[quote=“Stanton, post:8421, topic:1923”]Biggest problem is that many of these series run too long.
The 5th Season of The Sopranos shows signs of fatigue, the ideas began to recur. But gladly then, with the end in sight, in the 6th and last season they came back to form.[/quote]
It’s a sort of Peter Principle: a man is promoted to a higher position because he does his job well, and this goes on until he arrives in a position that is above his head. It’s the same with series, with this difference that a man who is no longer good enough to be promoted to a higher position, stays in the same position, while they keep going on producing new series untill it’s way, way to late. Most series show this effect, beginning in the sixties with the likes of Rawhide, Bonanza, High Chapparal, UNCLE etc. Those series had the advantage that they were told in real episodes, today there’s often a continuing story, and the main problem is that this continuing story doesn’t progress, doesn’t really continue so the speak.
[B]The Naked Face[/B] - One of them films I meant to check out years ago but never did. As a Blu Ray was released in Germany I thought I’d give it a try. Really enjoyed it. I had several guesses who was what during the film and got them all wrong! For me that’s the good makings of a thriller of this sort.
Depends on the series. Some are a bit too slow cause they try to stretch the story over too many seasons (milking the cow). Some simply try to go on as long as it is successful, even if they run out of ideas.
Try to watch Mad Men. It is still incredibly good in the 4th season. There are no episodes which are merely fillers, and the amount of complex characters is just stunning. Can’t wait for the 5th season.
And it was planned from the beginning on to cover a decade (the 60s) in 7 seasons. Due to its immense quality the audience is growing with every season. Which is not how it usually is.
[quote=“Yodlaf Peterson, post:8423, topic:1923”][B]The Naked Face[/B] - One of them films I meant to check out years ago but never did. As a Blu Ray was released in Germany I thought I’d give it a try. Really enjoyed it. I had several guesses who was what during the film and got them all wrong! For me that’s the good makings of a thriller of this sort.
[/quote]
Good thing about this one is it gets even better after repeat viewings.
True, but in the sixties there was the original The Fugutive series; it was milked (I don’t know how many series they made), but they were smart enough to tell mini story in every episode. So there was this continuing story in the background (will Richard Kimble ever find the real killer of his wife), but every episide had a story of its own. The problem with a lot of modern series is that they’re half-baked (not really continuing, not really episodic).
[size=12pt]Total Recall [/size] (1990, Paul Verhoeven)
A lot better than the good-looking but dull remake by Len Wiseman, and … closer to the original story by Philip K. Dick (although there still are discepancies). Like many movies of this man, it feels and looks better today than it did back then. I saw it in cinema and remember that I thought it was a bit too hectic for its own good, with not enough emphasis on the complex premise and storytelling, but since then movies have become so hectic and strorytelling so basic, that today this film looks like the collective works of Shakespeare in comparison.
Intelligent, witty film making, the kind of Verhoeven I like. Some of the violence is over the top though.
[size=12pt]Insight[/size] (2011, Richard Gabai)
Little thriller about a nurse who starts having visions about the victim of an assault who died under her eyes. Is she psychic or mad? Looks very much like a TV-movie (maybe it was made for Tv, I haven’t checked). Decent as far as these things go, but nothing special. It will at least keep you guessing what’s exactly going on.
It has been 2007 on my project this week and I have to say it has proved to be a pretty good year for films so far. These days I’m sticking as far as possible to watching films which I missed for some reason or other until now so have caught up with:
No Country for Old Men - Pretty decent if not spectacular adaption from the Coen Brothers of a very good Cormac McCarthy novel. Wouldn’t have picked it as the year’s best picture myself but a good film nonetheless.
Control - Not a big fan of biopics as a rule but this one plays out very well and Sam Riley’s portrayal of Ian Curtis was uncanny.
Eastern Promises - London based Russian Mafia story which even a tattooed and naked Viggo Mortensen couldn’t put me off.
Deathproof - Tarantino apparently was quoted recently as saying that this was his worst film. I agree with him.
Planet Terror - The much better half of the Grindhouse Double Bill. Some great laughs along with lashings of gratuitous violence. I had great fun with this one.
The Bourne Ultimatum - Hadn’t seen any of the Bourne films until recently but have now seen all but this year’s entry. I’ve enjoyed all of them to one degree or other but this one was probably the weakest for me. Greengrass’s rapid cut editing went too far in this one. I counted the average cut as 2 seconds for large parts of the film. In the right places this helped create tension but when overdone it comes across as cinematic attention deficit disorder. Still managed to enjoy it somewhat though. Think the first one was probably my favourite of the trio.
BloodRayne 2: Deliverance - All the above films had some merit. This one was the exception. My first venture into the world of Uwe Boll and can’t say I’ll be hurrying back. Vampires in the west with a buxom young female blade wielding slayer should have equalled fun on all fronts but somehow managed to be boring as all bat shit. Ah well.
Still got a couple of days to go before 2008 comes around and am hoping to fit There Will be Blood in before then. So far though, still think The Assassination of Jesse James would be my pick of the year.
[size=12pt]The kids are all right [/size] b Lisa Cholodenko[/b]
Nice and well done mix of drma and comedy but more a romantic comedy (yes I watch those too). The story is about a Lesbian family with two kids from the same unknown father a sperm donor. things get complicated when one of the kids turning 18 decides to meet her father, and with the help of her brotherr, they bring the new element to the already not conventional family.
Bening and Moore are just fantastic, two great actreses, never liked Ruffalo but I don’t know why, Mia Wasikowska is also great like her film mom’s
In the end a good time spender, complex in style but unpretentious, maybe that’s the only drawback of the film, a bit more of ambition in meaning would have been nice. Still a nice tale in the new form of families, that are only different in form. The film’s couple choice of moveis to watch may seem strange to say the least
The Night Of The Devils - Watched the Raro Blu-Ray this evening. It looks absolutely stunning, the best it has ever looked. Highly recommended purchase. The beautiful man theme is stuck in my head.
[B]North By Northwest[/B] - Really enjoyed this, all the way through the film I was eager to see what happened next. I hadn’t seen it before, I expect most of you have but for those who haven’t I highly recommend it.
[quote=“John Welles, post:8434, topic:1923”]Agreed, great movie. How’s the Blu-ray Yod? I hope it hasn’t been DNR’ed to death?[/quote]Looks really nice. I’ve never seen it on DVD before to judge the difference though.
[quote=“Phil H, post:8429, topic:1923”]Deathproof - Tarantino apparently was quoted recently as saying that this was his worst film. I agree with him.
Planet Terror - The much better half of the Grindhouse Double Bill. Some great laughs along with lashings of gratuitous violence. I had great fun with this one.[/quote]
I used to feel that way, but when I rewatch them Death Proof gets better and Planet Terror gets worse
For me Planet Terror delivered everything I could want from a Grindhouse homage. Corny, over the top and fun. Whereas Deathproof wound up losing its way entirely and was neither flesh nor fowl as a result. Too long, far too talky and not funny enough. Moreover, for a film which was fundamentally a mash up of stalker horror and muscle car mayhem it was neither scary nor action packed enough. What’s more, as a film built around cars the chase scenes were pretty bland.
It wasn’t all bad by any means and had some decent points but not nearly enough for me and when positioned together with Planet Terror as a double bill as they were designed for Rodriguez’s film outscores it by miles in my opinion. You may be right about second viewings but I can’t see myself hurrying back to watch Deathproof again any time soon.
