[Subsequence]

The next three days, amazing film easily one of the best i've seen the last couple of years.

 

[DLeeWebb]

"The Conspirator" [8.3/10]: I tend to give a "grade curve" to any film that does justice to an historical topic. This film does justice to the historical topic it dramatizes. The film certainly raises issues that are as relevant today as they were during America's post-civil war period. I know something of the Civil War and the events surrounding Lincoln's assassination, and I think that Robert Redford did an admirable with the topic. I felt that the performances were a bit "wooden" with the exception of Robin Wright and Stephen Root. I appreciated the accuracy of the events depicted. However, I thought that significant related events were left out of the story altogether. I guess a director must make some hard calls when it comes to depicting the full complexity of historical events while keeping the length of the film reasonable. Definitely worth seeing...

 

[virometal]

What are the "significant related events?" I'm rusty on the affair.

 

[DLeeWebb]

 
Quote:

What are the "significant related events?" I'm rusty on the affair.

Well several issues, that I at least consider to be significant issues, occurred to me as I watched the film. I'm not sure that I can remember them all. They breezed through the actual assassination very quickly; leaving out details that wouldn't have taken a great deal of time to depict. They didn't refer to the evidence and testimony used against the other defendants that related to and further implicated Mary Surratt. I thought that they could have shown Dr. Mudd's role in one of those flashback scenes.They didn't get into Booth's diary with the missing pages at all. I thought that they could have at least mentioned in the afterwords that they put on the screen at the end of historical movies that John Surratt briefly served in a unit of papal guards and was arrested in Vatican City. He gave lectures later in life about his involvement in the plot. They could have mentioned the sentences of the other defendants and that there sentences were short and/or that they were pardoned before the end of Johnson's term etc. I guess all of these things would have detracted focus from the main story, but I think that they would have added interesting information leading to a more fully told story...   

 

[virometal]

Thanks. 

 

[Calexico]

I'm a few movies overdue.
 
Black Swan - 8/10
Great tension.  Had me pulling my hair once which has never happened before.  Gotta love Natalie Portman.  A more enjoyable film than Requiem for a Dream since it isn't as scary and stressful.  Still pretty scary though.  Aronofsky's films have made me more afraid than any horror films have.
 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 - 8/10
Finally got around to watching this.  I really enjoyed it.  That scene where Dobby was talking for a while with a close up camera shot stood out to me as... detracting from the impact of the film/scene, but it wasn't a big deal; just sort of funny (as in funny-looking; not haha funny).  Don't really have too much to say.  I've enjoyed all the Harry Potter books and films.
 
Apollo 13 - 8/10
Nice story.  Nice storytelling.
 
Akira - 8/10
Pretty cool stuff.  Didn't really explore it's religious undertones that much, for better or for worse.  It's really more of a 7/10 +1 for aging better than I would expect.
 
Spirit of the Marathon - 6/10
Finally it's not an 8!  I enjoyed all of the runners' stories except for Ryan Bradley's.  Something about that guy got on my nerves.  For example, I disliked how he was like (paraphrased) "First you're a non-runner.  Then you're a runner.  Then you're a marathoner.  Then you're a Boston marathoner."  Running isn't some status thing.  It's about doing something you enjoy and pushing yourself.  His wife was hot though.  I would have enjoyed one or two less recreational jogger bios.  I would have liked to hear about someone running like 2:30 as a male or the equivalent female time, to provide a fuller spectrum of marathon runners.  I would have been able to relate better to that hypothetical runner.  Overall a decent documentary.  Nothing incredibly interesting.

 

[Sunmermaster]

Quote:

Watched Red last night and found it very entertaining. I like John Malkovich and he played a great paranoid. It was interesting to see Helen Mirren in the role she played too. Highly recommended if you like those types of movies.

hey, I watched it yesterday too xD, really funny movie, Im glad to see bruce willis again

 

[tdockweiler]

Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives - 5.5/10
 
What a huge letdown. I wanted to like this and my expectations were not that high. Found the movie fairly thought-provoking, but what ruined it is that most of it was way over my head. I didn't give it a low score for that! Even if that's the case, I should have still been able to enjoy it. I have all the patience in the world, but so many scenes felt pointless and dragged on too long. If you're buddhist or better yet a Buddhist monk, this will be just your thing! Hey, I know quite a bit about Buddhism, but I still missed out on a lot of this. It's really hard for me to watch a scene with a man dressed up in a monkey costume. Or there is that sex scene with a talking Catfish (not as bad as it sounds and it wasn't a real fish).
 
