The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Doesn't look too bad, but the lack of grain might be disconcerting.

Nah, I can wait for Criterion. I got the CC DVD edition anyway, so that'll keep me happy for now.

I know I would buy the Criterion to get the best possible Region A version, so I don't really want to buy it twice.

I did cave in and buy Arrietty and Whisper of the Heart though. Both shipped on the 6th so maybe today?

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Steve46

I know I would buy the Criterion to get the best possible Region A version, so I don't really want to buy it twice.

I did cave in and buy Arrietty and Whisper of the Heart though. Both shipped on the 6th so maybe today?

Might take a while for your location, I'm not sure. I will be looking forward to your reviews though.

I came close to buying them, but chickened out (since they would be blind-buys) and put them on my rent list. I've bought quite a bit this month anyway.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Diesel

I am utterly disappointed....I saw his review when it was posted and waited for a post from you about this...and by the time I went to work it was still not up.

Tisk tisk

[Show spoiler]But at the conversation that followed......

I was hoping you'd catch my little modifications.

[Foggy]

The Tree Of Life

So, I rented Tree of Life (along with another mystery film that I shan't spoil). It believed it was going to go one way or the other for me, love it or hate it.

It didn't, I found it mediocre (Trust me to find a film like this mediocre)

My big problem I was having with the film was that it wasn't a film telling you about life, as it was a film telling you that it is about life. The lame ass forcefully vague and ambiguous voice overs ruined the entirety of the film. It kept telling you that it's really important, yet not telling why, or even what it's purpose is. And I know what you're going to say "Foggy, the film is about the search for the meaning of life, it's not supposed to give you the answers" yeah, true that, but also already know that, I don't need a voice over saying "Brother, faith is a grain of sand, Mother, where is bravery, does heaven only forsake the ones who are honest" BS so that I know I should be questioning faith while watching a film I could probably get by just watching the film

I also will be honest and say I did get bored with the film, we could of used a little less with the young Sean Penn and more with actual Sean Penn exploring faith, or the beginnings of the universe and the dinosaurs (especially Raptor Jesus, his cameo was awesome).

And with that in mind, the obvious good point is that the film is awesome to look at It's perfectly shot and very well directed (to a certain extent). A lot of the visual effects are superb for an art house film, the visuals are very provocative and the creativity gone in to them is amazing. I say to a certain extent because Malick obviously has an ego, and his lame narration is nothing but pretentious fodder that make an amazing art film a lot more pandering and sloppy, and a lot of the editing choices he must of made seem rather quite bad, as I heard there is a lot of footage cut, and some basic information skipped over, like the younger brothers burn on the back of his head must of come from a fire, yet we only see 3 seconds of a house fire that could be real or could be a metaphor.

I liked the way I put it, it's a film telling you it's about life, not a film that's about life. It's showing you emotions, yet you never feel any yourself, you're never invested in what is going on. The film goes out of it's way to detach you from anything you're seeing, watching The Tree Of Life is forcing you to spectating life, not experiencing it.

6/10

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Foggy

The Tree Of Life

[Show spoiler]So, I rented Tree of Life (along with another mystery film that I shan't spoil). It believed it was going to go one way or the other for me, love it or hate it.

It didn't, I found it mediocre (Trust me to find a film like this mediocre)

My big problem I was having with the film was that it wasn't a film telling you about life, as it was a film telling you that it is about life. The lame ass forcefully vague and ambiguous voice overs ruined the entirety of the film. It kept telling you that it's really important, yet not telling why, or even what it's purpose is. And I know what you're going to say "Foggy, the film is about the search for the meaning of life, it's not supposed to give you the answers" yeah, true that, but also already know that, I don't need a voice over saying "Brother, faith is a grain of sand, Mother, where is bravery, does heaven only forsake the ones who are honest" BS so that I know I should be questioning faith while watching a film I could probably get by just watching the film

I also will be honest and say I did get bored with the film, we could of used a little less with the young Sean Penn and more with actual Sean Penn exploring faith, or the beginnings of the universe and the dinosaurs (especially Raptor Jesus, his cameo was awesome).

