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in the way that it was filmed and made I felt it was pretty mainstream
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It didn't seem mainstream to me. The general idea that mainstream is some how inferior to other styles of film making is nuts
...Mainstream just means it's a more popular style of movie story telling, as it's the style that many people respond positively too.
...Mainstream just means it's a more popular style of movie story telling, as it's the style that many people respond positively too.
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I havent said that there was anything negative about it,just that its movies that dont really stick with me personally.
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I thought it was filmed and made just a step up from a TV Movie which i wouldn't call mainstream. I got an Indie feel from it as well.
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I havent said that there was anything negative about it,just that its movies that dont really stick with me personally.
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Yea I know Topsy, I just wanted to through that general statement out there. But not directly about your post.
yup thats fine CR
mainstream is mainstream for a reason
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My favourite part is that of the sister-who cant get on with her life because of her missing sister,the sadness of actually hoping the dead girl was her sister just to get closure and how the little she was able to build her life together whilst she thought she had found her collapsed when it turned out it wasnt her.a very small glimpse of a pain too many have to endure. We never find out wether or not they end up finding her sister,which to me is perfect because the uncertainty is part of the segment-the never ending hunt for someone who might not even exist anymore.
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Also, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon and say that I didn't think the movie was mainstream. 
Honestly though, I didn't think it was particularly mainstream either. I agree with everyone else's assertions that it had a more indie vibe to it.
Honestly though, I didn't think it was particularly mainstream either. I agree with everyone else's assertions that it had a more indie vibe to it.
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Aaaand I'm officially done with the movies! 
- That said, I will keep my promise and rewatch Samurai Rebellion. I'll rewatch Embrace of the Serpent too, just because I like it and want to, but I'll probably send in a list before that since it doesn't matter with the latter...
Write-ups for the last few films to come...
- That said, I will keep my promise and rewatch Samurai Rebellion. I'll rewatch Embrace of the Serpent too, just because I like it and want to, but I'll probably send in a list before that since it doesn't matter with the latter...
Write-ups for the last few films to come...
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MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror
/watching movies for mark f/
MovieMeditation's Cinema Reviews // Film Diary 2015 // Letterboxd Profile // MovieMeditation's Top 50 Horror
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I was planning to watch Ronin this afternoon, but I ended up putting up Halloween decorations instead. It's a bit early, but I don't know, I was just feeling seasonal. It also motivated me to finish the last major part of my costume, so with that mostly out of the way, and the fact that I have an extra 2 days off next week (though that is subject to change), I should be able to finish watching my remaining movies as well. 
Right now the plan is Ronin -> Ida -> Bashu, but I might watch Ida first depending on my mood when I sit down to watch something.
Right now the plan is Ronin -> Ida -> Bashu, but I might watch Ida first depending on my mood when I sit down to watch something.
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Five more for me, here's my projected order:
The Dead Girl
Bringing Up Baby (rewatch)
Good Bye Lenin
Bashu
Her (rewatch)
The Dead Girl
Bringing Up Baby (rewatch)
Good Bye Lenin
Bashu
Her (rewatch)
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The Flowers of War
This was a film I was looking forward to for a variety of reasons. Actually, I looked up the movie a long time ago and have had it in the back of my mind ever since. So when this drama-war film was nominated – and by no other than our very own Citizen Rules – I was actually rather excited. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a halfhearted, hollow fictionalized mess of an otherwise horrible factual situation. It felt partly like a propaganda piece and partly like a genuine war drama, yet it had too little of both to be taken completely serious or work as a competent satire. Almost all of the movie took place inside a church, where there was an off-putting humorous undertone on several occasions, strangely intervened with small glimpses of gruesome scenery here and there. It was such a confused thematic chaos, even despite of the otherwise straight-forward narrative…
The Rape of Nanking is one of the most disturbingly gruesome events in history, but I don't feel like 'The Flowers of War' captured much of a depressing tragedy, instead mostly aiming to please audiences, notably the Chinese, while also wanting to appeal globally to a mass audience. I won't automatically fault the angle of the story, since this is up to the director, and if the movie is well-made it won't be essential to the quality of the movie that the story is told in one way or the other. But personally, I feel like this particular story is too distanced from the true horrors of war. I admit, the film is called 'The Flowers of War' and want to tell a more beautiful and personal story in the midst of all the horror, yet even so, the film seemed confused by how heavily it should weigh each element and even more confused on how to appeal to all audiences at the same time. I couldn't really sense a straight subjective line throughout the plot, neither was I able to grasp a firm grip on the story from the director from neither direction or angle.
