What is the last film you watched?

[Jeshopk 8]

Like Icarus, it tried to acheive too much and failed in my eyes.

When you typed that, did you look at it for a second and wonder if maybe you should delete it and type something else that wasn't so . . . um, how do I put this . . . douchebaggy?

Because you should have.

No need to take it personally. I gave it a C+. That's what I give films that were generally a good experience, but deserve to be criticized. Everyone judges films "in their eyes." Unless you consider public opinion first. Nobody here does that, do they?

Would it help if they put a few Ewok in it?

It would have been better than Batman impersonators being the first time(s) you see Batman. ROTJ succeeded at what it set out to do, and still entertains me to this day. Dark Knight didn't work for me as an allegory/batman movie/social critique.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Were you actually fooled by the fake Batmen? Either way that sentence doesn't make sense. If we're seeing Batman impersonators, that's not the first time we see Batman, because they actually aren't him.

[Red 75]

It would have been better than Batman impersonators being the first time(s) you see Batman. ROTJ succeeded at what it set out to do, and still entertains me to this day. Dark Knight didn't work for me as an allegory/batman movie/social critique.

You can argue that it is an allegory and you can certainly draw parallels from it to the modern world, but that is not what Nolan set out to make. It is first and foremost a Batman movie, and it should be judged in that way.

[Ollie 1,059]

I saw part of the Season Premiere of SNL, I taped the half I missed.

I was fairly dissapointed. Sure there were some funny moments, like the first skit and Weekend Update, but a lot of it just seemed like near carbon copies of old skits that were so hilarious (the political comedian, the weird children, the swimming dance, etc.). Hopefully I'll feel better about it when I finish it later.

Oh, god, I just finished watching that. It was horrible. The opening segment was pretty good (Tina Fey made a GREAT Sarah Palin), but otherwise, it was an abysmal episode. Michael Phelps was about as poor a host as a host could be. Oh yeah, there was also an amusing Digital Short, but even it was no classic.

When you have to recycle a comedy sketch you did with Peyton Manning, which was hilarious when Manning did it, you know you're in trouble. Phelps, as great as he is as an athelete, has not exhibited any personality whatsoever.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Like Icarus, it tried to acheive too much and failed in my eyes.

When you typed that, did you look at it for a second and wonder if maybe you should delete it and type something else that wasn't so . . . um, how do I put this . . . douchebaggy?

Because you should have.

No need to take it personally. I gave it a C+. That's what I give films that were generally a good experience, but deserve to be criticized. Everyone judges films "in their eyes." Unless you consider public opinion first. Nobody here does that, do they?

I wasn't taking it personally, I just thought that the way you expressed it was a wee bit pretentious. I mean, really, Icarus?

However, I was probably rude about it -- sorry about that.

I disagree with you, though, and you still haven't said anything to convince me even slightly.

The Big Lebowski (****)

Love every minute of it.

Why?

Because it's f---ing hysterical. The acting is great, the dialogue is outstanding, the visuals are top-notch at every turn. What's not to love?

Then it still could go wrong, not that I'm not saying that's the case with The Big Lebowski. It just doesn't appeal to me. I guess you have to like the humor.

I love The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou. I love the Coen Brothers. And yet, some of their films I simply don't get attuned with. I somehow find the subject of The Big Lebowski too mundane (it seems to relish the 'dude' people - a phenomenon that doesn't amuse me), Intolerable Cruelty too ordinary and everyday (can't believe this is Coen brothers), and Fargo too annoying and nagging after a while.

Alex

The Coens make such quirky movies that I can 100% sympathize with almost anybody disliking almost any single one of their movies. And that goes for people who -- like yourself -- enjoy some of them. There's a flip side to that coin, though, because it means that I have to recognize that in the few cases of their movies I'm not wild about, other people might be, and they might have perfectly good reasons for it.

Example: Burn After Reading. I really haven't figured out yet whether I like it or not.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I love The Hudsucker Proxy and O Brother, Where Art Thou. I love the Coen Brothers. And yet, some of their films I simply don't get attuned with. I somehow find the subject of The Big Lebowski too mundane (it seems to relish the 'dude' people - a phenomenon that doesn't amuse me), Intolerable Cruelty too ordinary and everyday (can't believe this is Coen brothers), and Fargo too annoying and nagging after a while.

Alex

Did you see No Country For Men yet. Alex?

[Morlock 11]

The Big Lebowski is a very rich movie, Alex. It most certainly gets better with susequent viewings. I'm still noticing stuff. Details, as well as themes. In truth, I cannot think of a more rigidly and intelligently designed comedy, yes the movie is the opposite of rigid. I'm not sure if The Coens have done a better job making a film before or since (though, of course, the nest time I see Miller's Crossing, the scale might tip once more in it's direction. Their filmography is such an embarrasement of riches....)