And with that in mind, the obvious good point is that the film is awesome to look at It's perfectly shot and very well directed (to a certain extent). A lot of the visual effects are superb for an art house film, the visuals are very provocative and the creativity gone in to them is amazing. I say to a certain extent because Malick obviously has an ego, and his lame narration is nothing but pretentious fodder that make an amazing art film a lot more pandering and sloppy, and a lot of the editing choices he must of made seem rather quite bad, as I heard there is a lot of footage cut, and some basic information skipped over, like the younger brothers burn on the back of his head must of come from a fire, yet we only see 3 seconds of a house fire that could be real or could be a metaphor.

I liked the way I put it, it's a film telling you it's about life, not a film that's about life. It's showing you emotions, yet you never feel any yourself, you're never invested in what is going on. The film goes out of it's way to detach you from anything you're seeing, watching The Tree Of Life is forcing you to spectating life, not experiencing it.

6/10

I've yet to see it, but thats your best review IMO Foggy. Some fascinating observations and opinions about the narration. Thanks.

[Al_The_Strange]

Originally Posted by Foggy

The Tree Of Life

[Show spoiler]
So, I rented Tree of Life (along with another mystery film that I shan't spoil). It believed it was going to go one way or the other for me, love it or hate it.

It didn't, I found it mediocre (Trust me to find a film like this mediocre)

My big problem I was having with the film was that it wasn't a film telling you about life, as it was a film telling you that it is about life. The lame ass forcefully vague and ambiguous voice overs ruined the entirety of the film. It kept telling you that it's really important, yet not telling why, or even what it's purpose is. And I know what you're going to say "Foggy, the film is about the search for the meaning of life, it's not supposed to give you the answers" yeah, true that, but also already know that, I don't need a voice over saying "Brother, faith is a grain of sand, Mother, where is bravery, does heaven only forsake the ones who are honest" BS so that I know I should be questioning faith while watching a film I could probably get by just watching the film

I also will be honest and say I did get bored with the film, we could of used a little less with the young Sean Penn and more with actual Sean Penn exploring faith, or the beginnings of the universe and the dinosaurs

(especially Raptor Jesus, his cameo was awesome).

[Show spoiler]

And with that in mind, the obvious good point is that the film is awesome to look at It's perfectly shot and very well directed (to a certain extent). A lot of the visual effects are superb for an art house film, the visuals are very provocative and the creativity gone in to them is amazing. I say to a certain extent because Malick obviously has an ego, and his lame narration is nothing but pretentious fodder that make an amazing art film a lot more pandering and sloppy, and a lot of the editing choices he must of made seem rather quite bad, as I heard there is a lot of footage cut, and some basic information skipped over, like the younger brothers burn on the back of his head must of come from a fire, yet we only see 3 seconds of a house fire that could be real or could be a metaphor.

I liked the way I put it, it's a film telling you it's about life, not a film that's about life. It's showing you emotions, yet you never feel any yourself, you're never invested in what is going on. The film goes out of it's way to detach you from anything you're seeing, watching The Tree Of Life is forcing you to spectating life, not experiencing it.

6/10

Raptor Jesus......yes, that was the best part...

I barely remember the narration (other than it being constant, constantly soft, constantly poetic), but I valued it more for the visuals. I can't deny it though; the film can come off as pretentious.

I seem to like pretentious movies.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by SquidPuppet

[/SPOILER]
I've yet to see it, but thats your best review IMO Foggy. Some fascinating observations and opinions about the narration. Thanks.

You should give it a watch, I'd liked to think you'll at least get some good food for thought out of it

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Raptor Jesus......yes, that was the best part...

I barely remember the narration (other than it being constant, constantly soft, constantly poetic), but I valued it more for the visuals. I can't deny it though; the film can come off as pretentious.

