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Mike Volpe's Posts

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Last movie you saw and rate it over 2 years ago

Brick 9.2/10

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OT: What are you reading? over 2 years ago

100 Years of Solitude – Gabriel Garcia Marquez

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Who do you think the most overrated director is? over 2 years ago

David Fincher, then spielberg. fincher is obviously talented, as fight club showed, but everything else is a complete fail

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you fav action ,fight and chase sequences ? over 2 years ago

only a few mentioned Oldboy’s hallway fight scene which was amazing, to say the least.
for a chase i’d go with the french connection because i can’t think of anything else.

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IF YOU WERE FORCED TO LIVE ON AN ISLAND AND YOU HAD TO CHOOSE ONE CRITERION FILM...WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE? over 2 years ago

i’d take Che, even though it hasn’t come out yet. I saw it in theatres and didn’t care for it but the movie was overall pretty well done. i want to give it a second chance very badly plus its 4.5 hrs long plus special features it would take a damn long time to watch

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Who is the BEST critic in the business right now? over 2 years ago

OBVIOUSLY ARMOND WHITE
well………….no. probably ebert and rosenbaum, plus the guys at movieline and the AV club. I read thos regularly

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Who is the BEST critic in the business right now? over 2 years ago

OBVIOUSLY ARMOND WHITE
well………….no. probably ebert and rosenbaum, plus the guys at movieline and the AV club. I read thos regularly

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Last movie you saw and rate it over 2 years ago

Precious
9.5/10

I’ve never seen a movie surpass a great book so completely.

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The Film/s That Put My Town/Area on the Map over 2 years ago

ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND. Long Island FTW

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What films do you always catch shit for for not liking? over 2 years ago

Fargo
Ferris Buellers Day Off and most john hughes movies (minus the breakfast club)

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Good Movies to Watch Instantly On Netflix over 2 years ago

manic
in the mood for love
following
deliverance
let the right one in
inland empire (if youre on acid)
the short films of david lynch

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Last movie you saw and rate it over 2 years ago

The Road

The most interesting part of The Road was Vigo Mortensen. His performance was worthy of all the hype, and I doubt any other actor could pull it off with as much emotion. His narration was perfectly pitched with the crux of the emotion of the movie resting on top of it. At points in the film you felt that Mortensen truly loved the son. The son was a complete letdown in the acting department. All of his emotional scenes fell flat and seemed forced. Both of them used forced accents at points which were extremely annoying. Unfortunately thats really all you can say in the acting department for this movie for there were only two real roles in the entire movie.

As for John Hillcoats directing, it was fantastic. I’m surprised people don’t give it the respect it deserves. He used his talent to the fullest extent and his beautiful landscapes created a serene portrait of post-apocalyptic America. The color used in the film was exactly the tone that I pictured while reading the book. He directed it to make the most of the fantastic cinematography. He perfectly recreated the tone of the novel with nearly no CGI. Every time they walked a new road it was like a new episode in their lives. One of the most beautiful scenes in the movie was the perfectly scored reminiscence of Vigo’s relations with his wife near the end of the film. It added a much needed burst of color to the depression that was the rest of the movie.

Overall this wasn’t one of the best book adaptations to come out and it pales in comparison to No Country For Old Men. Hillcoat transcribed the suspense of the book like a master, but his choice of actor for the son was ill-conceived. He seemed almost two innocent and naive, which didn’t even compare to the book. Although the ending may have seemed like a deus ex machina, it did give hope for the son’s survival. Also there was the beacon of hope of the family played by Guy Pearce. One of the untold treasures of this movie was the thoroughly disguised Robert Duvall who basically summed up the movie when asked by Vigo, “Do you ever wish you woukd die?” He responded, “It’s hard to wish for luxuries in times like these.”

7.5/10

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THE ROAD > Faithful but lacking? over 2 years ago

I completely agree. The shortcoming is 100% a product of the book though. The book was insurmountably good. The movie could never pass it or make you satisfied in any way.
As for the moral omissions, that really irritated me, the baby and the bodies were supposed to show the depths of humanity’s fall from grace. Its baffling that they took it out because it was a key image from the novel and one of the most memorable parts of the movie. Maybe they felt as DeNiro did in What Just Happened?, where he tried to erase the scene where they shot the dog in the face because it would be too controversial and disgust the audience
Overall you’re completely right about it being enjoyable but leaving a space for more satisfaction

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Genuinely pessimistic films over 2 years ago

All of Lars Von Trier, why has nobody mentioned him yet?