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

The Big Lebowski is a very rich movie, Alex. It most certainly gets better with susequent viewings. I'm still noticing stuff. Details, as well as themes. I

Indeed.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Example: Burn After Reading. I really haven't figured out yet whether I like it or not.

You like it, trust me.

[A24 4,333]

Did you see No Country For Men yet. Alex?

No, but I'm sure that I will like that one.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It's probably the only film I ever seen that I love, without knowing exactly why.

[Quintus 5,399]

It's brilliant, it really is. All hail Josh Brolin etc...

Joe, as per usual, totally hates it.

[A24 4,333]

The Big Lebowski is a very rich movie, Alex. It most certainly gets better with susequent viewings. I'm still noticing stuff. Details, as well as themes. In truth, I cannot think of a more rigidly and intelligently designed comedy, yes the movie is the opposite of rigid. I'm not sure if The Coens have done a better job making a film before or since (though, of course, the nest time I see Miller's Crossing, the scale might tip once more in it's direction. Their filmography is such an embarrasement of riches....)

I've already seen it twice over the years. I have the DVD and I want to like it, but as of yet, to no avail. Who knows, maybe the third time is a charm.

Alex

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Nobody fcks with the Jesus!

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Example: Burn After Reading. I really haven't figured out yet whether I like it or not.

You like it, trust me.

Maybe. Maybe not.

One thing I definitely didn't like is how flat the film looks. I'm used to Coen movies having an incredibly rich look to them, but this one -- the first one of theirs shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, if I'm not mistaken -- is just kinda dull and grey. So right off the bat, that's one strike.

Clooney and Pitt and McDormand were great in it. Not so sure about Malkovich. He felt a little off to me. So did Richard Jenkins. He felt a little too sincere at times, whereas what the movie seemed to be calling for was broad comedy. It wasn't bad acting, but it may have been bad casting; that's possibly true for Malkovich, also.

One thing I'm not conflicted about at all is the score. That score, man, it made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. I was glad to not be seeing the movie with a crowd, because odds are decent that at many moments, I'd have been the only person laughing. Everyone else would have wondering what I was laughing at, and that would have been a little depressing.

[Morlock 11]

Can't say I got that far into my Lebowski-isms yet.

Just saw Oldboy. The curse of Tarantino strikes again. No where near as great as the praise it's been lavished with led me to hope for. It's a pulp film that believes that pulp is a higher art-form. I couldn't stand a lot of the attitude of the film. It tries so hard to be "humane" and "taboo-breaking", that the ending lost me to a large extent. That being said, as a B movie, it's rather good, and without the ceaseless attempts at doing things beyond it's pay-grade, it has a lot of great visceral moments. Most of them are rather simple and pure, many of them are buried in style, but it does have a solid through-line, backed up by terrific performances, which carry the film until just about the end of it.

Min-Sik Choi is terrific. This is most certainly one of those films where the star is the film. Hye-Jeong Kang is quite good in her part, too. Ji-Tae Yu is excellent in his part. However, unlike the other two, I feel that his casting made a lot of the film a lot less plausible than it could have been. He looks far too young for the part. This does add something to the character at a few points in the film, but I was wondering why this guy was so young far too often for comfort.

Cinematography is generally quite interesting. At least one great camera movement in there, and a number of thrilling compositions. Music is quite good, as well.

Overall, I think it's a good film. However, I think it's a film that is inflated to such a degree by the Tarantino/Rodriguez/AiCN way of thinking, that it almost crumbles under the weight of it's pretensions and it's pandering to teenaged audiences. It infuriates me. I think real damage is being done by these people, even though I love a great deal of what they do. Now I need to find someone to delvier the rest of that rant to, as it's not fit for print here, and I have to get it out of me....

[Quintus 5,399]

Man, I've loved Oldboy ever since I bought it on a whim. It deserves its reputation as far as I'm concerned - I'd never seen a revenge movie so clear cut in its motivations. The revelations which follow are but the icing on the cake. The opening act (in the room) is just splendid cinema.

Fantastic score too, but I'd love to hear it performed by an orchestra.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Example: Burn After Reading. I really haven't figured out yet whether I like it or not.

You like it, trust me.

Maybe. Maybe not.

One thing I definitely didn't like is how flat the film looks. I'm used to Coen movies having an incredibly rich look to them, but this one -- the first one of theirs shot by Emmanuel Lubezki, if I'm not mistaken -- is just kinda dull and grey. So right off the bat, that's one strike.

Clooney and Pitt and McDormand were great in it. Not so sure about Malkovich. He felt a little off to me. So did Richard Jenkins. He felt a little too sincere at times, whereas what the movie seemed to be calling for was broad comedy. It wasn't bad acting, but it may have been bad casting; that's possibly true for Malkovich, also.

