Movies or "the breakdown of jasper"

[mockbee]

i watched kill the messenger. it's about a reporter that uncovered that the cia was allowing drug trafficking in the united states to fund the rebel contra group in nicaragua. it may have started the crack epidemic. you old people like me will remember. it's a really good movie.

I decided that this will be one of the movies I watch on the 25 hour flight to jakarta next week. It does look really good and I like Jeremy Renner.

Kill the Messenger: Like creep said, excellent, excellent movie. Renner did a great job. Fucking pissed me off and terrified me at the same time though. What I remember from the time, or actually prior to the crack connection, was Ollie being on TV all the freakin time and not being able to watch my tv shows.

St Vincent: Real sweet, entertaining movie. Bill Murray is always great.

Sound City: Pretty interesting, to long though, Dave Grohl seems like a likable guy, but is a little too heavy on the "entertainment" side of things for my taste.

The Good Lie: Really wanted to watch this about Sudanese orphans migrating to the US, but it was a january movie.

What We Did on Our Holiday: Comedy about some English family going up to Scotland for holiday to see their dying grandad. It was okay, I couldn't understand half the things those Scottish people were saying. Cute kids though and some good dialog with the grandad.

The Godfather, (haven't watched that in 20 years): I'll have to wait another 20 I think.

Whiplash: Great movie, not really about jazz and pretty paint by numbers story, but the score really draws you in and the ending was real powerful can't imagine what it would have been like in a good theater.

Casino: Blah, Scoresese 90s stuff is dated. His 80s and 70s stuff holds up much better.

and maybe Gone Girl: Skipped it.

Additional reviews,

Tracks: A true story about a young woman who is trying to trek 1,700 miles across West Australia with only a couple camels. Really excellent movie. I thought Wild sucked, this is what Wild should have been. Really got to the heart of her disillusionment and resolve. It's hard to do with such a sparse cast and dialog, but this movie did it. I don't like Adam Driver, this generations Keanu Reeves. (Edit: oh I should preface, if Keanu.. I mean Adam..and the girl hook up in the end, this movie will have come down a couple notches from excellent. I actually couldn't finish it because time ran out, but jeez now I see that they are on the promotional poster together looking all doe eyed at each other..... )

Boyhood: I really liked this movie. Took me a while to buy into it, which I guess was okay because it was freaking long. Even though the arc of the story was completely basic, it really kept you on the edge of your seat, Linklater made it seem anything could happen. The emotions ran so true throughout the core cast. Some tertiary acting pretty terrible, but gets a pass due to the scope of the project. Makes me wonder how parents do it with kids and todays expectations. yikes.

Sonic Highways - Chicago: Okay, it was real interesting to hear some behind the scenes stories and see some great old footage, but again, should have been a half hour instead of an hour long.

[mockbee]

Saw Birdman last weekend. What a fantastic movie. I went with high expectations and they were beautifully surpassed. If you haven't seen it, go watch it. 8/10

I watched Birdman earlier this evening and I agree, it's a gem. The beautiful photography, the one long take method of filming and immersive sound design go a long way to enhance the story. The only thing that kinda bugged me was the very last scene where his daughter looked out the window and up in the air, kind of throwing a wrench into her father's point of view psychosis.

Exactly my sentiments. I really liked the movie until the end. I know you can just extract whatever meaning you wish from it, blah, blah, blah. But it was like they crafted something beautiful, didn't know how to wrap it up and then somebody had a "brilliant" ambiguous, feel good ending. blah.

[perkana]

Your comments make me feel so proud. Anytime a Mexican like González Iñárritu (or now known as Alejandro G. Iñárritu), Guillermo del Toro or Alfonso Cuarón makes me feel so mushy inside. I usually don't care about the Academy Awards, but I really hope Birdman wins some Oscars.

[Pandemonium]

I watched Birdman earlier this evening and I agree, it's a gem. The beautiful photography, the one long take method of filming and immersive sound design go a long way to enhance the story. The only thing that kinda bugged me was the very last scene where his daughter looked out the window and up in the air, kind of throwing a wrench into her father's point of view psychosis.

Exactly my sentiments. I really liked the movie until the end. I know you can just extract whatever meaning you wish from it, blah, blah, blah. But it was like they crafted something beautiful, didn't know how to wrap it up and then somebody had a "brilliant" ambiguous, feel good ending. blah.

I won't do spoilers because there's likely a number of people here who haven't seen it yet but if you do a Google search for "Birdman Alternate Endings" or even look at the Wiki page for the movie, you'll find that seems to be the case. The other ending(s) as described would have actually been worse.

[mockbee]

I watched Birdman earlier this evening and I agree, it's a gem. The beautiful photography, the one long take method of filming and immersive sound design go a long way to enhance the story. The only thing that kinda bugged me was the very last scene where his daughter looked out the window and up in the air, kind of throwing a wrench into her father's point of view psychosis.

Exactly my sentiments. I really liked the movie until the end. I know you can just extract whatever meaning you wish from it, blah, blah, blah. But it was like they crafted something beautiful, didn't know how to wrap it up and then somebody had a "brilliant" ambiguous, feel good ending. blah.

I won't do spoilers because there's likely a number of people here who haven't seen it yet but if you do a Google search for "Birdman Alternate Endings" or even look at the Wiki page for the movie, you'll find that seems to be the case. The other ending(s) as described would have actually been worse.

