Author Topic: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon  (Read 43988 times)

richierich

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #60 on: March 17, 2009, 10:08:06 AM »
I think I may have seen about 50% of the first film on HBO.

O.k., o.k. If even Jimmy owns the first 2 I shall place the first one on my wish list.

 :clap: :clap:

Look forward to the positive reviews  :P

Touti

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #61 on: November 07, 2009, 11:20:14 PM »
Oh gimme a break Jon.............it only took me 8 months  :whistle:


Quote from: Eric
I haven't seen the movie yet.  I don't know if I want to because to me the base of the story doesn't isn't credible.  For those who havent' heard these comments here's what Salman Rushdie had to say about it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/23/salman-rushdie-slumdog-fu_n_169068.html

Then Salmon Rushdie goes on my list of people who probably didn't like the film, are looking for things wrong and are on their way back to Sainsbury's to return some grapes he bought because they're off... ;) It's A Wonderful Life features an angel who can traverse dimensions, but the premise and the conclusion are more important that the method. Just saying.

But actually I'm making excuses when there isn't one needed. He wasn't paying attention and could actually be dismissed as a bit thick...

Quote from: a thick bloke called Salmon Rushie
characters wind up at the Taj Mahal _ 1,000 miles from the previous scene.

I've only seen the film once. Maybe I'm wrong and have missed something and will apologise for calling him thick if so, but for now: The "previous scene" was one of several showing the young kids on trains, scamming the passengers in various ways. At one point they are almost caught and end up falling off the roof. They roll down a bank and when they get up... they're teenagers! A clever visual trick, implying a huge passing of time, the implication being they have spent years working the trains, or at least have kept coming back to them. Covering the whole of India would not have been implausible in such a conceit so finding themselves at the Taj Mahal? Doddle. And it leads to an intriguing moment where the two brothers are in awe of the building and have no idea what it is. Tourists know about the Taj Mahal, but the Indian children never knew it was there...

EDIT: Reading some of the comments on that link, I see others have problems with it too. Mainly, I think they're failing to see which parts of the film are supposed to be pure fantasy, or to give them more credit, they do understand, but don't agree it should be presented that way. Well, ok. I addressed that above and I think it's important to watch this as an ode to life, and its setting is secondary. However, one comment caught my attention though because they were very offended that Boyle was presenting "an American romance" in a country whose culture would never accept it. That's interesting, because it's kind of the point and I think the film and probably the book was well aware of the irony. These kids have been abandoned by their country, so why should they follow the rules? They had no chance of being accepted in an arranged marriage. The film showed several times how they were trapped.

So I just finished watching it.  I'm not writing a review cause I don't really know what I could say that hasn't been said before but it's a good movie, very good actually.  I have to agree that Rushdie was a bit thick calling the Taj Mahal thing, either he didn't get something or he really was on a mission to bash the movie.

Najemikon

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #62 on: November 08, 2009, 01:17:00 PM »
 :thumbup:

Thanks for finding the old thread, Eric, and I'm glad you liked it. Especially because what with director Danny Boyle being British, it having British actors and featuring a call centre servicing Britain... I think we've just found a British film you like!

 :devil:

Sadly of course, the key to you liking it was not setting it in Britain...  :bag:

By the way, I noticed you have The Wrestler in your banner. What did you think? I've finally ordered the Blu-Ray thanks to Northbloke finding HMV's bargains.


Touti

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #63 on: November 08, 2009, 03:06:12 PM »
Jon,

I think you got something wrong, it's not British movies I dislike, it's British movies from the 70's but I dislike them no more and no less than any other movies from the 70's.  I have reviewed a few americam movies from that period and didn't like them much either.  There's something in the style of the 70's that just doesn't work with me most of the time.

The Wrestler:  I don't want to say too much not to spoil it for you but I think you're gonna like it.  There's really not many wrestling scenes, the movie shows us the real life of a top wrestler at the end (of after) his career.  On my version of DVD there's a discussion in the bonus material with Lex Luger, Randy Piper and 2 others I don't remember right now, if you have it it's worth watching.

