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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 18, 2023 21:53:25 GMT
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 18, 2023 21:58:50 GMT
Movies I haven't seen (nearly all of them  ) The Crucible Everyone Says I Love You The Funeral Hamsun Kansas City Lone Star Mars Attacks! The Nutty Professor The People vs. Larry Flynt Ponette The Portrait of a Lady Scream Set It Off Sling Blade A Summer's Tale That Thing You Do! A Time to Kill |
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Post by thomasjerome on Jul 19, 2023 10:23:36 GMT
Have to say, it's one of the years where I'm most pleased with the nominees. It was hard to pick a winner on some categories.
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Schiggy
Full Member
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Post by Schiggy on Jul 20, 2023 3:48:25 GMT
I voted
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 24, 2023 23:03:05 GMT
Crash Movies about sex puzzle me. It isn't an emotion. It isn't interesting. It isn't especially pleasurable to watch, especially if our brains get used to seeing it. It's a biological need. Do we make movies about shitting? To be fair Cronenberg isn't interested in being erotic here. He's... I don't know what he's doing. This is almost as alien as Cosmopolis, but it lacks the irreverent sense of fun that movie was stuffed with. It's just... strange.
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Post by themoviesinner on Jul 26, 2023 18:05:49 GMT
CrashMovies about sex puzzle me. It isn't an emotion. It isn't interesting. It isn't especially pleasurable to watch, especially if our brains get used to seeing it. It's a biological need. Do we make movies about shitting? To be fair Cronenberg isn't interested in being erotic here. He's... I don't know what he's doing. This is almost as alien as Cosmopolis, but it lacks the irreverent sense of fun that movie was stuffed with. It's just... strange. My reaction when I first watched this film was the same as yours. I just couldn't understand the connection between the completely unerotic sex and the car crashes and also found the whole ordeal strange, but the movie intrigued me a lot, probably because of it's vagueness and the feeling that Cronenberg must have some philosophical reason to make a film like this (which is based on a book) and not just because of some weird kink of his. And after several rewatches I concluded that this film is a masterful allegory of the alienation that technology brings to human relationships and interactions and that extended depencence on machines, gadgets and other electronical merchandise turns the use of those things into a biological need as important (or even more so) than sex. It's definitely an unwelcoming and clinical film and it's understandable that many will find it unengaging, strange and be completely indifferent to it, but I think it is a masterful work of art and Cronenberg's best film. |
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 26, 2023 18:13:47 GMT
CrashMovies about sex puzzle me. It isn't an emotion. It isn't interesting. It isn't especially pleasurable to watch, especially if our brains get used to seeing it. It's a biological need. Do we make movies about shitting? To be fair Cronenberg isn't interested in being erotic here. He's... I don't know what he's doing. This is almost as alien as Cosmopolis, but it lacks the irreverent sense of fun that movie was stuffed with. It's just... strange. My reaction when I first watched this film was the same as yours. I just couldn't understand the connection between the completely unerotic sex and the car crashes and also found the whole ordeal strange, but the movie intrigued me a lot, probably because of it's vagueness and the feeling that Cronenberg must have some philosophical reason to make a film like this (which is based on a book) and not just because of some weird kink of his. And after several rewatches I concluded that this film is a masterful allegory of the alienation that technology brings to human relationships and interactions and that extended depencence on machines, gadgets and other electronical merchandise turns the use of those things into a biological need as important (or even more so) than sex. It's definitely an unwelcoming and clinical film and it's understandable that many will find it unengaging, strange and be completely indifferent to it, but I think it is a masterful work of art and Cronenberg's best film. I can dig that. (It's far more interesting than Roger Ebert's view of "look, it's structured like a porno!" and concluding that this is intelligent criticism.) I think that if Cronenberg is going to go in that direction, he needs to be more upfront about it. Hideo Kojima tackled technology and our parasitic relationship with it in a much more engaging manner in Metal Gear Solid 2, because he made his intentions clear: that game was explicitly *about* video games and social media and what their increasing presence means to the human race. I can see where you're coming from on Crash, but if that is Cronenberg's goal, it is obfuscated by his approach. |
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Post by Martin Stett on Jul 30, 2023 0:12:12 GMT
Breaking the Waves
Lars von Trier is such a hack. There is no nuance here: the church is evil for how they cast out "sinners," and by making Bess a lunatic irresponsible for her own actions the film removes any sort of possible argument to be made on their behalf. Furthermore, by making our main character craaaazy, we have no emotional anchor. She isn't operating under reality, yet we are viewing her through reality. There is no way to be on her wavelength, because we are placed on the outside looking in from the very start. Why would an outsider fall in love with a girl from this community - and Bess, who has several screws loose, in particular? Why is there a pee-colored filter over every frame of the movie? The film is an utter disaster.
