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10-29-2006, 11:21 AM
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#1621 of 2071 
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Local Time: 11:48 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 14,313
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
Genevieve
So-so British comedy that's part road race film, and part road trip film. Ten years later the screenwriter, William Rose, would revisit some of the same topics, in the far, far superior It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock
"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk
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10-29-2006, 11:26 PM
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#1622 of 2071
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Local Time: 11:48 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 14,313
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
Arsenic & Old Lace
Enjoyable pre-Halloween revisit of this great classic comedy. Interesting to see how the code was defied (only one of the murderers is actually caught plus our hero turns out to have been conceived out of wedlock, which makes him ecstatic).
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock
"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk
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10-29-2006, 11:33 PM
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#1623 of 2071
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Member
Location: Alexandria, VA
Join Date: Nov 2003
Local Time: 01:48 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 3,795
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
Reds (1981) 9/10
Warren Beatty's romantic epic of an ill-fated political revolutionary has an excellent cast and a lot of great location shooting, plus the use of real-life "witnesses" to lend an air of authenticity to the exposition about the historical figures being depicted. Maybe longer than it needed to be, but I don't think it ever gets boring.
Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956) 4/10
Fritz Lang's last movie in Hollywood is a talky and static bore, as most of the cast (and Lang himself) just seemed to be going through the motions. Dana Andrews plays an anti-death-penalty newspaper columnist who frames himself for a murder, in order to demonstrate that an innocent man can be condemned to death, but what happens when the evidence to exonerate him suddenly becomes unavailable? Apparently John Sturges' first movie, The Man Who Dared (from 1946) has exactly the same outlandish premise, and while I haven't seen that one, I would guess that they probably didn't bungle it as badly as this one did.
The Two Mrs. Carrolls (1947) 6/10
A mixture of Suspicion and The Picture of Dorian Gray, with Barbara Stanwyck as a wife who suspects that her brooding painter husband might be trying to kill her. Some of the gothic atmosphere works OK, and Stanwyck is pretty good, but the script is fairly weak. Still, it might have eked through as a passable thriller, but it can't overcome the fatal miscasting of Humphrey Bogart as the husband. I'm surprised he ended up in this one, since he was a major star by this point, but I guess it wasn't enough to insulate him from this one instance of being cast in a role that was so obviously wrong for him.
The Magnificent Ambersons (1942) 9/10
I first saw this one at a screening a couple of years ago, and this was a re-visit from a TCM showing. The slightly soapish feel of the story doesn't make much of a difference amidst all the brilliant visual technique, particularly in and around the multi-level Amberson family house. I guess the story might have been somewhat better developed if Welles' full-length version had survived, but there's enough for an interesting story about the declining fortunes of a powerful family, and the basis for some incredible film-making.
The Prestige (2006) 5/10
I like the cast and the production values, but what a moronic script. Spoiler-laden review here.
Flags of Our Fathers (2006) 8/10
Conflicting motivations and survivor-guilt surround the living members of the Iwo Jima photograph on their national war bond tour. The parallel storylines of the battle and the bond tour are effectively intertwined to establish how the survivors felt about what they were going, while building to reveal what it was that they went through. The framing device of the writer of the book (the son of the character played by Ryan Phillippe) was a bit confusing at first, and the ending is weighted down by some sap, but it's mostly quite effective.
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10-30-2006, 01:23 PM
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#1624 of 2071
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Member
Join Date: May 2001
Local Time: 10:48 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,497
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
haggai ... yeah, i've seen quite a few of mcqueen's movies (my uncles made sure i've seen most of the classics, but i was so young i don't really remember them now). so it's always nice to revisit them ... really i consider them a first time viewing.  i'll keep an eye out for the cincinnatti kid too .. thx for your recommendaations!
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10-30-2006, 07:11 PM
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#1625 of 2071
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Member
Join Date: May 2001
Local Time: 10:48 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,497
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
title: the best of youth
rating: a
comments: apparantly, this was actually an italian mini-series. only finished the first dvd (3 hours) so far. so far i'm really enjoying it. will finish this when i watch dvd #2. watched the last of this sprawling drama. the whole time i was watching it, i thought how quickly life can just .... happen. given this was about six hours, the characters were thoroughly fleshed out, i found my eyes watering up a few times and, most importantly, i found myself smiling a lot. great series if you have the time.
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10-30-2006, 09:43 PM
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#1626 of 2071
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2001
Local Time: 11:48 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 14,313
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
Orpheus
Said my piece about this in the S&S thread
Hocus Pocus
Tomorrow night is my annual viewing of Young Frankenstein. My son is too young to watch that, so tonight we watched this film. Silly, but fun.
"Movies should be like amusement parks. People should go to them to have fun." - Billy Wilder
"Subtitles good. Hollywood bad." - Tarzan, Sight & Sound 2012 voter.
