General Movie Thread

[Joe Rogaine]

Anybody seen The Whole Shootin Match? May be my new favorite movie.

[Chris L]

Last night on Netflix I watched David Mamet's take on mixed martial arts (![!]), REDBELT.  It reminded me of a much less-stylized GHOST DOG in that its hero is an honor-obsessed walking anachronism living by strict Japanese-influenced codes in a sleazy, corrupt world.  It's purposefully unrealistic and kind of half-heartedly rehashes Mamet's old con games, but it's always watchable thanks mainly to Chiwetel Ejiofor's fantastic lead performance.  Ejiofor is a jiujitsu instructor forced into competing professionally, and if you think Mamet would come up with some amusingly inscrutable jiujitsu instructions you'd be right ("INSIST!  INSIST on the move!").  The ending is defiantly hokey, and depicts an MMA pay-per-view with slightly more class and better production values than a cockfight. Tim Allen shows up and isn't bad at all as a boozy, Hollywood faux-tough guy.  

Lastly, I should point out that this exists. 

[Sarah]

I (gulp) watched the cloying Nights in Rodanthe last night.  Wouldn't have bothered with it, but boy is it set in a great spot.  Dumb place to build a house, but while it stood what a wonder.

Now for 1956's Day the World Ended.

Happy Boxing Day, everyone!

[Martin]

I thought REDBELT was terrible. Proposed alt title would be THE KARATE GUY. Only redeeming thing is Eijofor, who turns in a predictably solid perf. But he's stuck in a sea of mediocrity. I've heard people defending the film on the grounds of it being Mamet-does-genre cheeky, but I don't buy it - Mamet is way too serious about his ART, and is simply not able to keep a distance to what he does. To me Redbelt read more like a boring by-the-numbers exercise by a middleaged geezer who's become FASCINATED by MMA and jiu-jitsu and probably got his own personal trainer as one of the exec producers of this. And of course there's Rebecca Pidgeon. The comparison with Ghost Dog is apt, Chris L, but only shames Redbelt further.

That CD looks wonderful though.

[Chris L]

I've heard people defending the film on the grounds of it being Mamet-does-genre cheeky, but I don't buy it - Mamet is way too serious about his ART, and is simply not able to keep a distance to what he does.

Yeah, that would pretty much be my argument for it.  Mamet's interest in this stuff is very fly-by-night and the main plot is really thrown together, but I liked how melodramatically fallen and corrupt everything was, and the stuff about not wanting to "shame the academy" and the cop who shows such fierce loyalty to his karate instructor.  Again though, Eijofar really sells this shit and without someone like him it probably would have been embarassing. 

[buffcoat]

Saw Sherlock Holmes today.  Entertaining.  NOT canon, so if you're going as a Holmes fanboy/girl you should skip it.  But they put enough Dolye-ian touches in to make it fun, and there's a lot of period stuff that makes it visually great.

Also, if you hate Guy Ritchie movies you should probably skip it as well.

I like Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, and I like the few things I've seen with Rachel McAdams.  They're all good.

[buffcoat]

I recorded Once Upon a Time in America a few weeks ago.  It's been staring at me, all 3:50 of it, ever since.  It gets three stars from the movie reviewing people who determine these things for cable.

My question is, is it worth that much time?  That's a really long movie.  I like Leone's Westerns and have seen the other two in this trilogy - Once Upon a Time in the West and Giu la Testa/Duck, You Sucker, but I have to admit I'm hesitant to invest this much time in a movie that doesn't get a lot of buzz or spark many conversations.

Your input is very welcome.

[emma]

Saw Sherlock Holmes today.  Entertaining.  NOT canon, so if you're going as a Holmes fanboy/girl you should skip it.  But they put enough Dolye-ian touches in to make it fun, and there's a lot of period stuff that makes it visually great.

Also, if you hate Guy Ritchie movies you should probably skip it as well.

I like Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, and I like the few things I've seen with Rachel McAdams.  They're all good.

I just got back from seeing it and I agree with all of this except that Rachel McAdams was responsible for some of the worst acting I've seen in a long, long time. Here is how to do an impression of her in that movie: widen your eyes, part your lips slightly, stare vacantly at whatever's in front of you and say everything like you're reading it for the first time. Urgh.

[Pat K]

I recorded Once Upon a Time in America a few weeks ago.  It's been staring at me, all 3:50 of it, ever since.  It gets three stars from the movie reviewing people who determine these things for cable.

My question is, is it worth that much time?  That's a really long movie.  I like Leone's Westerns and have seen the other two in this trilogy - Once Upon a Time in the West and Giu la Testa/Duck, You Sucker, but I have to admit I'm hesitant to invest this much time in a movie that doesn't get a lot of buzz or spark many conversations.

Your input is very welcome.

One of the most boring gangster movies ever made, in my opinion. I think The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly is one of the greatest movies ever made and a lot of other Leone flicks are close to my heart, but Once Upon A Time In America is nothing but a chore to sit through for me. Makes Stranger Than Paradise seem like Goodfellas by comparison.  Also features the most egregious, schmaltzy overuse of the song "Yesterday" in film history.

[orator]

I recorded Once Upon a Time in America a few weeks ago.  It's been staring at me, all 3:50 of it, ever since.  It gets three stars from the movie reviewing people who determine these things for cable.

