One Movie A Day Review Thread

DAY 9: September 9th, 2008.

Nanook Of The North




The documentary Nanook of the North follows the life of one man, an Inuit
named Nanook, and his family. The documentary, which has many scenes of re-enactments because the original film was lot in a fire, shows the Inuit family and their need for survival, such as building an igloo.

The scene in which they do build an igloo would have taken much longer, but Flaherty uses an editing technique known as time compression to show pivotal stages in the building of the igloo, until it’s complete. What normally would take hours to do is done on film in 5 minutes. This type of editing was new during that time, which we commonly see today.

This film showed people for the first time life outside of their world. Nanook knew he was preserving the life of his people on record, he died two years after the film was released.

The main theme throughout this film is the commonality of people, it was to show a way of life and people that most of us never knew. It was a way to help us understand our own lives. In one scene it shows the children playing in the snow, they are doing what every kid does and are having fun doing it. The audience can connect to this, which is why the film was so popular in it’ time.

Nanook of the North is a groundbreaking film, for documentaries and is the foundation to what we see today. I enjoyed the film for the most part, but the fact that the film was staged really takes me out of the experience. The people who are being documented know they are, so to me they may not be playing themselves and that takes out the realism. I would only recommend this film to people who are interested in the subject matter or want to take film classes.

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Suspect's Reviews

I will try my best to view those films Destiny.

DAY 10: September 10th, 2008.

Mean Girls




Why does a film like Mean Girls work? Well, for one thing it isn't written by hack writers, and for another it has a strong cast (for the roles written). Lindsey Lohan is quite good here, of course there is no real acting stretch anywhere but this was before she became a tabloid slut. Even though the film centres around her character, Rachel McAdams is the one who steals the show. Her blonde bitch attitude is a joy to watch and she is gorgeous.

Not too take away from the supprting cast though, Lacey Chabert, who also happens to be gorgeous, is here playing one of the friends who can't help but think that everyone loves her. She tries her best to impress others while not noticing that people hate her. Amanda Seyfried seems to have the dumb blonde role down pat and gets a lot of the laughs.

Tim Meadows and Tina Fey, both from SNL make appearances as the school faculty. Both are comedic actors who appear to be guiding these girls into the right direction. Almost an old generation leading a new generation feel to it. The third SNL cast member who drops by is Amy Poehler, who plays Rachel McAdams mother, she is almost as oblivious to everything as Chabert's character is.

It's a decent film, that manages to break away from the cliched genre that it is supposed to be pigeon holed in. None of the scenes are really laugh out loud funny, but giggle funny, enough to make you enjoy yourself.

DAY 11: September 11th, 2008.

Ghost Rider



I can sum up this film with two words. Pointing and Cleavage. That's right...lots of pointing and lots of cleavage. The perfect mix to get teenage boys in their seats. Oh wait, cleavage, action and goofy special effects gets their asses in those seats. Well Ghost Rider has that down pat too.

It's not that I don't like this film, it's just that it's not particularly that good. Nic Cage, whom I have grown to really love as an actor, seem completely out of place here. I don't know if it was his bad hair, bad chemistry or his bad Elvis impersonation, but he did not sell this role for me.

Eva Mendes, great too look at and in the right role can really deliver a good performance. She has nothing to really do here except be what I have already "pointed", hehe, get it, out to you. Cleavage. I don't know if 'respected' reporters where those types of shirts, but I was distracted every time she was on screen.

The supporting cast, which includes Peter Fonda, Donal Logue and the weird plastic bag kid from American Beauty (just kidding, Wes Bently) ham it up. The big villain in this film is a kid that I do not find evil or intimidating. Fonda merely walks around the scenes and never does anything of interest and Logue has too few scenes to really even mention. Don't get me started on Sam Elliott. Here's a guy whose big scene had me pumped, then left me with a sour taste in my mouth after he merely walks away during the big climax.

The Ghost Rider effects are neat, but the bad guys were hokey. Earth, wind and water? The way people died was laughable too. We know that the relatively not so popular comic book characters can really be good films, this one missed the boat.

This is the same review posted in my review thread.

DAY 12: September 12th, 2008.

Burn After Reading



After a disc containing the memoirs of a recently fired CIA analyst ends up in the hands of two dim wits who work at a gym, they go around trying to sell it thinking it contains important classified CIA stuff.

