Track the Films You Watch (2006) - Page 45

Thi Them · 08-12-2006, 05:06 PM

I'm surprised George "liked" it more than I did, too.

~T

Adam_S · 08-12-2006, 05:44 PM

I never finished Huckabees, I had utterly no interest while watching the first 45 minutes and I have no interest or desire to continue watching it. like George, I don't hate it, I just don't see how it could possibly be worthwhile investment of time to finish it. There are very few movies I don't finish. I think Mr. Deeds was another one, there's a movie I actually despise.

Ted Lee · 08-12-2006, 08:04 PM

title: keane
rating: n/a
comments: ugh, i was pretty much irritated (not sympathetic) with the character after the first five minutes. twenty minutes into it, seeing the same thing just drove me crazy. i would have rated it an F, but since i didn't finish it i guess n/a is more appropriate.

title: where the truth lies
rating: c
comments: almost a b, but just not quite there. too much wrapping up in (literally) the last ten minutes, some goofy plot devices, and just average acting threw me, but the movie did have some nice production style to it. an okay mini-mystery i suppose.

Adam_S · 08-13-2006, 08:19 AM

Inside Man -

Superb little twisty heist thriller. It's very clever and well done, the structure of the movie may put a few off, but I loved how it was pulled off, very brilliant in the editing (their is some excellent editing in the looong deleted scenes sequence that expands on some aspects of the movie). Denzel is terrific. Jody Foster was superb, a great supporting role, and all the rest of the characters made sense even if they're kinda plot creatures or ciphers. the film is entertaining for me at least, from beginning to end and I wouldn't mind watching it again, though it's not so terrific that I"ll seek it out. It's a light film that doesn't try to be something important or ambitious. It's just mean to entertain and it does that dance beautifully.

heh, George will definitely like this Spike Lee film a whole lot more than Do the Right thing.

george kaplan · 08-13-2006, 08:34 AM

heh, George will definitely like this Spike Lee film a whole lot more than Do the Right thing.

Spike Lee could make a film about paint drying, and I'd like it a whole lot more than Do the Right Thing.

george kaplan · 08-13-2006, 12:28 PM

Hellboy

The movie starts out with a scene reminiscent of the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, but that's the high point, as the film nosedives quickly into a boring, predictable mess with uninteresting heroes and villians.

Haggai · 08-13-2006, 03:25 PM

The Postman Always Rings Twice (1946) 9/10
First re-visit in a number of years for this one, and as I remembered, the more melodramatic second half doesn't quite live up to the extraordinary first half. But Hume Cronyn's ruthless lawyer adds a lot of punch to the courtroom drama sequences, and the chemistry between the leads re-kindles as they get back into the business of scheming together, so I think it does end up being enough to fulfill the promise of the brilliantly sizzling and suspenseful first half.

Senso (1954) 6/10
Visconti's operatic epic, set during the Seven Weeks War of 1866, stars Alida Valli as a Venetian noblewoman in love with Farley Granger's cynical Austrian officer. The opening sequence in a large opera house is great, and the colorful atmosphere is pretty involving, but the story ends up being a lot more corny than affecting. And Valli, who was so brilliant in The Third Man, ends up looking guilty of over-acting in a number of scenes.

A Star is Born (1937) 7/10
The original version of this multiply re-made story gets off to a slow start, but it picks up reasonably well once she gets to Hollywood. Janet Gaynor's attempt to win some producers' attention at a party with her ham-handed impersonations of various stars of the time is hilarious, and Lionel Stander is great as the calculating studio PR man. Frederic March and Adolphe Menjou are also solid in their roles.

Green Dolphin Street (1947) 9/10
A flowery romantic/historical epic in the old MGM style, and fairly episodic in parts, but I thought it was terrific. The cross-generational story has a particularly strong cast of grown-ups in Frank Morgan, Gladys Cooper, and Edmund Gwenn. One deathbed scene is especially moving, and it easily could have been mawkish in lesser hands, but the acting is so strong that it works tremendously well. The intrigue and rivalry between the two young sisters of the main family is filmed really effectively, since it's all unspoken, especially the suspense in a scene where they're waiting to hear the contents of an all-important letter. The plot ends up relying on some all-too-convenient minor events, but the emotions are successfully realized. And after all the epic sweep in the first 90 minutes or so, there's still a major earthquake and a big battle sequence left to go in the last hour! They sure didn't leave anything out of this one.

Three Godfathers (1936) 7/10
An earlier version of the Ford/Wayne movie from a dozen years later, this one isn't as strong overall, as it incorporates more backstory that doesn't end up being all that necessary. But the fable elements of the story are probably stronger. The role played by Wayne in the later movie is much less sympathetic in this one, a really bad and cynical guy who clearly differs from his more thoughtful compatriots, and the ending also has more of a direct impact.

Tarkin The Ewok · 08-13-2006, 04:49 PM

8/13: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

1/2/

Like the sequel, some of the dialogue is hard to make out. However, it's not so much that the story is ever unclear, and the subtitle option on DVD makes up for it. That accounts for the half-star deduction.

Production values are extremely high, but what makes this movie work so well is the acting and writing. These characters were quirky, interesting, humorous, and memorable, and watching the movie again was a joy. There were plot twists throughout the story, but they were always justified by the preceding events and the characters, so they never felt unfair. The nods to the ride are nice touches, and they seem to flow naturally from the story. The first Pirates movie is sheer entertainment and fun, and I would recommend it to just about anyone.

george kaplan · 08-13-2006, 07:53 PM

Luxury Liner

Bland, unmemorable, unimportant film. The type of film that the independent/foreign film buffs would have you believe is all that ever came out of Hollywood. If so, I'd be more sympathetic to the Hollywood bashing, but thankfully, while lots of this type of fluff does come out of Hollywood, so does many great films.

george kaplan · 08-14-2006, 06:18 AM

The Pajama Game

Second-tier musical (it would be easy to list a lot of flaws, e.g., John Raitt is one of the most wooden leading romantic men in any film I've ever seen), but the positives still outweigh the negatives, and this is still an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half.