The Movie Review and Discussion Thread

[Abdrewes]

Snitch (2013)
Snitch is Dwayne Johnson's "serious" or "issue" movie and on that level it is pretty much worthless. It has nothing new or important to say on the war on drugs or minimum sentencing, even though it is based on "true events" and the closing credits give statistics as to how lenient the sentences are for child molesters and rapists than "pill pushers."

So, the Rock's son gets busted for drugs and, like we've seen so many times, he must to sink into the drug cartel business to give the DA a profitable bust and reduce his son's sentence. As it rolls along, the solid B-movie plot engages with it's forward momentum. What really sells it are the modest character performances from the "baddies" and especially The Rock. His resolve to free his son makes him sympathetic, even as the script is quite average in character development. There's literally a scene where he's parked outside the prison, watching old videos of his son as tears well up in his eyes. There's no reason to care for his son other than he looks sad and gets beat up in prison. The Rock ain't having it.

In true genre mode, everything hinges on the "big deal" that will determine*everybody's fates. The film has a very rough aesthetic. Everything seems to be filmed with handheld and in the opening action sequence, I literally got sick from the blur and in-comprehensible geography, hell, it was hard to tell whom was chasing who. But I digress, this isn't strictly an action film, so luckily the headaches are minimal.

Snitch ends up trying to suggest minimum sentencing laws are so harsh, that it takes a committed man to get his hands very dirty, endanger the lives of countless people, all the while leaving collateral damage in his wake to rectify the situation.*It's at best a rental or a "what the he'll it's on TNT, I'll watch it" type of recommendation. It's totally watchable and a good deal better than other comparable late winter B-thrillers like Contraband or Broken City (God, I'm in love with Marky Mark's secretary from that movie), but that's not saying very much.

3/5

[legendarymatt92]

Has anyone seen Park Chan-Wook's Stoker yet? Or is anyone planning on catching it?

I'm hoping to manage to see it in the cinema at some point, because it looks very interesting and strange. I've heard it described as a horror film, but I can see it being more of psychological thriller with surrealist nuances. Anyway, it marks Park's English language début and definitely looks like probably the most unique film of the year.

[SquidPuppet]

I'll be skipping it. There is something about his style that doesnt work for me.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

I hope to finally solve the issues of the potential cultural tourism that Zeitlin may be partaking in on a second viewing.

Inglourious and Django were both written and directed by Tarantino and he isn't Jewish or black. Iñárritu is Mexican yet Babel portrays several cultures around the world. My point is you can't equate Zeitlin's existence outside of his portrayal of poverty with ignorance. These films will have inauthentic elements when you get down to the nitty gritty details because they are not documentaries, but they are screenplays based on cultural truths. It's about asking yourself "How is this different from my frame of mind?" and you'll gain a richer understanding of a foreign culture. However, the cultural depiction in Beasts of the Southern Wild is difficult to examine because it is framed in subjective reality.

It still places in my top 20 of 2012, who knows, it could shoot way up as soon as I pop in my blu ray copy.

Who knows, Beasts just might captivate you the second time around. I'm anticipating the same with Rust and Bone after a second viewing ...but we'll see. I did piece together a pretty solid interpretation on it.

Does anybody else see the connection with David Gordon Green? Both are filmmakers who made a debut revolving around black characters, earned comparisons to Terrence Malick and have been accused of cultural tourism.*
*Which leads me to this: Does David Gordon Green's later output kill the earnestness and sensitivity of his earlier works? Was he a shallow juvenile prankster whom only mimicked art film masters? *

Haven't seen George Washington but it looks similar.

[iam1bearcat]

Haywire - 3/5

I have heard almost no good things about "Haywire". I knew nothing of the story and didn't even know one of my favorite directors, Soderbergh, direct it until a few weeks ago.

I expected a slower paced film which seems to be a staple of Soderbergh and was correct. And in that aspect, I loved it. I'm a huge fan of slower paced, methodical films and that's exactly what "Haywire" is. However, it is making a slower paced, quieter film in a genre that doesn't real gel well with that and that people did not expect.

The story is less original than finding out a girl between the ages of 15-21 owns an iphone but I still found it entertaining for stretches.

Also, I loved the score and the quirky music placement.

A lot of negatives though...

• Felt like a wanna-be Bourne film at times (especially the rooftop scenes)
• Felt like a crappy 90's Bond film for the dinner scenes
• The main actress, who I've never heard of before or since, delivers her lines terribly and comes off so cold I had to put on my jacket half way through the film. I get it, she's a tough "super soldier" who had everyone turn on her (really? Again? )

Although I found the lack of grunting and groaning and music during the fight scenes to be very cool, the Bourne series pretty much already covered all this ground.

Nothing original, nothing exciting or ground-breaking and nothing worth remembering to be honest

[iam1bearcat]

Babel - 5/5

Only my second viewing, first one was well over a year ago.

Still love it.

