[y66]

Nostalgia for the Light.



From John Powers' review on Fresh Air:

Quote

Perhaps the most famous line in late-20th-century literature comes from Milan Kundera. "The struggle of man against power," he wrote, "is the struggle of memory against forgetting."

One man who has never stopped struggling is Patricio Guzman, the Chilean filmmaker who was imprisoned during the U.S.-backed coup that toppled Chile's elected president, Salvador Allende, and installed a military dictatorship that lasted the next 17 years. Guzman's documentaries have done as much as anything to keep alive the world's memory of what happened to his country that Sept. 11, 1973.

Of course, it's been 38 years since the coup, and Guzman is now 70; though he hasn't forgotten anything, he has moved beyond horrified anger. Guzman never made a more beautiful or profound movie than his new one, Nostalgia for the Light, an exquisitely shot essay on ultimate things — time, space, memory and how creatures so small and frail as human beings find meaning in a gigantic cosmos.

It is too ironic that the place where astronomers still go to see the universe more clearly is also the place where so many political prisoners disappeared because so many humans, corporations and governments are not able to see or understand or tolerate things that don't fit their preconceived ideas.

[Phil]

Saw Moneyball tonight. Loved it.

[JLOGIC]

 Phil, on 2011-October-07, 23:23, said:

Saw Moneyball tonight. Loved it.

Excellent book.

[JLOGIC]

 gwnn, on 2011-August-19, 14:08, said:

Yes, 100 chimps can totally destroy the US armed forces. Very believable.

Hatersgonnahate.gif

[akhare]

Moneyball is pretty good, but stay away from 50/50 -- there's a > 50% chance you will walk out before it's over..

[Elianna]

This is not a recent movie, but I highly recommend "The Story of the Weeping Camel". It's a documentary dubbed in English, but for those of you still reading after that last phrase, it's a very touching movie. I loved it.

[mike777]

saw moneyball and 50/50 this weekend. both were ok.....


read the book long ago and it is pretty good and I read bill james stuff everyday at his site.


----


chemo stuff was ok in the movie but in real life we are with our loved ones in the room while they get chemo over the months. You really live that stuff day to day even if you are the one without the cancer.


Warning though the movie may be too intense for cancer survivors.



I am glad they chAtted about the support groups for the patient and support groups for the family.

[y66]

Take a ride through movie history

[Mbodell]

It has been a quite strong last couple of months for movies IMO.

I thought Contagion was really very good, and also really liked 50/50.

I thought Drive was really very top notch (warning, while most of the movie is very stylized and not violent, the violence that explodes occasionally is quite graphic and definitely not for everyone).

Margin Call was quite fun for the acting and dialogue. I head it described as Glen Gary/Glen Ross for Wallstreet, and the cast is just really good.

The Way was beautiful to look at and had a great soundtrack. Made you feel like you were walking the Camino with Martin Sheen.

Moneyball was pretty good. It wasn't really the book, and wasn't really as good as the book, but it was interesting all the same (disclaimer I like Baseball, baseball statistics, and followed the As). I was also surprised that Paul DePodesta didn't want to use his name for Jonah Hill's character, but Arte Howe was ok using his name for the Seymour Hoffman character.

The Ides of March was disappointing. The cast was good, the setting was interesting, the central part of the plot didn't work for me. Still, an interesting enough failure.

Dolphin Tale was what you'd expect, but a good family film.

Anonymous was a good time, a political intrigue that you don't need to take too seriously.

In Time was stylish and somewhat interesting concept, but nothing special.

Real Steel was actually enjoyable and a way more fun then it had any right being.

Tower Heist was better than the previews made it out. As it is really a heist movie, just one with a comedic tone, rather than a straight comedy.

Three Musketeers was averagish adventure spectacle. A steampunk adventure film.

A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas was the sort of fun silliness I expected (I enjoyed the first H&K and didn't watch the second).

[blackshoe]

I didn't see "Contagion", but I saw the trailer, and when I read about the plot, it sounded to me like they stole it from John Ringo's The Last Centurion. I suppose they probably didn't, though.