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Post by Tommen_Saperstein on Jul 30, 2023 4:57:45 GMT
CrashMovies about sex puzzle me. It isn't an emotion. It isn't interesting. It isn't especially pleasurable to watch, especially if our brains get used to seeing it. It's a biological need. Do we make movies about shitting? To be fair Cronenberg isn't interested in being erotic here. He's... I don't know what he's doing. This is almost as alien as Cosmopolis, but it lacks the irreverent sense of fun that movie was stuffed with. It's just... strange. you know, I love sex movies and I love Cronenberg and I LOVE James Spader so I was shocked that I felt similarly. But you hit the nail on the head, despite the film's grotesque violence and bizarrely specific kink it really does lack irreverence (essential for any sex movie), and with the nearly narcoleptic-feeling performances I was getting ready to fall asleep myself Whole affair is just really distancing. |
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Post by Martin Stett on Aug 3, 2023 23:02:10 GMT
Bound
This is good genre fun. An erotic noir suspense thriller with no pretensions of being more than that. I think the acting is stiff from the two leads and I can't help but wonder what would happen if Christian Petzold remakes this and adds in a socio-economic element to the story (the only social politics the Wachowskis are interested in is the sexual stuff... which is fine, but underwhelming and simplistic in this movie), but it succeeds at its modest goal of escapist entertainment.
I do wish the core erotic relationship wasn't written as and played by two planks of wood - it would have made the tension stronger if we could believe for one moment that these two could betray each other or play multiple sides - but all in all, this is fun.
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Post by Martin Stett on Aug 8, 2023 0:04:23 GMT
Secrets & Lies
This is well-acted, but the structure is 90% setup and 10% finale. I can't say that the setup isn't important to that finale, but in the moment it just... exists. It is neither good nor bad. It is there. The acting is good, but there is no narrative to speak of.
The finale is one big melodramatic explosion, and it is fine, but a bit underwhelming. Realistically awkward stuff.
Btw, I think most of you had Marianne Jean-Baptiste in supporting. If Blethyn and Spall are lead, so is Jean-Baptiste, in my opinion.
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Post by Martin Stett on Aug 11, 2023 18:12:58 GMT
One week left!
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Post by Martin Stett on Aug 14, 2023 0:01:33 GMT
Grace of My Heart
A solid - if predictable and standard - 1990s/2000s music biopic for the first half, before totally losing its way in a second half that tries to fit way too many events and characters into an overstuffed narrative.
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Post by Martin Stett on Aug 17, 2023 19:27:13 GMT
The Birdcage
Armand needs to dump his whole family and find people who love him, man. The people around him are toxic.
This plays too broad, going for easy jokes about "gay" mannerisms instead of offering any sort of pointed commentary or sharp jokes that could - and should - arise from this scenario. Like the movie it is based on, it relies on stereotypes and cliches instead of milking any humor out of real people discussing things. The finale sequence of the escape is funny - largely down to Gene Hackman doing his utmost to sell it - but how much better would it have been if we had spent time developing these characters' worldviews and arguments, leading to an extensive conversation of planning the escape? That would *crackle.* The Birdcage is stale and safe everywhere that it matters.
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Nikan
Based
Posts: 3,173
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Post by Nikan on Aug 17, 2023 20:35:27 GMT
CrashMovies about sex puzzle me. It isn't an emotion. It isn't interesting. It isn't especially pleasurable to watch, especially if our brains get used to seeing it. It's a biological need. Do we make movies about shitting? To be fair Cronenberg isn't interested in being erotic here. He's... I don't know what he's doing. This is almost as alien as Cosmopolis, but it lacks the irreverent sense of fun that movie was stuffed with. It's just... strange. I feel it's great (fuck knows why) but this made me lol. |
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Post by ingmarhepburn on Aug 20, 2023 17:04:51 GMT
Secrets & LiesThis is well-acted, but the structure is 90% setup and 10% finale. I can't say that the setup isn't important to that finale, but in the moment it just... exists. It is neither good nor bad. It is there. The acting is good, but there is no narrative to speak of. The finale is one big melodramatic explosion, and it is fine, but a bit underwhelming. Realistically awkward stuff. Btw, I think most of you had Marianne Jean-Baptiste in supporting. If Blethyn and Spall are lead, so is Jean-Baptiste, in my opinion. I was afraid this would happen, because of the Oscars' category fraud. Of course Baptiste is lead. She's even more lead than Blethyn! If it wasn't for her character and her motivation, we wouldn't even have gotten to Blethyn. She's the narrative's driving force, and she should have been nominated in Lead. Also, Katrin Cartlidge should have been nominated for Breaking the Waves. She's my win in supporting. How can you give the film a ton of noms and leave her out?  |
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