What Movies Have You Watched Recently?

[Dominic]

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Have now watched the first 8 episodes of Decalogue. Should be viewing the final 2 today. So far my favourite remains #2 with 6 a close second.

6 had a lot of humour in it but still a huge tragic element. I loved her first question when they met for coffee. I'm laughing again just writing about it.

8 was looking like it was going to be the heaviest episode and on a certain level can still be seen that way, but it sure got a lot mellower in the reminisences than I expected. Loved the reference back to #2.

Also cool looking for people from other episodes making cameos later on. Even if the whole series wasn't already so rewatchable it would be fun just to do it to look for more cameos. I saw the doctor from #2 in the elevator in #4.

If anyone here besides me has never seen this series, get your ass down to a video store and rent it. Better still buy it as you'll want to watch more than once and it's 3 dvd's.

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Wow, good for you...I own this and probably watch it at least once a year...it's on constant rotation!

My favorite remains number 1...it's just so incredibly poignant and trgic.

[Dominic]

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Okay, I own Dekalog, I carry the first DVD to work and back every day, and still haven't watched one. I am now inspired to watch it. Is it suitable for anyone to accidentally see (I will be watching it on a commuter train, and need to know whether it contains anything adult/visually shocking).

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nothing unsuitable unless sheer brilliance is considered to be unsuitable.

[Dominic]

I recently saw these two films...

The Last King of Scotland was fairly riveting and well done....although the lead actor is not Forest Whitaker, but James MacAvoy, who plays the fictional character of Idi Amin's personal doctor. Whitaker's performance, while very good, is actually a supporting one and not the bravura tour de force the media made it out to be. I'm not quite sure why he won all the Best Actor awards. I'd be curious to see if he actually had less screen time than Anthony Hopkins in [Silence of the Lambs[/b], which is supossed to be the record for Best Actor winners. Good movie, pretty graphic at times, with very good performances.

Notes on a Scandal was a slight disappointment for me. It was quite good but still fell short of greatness, and to be honest, I completely forgot it after it was over.

Judi Densch is amazing, though, and it is worth seeing expressly for her. Cate Blanchet is sexy and sympathetic for a pedophile, and the great, great Bill Nighy steals every scene he's in as her wronged husband.

Interesting but not quite as deliciously wicked as I was led to believe.

[fyodor]

Finished it up today. Simply an amazing series of films. It's nice to pick out a favourite but really you can't go wrong with any epsiode no matter what.

Something I didn't realize till I watched the Roger Ebert thing at the end was that he used 9 different DPs. Ebert said 10 but on imdb they only list 9. 7 did 1 episode each and 2 did 2 - which adds up to 11 so I guess there was some collaboration on 1 episode. In an interview amongst the extras on disc 3 Kieslowski also said he used 10 different DPs reasoning it would remain more interesting for the viewer.

Prior to finding out this info I was going to look up who the DP was. I assumed there was just one because the style was similar throughout the episodes. A lot of black for instance. Anyhow the cinematography was excellent throughout. A scene that really stood out was in the elevator in I think #9, where as they ascended, the light alternated back and forth on the man and woman. That was just awesome.

I know we already have the DVD club and now the 4 comedies to discuss but it might be cool to discuss the moral choices portrayed in each episode a week at a time.

I'm ready to rewatch them all anytime.

[Triumph36]

Regarding the Decalogue:

I felt like 5 was the most transparent and therefore weakest - 10 felt oddly out of place but I enjoyed it a great deal. 1 and 6 were the best in my mind, but they were all remarkable in one way or another.

A wonderful series of films - the only thing keeping me from buying them is the conviction that I will end up never watching them again.

[pryor15]

fyodor,

it makes me endlessly happy that you dug Dekalog as much as you did. on behalf of dom, welcome to the Kieslowski appreciation society


db,

they originally aired on TV, so i wouldn't worry about it.

[pryor15]

i saw Paris, je t'aime today, essentially 18 shorts about love in Paris. not the hippest thing to watch for your birthday, but [censored] it. i don't care

the weakest:

the mime section (although the kid is good)
Christopher Doyle's segment, which was just stupid and i don't know what the hell he was trying to do
Alfonso Cuaron's segment with Nick Nolte and Ludivine Sagnier...all one shot, but not really for a good reason. it really felt like he didn't know what he wanted and just threw something together last minute
the vampire segment with Elijah Wood, although that isn't Wood's fault.

the conversation afterward:

me: was it just me, or did the vampire segment feel more like Vienna?
my friend Matt: I thought it looked like a bad Coke commercial

the better ones:

The Coen Brothers, starring Steve Buscemi
Tom Tykwer's segment with Natalie Portman and a blind guy
Alexander Payne's segment
the one with the red jacket (see poster)
the one with Bob Hoskins
the one with the Arab(?) girl
and others i can't remember b/c we went drinking afterward.

generally worth seeing. the beauty of something like this is even if the part you're currently seeing sucks, it'll be over soon.

oddly enough, very few of them felt like French films, which sort of makes sense, b/c most of the filmmakers aren't French, but i thought more would go for the French style

[David LoPan]

Green Street Hooligans

a friend of mine said it was "really" good...and I really wanted to like this movie but I would say it's just average. I don't buy it and the ending was just way out there...

[slystyle012]

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Green Street Hooligans

a friend of mine said it was "really" good...and I really wanted to like this movie but I would say it's just average. I don't buy it and the ending was just way out there...

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That movie was amazing, IMO. I would definitely recommend it. Elijah Wood actually managed to not kill a movie..no ways!

[fyodor]

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Mr. Brooks

I'm not usually all hot to see psycho-thrillers, but with Kevin Costner and Demi Moore, this one got my attention.

This unique view inside the mind of a well hidden serial killer, had me jumping out of my seat.

"God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things that I can and wisdom to know the difference" - Mr Earl Brooks

Mr Brooks Website



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Made the mistake of watching this tonight after having watched F.W.Murnau's 'Sunrise' this morning. From one of the best movies of all time to one of the worst. Demi Moore is god awful. Costner is ordinary. The script is ... aw [censored] it.. It was just one pathetic mess of a movie. Maybe exciting if you are about 12. I certainly wasn't expecting much but it was beyond disappointing. Horrid horrid horrid.