movies

[omaha_red]

i loved loved loved "burn after reading".. i think the ending was perfect.. and i loved
how it basically made fun of everyone that complained about the ending of "no country"

[cardsfansince82]

Burn After Reading was pretty mediocre if not for Pitt and Malkovich making me laugh my ass off.

I've watched a ton of movies lately that I'll try to cobble together into quick reviews later.

Just wanted to mention that The Changeling is out on DVD and I thought it was one of the better movies I've seen in awhile. Fantastic (and true) story, great cinematography and solid acting all around.

/prepares to receive movie snob wrath

[Freed Roger]

i loved loved loved "burn after reading".. i think the ending was perfect.. and i loved
how it basically made fun of everyone that complained about the ending of "no country"

give me a quick reminder - how did it end?

[omaha_red]

i loved loved loved "burn after reading".. i think the ending was perfect.. and i loved
how it basically made fun of everyone that complained about the ending of "no country"

give me a quick reminder - how did it end?

[SHOW]

the two CIA guys were going over a briefing in the office of the J.K. Simmons
and they say:

CIA Superior: What did we learn, Palmer?
CIA Officer: I don't know, sir.
CIA Superior: I don't [expletive]' know either. I guess we learned not to do it again.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir.
CIA Superior: I'm [expletive] if I know what we did.
CIA Officer: Yes, sir, it's, uh, hard to say
CIA Superior: Jesus [expletive] Christ.

one of the best endings i've seen in a long time.. (the ending to "there will be blood" is right up there too.. and "the piano teacher")

[cpebbles]

[SHOW]

The ending of the story (Malkovich kills the manager, is shot by their agent and is in a coma) is recounted to the agency director instead of shown, who basically says "That's that," then asks what they learned from it. The guy answers "I don't know." "I don't know either." Credits roll.

[JL21]

Just wanted to mention that The Changeling is out on DVD and I thought it was one of the better movies I've seen in awhile. Fantastic (and true) story, great cinematography and solid acting all around.

/prepares to receive movie snob wrath

Ha... I have to admit, I was 100% unimpressed with that movie. I didn't think it was bad at all but I thought it was average in just about every way. And like most of Clint Eastwood's movies in the last 10 years, I thought it really needed to be cut by about 20 to 30 minutes.

[ghostrunner]

This. When I first saw it, I liked it a lot, and then the more I thought about it I felt it was manipulative. You're conned into rooting for Kevin Spacey's character, who'd be a lot happier if he could just ditch his insane wife and go back to acting like a college student again. The ending was a cop out - realistically there's no way to keep his feel good story going - he'd have to pay some emotional price for all this fun he's been having and make some sort of compromise. So they have a closeted homosexual who hates himself come over and shoot him. Not to mention Annette Bening's character is a crude stereotype. I'd almost say misogynist, though I think that term gets overused.

The paper bag thing gets made fun of a lot, but I find it genuinely moving. I've had a lot of great small moments in my life like that.

If we're going to be this critical of movies, then we should probably cancel the Best Picture award most years.

I don't follow you. I'm this critical of this movie because it deserves it (in my opinion). And really, Annette Bening's character is just awful. That's the worst part of it for me. She's a one-dimensional straw man that exists mostly to justify the husband's midlife crisis. To me he's clearly made out to be the good guy and the wife is just making life hard for everyone.

Having said that, canceling the award is fine with me. Fight Club was out the same year, touches on the same themes in a much more fair and interesting way, and wasn't even nominated.



Re: Spinal Tap - I think it's slightly overrated. To me there's about a half dozen great jokes/segments with a lot of downtime. Same goes for Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Life of Brian sustains the humor much better (except for the Biggus Dickus part which drags on way too long).

[Freed Roger]

Just wanted to mention that The Changeling is out on DVD and I thought it was one of the better movies I've seen in awhile. Fantastic (and true) story, great cinematography and solid acting all around.

/prepares to receive movie snob wrath

Ha... I have to admit, I was 100% unimpressed with that movie. I didn't think it was bad at all but I thought it was average in just about every way. And like most of Clint Eastwood's movies in the last 10 years, I thought it really needed to be cut by about 20 to 30 minutes.

I forgot Eastwood directed Changeling -I'll have to see it.

Your comment on Eastwood jibes with his directing style. I gathered from this interview that Eastwood takes a no-nonsense style to making movies - very few takes and editing - what you get is what you get. This may leave it rough, but it works for him.

interview was a director's roundtable

Do you have an editor making a rough assembly of the movie as you're shooting?

Eastwood: Yeah, my editor assembles and we talk at night.

Ross: How long did you cut before you felt like you had a cut you were happy with?

Eastwood: It was about a week. A week and a half. [Stunned laughter]

Ross: I was just waking up after a week and a half!

Eastwood: I would bring the [computer] up to the ranch at Carmel and I'd go in in the morning, and then I'd go play golf, and then come back in the evening. We'd work till 10 or 11 some nights.

Minghella: [Laughs] This is a terrible, terrible bit of the conversation! "I edit for a week and play golf during the afternoon"?!

Eastwood: Well, you've got to get your mind off of it and then come back to it.

Minghella: But, seriously, you actually worked only for a week in the cutting room?

Eastwood: I'd say so.

Anthony, you'd still be cutting "Cold Mountain" now if you could, wouldn't you?

Minghella: I would be. I'm just so humiliated by this. Obviously I'm doing something very wrong. [Laughter]

Clint, you're famous for doing very few takes. That must help in the editing room because there's not as much to choose from.

[Popeye_Card]

This. When I first saw it, I liked it a lot, and then the more I thought about it I felt it was manipulative. You're conned into rooting for Kevin Spacey's character, who'd be a lot happier if he could just ditch his insane wife and go back to acting like a college student again. The ending was a cop out - realistically there's no way to keep his feel good story going - he'd have to pay some emotional price for all this fun he's been having and make some sort of compromise. So they have a closeted homosexual who hates himself come over and shoot him. Not to mention Annette Bening's character is a crude stereotype. I'd almost say misogynist, though I think that term gets overused.

The paper bag thing gets made fun of a lot, but I find it genuinely moving. I've had a lot of great small moments in my life like that.

If we're going to be this critical of movies, then we should probably cancel the Best Picture award most years.

I don't follow you. I'm this critical of this movie because it deserves it (in my opinion). And really, Annette Bening's character is just awful. That's the worst part of it for me. She's a one-dimensional straw man that exists mostly to justify the husband's midlife crisis. To me he's clearly made out to be the good guy and the wife is just making life hard for everyone.

Having said that, canceling the award is fine with me. Fight Club was out the same year, touches on the same themes in a much more fair and interesting way, and wasn't even nominated.

And see, I thought Fight Club was not a very good movie.

In general, I think everything is a bit too critical in the internet era. All movies have flaws in one way or another. Somebody is going to rail on those flaws, then all of the sudden a movie is crap. I've always liked American Beauty, flaws and all.

[omaha_red]

And see, I thought Fight Club was not a very good movie.

we're no longer pals