Movie Thread -- Happy Stuff (Non-Wizards)

[closg00]

Saw Tron Legacy this afternoon. Simply awesome visually. I also finally know why 13 abruptly left "House". LOL She's amazing with the short hair and bangs.

I hope you saw it on 3D IMAX or at-least 3D.I give Tron **** for the visuals and **1/2 for the script, what could have been a great science fiction film was instead largely a special effects film. Still enjoyed it a lot.

[LyricalRico]

No IMAX but I did see it in 3D. I agree that they could have done more with it. They really could have gotten deeper into the scientific details about "the grid" and more of the history. It could have been two movies IMO.

[pancakes3]

Spence, GO SEE EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. It is true art (and that's the highest praise I can give something).

haha, i saw this. i loved it. however i might have to disagree with you about the "true art" status of its contents. i'll stop here at the risk of spoiling it but... it's definitely interesting.

[closg00]

Couple weeks back I saw a GREAT MOVIE. The Town is really good. Great story telling. Lots of twists and turns. Riveting action. Characters are very believable. Ben Affleck is from around the area in Mass where all these bank robbers and thieves hail. I can't do it justice descriptively. Just a gripping film that's part love story, part sociological study, definitely an action movie, and a cop/crook drama where you're pulled to root for the bad guys to win. But who are the bad guys. The Town is one of the best movies I've seen.

Last week, I was stuck in the mall waiting for my car to get fixed, so I had a couple of hours to fill, and I watched The Town - expecting it be a pretty lame formulaic star vehicle for Ben. And it was - to some extent, but... the actor who played Jem (Jeremy Renner?) stole the show and I thought made it very good. That little guy scared the hell out of me and added a sense of grit and reality to the movie. And whoever the actor was who played the old man who ran the flower shop - he was great.

Sad news, this actor died recently, I did not know he was ill. I'll miss this guy, I've seen him in about 20 movies.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0, ... 33,00.html

[doclinkin]

Spence, GO SEE EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. It is true art (and that's the highest praise I can give something).

haha, i saw this. i loved it. however i might have to disagree with you about the "true art" status of its contents. i'll stop here at the risk of spoiling it but... it's definitely interesting.

Movie as prank within a movie. Clearly funded by Banksy's team. Still a fun watch though, tantalizing for the glimpse into his methods. As a sometime illustrator I admire his line, flow, humor. As an artist he's an editorial cartoonist in a world where newspapers are irrelevant and youtube breaks news stories. In that respect I wish he'd been less coy and allowed a real video diary of his work, world, etc. I saw Shep Fairey early on in NYC slapping up stickers, have seen SMITH/SANE tagging in action, BORF too in DC. I'd love a real night safari watching his crews run nocturnal parkour to throw up audacious visuals on a branded and trademarked world. But if I only get a peripheral glimpse at the smirk from the corner of my eye, I'll take it.

[barelyawake]

Doc, I get your angle. But, prank?! I'd hardly call a "prank" one of the greatest statements about the state of modern art itself; the marketing machine of counter culture; and the absurdity of the modern art market in general. I found his "prank" rather historic.

[pancakes3]

well, i'll just come out and write in full caps - SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS - because i want to discuss this with BA and Doc (and anyone else who's watched it).

SPOILERS

while i agree that the "ending" was manufactured and prank-ish, everything up until where banksy saw the 1st draft of thierry's video seemed to be genuine. i think thierry existed before banksy, and really was just a weirdo who liked to film anything and everything, and somehow ingratiated himself into the street art community.

i'm pretty sure banksy had some idea that theirry was a no-talent clown but gave him the benefit of doubt because he was harmless, loyal, and enthusiastic. however, once the rough draft came out (i bet it wasn't even edited. i can honestly see thierry being THAT bad and THAT lacking in artistic vision) it became clear that if anyone was going to make a movie showing what street art was all about, it had to be banksy. then the scissors met the tape and a huge amount of editing took place, not to mention banksy himself creating new footage like the interviews, the palestine footage, newsreels, etc.

i think doc liked the thierry half better since it gave a better view of how the real art was made, and the measures it took. BA, you seem to like the social commentary aspect of it, and how easily the masses could be suckered into not telling the narrow differences between an imitator and the genuine article.

i have a question that's been bugging me and is probably unanswerable, though. banksy needs bankroll to do what he does. plane tickets, flatbed trucks, elephant rentals, movie productions... etc. i mean he's not paying for this with counterfeit bills. where does he and his crack team get their financial backing from? an anonymous patron? is banksy independently wealthy and using his trust fund to make art instead of sailing off the french riviera? did he hit the lotto? insurance fraud? is he up to his eyeballs in debt? the world may never know.

