luciazephyr | Entries tagged with film

Flist. I have an unbelievable revelation.

ONCE UPON A TIME DAVID CARUSO COULD ACT.

Like, really well. I have no idea what happened but in the miniseries Mum rented for us, The First Olympics: Athens 1896, he was amazing. It was so shocking, it took me over an hour to realize it was actually him.

Damn, Caruso, what happened?!

Also, this movie is SO GAY. Between two of the US Olympians, Blake and Connolly. See, they HATED each other at the start, both thinking the other an asshole. Spent months just messing with each other. They Connolly almost misses the train on the way to Athens and Blake reaches out to pull him on and in the process injures his leg. Connolly is devastated and so guilty and tries to make amends. Blake tells him to fuck off.

When Blake loses a race obviously due to his leg, Connolly is just livid at himself. The coach tells Blake to stop being an ass because it's clear Connolly wants to bury the hatchet and is so very sorry.

So Blake shows up at Connolly's door with a bottle of good liquor and they spend the night together. BUT WAIT, IT GETS BETTER.

Blake's meant to run the marathon, but his leg is in bad shape. So about halfway through, Connolly shows up on a bicycle and starts reciting poetry at him so Blake can use the measure to keep his rhythmn. He follows him a long time until Blake's finally too exhausted to go on. Connolly catches him as he falls.

AND THEN.

Connolly sits in the road with Blake's head in his lap, continuing to recite poetry at him as he rests.

It took every scrap of my restraint to just say, "THAT IS SO ROMANTIC." Mum probably would not have liked hearing it but MY GOD IT IS AN EPIC LOVE STORY. First they loathe each other, they make up, and they're totally devoted to each other thereafter.

If this movie were released today, it would have an epic slash fandom.

-Lucy

So. Avatar.

Yes, it is Ferngully 3D. Yes, it is Dances with Wolves. Yes, it's the usual white guilt fantasy and it does have moments of flinch-worthy racial insensitivity. Yes, you've probably seen this exact same plot before with little to no variation. The good guys are Good, the bad guys are Bad Bad Bad people.

But you know what?

It's the best executed of that niche plot we've all seen before. It's heartfelt and preachy. It's beautiful and predictable. I enjoyed it. It's not something I loved, but I walked in expecting to dislike it and I didn't. If you can see it knowing its flaws and keep an open mind despite that, you might enjoy it. It's fucking solid.

Though Mum insists I give some advice re: 2D vs 3D.

1. If you wear glasses or are even slightly prone to headaches during films, bring headache medicine with you. I was lucky enough to have some with me and if I hadn't, it would have been Very Bad. As it was, I couldn't drive home because my eyes were all screwy for a while after the movie. YMMV, obviously, but taking off my 3D glasses during the more human-centric scenes helped a lot.

2. Having watched it... I don't think you will lose anything seeing it in 2D. That may be blasphemy to some, but the movie's visual beauty is less hinged on the Pace/Cameron Fusion Camera System and more on the WETA Workshop's involvement. WETA, for those who are wondering why that name rings a bell, is the one that did LotR. They're even better now, if you can believe that.

So yeah. Honestly, there were about... two or three moments of racefail or extreme Black and White Morality that almost ruined the movie for me, but besides that, it was good. I kinda wish the technology and effort was used on a better story, but... eh. Mum and I plan to buy the DVD, and in 2D, not 3D.

If you loved it, I can see why. If you hated it, I can see why. I liked it.

-Lucy

SO I WATCHED "NEW MOON" RIGHT.

don't ask me how, you either know or you don't.

All I can say is, goddamnit, Bella, you stupid bint. I WOULD DATE JACOB. He's a nice boy. MUCH BETTER THAN EDWARD OH GOD. I mean, Jacob, Alice, and Carlisle remain the only tolerable people in the movie.

Not to say it's a good movie. Oh jesus god, it's not a good movie. A REALLY BAD MOVIE. SO BAD. But Jacob, Carlisle, Alice, Charlie, and MICHAEL FUCKING SHEEN OMG HI ARO HIIII ILU SHEEN!ARO! make it bareable if you're an anti-fan like me.