One thing I'm not conflicted about at all is the score. That score, man, it made me laugh out loud on more than one occasion. I was glad to not be seeing the movie with a crowd, because odds are decent that at many moments, I'd have been the only person laughing. Everyone else would have wondering what I was laughing at, and that would have been a little depressing.

Oh my god, yes! During the Clooney paranoid-jogging scenes, I was the only person laughing in the theater. I guess it was a little embarrassing, but I was laughing too much to care. I already ordered the score.

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Can't say I got that far into my Lebowski-isms yet.

Just saw Oldboy. The curse of Tarantino strikes again. No where near as great as the praise it's been lavished with led me to hope for. It's a pulp film that believes that pulp is a higher art-form. I couldn't stand a lot of the attitude of the film. It tries so hard to be "humane" and "taboo-breaking", that the ending lost me to a large extent. That being said, as a B movie, it's rather good, and without the ceaseless attempts at doing things beyond it's pay-grade, it has a lot of great visceral moments. Most of them are rather simple and pure, many of them are buried in style, but it does have a solid through-line, backed up by terrific performances, which carry the film until just about the end of it.

Min-Sik Choi is terrific. This is most certainly one of those films where the star is the film. Hye-Jeong Kang is quite good in her part, too. Ji-Tae Yu is excellent in his part. However, unlike the other two, I feel that his casting made a lot of the film a lot less plausible than it could have been. He looks far too young for the part. This does add something to the character at a few points in the film, but I was wondering why this guy was so young far too often for comfort.

Cinematography is generally quite interesting. At least one great camera movement in there, and a number of thrilling compositions. Music is quite good, as well.

Overall, I think it's a good film. However, I think it's a film that is inflated to such a degree by the Tarantino/Rodriguez/AiCN way of thinking, that it almost crumbles under the weight of it's pretensions and it's pandering to teenaged audiences. It infuriates me. I think real damage is being done by these people, even though I love a great deal of what they do. Now I need to find someone to delvier the rest of that rant to, as it's not fit for print here, and I have to get it out of me....

I can sympathize with you to a certain point, but I think Tarantino's work thus far has been pretty doggone stellar. Rodriguez, less so, though even he has done some terrific work (I'm a big Planet Terror fan, and I liked Sin City also). Tarantino exhibits a pretty thorough command of the language of cinema, and the way he puts that language to use has never yet failed to thrill me.

However, I can understand somebody not liking what he does, and I can definitely understand somebody not liking what is being done by people who are imitating him.

[Morlock 11]

I'm conflicted about the issue, because I do like a bunch of Tarantino and Rodriguez's work. My problem is with bringing pulp sensibilities into the mainstream, and making them something of a norm. Pulp has it's place, and it's not front and center.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

It's brilliant, it really is. All hail Josh Brolin etc...

Joe, as per usual, totally hates it.

Joe has not seen it, I do not have an opinion of the film, only of the coens

[Quintus 5,399]

It infuriates me. I think real damage is being done by these people,

Really? It really infuriates you? Damn, what a waste. Of a powerful emotional reaction, I mean.

Would you be more or less infuriated if you lost your home? Because infuriated is a pretty strong word, when one thinks about it.

Real damage done eh? I doubt that.

It's brilliant, it really is. All hail Josh Brolin etc...

Joe, as per usual, totally hates it.

Joe has not seen it, I do not have an opinion of the film, only of the coens

My bad then, I must have remembered you wrong, sorry.

I could've sworn you slagged it off a short while back, but never mind.

[Morlock 11]

It infuriates me. I think real damage is being done by these people,

Really? It really infuriates you? Damn, what a waste. Of a powerful emotional reaction, I mean.

Would you be more or less infuriated if you lost your home? Because infuriated is a pretty strong word, when one thinks about it.

We're on an internet board dedicated to a film composer, speaking in the film thread. Obviously, it infuriates me only relative to my reaction to other films. However, as someone who makes films and someone who hopes to be able to continue making films, I see nothing wrong with being outraged at people eroding the perception of the art-form.

[Quintus 5,399]

That would be fair enough, if you were speaking about a bad movie.

Oldboy is far from that and it annoys me that you might suggest it is, as far as its legacy is concerned.

[Morlock 11]

The trouble with Oldboy is precisely that it's not a bad movie. It's a good movie, with some truely memorable and notable things about it. I think it's part of a negative trend, and the fact that it's good makes it all the more destressing. It's much harder to argue against issues peripheral to the film, when it is a major conduit of those troubling trends precisely because it's so good and everyone is recommending it to everyone else.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I found it to be quite sweet. I like it better than the Gene Wilder version, which I never liked that well to begin with.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I found it to be quite sweet. I like it better than the Gene Wilder version, which I never liked that well to begin with.

