yeah, true, but she would have had to kill her to survive right? It was just soooooooooo melodramatic. Really a pity that they chose to make it a PG 13 film. Yeah, I know there is a reason why she did it, but if I had any idea it would be a soppy love story I would have just ‘waited to rent the DVD’ 
movies I’ve enjoyed this year - I’ve been reccomended them - so I watched them…and I reccommend them here, as a gift to forumosa users… 
here there all adds up…
Rushmore (1998)
One of my favourite movies ever. I love the acting, mainly, and the script is also wonderful. I guess the story is predictable but you just don’t care because you love every moment. I guess it’s smug and twee and that is sort of the point. The sole reservation is the rather crude language from the mouth of that supposedly educated young teacher. It’s just a shame that the movie goes there. Otherwise, awesome.
Sleeping Beauty (2011)
No story as such but very compelling nonetheless - its a meditation on vulnerability and exploitation. Falls apart at the end (suffering from having no story to end). Some wonderful direction, though. Especially the scene with the old man telling a story to the madame.
Burn After Reading (2008)
Proper madness. Fun and utterly perplexing until the credits rolled up and I saw who directed it. Not sure Brad Pitt is convincing and the lead lady is so typecast. John Malkovitch is as annoying and terrible as ever. But the surreality of it all and the fantastic direction keeps it all on - I guess they play off the cast in some cynical post-modern way. It’s a knowing slap in the face for the out of touch with reality, paranoia and self-centered cruelty of ambition in American society, I guess. It’s enjoyable because for the stupidity of it. Gotta love the CIA guys. Very funny. Enjoy.
Punch Drink Love (2002)
This is cinema. Loved everything about this movie. Especially the piano. Proper cinema. Adam Sandler’s best [only good] movie. I like real movies and consider this to be one.
Tabloid (2010)
“You can’t make this stuff up”… A beautiful, all-American psycho dominatrix kidnaps a Mormon from outside his missionary church in London takes him to a house in the country and rapes him for three days… It’s a documentary re-telling of the story with interviews with most of the main characters
Young Adult (2011)
By the same woman who made Juno, which I haven’t and don’t intend on seeing. Supposedly in answer to her critics (who said she wrote like an adult who wrote like an adult thinks a teenager speaks).
I really related to the movie. It’s about ideas of moving on and also wanting to go back to the past, to your ‘home’ and of the insecurity of life as you have made it - I’m sure it’s something we can all relate to. The best thing here is the honesty which remains true throughout even while alowing for changes in perspective. Rather excellently done, IMHO.
It Always Rains on Sunday (1947)
&
Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949)
I watched both these movies because they are supposed to have an elliptical narrative structure. Couldn’t see it myself, but I really liked the movies. The acting is great and the stories are meaningful. I especially liked Kind Hearts… it’s pretty funny and highly ironic. It’s the final film by a director at the top of his game.
Warrior (2011)
I liked this very much. Great story, good acting. I found it very compelling!
Caligula (1979)
Talk about compelling! 
This was the extended uncut version. Very long but very interesting. The extra hardcore stuff was unnecessary but …err, interesting…
Howard Ashman+Alan Menken is a potent combination. :bravo: :bravo: :bravo:
Any of you guys have a copy of Deliverance or The Wild Bunch or some classical Western?
what’s the connection?
what’s the connection?[/quote]
the former was the lyricst and exec producer, the latter the composer.
my review was of Sleeping Beauty 2011
I wish I were back in that thread… ah, the good ol’ dayz
[quote=“trubadour”]my review was of Sleeping Beauty 2011
I wish I were back in that thread… ah, the good ol’ dayz[/quote]
Ok. Never mind then. Btw I totally read that title wrong, didn’t even mean sleeping beauty. But back to that movie… I was not aware there was a sleeping beauty movie released last year. Was it animated or live action?