The Coen brothers are taking a different shift from last years highly praised "No Country For Old Men" and going back into their comedy genre in which they seem to excel at. Here is a film that is full of characters that do stupid things, at yet we still seem to like them. Even when they are hacking away at other people. While "Burn After Reading" is a decent film, the entire project feels rushed and the ending too forced. It's as if they had no other way of ending the film, so they tack on the wrap up job.

The film opens with the firing of John Malkovich, because he seems to be an alcoholic. We are introduced to his wife, Tilda Swinton, who is having an affair with George Clooney. Clooney is also married, but is not satisfied with just those two women, so he begins dating Francis Macdormand. She has been trying to find love online with no luck. Her co-worker, Brad Pitt, finds the disc with the CIA stuff and they both begin to blackmail Malkovich. Somehow these stories intertwine with each other in a dark and humorous manner.

Everyone involved seems to be having fun. Brad Pitt and George Clooney are specially funny in their roles. One as a young, gum-chewing, doofus. The other as a paranoid treasurer who decides to build a very unique chair. Both Clooney and Pit are playing against type. Which is nice to see from such big A list actors, in a comedy anyway.

McDormand is another one to watch. She seems to slide into this role perfectly, nailing every bit of dialogue that comes out of her mouth. It seems natural, even though most of the dialogue is not. Malkovich is the alcoholic CIA analyst who is mentally breaking down. Losing his job, cheating wife and other things. This character is dragged through the mud until he decides to explode. Malkovich plays it with a sense of integrity. An upper class way of presenting himself, much like how he portrayed himself in "Being John Malkovich." Tilda Swinton seems to have the cold hearted bitch role down pat.

For those expecting a laugh out loud comedy, you'll be really disappointed. "Burn After Reading" is a slow moving film. It wasn't until half way through did it really start to kick up and peak my interest. There are a couple bits that are really funny, and others then just seem out of place. Don't expect it all to but fluffy funny stuff, this is a dark film. It is a Coen film after all.

J.K. Simmons has a small role as a CIA supervisor who has no idea as to what is going on with these character. The audience feels the same way. While it's not entirely hard to follow, some people may have some problems with it. I guess that could have been there intention, especially with how they ended the film.

While "Burn After Reading" is good, it's not Coen good and that may disappoint some fans. But the film is basically about stupid people doing stupid things, done in an intelligent way. The film has a few surprises, I was caught off guard at least twice. I just hope they put more time and effort into their next project.

I had forgotten about this Doco, I really liked it

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Buddha

OK, great. Do you mind me asking what type of horror movies are your favorite? With Halloween being next month, I was going to suggest a few for then, but maybe you've seen many, or hate a certain type.
I feel pretty sure you've seen Halloween, and some other favorites.

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DAY 13: September 13th, 2008.

Norbit



In the same year that Eddie Muprhy received his Oscar nomination for his role in Dreamgirls, he also throw out a comedic film, playing multiple characters, much like what he did with The Nutty Professor. It's just too bad that this time the result is far from funny, in fact it is down right mind numbing. I can't believe how bad this film actually is. I did hear all the negative response but chalked it up to another dumn comedy that I could find somewhat funny. Boy, was I wrong.

Aside from the make-up, which earned an Oscar nomination, Norbit is a car wreck from start to finish. Murphy is grabbing at straws with his characters here, especially in Rasputia, who is a foul mouth, overweight bi-yatch who talks down to Norbit every chance she gets. This character is basically a female bizarro counter-part to Sherman Klump. Norbit himself is a mild mannered 'geek' who looks like he can break in half if the wind blew to hard. The rest of the supporting cast includes Cuba Gooding Jr. in a role that is as memorable as what you had for breakfast 3 years ago. Terry Crews, who plays the same character he's played before and Thnadie Newton as the cliched, generic female character that we always see in these films.

There are numerous fat jokes that aren't funny the first or one hundredth time you hear it. Murphy, who was once king of the box office and the biggest movie star to come out of SNL, has seemed to go backwards and if he continues this trend could end up on the next has-been reality celebrity show.

Skip this yawn fest. If you read the tagline, it sums up my thoughts on watching this movie.

<= That is for the special effects make-up.

DAY 14: September 14th, 2008.

