Posts by Matthew Littlewood
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Erm, that was quite some tangent, wasn't it? Sorry about that. I'll let you get back to your discussions on roads and cycling... :)
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Amy Tauben (I think it was) said of Seven that it wasn't a great film, but it was great filmmaking. I agree with her assessment of the film and Fincher's ability. Fight Club was much better - a flawed classic. Oddly, I feel somehow the flaws make the film better somehow, as if they mirror the imperfections of the protagonist, maybe.
I'd go along with both of those opinions, except at a basic level I didn't buy the "twist" to Fight Club at all- it makes thematic sense, sure, but very little logical sense, and in the end Fincher spends the last 20 minutes of the film trying to "explain" it when he would've been better off just letting it stand. It's a mess of a film, partly brilliant, partly awful but perhaps as confused as the material warrants. It boggles the mind that something so unhinged, scrappy and misanthropic was ever greenlighted by a major studio at all, though- they didn't even fob it off to one of their indie subsidaries.
Amy Taubin was (and is) a great film critic. I got really pissed off when the Village Voice, in their infinite wisdom, fired her. It's amazing how much the takeover of the Village Voice has sabotaged their reputation- fortunately, they still have the wonderful J Hoberman, arguably the best American film critic working today, or at least the most interesting (I have soft spots for AO Scott, Roger Ebert, Michael Atkinson, and a few others, mind).
And yet he feels out of place with the current shower of people employed for the Voice- the worst aspect being the way that their music staff seems to consist almost entirely of writers for the insufferable Pitchfork Media.
Reading the Village Voice Fillm Guide (published a couple of years back) put forward a strong argument for it being, at least in its heyday, the best publication in America covering films. They had so many great critics at their disposal- Jonas Mekas, Georgia Brown, Amy Taubin, J Hoberman...the list was endless (although I always found Andrew Sarris's writing style prissy and defensive, especially compared to his arch-nemesis, Pauline Kael). What's more, they all brought their own distinctive ideological or aesthetic bent to their writing and seemed to actually be engaged in cimema.
Also, through reading the reviews, you got an interesting view of New York as a film city, too- their constant references to cinemas and districts, some of which may no longer be around . I guess the magazine's demise was inevtiable, but it is sad.
Anyway, onto more cheerful subjects- it's briliantly sunny outside and I'll be off for a swim soon.
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There is something ill-formed about De Caprio--it is as if his baby-face features struggle to express adult emotions
Thanks for that description! I've never been able to work out what it was about Dicaprio which stops me from completely warming to him. There's no denying he's an engaging actor, but it seems that he's better equipped at expressing child's play than self-torment. I thought his best moments in the Aviator, for instance were the opening scenes when Hughes was going out of his way to spend more and more money on his "Hell's Angels" film, or in the final congressional hearings near the end, where he's goading the Alan Alda character to actually pin him on something he could be guilty for.
His descent into OCD-madness, on the other hand, didn't work quite so well. Not sure what it was, but there was something slightly mannered about the segments- he understood the tics, but couldn't quite delve further than that to get to the point of it.
Likewise Catch Me if You Can was great fun when it was breezy and focusing on his character's dissembling and impersonations, rather clumsy during "search for the father he never had" segments (although to be fair, Spielberg is as much to blame as Dicaprio for that). That said, I thought he was more or less succesful in his role in the Departed.
It's funny you mention his "babyface" features because he's now in his mid-30s, which is scarcely believable, really!
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And as for Clemence Poesy, I think I'd pretty much melt if I ever met her. Which would make things uncomfortable for both of us. Thankfully (for her), it's unlikely such a meeting is ever going to occur.
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Agreed on Boyle - interesting director. I’m wary of Slumdog Millionaire for some reason, but I will check it out.
Yeah, it has the potential to be either be absolutely dazzling or utterly infuriating, but fortunately the critical reception suggests it's more likely to be the latter. Boyle's an interesting director because none of his films really "sit still" even within their own genre confines-__Trainspotting__ owed more, to say, the Britpop cinema of Quadrophenia or A Hard Day's Night than the social realism of a Christine F-which may actually be what lets this film take flight. At the very least, I'm almost certain it will be vastly more entertaining than the egregiously vapid and relentless Moulin Rogue
I’ll bet you a Monteiths that (unfortunately) Benjamin Button takes out the Oscar for Best Pic.
