Topic: DCO fourth Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread

[Najemikon]

Well, I was expecting this to come with free razor blades, but actually it's a much more worthwhile film that I thought it would be.

The Road

Just four left, but the next few days might be awkward...

[dfmorgan]

I still have The Prestige in my HD-DVD TBW pile so may give this a go later this week when I reach P, assuming I do reach P before the month runs out which I ought to as I've done upto L so far.

Just remembered I disconnected the HDMI from the HD-DVD and moved it to the DVD for my Studio Ghibli marathon, most of those are R1 DVD's and neither the HD-DVD nor the PS3 is multi-region. I wanted the HDMI on the DVD for this as the image upscaled by the DVD via HDMI is definitely better than the image over SCART upscaled by the TV. So I'll have to put The Prestige on hold until I replumb everything again or replace my A/V receiver with one that handles 4 HDMI's.

Dave

[hal9g]

Quantum of Solace watched and reviewed.

19 down and 8 to go.

[RossRoy]

Well, looks like that's it for me. I just don't feel like watching movies anymore. Like you may have noticed, I just finished S4 of Farscape and just now, while trying to select something to watch, I kept hovering back to TV shows.

So I'm now watching Doctor Who!

[addicted2dvd]

I know that feeling well.

[Achim]

Watched Run Lola Run (Lola rennt) last night.

I have 5 to go.

[hal9g]

Perfect Stranger watched and reviewed.

20 down and 7 to go.

[goodguy]

I had to shuffle some previous entries around in order to continue. Remaining: # B X

		Title		Director		Rating
P		The Prestige (2006)		Christopher Nolan				Mini Review
I		I Want You (UK 1998)		Michael Winterbottom

[Achim]

Seen Fleisch ("Meat") today.

A German film about organ (the stuff in our bodies, not the musical instruments at church ) theft. The film was shot in the US with only the four main actors actually being German, two of them playing an American and the other playing a Polish immigrant. The fact that everything was dubbed (not only into German, I mean they didn't use location sound at all) was a bit off-putting after a while, but in overall this is a solid film which properly mixes a serious topic with entertaining film making.

It was co-produced by a German TV station but did have a theatrical release of some sorts. It was apparently shown in 127 countries!

[Najemikon]

Watched Run Lola Run (Lola rennt) last night.

I have 5 to go.

		Title		Director		Rating
P		The Prestige (2006)		Christopher Nolan

I'd be interested in both your thoughts on these. Matthias' smiley intrigues me as I -predictably- loved The Prestige. I had it lined up for "P", but now I'm reconsidering as I just watched Inception and one mind-bending Nolan movie might be enough for the week!

[Achim]

Watched Run Lola Run (Lola rennt) last night.

I have 5 to go.

I'd be interested in both your thoughts on these. Matthias' smiley intrigues me as I -predictably- loved The Prestige. I had it lined up for "P", but now I'm reconsidering as I just watched Inception and one mind-bending Nolan movie might be enough for the week!

I had thought about commenting, but then stood back as I felt it didn't add anything.

BELOW HERE FOLLOW SPOILERS FOR Run Lola Run / Lola rennt !

It seems you disliked the idea of Manni being a criminal (he stole cars, was paid in diamonds which he sold; no drugs involved whatsoever). I don't think anything I can say will really change that.

You seemed uncomfortable with the film not punishing Manni...? Well, it's Lola's film. She has to make the right choice. As you pointed out in your review yourself, as long as her choices are criminal ones (helping Manni in the heist or even pulling one of herself) it ends badly. Only when her choices are better does she succeed. i think there is a lot of moral ground like there. Beyond that? I have watched and enjoyed many films where the main characters are criminals (thieves or even murderers). It's just what these characters do. I don't judge the film based on that and, frankly, have never seen you do so before.

I agree with your review. It seemed to mew that your low rating was solely based on the character of Manni, everything else seemed fine to you

[dfmorgan]

#, A to M done.
N done - Nanny McPhee & the Big Bang, 12 to go.

Dave

[Najemikon]

It seems you disliked the idea of Manni being a criminal (he stole cars, was paid in diamonds which he sold; no drugs involved whatsoever). I don't think anything I can say will really change that.

You seemed uncomfortable with the film not punishing Manni...? Well, it's Lola's film. She has to make the right choice. As you pointed out in your review yourself, as long as her choices are criminal ones (helping Manni in the heist or even pulling one of herself) it ends badly. Only when her choices are better does she succeed. i think there is a lot of moral ground like there. Beyond that? I have watched and enjoyed many films where the main characters are criminals (thieves or even murderers). It's just what these characters do. I don't judge the film based on that and, frankly, have never seen you do so before.

I agree with your review. It seemed to mew that your low rating was solely based on the character of Manni, everything else seemed fine to you

No, the low rating was that in the end it was so self-serving and an "enclosed" narrative. Lola did one thing for somebody else that was worth anything. The rest seemed to just be all flash. Matthias' explanation certainly gave it more weight and really, the whole thing with Manni could even be a red herring. Lola needed the impetus, but she actually wasn't needed by Manni. But I still didn't like the conclusion. There were other things I didn't like that weren't worth mentioning, but basically it was film that for me had to improve and come together by the end, but it didn't.

You're right, I absolutely do not have a problem with characters in films being whatever they are and in fact, the more anti-social is often the better, I just like it to be recognised by the story. I keep thinking of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny in Pulp Fiction, how they end up in a stand-off and Jules actually helps them. They still walk away with the cash, but they're shell-shocked! Manni feels nothing. He's stupid at the start and he's still stupid at the end. Actually, I think it's less that I'm judging him for being a criminal wannabe and more that I just think he's a prick!  

[goodguy]

I've added a mini review for The Prestige. Btw, both The Prestige and I Want You are movies about obsession, but the latter is a cinematic neo-noir mood piece that - while having a twist - doesn't rely on it. Still, would probably have rated slightly lower if I hadn't watched it after Nolan's failed magic trick.

[Achim]

You're right, I absolutely do not have a problem with characters in films being whatever they are and in fact, the more anti-social is often the better, I just like it to be recognised by the story. I keep thinking of Pumpkin and Honey Bunny in Pulp Fiction, how they end up in a stand-off and Jules actually helps them. They still walk away with the cash, but they're shell-shocked! Manni feels nothing. He's stupid at the start and he's still stupid at the end. Actually, I think it's less that I'm judging him for being a criminal wannabe and more that I just think he's a prick!  

I'll agree that the character of Manni could have been improved upon, making making it more clear whether he had learned something or had any sort of arc at all. I guess the lack of his arc didn't matter as much to me.



I watched Takeshi Miike's Dead or Alive today.