[mike777]

I agree with you on Drive, too bad almost no one saw it.

Margin Call has yet to make it my local multiplex. Saw Tower Heist today it was barely ok as are the rest of the movies on your list.

Will go see J. Edgar on Saturday.
(edit, it was long and a bit dull but again just barely ok.)


Detective Dee is easily my favorite movie of the last few months.

The movie takes you to a different time and place that makes movie going magical.


"Detective Dee is a sleuth in China during the Tang Dynasty, circa 690. Like Sherlock Holmes, he based his detection largely on acute observation. He became famous in 17 mystery novels by Robert van Gulik, and now here he is in an extravaganza by Tsui Hark, a master of the choreography of action. "Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame" is a bewitching fantasy."


http://rogerebert.su...VIEWS/110929994

[y66]

Just watched Aberdeen (2000) with Lena Headey, Stellan Skarsgard, Ian Hart and Charlotte Rampling. Wow, what a cast. Good movie with amazing performances by Headey and Skarsgard.

[gordontd]

Incendies, which I saw a few months ago, goes straight into my list of all-time favourites. Shortly afterwards I saw The Separation, an Iranian film, which was also pretty remarkable.

[Scarabin]

Not a recent film, but I really liked "Invasion of the Barbarians". It is a pleasantly cynical account of life and death among French-Canadians. Enjoyable but I do not know if it is true to life?

[y66]

Just watched Howl (2010) with James Franco as Allen Ginsberg. If you have any interest in Allen Ginsberg's story, you will probably enjoy this movie a lot.

[Mbodell]

So anyone else see Prometheus? I have a couple of spoiler questions from that.

1.

Spoiler

Why did the Engineers want to kill the us!humans that were based on the them!humans? Was this a cycle that repeated many times, or just a one of deal?

2.

Spoiler

Was the android evil/bad on his own, or was he just following orders of the old guy? Would he have infected the doctor if he hadn't said he'd do anything to "meet his maker"?

[gwnn]

I thought Prometheus was great! And finally a 3D film that doesn't show it off, it's just there naturally and enhances the experience subtly. Full disclosure: I have only seen the first Alien film.

1. I think this was left deliberately open by the filmmakers.
2. I didn't think he was really evil. Personally, I thought he would not have infected the doctor had he not said the thing about doing anything.

One wtf from me: since when are 'scientific expeditions' and weapons mutually exclusive?

[blackshoe]

Hollywood has also been a bit schizo where guns are concerned.

[mike777]

thought the first half of Prometheus was terrible; everyone acts stupid except the robot which was the best part of the movie, second half was just ok.


just saw the end of the world movie, yes everyone dies, pretty good movie but the Knightly character is very annoying.

It is about two people who met 3 weeks before the world ends.

It basically asks the question what would you do if you knew the world was going to end in 3 weeks.

[Mbodell]

 mike777, on 2012-June-24, 15:33, said:

thought the first half of Prometheus was terrible; everyone acts stupid except the robot which was the best part of the movie, second half was just ok.

just saw the end of the world movie, yes everyone dies, pretty good movie but the Knightly character is very annoying.

It is about two people who met 3 weeks before the world ends.

It basically asks the question what would you do if you knew the world was going to end in 3 weeks.

I disagree quite a bit. The first half of Prometheus was the good half, with the slow build up. The resolution was the let down (and the robot was the highlight). I didn't mind the intelligence of the characters being not great so much as I minded the inconsistent and unmotivated behavior.

As for "Seeking a Friend For the End Of the World", I agree it was a pretty good movie, but I don't think Knightly is annoying. I also don't think the movie is at all asking the question of what would you do if you knew the world was going to end in 3 weeks. The movie is a bit overly obvious about its metaphor, and is a little heavy handed, but it is clearly about life and love and choices and all that everyday in our normal non-asteroid world. But yeah, if you don't like Carell and Knightly you are in trouble as they dominate the screen time. And the formula of an intense short time period of getting to know people while quirky encounters occur isn't for everyone, but I like it (see Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist for a similar formula movie by the same screenwriter).