Ahh, well my conversation is with 30 year olds. ;)
Add Tim Burton to that list.
Oh yeah, Tim Burton definitely.
Maybe M Night? Chris Nolan?
I always forget not to get out of step in my conversations with people my age (not to say I’m trying to be dickish to them, but I try to mention things people could relate to when it comes to entertainment). Some people know I’m into movies and sometimes ask what I’m looking out for. I don’t see The Master as an odd enough answer.
Maybe I should have worked Adam Sandler into the conversation…
The way I always approached it was to say,
“Oh. Yeah, let me explain. Paul Thomas Anderson is the guy who shot that movie Boogie Nights that features Mark Wahlberg’s dong. Oh you haven’t heard about it? Well it’s referenced in Family Guy, so I assumed enough people had. How ‘bout that Adam Sandler movie, Punch Drunk Love, you heard of that? YEAH, that’s what I mean. That guy. Yeah he’s weird, but his new movie looks really really good.”
—PolarisDiB
@Dib
Not bad.
People that are into action/comic book films aren’t the type to be aware of directors.
People that are into Wes Anderson are more likely to be cinephiles and thus be more aware of directors.
Fair or not?
many lowly commoners like and know of wes anderson nowadays
The possession 2012 9/10
The possession 2012 9/10
The possession 2012 9/10
Vengeance (2009)
Dir. Johnnie To
54/100
I loved Johnny Hallyday in A Man on a Train, but he’s not very good in this.
Kamome Diner (2006)
Dir. Naoko Ogigami
72/100
Glasses (2007)
Dir. Nakoko Ogigami
80/100
The fact that the Kamome takes place in Finland and Glasses utilizes a deadpan approach makes me believe that Ogigami is highly influnced (or really likes) Aki Kaurismaki. Indeed, if you like Kaurismaki, I’d recommmend these films, especially the latter. It’s as if Kore-eda wanted to make a Japanese version of a Kaurismaki film.
Lost in Translation (2003)
9/10; 5/5
1/3 of this film has to be silence, other than white noise. Much of the dialogue consists of characters saying nothing substantial, filling the air with words; other than the occasional, vulnerable moment between Bob and Charlotte. I recognize the perception that this film is a racist, narrow view of true Japanese culture, but I find that to be secondary to the goal of the movie, which is the feeling of culture shock coupled with brooding loneliness. If you were an American visiting Tokyo for the first time, with little to no knowledge of the Japanese language, the broad, unfamiliar strokes of culture would be the first thing you experience- we see through Bob and Charlotte’s eyes. The two of them have a great sense of natural chemistry, and Sofia Coppola’s observing take on the atmosphere of Lost in Translation helps to ground this strange dream through a half-blurry lens of realism. Coppola has to be a people watcher, and Charlotte and Bob are her victims in a world of familiar feelings and unfamiliar sights.
@Davi.d.
narrow view of true Japanese culture,
I thought this was done with purpose, seeing as the film is showing the culture as seen through (very) western eyes. Not meant as a criticism either; I like the film as well.
^^I don’t know G-Legs. Her father has the tendency to do that too, esp with Tetro. most American film makers do that when filming in other countries i’ve noticed. They tend to present a more ‘exotic’ view.
Understandably though; i think that sort of style has an appeal. Haven’t seen Tetro but I’d be interested in seeing how Coppola sr. does it.
Leaving Las Vegas
3 out of 10
Seemed like a joke. I watch Hollywood films so seldom they seem weird when i do it! It felt like a parody on itself.
Leaving Las Vegas
3 out of 10
Seemed like a joke. I watch Hollywood films so seldom they seem weird when i do it! It felt like a parody on itself.
Yeah, tourists do get a very narrow view of Japanese culture.
Yeah, tourists do get a very narrow view of Japanese culture.
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
It’s only flaws being Maggie Smith’s character has way to quick a change of heart
and Nye’s character is so whipped we don’t want him to end up with Dench.
4.5/5
Les amours imaginaires 2010
Love in the mind from wunderkind Xavier Dolan
8.5/10
Link
Nick Cassavetes’ “Yellow”, 6/10. Surrealism to illustrate the inner turmoil of an overmedicated teacher with a beyond dysfunctional past is pretty effective.