OK, second time i’ve heard of this movie/director - seems interesting
[quote=“Rockefeller”][quote=“trubadour”]my review was of Sleeping Beauty 2011
I wish I were back in that thread… ah, the good ol’ dayz[/quote]
Ok. Never mind then. Btw I totally read that title wrong, didn’t even mean sleeping beauty. But back to that movie… I was not aware there was a sleeping beauty movie released last year. Was it animated or live action?[/quote]
It only shares the name - it’s a live action movie about a woman who is paid to sleep while men do stuff to her :discodance: sorry for any confusion
OK, second time I’ve heard of this movie/director - seems interesting[/quote]
Pedro Almodovar (西班牙導演阿莫多瓦)? Oh man, you are in for treat. They have the most recent movies -Volver 浮花, Habla con ella (悄悄告訴她 Talk to Her, sometimes even La mala Educacion 不良教育- at the local Blockbusters/video stores. I have two of these. Another of my favorites, 高跟鞋High Heels, Tacones lejanos, is really hard to find, but occassionally available.
This latest movie has a twist you do not see coming a thousand miles ahead -like most Hollywood movies- and then relishes in unfolding the whole package in front of you, slowly, painfully… much to your shock and utter panic.
OTOH, anyone up for The Cave of Broken Dreams? I saw the trailer and it looked awesome.
this? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1664894/
the director seems like an interesting chap - talks like one… he’s been doing interviews for his latest - the documentary filmed on Death Row… never seen any of his films, however.
Well, it had to happen sometime:
[quote]Ergo, “Iron Man 3” will now be co-funded by a Chinese production studio, filmed partly in China, and heavily feature “Chinese elements” and a Chinese “story.” At least according to Disney’s General Manager for Greater China—who knew that job title even existed?—Stanley Cheung, in a news conference attended by the AP. All of which is to say, Ben Kingsley will definitely not be playing the Mandarin, who is a horribly offensive Asian stereotype, and exactly the sort of thing a Chinese audience doesn’t want—or wouldn’t be allowed, as per governmental “regulations”—to see.
How will Iron Man react to having to save only China, after having to save, oh, only the entire world in this summer’s “Avengers?” Seems like somewhat of a comedown. Unless, you know, he doesn’t save the world, but avenges it instead, because, you know, of that film’s ubiquitous marketing… But we digress. We’re guessing that billionaire industrialist Tony Stark, at least, would be able to appreciate the mercenary capitalism behind the move to exploit an emerging market. Maybe “Iron Man 3” will be satirical somehow, featuring some sort of meta-commentary on all this…? Just kidding! Expect explosions aplenty; some vaguely ill-defined, ethnic villains; and crass cultural pandering on the level of that recent, execrable “Karate Kid” remake.
[/quote]
Why? Because they still believe they can actually reach the Greatest Pie in the Sky:
[quote]China’s film market has the potential to dwarf the rest of the world’s combined. If only because 1.3 billion people live there. Disney, parent company of Marvel, cannot ignore that stark reality.[/quote] :roflmao:
social.entertainment.msn.com/mov … 596&page=2
OTOH, does this open any work opportunities? 
EDIT: As usual, NWA says it better. Watch this (OK, mostly cheap shots, especially the hillarious brand take close up after the explosion).
[quote=“trubadour”]this? http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1664894/
the director seems like an interesting chap - talks like one… he’s been doing interviews for his latest - the documentary filmed on Death Row… never seen any of his films, however.[/quote]
Yep, on 3D. Finally used for something relevant. Currently playing on Taiwan’s theaters, BTW.
EDIT: Correction, was playing in local theaters.
An interesting recommendation list: movies.yahoo.com/100-movies-to-s … st-movies/
All About Eve a comedy?!
Guide to the Flipside of British Cinema (2010) An intersting documentary about very alternative British cinema of the 60s and 70s. It’s a guide to a new line of DVD releases by the British Film Institute of movies most of which even fim critics have never heard. Gave me some good suggestions of stuff to watch.
Jump Boys (2005) Good Taiwanese documentary about an elementary school boys gymnastics team from Yilan.
Tsotsi (2005) A good South African drama about a young South African gangster thug in a slum of Jo’burg who reevaluates when he discovers a baby in the back of a car he’s just jacked.
The Best of Youth (2003)Superb Italian family saga that stretches from 1966 to 2003, focusing mostly on two brothers. It started life as a mini-series but ended up getting cinematic release, so clocks in at a lengthy six and half hours, but it flows so nicely, and is so captivating that it can easily be watched in one sitting if time allows. I love this kind of film.
Three Lives and Only One Death (1996) This film, starring Marcello Mastroianni, starts off as an incredibly bizarre collection of short connected episodes that only slowly start making some sort of sense. Very weird, but interesting and enjoyable.
Hugo (2011) Martin Scorsese’s 3D ode to the origins of cinema, was excellently made and very enjoyable. Scorsese hit the mark again with his attention to period detail. I have a couple fo reservations though. I feel it cold have been a little meatier - the only danger in the film was comical. Also the 3D really pissed me off - the opening shot and the first sequence or two were all so obviously intended to show off 3D in some fot he most cliched ways possible, that I was annoyed enought ot not be able to enjoy the film at all for a good 20 minutes or so, even watching it in ‘2D’. (Aside: so-called ‘3D’ isn’t 3D at all isn’t. Bloody joke. It’s a 2D medium designed to provide the illusion of three dimensionality. In fact, that’s just what normal ‘2D’ film does, only much better). And the constant deep focus that 3D movies always have is a bit wearying. Other than that (god, I hate ‘3D’) it was a great film.
To Have and Have Not (1944) An excellent Humphrey Bogart movie, directed by Howard Hawks and costarring Lauren Bacall. Set in the French Caribbean during World War 2, the background shares a similarity with Casablanca, and I think any fans of that film will love this too. Witty dialogue, greta acting, and great characters - Bogey at his best.
Still Walking (2008) An excellent film by my favourite Japanese director of the moment, Hirokazu Koreeda, who made Maborosi, Afterlife and Nobody Knows. It’s a subtle film which follows a family getting together to commemorate the death of a son. Not much really happens, but Koreeda focuses wonderfully ont he charatcers and their interactions with each other.
Cinema Hong Kong (2003) A set of three hour-long documentaries on Hong Kong cinema - ‘Kung Fu’, ‘Wu Xia’ and ‘The Beauties of the Shaw Studio’. Not a bad documentary and it definitely improves on a couple of others I’ve seen in that it managed to get rights to clips from the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest studios. Definitely worth a watch for fans of HK genre films.
What did you think of it? I watched it when it came out and kinda liked it, but that was a while ago.
What did you think of it? I watched it when it came out and kinda liked it, but that was a while ago.[/quote]
It was a good solid movie. Nothing that’d blow you away, but just well made cinema. Also, I always appreciate a film made in or about a culture that is different from what I usually see on the screen.
What did you think of it? I watched it when it came out and kinda liked it, but that was a while ago.[/quote]
It was a good solid movie. Nothing that’d blow you away, but just well made cinema. Also, I always appreciate a film made in or about a culture that is different from what I usually see on the screen.[/quote]
Nice to hear you think so. 
It was interesting for me after a few years on the Wan to see South Africa from that perspective again, though. I loved it when his bespectacled friend said to him, “You’re a Tsotsi. You have no decency.” and how that sort of affected him through the movie. Good to hear you liked it. 
Taipei 21 (2004) Not a bad movie about a couple who have been together years and are considering breaking up. They go off on their own for a few days and we observe how they re-evaluate things amidst the backdrop of modern Taipei life.
The Naked Spur (1954) Fairly good Western with Jimmy Stewart as a bounty hunter bringing an outlaw in amidst squabbles over the reward money.
I Saw the Devil (2010) Korean film by Kim Jee-woon who made the excellent films, A Bittersweet Life and A Tale of Two Sisters. This one isn’t as good, and although I enjoyed it, I can see why some people didn’t. It’s basically a standard revenge flick with the main character hunting the killer of his wife (played mesmerisingly by the star of Oldboy). I didn’t like the way it was going at first, but it seemed to change into something a bit more than that, actually questioning, even parodying (obliquely) the revenge premise. I liked it in the end, but not wholeheartedly.
The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie (1972) I’ve never been overly impressed by Bunuel, but this film was different. It’s a very surreal satire of the bourgeoisie, as the name implies, with very entertaining and absurdly funny twists and digressions into dreams and farcical situations.