"My films are not slices of life, they are pieces of cake." - Alfred Hitchcock
"My great humility is just one of the many reasons that I am vastly superior to everyone else." - Ramrod Clerk
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10-30-2006, 10:13 PM
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#1627 of 2071
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Shawn Frank
Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Local Time: 12:48 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 7
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
Updated my list and I'll be going over my October movies within a day or so. I added over 100 movies from the past month and a half. Hoping to get to 365 mvoes watched by year's end.
My list tracking:
AFI Movies: 21 Laughs: 8, Passions: 10 Thrills: 13 Heroes & Villians: 11 Songs: 13 Quotes: 15 Scores: 4 Cheers: 14 Stars: 34 HTF 30s Challenge: 13 S&S: 19 Criterion Challenge(my own, made-up challenge): 4 & 6 1/2's My Oscar Challenge: 120 Short History of Movies book recommendations: 58 Films watched in 2006: 178(page 40 of thread)
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10-31-2006, 04:29 PM
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#1628 of 2071
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Member
Join Date: May 2001
Local Time: 10:48 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,497
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
title: turtles can fly
rating: b
comments: a really great movie (think i read a ebert review). great child acting (reminded me of rabbit proof fence or whale rider) and beautiful (yet haunting) surroundings. i can't imagine how any child could live and survive in a war-torn country. a little heavy-handed, but it didn't bother me much.
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10-31-2006, 10:57 PM
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#1629 of 2071
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Member
Join Date: May 2001
Local Time: 10:48 AM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 8,497
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
October Summary
total movies: 14
average gpa: 2.85 (40/14)
summary: gpa seems a little low for what i would call a good month. the proposition and good night were great and i enjoyed the emotional impact of turtles can fly. bomb definitely went to click and guilty pleasure would probably be either akeelah or the world's fastest indian. i loved the scope of the best of youth too.
title: the world's fastest indian
rating: b
comments: liked it more then i thought i would. hopkin's is almost over-the-top, but he just manages to make me like (and root for) the character. i also appreciated how the story was as much about the journey, as the actual event at bonneville.
title: brokeback mountain
rating: b
comments: great "feel" to this story, but besides the whole gay thing, it really didn't have anything that set it apart from any other love story.
title: akeelah and the bee
rating: b
comments: a wonderful family film. many of the secondary characters were heavily stereo-typed and the story had a tad too much fluff. but a great performance by the two leads and a great message led to an enjoyable time.
title: lady vengeance
rating: b
comments: a bit too "polished" compared to the other two (it almost felt danny boyle-ish), but i still enjoyed it.
title: munich
rating: b
comments: honestly, this subject matter really didn't interest me, but from an entertainment perspective, i totally dug it. great production, excellent acting, wonderful mood ... stevie still has it.
title: the notorious bettie page
rating: b
comments: it's rare for me to care (much) about the lead character, but i found myself doing exactly that. kudos to the actress for pulling off the charm and appeal that was the real page.
title: click
rating: d
comments: a modern day "it's a wonderful life" ... unfortunately it's mired in juvenille slapstick (fart jokes, humping dogs) ... need i say more? as usual, sandler takes a likeable role too far, and the movie goes sentimental too late. also, not quite what i would call a family flick ... quite a bit of swearing which surprised me.
title: the proposition
rating: a
comments: great flick. truly raw and gritty, with great nuanced performances, a simple but effective backdrop, and an entertaining story to boot.
title: good night, and good luck
rating: a
comments: i really felt like i was being transported back in time. crazy-high production value, excellent acting (i really liked the dialog delivery) and stellar cinematography ... definitely a good flick.
title: the best of youth
rating: a
comments: apparantly, this was actually an italian mini-series. only finished the first dvd (3 hours) so far. so far i'm really enjoying it. will finish this when i watch dvd #2. watched the last of this sprawling drama. the whole time i was watching it, i thought how quickly life can just .... happen. given this was about six hours, the characters were thoroughly fleshed out, i found my eyes watering up a few times and, most importantly, i found myself smiling a lot. great series if you have the time.
title: mission impossible 3
rating: b
comments: exactly what i expected. some neat spy stuff, good action sequences, and good pacing. i'm glad they didn't mire the story with too much fluff and i like how straight hoffman played the bad guy. oh yeah, cruise does a good job too.
title: papillon
rating: b
comments: it always blows me away when i see a great older movie. no fancy effects, no fancy sets ... just powerful acting and a great story. i always get a kick out of watching true hollywood stars perform.
title: turtles can fly
rating: b
comments: a really great movie (think i read a ebert review). great child acting (reminded me of rabbit proof fence or whale rider) and beautiful (yet haunting) surroundings. i can't imagine how any child could live and survive in a war-torn country. a little heavy-handed, but it didn't bother me much.
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10-31-2006, 11:17 PM
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#1630 of 2071
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Member
Join Date: Jan 2006
Local Time: 12:48 PM
Local Date: 11-18-2008
Posts: 185
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Re: Track the Films You Watch (2006)
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