Topic: May 2008 Man/Men Marathon - Discussion Thread

[Tom]

And the discussion thread for our marathon.
Lists can be found here.

[Touti]

Finally a Marathon I can participate in.  I have 13 titles with "Men" and 24 with "Man".  I will submit my list tonight.

[Achim]

Volume of marathon dependent on user.

I've been inspired by this "rule" to try again. My last marathon (Academy Awards in February) didn't go so well...

Well, isn't that what it's about? Watching what you have as fast as you can, but without "force"? I think we should always do it this way in the future; apparently more people feel inspired to join and we can simply use the marathon as a base to watch and talk about somewhat similar movies (obviously the first reason is the more crucial one).

I really love these marathons for that I get the chance to watch all sorts of movies from my collection (each month covering a slightly different "section") and mostly unwatched at that! A great way to reduce that "dreaded" unwatched pile; I really would prefer a "want to rewatch soon" pile.


I decided to use this marathon to get working on the Superman Ultimate Edition Box Set. I have seen part IV with a friend not all that long ago but still get 1~3 (4 movies ) plus the documentaries (I will not be counting the featurettes, but those full length feature things) and maybe Superman and the Mole Men. As I had always like the marathon idea I already started watching on Thursday

[Jimmy]

Only one unwatched movie in this marathon that I will receive monday or tuesday next week : Another Day, Another Man.

But a good mix of movie as usual. Some really know (Elephant Man and Repo Man), some little horror success (Maniac Cop, The Boogey Man, ...), many weird movie that no one probably know (Not really a surprise  ) and as a bonus 2 xxx movies (Refinements in love and No Man's Land).

I think that this one will be funny. I will give my impressions here for each movies, but I will make a complete review in my review topic for many of them.

P.S : I've all the Superman movies and the first 2 Spider Man, but I don't think that you want to read me about this genre of movie.

[Tom]

MOVIE / DVD INFO:

Title: Superman Returns
Year: 2006
Director: Bryan Singer
Rating: FSK-12
Length: 148 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1 , German: Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles: English, German

Stars:
Brandon Routh
Kate Bosworth
Kevin Spacey
James Marsden
Parker Posey

Extras:
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Scene Access
Trailers

My Thoughts:

This is essentially a two and a half hour homage to Superman 1 and 2. I like that. I think Bryan Singer has gone the correct way with this instead of trying something which is completely different to the Superman we all know.

Kevin Spacey is perfect as Lex Luthor. The new Superman did a good job and managed quite well to follow Christopher Reeve's footsteps.

Rating:

[Jimmy]

Start today with "The Elephant Man". Not the most happiest movie to begins a marathon, but certainly a masterpiece. Everything is perfect in this film. John Hurt gave the performance of his carreer in the role of John Merrick. The use of the B/W cinematography brings a nostalgic and sad mood to the story. This is base on the true life of Merrick, but as sad as this film is I'm certain that his life was much more worst than what is seen in the movie. The good thing is that those kind of physical deformities are very rare now because of the advance in the medical science.

A masterpiece that I recommand to everyone.

[Jimmy]

Another good one. This one is a science fiction movie made by John Carpenter in 1984. This movie is what I call an intelligent "alien" film, the alien is not presented as a repulsing and treatening invaders in fact the humans are the bad peoples here. Jeff Bridges is really good in the role of the alien, he have all the comic timing necessary and his facial expressions are great (the alien doesn't really know the language so he is like a child). Karen Allen is not so bad too. The army men are a little bit caricatural and sometimes thats get on my nerve. A very good story with a fast pacing and some good classical special effects (the beginning transformation is really well done). I don't think that this one was a big box office success, but it's a good Carpenter movie. A different one but a good one.

Another recommendation, I've own the region 2 release with a commentary by Carpenter and Bridges. I'm not sure if the movie is available in a region 1 or 0 DVD.

[richierich]

Apologies for my absenteeism and having to dip out of last marathon and this one, work has been nightmare and I have spent over 3 weeks of the last 5 travelling in Europe 
Hopefully be back in the saddle June.
Hope everyone (including Rick  ) gets through their quota for May
Cheers
Rich

[Jimmy]

This is the second time that I watch this one and it always make no sense to me. I don't understand why this movie is so highly regarded : Emilio Estevez can't act and the story is a complete mess. But two fact save this movie : The great Harry Dean Stanton and the music. Not really a good movie.

