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MrX
Awww. I recently introduced a bunch of people to american astronaut, projected on a big screen in a friend's yard with a big fire going. I thought of you. It was a good time.

I hope you like Frances Ha. It's great.

I still haven't watched Stingray Sam.

That sounds like a good time - stingray is in my queue - need to get around to it.

need the right setting

need the son to go on an overnight

happy new year, mr x - my best!
 
that sounds good. I like movies about city life.

You will like that aspect of Inside Llewyn Davis. That movie has a great city feel to it. Mostly NYC, and a little Chicago.

I was trying to decide how you'd feel about Frances Ha. It won't offend you or anything, but maybe just a bit too centered around a quirky woman. Believable-quirky, not ridiculous-quirky, but quirky, nonetheless. Some interesting stuff, though. You should give it a try.

Qued as well. Mr. X's recommendation could be the best thing that ever happened to this movie.

I'm hoping for some royalties out of this. I know nothing of your movie tastes, but don't expect a traditional plot/resolution formula. It's more a slice-of-life sort of thing.

happy new year, mr x - my best!

Right back at ya, kato. I hope 2014 is your best year, yet.
 
The following movies expire from Netflix streaming tomorrow. Last chance for Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo. Don't come crying to me later.

The Rundown
Brick
Being John Malkovich
Back To School
Battle Of Britain
Born On the Fourth Of July
Braveheart
Body Of Evidence
Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
Man On The Moon
Lionheart
1492: Conquest Of Paradise
Killer Klowns From Outer Space
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
FX
Do The Right Thing
Desperado
Up In Smoke
Can't Hardly Wait
Capote
Biloxi Blues
Seed Of Chucky
Jarhead
As Good As It Gets
In The Name Of The Father
Inside Deep Throat (documentary)
I'm Gonna Get You Sucka
In Like Flint
Hard Target
Foxy Brown
Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell
Gallipoli
Half Baked
Flashdance
50 First Dates
For Love Of The Game
The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas
The Bad News Bears
The Russia House
The Secret Of Nimh
Revenge OF The Ninja
Roman Holiday
Rob Roy
Jay And Silent Bob Strike Back
Remo Williams
Requiem For A Dream
Quigley Down Under
Pumpkinhead
Platoon
Once Upon A Time In Mexico
October Sky
Mystery Men
The Skulls
Titanic
Ronin
Romeo And Juliet (1968)
Tales From The Crypt: Bordello Of Blood
Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight
The Woman In Red
Top Gun
Street Fighter
TNT Jackson
Serpico
Seed Of Chucky
Scary Movie
Running Scared
Troll II
True Grit (1969)
War And Peace
Talk Radio
War Games
We Were Soldiers
What Dreams May Come
Windtalkers
World Trade Center
The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes
The Odd Couple (1968)
The Mask Of Zorro
The Great Train Robbery
The Faculty
The Dream Team
Best Of Times
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot
Species
 
Saving Mr. Banks (2013) - As is so often the case, not as good as I was led to believe. It's good. At its essence, it has charm. But it's contrived and inconsistent.

One comment I have heard quite a bit is Emma Thompson does a good job of inhabiting this P.L. Travers character without turning her into a caricature - and she should get an Oscar nomination. While I agree she will probably get the nom, I will not be in agreement with it. She has created a blatant caricature. I don't know how anyone can say otherwise. And the problem is it is inconsistent with the tone the film is trying to set. It is not a whacky comedy about laughing at the ridiculous stuffy British lady out of her element. It has very serious underlying themes. I would rather she played her as a person.

Now if it so happens P.L. Travers was exactly like that . . . well, I don't believe it.

As I so often do, I start with the negative - the argumentative. But on the whole I found it entertaining, fun, interesting. I'd kind of like to watch Mary Poppins now. I'm sure I've seen it but I don't remember for sure. Probably as a kid and not since. I know all the songs.

The theme was worthy, if a bit forced.

6.9 out of 10.