Fascinating film.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Haywire - 3/5

[Show spoiler]I have heard almost no good things about "Haywire". I knew nothing of the story and didn't even know one of my favorite directors, Soderbergh, direct it until a few weeks ago.

I expected a slower paced film which seems to be a staple of Soderbergh and was correct. And in that aspect, I loved it. I'm a huge fan of slower paced, methodical films and that's exactly what "Haywire" is. However, it is making a slower paced, quieter film in a genre that doesn't real gel well with that and that people did not expect.

The story is less original than finding out a girl between the ages of 15-21 owns an iphone but I still found it entertaining for stretches.

Also, I loved the score and the quirky music placement.

A lot of negatives though...

• Felt like a wanna-be Bourne film at times (especially the rooftop scenes)
• Felt like a crappy 90's Bond film for the dinner scenes
• The main actress, who I've never heard of before or since, delivers her lines terribly and comes off so cold I had to put on my jacket half way through the film. I get it, she's a tough "super soldier" who had everyone turn on her (really? Again? )

Although I found the lack of grunting and groaning and music during the fight scenes to be very cool, the Bourne series pretty much already covered all this ground.

Nothing original, nothing exciting or ground-breaking and nothing worth remembering to be honest

I came away with the same feeling. On the other hand, its slow pace mixed with the spy backdrop kind of reminded me of Melville's Le Samourai.

Originally Posted by legendarymatt92

Has anyone seen Park Chan-Wook's Stoker yet? Or is anyone planning on catching it?

I'm hoping to manage to see it in the cinema at some point, because it looks very interesting and strange. I've heard it described as a horror film, but I can see it being more of psychological thriller with surrealist nuances. Anyway, it marks Park's English language début and definitely looks like probably the most unique film of the year.

I won't miss it.

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Babel - 5/5

Only my second viewing, first one was well over a year ago.

Still love it.

Fascinating film.

A top 10 favorite for me.

Originally Posted by DjMethod

Iñárritu is Mexican yet Babel portrays several cultures around the world. ... These films will have inauthentic elements when you get down to the nitty gritty details because they are not documentaries, but they are screenplays based on cultural truths.

Excuse the self-quote but I'd like to expand on one thing. When I showed a co-worker of mine (who is Middle-Eastern) my Top 250, he commented on how he found Babel offensive. He said the scene where the Morrocans sloppily eat their food with their fingers depicts them as animals and reflects an absence of humanity. The only defense I could give him was that it was both an aesthetic choice (for the director to get us to feel their hunger) and a storytelling choice (to further reflect their poverty). This led me to believe that Iñárritu sacrificed cultural integrity to support the story... but this was not the case. I did a little research and found this:

[Show spoiler]

Looking at the table you will notice that there is no silverware, don’t panic! Silverware is not used at Moroccan dinner tables because it is the same material that is used in currencies and is a non-Islamic practice. Instead, Moroccans eat with their right (not left) hands using only their thumb and first two fingers.

I discovered that it is in fact proper etiquette in Morocco to not offer you silverware and my co-worker was foreign to this because he is not Moroccan and it is a non-Islamic practice. In the scene in Babel, they all use their right hands to eat (because they wipe with the left) and with the first three fingers. So Iñárritu actually got that culture down to textbook detail.

[KilloWertz]

Originally Posted by iam1bearcat

Haywire - 3/5

[Show spoiler]I have heard almost no good things about "Haywire". I knew nothing of the story and didn't even know one of my favorite directors, Soderbergh, direct it until a few weeks ago.

I expected a slower paced film which seems to be a staple of Soderbergh and was correct. And in that aspect, I loved it. I'm a huge fan of slower paced, methodical films and that's exactly what "Haywire" is. However, it is making a slower paced, quieter film in a genre that doesn't real gel well with that and that people did not expect.

The story is less original than finding out a girl between the ages of 15-21 owns an iphone but I still found it entertaining for stretches.

Also, I loved the score and the quirky music placement.

A lot of negatives though...

• Felt like a wanna-be Bourne film at times (especially the rooftop scenes)
• Felt like a crappy 90's Bond film for the dinner scenes
• The main actress, who I've never heard of before or since, delivers her lines terribly and comes off so cold I had to put on my jacket half way through the film. I get it, she's a tough "super soldier" who had everyone turn on her (really? Again? )

Although I found the lack of grunting and groaning and music during the fight scenes to be very cool, the Bourne series pretty much already covered all this ground.

Nothing original, nothing exciting or ground-breaking and nothing worth remembering to be honest

I guess I'm one of the only people here to actually like Haywire. I own it and just watched it again about a month ago. Oh well.

If nothing else, I would say the fight scenes are worth remembering, and not just because of the one thing you mentioned (lack of music during them). The fight choreography was quite good, and her fight scene with Michael Fassbender was definitely memorable.

You also have to admit that the end of the movie when she

[Show spoiler]drops down and Antonio Banderas says "oh sh!t"

was a solid way to end the movie.

