Opening in Dallas, 11/17
by Brian
Casino Royale (trailer): I always look forward to a new Bond movie, and I’m actually impressed by the strong reviews so far. On that score, however, the last two were so completely terrible that the temptation to admire the effort this time around, must be pretty strong. See Star Wars: Episode III for a good example of what I mean.
For Your Consideration trailer): I guess I’m looking forward to this, too, even if “diminishing returns” were the first words to mind after I saw the trailer. A lot of easy targets there (agents, producers, marketing people, etc.).
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (trailer): A lot of tough reviews out there for this one. For myself, I wish I hadn’t missed Secretary, director Steven Shainberg’s previous film.
Happy Feet (trailer): It might be a bit of a stretch to say that I want to see this, but I’m more willing to see it than any of the other non-Pixars that have come out over the last two years or so.
Come Early Morning (trailer): Ashley Judd returns to a 3.6 IMDb user rating - ouch. 64 from Metacritic, however.
Fast Food Nation (trailer): Follows Super-Size Me in its groundbreaking “fast food is bad for you” message. Who knew? Richard Linklater was on Colbert last night, and I actually fell asleep halfway through the segment.
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner trailer): Nothing against Tony Kushner, but I don’t really feel like watching what appears to be a strictly by-the-numbers documentary about him.
Let’s Go to Prison (trailer): Because what the world needs is an hour and a half of dropping-the-soap-in-the-shower gags.
For Your Consideration trailer): I guess I’m looking forward to this, too, even if “diminishing returns” were the first words to mind after I saw the trailer. A lot of easy targets there (agents, producers, marketing people, etc.).
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (trailer): A lot of tough reviews out there for this one. For myself, I wish I hadn’t missed Secretary, director Steven Shainberg’s previous film.
Happy Feet (trailer): It might be a bit of a stretch to say that I want to see this, but I’m more willing to see it than any of the other non-Pixars that have come out over the last two years or so.
Come Early Morning (trailer): Ashley Judd returns to a 3.6 IMDb user rating - ouch. 64 from Metacritic, however.
Fast Food Nation (trailer): Follows Super-Size Me in its groundbreaking “fast food is bad for you” message. Who knew? Richard Linklater was on Colbert last night, and I actually fell asleep halfway through the segment.
Wrestling with Angels: Playwright Tony Kushner trailer): Nothing against Tony Kushner, but I don’t really feel like watching what appears to be a strictly by-the-numbers documentary about him.
Let’s Go to Prison (trailer): Because what the world needs is an hour and a half of dropping-the-soap-in-the-shower gags.
|Link|4:52 PM
6 Comments:
Casino Royale--I could care less. It just doesn't look right to me, and none of the ads have made me sit up and take notice. yawn And this comes from someone who actually liked the last one, Die Another Day. (Note: Of the Brosnan Bonds, I liked the first one, Goldeneye, and then hated Tomorrow Never Dies so much that I skipped The World Is Not Enough. Halle made me come back for Die.)
I saw the HBO making-of for Happy Feet and it just made me long to see March of the Penguins again (and I liked March, but just saw no need to see it again until confronted with Happy). It all seemed just a bit too silly (coming from someone who doesn't have kids and bought the Cars DVD).
I had a lot of trouble paying attention to last night's Colbert Report, too. It seemed like they laid on a distracting artificial laugh track that was totally killing my enjoyment. Weird.
Casino Royale KILLED!!! It was really really good....and I'm not a bondophile or whatever you call them.
Saw it at the late show last night. Our theater just got in two new digital projectors and I think this was the first movie showing on it (along with Happy Feet across the hall) and it looked spectacular. Bright...no hiss, pop, grain, or artifacts of any kind. The trailers even looked great especially....Rocky Balboa. I'm ready for that bad boy....when I first heard of that movie I thought the same thing that I thought about M:i:III and Casion Royale: "Aren't those franchises dead?" But a trailer can cover a multitude of sins, I guess.
Anyway, Daniel Craig is brilliant as Bond and Eva Green is a bonafide hottie. What else do you need? No Limit Hold 'Em? Boom. Death-defying stunts? Boom. Smooth Bond car? Ka-boom..... Throw in an overt Moneypenny reference and you've got it made (though, no Q or focus on gadgetry)
Craig really makes Bond more human and flawed. He fails a few times because of his arrogance/ego and he learns (a little) from those failures. He takes his "dispatching" of bad men to heart and it really effects him. He renders the "shaken, not stirred" lines irrelevant and only at the end do we get his famous introduction. He's not the perfect man in a tux waltzing in and out of certain death situations...there's real danger amongst the panache.
He's still suave, quick-witted, and womanizing, but I would expect no less from a double-0 at Mi6
Casino Royale is coming here next friday, so don't nobody spoil it for me or I will... I don't know what I will, but I'll be very pissed.
Big Bond fan but Die Another Day was absolute shit. Thank god that Halle Berry spin-off evaporated. Goldeneye has been the high point of the non-Cold War Bonds, but World Is Not Enough wasn't half-bad.
I'll be sating my frothing anticipation with Florian Henchel von Donnersmarck's Lives of Others.
Secretary is excellent, I actually bought the DVD. Great performance by Maggie Gyllenhaal, and it was really great to see a film that didn't judge those who like their sex different from the norm. A great love story, even if it does involve a lot of spanking.
I liked Casino Royale also, although I'd stop short of a rave. A very solid B, I thought.
I think the common criticism that it's too long has merit. Some of it dragged, and while most of the set pieces were great on their own, I'm not sure they fit together all that well. It had kind of a Michael Bay rhythm in that regard, at times, a kind of "AND ... HERE ... COMES ... AAAAACCCCTTTTIIIOOONNNN!!!!" mentality that was sometimes at odds with the story.
But Craig and Green really ace their roles. They're probably a better 1-2 than any other Bond movie. Their first scene together is especially fantastic.
And the lack of computerized stunts really stood out. There's better stunt work here than any other recent movie I can think of. Fun to watch even if it doesn't always make much sense.
Something I watched for (after seeing it in a review) was the stuntman's name in the *opening* credits. Quite a rarity.
I also appreciated the lack of CGI, but initially found some of the bluescreens preposterous (like after LeChifre's girl comes into the boat from the water), until I remembered this is EXACTLY how they appeared in so many Bonds' over the years. I'd like to assume it's an homage rather than an oversight.
Michael Scott would have given it an A++
***KOCKUM POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT***
I started feeling the length at the end when the romance ensued. Everyone knew it wasn't the end...yes yes, they're in love. Get on with the double-triple-cross already!!!
And there were definitely some flow problems...Daytime outside only to become nighttime inside in a few scenes. Did time go by or were they mistakes? 5 seconds of poker and then action or research for hours? How long was the game lasting? Or supposed to last?
***THUS ENDETH SPOILER***
and I saw the Prestige Saturday night (finally) which was also excellent. But if there is ever a movie you don't want to be 15 minutes late to, it's this one. I was lost for the next 30 minutes....but I got the hang of it.
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