tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post2151017412605201171..comments2024-03-25T21:14:21.671-04:00Comments on Listen Eggroll: Viewing Journal: Week of 26-31 Decembermd'ahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06055853987416332662noreply@blogger.comBlogger19125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-42827666156833994052012-01-05T07:20:57.435-05:002012-01-05T07:20:57.435-05:00Was The Ruse eligible for the 2011 Black List, Mik...<i>Was The Ruse eligible for the 2011 Black List, Mike?</i><br /><br />Every script ever written Is eligible. It's a question of how many people even see it. Mine hasn't been widely read. Generally speaking and with few exceptions, the scripts on the Black List are already fast-tracked to some degree, not worthy obscurities. <br /><br /><i>Re: The bug asteroids... If I remember correctly, there are bugs who've evolved to fire those asteroids out of their hindquarters.</i><br /><br />There are definitely bugs with ass-cannons, but an asteroid capable of wiping out an entire city would be way, way bigger than the width of even a giant bug. Not to mention that the odds of it hitting a populated area would be close to nil (and don't tell me the bugs can somehow ass-aim).md'ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055853987416332662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-14280831271720245242012-01-05T00:01:52.646-05:002012-01-05T00:01:52.646-05:00Also, with RISE, you basically missed the film tur...Also, with RISE, you basically missed the film turning into A PROPHET but with apes. Seeing as how you were just lukewarm on that anyway, I'll go ahead and say you missed not much.Steve C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-56945529478705587762012-01-05T00:01:00.817-05:002012-01-05T00:01:00.817-05:00Re: The bug asteroids... If I remember correctly, ...Re: The bug asteroids... If I remember correctly, there are bugs who've evolved to fire those asteroids out of their hindquarters. We see them briefly when Johnny Rico and company first land, no? (As to why they evolved that way... that's another debate.)<br /><br />Also, I'm sure Dizzy's last words were meant as nasty Verhoeven prankishness. But then, I think that about pretty much everything he's ever put in front of a camera.Steve C.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01958138092537744506noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-69965793322277837262012-01-03T16:52:08.306-05:002012-01-03T16:52:08.306-05:00VJM: did you mean, perchance, to write "... i...VJM: did you mean, perchance, to write "... in a 1948 book?"?<br /><br />Correctly predicting the future is provenance of artists.Vladimirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654959211761713585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-69222692654894407392012-01-03T16:49:14.300-05:002012-01-03T16:49:14.300-05:00... in a 1997 movie? #paranoid #orstupid #youpick... in a 1997 movie? #paranoid #orstupid #youpickVictor Mortonhttp://vjmorton.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-63252528829789490282012-01-03T16:26:21.746-05:002012-01-03T16:26:21.746-05:00It's not clear to me how they're managing ...<i>It's not clear to me how they're managing to fling asteroids at Earth</i><br /><br />?! I doubt that the asteroid has anything to do with Afgh- uhm, Ira- uhm, bugs. The film's only assertion that is does comes from the yellowc- uhm, propaganda memo.Vladimirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17654959211761713585noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-9251554243532813972012-01-03T14:45:05.042-05:002012-01-03T14:45:05.042-05:00But when you're watching a Blu-ray on a lazy w...<i>But when you're watching a Blu-ray on a lazy weekend, what's the harm in sticking with it a bit?</i><br /><br />No harm <i>per se</i>, but not much point, either. If a film has completely failed to capture my interest after 40 minutes, it's never going to. And while I'm interested enough in, say, Polanski to endure something as off-putting as <i>Carnage</i>, I feel no such allegiance to Rupert Wyatt. Believe me, there are always better things I can be doing with my time than sitting though a film I'm not enjoying, so unless there are extenuating factors (usually auteurist in nature), out it goes.md'ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055853987416332662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-3391017753078346842012-01-03T14:33:17.229-05:002012-01-03T14:33:17.229-05:00It seems incomprehensible to me that you couldn...It seems incomprehensible to me that you couldn't give Rise of the Planet of the Apes another 80 minutes, given the widespread praise it's received. (Along those same lines... Winnie the Pooh deserved more time as well.) I can understand bailing when the consensus is mixed or when there's something else compelling going on soon (i.e., at Cannes or Toronto). But when you're watching a Blu-ray on a lazy weekend, what's the harm in sticking with it a bit? Then even if your preconceptions are borne out, you can at least back your criticisms with actual knowledge rather than assumptions and suppositions. ;^)<br /><br />FYI, Rise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 film, not 2001. (Likely a typo, but worth correcting.)Petenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-36355603851764995152012-01-02T18:10:44.206-05:002012-01-02T18:10:44.206-05:00Also here is my capsule on CEAUSESCU from Toronto
...Also here is my capsule on CEAUSESCU from Toronto<br /><br />http://vjmorton.wordpress.com/2010/09/21/tiff-10-capsules-day-8/Victor Mortonhttp://vjmorton.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-16758175490055991322012-01-02T17:40:13.596-05:002012-01-02T17:40:13.596-05:00"That interpretation fails my Falsifiability ..."That interpretation fails my Falsifiability Test, as it suggests that any film composed of (mostly) chronological archival footage spanning many years of a public figure's life would automatically be poignant and hence excellent."<br /><br />Not automatically, no ... but if a change in circumstances can be detected from the footage itself, and if the public figure is plainly living a related state of delusion, then yes.<br /><br />Also poignancy isn't really the point IMHO. A lot of the scenes are, in themselves, really, really funny (North Korea, volleyball, the press conference) and/or really, really scary (the Party Congress ... Skandies Scene Plug!!!)Victor Mortonhttp://vjmorton.