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Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 9:04 pm
by Okri
A Girl Cut in Two: 5/10
F for Fake: 10/10
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:59 pm
by Big Magilla
Cam, have you watched the extras that came with the DVD? They might help explain some of your concerns. Also, Shanley's commentary is very informative.
The sermon about gossip is an old one that goes back centuries.
According to Shanley and the actors the point of the piece is not whether Hoffman's priest was guilty or not, but that we, the audience, should examine our own tendency to be judgmental which is something Sreep's character was plainly guilty of.
Having seen this 3 times now, I have come to interpret the final scene as Streep defending her actions to Adams with her usual defenses up until she has an on camera breakdown after which admits she has doubts, the doubts being about the priest's guilt. This makes more sense within the confines of the piece than my initial interpretation that her doubts were a crisis of faith.
Although Shanley used a real life nun as his inspiration for Adams' character, the piece is a work of fiction spurred by his idea that although no one talked about sexual abuse by priests in the 60s priests were mysteriously moved from parish to parish without warning. Someone had to be reporting them, who else could it be but the nuns?
While he claims not to take sides, Shanley's sympathies are clearly with the nuns. One of the extras is an interview with four elderly members of the Sisters of Charity including the real life Sister James, now in her 70s, who in an old photo is the spitting image of Amy Adams in the film.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1241619284
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:53 pm
by cam
THis has been a very bad winter health-wise for me, so we are just getting around to seeing some of last year's films in DVD.
Doubt( 6/10)
Hoffman wasn't very convincng in his big scene.
The film reminded me of what a bunch of hokum the Catholic Church really is worldwide, any in any Catholic Church I have attended, I never heard anything as Folksy as that priest's sermons. The pernicious abuse of priests in the Church could have been served better than this film.
I thought Adams was good, but the ending( for Sr. Adams) left us totally flat: finally Sr. Aloyicious breaks down and says she has "doubts". What doubts? Obviously a play, not a film, and not worth the hype it got, we did not think.
In any case, Streep(who reminded us a bit of Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?) was better this past year in Mamma Mia!
And --someone help me-- I do not remember transistor radios in 1964. Hell I don't even remember ear-plugs then.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1241619294
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 3:40 am
by Precious Doll
Elegy (2008) Isabel Coixet 4/10
The Houseboy (2008) Spencer Schilly 3/10
Gomorra (2008) Matteo Garrone 7/10
Oxford Murders (2008) Alex de la Iglesia 2/10
Mum and Dad (2008) Steven Sheil 4/10
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 12:13 am
by Heksagon
Young Guns II (Geoff Murphy, 1990) 4.5/10
--Pointless, but somewhat entertaining
Six-String Samurai (Lance Mungia, 1998) 6.5/10
--Weird, but kind of fun
Bender's Big Score (Dwayne Carey-Hill, 2007) 6/10
Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason (Beeban Kidron, 2004) 4.5/10
--Occasionally fun, and I do like Renée Zellweger here, but overall, it's a weak film
The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas (Mark Herman, 2008) 4/10
Edited By Big Magilla on 1241577553
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 7:41 pm
by Franz Ferdinand
Clearing house:
Nights in Rodanthe (George C. Wolff) 3/10
Bolt (Chris Williams, Byron Howard) 6.5/10
The Thomas Crown Affair (Norman Jewison) 6/10
Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (Marc Rothemund) 7.5/10
Monsters vs. Aliens (Conrad Vernon, Rob Letterman) 4.5/10
Igor (Anthony Leodis) 3/10
Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman) 7/10
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Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 6:48 pm
by Precious Doll
The Boat That Rocked (2009) Richard Curtis 2/10
A complete shambles in just about every department. Thank goodness for the outstanding selection of hit's from the 60's on the soundtrack.
Good (2008) Vincene Amorin 4/10
Viggo Mortensen is the best thing about this sometimes muddled affair. The films climax, which takes place at a Nazi death camp, is filmed in a particularly striking manner.
Puffball (2008) Nicolas Roeg 7/10
It's hard not to be disappointed with this film given my fondness of most of Roeg's work. And whilst this is no Walkabout, Performance, Eureka, Bad Timing, The Witches or The Man Who Fell to Earth it is nevertheless good in it's own right. It could have done with a trim. All of Donald Sutherlands scenes could be removed without disrupting the narrative though despite this the film flows quite beautifully. Like most of Roeg's film one can interpret it anyway one pleases. The film is based on a novel by Fay Weldon.
Edited By Precious Doll on 1239321003
Posted: Thu Apr 09, 2009 3:04 am
by Sabin
Duplicity (dir. Tony Gilroy) - 8.5/10
Ultimately, what I want that I'm not getting doesn't detract from how much fun this movie is. Read more in the thread.
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:37 pm
by Reza
Last Chance Harvey (Joel Hopkins, 2008) 7/10
Extremely old fashioned romantic comedy, not unlike Indiscreet (1958) from way back. The plots of both films rely heavily on the antics of ''mature'' stars and succeed thanks to their charm.....Grant & Bergman in the old film and Hoffman & Thompson here. Pity Eileen Atkins has little to do......although with the right part it would be great to see her eventually win an Oscar.
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 10:29 pm
by Reza
--Zahveed wrote:--HarryGoldfarb wrote:Twilight (2008): 5/10
Some kind of entertaining at the beggining but eneventfull in the end. Is the book that simple, underdeveloped and sketched as the film?
I heard from numerous sources that this is the case for all of the books in the series.
My 14 year old daughter is an absolute fanatic of this series of books......although she did not like the film version of Twillight.
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Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 9:57 am
by Zahveed
--HarryGoldfarb wrote:Twilight (2008): 5/10
Some kind of entertaining at the beggining but eneventfull in the end. Is the book that simple, underdeveloped and sketched as the film?
I heard from numerous sources that this is the case for all of the books in the series.
Edited By Big Magilla on 1241577590
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 8:31 am
by dreaMaker
Elegy
8/10
Excellent movie, Kingsley and Cruz are great!
Posted: Wed Apr 08, 2009 7:15 am
by Precious Doll
Redbelt (2008) David Mamet 4/10
Hamlet 2 (2008) Andrew Fleming 4/10
Inkheart (2008) Iain Softley 4/10
Knowning (2009) Alex Proyas 4/10
Posted: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:56 am
by Sabin
Choose Me (dir. Alan Rudolph) - 8/10
Noir by way of fly-by-night. A study of noir-ish manners and the desperate need to be chosen. Three great performances and a song that fills in the gaps between their lips.
Posted: Mon Apr 06, 2009 10:37 pm
by HarryGoldfarb
Twilight (2008): 5/10
Some kind of entertaining at the beggining but eneventfull in the end. Is the book that simple, underdeveloped and sketched as the film?