From what I’ve heard the film is a typical Haneke, who I think is a genious director, so I guess I’m happy that he won the award instead of somebody like Ken Loach … It would have been amusing if “Antichrist” had won though…
Yeah I hope they just made the trailer like that to attract audiences and the movie itself will be darker and more minimalistic… Otherwise it would not capture the spirit of the book. Oh and wasn’t the wife only mentioned in flashbacks in the book?
Personally I think he is one of the most creative filmmakers of the 21st century. No wonder his movies are already planned to be remade in Hollywood. He never fails to surprise in his films and his ideas are either absolutely unique (nobody in Hollywood would have ever come up with something like Mad Detective) or he takes a simple premise and makes something fantastic out of it, with amazing cinematography and wonderful characters (Sparrow). The trailers for Vengeance look amazing, I am really looking forward to that.
I’m kinda new to all this so I was wondering: how long does this website already exist? It is a shame I haven’t discovered it earler. I don’t mean to sound like a snob (well, maybe i do…) but imdb is often too mainstream…
I pretty much grew up with Star Wars so I have to love it. I did not memorize every line, let alone every frame – it is just a great, timeless kids movie…
I prefer Revolutionary Road, too. Rachel Getting Married was very good, but Revolutionary Road made a bigger impact on me…
His new movie “Away we go” didn’t look that great in the trailers, though. We’ll see…
yes it is really distracting/addicting…
rachel getting married is a good example of a great independent film. sometimes indie films today are just terribly pretentious (Frozen River), so that was a pleasant alternative. anne hathaway was amazing, too, I really didnt expect this form her, judging on her previous films
screenplay-wise my last years favourite was probably in bruges.
first of all Revolutionary Road was not “hardly about anything”. It was about the collapse of supposed-to-be-perfect family under the weight of social norms. That’s why the obious 50’s setting. Realizing their problem they are trying to escape to Paris, which fails because of their lack of strength (a very blatant way to put it). The best or most interesting part about the film however is that even though it is never spelled out, every viewer understands that even if they would’ve made it to Paris, their lives wouldn’t have improved at all.
I prefer American Beauty, too, to be honest, and I can see your point with the Ice Storm. Little Children however is a clear example of an exaggerated, cartoonish suburban drama… It starts out really well only to turn into something absolutely mediocre. Every film that ends with the conclusion “it is never too late to turn back and…” does not deserve to be shown at all.
Road to Perdition was a very stylish gangster movie and it did not try to be anything else than that.
What I will have to agree on with you is that, yes, The Reader was an awful, pretentious movie, in which the cinematography and Kate Winslet were the only good parts…
Has anyone seen it? I saw L’Enfant and really liked it, but Lorna’s Silence was a bad film. First of all I think I am getting burned out on their style was wonderful in L’Enfant , but now they are starting to lack originality. I must admit that those are the only Dardennes films I have seen. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like realism in movies, but I think a director should sometimes step back and maybe reconsider the visual style for his film. The most important part is however that apart from their style they keep repeating their humanist ideas over and over. Even in their segment in “Chacun son cinema”, which was horrible (the segment, not the film). Once again, what was beautiful and original in L’Enfant was horribly banal in Lorna. Yes, she is caught up in something she doesn’t fully want or understand, and she and the poor drug addict are the only human beings in this freak show! I get it, but it is not original, nor is it interesting (esp. coming from the Dardenne brothers). The film was just too blatant, even the symbolic ending when she and her baby (the last seed of humanity in a cruel, cruel world) seal themselves off in a cabin in the woods.
I need yet to see Rosetta, but I am starting to think (and I hate to use this term) that the Dardenne brothers are one-trick ponies, stuck in their humanist realism for ever…
Did anyone like Lorna’s Silence? Why? And are there Dardenne movies that are different (both in style and theme)?
But it didn’t take place in one room, for one. To keep the viewer ‘engaged’ we have those horribly corny flashbacks about the poor Chechen boy and his life. But even if I ignore the fact that it is supposed to be a remake of 12 Angry Men (which whole point was that we do NOT find out anything apart from what is said in the room) there is still plenty of flaws in the film.
Mikhalkov fills the film with too many melodramatic monologues (all of which are very native and understandable to a Russian person) which turn more into some absurd tear-jerking play. The acting is amazing, I agree. And maybe it wouldn’t have been this bad if in the end Mikhalkov egotistically stands up and says: hey, my character knew everything all along. He is the wisdom at the core of that movie, a fact element as narcissistic as can be…
The peek of everything was the Juror at the end talking to the bird. I probably don’t need to explain further.
