list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

(German) Good-Bye Lenin! -- Brilliant satire of the reunification of Germany, the honeymoon, and the Ostalgie movement. Funny and poignant.

(German) Im Juli (English: In July) -- A clever absurdist rom-com. The movie is a giant existentialist joke, and there are plenty of laughs to be had. It's joins the likes of Shaun of the Dead as one of the few romantic comedies I actually enjoyed.

(Romanian) 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (English: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) -- Brutal. Just brutal. The movie is so stark, bleak, and relentless that I was the only one among the group who felt he would watch it again. Gather your wits about you and see it. . Spoiler: Did you notice that Otilia is also pregnant?

(German) Nirgendo in Afrika (English: Nowhere in Africa) -- A mediocre feel-good liberal/holocaust/tolerance film. The cinematography is decent, but the movie has no soul. Too didactic and chlichéd to be entertaining or intellectually engaging. Worse, (spoiler: see below). .

(Spoiler here) Something is clearly wrong when the reconciliation scene contains the following discourse:

-"Be careful, I'm pregnant"
-"By me?"

//EDIT: That was a rough cut. Checking again it was (in original German, spoiler intact)

I should clarify that this is during make-up sex.

-"Du musst vorsichtig sein"
-"Warum?"
-"Weil ich schwanger bin"
-"Von mir?"

Meaning

-"You have to be careful"
-"Why?"
-"Because I'm pregnant"
-"By me?"


Edited by Gamemako - February 15 2009 at 23:50

Deja Vu     decent suspense/thriller with Denzel Washington and Val Kilmer using a secret space-bending device to look back in time in order to prevent a bombing.  Well-paced and intelligent if nothing special, a good popcorn flick.

Gamemako wrote: (Romanian) 4 luni, 3 saptamâni si 2 zile (English: 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) -- Brutal. Just brutal. The movie is so stark, bleak, and relentless that I was the only one among the group who felt he would watch it again. Gather your wits about you and see it. .

Yup, extremely depressing subject of matter. An excellent movie for sure, but it's not something I would want to see again.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull 5/10

Man, this was a fun movie. It made absolutely no sense plot-wise, the acting was hilariously bad (Cate Blanchett was terrible - she was so below her usual level that I almost did not believe it), the action scenes were something so unbelievable that it was far-fetched even from Lucas & Spielberg. I don't understand the bad rep the movie is getting, this is easily the best Indiana Jones movie I've seen! Just remember to leave your brain at the door.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 8/10

Obviously, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was made with the Oscars in mind. It does feel more than a bit calculated at times - the dying woman in a hospital bed recalling her life, the hummingbird that appears every now and then, the whole "You never know what's comin' for ya" tagline (which I found to be completely unnecessary, and frankly a bit cheap). However, the movie managed to overcome these shortcomings, and for the most part, I was fascinated by Benjamin Button's odd life. One could argue that it's needlessly similar to Forrest Gump, but I didn't mind. For me, it surpassed it. Probably not worthy of the 13 Oscar nominations, but well worth seeing. Not my favorite Fincher movie though.

Last Life in the Universe 10/10

Well, I'm a sucker for these slow-paced, poetic & quirky Asian movies. Christopher Doyle is easily my favorite cinematographer, and as per usual, his work is pure magic here. Last Life in the Universe tells the story of two people who have fallen off the track of life - a suicidal Japanese librarian, living in Bangkok and a Thai woman who has just lost his sister. They meet under unfortunate circumstances, but slowly begin to find solace in each other's presence. There's no clear plot to speak of, on the surface it seems like the standard 'opposites attract' fare, but deep down I found the movie to be absolutely magical. There are only a limited amount of stories you can tell - it's HOW you tell it that matters. I highly recommend Last Life in the Universe for anyone who liked 3-Iron, Lost in Translation or any of Wong Kar-Wai's movies. The film is bound to divide opinions though, its dreamlike atmosphere will not please everyone.

A few I've seen recently:

Aguirre, the Wrath of God (Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes) - a Werner Herzog film starring Klaus Kinski
Fitzcarraldo - another Werner Herzog film, also starring Klaus Kinski

I actually preferred Aguirre, despite the fact it's dubbed into English and that Klaus Kinski didn't do his own dubbed voice.

1800iareyay wrote: Jim Garten wrote: Life Is Beautiful I'd wanted to see this one for quite a while & finally saw it this weekend; the first half is a romantic comedy set in Italy during 1943, full of slapstick Laurel & Hardy would have been proud of... ...in the second half of the film the family are transferred to a concentration camp (they're Jewish) & the father protects his son's sanity & life by persuading him the whole thing is a strange game & competition to win a tank - the comedy still keeps coming, but never detracts from the horrific subject matter - in fact it throws it into sharp relief & results in a genuinely moving & heartbreaking film. Without a doubt, 10/10 Oh, I was moved to tears alright, when I saw that moron survive up until the end. "Oh look-a, I fall-a down and make-a da funny face! Don't-a kill me." It's a bad film when I'm actually screaming "Just get to the Holocaust already!" It's neither funny nor contemplative, and it is without a doubt the worst Holocaust-themed film I've ever seen, and I've seen The Reader.

Wouldn't the world be boring if everyone held the same opinions, eh?

James wrote: No, it was recorded in English as well and later dubbed into German.  Kinski wasn't offered enough money to do his own German dub, so another actor did it. Did I say dubbed into English?  I meant dubbed into German... my mistake!

Well whaddya know? I've been on a Herzog tear for about five months ever since I watched Aguirre for the first time. He might have catapulted himself into my top five with Welles, Kubrick, Scorsese and Kurosawa. And he's more daring than all of them put together.

James wrote: I saw both films in consecutive weeks but have not seen any others.  I wouldn't mind seeing Nosferatu: Phantom der Nacht (again with Kinski).

You very much need to see

Narrative films:
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser
Stroszek
Cobra Verde
Nosferatu
Rescue Dawn

Documentaries:
Little Dieter Needs to Fly (his best doc and one of the best ever)
Grizzly Man
Encounters at the End of the World
Lessons of Darkess
Land of Silence and Darkness

James wrote: I presume you mean the original Little Dieter Needs to Fly and not the remake?

You can remake a documentary? He did eventually make a narrative film out of it, Rescue Dawn, to plug the gaps of Dengler's story that he wouldn't divulge, and it's one of the best modern war films around. Apart from some REALLY dodgy CGI at the start because Herzog has never used special effects before, it's the least romanticized, least dramatized war movie I've seen, and it makes it so damn real.

1800iareyay wrote: James wrote: I presume you mean the original Little Dieter Needs to Fly and not the remake? You can remake a documentary? He did eventually make a narrative film out of it, Rescue Dawn, to plug the gaps of Dengler's story that he wouldn't divulge, and it's one of the best modern war films around. Apart from some REALLY dodgy CGI at the start because Herzog has never used special effects before, it's the least romanticized, least dramatized war movie I've seen, and it makes it so damn real.

Watch Fitzcarraldo closely and you'll notice a model boat being used in one clip.

Not a special effect as such but it's not mentioned in the documentary, as far as I am aware.

I don't think there is an original version of Aguirre, because the original English recording was appalling, apparently.

The original sound for Fitzcarraldo does exist though and is on the DVD release.