[goodguy]

Simple Men (1992) Written & Directed by: Hal Hartley Starring: Robert Burke, Bill Sage, Karen Sillas, Elina Löwensohn, Martin Donovan DVD: R1-US Image Entertainment (2004)

Cover Blurb: What do you do if your father, a former all-star shortstop and mad bomber anarchist, breaks out of jail? You go after him, of course. Even if his trail leads straight into being caught. Two brothers trek through deepest, darkest Long Island, only to discover that sometimes even the oddest things really are just what they seem.

I love US indie movies. I especially love Hal Hartley's movies. And I absolutely love, love, love Simple Men. It is a suburban melodrama, but not quite. It is an outlaw movie in the tradition of Godard by the way it uses genre cliches to create something else. At the movie's turning point, there is a hommage to the dance scene in Bande a part, which is even more hilarious and "cool" than the original one.

Apropos cool. The characters in Simple Men are cool. But not the larger-than-life (and in the end rather conformistic) Tarantino-cool. They don't try to be cool, they are cool, because they try to be true to themselves. They speak in seemingly artificial rapid-fire dialogue, but if you listen a little closer, they use very short and simple sentences. It is all in the rhythm (think Mamet) and in the juxtaposition of scene and spoken word. And in the choreography, of course. There movements are highly gestural, stage-like, carefully framed. But they are still very real, just not pictured in a naturalistic way.

Simple Men is the last one of Hartley's Lindenhurst trilogy, the other two being The Unbelievable Truth (1989, R1-US 2001) and Trust (1990, only as R4-AU 2005). Trilogy in a themed way, you don't have to watch them all (although you should), or in a particular order.

[goodguy]

Romance & Cigarettes (2005) Written & Directed by: John Turturro Starring: James Gandolfini, Susan Sarandon, Kate Winslet Also Starring: Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Mandy Moore, Marie-Louise Parker, Aida Turturro, Christopher Walken DVD: R1-US Sony (2008)

Cover Blurb: From writer/director John Turturro and the Coen Brothers comes an offbeat, down and dirty musical. With blistering dialogue, whimsical set-pieces, and an all-star award-winning cast, Romance & Cigarettes is like nothing you've seen before! When Kitty (Susan Sarandon) discovers Nick (James Gandolfini) is having an affair with the sultry seductress Tula (Kate Winslet), their rocky relationship gets a whole lot rockier. Nick finds himself facing a full-scale revolt from his daughters (Mary-Louise Parker, Mandy Moore and Aida Turturro) at home, and Kitty enlists her oddball cousin Bo (Christopher Walken) to track down Tula. As bawdy as it is comical, this battered fairy tale deals with love and hate, life and death, and romance and cigarettes, all set to the eclectic classics of Bruce Springsteen, James Brown, Dusty Springfield and many more.

The blurb is surprisingly precise in describing what you get here. Only "set to the classics" doesn't really convey that it is a sing-along musical. That's right. The actors usually sing along to (or on top of) the original recordings. And believe me, it is glorious.

The setting is very down-to-earth with ordinary blue collar people. It is more in the European tradition of Potter and Demy, miles away from those typical flashy US musicals. Nontheless, it is strikingly beautiful and inventive. The entire cast is marvelous, which isn't really a surprise considering the names listed. There is a lot of comedy and vulgarity, but not in the dumb and cringeworthy way that denunciates the characters. It is hilarious and anarchic, but with true respect for the portrayed characters, as foolishly and absurd they might behave.

Although the movie premiered in 2005 (Venice & Toronto) and was widely shown in Europe during 2006, it took until the end of 2007 for a limited US release. That was due to rights-related studio troubles, which are probably also the reason it didn't get a chance at the Oscars. Because I can tell you, despite the very strong Best Picture nominees and winner this year, R&C beats them all by a pretty large margin.

I recommend the new US DVD. Unlike the barebone UK release of 2006, it includes an AC by Turturro, a Making-Of and some Deleted Scenes.