The portrayal of the Japanese soldiers was flat, one-sided and underdeveloped. But considering the fact that these soldiers committed mass rape and murder, I wasn’t looking for forced sympathy, though maybe a little empathy would have been ideal or at least some form of human emotion, whether good or bad. Because in the movie, the soldiers felt like brainless robots on autopilot, running through the war zone screaming and shooting and raping everything that moved, preferably laughing menacingly while doing so. This method came off like the most obvious and easy way of portraying these characters; like cardboard cut-outs from a children’s monster book; thin pop-up caricatures of characterless proportions. Sometimes it was even embarrassingly false and cringe-worthy to look at. I apologize, but I just can’t stand such obvious nationalized filmmaking, though sometimes it can work to an advantage for the film... not in this case though.
Of course, when the higher commanders came, we got to see some different and more formal approaches to what was ultimately the same brutality, but I still left the movie with a flat feeling towards such a huge element in the story. And outside of that annoyance, there was the totally unnecessary addition of an American character, who had the most predictable and boring story arc possible, only barely bettered by Bale's performance, though his character was still lacking depth and a proper background. At first he was a selfish and greedy drunk, then he slowly evolved into a nice and sympathetic drunk; what a character arc indeed… And every time he was on-screen, his presence threw me off and I don't feel like he fit into the story at all. I think this would have worked better as an all-foreign film, instead of moving the focus to a white male, who had nothing to do with what happened during this tragedy. I’m not a “white-washing” hypocrite, but this is an example worth noting in my opinion.
Ultimately, I just wasn't a fan of this film. The humor felt forced and didn't click much with me either. The movie wasn't funny or intelligent enough to be satire neither was it gritty or deep enough to work as a serious and memorable war movie. It was mostly a bland affair, merely saved by some stunning photography. The movie looked beautiful and had the story been as nuanced and tightly executed as the visuals this would have been a great movie. The use of color together with the gritty and colorless war backdrop created a nicely balanced contrast that kept the movie interesting when the story wasn't. I really wish I liked this movie more, but I can't look past the obvious problems – or at least they are obvious problems to me... ‘The Flowers of War’ is colorful and beautiful to look at, but when you get close enough to smell the different and deeper nuances of war, it fails to leave an impression on me. Usually flowers need water to grow, but this was already too watered down as it is. I’m afraid it won’t be long before this movie has withered entirely from my memory…
This was a film I was looking forward to for a variety of reasons. Actually, I looked up the movie a long time ago and have had it in the back of my mind ever since. So when this drama-war film was nominated – and by no other than our very own Citizen Rules – I was actually rather excited. Unfortunately, the film turned out to be a halfhearted, hollow fictionalized mess of an otherwise horrible factual situation. It felt partly like a propaganda piece and partly like a genuine war drama, yet it had too little of both to be taken completely serious or work as a competent satire. Almost all of the movie took place inside a church, where there was an off-putting humorous undertone on several occasions, strangely intervened with small glimpses of gruesome scenery here and there. It was such a confused thematic chaos, even despite of the otherwise straight-forward narrative…
The Rape of Nanking is one of the most disturbingly gruesome events in history, but I don't feel like 'The Flowers of War' captured much of a depressing tragedy, instead mostly aiming to please audiences, notably the Chinese, while also wanting to appeal globally to a mass audience. I won't automatically fault the angle of the story, since this is up to the director, and if the movie is well-made it won't be essential to the quality of the movie that the story is told in one way or the other. But personally, I feel like this particular story is too distanced from the true horrors of war. I admit, the film is called 'The Flowers of War' and want to tell a more beautiful and personal story in the midst of all the horror, yet even so, the film seemed confused by how heavily it should weigh each element and even more confused on how to appeal to all audiences at the same time. I couldn't really sense a straight subjective line throughout the plot, neither was I able to grasp a firm grip on the story from the director from neither direction or angle.
The portrayal of the Japanese soldiers was flat, one-sided and underdeveloped. But considering the fact that these soldiers committed mass rape and murder, I wasn’t looking for forced sympathy, though maybe a little empathy would have been ideal or at least some form of human emotion, whether good or bad. Because in the movie, the soldiers felt like brainless robots on autopilot, running through the war zone screaming and shooting and raping everything that moved, preferably laughing menacingly while doing so. This method came off like the most obvious and easy way of portraying these characters; like cardboard cut-outs from a children’s monster book; thin pop-up caricatures of characterless proportions. Sometimes it was even embarrassingly false and cringe-worthy to look at. I apologize, but I just can’t stand such obvious nationalized filmmaking, though sometimes it can work to an advantage for the film... not in this case though.
Of course, when the higher commanders came, we got to see some different and more formal approaches to what was ultimately the same brutality, but I still left the movie with a flat feeling towards such a huge element in the story. And outside of that annoyance, there was the totally unnecessary addition of an American character, who had the most predictable and boring story arc possible, only barely bettered by Bale's performance, though his character was still lacking depth and a proper background. At first he was a selfish and greedy drunk, then he slowly evolved into a nice and sympathetic drunk; what a character arc indeed… And every time he was on-screen, his presence threw me off and I don't feel like he fit into the story at all. I think this would have worked better as an all-foreign film, instead of moving the focus to a white male, who had nothing to do with what happened during this tragedy. I’m not a “white-washing” hypocrite, but this is an example worth noting in my opinion.