Yeah, what is it with the buzz behind that film? It baffles me, frankly, then again, Fincher hasn't interested me as a director since Fight Club (hugely flawed and even contradictory as the film was). I don't know there's something about the flatness of his recent films that I can't totally get behind- Zodiac was almost too well crafted and self-contained for its own good, if that makes sense.
Good performances though.
Btw, cheers for tactfully ignoring the dreadful typos in my last post. Is there any "edit post" software RB could install for the PA System forum?
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Not sure whether this has been posted already (and apologies if it already has), but the Gaurdian has a brief profile of Obama's chief speechwriter, who is only 27. Granted, it's not a very extensive article but it makes a few interesting observations about how the Obama and him collaborate on each speech.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/20/barack-obama-inauguration-us-speech
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Shutting down CIA detention is great. Last torture loophole to close would be 'extraordinary rendition'.
Yeah, it's a helluva great way to kick off the inaugruation afterparty.
I'm actually interested in how Obama will tackle the US's judiciary system in general- he was, after all, president of the Harvard Law Review and one of the leading experts in constitutional law before he ran for political office. It's going to be fascinating to watch actually- not least considering the sheer work he'd need to do- and quickly- to unravel the gross politicisation of the justice system that occurred under George W Bush, from the Supreme Court downwards. It's gonna be a long treck back, for sure.
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Also on Obama and geekiness, on text flow you can read the words of Obama's (unbelievably stirring) inaugruation address at the same speed he spoke it. It's the next best thing to hearing him reading it, and underlines the importance of timing when delivering a speech.
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I'm off to see In Bruges, which I'm really looking forward to. I've heard plenty of good stuff about it.
It's wonderful, and surprisingly Pinter-esque too, in the best sense of the word, as well, as in parts, being oddly moving in its depction of the father-son dynamic of the two leads. Of course, it's also filthy and un-PC as all get out, and Bruges the village looks as gorgeous as Clemence Poesy. And the ending makes a lot of cosmic (and karmic) sense.
Incidently, it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
Well deserved too-in fact, I think if there's a flaw to it, it's that it packs too much in and sometimes betrays writer/director Martin McDonaugh's roots as a playwrite and theatrical director- quite a few of the early scenes could be transposed to the stage with little variation, and certainly McDonaugh the writer has more wit and flair than McDonaugh the director, who is nonetheless solid.
The noms for Best Picture look pretty underwhelming. I've only seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button so far, and that was pretty meh. And no The Dark Knight for Best Picture! (Although it got a nod for Ledger, and for several tecnical areas.) I'd bet that it's better than at least two or three of those nominated. Will see.
I wouldn't be surprised if Slumdog Millionare takes out the top award, and it's a film I've been wanting to see for some time, not least because I'm a fan of Danny Boyle: patchy as his post-Trainspotting filmography, he's proved himself an eclectic and talented genre filmmaker, seeming as comfortable in zombie horror pics (the superb 28 Days Later, which counts as the decade's most imanaginitive evocation of London outside of Children of Men and Eastern Promises) and "hard" sci-fi (Sunrise). The Beach and A Life Less Ordinary were dogs, though.
But overall, the Oscar lineup looks distinctly underwhelming, with some exceptions. And I can't get my head around the number of nominations Benjamin Button has received.
But I want to end today's posting on positive note, so...umm, again -
have one on me!
Why not? It's pushing 30 degrees here and the sun is blazing. I'll make it a Monteith's Summer Ale, thanks.
@Kyle Matthews:
That's not the traditional Democrat playbook at all.
Wilson, Roosevelt, Kennedy, Johnson were all very focused on international issues. Johnson to the detriment of his domestic policy.
As was Clinton, who got in boots and all to the Middle East peace issue, as well as Kosovo, and who was involved in Ireland as well.
I'm sure ommitting Harry "Give 'Em Hell" Truman was an oversight in your list- after all, he was the guy behind NATO, the Marshall Plan, Korean War, etc.
Which only goes to add further creedence to your argument, of course :-)
Meanwhile, the great Paul Krugman's Ideas for Obama piece is worth a read. Krugman's become one of my go-to guys in recent times for all things economic.
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Oh and my comment about organising a get-together with the ChCh-based members/posters/etc of PA still stands. I'll try and sort something out after the New Year.