[doclinkin]

i have a question that's been bugging me and is probably unanswerable, though. banksy needs bankroll to do what he does. plane tickets, flatbed trucks, elephant rentals, movie productions... etc. i mean he's not paying for this with counterfeit bills. where does he and his crack team get their financial backing from? an anonymous patron? is banksy independently wealthy and using his trust fund to make art instead of sailing off the french riviera? did he hit the lotto? insurance fraud? is he up to his eyeballs in debt? the world may never know.

He's pulled in well over a half million dollars in auctions at Sotheby's. Wheat paste and kinko's copies are pretty cheap, and following notoriety of his Palestine gambit he's surely got the cache to raise a few backers, anonymous or otherwise.

[jmrosenth]

Reviews from stuff I've seen lately -

True Grit - Solid movie but gotta say I was pretty disappointed based on all the hype. This was a Coen Brothers movie? I understand keeping the movie pure to the novel and the Wayne edition, but this is simply a Western, nothing more. I was hoping for a Coen Brothers spin on the Western. And of course Jeff Bridges is great, but he's basically playing the same exact character he played in Crazy Heart (which I highly recommend).

Black Swan - agree with others this was far more enjoyable than True Grit. This is also the classic "Date Trick Movie." You'll girl will think she's going to see a movie about ballet. But oh is it so much more than that. And there are many bar mitzvah aged boys still salivating over that scene with Portman and Mila Kunis (two MOTs I might add).

Get Him to the Greek and Funny People - both movies far exceeded my expectations, which were admittedly pretty low.

[daSwami]

Reviews from stuff I've seen lately -

True Grit - Solid movie but gotta say I was pretty disappointed based on all the hype. This was a Coen Brothers movie? I understand keeping the movie pure to the novel and the Wayne edition, but this is simply a Western, nothing more. I was hoping for a Coen Brothers spin on the Western. And of course Jeff Bridges is great, but he's basically playing the same exact character he played in Crazy Heart (which I highly recommend).

Black Swan - agree with others this was far more enjoyable than True Grit. This is also the classic "Date Trick Movie." You'll girl will think she's going to see a movie about ballet. But oh is it so much more than that. And there are many bar mitzvah aged boys still salivating over that scene with Portman and Mila Kunis (two MOTs I might add).

Get Him to the Greek and Funny People - both movies far exceeded my expectations, which were admittedly pretty low.

Crazy Heart was fantastic. Has essentially the same premise/story arc as The Wrestler, but way more compelling characters (imho).

As for True Grit, I haven't seen it yet, but it tops my to-see list. I dig me some Westerns (Tombstone and The Unforgiven are 2 personal all-time faves). I've also got an unconditional boner for the Coen bros.

I copped the Portman/Kunis lesbo scene on the Internets, hot indeed.

[Ruzious]

I finally got to see True Grit and loved it. I can see why folks didn't like the ending, but I respect movies that try to be realistic and don't sell out at the end. Hey, every movie doesn't have to have a Hollywood ending. And the sense of realism (and Jeff Bridges' performance - forget all the hype about the other actors; they were perfectly fine, but Bridges was great.) is what makes this a great movie - rather than just a solid western.

[closg00]

Spence, GO SEE EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP. It is true art (and that's the highest praise I can give something).

haha, i saw this. i loved it. however i might have to disagree with you about the "true art" status of its contents. i'll stop here at the risk of spoiling it but... it's definitely interesting.

Movie as prank within a movie. Clearly funded by Banksy's team. Still a fun watch though, tantalizing for the glimpse into his methods. As a sometime illustrator I admire his line, flow, humor. As an artist he's an editorial cartoonist in a world where newspapers are irrelevant and youtube breaks news stories. In that respect I wish he'd been less coy and allowed a real video diary of his work, world, etc. I saw Shep Fairey early on in NYC slapping up stickers, have seen SMITH/SANE tagging in action, BORF too in DC. I'd love a real night safari watching his crews run nocturnal parkour to throw up audacious visuals on a branded and trademarked world. But if I only get a peripheral glimpse at the smirk from the corner of my eye, I'll take it.