Ultimately, I just wasn't a fan of this film. The humor felt forced and didn't click much with me either. The movie wasn't funny or intelligent enough to be satire neither was it gritty or deep enough to work as a serious and memorable war movie. It was mostly a bland affair, merely saved by some stunning photography. The movie looked beautiful and had the story been as nuanced and tightly executed as the visuals this would have been a great movie. The use of color together with the gritty and colorless war backdrop created a nicely balanced contrast that kept the movie interesting when the story wasn't. I really wish I liked this movie more, but I can't look past the obvious problems – or at least they are obvious problems to me... ‘The Flowers of War’ is colorful and beautiful to look at, but when you get close enough to smell the different and deeper nuances of war, it fails to leave an impression on me. Usually flowers need water to grow, but this was already too watered down as it is. I’m afraid it won’t be long before this movie has withered entirely from my memory…
Last edited by MovieMeditation; 10-22-16 at 03:14 PM.
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Ronin (1998)
Dir. John Frankenheimer
Starring: Robert De Niro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone
I had seen this movie before, but only really remembered what turned out to be the opening 30 minutes (basically just the parts Sean Bean was in), and a few select scenes later on. Ronin is the kind of movie I used to watch all the time, but have been grown a little tired of. The plot felt really familiar (and not just because this was a repeat viewing), and very typical of the genre, but did enough right to keep me interesting throughout the entire runtime.
The film looked like it was trying to be realistic, with its colour choices and shot composition, but the events that occur are a little too ridiculous to take the whole thing that seriously. That does make it feel more like one of the old spy thrillers, so that's more of an asset than anything else. Outside of the Mad Max films, I tend to find car chases to be rather dull, however the chase sequences in Ronin are done very well, though they do occasionally border on outstaying their welcome. I always appreciate stunt work in films, and the drivers here definitely did an excellent job.
The only really negative thing I have to say about the film is that while Natascha McElhone was okay, Jonathan Pryce's Irish accent was actually painful to listen to. Luckily he didn't have that much dialogue though haha.
The film looked like it was trying to be realistic, with its colour choices and shot composition, but the events that occur are a little too ridiculous to take the whole thing that seriously. That does make it feel more like one of the old spy thrillers, so that's more of an asset than anything else. Outside of the Mad Max films, I tend to find car chases to be rather dull, however the chase sequences in Ronin are done very well, though they do occasionally border on outstaying their welcome. I always appreciate stunt work in films, and the drivers here definitely did an excellent job.
The only really negative thing I have to say about the film is that while Natascha McElhone was okay, Jonathan Pryce's Irish accent was actually painful to listen to. Luckily he didn't have that much dialogue though haha.
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Good Bye Lenin! (Wolfgang Becker, 2003)
(rewatch)
(rewatch)
It's impressive how the world can change in a few months. 1989 is one of the most important dates of last century and I can only imagine what's to live in Berlin at that time.
This film is astonishing in the way that it tells this dramatic time of history through a completely original angle: a small family who had to adjust to a new reality by creating a time capsule among the chaos of change. For that alone Becker deserves a lot of praising.
Luckily, this is more than only a good premise! The soundtrack is superb, and one of the most well know of the past 2 decades (even if most people have no idea where these piano pieces come from); the acting is great, particularly from Daniel Brül; and the cinematography and directing are in a total compromise to portraying such a theme, filled with mixed emotions and states of mind.
I loved the message of the film and how socialism was eventually portrayed at the end of the movie. It gave me hope and that's the most important thing a work of art can give you, in my opinion.
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Samurai Rebellion (Masaki Kobayashi, 1967)
Well, it's official: Kobayashi is better at doing samurai movies than Kurosawa, at least for my taste!
It's really similar to a movie I nominated here some HoFs ago, Harakiri, in its premise and subject though it's dealt in a slightly different way.
The honour and code of a samurai is put in a really beautiful way, and surprisingly (or not), I can relate to it, as I did with Harakiri. I loved the few action scenes and the fact they were so postponed by growing tension just made them more exciting and logical. Mifune is amazing (it's probably my favourite film of him, from everything I've seen) and the cinematography is simply superb. I love the constant symmetry of the set and the way the camera looks at this disposal!
I wouldn't rate it as high as Harakiri but it's definitely a freaking masterpiece!!!
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When I watched Samurai Rebellion, it reminded me of Harakiri, even though it wasn't until after that I found out it was from the same director.
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Yeah, i could see that. Think Kobayashi is becoming one of my favourite directors. Only seen those two and Kwaidan, got to watch the Human Condition Trilogy.
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