Schoolio's Movie Corner

[Jenniehoo]

Wine. Yikes.

[amyzzz]

which is the penalty for dating a professional movie critic

I was guessing that's what he did, but I didn't know for sure. Finally.

[rampaige]

That was beautiful Jenniehoo. I feel similarly about "religion". I was raised Southern Baptist, but there just seemed to be so much hate and op***ssion in it, i.e. drinking will send you to hell, ***marital sex will send you to hell, having friends who are non believers will send you to hell (maybe this was just from being in youth group as a teenager.) I thought if anything, wouldn't "god" want us to enjoy the things that make life beautiful? Obviously I'm not saying getting wasted and picking up a one night stand at the local dive is considered beautiful, but my particular church focused so much on the "rules" that it got in the way of what I felt should've been the focus: Life is beautiful and hard and rewarding and frustrating, and we're all in this together. I guess I consider myself agnostic as well, in that I don't believe in a traditional god, but life is too beautiful and fragile and mysterious for it to just "be".

Sorry for that random tangent everyone. I'm really curious to see The Fountain now.

[schoolofruckus]

Also, about The Fountain. I don't think I ever officially chimed in on this movie - at the time there was too much skeptic "figureitalloutism" going on - and I felt I might not be sharp enough to take part.

Honey, you're so crazy. You're extremely smart when it comes to movies, and you "get" The Fountain as much as anyone else I've ever heard discuss it. Your opinions are always based on a deep understanding of whatever movie you're watching, and trust me, you are more than capable of holding your own in discourses with your so-called "professional film critic" boyfriend.

For the record, I have never gotten paid to review a film, but for fuck's sake, somebody should pay me!

I also liked "The Break Up" for the same reasons Jennie did. It's a film of enormous - and surprising - integrity and conviction, one that does the dirty work that so many other films won't do. Like so many others, it's a movie about two people who are in a relationship, but shouldn't be; one of them decides to end it, and the movie traces them as their once-blissful union crumbles. The key, as Jennie pointed out, is that the movie doesn't invent some phony resolution to the problems that obviously run miles-deep between them. Had it ended differently - and I said this to her as we were watching it - I would have had no choice but to hate it. But this film dares to make the right choice, and it's immensely satisfying as a result.

Another reason I liked it is that Vince Vaughn is playing a different shade of his patented character. The loveable smoothie from "Swingers", the aggressively inept mobster from "Made", the stuck-in-college family man in "Old School", and the shameless p-hound in "The Wedding Crashers" are all variations on the same spectacularly rude and immature persona - which is apparently very close to Vaughn's actual personality - and in this film, they finally all get their comeuppance. This guy, a hysterically funny, unabashed prick who always dares to dream big, has met with various levels of success over the years, and now he's finally settled down with a great girl. They have a great condo, a fun lifestyle that always finds them with friends around...but there's malaise there. Vaughn's Gary, a tour guide who aspires to run the most successful city tour outfit in Chicago, has entered the phase where he stops sweet-talking and just wants a bit of the freedom that he feels entitled to as a man; meanwhile, his girlfriend Brooke - a smart, supportive woman who has no qualms about doing the heavy lifting while her man chases his dream - has found that such selflessness yields diminishing returns. She starts to realize that all the potential she once found in this guy was, essentially, smoke and mirrors; that the vaguely hostile and arrogant tendencies she views as defense mechanisms may never come down. Fights compound each other until she makes a desperate move, pulling the plug on their relationship and launching a power struggle for a condo - and a lifestyle - that neither of them want to give up.

As I was saying earlier, it's fascinating for me, as a longtime fan of Vaughn's schtick, to see his character developed in this direction - to see the true penalties that can accompany the kind of bluster and irresponsibility that makes his characters tick. I also found the movie interesting from the standpoint of someone who has never gone through a nasty break-up like this; I felt like it did a great job of showing the power of the insults that people who love each other can whip out in the heat of an argument, as well as the narcissism at work when such conflicts involve people outside the relationship (such as mutual friends, or targets of calculated jealousy). It's a film that will not make you laugh as much as you may have expected or desired, but it'll absolutely make you consider things that almost no Hollywood films would even dream of addressing.

[atom heart]

Oh wow. I just watched the "Love Conquers All" version of Brazil.

I hated that so much. The first time I saw Brazil i missed the ending, so I picked up a copy of Brazil that was sitting around at a movie theatre. It was that version and when I watched it I felt like punching someone it was so bad. It was like watching someone's youtube parody remix of the movie.

[york707]

Well said Gabe, and that's from somone who HAS gone through a break up (or two) like that.

Paige's post makes me wish I had seen Jennie's.

[mountmccabe]

Yeah, based on the American version Brazil is top 10 of all time for me. If I had to count the "Love Conquers All" edit... man.

[corbo]

here are my top 10 of 06

1. Pan's
2. Departed
3. Children of Men
4. babel
5. the fountain
6. scanner darkly
7. superman
8. mi3
9. scoop
10. taladega

[corbo]

schoolio ...do you REALLY believe that the fountain was better than The Departed and Children of Men. It was a good movie ..but c'mon
best of 06?
gimmee a break. lol

[delibot3029]

I second The Fountain being the best of 2006 (without contest). It required the viewer to put forth themselves rather than be able to deduce the story by it being spoonfed to them. It is easily one of the decade's best as well.

The Departed was EASILY Scorsese's worse film of the decade, it was good and nothing more, but Children of Men was quite something.

Children of Men, Idiocracy, Borat, Half-Nelson, The Prestige and Superman Returns would also be worth mentioning.

On a semi-related note, Aronofsky is going to make a thriller about two rival ballet dancers. That dude's ambitious and way talented.

[KungFuJoe]

[QUOTE=delibot3029;5793]
The Departed was EASILY Scorsese's worse film of the decade, it was good and nothing more, but Children of Men was quite something.
QUOTE]


Seriously?? The Departed was probably Scorsese's best film he's directed in the past decade. I'm not saying it's his best by any means, but it's much better than The Aviator & Gangs of New York.

[corbo]

delibot dont know what the F hes talking about.
scorseses worst? thats the stupidest shyyte ive heard this year.

[chairmenmeow47]

saw pan's yesterday and i really loved it! i just want to know why people think it's ok to bring their babies to the movies, WTF?!?! the little girl was great though, i normally hate child actors, but she was very good. i was impressed with mercedes too.

i also hate the whole "let's release movies in LA in december so they're technically 2006 movies" cause i saw both pan's and children of men this year and will always think of them as 2007 movies.

and i liked the aviator more than the departed. i like the way scorsese portrays the past i guess. i liked the departed, but it wasn't amazing and i'll be kinda annoyed if this is his "oscar year", just becaues he hasn't gotten one before. he should have won for goodfellas. also, nicholson wasn't playing anything new, it was the same role he plays in most of his movies. i was impressed with leo though.

[schoolofruckus]

"The Fountain" was absolutely the best movie I saw last year, and one of the best ever - a visionary film that, like Izzi's character as eulogized in the movie by Ellen Burstyn, achieved a measure of grace equaled by few others. Thematically, narratively, visually, aurally - it was a masterpiece in every sense. It was the exact kind of experience that I dream of having every time I set foot in a movie theater. And my love for it is definitely compounded by the fact that I waited six years to see it, I went in expecting it to floor me, and I left saying to myself, "He did it. He fucking did it".

That's not to take away from any of the other films of last year. "Children of Men" was one of the most stunningly realized films I've ever seen, a new pinacle in the art of constructing chaos and despair that also never forgot to keep a human heart beating. "The Departed" was a brilliantly clenched fist, and easily my favorite Scorsese since "GoodFellas", and I say that as a big fan of "Casino", "Bringing Out the Dead", and "Gangs of New York". "Babel" was a film so immense, so stunning in its scope that it took two viewings for me to get it. "L' Enfant" was a jaw-dropping triumph of naturalism and human insight that fit perfectly next to the Cassavetes fetish I developed over the course of the year.

But in the end, one movie will always define 2006 for me, and that movie will always be "The Fountain".