My question is, is it worth that much time?  That's a really long movie.  I like Leone's Westerns and have seen the other two in this trilogy - Once Upon a Time in the West and Giu la Testa/Duck, You Sucker, but I have to admit I'm hesitant to invest this much time in a movie that doesn't get a lot of buzz or spark many conversations.

Your input is very welcome.

One of the most boring gangster movies ever made, in my opinion. I think The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly is one of the greatest movies ever made and a lot of other Leone flicks are close to my heart, but Once Upon A Time In America is nothing but a chore to sit through for me. Makes Stranger Than Paradise seem like Goodfellas by comparison.  Also features the most egregious, schmaltzy overuse of the song "Yesterday" in film history.

Yeah, I kept hearing about how amazing it was and I thought it was boring as hell. I've loved every other Leone movie I've seen.

[Christina]

I recorded Once Upon a Time in America a few weeks ago.  It's been staring at me, all 3:50 of it, ever since.  It gets three stars from the movie reviewing people who determine these things for cable.

My question is, is it worth that much time?  That's a really long movie.  I like Leone's Westerns and have seen the other two in this trilogy - Once Upon a Time in the West and Giu la Testa/Duck, You Sucker, but I have to admit I'm hesitant to invest this much time in a movie that doesn't get a lot of buzz or spark many conversations.

Your input is very welcome.

One of the most boring gangster movies ever made, in my opinion. I think The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly is one of the greatest movies ever made and a lot of other Leone flicks are close to my heart, but Once Upon A Time In America is nothing but a chore to sit through for me. Makes Stranger Than Paradise seem like Goodfellas by comparison.  Also features the most egregious, schmaltzy overuse of the song "Yesterday" in film history.

Yeah, I kept hearing about how amazing it was and I thought it was boring as hell. I've loved every other Leone movie I've seen.

I'll third this. I watched it a long time ago and have managed to blot this movie out, but I remember being pretty bored w/it.

[crumbum]

I thought REDBELT was terrible. Proposed alt title would be THE KARATE GUY. Only redeeming thing is Eijofor, who turns in a predictably solid perf. But he's stuck in a sea of mediocrity. I've heard people defending the film on the grounds of it being Mamet-does-genre cheeky, but I don't buy it - Mamet is way too serious about his ART, and is simply not able to keep a distance to what he does. To me Redbelt read more like a boring by-the-numbers exercise by a middleaged geezer who's become FASCINATED by MMA and jiu-jitsu and probably got his own personal trainer as one of the exec producers of this. And of course there's Rebecca Pidgeon. The comparison with Ghost Dog is apt, Chris L, but only shames Redbelt further.

That CD looks wonderful though.

I totally agree. I'd call that ending the biggest head-scratcher I've seen in a long, long time. And knowing the little I know about Mamet I have to conclude he meant it in all seriousness.

Saw Up In The Air a few weeks ago -- it was, as our Dear Leader might say, a pile of garbage. Jason Reitman might seems to have a way with actors and that is the only thing that makes his movies watchable because all three of them have had AWFUL scripts. This one is so disingenuous it made my head spin.

[buffcoat]

I recorded Once Upon a Time in America a few weeks ago.  It's been staring at me, all 3:50 of it, ever since.  It gets three stars from the movie reviewing people who determine these things for cable.

My question is, is it worth that much time?  That's a really long movie.  I like Leone's Westerns and have seen the other two in this trilogy - Once Upon a Time in the West and Giu la Testa/Duck, You Sucker, but I have to admit I'm hesitant to invest this much time in a movie that doesn't get a lot of buzz or spark many conversations.

Your input is very welcome.

One of the most boring gangster movies ever made, in my opinion. I think The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly is one of the greatest movies ever made and a lot of other Leone flicks are close to my heart, but Once Upon A Time In America is nothing but a chore to sit through for me. Makes Stranger Than Paradise seem like Goodfellas by comparison.  Also features the most egregious, schmaltzy overuse of the song "Yesterday" in film history.

Yeah, I kept hearing about how amazing it was and I thought it was boring as hell. I've loved every other Leone movie I've seen.

I'll third this. I watched it a long time ago and have managed to blot this movie out, but I remember being pretty bored w/it.

Thanks, everyone - I think I'll watch a little of it just to get the feel, but if I start getting bored, and it sounds like I will, I will feel fine in deleting.

[jbissell]

I've heard people defending the film on the grounds of it being Mamet-does-genre cheeky, but I don't buy it - Mamet is way too serious about his ART, and is simply not able to keep a distance to what he does.

Yeah, that would pretty much be my argument for it.  Mamet's interest in this stuff is very fly-by-night and the main plot is really thrown together, but I liked how melodramatically fallen and corrupt everything was, and the stuff about not wanting to "shame the academy" and the cop who shows such fierce loyalty to his karate instructor.  Again though, Eijofar really sells this shit and without someone like him it probably would have been embarassing. 

I don't know if it's fair to characterize his interest in Brazilian jiu jitsu as "fly-by-night", the guy has a purple belt and has been training with one of the top guys for like 5 years.  Ejiofor is obviously the best part of the film and there's more than a few awful acting moments from others, but I thought it was pretty fun.  I think I might be the only person who enjoyed that ridiculously over-the-top ending.

[Christina]

Thanks, everyone - I think I'll watch a little of it just to get the feel, but if I start getting bored, and it sounds like I will, I will feel fine in deleting.

Ain't it weird, how your DVR/Tivo queue seems to own you? Like, why should I feel guilty about deleting things if I haven't watched them?