[KingRad]

Manhunter - 3.5/5

Solid film. I think Red Dragon was a bit better, but not by much. I have to say that I enjoyed William Petersen as Graham more than Edward Norton. I feel that he represented a deeper more troubled version of the character. Some of the cliche 80's film making moments made me chuckle, everything from the music to the freeze frame at the end.

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by legendarymatt92

Has anyone seen Park Chan-Wook's Stoker yet? Or is anyone planning on catching it?

I'm hoping to manage to see it in the cinema at some point, because it looks very interesting and strange. I've heard it described as a horror film, but I can see it being more of psychological thriller with surrealist nuances. Anyway, it marks Park's English language début and definitely looks like probably the most unique film of the year.

I'm checking it out on Friday

[jvince]

Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare" | The Simpsons | ANIMATION on FOX - YouTube

The Simpsons: The Longest Daycare (2012)
dir. David Silverman

The Good: Eh...

The Bad: Not funny. Not clever. Not interesting.

The Bottom Line: What happened to The Simpsons? *sigh*

[jvince]

Originally Posted by legendarymatt92

Has anyone seen Park Chan-Wook's Stoker yet? Or is anyone planning on catching it?

I'm hoping to manage to see it in the cinema at some point, because it looks very interesting and strange. I've heard it described as a horror film, but I can see it being more of psychological thriller with surrealist nuances. Anyway, it marks Park's English language début and definitely looks like probably the most unique film of the year.

I might go see it tonight.

[Abdrewes]

DjMethod,
Beasts did captivate me the first time around, I saw a hell of alot of 2012 releases and I couldn't let this one slip out of my top 20, it's just that the time since has made me question my judgement. I think your on to something in bringing up those works by Tarantino and Inaritu. I think your methodology is a bit off because those films operate in a totally different manner, also, they have drawn their fair share of controversy. I think what's key is genre, the indie magical-realism of Beasts irks some people more than the colorful B-Movie playfulness of Attack the Block. They are very similar in terms of themes, but vastly different in terms of aesthetics.*

I highly recommend George Washington! It's a film that's hard to forget. There are touches of Malick and Bogdanovicb in this gorgeous coming of age story. I'm going to call it right now, I think it may crack your top 250 (not to set your expectations too high).

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jvince

I might go see it tonight.

Please tell me youve done your homework and have seen OldBoy. 90% of the time a good Asian director's first English language film turns out to be much weaker than his prior work. Fingerscrossed that's not the case.

[jvince]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Please tell me youve done your homework and have seen OldBoy. 90% of the time a good Asian director's first English language film turns out to be much weaker than his prior work. Fingerscrossed that's not the case.

I've seen Oldboy, Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, J.S.A., Thirst, and Cut. So, yep, I did my homework. Lol...

I just hope it's better than Kim Jee-woon's The Last Stand. That was disappointing.

[Abdrewes]

Originally Posted by jvince

I've seen Oldboy, Mr. Vengeance, Lady Vengeance, J.S.A., Thirst, and Cut. So, yep, I did my homework. Lol...

I just hope it's better than Kim Jee-woon's The Last Stand. That was disappointing.

I think youre more than ready

I too hope it's better than The Last Stand (which I thought was kinda fun).

[Foggy]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

Please tell me youve done your homework and have seen OldBoy. 90% of the time a good Asian director's first English language film turns out to be much weaker than his prior work. Fingerscrossed that's not the case.

Reviews are coming quite strong, although it's very evident its not a film for everyone.

[menaceuk]

Yellow Sea - 7/10

Pretty darn good. The acting was good and Yun-seok Kim and Jung-woo Ha really set themselves apart from the rest of the cast.

The Story was good but a little too ambitious for me. It is like they tried weaving together 3 stories and tried telling it as a conventional movie rather than going back and fourth like a Hollywood or western Indie movie would.

The Car Action/Chase scenes IMO are poorly shot and could have done with a little Hollywood panache but the On foot stuff and the more hand to hand type action was pretty well done.

Overall a very good movie

[Lepidopterous]

Originally Posted by Abdrewes

DjMethod,
Beasts did captivate me the first time around, I saw a hell of alot of 2012 releases and I couldn't let this one slip out of my top 20, it's just that the time since has made me question my judgement. I think your on to something in bringing up those works by Tarantino and Inaritu. I think your methodology is a bit off because those films operate in a totally different manner, also, they have drawn their fair share of controversy. I think what's key is genre, the indie magical-realism of Beasts irks some people more than the colorful B-Movie playfulness of Attack the Block. They are very similar in terms of themes, but vastly different in terms of aesthetics.*

Same reason I slapped Rust and Bone at the end of mine. I had a feeling it just needed a second viewing. And while I agree with your assessment, I was simply trying to make the point that Zeitlin should not be dismissed of credibility because of his social status.

I highly recommend George Washington! It's a film that's hard to forget. There are touches of Malick and Bogdanovicb in this gorgeous coming of age story. I'm going to call it right now, I think it may crack your top 250 (not to set your expectations too high).

You got me interested. And even if it doesn't make the cut, in my experience Criterion rarely disappoints.