SAVING-MR-BANKS-008.jpg
 
Saving Mr. Banks (2013) - As is so often the case, not as good as I was led to believe. It's good. At its essence, it has charm. But it's contrived and inconsistent.

One comment I have heard quite a bit is Emma Thompson does a good job of inhabiting this P.L. Travers character without turning her into a caricature - and she should get an Oscar nomination. While I agree she will probably get the nom, I will not be in agreement with it. She has created a blatant caricature. I don't know how anyone can say otherwise. And the problem is it is inconsistent with the tone the film is trying to set. It is not a whacky comedy about laughing at the ridiculous stuffy British lady out of her element. It has very serious underlying themes. I would rather she played her as a person.

Now if it so happens P.L. Travers was exactly like that . . . well, I don't believe it.

As I so often do, I start with the negative - the argumentative. But on the whole I found it entertaining, fun, interesting. I'd kind of like to watch Mary Poppins now. I'm sure I've seen it but I don't remember for sure. Probably as a kid and not since. I know all the songs.

The theme was worthy, if a bit forced.

Here are a couple of the things my favorite critic had to say:

Alas, Saving Mr. Banks is this magically-scored handjob of a movie that makes Travers's obvious mental instability and borderline sociopathy a happy-happy-funtime affectation and Disney's bottomless avuncular warmth and patience in the face of it the revisionist misrepresentation of a man notorious for mistreating his indentured employees.

At the end of the day, Saving Mr. Banks is an irritating, condescending, middlebrow sop that appears at the right time of year but has neither the firepower nor the staying power to win a goddamn thing except this sort of derision and the uncomfortable silences at elderly holiday parties as we all agree to pretend not to have seen the piece of shit the poor old dear loves.

He didn't like it very much. :)

Full review here: http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/ffc/2013/12/saving-mr-banks.html
 
Yeah, it's one of those things for me where, not knowing what the main characters were actually like, and not really knowing the movie nor the books about Mary Poppins, I had to just go with it to some extent.

I went through the the whole thing with the basic premise that Mary Poppins is a classic, iconic and probably pretty good movie. It needed to be made.

However there is a completely reasonable chance if I saw it, I would find it to be an all-time, over-rated, eyeball-roller. That would change my view of this making-of film. Perhaps rather than viewing Travers as I was obviously supposed to - as an anal, aging, stick-in-the-mud, pridefully standing in the way of so much joy for so many children - I might have seen her as a smart, self-respecting artist whose fears were completely justified, with Disney being nothing but a money-hungry con-man, hack and villain.



The more I think about the movie, the less I like it. It was manipulative in a Spielbergish way (in the most negative sense of the word). However I was pretty absorbed in the actual watching of it. I like the parts about creative process very much. As for the film Mary Poppins, whatever I might think of it if I saw it, it is not debatable that what Disney came up with really did bring a lot of joy to a lot of people. So there is integrity to that part of my experience and reaction. The songs are the songs.

:dunno:



Much better film on a similar theme and structure: Finding Neverland.
 
American Hustle (2013) - Didn't blow me away but pretty good. Really impressed with the work of Christian Bale in particular.

It is getting buzz as a Best Picture contender. It seems a bit trivial in scope for that to me. Richard Roeper rates it his #1 movie of the year. I'm not sure if I have anything rated higher at this point - probably but I'd have to look into it - anyway, hopefully there are some movies I have yet to see that are better.

But it's good.

7.5 out of 10.


american-hustle-posters-sony.jpg
 
It has been awhile since something really wowed me at the movies. Just looking over my ratings for 2013 so far. I have 12 Years a Slave a bit higher than American Hustle - but neither really made me go YES.

Same last year. I liked Argo best of the Best Picture nominees but it was far from an all-timer for me. I believe I had The Sessions, which wasn't nominated, a bit higher for 2012. The Sessions was a nice movie but I can't say I will be weighing it next time I am doing a top-whatever list of all time.

Point is, it has been awhile. Still hopeful for some of the movies just coming out now.

Someone needs to do something.