How could they be worse, that was pretty cornball..... ?

I'd say put the "worst" ending in there, then maybe you got something.

[perkana]

I liked the ending

[mockbee]

I liked the ending

I guess I was just disappointed. I wanted something that seemed to fit with the flow of the movie more.

It was a pretty dark movie.

[perkana]

[mockbee]

[mockbee]

Best Original Score controversy

On December 12, 2014, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences released their longlist for the Academy Award for Best Original Score, from which Birdman was absent. Sánchez had received a note from the award committee the previous day explaining the decision, quoting rule fifteen of the 87th Academy Award Rules and writing they felt "the fact that the film also contains over a half an hour of non-original (mostly classical) music cues that are featured very prominently in numerous pivotal moments in the film made it difficult for the committee to accept your submission". Sánchez decided to launch an appeal, and along with González Iñárritu and the executive vice-president of Fox Music, sent letters to the chair of the Academy's music branch executive committee, Charles Fox, asking that the committee reconsider their decision.[58] One of the points they raised was that the committee had incorrectly calculated the ratio of classical to original music, which after being clarified Sánchez thought he was "on really solid ground."[59] A response from Fox on December 19 however, explained that a special meeting of the music committee was held, and although its members had "great respect" for the score and considered it "superb", thought that the classical music "was also used as scoring", "equally contributes to the effectiveness of the film", and that the musical identity of the film was created by both the drums and classical music. Ultimately, they did not overturn their decision.[58] Sánchez said that he and González Iñárritu were not satisfied with the explanation, and that "To not be able to even participate, to not be on the list, that’s what’s so disappointing."[59]

fuck the academy.

I haven't watched the oscars, really since I was a kid, because I hate all the shit they put in there. But I think I will watch tonight as there were some really good movies up for nominations that I actually watched this year.

[Matz]

just got back from watching Whiplash. thought it was ok but not great. A little one dimensional for me, lots and lots of screaming courtesy of JK Simmons....got a bit old, needs some more ingredients to be really interesting

[mockbee]

just got back from watching Whiplash. thought it was ok but not great. A little one dimensional for me, lots and lots of screaming courtesy of JK Simmons....got a bit old, needs some more ingredients to be really interesting

Go to any competitive arts school in the US; dance, music, visual arts etc. and I wouldn't be terribly surprised that sort of stuff (rare for the physical abuse aspect, but the yelling......oh yeah) is going on everywhere behind the scenes, in fact I can guarantee it. I'm not saying universally, just there are strong pockets of this taking place. USA doesn't pump out "the best" just by sheer luck. I'm not saying other countries don't have skin in the game, just you have to admit the US is where people tend to want to go when wanting an intense high caliber academic regime.

I can guarantee you that is the case for the medical schools, and other professions. (not the physical abuse of course, and a little less so on the verbal, but it is tooth and nail, survival of the fittest, competitive)


I really liked the movie.

[Matz]

I'm not saying it's not realistic, I'm sure it is, minus the physical abuse hopefully, as you say. And its probably a healthy thing too if one finds the right balance

[crater]

Citizenfour

Do yourself a favor and watch it

[creep]

i watched maps to the stars. pretty good movie about some really fucked up hollywood people. i don't think it's in theaters yet but there are torrents out there. worth a watch.

[perkana]

I really didn't like that movie at all, it was so slow and so long. I saw it here like 2 months ago in a movie theater. I thought it should be watched better lying down.

[creep]

I really didn't like that movie at all, it was so slow and so long. I saw it here like 2 months ago in a movie theater. I thought it should be watched better lying down.

well i was lying down when i watched it. that's weird... i don't get the "slow and long" criticism. when we watch our first movie together i guess we will have to be lying down.

[perkana]

As much as I like fucked up stories, that was one fucked up movie I know, I know, what did I expect from Cronenberg, right?
Yeah, definitely, lying down is the best way.

[perkana]

This could be our first movie, what do you think, creep?
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sisterho ... 42714.html
Then we could have a marathon...

[Pandemonium]

As much as I like fucked up stories, that was one fucked up movie I know, I know, what did I expect from Cronenberg, right?
Yeah, definitely, lying down is the best way.

Cronenberg has made some shitty movies in the past but even the worst, nearly unwatchable ones always have something different and often quite interesting going on than the usual fare. I'll catch anything he puts out at least once.

[perkana]

I didn't leave the room, I stayed to see what was going to happen next until it ended. He does know how to captivate you even if you know it's not that good.

[creep]

This could be our first movie, what do you think, creep?
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Sisterho ... 42714.html
Then we could have a marathon...

did i actually admit to liking the first one??

usually i insist on picking movies but i will let you choose our first.

[perkana]

Has anybody seen this one? it looks good

[perkana]

I watched today Cinderella and Chappie. "Frozen Fever"short was fun to watch (also read there will be a Frozen sequel bandit ) I didn't know that Kenneth Branagh had directed Cinderella. Richard Madden (GOT's Rob Stark), Helena Bonham Carter, Ben Chapman and Cate Blanchet star in it. It was alright, definitely a nice movie for kids. Chappie was filled with enough violence, dark humor and also cute for me. I loved it.

[clickie]

You guys ever see that movie Pain and Gain, probably one of the best movies made in the last 2 years.