A few films recently watched.

we can meet up right after I watch Take Shelter, which I just put in the player. You guys inspired me.

I assume you don't have any issue dressing up as an underage Chinese girl?

Nice, looking forward to your thoughts on it. I may actually indulge all one of my WATMM fans with a thoughtful critique session/dialog!

*watches Take Shelter dressed like a Chinese girl*

I thought the GoNY was intended to be overthetop and operatic in nature... so I took it for just that.

DDL killed it in GoNY because the film IS and represents everything that is DDL.

Take shelter was a really good watch but the ending was so rushed and kinda made me hate it.

Don't Think- The ChemBros

9/10

stunning visuals, great music... there's even an aphex twin moment around 37:19! cool stuff

  On 4/4/2012 at 3:03 AM, Benedict Cumberbatch said:

Take shelter was a really good watch but the ending was so rushed and kinda made me hate it.

 

 

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I don't mind an ambiguous ending but this one was a slap in the face

 

 

 

ok, just finished it (Take Shelter). First impression is it didn't do much for me...First 20-30 mins were great, built a great mood, then it dragged through the middle and I just wanted it to be over. The focus became solving the mystery of whether he was crazy or clairvoyant, rather than a portrait of mental illness...I guess that was part of the intent though, to serve as a metaphor for modern paranoia/isolationism or something? Dunno. On the plus side it was pretty impeccably made and I love the modern trend of using high-quality cg in art house flicks. Michael Shannon was very solid but I wasn't as blown away by his performance as I thought I might be.

Of recent films in the same vein, I think I liked the way "Martha Marcy May Marlene" (or whatever it was called) handled mental illness better (albeit of a totally different kind)...and for capturing that weird paranoid, claustrophobic feeling I think I liked "A Serious Man" better...apart from the first 20-30 mins, this one just seemed to be lacking that Lynchian element that would keep things slightly off-kilter and surreal throughout...I also felt like I could predict everything that was coming in the film, including the ending...

I think there is a brilliant film out there just waiting to be made about mental illness, that uses cg to amplify the effect, but this wasn't quite it. Like an updated Heavenly Creatures...

Dunno, I want to hear your guy's thoughts!

A serious man was about mental illness?

yes, being jewish

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:11 AM, lumpenprol said:

...this one just seemed to be lacking that Lynchian element that would keep things slightly off-kilter and surreal throughout

I dunno.... that's what I sort of appreciated about it and what made it such a strong film for me. Films always seem to tie the surreal and mental illness theme together (Fight Club, Jacobs Ladder, A Beautiful Mind).... Leaving you with that "DUDE DAT JUST BLEW MY MIND LULZ" type of feeling. That is what I found refreshing about this and also Martha Marcy May Marlene.

to lumpy: WOH NOW!!!!

I also thought 'Take Shelter' was painfully boring.

'Martha Marcy May Marlene' was one of my favourites last year. Gotta love films about cults! The edits from her life with her sister and her life in the cult are brilliant at times.

to Zaphod: My coming of age film will be loved by all!

Gladiator - Boy was I wrong. Russel Crowe delivers a career best in this poignant, emotionally wrought, inspirational epic from the director of White Squall and Matchstick Men. The story is innovative, the action is easy to follow, and the soundtrack is never distracting. Call me entertained! 10/10

  On 4/4/2012 at 7:20 AM, zaphod said:

Gladiator - Boy was I wrong. Russel Crowe delivers a career best in this poignant, emotionally wrought, inspirational epic from the director of White Squall and Matchstick Men. The story is innovative, the action is easy to follow, and the soundtrack is never distracting. Call me entertained! 10/10

every time i've tried to watch this film (under force or of my own volition), i've fallen asleep. the extraordinarily choppy editing, esp. in the fight scenes, and extremely loud sound just overwhelmed me to the point where my collective senses threw in the towel and shut me down.

edit: every time = twice

I much prefer the female bodybuilder soft-core flick Gluteator, in which our heroine learns that facesitting is the ultimate spectator sport... and the ultimate weapon.

Also it's empowering.

I think I've seen the Gladiator once and I guess I was as entertained you can be for a romp of that sort. But I don't understand why so many people praise it to high heaven. It's not THAT good.

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:33 AM, dr lopez said:

A serious man was about mental illness?

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:40 AM, lumpenprol said:

yes, being jewish

I just lobbed you that nice and easy softball didn't I

pure fucking mayhem - 80 minutes of thickest of the thick accents delivering zero interesting info. i think there's more stuff on wiki. the way the hungarian singer struggles to tell us what 'ordo ad chao' means was painful most.

also - young varg vilkernes looks like weird al yankovic, which is kinda mindfucking.

  On 4/4/2012 at 3:12 PM, dr lopez said:

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:33 AM, dr lopez said:

A serious man was about mental illness?

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:40 AM, lumpenprol said:

yes, being jewish

I just lobbed you that nice and easy softball didn't I

flolol

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:11 AM, lumpenprol said:

 

Of recent films in the same vein, I think I liked the way "Martha Marcy May Marlene" (or whatever it was called) handled mental illness better (albeit of a totally different kind)...

 

is being in a cult a mental illness? brainwashing is perhaps a mental illness....ok i'll give you that one. agreed it was a more successful film.

the sad thing about take shelter is that i believe the director wanted the response that he got. he's probably rubbing his hands together with glee excited that no-one "got" his film properly, the fools. but we got it and felt tricked

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:56 AM, Atop said:

 

'Martha Marcy May Marlene' was one of my favourites last year. Gotta love films about cults! The edits from her life with her sister and her life in the cult are brilliant at times.

 

yes one of my favorites. subtle but effective

  On 4/4/2012 at 5:33 AM, dr lopez said:

A serious man was about mental illness?

Excited about this Martha movie...gonna check it out!

#sideboobsunday

yeah someone just told me that one

heh

..

love,

delet

  On 4/4/2012 at 7:48 PM, Benedict Cumberbatch said:

 

is being in a cult a mental illness? brainwashing is perhaps a mental illness....ok i'll give you that one. agreed it was a more successful film.

 

being in a cult is not mental illness, but I'd say brainwashing is akin to creating a kind of mental illness, I'd also say she was suffering from a degree of ptsd. Clinically speaking I'm sure I'm on shaky ground comparing the two, but in the end, both character's mental states ended up being depicted similarly for the sake of the film. Whether flashbacks or visions, their "episodes" led to odd behavior/rapid mood changes that freaked out those around them.