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-63964054081952964082012-01-02T11:03:18.268-05:002012-01-02T11:03:18.268-05:00"It's as if somebody were to make an epic..."It's as if somebody were to make an epic documentary called 'MISSISSIPPI, 1964,' entirely composed of mundane archival footage of white folks having picnics or watering their lawns or whatever, with not a single image of or even verbal reference to African-Americans for the entire three hours."<br /><br />This movie sounds awesome.Mark Aschhttp://thelmagazine.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-86867437744645553752012-01-02T10:35:47.147-05:002012-01-02T10:35:47.147-05:00That interpretation fails my Falsifiability Test, ...<i>That interpretation fails my Falsifiability Test, as it suggests that any film composed of (mostly) chronological archival footage spanning many years of a public figure's life would automatically be poignant and hence excellent.</i><br /><br />Well, you need the added element of the public figure being a well-known monster - but yeah, I suppose it would work about as well with other such monsters. It's actually not a million miles from Jay Rosenblatt's HUMAN REMAINS (Mao, Stalin, Hitler), which has the additional advantage of only being 30 minutes long.<br /><br />I also find the actual footage fascinating. Then again, I'm a politics junkie.Theohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443263474243770769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-3812078874319335542012-01-02T10:22:44.354-05:002012-01-02T10:22:44.354-05:00Was The Ruse eligible for the 2011 Black List, Mik...Was The Ruse eligible for the 2011 Black List, Mike?<br /><br />How 'bout giving us blog on the scripting career in 2012 (as promised eons ago)? Is Ruse developing? Did Rubberface contort? That 2-TV-shows-in-1 idea still percolating? etc. There are few of us interested in the A game, you know?Wynyardnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-76864235698427987752012-01-02T08:55:26.492-05:002012-01-02T08:55:26.492-05:00That interpretation fails my Falsifiability Test, ...That interpretation fails my Falsifiability Test, as it suggests that any film composed of (mostly) chronological archival footage spanning many years of a public figure's life would automatically be poignant and hence excellent. And it's still all Concept—how the actual footage doesn't bore people is beyond me. But then I guess there's an audience for C-SPAN.md'ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055853987416332662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-38595353353819389542012-01-02T07:32:35.778-05:002012-01-02T07:32:35.778-05:00Just for the record, it's possible to view NIC...Just for the record, it's possible to view NICOLAE CEAUSESCU differently, though I don't know if most of its fans (esp. American fans) would agree with me: <br /><br />"Something great - and presumably intentional - happens here: appearing in every 'scene', getting older as he goes - more sclerotic, finally more frail and lost - Ceausescu becomes a hero, sympathetic in the way every protagonist in a Time-driven narrative is sympathetic, even though we know very well that the footage is propaganda (a performance) and leaves out the truth ... The film is cleverly done, never overplaying its hand - even when it cuts from Ceausescu visiting earthquake victims to his own mother's (unrelated) funeral, it's hard to say if the implication is that he only cares about his own family (not the people) or a more sympathetic reading, that a connection can be drawn and he's lost family just like them".<br /><br />In other words, I found some complex presence in your "structuring absence". Which I guess is the difference between a 38 and a 70.Theohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10443263474243770769noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-28357067096020988452012-01-01T18:28:58.133-05:002012-01-01T18:28:58.133-05:00Don't agree re: "fake-looking," but ...<i>Don't agree re: "fake-looking," but yes. If that's inherently a sticking point, not sure why you bothered to begin with.</i><br /><br />I bothered because I had no particular reason to expect creatures with zero tangibility, who look and (especially) move as if they've been pasted onto the frame via computer. That certainly wasn't the case with, say, Gollum, for example. Evidently you don't see this, in which case I can only shrug.md'ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055853987416332662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-50542827608062634942012-01-01T12:47:11.544-05:002012-01-01T12:47:11.544-05:00Don't agree re: "fake-looking," but ...Don't agree re: "fake-looking," but yes. If that's inherently a sticking point, not sure why you bothered to begin with. Anyway, none of the action is overly concerned with the "holy shit" factor -- at least not in the Burj Khalifa sense -- which to me is a feature, not a bug.eugene nnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-16044995586703632432012-01-01T01:25:13.859-05:002012-01-01T01:25:13.859-05:00I gather you didn't make it to the virtually s...<i>I gather you didn't make it to the virtually silent prison escape sequence, which is ingenious and awesome. And then there's the great Golden Gate Bridge scene and the horse and etc. -- there's little point in elaborating since you didn't stick around.</i><br /><br />Did these setpieces involve fake-looking CGI apes? If so, I doubt they'd impress me any more than did the earlier ape stuff.md'ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06055853987416332662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8838733.post-61937183103648463292012-01-01T00:51:36.463-05:002012-01-01T00:51:36.463-05:00This just seemed like standard-issue mediocre Holl...<i>This just seemed like standard-issue mediocre Hollywood blockbuster franchise reboot stuff. Right? Isn't it?</i><br /><br />It is not, and in fact this month I noted that the difference between MI:4 and ROTPOTA is the difference between a good action film and a great one. While the latter may not have anything as vertiginously thrilling as the Burj Khalifa, it has a visual storytelling mojo that went unmatched this year, except maybe by Spielberg; I gather you didn't make it to the virtually silent prison escape sequence, which is ingenious and awesome. And then there's the great Golden Gate Bridge scene and the horse and etc. -- there's little point in elaborating since you didn't stick around.<br /><br />It also has something else that MI:4 was utterly missing: a sense of stakes. I know you think trying to drum up emotional involvement in these stories is pointless, but I disagree, and I found <i>Rise</i> to be genuinely stirring.eugene nnoreply@blogger.com