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What are your favorite child performances? over 2 years ago

Max Records – Where the Wild Things Are
Jean-Pierre Leaud – The 400 Blows
The girl in The White Balloon
Enzo Staiola in BICYCLE THIEVES (1948)
Jodie Foster in Taxi Driver
JimMyron Ross in Ballast
Owen Kline in the Squid and the Whale

all these were stolen from the above suggestions that I saw, now for some originals

All of the kids in The Class
Nobody Knows -Yuya Yagira
yuya’s was probably the single best kid performance i’ve ever seen

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Last movie you saw and rate it over 2 years ago

500 Days of Summer

10/10

It obviously wasn’t perfect, but I gave it a ten for the way it makes you feel. The music, the direction, the acting and the switching back and forth from later in the summer, to earlier made this movie so amazing. If you love Zoey Deschanel and Joe Gordon Levitt (Whom i saw at the screening of Uncertainty in NYC) as much as I do, you’ll love it.

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Most depressing film you have ever seen? over 2 years ago

Requiem for a Dream
Precious
Nobody Knows
The Road

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Your 5 Favourite Directors over 2 years ago

1. Park Chan-Wook
2. Paul Thomas Anderson
3. Gaspar Noe
4. David Lynch
5. Wong Kar-Wai

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movie running times too long over 2 years ago

i absolutely love long movies as long as they are not popular shite like transformers and king kong. Movies like enter the void, there will be blood, (jfk even) are worth their running times because theyre not just made for entertainment value they had intelligent storylines and awesome acting and direction. thats why they make the time they take up worth it

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top 10 films made since your birth over 2 years ago

Im a ’92 baby, these areIn order of when they came out, not my preference:
La Haine
Irreversible
Mysterious Skin
Brick
Oldboy
There Will Be Blood
The Diving Bell & The Butterfly
500 Days of Summer
Pulp Fiction
Mulholland Drive

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Off Topic - Ten favorite bands / music artists over 2 years ago

this is just me, but:

1) Arcade Fire
2) Kings Of Leon
3) Radiohead
4) The Black Keys
5) Cold War Kids
6) TV On The Radio
7) Fleet Foxes
8) Spoon
9) Tom Waits
10) The White Stripes

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What are your "Guilty Pleasure" films? over 2 years ago

i know its pathetic but i love retarded comedies (i also love intellectual ones but retarded ones are my favorites)

literally the funniest movie ive ever seen in Step Brothers

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top 10 films made since your birth over 2 years ago

marcus what was that last movie?

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THE ROAD - The Weinstein's Biggest Fuck-Up To Date? over 2 years ago

Its not about that Armando, i strongly suggest reading the book. the movie made it seem like you said but it was about the relationship between the father and the son. The other characters that were considered the bad guys were used to show the depths humanity has fallen from grace. They resort to whatever they can to survive, usually cannibalistic or just plain morally wrong to society today

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BEST CLOSE-UPS IN FILMS over 2 years ago

spongebob

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there remaking it? over 2 years ago

First of all, its “they’re”. secondly, yes they supposedly are and no it definitely should not be allowed. it will turn out as a stylized thriller similar to every other thriller coming out in the last few years. back then it was innovative and awesome

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Last movie you saw and rate it over 2 years ago

The White Ribbon – 9.2/10
surprisingly great film, and the ambiguous ending made it a near classic for me.

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Ever download films for free? (It's ok - I won't tell anyone) over 2 years ago

i cant find a single school that i can get into with film studies as a major. its really annoying. I’ve decided to go with Film & Photography as a major. Anyways, i completely agree with you about the pirating thing. ive only recently started and every movie i get that i love i had already payed to see and plan on buying the dvds.

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Criterion B&N November 2009 Sale now Live! over 2 years ago

I got really lucky today, they gave me the 50% from a week ago when I went just to look because they forgot to take the sticker off Wings of Desire

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People who don't watch films / enjoy music. over 2 years ago

they’re not necessarily weird. my best friend seriously enjoys the movies i force him to watch, yet hes a kid who really just has no interest in music. he admits it and he never listens to any music whatsoever. he gets absolutely nothing from it. i feel bad because i dont know how you can go through life without the joys of music but im glad hes not arrogant about it like the first poster suggested

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