All in all, the movie is aimed at “small, simple” Russian people who have never heard of 12 Angry Men. And upon them Mikhalkov bestowes his profound wisdom. This insults the legacy of the original, and also everybody who expects something else than the directors egotistic, preaching message.
I meant not stylistical melodrama, but melodrama/pathos of the movie as a whole or the script… The ending for one… It’s sheer predictability and, yes, melodrama, even though it was downplayed stylistically, i just didn’t like… Music in my opinion has little to do with it…
my pick would be Paul Thomas Anderson. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every movie of his that I’ve seen, I just don’t think he is the timeless genious people sometimes call him.
Palme D'or about 3 years ago
From what I’ve heard the film is a typical Haneke, who I think is a genious director, so I guess I’m happy that he won the award instead of somebody like Ken Loach … It would have been amusing if “Antichrist” had won though…
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The Road Trailer about 3 years ago
Yeah I hope they just made the trailer like that to attract audiences and the movie itself will be darker and more minimalistic… Otherwise it would not capture the spirit of the book. Oh and wasn’t the wife only mentioned in flashbacks in the book?
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Favorite Kurosawa flicks? about 3 years ago
First place tied between Seven Samurai and Ran.
Then Kagemusha, Rashomon, High and Low, Yojimbo, Sanjuro.
Then Throne of Blood.
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Most depressing film you have ever seen? about 3 years ago
I would probably pick Haneke’s “Benny’s Video”…
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Last movie you saw and rate it about 3 years ago
Departures (2008): 8/10
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Favourite film of 2008? about 3 years ago
Mine: The Wrestler
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Has anyone seen Park Chan-Wook's "Thirst"? about 3 years ago
What did you think?
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Thoughts on Johnnie To? about 3 years ago
Personally I think he is one of the most creative filmmakers of the 21st century. No wonder his movies are already planned to be remade in Hollywood. He never fails to surprise in his films and his ideas are either absolutely unique (nobody in Hollywood would have ever come up with something like Mad Detective) or he takes a simple premise and makes something fantastic out of it, with amazing cinematography and wonderful characters (Sparrow). The trailers for Vengeance look amazing, I am really looking forward to that.
What do you think about him?
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
I’m kinda new to all this so I was wondering: how long does this website already exist? It is a shame I haven’t discovered it earler. I don’t mean to sound like a snob (well, maybe i do…) but imdb is often too mainstream…
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Favourite film of 2008? about 3 years ago
What is wrong with Revolutionary road?
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
Thanks. Yes from what I’ve seen so far this is truly a great site?
Oh and I love the French New Wave and pretty much all films from Asia :)
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People's view on Star Wars? about 3 years ago
I pretty much grew up with Star Wars so I have to love it. I did not memorize every line, let alone every frame – it is just a great, timeless kids movie…
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Favourite film of 2008? about 3 years ago
I prefer Revolutionary Road, too. Rachel Getting Married was very good, but Revolutionary Road made a bigger impact on me…
His new movie “Away we go” didn’t look that great in the trailers, though. We’ll see…
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
yeah thats a good comparison. now all you have to do is say that the 70’s were the worst decade for American film :)
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CONFESSIONS--FILMS YOU ARE ASHAMED TO SAY YOU HAVE NOT SEEN (YET) about 3 years ago
so many I am ashamed to list them all.
the most notable would be:
8 1/2; Band of outsiders, Persona (and a lot of other Bergman), Battleship Potemkin, The Rules of the game
ill stop here…
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
good. we do agree on something. have you read “easy riders, raging bulls”? it’s an amazingly entertaining and interesting book…
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
people who say they’re not usually are :)
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Favourite film of 2008? about 3 years ago
@ leah:
yes it is really distracting/addicting…
rachel getting married is a good example of a great independent film. sometimes indie films today are just terribly pretentious (Frozen River), so that was a pleasant alternative. anne hathaway was amazing, too, I really didnt expect this form her, judging on her previous films
screenplay-wise my last years favourite was probably in bruges.
Have you seen The Wrestler, though?
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Favourite film of 2008? about 3 years ago
whoa, fredo. okay ill try to respond.
first of all Revolutionary Road was not “hardly about anything”. It was about the collapse of supposed-to-be-perfect family under the weight of social norms. That’s why the obious 50’s setting. Realizing their problem they are trying to escape to Paris, which fails because of their lack of strength (a very blatant way to put it). The best or most interesting part about the film however is that even though it is never spelled out, every viewer understands that even if they would’ve made it to Paris, their lives wouldn’t have improved at all.
