Topic: Woo-hoo!!!!

[Critter]

That's a good idea, although if I may suggest, when you do get around to watching Princess Mononoke I actually recommend checking out the English dubbing in that one. I like to always watch Japanese first, but then sometimes I check out the English later. The English usually never lives up to the Japanese version but I found Mononoke to be the exception to this. In fact I loved the Mononoke dubbing so much that if I watch the film now I usually watch it in English.

Were you aware that the English script was written by Neil Gaiman for that and that he where ever possible he kept to the original text and meaning of the Japanese script, slight changes had to be made for cultural differences though.

Dave

That's why I always watch a film in it's original language first, I only sometimes check out the English later out of curiosity, and sometimes (rarley) I find that I quite like the English translation.

[Najemikon]

Just finished Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol 4/5 

Glad you liked it! Will you be expanding on that review?

[Antares]

Just finished Carol Reed's The Fallen Idol 4/5 

Glad you liked it! Will you be expanding on that review?

Yes I shall sir.

[Antares]

Watched Grave of the Fireflies today. Pretty good film.

[Antares]

Just finished Wajda's Kanal. Excellent film 4/5. Just have Ashes and Diamonds left to complete the trilogy.

[Antares]

Just finished The Long Goodbye, 3.5/5.

It was like The Big Sleep on hashish. But still better than most Altman, I really liked the ending.

[Najemikon]

Check out Matthias' review for another take. I did one too eventually, thanks to him. Loved the ending as well! And the way the theme is used throughout, even for supermarket muzak or a door chime is very clever...

[Antares]

Check out Matthias' review for another take. I did one too eventually, thanks to him. Loved the ending as well! And the way the theme is used throughout, even for supermarket muzak or a door chime is very clever...

Guess what Jon, I didn't like the theme. I thought it was the weakest part of the film.  


Oh yeah, Fight Club came in today.

[Antares]

So I was picking up my latest DVD's from the library and saw Cat Ballou in the stacks. I had always heard what a great performance Lee Marvin gave, so I grabbed it.

Marvin is definitely the only good thing about this film. 2.5/5  

[Dragonfire]

My mom and stepdad have that one.  I think they like it.

[Antares]

Just finished Fight Club.

I absolutely, freakin' loved the first hour. This film had such potential, and then it was like someone pulled the plug in the tub. Everything that was creative and fresh in the first hour was replaced with a ridiculous

(click to show/hide)

underlying story about an army of Durden clones and a split personality

. Suddenly, all coherency in the screenplay was gone. It was if the screenwriter couldn't figure out how to keep it on track and sold out.

Too bad, if it had stayed on course, this could have easily cracked my top 10 of all time. 3/5

[Najemikon]

First time I viewed it, I felt the same as you, but on subsequent viewings, I see the whole thing as rather empty. Of course though, that still fits in with your comments, because in any story, the premise has to be substantiated by the resolution.

Also, I find it a difficult film to consider objectively now since I lost my Dad to cancer. The flippancy of those early sequences leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially as the film doesn't have a conscience to bounce those attitudes off. Ok, I know the patients and the Doctor do, but while the film does recognise them, I don't think it understands them. In other words, the films voice is the same as the character Norton plays, even though the writer might think he's been clever enough to avoid that.

If it wasn't for the subject matter involved, I'd say this is a film for children that can't quite grasp the subtleties of Ikuru! 

Maybe I've missed the point and maybe I'm now too blinkered to see the truth, but I think in retrospect, all of Fincher's work has this naivety, so I'm not sure I am missing anything. He kind of sacrifices a character's truth in favour of a twist or confrontation.

While Seven's story supports this and works really well, look at The Game. The story drives Michael Douglas' character to an actual, real suicide attempt. Imagine for a moment the despair that he must be feeling. But then look! It isn't real! It's just The Game! Oh you guys! Almost had him for a moment there... He should now be a nervous wreck who'll end up in an asylum or at the very least need a while to process the point of what happened to him, but no. Instead he just enjoys his own birthday party with a "I am now a wise and fully rounded individual" kind of attitude.

Taken as a whole, Fincher's work reveals more about his own personal fantasies than it does about anything else. Even Benjamin Button!

[Antares]

One wild thing that happened when I was watching it, remember the scene where Norton and Pitt are walking down the street, and one of them asks the other, what famous celebrity would they like to fight?

Now I have never even seen the trailer for this film or any little snippets of it.

Just as Pitt was saying Hemingway, I thought to myself William Shatner. I don't know why I thought it, because I have no disdain for him, it just popped into my head at that moment.

Then Norton replies Shatner...I almost fell off my chair. What are the odds on that? Like I said, I've never even seen a smidgen from this film prior to this viewing.

[Kathy]

... it just popped into my head at that moment.

In my family, that is called "a tingle"! See, now you know what it feels like. 

[Achim]

Just finished Fight Club.

I absolutely, freakin' loved the first hour. This film had such potential, and then it was like someone pulled the plug in the tub.

(click to show/hide)

Everything that was creative and fresh in the first hour was replaced with a ridiculous underlying story about an army of Durden clones and a split personality.

Suddenly, all coherency in the screenplay was gone. It was if the screenwriter couldn't figure out how to keep it on track and sold out.

Too bad, if it had stayed on course, this could have easily cracked my top 10 of all time. 3/5

I hope you don't mind if I suggest the use of the spoiler tag...? You are really giving away a major plot point there.