[Morlock 11]

It's a fantastic movie. So full of imagination, and has some real malice behind it. Reminded me of Joe Dante with a bigger budget. I love it.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I found it to be quite sweet. I like it better than the Gene Wilder version, which I never liked that well to begin with.

sorry I never found Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to be anything but strange. For one thing Charlie is so much better in the remake than the blond kid in the first.

[John Crichton 4]

The Gene Wilder version is strange. Very strange. But that doesn't make it bad. The Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version isn't as good to me overall, but I liked the ending better.

[Red 75]

As far as I'm concerned Wilder's performance is the definitive Wonka, even if it is less faithful to the book than Depp's.

[Ollie 1,059]

The Gene Wilder version is strange. Very strange. But that doesn't make it bad. The Tim Burton/Johnny Depp version isn't as good to me overall, but I liked the ending better.

I like the Wilder version better.

[Morlock 11]

I can't stand the movie. But I do love Wilder's joy at getting rid of the little brats. I can't STAND the songs.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

The whole point of Willy Wonka is that the kids learn about their selfishness and rudeness through him. In Burton's version, Willy Wonka is learning through Charlie. It completely takes out the moral of the story. Not to mention Johnny Depp had a pedophile Michael Jackson look to him.

[Morlock 11]

Except that Willy Wonka hates kids. Michael Jackson, though...

In Burton's version, both learned. And it was all the better for it. I think Depp gave a great weird performance. And not just PoTC weird...really weird.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Dazed And Confused (****)

Always a pleasure to watch.

[Red 75]

Except that Willy Wonka hates kids. Michael Jackson, though...

In Burton's version, both learned. And it was all the better for it. I think Depp gave a great weird performance. And not just PoTC weird...really weird.

Too weird for my taste, although to be honest it was probably more accurate to how a grown man who lives in a magical chocolate factory actually would be.

[indy4 155]

I love the original version, it is one of my favorite films.

The new version was great also, but not as good as the original.

Depp's performance was wacky and unique, but I agree with RR in that Wilder's performance is the definitive Wonka performance, never to be topped.

For one thing Charlie is so much better in the remake than the blond kid in the first.

One thing I hate about the remake is how half his lines are just "It's great," or "it's fantastic," or "I love it."

[Nick Parker 3,040]

I did not like the "original" Charlie Bucket at all. Ultimately, I enjoyed "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" more than "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" due to Danny Elfman's music, the more elaborate storyline, and Christopher Lee.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Can't beat lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.

[indy4 155]

Or that beautiful melody in "Pure Imagination."

Though I do enjoy Elfman's score as well.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Can you read my mind? Can you picture the things I'm thinking of? I don't know who you are... just a friend from another star.

[A24 4,333]

Charlie And The Chocolat Factory and Ed Wood are my two favorite Tim Burton movies. I'm so glad Burton filmed Charlie as the sad freak he is. This is what makes the story interesting, not the lessons the children learn. The latter would be corny and preachy.

The only thing I remember about my theatrical visit of Oldboy is the sometimes strange and unique mise-en-scène.

Cashback: This is really nothing new under the sun. A disappointed movie.

Alex

[Bryant Burnette 654]

Dazed And Confused (****)

Always a pleasure to watch.

Ah, now there's a great movie. One of the best of its decade.

I'll always remember being kinda thrilled when McConaughey was cast in A Time to Kill and became a sort-of big deal that, unlike the vast majority of America, I already knew who he was. Wooderson! He'll always be Wooderson.

It really is a great movie, though. Never gets old.

[Morlock 11]

Dazed And Confused (****)

Always a pleasure to watch.

I saw this once, I didn't like it. Maybe I'd seen too many of it's imitators already? Although Richard Linklater in general pisses me off.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I didn't really like... er, I can't remember the name for some reason. It's that animated film about drugs that Linklater did with Keanu Reeves.

[A24 4,333]

I didn't really like... er, I can't remember the name for some reason. It's that animated film about drugs that Linklater did with Keanu Reeves.

A Scanner Darkly, Ross' favorite movie. Speaking of which, where's our Elmo?

Alex

[Wojo 2,453]

I watched North by Northwest over the weekend, only so I could follow along to good titles based on the onscreen action for each of the 46 tracks you get after ripping the isolated score to individual music files. I think it could be 47, but two were so close, I just zipped up the silence in between. I have the track titles to the Varese expanded release, so I might compare that to the ones I came up with, still keeping the "The Noun" naming convention, but what's on the DVD is really all the music to that film that I need. And for now, they're still WAV, because I think I'm about two weeks from getting a new computer with massive hard drive, so I can start archiving everything as FLAC as well as 128 MP3.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

A Scanner Darkly, Ross' favorite movie. Speaking of which, where's our Elmo?

Alex

Definatly MIA, last I heard of him was on my mobile phone in Spain.

[A24 4,333]

Did he sound depressed?