I prefer American Beauty, too, to be honest, and I can see your point with the Ice Storm. Little Children however is a clear example of an exaggerated, cartoonish suburban drama… It starts out really well only to turn into something absolutely mediocre. Every film that ends with the conclusion “it is never too late to turn back and…” does not deserve to be shown at all.
Road to Perdition was a very stylish gangster movie and it did not try to be anything else than that.
What I will have to agree on with you is that, yes, The Reader was an awful, pretentious movie, in which the cinematography and Kate Winslet were the only good parts…
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
you should say that to a russian…
i thought 12 was horrible. what did you like about it?
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Lorna's Silence about 3 years ago
Has anyone seen it? I saw L’Enfant and really liked it, but Lorna’s Silence was a bad film. First of all I think I am getting burned out on their style was wonderful in L’Enfant , but now they are starting to lack originality. I must admit that those are the only Dardennes films I have seen. That doesn’t mean that I don’t like realism in movies, but I think a director should sometimes step back and maybe reconsider the visual style for his film. The most important part is however that apart from their style they keep repeating their humanist ideas over and over. Even in their segment in “Chacun son cinema”, which was horrible (the segment, not the film). Once again, what was beautiful and original in L’Enfant was horribly banal in Lorna. Yes, she is caught up in something she doesn’t fully want or understand, and she and the poor drug addict are the only human beings in this freak show! I get it, but it is not original, nor is it interesting (esp. coming from the Dardenne brothers). The film was just too blatant, even the symbolic ending when she and her baby (the last seed of humanity in a cruel, cruel world) seal themselves off in a cabin in the woods.
I need yet to see Rosetta, but I am starting to think (and I hate to use this term) that the Dardenne brothers are one-trick ponies, stuck in their humanist realism for ever…
Did anyone like Lorna’s Silence? Why? And are there Dardenne movies that are different (both in style and theme)?
Go to Comment
just wondering... about 3 years ago
But it didn’t take place in one room, for one. To keep the viewer ‘engaged’ we have those horribly corny flashbacks about the poor Chechen boy and his life. But even if I ignore the fact that it is supposed to be a remake of 12 Angry Men (which whole point was that we do NOT find out anything apart from what is said in the room) there is still plenty of flaws in the film.
Mikhalkov fills the film with too many melodramatic monologues (all of which are very native and understandable to a Russian person) which turn more into some absurd tear-jerking play. The acting is amazing, I agree. And maybe it wouldn’t have been this bad if in the end Mikhalkov egotistically stands up and says: hey, my character knew everything all along. He is the wisdom at the core of that movie, a fact element as narcissistic as can be…
The peek of everything was the Juror at the end talking to the bird. I probably don’t need to explain further.
All in all, the movie is aimed at “small, simple” Russian people who have never heard of 12 Angry Men. And upon them Mikhalkov bestowes his profound wisdom. This insults the legacy of the original, and also everybody who expects something else than the directors egotistic, preaching message.
That’s it.
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Can someone recommend good movies about The Troubles in Northern Ireland? about 3 years ago
So far I have seen:
Hunger – amazing
In the name of the father – a little bit too mainstream, but excellent storytelling
Bloody Sunday – very good
The Wind that shakes the Barley – very bad
can’t think of other ones right now.
Any ideas?
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Can someone recommend good movies about The Troubles in Northern Ireland? about 3 years ago
too melodramatic / predictable, too much pathos. plus nothing that struck me as incredibly interesting or new…
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
by the way if you want to see a fantastic russian movie, watch The Return.
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just wondering... about 3 years ago
yes that’s the one.
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Can someone recommend good movies about The Troubles in Northern Ireland? about 3 years ago
I meant not stylistical melodrama, but melodrama/pathos of the movie as a whole or the script… The ending for one… It’s sheer predictability and, yes, melodrama, even though it was downplayed stylistically, i just didn’t like… Music in my opinion has little to do with it…
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Who do you think the most overrated director is? about 3 years ago
my pick would be Paul Thomas Anderson. Don’t get me wrong, I loved every movie of his that I’ve seen, I just don’t think he is the timeless genious people sometimes call him.
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Can someone recommend good movies about The Troubles in Northern Ireland? about 3 years ago
I would definetely called the best debut film of the year if not of the decade.
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Just saw "Read my lips" about 3 years ago
Great movie. Hitchcock in modern France. Can’t wait for Un prophete. Anyone seen it by any chance?
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