I seem to like pretentious movies.

The narration is really soft that it's never imposing, so it never hurt, I just felt the film stopped every 5 mins to utter a sentence under it's breath to make you "Oh I wonder what it could mean" when really it so vauge that you could add anything and it would answer it, like Tittybong, the film is really about the small town in Austraila called Tittybong.

I also forgot to mention how beautiful and poingaint the final 20 mins of the film where with Sean Penn, I would of been really impressed if I wasn't worn out

[jvince]

Originally Posted by Steve46

I know I would buy the Criterion to get the best possible Region A version, so I don't really want to buy it twice.

I did cave in and buy Arrietty and Whisper of the Heart though. Both shipped on the 6th so maybe today?

Arreitty is a great, great film. The best one I've seen so far this year. I'd put it up there with Totoro as Ghibli's best. In fact, those two films are quite similar.

Originally Posted by Foggy

The Tree Of Life

[Show spoiler]So, I rented Tree of Life (along with another mystery film that I shan't spoil). It believed it was going to go one way or the other for me, love it or hate it.

It didn't, I found it mediocre (Trust me to find a film like this mediocre)

My big problem I was having with the film was that it wasn't a film telling you about life, as it was a film telling you that it is about life. The lame ass forcefully vague and ambiguous voice overs ruined the entirety of the film. It kept telling you that it's really important, yet not telling why, or even what it's purpose is. And I know what you're going to say "Foggy, the film is about the search for the meaning of life, it's not supposed to give you the answers" yeah, true that, but also already know that, I don't need a voice over saying "Brother, faith is a grain of sand, Mother, where is bravery, does heaven only forsake the ones who are honest" BS so that I know I should be questioning faith while watching a film I could probably get by just watching the film

I also will be honest and say I did get bored with the film, we could of used a little less with the young Sean Penn and more with actual Sean Penn exploring faith, or the beginnings of the universe and the dinosaurs (especially Raptor Jesus, his cameo was awesome).

And with that in mind, the obvious good point is that the film is awesome to look at It's perfectly shot and very well directed (to a certain extent). A lot of the visual effects are superb for an art house film, the visuals are very provocative and the creativity gone in to them is amazing. I say to a certain extent because Malick obviously has an ego, and his lame narration is nothing but pretentious fodder that make an amazing art film a lot more pandering and sloppy, and a lot of the editing choices he must of made seem rather quite bad, as I heard there is a lot of footage cut, and some basic information skipped over, like the younger brothers burn on the back of his head must of come from a fire, yet we only see 3 seconds of a house fire that could be real or could be a metaphor.

I liked the way I put it, it's a film telling you it's about life, not a film that's about life. It's showing you emotions, yet you never feel any yourself, you're never invested in what is going on. The film goes out of it's way to detach you from anything you're seeing, watching The Tree Of Life is forcing you to spectating life, not experiencing it.

6/10

I gave it a little higher rating and I appreciated it (I was surprised to actually watch an entire Malick film ), but it's one of those movies where you get the feeling that it could have been better.

Originally Posted by Foggy

I also forgot to mention how beautiful and poingaint the final 20 mins of the film where with Sean Penn, I would of been really impressed if I wasn't worn out

Weird, that's actually one of the parts I thought wasn't executed too well. And Sean Penn, wtf was he doing in this movie? All he did was walk around and stare into space for about 10 minutes total.

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by jvince

Arreitty is a great, great film. The best one I've seen so far this year. I'd put it up there with Totoro as Ghibli's best. In fact, those two films are quite similar.

Totoro is just about my favorite too.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by Steve46

Totoro is just about my favorite too:

Well, then I guarantee you will love this movie.

[Steve46]

Originally Posted by jvince

Well, then I guarantee you will love this movie.

It didn't arrive today so Monday is the earliest. No Saturday delivery in Canada.

I really like innocence. Mei and Setsuko are great.