Goddamn, Michael Sheen just chewed all the scenery in the movie. God bless him for it too. ♥ ♥ ♥

Also, my lovely reviewer Spoony, was exactly right when he said here that the worse part of the movie was the soundtrack.

Yeah. The soundtrack. It's that bad.

So, can anti-fans be on Team Jacob?

-Lucy

PS: Spoony's review is really worth watching, BTW. It decimates the movie and all its flaws beautifully.
PPS: Goddamnit, Bella beats out that asshole from Wanted for most unsympathetic protagonist ever in her last scene with Jacob. You HUGE BITCH.

Mum: Grandma selling her assets... You know it's because of us, right?

Yeah, I did. Thanks for the reminder.

Okay, life sucks, I'm poor, and I did something stupid so one of my friends has total license to hate me.

Let's review stuff!

( GAME: Battlefield: Bad Company )

( FILM: Coraline )

( LP: Metal Gear Solid 3 )

I think I'll review Utena sometime. Too tense to do so at the moment though.

-Lucy

Frost/Nixon is very much worth a rental, guys. I am very impressed. But I'm always impressed with Ron Howard's work. I'm starting to realize he may be my favorite director. I adore him.

But god. Talk about an ensemble. I despise Nixon, but god if Langella almost made him sympathetic to me. I could draw hearts around Michael Sheen. His Frost was... not at all like I expected. But oddly enough, I fell more in love with Oliver Platt and Sam Rockwell than anyone else. Platt is a man made for political drama, and Rockwell is fast becoming one of My Actors, one of the folks I see in the trailers and I decide I have to see the material. I love Rockwell.

Also, Kevin Bacon's character was easily the most sympathetic character in the film. Him and Rockwell.

Very big thumbs up.

-Lucy

OKAY YOU GUIZE

TWILIGHT. Watched it with Mum, who's never read any of the books.

FILM: :ends:
LUCY: That was such a great movie.
MUM: Are you insane? That was complete shit.
LUCY: Really? It was so much better than I was expecting.
MUM: ... Just how bad are these books?
LUCY: Edward was such a catty bipolar bitch! Alice was perfect! Carlisle and Charlie were great! Bella was a small-town bashing jerkface!
MUM: Lucy, that was a really bad movie.
LUCY: Really? It... It even had plot! The murders were set up way in advance!
MUM: I think your perception is a little screwed up, honey.
LUCY: ... Maybe.

-Lucy

ETA: OMG, WHO ELSE SPOTTED SMEYER IN THE DINER? I FROTHED WITH RAGE.

Just finished watching Religulous. Enjoyed it until the last five minutes. Oh, Maher. That editing was just GOP-style scare tactics. I didn't disagree with a word you said- and I often don't!- but you're such an asshat about it, you can turn off a total antitheist like me.

Really great overall though. I liked Dawkins' The Root of All Evil BBC special more. It's the sort of thing I wish would air in America. Though, at the same time, I'm glad it hasn't because I believe some of the crazies around here would actually try to kill him for it.

... God, I am so sick of Pascal's Wager. Boohiss, horrible theist arguments are horrible.

-Lucy

Don't watch if you haven't seen The Dark Knight, but this was pretty cute. The kid playing the Joker is actually okay.

:pinches all their wee cheeks, the sweeties:

ETA: Oh, and remember the "What if Michael Bay wrote TDK" script? Oh, lolarity.

-Luce

I saw The Dark Knight.

I have no words left. I'm still kinda shaking. Aaron Eckhardt was astounding. He was just... I loved him to death.

And Ledger... I mean.... :speechless: I had no idea a man could turn into that sort of monster. He was captivating and terrifying all at once.

I've seen many, many movies. I have never seen an actor transform so completely. I think I will be an insult if he does not win for this.

Goddamn.

-Luce

So Michael Clayton had one of the most amazing endings ever.

