WHAT YOU WATCHED THIS WEEK

[dalmatianjaws]

Totally agree. I think it got a lot of love because of how beautiful the cinematography was and how much better than Quantum it was ... it's certainly a good movie, but nowhere near the levels of Casino Royale.

[dnwilliams]

Oldboy - Pretty good.
Midnight In Paris - Great.
Logan's Run - Good.
The New World - Pretty good.

[Sheridan Passell]

Reservoir Dogs - I've been going through old VHSs to see what I can throw out (it's very weird watching TV recorded almost 20 years ago) and this was on one of the tapes. Some slow parts but when it picks up the acting is superb, extremely clever use of very limited locations, and what a cast, wow. Michael Madson was so good in this, what happened? What I didn't expect, and have literally no memory of, is how many times the N word is used by the all-white-cast and, no getting around it, in an offensive manner. Some of the lines I literally double-taked and rewound to check what I'd just heard. It may all be ok in the context of Django but the way it's used here suggests there is something wrong in Tarantino's head somewhere. eg Steve Buscemi breaks up a fight and says: “You guys act like a bunch of fuckin’ n****rs. You wanna be n******s, huh? They’re just like you two, always fightin’ and always sayin’ they're gonna kill each other.” And his character is the smart one. There's another example that's even worse, said by Nice Guy Eddie I think, but I don't fancy googling what it was exactly.

[dnwilliams]

Ugh, I can't believe you voluntarily watched video tapes Sheridan! Pan and scan? Deteriorating image? Dude don't throw out the tapes, throw out the player.

Personally I see the usage of slurs in Reservoir Dogs as slightly immature and wholly provocative, which lessens how offensive it could potentially be. It's there because it's taboo, it's there because Tarantino knows it'll get a reaction, and it's there because he's portraying criminals who aren't taking anyone's feelings into consideration. Also, taking into account Tarantino's love of black culture, the opportunities he's given and continues to give black actors, and the personal opinions he's voiced on race relations, there's no way you could convince me there's a racist bone in his body. His love may border on the fetishistic at times, but that applies to his love of film and feet too - it's just how the guy expresses himself.

On a semi-related note: it surprise anyone else SLJ can keep a healthy working relationship with Spike Lee (they're collaborating on the Oldboy remake) considering his involvement with EVERYTHING Tarantino does?

[dalmatianjaws]

Oldboy - Masterpiece
Midnight In Paris - Cute
Logan's Run - Cute
The New World - Great

Red Dwarf Seasons 1 and 2 - not a great show, but I love it. Seems to hit its stride season 3, deteriorates about season 6.

Lovely Molly - pleasantly surprised. Solid acting and some deeply disturbing stuff, truly scary moments, and a great premise. Very ballsy to have a complicated backstory with almost NO exposition spoken in the movie. The structure is a bit wonky, but one of the better horror films I've seen in a while.

The Queen of Versailles - as a movie it really peters out in the end, but the first half is mesmerizing.

[dnwilliams]

You watch the extended or theatrical New World, DJaws? Please tell me how Oldboy is a masterpiece too.

[dalmatianjaws]

I think just the regular cut of New World.

Oldboy shows complete mastery of the medium. Not only is the camerawork stunning, it's used to enhance the story at every turn. He also manages to balance an incredibly complicated narrative without losing his audience, even when the audience speaks a different language. The lighting, staging, acting, and character turns and reveals in that movie are an absolute roller coaster.

[dnwilliams]

I was impressed with Oldboy at times, but I don't feel it was as consistently well crafted as I was led to believe. Definitely an occasion where hype coloured my opinion, but I doubt I would have walked away considering it to be a masterpiece in any case. It also leans quite heavily on the shock value of the story towards the end as well. Curious to see how the remake is handled.

I want to see the regular cut of the New World, I opted for the extended and it felt a little baggy. I prefer it to The Thin Red Line, I think, but it isn't vying for the top spot when it comes to my favourite Malick movies.

Casablanca - Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
In Time - For a few to be immortal, many must die.

[dalmatianjaws]

Hellraiser - I like it a lot better than when I saw it the first time like four years ago ... still shocked how long it takes to get to the Cenobites. The campy acting and detestable characters still rub me the wrong way, but the scene where the corpse grows out of the floorboards is stunning.

Silver Linings Playbook - a real crowd pleaser. Charming. Leaves you feeling empty, though.

Red Dwarf Season 3 - love, love, love this utterly ridiculous show. Not always funny, but at it's best it's funny and very clever in a wacky, stupid way.

[dnwilliams]

I really like SLP, haven't seen a David O'Russell movie I didn't like, but for whatever reason I think it would have been a better movie if they chose something besides dancing.

[Sheridan Passell]

I felt the same way about Spider-Man 3.

[Sheridan Passell]

Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country - Solid

Star Trek III: The Search For Spock - Not bad, better than I remembered. Still it's hard to see past the notion that the entire movie is about undoing plot threads from the last one (Genesis doesn't work, Kirk's Son eliminated, Spock not dead - The End)

Olympus Has Fallen - Actually a really good movie. Surprisingly vicious R-rated mayhem. The attack on the White House is pretty jawdropping. Best Die Hard movie since Die Hard 2.

[twaddington]

On a semi-related note: it surprise anyone else SLJ can keep a healthy working relationship with Spike Lee (they're collaborating on the Oldboy remake) considering his involvement with EVERYTHING Tarantino does?

I've wondered about that as well. I think the role that SLJ plays in Django is an ironic reference to a comment Spike Lee made about him after he defended Tarantino.

http://shetterly.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/when-spike-lee-called-samuel-l-jackson.html

The Place Beyond the Pines Wow, what a film- particularly for the first 2 thirds. I saw Derek Cianfrance's 'Blue Valentine' when I went to Cannes a couple of years ago and loved it. I didn't think he had a film like this in him though. It's so ambitious, like some of the great American films of the 70's- a time when young directors were encouraged to take risks. If it wasn't for the fact that the third part is overly reliant on coincidence I'd put it up there with the likes of The Godfather and Goodfellas as one of the great American crime films.