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by Foggy

The Tree Of Life
My big problem I was having with the film was that it wasn't a film telling you about life, as it was a film telling you that it is about life.

you mean because it expressly discusses life themes? instead of just inherently letting the viewer figure them out? I think it does definitely discuss life themes directly in the narrative, but only to get the viewer oriented on a certain path. once on that path, I felt I could go as far as I wanted, and take whatever sidepaths I wanted.

The lame ass forcefully vague and ambiguous voice overs ruined the entirety of the film.

another key observation. the voice overs are love or hate. someone either hears them and thinks "yes, I dig this" or "no no no no!! this is $#&*$# stupid and lame". Its funny how there is literally no choice #3. very polarizing.

whether one likes the voiceovers will tell you RIGHT OFF THE BAT whether you'll probably love or hate the film. Kind of like smelling bad breath on a first date - the chances of the rest of the experience being fun are NOT good

so, it all DEPENDS ON THE VIEWER, not the film. I know I keep saying this but its key. What one brings to the film (love or hate for voiceovers) will likely determine their eventual experience.

It kept telling you that it's really important, yet not telling why, or even what it's purpose is. And I know what you're going to say "Foggy, the film is about the search for the meaning of life, it's not supposed to give you the answers" yeah, true that, but also already know that, I don't need a voice over saying "Brother, faith is a grain of sand, Mother, where is bravery, does heaven only forsake the ones who are honest" BS so that I know I should be questioning faith while watching a film I could probably get by just watching the film

do you not need the voiceover because you dont' like voiceovers?

or

do you not need the voiceover because you can figure it all out without voiceovers? (if you can, congrats, you're waaaay beyond me. I can't figure it out with voiceovers) Maybe I'll try a "Foggy screening" with the film on mute

seriously, I don't know how Malick conveys the themes without the voiceovers? character dialogue isn't going to have the same impression as voiceovers - particularly given the family-to-cosmos scope of the film. how does one shoot a film that encompasses a family, the big bang, formation of earth, dinosaurs, etc, without voiceovers? I just don't see it. I know they're not for everyone and can completely see how people are totally turned off by them. just my 2 cents

I also will be honest and say I did get bored with the film, we could of used a little less with the young Sean Penn and more with actual Sean Penn exploring faith, or the beginnings of the universe and the dinosaurs (especially Raptor Jesus, his cameo was awesome).

I agree. I would have liked to see more of actual Penn. But its a minor gripe. Loved teh film overall.

It's showing you emotions, yet you never feel any yourself, you're never invested in what is going on. The film goes out of it's way to detach you from anything you're seeing, watching The Tree Of Life is forcing you to spectating life, not experiencing it.
6/10

I was more emotionally invested in this film than another other film I've seen in years. Of course it helped that:

[Show spoiler]
-I have the same name as the family in texas
-I also lost a sibling
-My parents grieved the same way the parents did
-My parents cursed God the same way the parents did
-I felt guilty about my siblings death
-etc

Did the voiceovers enhance the experience? Yes, for me. Would it have been a huge emotional experience even if it was just a strict family drama set in Texas without the voiceovers and the big-scale universe stuff? sure.

GREAT REVIEW!!!

[surfdude12]

Originally Posted by Foggy

The narration is really soft that it's never imposing, so it never hurt, I just felt the film stopped every 5 mins to utter a sentence under it's breath to make you "Oh I wonder what it could mean" when really it so vauge that you could add anything and it would answer it, like Tittybong, the film is really about the small town in Austraila called Tittybong.

that's some funny sh!t!

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by surfdude12

:I was more emotionally invested in this film than another other film I've seen in years. Of course it helped that:

[Show spoiler]
-I have the same name as the family in texas
-I also lost a sibling
-My parents grieved the same way the parents did
-My parents cursed God the same way the parents did
-I felt guilty about my siblings death
-etc

My goodness. It must have bowled you over with emotion.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by jvince

I gave it a little higher rating and I appreciated it (I was surprised to actually watch an entire Malick film ), but it's one of those movies where you get the feeling that it could have been better.