[goodguy]

The Thin Man (1934) Written by: Albert Hackett & Frances Goorich, based on a novel by Dashiell Hammett Directed by: W.S. Van Dyke Starring: William Powell, Mirna Loy DVD: R1-US Warner (2002)

Cover Blurb: Nick and Nora Charles cordially invite you to bring your own alibi to 'The Thin Man', the jaunty whodunit that made William Powell and Myrna Loy the champagne elite of sleuthing. Bantering in the boudoir, enjoying walks with beloved dog Asta or matching each other highball for highball and clue for clue, they combined screwball romance with mystery. The resulting triumph nabbed four Academy Award nominations (including Best Picture) and spawned five sequels. Credit W.S. "Woody" Van Dyke for recognizing that Powell and Loy were ideal together and for getting the studios okay by promising to shoot this splendid adaptation of Dashiell Hammett's novel in three weeks. He took 12 days. They didn't call him "One-Take Woody" for nothing.

The movie is charmingly funny whenever the two main characters interact, but quite boring when they are not. The supporting cast plays a bunch of stock characters, typical for gangster movies and murder mysteries of that time. The murder mystery itself doesn't make much sense, which would be forgivable if the movie wouldn't spend too much time on it. So I fully agree with Nick, who at one point complains that the case puts him way behind in his drinking. Ah, and the drinking. The two leads drink heavily and continously throughout the movie, and mostly the hard stuff. But it is neither the hard-boiled, "noirish" anti-hero drinking, nor some kind of social commentary, it is just a quirky mannerism of *both* Nick and Nora. One has to admire the completely carefree attitude the movie has towards it.

The DVD was re-released in 2005 as part of Warner's Complete Thin Man Collection, containing all six "Thin Man" movies (1934 - 1947).

[goodguy]

The Third Man (1949) Written by: Graham Greene Directed by: Carol Reed Starring: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Trevor Howard, Orson Welles DVD: R0-US Criterion (1999)

Cover Blurb: Orson Welles stars as Harry Lime and Joseph Cotten plays his childhood friend, Holly Martins, in this all-time classic thriller scripted by Graham Greene and directed by Carol Reed. Martins searches for Lime through the seedy underworld of postwar Vienna and gets caught up in a web of love, deception, racketeering, and murder. 'The Third Man's' stunning cinematography, twisting plot and unforgettable zither score are immortalized in Criterion's pristine special edition, following the 50th anniversary theatrical re-release.

This is one of those movies that I can admire for various (and obvious) reasons, but only in a detached way. It doesn't "click" for me. I quite like the opening and, of course, I do love that last shot. And the baloon man. And the cat at Harry's feet. But everything else I don't much care for. Sorry. I know it is a great movie and I understand why, but I don't love it.

Criterion has re-released the DVD in 2007 as a 2-Disc SE with another new transfer and a bunch of new extras, including two commentaries. IIRC, a Blu-ray version is also in the works.

[Achim]

It seems many of the runners who have started this month are going for a way shorter distance than usual. I am standing at 20 and while I don't think I can finish (26), I am leading; not that it's a race or I could get a prize for that... (I have been busy stealing cars and shooting people and the marathon had to take a backseat to that; I am of course talking about playing Grand Theft Auto IV).

We may have to find something different to watch similar/the same movies... At least the idea of running towards 26 movies within one month seems to be dead; or taking a rest for a while...

[Jimmy]

My marathon is not so bad, but if I compare with my others my performance is pretty awfull. I've watched only 12 movies and none of them appear in my review topic. I look at the others in my list and none of them really make me say : I need to watch this now!!!! In fact not a single entry in my list exite me, only one of them is really great (Man Bites Dog) and the others are too much known (Elephant Man), boring (Repo Man), cliché (Bagman), good but not in the mood for it (Men Behind the Sun) or simply a lost of time (No Man's Land).

Usually I can't wait to watch a movie, but this time this is not the case at all. Maybe it's because I have a lot of "good movie" not watch yet? or it's because I'm in a watching naked girls movie mood (that's what my review topic seems to say)?

Why not make a naked girls marathon? 

Like I've said in the Eric's topic for now I will watch whatever movie tempting me at least I write about them. It's not really great when I post a new review like yesterday and I see that my last one was written 9 days before.