Submarine was "downright weird", where I generally found it to be a creative homage almost to Wes Anderson, delicately handling a difficult subject matter of how to cope with a parent's dissolving relationship. As you say, with the lead not being "right in the head", he was essentially creating dreamlike escapes from the reality of his life, hardly something we haven't seen before, and the technical merits are also something most who have seen movies are familiar with as a technique to explain narrative and emotions. Give it another chance with fresh eyes and I'm sure you'd find plenty to like.

Arriety, while I agree, is not up to the standard of Spirited Away or Mononoke, is a different type of movie. It's much more simple in narrative, probably due to the source material but also because of its intended audience. I'm not sure how many of the Ghibli studio movies you've seen, but quite often Miyazaki switches between more mature themes in his movies and those aimed at younger audiences. While Sprited Away, Mononoke and Grave Of The Fireflies are aimed at the former, many such as Porco Rosso, Totoro, The Cat Retuns, Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo are aimed at the latter. Each have their own merits, but you have to look at them in a different light to the more serious fare. What I did find amusing though, is your comments regarding the moralistic convictions of Ghibli. If I'm being critical, to be honest these have always been prevalent in all their movies, especially so those you claim to love, and quite often to the detriment of story. This isn't something new, it is the foundation of all Ghibli movies. Anyway, I did agree with you on some of those points regarding lack of character development, but purely on a visual side Arriety was a delight, for me at least.

Buscemi wrote:You do know that Arrietty is based on a book (which was previously adapted as a 1993 miniseries and a 1998 film with John Goodman, Jim Broadbent, Mark Williams and a young Tom Felton), don't you? Some of the film's problems may be due to the source material rather than Ghibli. I haven't read the book but I wouldn't really know how close it is.

i know what it's based on, i've read the books, it's changed quite a bit. Miyazaki usually changes his films from the source material, regardless, the changes didn't bother me. It was just poor writing.

silversurfer19 wrote:I think you were more than a little harsh on both Submarine and Arriety, UDM. Maybe your state of mind affected your viewing pleasure, as I found both, though equally flawed, to be very charming movies in their own rights. You say Submarine was "downright weird", where I generally found it to be a creative homage almost to Wes Anderson, delicately handling a difficult subject matter of how to cope with a parent's dissolving relationship. As you say, with the lead not being "right in the head", he was essentially creating dreamlike escapes from the reality of his life, hardly something we haven't seen before, and the technical merits are also something most who have seen movies are familiar with as a technique to explain narrative and emotions. Give it another chance with fresh eyes and I'm sure you'd find plenty to like.

Arriety, while I agree, is not up to the standard of Spirited Away or Mononoke, is a different type of movie. It's much more simple in narrative, probably due to the source material but also because of its intended audience. I'm not sure how many of the Ghibli studio movies you've seen, but quite often Miyazaki switches between more mature themes in his movies and those aimed at younger audiences. While Sprited Away, Mononoke and Grave Of The Fireflies are aimed at the former, many such as Porco Rosso, Totoro, The Cat Retuns, Kiki's Delivery Service and Ponyo are aimed at the latter. Each have their own merits, but you have to look at them in a different light to the more serious fare. What I did find amusing though, is your comments regarding the moralistic convictions of Ghibli. If I'm being critical, to be honest these have always been prevalent in all their movies, especially so those you claim to love, and quite often to the detriment of story. This isn't something new, it is the foundation of all Ghibli movies. Anyway, I did agree with you on some of those points regarding lack of character development, but purely on a visual side Arriety was a delight, for me at least.

don't get me wrong. i was entertained by Submarine. I just didn't get much out of it, besides the interesting directing aspects and strange scenes at times. also i should have mentioned, i couldn't relate with the main character that could be why there was a bit of a disconnect. i also freely admit i was maybe too tired to get it, i was almost asleep at parts. (not out of boredom) The wes anderson comparison doesn't help me much though, i've only seen fantastic fox and life aquatic and i didn't much like them.


As for Arrietty, i didn't have a problem with the themes in general, like i said, and i fully realize that the environmentalist themes, among others, are in all his other movies. For example, it's a huge part Mononoke, but it helps make the story there. You could say that the story was built around those environment themes, and it works. Here it seems like those themes are just added for the sake of his beliefs to the detriment of the story, or no?

Fair enough, though strangely I could connect with the lead, his flawed character and sometimes selfish decisions for me at least reflected the realities of being a teenager, rather than the stereotypical holier than thou characters we often see in movies.

And you NEED to watch Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums to get Anderson.