Weird, that's actually one of the parts I thought wasn't executed too well. And Sean Penn, wtf was he doing in this movie? All he did was walk around and stare into space for about 10 minutes total.

I can see that, but the final 20 mins where probably the most visually stunning stuff in the entire 2nd half of that film. Sean Penn has said that he didn't like the direction of the film either, and didn't understand the context of where he was placed into the film

Originally Posted by surfdude12

you mean because it expressly discusses life themes? instead of just inherently letting the viewer figure them out? I think it does definitely discuss life themes directly in the narrative, but only to get the viewer oriented on a certain path. once on that path, I felt I could go as far as I wanted, and take whatever sidepaths I wanted.



another key observation. the voice overs are love or hate. someone either hears them and thinks "yes, I dig this" or "no no no no!! this is $#&*$# stupid and lame". Its funny how there is literally no choice #3. very polarizing.

whether one likes the voiceovers will tell you RIGHT OFF THE BAT whether you'll probably love or hate the film. Kind of like smelling bad breath on a first date - the chances of the rest of the experience being fun are NOT good

so, it all DEPENDS ON THE VIEWER, not the film. I know I keep saying this but its key. What one brings to the film (love or hate for voiceovers) will likely determine their eventual experience.



do you not need the voiceover because you dont' like voiceovers?

or

do you not need the voiceover because you can figure it all out without voiceovers? (if you can, congrats, you're waaaay beyond me. I can't figure it out with voiceovers) Maybe I'll try a "Foggy screening" with the film on mute

seriously, I don't know how Malick conveys the themes without the voiceovers? character dialogue isn't going to have the same impression as voiceovers - particularly given the family-to-cosmos scope of the film. how does one shoot a film that encompasses a family, the big bang, formation of earth, dinosaurs, etc, without voiceovers? I just don't see it. I know they're not for everyone and can completely see how people are totally turned off by them. just my 2 cents



I agree. I would have liked to see more of actual Penn. But its a minor gripe. Loved teh film overall.



I was more emotionally invested in this film than another other film I've seen in years. Of course it helped that:

[Show spoiler]
-I have the same name as the family in texas
-I also lost a sibling
-My parents grieved the same way the parents did
-My parents cursed God the same way the parents did
-I felt guilty about my siblings death
-etc

Did the voiceovers enhance the experience? Yes, for me. Would it have been a huge emotional experience even if it was just a strict family drama set in Texas without the voiceovers and the big-scale universe stuff? sure.

GREAT REVIEW!!!

Some very good points, especially at the end, must of really hit home

First of all, I don't fully understand the whole film (if any one actually can understand it all) I just felt the voiceover really forced the themes of the film instead of naturally showing them. There was a moment of dialogue when we see the mother point to the sky and say "Look, that's where god lives" that I felt was very forced into the context. I wouldn't watch the film on mute though, I think that would become the end of me Half the time I just ignored the voice over and followed the story rather easily.It does portray life very well, it shows the many subtleties of it and the various emotions that come with it.

It's my first Malick film so I'm glad I came out of it with something

[AKORIS]

Originally Posted by Foggy

You should give it a watch, I'd liked to think you'll at least get some good food for thought out of it



The narration is really soft that it's never imposing, so it never hurt, I just felt the film stopped every 5 mins to utter a sentence under it's breath to make you "Oh I wonder what it could mean" when really it so vauge that you could add anything and it would answer it, like Tittybong, the film is really about the small town in Austraila called Tittybong.

I also forgot to mention how beautiful and poingaint the final 20 mins of the film where with Sean Penn, I would of been really impressed if I wasn't worn out

This is what elevated the movie for me-- this ending was beautiful and very emotional-- I give the film a solid 4 stars out of 5.