“most American film makers do that when filming in other countries i’ve noticed. They tend to present a more ‘exotic’ view.”
Yeah, a good example of this recently is Woody Allen with Vicky Cristina Barcelona, especially when compared with something like Inarittu’s Biutiful set in the same city. (And speaking of Inarittu, I think he also did well in capturing countries foreign to him (Japan, Morocco), quite interestingly at least in Babel).
Conversely, you could cite the reverse situation of someone like Wong Kar-wai presenting an idealistic depiction of America in My Blueberry Nights…
G-Legs has a point though, seeing that the main characters in all these films – Tetro, LiT – are very much meant to represent the perspective of people in foreign lands, i.e. tourists; the canvas follows suit.
dp. Fuck, that’s annoying.
The Magic of Belle Isle
no reason for Jazzahola to get too excited Rob Reiner is not back yet but this is a well acted piece that is corny in the extreme but is quite effective; only someone good as Morgan Freeman could convince that a crippled 75 year old has a romantic chance with Virgina Madsen
2.5/5
The Queen of Versailles (2012)
Dir. Lauren Greenfield.
I kept waiting for the David Siegel to drop a snow globe and say “rosebud….” It’s a funny and serious doc., certainly not what we expected.
Stevie (2002)
Dir. Steve James
Almost as good as James’ great film Hoop Dreams. Definitely worth seeking out.
@J&K
I think I’m the only other person on the site who has seen Stevie—and yes, I really liked the film. How was the scene where the gf’s friend is totally calling out Stevie and telling him to straighten up? Stevie is speechless. It’s a heck of a scene. James really does a great job of capturing moments like this. I recommend The Interrupters, if you haven’t seen it.
THE BIRDS 9/10
Seen in a very bad digital projection allegedly run by Turner Classic Movies, it was blurry and often colorless, the final early dawn scenes were virtually black and white. Even this couldn’t dim the film’s finest moments, and there are more of them than I really remember. I know how impatient I was as a child for the movie to hurry up and get to the blood, but as I’ve gotten older I can really appreciate the way the film builds and builds. I have to say that Ms. Hedren isn’t always at her very best, she’s pretty frankly obliterated by the magnificent Jessica Tandy in their one big scene together. And the big set pieces still work like gangbusters, from the attack on the diner to final scenes in the Brenner home.
I say this — I would trade everything done by Christopher Nolan and many other currently practicing filmmakers for the great God’s/Bird’s eye view of Bodega Bay in flames, when the seagulls gradually fill the frame.
DT: i get the relation to the material, i just question whether the directors.themselves have any sense of distance from that perspective. for example, when Francis was talking about the neighbourhood he shot Tetro in, he made it sound like paradise on earth. the reality is completely different however.
Allens perspective on Europe is certainly superficial. he comes from that generation of educated American artists that idealised and often preferenced European taste and achievement.
i also find it interesting the way Allen has portrayed American women vis-a-vis European women. particularly in Vicky Cristina and Midnight In Paris.
@Jazz
Stevie was one of the better movies we’ve watched in a long time. I don’t know if I have seen a documentary that put me through so many emotional states of confusion. The people in the movie, including James, go through the same thing. Only the greatest fictional films can replicate this kind of stuff. The scene you mention is my favorite as well. In the director’s commentary, James (or one of the producers), say she (Tanya’s friend) was like some sort of mythic oracle. I also love the scene where Stevie’s “fiends” give him advice on what to do when he gets to prison.
I just saw a thread (I think you made it) on the Interrupters, and saved the link to the film on PBS. I plan on watching it soon.
For people who don’t know, James is also the director of Hoop Dreams, so if you like that you should definitely try to watch Stevie .
LoverofLeCinema
@Jirin
Haha :)
“Have you heard about The Master, the new Paul Thomas Anderson movie?”
(Blank stare)
“The director who did There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights and Magnolia”
“Ooohhh.”
That sounds a lot better than how mine goes down
“Have you heard of The Master? I’m looking forward to that”
Blank stare
“It has Phillip Seymour Hoffman”
Blank stare
“Made by the guy who directed Boogie Nights?”
Blank stare
“The movie with Mark Wahlberg?”
Ohh… Well, see you later.