Neighbours

The following is not a feature film, but a short. I can understand if not everyone has heard of this, but it is indeed a brilliant piece of art. I caught this short on TV earlier this year, then had the pleasure of viewing it again at school for a film class. While cruising to watch something on TMN, they had this short playing again, inbetween main features (which is what they normally do) and decided to include it in this thread because I think people should see it.

The story is about two neighbours who have a fued over who owns the one flower that growns on the 'property' line. Simple story that might not engage many people, but the way McLaren works his magic, draws the viewer in from the first frame to the last.

The film, which to the best of my knowledge was shot in the 50's, is a stop-motion film. When two neighbours, who are enjoying theirselves outside, spot a flower grow in the middle of their houses, they both take claim to it. Thus starting a fued, which escalates into an all out war. The use of the stop-motion is genius and the film is surprisingly funny, that's if you can see the humour in this dark short. Trust me, it's dark.

If you want to see a very unique style of filmmaking and see how creative original and imaginative work can work on such a low budget (the film has one location and two actors, with two extras, and no dialogue) then watch this film.

I'm so nice, here it is.

For the love of God . . . why?!?

Please tell me you didn't pay anything to watch this. With all of those lovely films that I listed, and you picked this.

If you did rent it, lie to me!

Thanks for Neighbours Sussy i really liked it

No no no, hehehe.

It was a last minute thing, my brother had it on, and it was late so I watched it.

I'm dumb...

DAY 15: September 15th, 2008.

The King Of Kong



I had a really fun time watching this documentary. It's well made and the subject matter appeals to me.

It's about this down on his luck regular Joe who challenges Billy Mitchell, a self proclaimed Gamer All-Star. As the film goes on we find that Mitchell is completely into himself and his 'celebrity'. At the start of the film, I was a fan of Mitchell, but towards the end I found out how cowardly he really is.

When Steve (the challenger) beats Billy's all time high score at donkey kong, he sends the video tape in for recognition. They (record keepers, who advertise Billy ever chance they get) deny Steve this crown which forced him to do it in person.

I don't want to give away what happens in the film, but I was glued to it from the beginning, it even contains more emotion and drama then 90% of the Hollywood films we are seeing today.

I recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch an entertaining and well made documentary. Even if you are not into video games, the characters themselves are so absorbing that you won't care what the subject matter is about. One of the best films of 2007.

DAY 16: September 16th, 2008.

In Bruges



I really wanted to love this film, which was my first mistake. I had too high expectations for it. Although, many other people seem to love it, it is currently in the imdb top 250 and was almost chosen for the movie club.

While it sounds like I disliked it, I didn't. I enjoyed the film, just not as much as I would have liked to.

Both Gleeson and Farrell do fine jobs as two hitmen 'sight seeing' in Bruges, but it's Ralph Fiennes who steals the show as the boss who loves to swear ever chance he gets.

The film is dark and funny and the last 20 minutes or so has some action in it to please those who were looking for bullets to fly by the screen. The city is beautiful and is one of the main reasons this film is different from every other cookie cutter action-comedy film.

When I saw this film is dark, I'm not putting it lightly. It's all fun and games until the **** hits the fan. There's also a racist dwarf who does drugs, so I guess it's politically incorrect too.

If you get a chance to see 'Six Shooter', which is McDonagh Oscar winning short film, do. It's pretty much the same stuff here.

I can't really put my finger on it, but I guess I wanted the film to be a tad bit more of everything. More funny, more action and more Fiennes. I found myself snickering at a lot of the dialogue when I should have been laughing. I fond myself wanting more action sequences then just the final 20 minutes. I wanted more from this film.

Liked the In Bruges review, even if I would give it a much higher rating. To be honest, I don't think the film really needed more action than it already had.

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In Bruges doesn't need any support. It's wonderful just the way it is, whether somebody missed the "Sneak Preview" or not. Did the short actually supply more black humor and second-guesses of "we should have included better parts of Part I"? I can't possibly believe that, having watched it more than once.

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Did Lennon stop writing one a days?

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The totally awesome and soul consuming TFH One a Day Reviews.

Thanks Sussy, King of Kong sounds interesting, I will try to find it and give it a look

I guess, although he only had one line thoughts on his.

Yeah, oh well. And then there were two.

Man, I need to see In Bruges...