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The Pit's Film Discussion Thread

WakeFanatic said:
Love Squid and the Whale, and Elephant is tremendous.

2000 was a very good year. Love some of the ones mentioned. Any other fans of George Washington or Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai?
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I'm so happy I'm not the only one who's seen George Washington on this board. Are you excited for Prince Avalanche later this year?
 
CamelCityDeac said:
I'm so happy I'm not the only one who's seen George Washington on this board. Are you excited for Prince Avalanche later this year?
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Yeah I'm looking forward to it. Gordon Green's career has been so weird. It's hard figuring out how the guy who started out doing George Washington and All the Real Girls would go on to make Your Highness and The Sitter. Hopefully this is a step back towards more serious material for him.
 
Really getting into Indie films recently. Watched 'Your Sister's Sister' with Emily Blunt, watched "Take this Waltz" with Seth Rogen, Michelle Williams and Sarah Silverman, and in the middle of watching The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which I really like so far.
 
Just finished Millions (2004). Dug it big time. Danny Boyle is insanely talented as a director.
 
I made it 25 minutes into AI: Artificial Intelligence and gave up. There were three specific scenes that just destroy it for me.

I was disappointed because it was on AV Club's list of top 50 films of the 00's, and I was curious after reading a bit about it. Seems decently well regarded, too. Do others share my thoughts, or should I give this another try?
 
Bronson Pinchot said:
I made it 25 minutes into AI: Artificial Intelligence and gave up. There were three specific scenes that just destroy it for me.

I was disappointed because it was on AV Club's list of top 50 films of the 00's, and I was curious after reading a bit about it. Seems decently well regarded, too. Do others share my thoughts, or should I give this another try?
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What's your problem with it? I really enjoy it, though it could have ended about 20 minutes sooner.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
What's your problem with it? I really enjoy it, though it could have ended about 20 minutes sooner.
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Watched Point Break to clear my head because I was so frustrated. What do you think Johnny Utah did after he quit the FBI? I guess he did have his law degree to fall back on.
 
myDeaconmyhand said:
Here is someone's list of the top 50 most underrated films of the 2000's. I know people are going to vehemently disagree with a lot on this list, and call it shit, but I think it's a damned good list that just happens to have my favorite movie ever at #1
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/24649/top-50-underrated-films-of-the-2000s
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Some great selections on there (Stranger than Fiction, Solaris, and Wolf Creek all seem pretty underappreciated to me), but also some WTF ones. I think pretty much everyone rates The Prestige pretty highly, so I'm not necessarily sure it belongs on here (A History of Violence is also rated on a ton of top 50 lists of the decade). My biggest gripe has to be either Quantum of Solace or Matrix Reloaded. Both pretty unwatchable by comparison to their respective predecessors. I also don't really get putting Tree of Life as #1. People either call it one of the best movies ever made, or they hate it, generally speaking. So I'm not really sure it could be considered underrated unless people think it should be universally appreciated, which doesn't really seem like something Aronofsky was going for.
 
Bronson Pinchot said:
Some great selections on there (Stranger than Fiction, Solaris, and Wolf Creek all seem pretty underappreciated to me), but also some WTF ones. I think pretty much everyone rates The Prestige pretty highly, so I'm not necessarily sure it belongs on here (A History of Violence is also rated on a ton of top 50 lists of the decade). My biggest gripe has to be either Quantum of Solace or Matrix Reloaded. Both pretty unwatchable by comparison to their respective predecessors. I also don't really get putting Tree of Life as #1. People either call it one of the best movies ever made, or they hate it, generally speaking. So I'm not really sure it could be considered underrated unless people think it should be universally appreciated, which doesn't really seem like something Aronofsky was going for.
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Just for clarification, Aronofsky did not direct Tree of Life. Terrence Malick did.

Another point: Aronofsky's last film was Black Swan and he won't have another til Noah next year. I'm really disappointed because I've enjoyed Aronofsky's other works, but I just can't seem to get excited for it because all other biblical epics I've ever seen have been supbar (see Ten Commandments, Passion of Christ).
 
You're right. I am.

Clearly meant The Fountain, but saw "Tree of Life" in the writeup and transcribed it wrong.
 
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But to get back to what I really hated about AI last night, there were 3 scenes right off the bat that did it for me. I was digging the presentation the robot scientist was giving the whole time. I liked it when he used the word "simulacrum." Then that chick asked him if they engineered a robot that could love a human, could the human love it back? It's a moral question isn't it, she asks. And he goes "The oldest one in the world, bro. But in the beginning, did God not create Adam to love him?" And then all the scientists are all RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE. Hated that response for some philosophical reasons, but I was def willing to move past it because it was an intriguing start.