Just finishes Exit Through the Gift Shop - **** stars

[barelyawake]

Great Onion headline from today, "Area Grandmother comes forward as Banksy." Honestly, as more time passes, the more I feel that doc is the greatest statement of the state of modern art since Warhol.

[closg00]

Natalie Portman won the Golden Globe, she'll win the Oscar as-well for Black Swan.

[causticcretin]

I normally would not post because I do not feel that I have any better or more well-developed thoughts to add to a venue with such insightful and eloquent posters. I am sure that my nonsensical ramblings will prove my tendency to be in good judgment...

However, upon engaging in my morning ritual of a glass of milk, the Post, and the RealGM Wizards Board, I discovered this bumped thread with mention of Exit Through the Gift Shop. Being one of my favorite films of recent memory, seeing it mentioned in such an off-topic source nearly resulted in one morning ritual becoming in contact with the other two - an event generally restricted to the Comics or Op Ed section of the Post.

Thank you, barely, for touching on it. For me, the film elicited thoughts of how the hype, greed, and narcissism in full display would be applied to other sectors of the art world and what absurdities would arise from a closer look into mass-consumed art as well.

On a different note (and at risk of violating the thread title), 'that guy' who played the Florist in The Town, was Pete Postlethwaite. He died a couple of weeks ago due to cancer. I best remember him as the Priest in Dragonheart (and strangely enough again in Romeo+Juliet) and as the lawyer in the Usual Suspects. Given the thread had touched on it as well, he was also in Inception I believe.

[Nivek]

I normally would not post because I do not feel that I have any better or more well-developed thoughts to add to a venue with such insightful and eloquent posters. I am sure that my nonsensical ramblings will prove my tendency to be in good judgment...

However, upon engaging in my morning ritual of a glass of milk, the Post, and the RealGM Wizards Board, I discovered this bumped thread with mention of Exit Through the Gift Shop. Being one of my favorite films of recent memory, seeing it mentioned in such an off-topic source nearly resulted in one morning ritual becoming in contact with the other two - an event generally restricted to the Comics or Op Ed section of the Post.

Thank you, barely, for touching on it. For me, the film elicited thoughts of how the hype, greed, and narcissism in full display would be applied to other sectors of the art world and what absurdities would arise from a closer look into mass-consumed art as well.

On a different note (and at risk of violating the thread title), 'that guy' who played the Florist in The Town, was Pete Postlethwaite. He died a couple of weeks ago due to cancer. I best remember him as the Priest in Dragonheart (and strangely enough again in Romeo+Juliet) and as the lawyer in the Usual Suspects. Given the thread had touched on it as well, he was also in Inception I believe.

CC -- You gotta start posting more often. Please.

[barelyawake]

I second that emoticon.

[Scabs304]

I found Black Swan to be riveting and seducing at the same time. Usually this is not the case with me. I believe it was a great movie. I made the worst decision go to dinner after Black Swan and then go back and watch Season of a Witch. Horrible movie and you could not pay me to go watch it again.

[barelyawake]

Just rented "Winter's Bone." WOW. Although "Exit Through the Gift Shop" was the absolute best movie last year, "Winter's Bone" is the greatest non-documentary in several years. The backwater lingo is poetic. The cimematography is sprinkled with mindnumbing, often ironic, shots of classic Americana. The pacing keeps you guessing. The characters are both real and evolve.

Rarely do I walk away from a flick, once the credits have rolled, jealous of the author that penned it. But, I'm green with envy. "Winter's Bone" is an epic, truly American, movie.

[closg00]

Just rented "Winter's Bone." WOW. Although "Exit Through the Gift Shop" was the absolute best movie last year, "Winter's Bone" is the greatest non-documentary in several years. The backwater lingo is poetic. The cimematography is sprinkled with mindnumbing, often ironic, shots of classic Americana. The pacing keeps you guessing. The characters are both real and evolve.

Rarely do I walk away from a flick, once the credits have rolled, jealous of the author that penned it. But, I'm green with envy. "Winter's Bone" is an epic, truly American, movie.

Saw it also awhile back and didn't post on it, it deserved all of the kudos that it has been getting....one of the greatest success stories in independent since??????