I guess the biggest plus is that it's nice to look at during some scenes and I like the mood of the entire movie. Probably one of those movies you'll love or hate.
 
Here's a trailer:
 

 

[Anaxilus]

Oh I hope that isn't so, I was looking forward to seeing that.

 

[alphaphoenix]

 
Quote:

Uncle Boonmee who can recall his past lives - 5.5/10
 
What a huge letdown. I wanted to like this and my expectations were not that high. Found the movie fairly thought-provoking, but what ruined it is that most of it was way over my head. I didn't give it a low score for that! Even if that's the case, I should have still been able to enjoy it. I have all the patience in the world, but so many scenes felt pointless and dragged on too long. If you're buddhist or better yet a Buddhist monk, this will be just your thing! Hey, I know quite a bit about Buddhism, but I still missed out on a lot of this. It's really hard for me to watch a scene with a man dressed up in a monkey costume. Or there is that sex scene with a talking Catfish (not as bad as it sounds and it wasn't a real fish).
 
I guess the biggest plus is that it's nice to look at during some scenes and I like the mood of the entire movie. Probably one of those movies you'll love or hate.
 
Here's a trailer:

Try "Running on Karma".  A HK flick with Andy Lau.  A bunch of buddhist ideology from start to finish.
 

 

[tdockweiler]

I think I've seen that years ago.. I was once really into all the Johnnie To films. I actually once was a member of an old website that rented VCDs and DVDs from Hong Kong about 10 years ago.
When I came back from my trip to Hong Kong I sent home about 100 DVDs (all legal and they're CHEAP!). Around here they will sell a $4 Hong Kong "Import" for $60!
 
As far as buddhist themed movies go, my absolute favorite is "Samsara". Basically an unknown masterpiece to me with a good soundtrack (Cyril Morin). The director is soon to be making a movie about the life of Buddha.
What's interesting is that Christy Chung (the Hong Kong actress) is in it and she did two back to back amazing movies. Her "Jan Dara" is great, but it's a bit tough to watch. Anything "bad" you can think of is probably in the movie. People totally got the wrong impressions of these two movies.
 
Samsara was supposed to be released in the USA but Miramax sat on it forever and never released it. I got mine from Hong Kong in 2001 and it's cheap to import.
 
Another movie I love is "The Burmese Harp" based on the book. I've read the book and watched the movie several times. It's about a Japanese man who after World War 2 disguises himself as a buddhist monk and wanders around the country burying the dead. Kon Ichikawa did a color remake in 85 or so, but no subtitled version is available.
 
Quote:

 

Try "Running on Karma".  A HK flick with Andy Lau.  A bunch of buddhist ideology from start to finish.
 

 

 

[tdockweiler]

Human Planet - 8.25/10 (so far!)
 
I'm on disc 2 right now. Well worth the $40 for the blu-ray. The picture quality is every bit as good as that of Life and Planet Earth. As you may know, this series is from the same people. The only negative is that it feels as if the human stories are a bit dumbed down and too brief. More dialogue from them would have been nice.
 
I highly suggest "Life". So many amazing things in that movie you'd never think an animal would be able to do. Animals are smarter than we think. The movie "Planet Earth" is what made me want to buy a blu-ray player years ago!
 
Some things in Human Planet sure makes me appreciate what I have. I don't need to hunt Narwhal and eat fermented dead birds just to survive thankfully. Living in most of the conditions in the movie I sure the heck couldn't be a vegetarian anymore! What would I eat? Snow?
 

 
 

 

[Anaxilus]

I'm adding that to my list tdock.  If you want stunning blu-ray quality I recommend 'Baraka'.
 
I wish they would remaster the Trials of Life and the Private Life of Plants.  Life in the Undergrowth is good too.
 
To answer your other question, you would eat whatever you could to survive or die.  

 

[tamahome77]

City of God - 8.9

 eyes widening experience
 
The godfather I - 8.0  Still trying to digest everything I have seen but first impression is a decent film.

 

[AlvinDj]

I thought Thor was great!
 
Natalie portman looking really good