We can talk about it more after you've watched it.
« Last Edit: November 08, 2009, 03:08:11 PM by Eric »

Najemikon

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #64 on: November 08, 2009, 03:27:43 PM »
Good stuff. I'm hoping it arrives in time to be "W" in the alphathon.  :thumbup:


Najemikon

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The Hurt Locker *****
« Reply #65 on: March 13, 2010, 11:08:29 PM »
2009
The Hurt Locker
5 out of 5




From visionary filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker is an intense portrayal of elite soldiers who have one of the most dangerous jobs in the world: disarming bombs in the heat of combat. When renegade Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner - 28 Weeks Later, The Assassination of Jesse James) takes command of a highly trained bomb disposal unit, he frequently risks the lives of himself and those around him with his suicidal methods and a complete disregard for danger. Caught in the middle are his subordinates Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie - Half Nelson, We Are Marshall) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty - We Are Marshall, Jarhead), who can only watch as their leader descends further into addiction: an addiction to war.

The Hurt Locker is a powerful and tense thriller. And to be specific, an Action-Thriller before it’s a War movie. Maybe that’s why it has struggled to find an audience outside of critics, because it really isn’t what you might expect. One popular criticism I have seen repeated is the naive statement, “it doesn’t know what it wants to be”. Oh, it does. It knows exactly.

It is important to note that Kathryn Bigelow, albeit with a short C.V. in this respect, is one of the action genres most important directors, not least because of her fascination with the male psyche; her characters are usually men addicted to danger, which makes her work a nice counter-point to her ex-husbands, whose speciality is strong women. Interesting that she released Point Break in the same summer as Cameron’s Terminator 2 and now steals the Oscar from Avatar. And really, while T2 is utterly superb and Avatar is a heck of a ride, which director has grown?  I question Avatar’s distinction in the media as a “game-changer” because I see technology growing regardless, but it takes a different kind of talent and faith to change a genre. Cameron is happy making our eyeballs bleed and I thank him for it, but he is repeating what we already know. Bigelow has shown subtleties in The Hurt Locker that can only come from an inherent understanding of action cinema and what the audience is willing to accept (she may need a bit more time on that score, sadly!).

Acid test: I spent most of Avatar fiddling with my stupid 3D glasses and most of The Hurt Locker forgetting to breathe.

Much of the success is down to the superb Oscar winning screenplay by Mark Boan and Jeremy Renner’s deservedly nominated role. Many action movies are ruined by trying to contrive set-pieces, but here, Renner’s Sergeant James is the plot and Iraq is the perfect place for him to develop from a maverick rule-breaker to someone who accounts for and thrives in his unique environment of what is probably the most dangerous job you can have. Renner is marvellous in a role that could so easily have been ‘Martin Riggs goes to war’. There is an especially fine moment where the team get embroiled in a sniper battle alongside British mercenaries, which ironically is where many people say it really failed!

Some are calling this one of the best war films ever made and that's difficult to call, but it's definitely one of the most interesting, at least since Tigerland, also a low-budget, gritty and realistic drama, that ironically has a very similar character to Renner, played by Colin Farrell.

If you are looking for an insightful commentary on Iraq, this is the wrong film (if that’s the case, the excellent BBC drama Occupation covered some similar ground last year and is worth looking up instead). The Hurt Locker is an adrenaline rush, if you allow it. The only thing wrong with it is timing and hopefully it will eventually find an appreciative audience. For now, at least the Academy have recognised the sheer, extraordinary quality of this film.

Read the full review at http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/blu-ray/The-Hurt-Locker-Blu-ray/1096446.htm
« Last Edit: April 17, 2010, 12:01:03 AM by Jon »

Offline Antares

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #66 on: March 14, 2010, 01:25:21 AM »
Good review Jon.  :thumbup:

I loved this film, and it did deserve Best Picture honors.

This reminded me of a film I saw back in the late 80's about the Vietnam war, called 84 Charlie Mopic. It was a low budget film about a company of soldiers being filmed for a documentary about the war. Told in documentary style, you are put right into the action and day to day struggles of this squad of soldiers. Just as you are beginning to get to know them, they start to get picked off in combat.

Najemikon

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #67 on: March 14, 2010, 02:36:34 AM »
Thanks, Antares. I love it when everything you hear about a film tells you you'll probably like it and then when you see it, it's even better! I'm looking forward to seeing it again.

84 Charlie Mopic sounds great. I just saw a very brief clip on YouTube in the middle of another video and it looks clever. Wonder why no-ones picked it up for DVD? The director at least went on to do Courage Under Fire, which I always liked, again because it was trying something different.