Hell yes. \o/

So where are the Shiva icons hiding?

-Luce

ETA: Neil Gaiman is making American Gods free online for a month. It's over here. Can anyone tell how to actually DL it? :confused:

[01] — Look up TEN of your favorite movies on IMDB.
[02] — Click the "trivia" link in the sidebar.
[03] — Post a fun and random bit of trivia from each film.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Val Kilmer walked around in a $500 pair of Louis Vuitton driving shoes and wore nail varnish while experimenting with several variations of speech patterns for the role. Kilmer also noted this was done much to his son Jack's chagrin.

( nine more below cut )

-Luce

There is something ridiculously great about the Oceans movies. The third was no exception. Funny and sharp and tongue-in-cheek. Boatloads of sexual tension (goddamn, Rusty, Danny, just go have sex please), a dash of EDDIE FUCKING IZZARD, and the controlled chaos that's inherent with so many characters in one twisty, lovely story. Also, I want to have sex with the cinematographer and the set designer. God, it was a beautiful casino.

Go see it, folks. If for nothing else than Izzard in a sexy pinstripe suit, saving the day.

-Luce

Ganked from

th_esaurus, the IMDB top 250 films meme. Bold the ones you've seen. (Mum wanted me to count her too, so she's in italics.)

( My family scares me. )

-Luce

Short Version: Go see this movie.

Long Version: Go see this movie now.

( Oh, you wanted reasons and details? Well, okay. (No major spoilers under the cut) )

That should be all. And, for the record? I liked Machete the best. Mum liked Thanksgiving. (You'll get it once you see it.)

WHOO HOO! *pumps air* I can't wait to see that again!

-Luce

I'M GOING TO SEE THE 3 PM SHOWING OF GRINDHOUSE!!!!!!!

Oh, this day is totally of the fucking win!!!

*long, loud, high-pitched squeal of pure fannish joy*

*runs off to get ready*

-Luce

ETA: This is the wifey. She got stuck in traffic. Will be seeing the 5:00 showing. So if you were waiting impatiently for her, TOO BAD.

I DLed three DVD ripping programs. And Stranger Than Fiction is protected from all of them.

*annoyed* Bitchcakez.

-Luce

Watching Stranger Than Fiction. Anyone know how to upload a film? Like... once I make it an .avi file, how do I split a .rar file?

Yes, I am considering upload a movie for ya'll. It's that important to me, that I want to make sure everyone sees it. On that note:

[Poll #949188]
-Luce

Orders of Business:

1- I saw the most phenomenal movie. God, I am hereby citing Stranger Than Fiction as required viewing for all writers. It was just beautiful.

2- Spent the day with mi amore, Hoshi Nyuria. I'm harshly reminded of how much I love and adore her.

3- The big one: I'm grounded from the computer indefinately due to poor maths and bio grades. I'll only be on weekends. That said, the Thanksgiving break starts Wednesday. I'll probably either be allowed online or I'll sneak online. Pick one.

4- The instrumental of Spoon's "The Way We Get By" is gorgeous, making the lyrics almost unworthy. Listen from 1:36 on. It's beautiful.

5- I have an irrational fear of Paloma existing now and feel awful for her.

That's all. Go see the movie.

-Luce

ETA: PS: I really want an instrumental version of the song.

Current Music: Spoon - The Way We Get By

we can raise cities or raze them, it whispers

and the only difference is the spelling

SO GAY.

because this is my LJ, so I will express my opinions here

oh you cut your head? HERE, LET ME PULL MY SHIRT OFF SO I MAY DAB THE WOUND.

In which Lucy reviews a bunch of things.

(no subject)

(no subject)

I don't often get to break out my atheist icon...

Mini!batbike, away!

(no subject)

(no subject)

ganked from slodwick

(no subject)

(no subject)

MOVIE REVIEW: Grindhouse (AKA: Why Tarantino Still Rocks the Cashbah)

QUENTIN, BABY, I MISSED YOU!

(no subject)

(no subject)

piano

Profile

Links

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags