Movies

[irishjayhawk]

Yeah, so I saw a lot of movies this weekend.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age - Mediocre, at best. Slow and dragged on. Shorten it to 2 hours and it's golden. It's not, so it fails.

Michael Clayton - Amazing. Everything about it is awesome. However, it's VERY complex and mind bending. You have to think, so be prepared. I still feel like I'm missing key details of exactly what happened. Gotta see it again.

Across the Universe - Perfect is one word that comes to mind. It just works. And, contrary to many people I bet, the movie is best viewed sober. Trust me.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

And here I thought that running teary-eyed from Planned Parenthood and getting together with your 16 year old baby daddy that you only hooked up with once before was iconoclastic.

It is iconoclastic if you subscribe to the idea that Bible Belt morals are spit upon and mocked from up high as so many believe so as to delude themselves into a false, smug sense of victimhood.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

And here I thought that running teary-eyed from Planned Parenthood and getting together with your 16 year old baby daddy that you only hooked up with once before was iconoclastic.

Dude you're a ****ing riot!

Sad but so true!

[Stryker]

Watched "Pan's Labyrinth" the other night off of the Planet's recommend. Very good movie!

I filled my Netflix que from the "Best movies of the decade thread".

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Watched "Pan's Labyrinth" the other night off of the Planet's recommend. Very good movie!

I filled my Netflix que from the "Best movies of the decade thread".

Damn good idea, sir.

[Stryker]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Damn good idea, sir.

Yeah I get those every now and then.

[Frazod]

Originally Posted by Stryker

Watched "Pan's Labyrinth" the other night off of the Planet's recommend. Very good movie!

I filled my Netflix que from the "Best movies of the decade thread".

Fantastic movie. Definitely in my Top 5 of the decade.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

Even worse is that such banal witticisms are wrapped up in a script that celebrates social conservatism.

This is the real source of your negativity. You and Hamas should try to get past your political biases when you watch movies. It's probably harder for you guys than it is for conservatives who have no choice but to accept that most hollywood fare is steeped in leftist politics, but that's no excuse. Juno wasn't a right wing Michael Moore hit piece, afterall.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by patteeu

This is the real source of your negativity. You and Hamas should try to get past your political biases when you watch movies. It's probably harder for you guys than it is for conservatives who have no choice but to accept that most hollywood fare is steeped in leftist politics, but that's no excuse. Juno wasn't a right wing Michael Moore hit piece, afterall.

I can review a film objectively and subjectively. Subjectively I detest the film; I think it is damaging. The film paints over the desperation, the poverty, the nearly-inevitable bad parenting, and the regret of teen parenthood a glossy sheen made of clever quips and references to pop culture that predates the protagonist by like 20 years. It isn't a healthy thing.

I can be objective too; I follow that old line of Ebert's: "It's not what a movie is about, it is how a movie is about." Biases against social conservatism aside, the characters here are poor. Because they are poorly written. In Diablo Cody's zeal to create the most whip-smart script ever written she forgot that characters are supposed to be well-rounded, real people. These characters sound "scripted" all of the time. Moreover there isn't any depth. Our girl Juno, once she leaves the clinic, has gone as far emotionally as she ever will even though there is a lot of movie left. The soundtrack is grating, so much so that I'd like to put this sentence here in the objective paragraph. On the plus side, it is competently directed. I would truly hate to see how a lesser director would have treated this terrible piece of writing known as the Juno screenplay.

[Jenson71]

The Hangover was alright. The first half hour was really funny. Then it just kind of went stale. Bringing in Mike Tyson, a tiger waking up in the back of the car, the exaggerated Asian, etc. were either not funny or something already done multiple times or better.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Reaper16

I can review a film objectively and subjectively. Subjectively I detest the film; I think it is damaging. The film paints over the desperation, the poverty, the nearly-inevitable bad parenting, and the regret of teen parenthood a glossy sheen made of clever quips and references to pop culture that predates the protagonist by like 20 years. It isn't a healthy thing.

I can be objective too; I follow that old line of Ebert's: "It's not what a movie is about, it is how a movie is about." Biases against social conservatism aside, the characters here are poor. Because they are poorly written. In Diablo Cody's zeal to create the most whip-smart script ever written she forgot that characters are supposed to be well-rounded, real people. These characters sound "scripted" all of the time. Moreover there isn't any depth. Our girl Juno, once she leaves the clinic, has gone as far emotionally as she ever will even though there is a lot of movie left. The soundtrack is grating, so much so that I'd like to put this sentence here in the objective paragraph. On the plus side, it is competently directed. I would truly hate to see how a lesser director would have treated this terrible piece of writing known as the Juno screenplay.

It was light-hearted fiction, not a documentary about teen-age parenthood. Do the ubiquitous examples of casual sex without apparent concern for consequences in movies, both serious and comedic alike, cause you concern for the social damage they might be causing or is it all ok because that's what's "real"?

Funny that, of all critics, you quote Ebert since he gave Juno a glowing review, calling the screenplay "uncommonly intelligent". After three viewings, Ebert concludes that the "film has no wrong scenes and no extra scenes, and flows like running water". I also agree with Ebert's positive review of the soundtrack. I thought it fit the movie perfectly and set it apart from so many other movies of it's genre that tend to be filled with more mainstream pop music.

Anyway, you're entitled to your own opinion of course, but it seems pretty coincidental to me that your extreme negativity happens to coincide with your perception that the movie "celebrates social conservatism".

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by patteeu

It was light-hearted fiction, not a documentary about teen-age parenthood. Do the ubiquitous examples of casual sex without apparent concern for consequences in movies, both serious and comedic alike, cause you concern for the social damage they might be causing or is it all ok because that's what's "real"?

Funny that, of all critics, you quote Ebert since he gave Juno a glowing review, calling the screenplay "uncommonly intelligent". After three viewings, Ebert concludes that the "film has no wrong scenes and no extra scenes, and flows like running water". I also agree with Ebert's positive review of the soundtrack. I thought it fit the movie perfectly and set it apart from so many other movies of it's genre that tend to be filled with more mainstream pop music.

Anyway, you're entitled to your own opinion of course, but it seems pretty coincidental to me that your extreme negativity happens to coincide with your perception that the movie "celebrates social conservatism".

You're right. It is coincidental.

As for your first paragraph, if art is to say anything substantive then it should talk about issues with honesty. Juno wants to be light-hearted and positive with respect to teen pregnancy but it does so without being honest. I don't think that it is impossible to make a positive case for a teen keeping a child even if the numerous negative factors are weighed. Juno doesn't bother to weigh them, it obfuscates them with shallowness and more-mainstream-than-you-realize indie-pop.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Again, IMO, the worst part of Juno isn't the political message, it's the completely ridiculous screenplay. Human beings don't interact like that, ever.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Again, IMO, the worst part of Juno isn't the political message, it's the completely ridiculous screenplay. Human beings don't interact like that, ever.

I feel the same. It is a poor film, imo, because of how poorly the characters are written and developed.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

FWIW, patteeu, there are plenty of films with overt Right Wing messages that I thoroughly enjoy.

The Rambo quadrilogy, for one.

[Reaper16]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

FWIW, patteeu, there are plenty of films with overt Right Wing messages that I thoroughly enjoy.

The Rambo quadrilogy, for one.

I have a boner for 80's action movies. The extreme right propaganda factor makes them deliciously enjoyable. I enjoy 24 an awful lot. There's a small part of me that takes undeniable relish in a single individual busting though the beuracracy of an unbelievably inept government in order to kill and torture his way to victory.