Offline Achim

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Re: The Hurt Locker *****
« Reply #68 on: March 14, 2010, 04:26:21 AM »
It is important to note that Kathryn Bigelow, albeit with a short C.V. in this respect, is one of the action genres most important directors, not least because of her fascination with the male psyche; her characters are usually men addicted to danger, which makes her work a nice counter-point to her ex-husbands, whose speciality is strong women. Interesting that she released Point Break in the same summer as Cameron’s Terminator 2 and now steals the Oscar from Avatar. And really, while T2 is utterly superb and Avatar is a heck of a ride, which director has grown?
:thumbup:

Great point you make there. Although, it sounds like we're saying Cameron is stuck in a loop, which isn't exactly true either. Why "grow" if you like what you're doing and think you can still entertain people doing it. I mean, sometimes I wish Peter Jackson would "un-grow" a little and go back to his roots; same is true for others.

I have liked all of Bigelow's films I have seen. I haven't seen her first and I avoided K-19 like the plague. I am looking forward to see The Hurt Locker soon, will order the Blu-ray later today. But then I also liked every one of Cameron's films, only not having seen his first (Piranha II :laugh:) and his documenty(/ies).

Najemikon

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #69 on: March 14, 2010, 12:31:49 PM »
It is important to note that Kathryn Bigelow, albeit with a short C.V. in this respect, is one of the action genres most important directors, not least because of her fascination with the male psyche; her characters are usually men addicted to danger, which makes her work a nice counter-point to her ex-husbands, whose speciality is strong women. Interesting that she released Point Break in the same summer as Cameron’s Terminator 2 and now steals the Oscar from Avatar. And really, while T2 is utterly superb and Avatar is a heck of a ride, which director has grown?
:thumbup:

Great point you make there. Although, it sounds like we're saying Cameron is stuck in a loop, which isn't exactly true either. Why "grow" if you like what you're doing and think you can still entertain people doing it. I mean, sometimes I wish Peter Jackson would "un-grow" a little and go back to his roots; same is true for others.

I have liked all of Bigelow's films I have seen. I haven't seen her first and I avoided K-19 like the plague. I am looking forward to see The Hurt Locker soon, will order the Blu-ray later today. But then I also liked every one of Cameron's films, only not having seen his first (Piranha II :laugh:) and his documenty(/ies).

It's not that I think he needs to grow, because you're absolutely right, his films are fantastic and he is one of the best mainstream directors around. Also, there is room for everyone and all sorts of different styles, but I think the real progress is made by smaller films that don't try to be liked. But the fact Cameron continues to push as hard as he does when he could get away with coasting along is fantastic. My problem is with media perception of where his work is positioned in relation to others like Bigelow. The blinkers are on and the general opinion seems to be we should worship him as the new cinema messiah!

But there can only be one poster boy (or girl) and that means that everyone else gets swept aside. I am so pleased she won the Oscars, because that is an important statement from the Academy. Of course, thanks to the media again, her achievement is getting slightly dismissed as being less important than the fact a girl won, which is interesting at best, but what she did with that film is personal to her and important for the genre. That should be what they are talking about and try to open peoples eyes to a film that was largely ignored.

It's a weird business. I named Tigerland in the review and that was made by Joel Schumacher after his Batman and Robin disaster. Possibly his most interesting work only happened because he imploded and it does make me think that Cameron and others, like Jackson, should try it themselves. Just switch all the computers off, cut up the credit cards, find an 16mm camera and sod off for two years. Lets see what they come back with!

Najemikon

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #70 on: April 17, 2010, 12:03:34 AM »
 :dance: :yahoo:

http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/news.aspx?news=469

Again with the... :yahoo: and now with a :yu:

Obviously names spelled wrong on this occasion can be ignored...
 ;D

snowcat

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #71 on: April 17, 2010, 12:14:25 AM »
 :o

JON!

I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WON THAT!

Najemikon

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #72 on: April 17, 2010, 01:08:37 AM »
I KNOW!  8)

Offline Kathy

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #73 on: April 17, 2010, 01:14:53 AM »
 :bow:

northbloke

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Re: Jon's Best Picture Oscar Marathon
« Reply #74 on: April 17, 2010, 02:21:00 AM »
Congratulations Jon, what are you going to buy us?  :devil: