Top Twenty Films

[devilbk]

I've seen Brewster McCloud a several times but not in many years. It features a hilarious appearance by Margaret Hamilton (The Wicked Witch of the West) and some ruby slippers. I've been afraid to see it again for fear that it has not aged well.

[ricardo shillyshally]

A light film I enjoy is Enemy of the State. I love all that surveillance stuff, the use of multiple cameras(cctv,satellite,etc). Also it's the sequel to another fav, The Conversation. I like it that Jack Black gets to geek it up as a hacker. He was also geeky in High Fidelity, only this time obsessed by music and film. He's not your usual geek cliche.

[Toad]

I quite like Jack Black. Anyone who thinks he's only capable of doing wild-haired, swirly-eyed characters needs to watch Bernie.

[Toad]

Peacock, a Three Faces of Eve meets Psycho psychological thriller, is worth seeking out if only to gaze in wonderment at an actor mastering a complex role. The story itself veers toward the implausible, but Cillian Murphy is breathtaking.

[ricardo shillyshally]

Another sub genre cross over; The conspiracy theory film; Conspiracy Theory, Capricorn One, Pi, Arlington Road, Enemy of the State, Chinatown (which has relevance, now), Manchurian Candidate(mind control, another science at the boundaries), They Live. What I find interesting is, why do people construct intricate theories; is it a search for the truth, behind the facade. Do we mistrust those in power. Or are we just story tellers, and we change it to suit our own views. Or are theorists deluded obsessives? 'Conspiracy theories reflect how we intuitively understand our world and, ironically, provide emotional reassurance. They are stories with good and bad guys, conflict, resolution and other narrative elements that have a natural appeal. In short, to adherents, conspiracy theories feel like the truth.'(Oliver and Wood)

[Louise]

Sooo...Jurassic World was better than I expected, yay! Yes, there were some cheesy parts, but I went in with very low expectations and I was pleased, especially with the second half. It was better than it could have been, let's put it that way. I came home feeling pretty pumped and happy!

Random observations:

First of all, just to get this out of the way, there was no cameo by Goldblum or other people from the first film. There *is* one very brief reference to Goldblum, but he doesn't actually appear. I thought "well, if there's no JG, maybe there'll be a cameo by Sam Neill or something..." But, there isn't.

The only person from the first film who appears is B.D. Wong, and I have to say, he was very good. Very intense, plays the coolly arrogant scientist yet also functions as the voice of reason, in a way. I was kind of impressed.

This type of movie isn't very character-driven, so I won't spend much time talking about the other actors. Chris Pratt was fine, he doesn't do much for me but I didn't find him objectionable, I didn't have strong feelings either way about that role/character. There were no female characters as cool as Laura Dern. (Come to think of it, almost all the main characters in the first film were scientists, and in this one, almost none of them were.) All the leads in this movie were just sort of serviceable and acceptable, nothing super-impressive, but not actively bad, either.

I kinda enjoyed the fact that there was a fanboy-type character with a Purist/Nostalgic type of attitude who obliquely referenced the events of the first movie. There was actually a fairly good sense of continuity with the first film.

There were def. a lot of references to the first movie, visually as well as script-wise. The perilous situations the characters got into tended to echo some of the most memorable/dramatic set-pieces from earlier. You'll see what I mean, when you watch the movie. People being trapped inside a car, hiding behind a car, having a car fall on them, the predators sniffing around the car, etc.

The notion of the raptors being tamed or domesticated, to any degree, was pretty dumb. However, this was not handled as badly as I had feared. It's a cheesy concept, but it didn't ruin the movie.

The "new" species of genetically-modified dinosaur, Indominus Rex, is not scary, because we all know it's not real. T-Rex is still where it's at, and the audience knows it. Everybody loves T-Rex.

I don't think the pure fear from the first movie will ever be duplicated. This one *did* have some enjoyably scary moments, it was better than I'd expected, in that regard, but I think the problem is the CGI. You need animatronics, because that makes the creatures seem real. I'm not entirely sure if there was any animatronics in this movie, or if it was all CGI, but even *good* CGI doesn't feel viscerally real, and that's where the primal fear is. The dinos have less mystique in this movie; the terror has kind of gone out of the raptors. IDK. There were still some enjoyably tense moments, but when the special effects from a quarter-century ago are more convincing that the current "state of the art", you have to ask yourself whether having everything computer-generated is the way to go, or whether something has been lost.

There was hella product placement in this film. It was really shameless. Starbucks, Coke, Jamba Juice, Samsung, Jeep, Mercedes, you name it. It was pretty noticeable.

Oh, and I had not known that Vince D'onofrio was in this movie. I used to find him kinda sexy* when he was on Law&Order. Not to be shallow, but he is looking...uh...portly, these days. He made a rather weak villain, but I think that was intentional, the character was supposed to be kinda weaselly and despicable.


So, yeah. No Golblum, and Chris Pratt riding his motorcycle with raptors as if they were just bloodhounds or something is pretty lame, but it wasn't handled as badly as it could have been. And T-Rex still rules. Yaayy, Jurassic Park! The theme music still stirs up those excited, nostalgic feelings.

This is just a rather quick, superficial review, I might say a few more things, tomorrow. I give this maybe a 7 out of 10. IMO it picked up steam in the second half and got progressively better as it went along.

*have we established by now that Louise is usually attracted to the weird men? Yes, yes, we have.

[Toad]

I re-watched Jonathan Demme's Something Wild last night. I can't believe this movie is nearly 30 years old! It starts off as a kind of kinky sendup of the screwball comedies of the thirties...



...but then segues into a scary violent drama when Ray Liotta's Ray *snicker* dances, literally, into the picture.




I guess it says loads about me as a viewer though that the movie sort of loses its spark at the exact moment that Melanie Griffith's character loses the black "Lulu" wig and her colorful, clanking armor...



...and begins swishing around like, I don't know, Kim Novak in Picnic. I'm not really interested in the vulnerable, freshly-scrubbed person inside. She looks tired and washed out. Or too pink. Something.



The adventures of Lulu and Charlie hold vastly more appeal for me than the domestic drama of Audrey Hankel, her scary, obsessed ex-convict husband, and caught-in-the-middle good guy (Jeff Daniels). But that's probably just me.

[Idle Miscreant]

"From Hell's heart, I stab at thee! For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee! THOU DAMNED WHALE!"

[ricardo shillyshally]

This is one of those obscure films, that are rewarding. From same director who made Capote, Bennett Miller. The thing that really stands out for me about TBBT, was they made quirky, individual characters possible. This is about a tour guide with those qualities. If you're forced to take a tour, you hope for a guide like him. It also features NY.

[Louise]

Any recs for "scary" movies for the Halloween season, that are ghostly/spooky/atmospheric rather than super gory/violent or based around monsters/creatures? New or old. Stuff that's sort of on the level of "The Others" or "Woman in Black" or the 6th Sense?

ETA: I don't mind stuff like Insidious or The Conjuring or The Ring, but for Halloween I'd like something a bit more approachable.