In regards to Arrietty, I actually think because of the lack of substance to the Borrowers story it was essential for Miyazaki to introduce another element, and naturally his environmental considerations were an obvious choice. Maybe they weren't fully integrated into the story as best as they could have been, but it mean little for me, as i was much more interested in the visuals.

HI!!!!!


So, what's up?

Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Best Movie of the Year! 4.0++ Stars

Green Lantern was Pretty Crap. 2.5 Stars. Captain America was badly written (kind of) but amazing. 2.75 Stars. Conan was not the equal of the original but it was bloody and had titties. Check. 3 Stars. Thor was terrific. 3.0. Winnie the Pooh was a lot of fun. I remember reading the book. 3.25 for Nostalgia.

Also recently watched Le Circle Rouge from Chien's recommendation. Blech. 1.5 stars. Watched another french film called Playtime. Loved it. 3.25.

silversurfer19 wrote: Maybe they weren't fully integrated into the story as best as they could have been, but it mean little for me, as i was much more interested in the visuals.

well i agree with you here. The visuals were just as good as ever.

Donte77 wrote: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Best Movie of the Year! 4.0++ Stars

agreed, it is one of the best films of the year. a film that integrated an environmentalist theme well,

You hated Le Cercle Rouge? Hmmm. I thought it was stunning. Agree of Planet of the Apes though, alongside Super 8 and Senna my favourite movies of the year.

Donte is just coming back to get on my nerves with his lack of appreciation for this stunning classic that is Le Cercle Rouge

Arrietty may be a more minor film that Miyazaki's, but it's still a compelling story told with much delicacy. It's a beautiful little film.
As for Submarine, it's one of my favourite films of 2011. As Surfer said, it really plays as a britannic version of Wes Anderson's cinema. Something beautifully dealing with the errance of adolescence, the spleen of life, the love and pain of family, and the obsession with death.

Well Chien, when almost all of your recommendations are 3.5+ it is nice to once in a while say, "Nah." It was very atmospheric and subtle but I had hoped for a little more action. I guess my heist need is more Richard Starkey than French Noir.

And I am not back regularly. I am still living in the middle of nowhere without internet but I occasionally wander into a place with wifi. Good to see a few of the old gang on here still. I do miss playing the game and I was telling Shryke that I would have picked Planet of the Apes on the trailer alone and maybe "The Help" based on the book's sales. Still sometimes think in terms of Top 5 when I see the numbers in my BOM newsletter. LOL

But I figure I can stop by once in a while to keep in touch.

Warrior - A+

The best movie of the year. Probably the best "sports" movie I've ever seen (although it's not really about MMA). I'm going to see it again this week.

Already has cracked my Top 25 of all-time.

If Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte don't get Oscar nominations, I'll shoot a puppy.

Banksy, damn I wanna see it now. I don't like dogs that much but I will go to save a life.

You were asking why Warrior flopped, Banks. I don't know why, but its homoerotic poster didn't help.

And yes, Nick Nolte makes almost anything good. I should see it soon.

I'm with UDM on Submarine. Not only is the film painfully derivative (Ayoade pretty much does the EXACT same things Wes Anderson does, but with a fraction of the talent), but the true problem is that the film lacks heart, and instead thinks colourful sequences can somehow compensate for that. Yes, we can all associate on some level with a jaded outsider teen, but does the film do anything particularly interesting with it? Or does it really make us get inside the head of a character (even when it hammers home points with leading VO, or making the even worse mistake of having the VO state something funny, and then cutting away to show it, thus telling the same joke twice)? For me it's a significant no for both and the film didn't work.

Buscemi wrote:You were asking why Warrior flopped, Banks. I don't know why, but its homoerotic poster didn't help.

And yes, Nick Nolte makes almost anything good. I should see it soon.

well, you could argue MMA is homoerotic in and of itself. you know, sweaty almost naked guys tumbling around grabbing each other and all that

numbersix wrote:I'm with UDM on Submarine. Not only is the film painfully derivative (Ayoade pretty much does the EXACT same things Wes Anderson does, but with a fraction of the talent), but the true problem is that the film lacks heart, and instead thinks colourful sequences can somehow compensate for that. Yes, we can all associate on some level with a jaded outsider teen, but does the film do anything particularly interesting with it? Or does it really make us get inside the head of a character (even when it hammers home points with leading VO, or making the even worse mistake of having the VO state something funny, and then cutting away to show it, thus telling the same joke twice)? For me it's a significant no for both and the film didn't work.

is that the first time we agree on something?




and Happy Birthday NSpan!!!

(didn't know where else to post it, and i apologize in advance for adding the wishes in along with same post about homoeroticism and about pigs flying, you deserve better )