The second piece of writing I hated was when the dad is talking to the mom and he says "don't say the imprint words unless you're completely sure you want to keep Robo-Haley Joel Osment forever." And she responds (verbatim) "Silly man. Of course I'm not sure." Maybe it's the delivery, but that line is just god-awful. Silly man? But I just sorta laughed and moved past the bit of awkward dialog (and how quickly her mind was changing in terms of screen time).

I finally gave up (and this is completely on Spielberg, because I actually bought both actors' here) when she says the imprinting things to him, and Speilberg isn't happy to just let the scene carry on its own emotional weight, he has to pour on the strings, and use this ridiculous lighting technique:

ai.jpg


It could very well be that I went from watching that Danny Boyle flick to this one back to back, and the styles clashed really hard. One of them had snappy and witty dialog with subtle and nuanced cinematography. The other one was just pulling you along and showing you how and what to feel. I might give it another go again someday if the consensus is that it's a good flick, but I couldn't stand the clunky start.
 
I would have loved to see what Kubrick would have done with A.I. if he hadn't passed away before it started filming. I haven't seen it in a long time, but I've heard lots of people I trust say it's one of the best films of the 2000's. I need to watch it soon.
 
As for the list, Wolf Creek, The Wackness, Punch-Drunk Love, Zodiac and Assassination of Jesse James are all tremendous inclusions. Wolf Creek and Jesse James would probably be on my top 10 of the aughts.
 
Bronson Pinchot said:
But to get back to what I really hated about AI last night, there were 3 scenes right off the bat that did it for me. I was digging the presentation the robot scientist was giving the whole time. I liked it when he used the word "simulacrum." Then that chick asked him if they engineered a robot that could love a human, could the human love it back? It's a moral question isn't it, she asks. And he goes "The oldest one in the world, bro. But in the beginning, did God not create Adam to love him?" And then all the scientists are all RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE. Hated that response for some philosophical reasons, but I was def willing to move past it because it was an intriguing start.

The second piece of writing I hated was when the dad is talking to the mom and he says "don't say the imprint words unless you're completely sure you want to keep Robo-Haley Joel Osment forever." And she responds (verbatim) "Silly man. Of course I'm not sure." Maybe it's the delivery, but that line is just god-awful. Silly man? But I just sorta laughed and moved past the bit of awkward dialog (and how quickly her mind was changing in terms of screen time).

I finally gave up (and this is completely on Spielberg, because I actually bought both actors' here) when she says the imprinting things to him, and Speilberg isn't happy to just let the scene carry on its own emotional weight, he has to pour on the strings, and use this ridiculous lighting technique:

ai.jpg


It could very well be that I went from watching that Danny Boyle flick to this one back to back, and the styles clashed really hard. One of them had snappy and witty dialog with subtle and nuanced cinematography. The other one was just pulling you along and showing you how and what to feel. I might give it another go again someday if the consensus is that it's a good flick, but I couldn't stand the clunky start.
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This may be a unique take on the film, but I always considered that every scene of David & the mother is treated as a storybook/fairy tale, and these scenes clearly stand out against the rest of the film. The dialogue, the narration, the lighting, everything softens and slows down when they're alone together (with Teddy of course). If you watch the rest of the movie, you'll see that the relationship between these two has a special "fairy tale" contrast for a reason.
 
Kinda confirms it's my bias against Spielberg then. He really holds your hand for you and tells you how to feel.
 
Bronson Pinchot said:
Kinda confirms it's my bias against Spielberg then. He really holds your hand for you and tells you how to feel.
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I think you might be missing the point if you are interpreting the direction style as instruction for yourself (the viewer). The setup for, and relationship between David and his mother is portrayed in that style to describe how David understands love, which is completely innocent, pure, and simple, the way that a young child loves. David isn't a dynamic character because he can't mature, since he was a robot designed to be a child-forever. The film actually moves past this setup rather quickly, and that's when it becomes more nuanced.
 
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WakeFanatic said:
As for the list, Wolf Creek, The Wackness, Punch-Drunk Love, Zodiac and Assassination of Jesse James are all tremendous inclusions. Wolf Creek and Jesse James would probably be on my top 10 of the aughts.
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Love this flick.

"Since when is the drinking age 21?"
"Since forever?"
"Fucking Giuliani."
 
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