[Al_The_Strange]

Next greatest movie seen on TV: "Trial of the Screaming Forehead"

W...T...F...?! It's a movie about people being attacked by foreheads. That's right, there are flaps of skin running amok that attach to one's head and take over their bodies. Some develop mouths and actually speak. Ummm...yeah...

The thing about it is, this film was made to be bad. There is no way in frakk you can run through this story without seeing the sheer absurdity of it; it'll make "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" look earnest. But even if the stupid story doesn't make you laugh, the dialogue will. My God, the writing in this movie is terrible. So terrible that it's awesome. It's full of self-contradictory phrases, lines that make no sense, and other random nonsense. It's almost like the same kind of tongue-in-cheek dialogue you see in "Futurama," only here it's way dumber, and way funnier!

As mentioned above, the story's stupid. Zero character development.

Cinematically, photography and editing are passable, but the acting is super-cheesy, the writing is hammy, and the production is cheap as Hell.

This might be the funniest B-movie I've ever seen. It makes for an awesome comedy. Also makes for a terrible piece of sci-fi. Watch at your own peril!

2.5/5 (entertainment: 5/5, story: 1/5, film: 1/5)

Recommendation: For those who seek to partake in the forbidden pleasures of defiled cinema, thou hast reached the pinnacle of such debauchery. Otherwise, if you seek the purest and most refined of cinema, then this film will scar your soul, and you must stay far away!

...I'm currently looking into buying it on disc. Seems to be available only in the UK...

I don't think I know of any song that could compare to...whatever kind of film this is...

[antmumford]

Originally Posted by Al_The_Strange

Next greatest movie seen on TV: "Trial of the Screaming Forehead"

W...T...F...?! It's a movie about people being attacked by foreheads. That's right, there are flaps of skin running amok that attach to one's head and take over their bodies. Some develop mouths and actually speak. Ummm...yeah...

The thing about it is, this film was made to be bad. There is no way in frakk you can run through this story without seeing the sheer absurdity of it; it'll make "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" look earnest. But even if the stupid story doesn't make you laugh, the dialogue will. My God, the writing in this movie is terrible. So terrible that it's awesome. It's full of self-contradictory phrases, lines that make no sense, and other random nonsense. It's almost like the same kind of tongue-in-cheek dialogue you see in "Futurama," only here it's way dumber, and way funnier!

As mentioned above, the story's stupid. Zero character development.

Cinematically, photography and editing are passable, but the acting is super-cheesy, the writing is hammy, and the production is cheap as Hell.

This might be the funniest B-movie I've ever seen. It makes for an awesome comedy. Also makes for a terrible piece of sci-fi. Watch at your own peril!

2.5/5 (entertainment: 5/5, story: 1/5, film: 1/5)

Recommendation: For those who seek to partake in the forbidden pleasures of defiled cinema, thou hast reached the pinnacle of such debauchery. Otherwise, if you seek the purest and most refined of cinema, then this film will scar your soul, and you must stay far away!

...I'm currently looking into buying it on disc. Seems to be available only in the UK...

I don't think I know of any song that could compare to...whatever kind of film this is...

Larry Blamire has done several of these homage horrors, been meaning to see them myself and will definitely be putting them higher up on my rental list now

[iam1bearcat]

Never Been Kissed - 3.5/5

Never Seen Before.

a solid rom-com / chick flick that i oddly enough find (the genre) fascinating and fun. Barrymore was great in all her geeky glory and seeing a BUNCH of well known actors and actresses from a movie this old (1999) was great and made for some terrifically hilarious scenes.

not my favorite of the genre, but a solid entry no less

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Never Been Kissed - 3.5/5

Never Seen Before.

a solid rom-com / chick flick that i oddly enough find (the genre) fascinating and fun. Barrymore was great in all her geeky glory and seeing a BUNCH of well known actors and actresses from a movie this old (1999) was great and made for some terrifically hilarious scenes.

not my favorite of the genre, but a solid entry no less

He still watches movies!?

[Show spoiler] I'm pretty sure I've never seen that movie.