[PotVsKtl]

Idiocracy was not funny. Pan's Labyrinth was poorly realized. Babel was crap. You're all ugly.

[Yablonowitz]

Let's hear pot's top 5.

[Yablonowitz]

That's the point.

[thefunkylama]

only one way to find out.

[PotVsKtl]

I take that back:

1. Tideland
2. The New World
3. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
4. Brick
5. The Proposition
6. Tristam Shandy
7. Marie Antoinette
8. V for Vendetta
9. Wild Blue Yonder
10. A Scanner Darkly

I haven't seen Children of Men or the Fountain.

[Yablonowitz]

Brick was fucking awesome.

I want to see Tideland.

[KungFuJoe]

I take that back:

1. Tideland
2. The New World
3. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance
4. Brick
5. The Proposition
6. Tristam Shandy
7. Marie Antoinette
8. V for Vendetta
9. Wild Blue Yonder
10. A Scanner Darkly

I haven't seen Children of Men or the Fountain.

The New World was 2005.

Sympathy For Lady Vengeance = Park's worst film

Babel was so far from crap it's not even funny.


Speaking of crap. I was forced to watch THE HITCHER today due to unfortunate circumstances. Formulaic nonsense ass you'd all expect. However it was fun to ridicule it & scream at the screen. Plus, Sophia Bush is cute. (Don't ever go pay to see this film!)

[bmack86]

I might have to go see Marie Antoinette after the screening of Smoking Aces on thursday. Sounds like a helluva night

[bmack86]

and, Brazil is one of my fave movies. The Criterion definitive edition is stunningly great.

[Tylerdurden31]

I saw Notes On a Scandal on Saturday. Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench were indeed excellent. Both great actresses. Highly recommended film by me.

[schoolofruckus]

I'm glad "Letters From Iwo Jima" got so many nominations*, but for fook's sake, they couldn't have found even one nomination anywhere for "The Fountain"? When Aronofsky picks up his lifetime achievement award 40 years from now, this year is going to look pretty paltry.

I love the fact that "Dreamgirls" - a movie that people have been talking up as an Oscar heavyweight since the summer - didn't even get a nod for Best Picture.

* - Not to be taken literally.


Also - Pot's got a really good Top 10 list. I wholly disagree with him on "Babel" being crap and "Lady Vengeance" being good - I am definitely in the "Park's worst film, FAR too simplistic" camp - but "Brick", "The Proposition", "New World" (2005 though it may be), "Vendetta", and "Scanner" are all terrific.

I will definitely be seeing "Tideland" and "Marie Antoinette" when they are released on DVD.

[schoolofruckus]

A movie guaranteed to make Jennie and Tessa go crazy!

I want to see it, too. It sounds really good. Hopefully a U.S. distributor will pick it up very soon and supply us with a release date.

[amyzzz]

they couldn't have found even one nomination anywhere for "The Fountain"? When Aronofsky picks up his lifetime achievement award 40 years from now, this year is going to look pretty paltry.

I know! Not even for cinematography or score! The movie was so incredibly beautiful, and the music haunts me everywhere. I just don't see how they could completely ignore The Fountain. My husband and I both agree that Hugh Jackman should have at least gotten nominated as best actor, if not won, and OF COURSE the director should have been nominated.

I'm just disgusted with the Oscars this year. I don't think I've seen any of the nominated films yet because I thought my favorites would have been nominated (except I did see Pan's Labyrinth which got some nominations).

[schoolofruckus]

Fuckity.

[Jenniehoo]

Oh my God. I can't wait for Once. We're going to that the first night it plays here. Even without Glen Hansard it looks like something I would love.

I can't believe that CD is in a movie. The lead female character is the backup female singer that he toured with when he opened for Damien Rice.

Tessa, did you know about this?

[PotVsKtl]

The New World was 2005.

Sympathy For Lady Vengeance = Park's worst film

The New World was a limited release Christmas 2005. It opened wide in 2006.

So what if it's Park's worst film? It's still better than most other 2006 releases.

The fact that Little Miss Sunshine is nominated for best picture is fucking pathetic.