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David Thomson: Why I Hate The Hunger Games

Dave//Eksvplot wrote:Forgot to add that this:Lee Chang-Dong's PoetryIs a damn good movie.A bit different than I thought it would be based on the trailer, but still highly worthwhile.Got Secret Sunshine on deck.Lee Chang-Dong is cool!They have both of his films on Netflix Instant.

i recommended The Baby to a friend of mine last night, it was oddly cathartic for her for personal reasons...but it's one of my favorites just because of the premise of it...

Adrian wrote:Riff Magnum wrote:pymm wrote:If you like watching a brainy Keira Knightly getting voluntarily flogged then A Dangerous Method is for you.I thought Fassbinder was really good in this. Movie was good. Not Cronenbergs best, butit's up there.Watched this last night. Fassbinder does indeed put in a very strong performance.Exceptional, if you consider that he's been in a grave the last 30 years.

turnbullac wrote:The Raid: Redemption yesterday.Just saw this. Loved it.

The Station Agent, finally. Peter Dinklage is excellent in it.Stakeland - enjoyable vampire apocalypse business with a decent soundtrack.and I'm going to watch Ex-Drummer right now. Allegedly it rules.

Watched Peter Jackson's King Kong last night. It's not really a great movie, but the special effects are pretty amazing. The 3h runtime though is.... deadly.

dabrasha wrote:David Thomson: Why I Hate The Hunger GamesSaw this last night and disagree with the review. His complaints seem to be the characters (especially the lead) don't seem skinny enough, the violence isn't violent enough, the lead character is reserved for the lead in an action film, and the setting is implausible. Bunk. The lead character and others have found ways (e.g. Illegal hunting) to fend for themselves. The violence is honest if not zombie-killer graphic, and gore porn is not the point of the film. The easiest thing in the world would be to have an over-the-top macho-gal with no inner-life, doubt, or sense of possible mortality. The lead is a lot more interesting with multiple dimensions. As for plausibility there are far fewer violations of the laws of physics, natural biology, or human nature in this film than most sci-fi or fantasy genre pieces.Don't get me wrong, this isn't 2001 or Blade Runner. It's technically well made...photography, effects, CGI, art design, editing, sound are all very good. However, it's not a deep meditation. But like teen experience itself what it lacks in depth it makes up for in intensity of emotion. And it does address in an aestheticized manner the themes young people have always encountered...awkward self-doubt, first encounters with loss and mortality, young love, hope and the threat of hope dashed, and most of all rebellion against unfair and arbitrary authority. It's a good film and maybe those who don't get it just don't remember what it was like to be a teenager anymore.

That's a vague rating. Somewhat tenuous. But the gist of it is, The Other Side of the Wind is worth seeing if it's not too much trouble. Am trying not to be too picky about it, since it could have easily never seen the light of day.

Me Again wrote:That's a vague rating. Somewhat tenuous. But the gist of it is, The Other Side of the Wind is worth seeing if it's not too much trouble. Am trying not to be too picky about it, since it could have easily never seen the light of day.I don't need any more trouble, that's for fucking sure. The Other Side of the Wind is the Chinese Democracy of the Orson Wells stuff, I can't wait to see it. Even though I never even heard Chinese Democracy. Ok, you know what I mean.