tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post116759013575754413..comments2024-03-18T00:41:13.588-07:00Comments on Sergio Leone and the Infield Fly Rule: LETTERS FROM THE LABYRINTH----MOVIES 2006: The Year's End and Then SomeDennis Cozzaliohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167857849035242792007-01-03T12:57:00.000-08:002007-01-03T12:57:00.000-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.TALKING MOVIEzzzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11621046844665110326noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167774319022040522007-01-02T13:45:00.000-08:002007-01-02T13:45:00.000-08:00MGM: Nothing meager about das boot, ja?! As regard...MGM: Nothing meager about <I>das boot, ja?!</I> As regards Albert Brooks, anything that could link the his newest with his earlier masterpiece <I>Real Life</I> would certainly be welcome in my book too. And maybe I should have put <I>Casino Royale</I> in my biggest surprises category too. I would have never guessed I'd like it so much, or that so many others would too.<BR/><BR/>Brian: What the hell! Let's both rent <I>The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift</I> and see what happens! :) (My apologies to both Brians-- it's been a long weekend! But I'm still gonna rent it!) And thanks for the props on the "listmates" idea. As I was looking over the list, I wanted to do something similar to Jim Emerson's double feature idea, but without cribbing it outright. Then I realized that there were several strains that crosslinked these movies pretty effectively-- the only real stretch being the connection between <I>Casino Royale</I> and <I>The Proposition</I> as action cinema and really no more. I really liked the notion of movies as disparate as <I>Old Joy</I> and <I>The Descent</I> complimenting each other in even the most tenuous of ways.<BR/><BR/>And thanks to the link from Vern. It will replace the one I used to link to you posthastily! <BR/><BR/>I hope 2007 is already a great year for you!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167773625631554102007-01-02T13:33:00.000-08:002007-01-02T13:33:00.000-08:00Dennis, great list, with a nice cross-section of a...Dennis, great list, with a nice cross-section of a) films also found on my undistributed-film-inclusive Top 10 list sent to Senses of Cinema Sunday (<I>Old Joy</I>, <I>a Prairie Home Companion</I>) b) close-runners up that will likely be found along with (a) on my list of favorite commerically released films I'm drawing up for Cinemarati (<I>Three Times</I>, <I>Iraq in Fragments</I>), c) films I still hope to catch before they exit theatres (<I>Letters From Iwo Jima</I>, <I>Casino Royale</I>), d) films I'm disappointed I missed in theatres but will have to settle for DVD, or maybe the Red Vic to the rescue (<I>Dave Chapelle's Block Party</I>, <I>Shut Up and Sing</I>, <I>Neil Young: Heart of Gold</I>), e) films I appreciated on some level but felt were too incomplete experiences for me to really get behind after a single viewing (<I>Borat</I>, <I>Pan's Labyrinth</I>, <I>the Descent</I>), f) one I probably in all honesty won't see (<I>Jackass Two</I>), g) one I didn't like much at all (<I>the Proposition</I>, though your defense of it has me thinking) and even h) one I, in a rare moment of extreme discomfort with my cinema going experience, walked out on (<I>CSA: the Confederate States of America</I>). <BR/><BR/>I also love your "listmates" concept, your write-ups, and your candor about all the films that did not earn a place on your list, not through their own lack of merit, but simply through their lack of being seen.<BR/><BR/>And though I'm honored almost to the point of embarrassment to be grouped alongside Emerson, Seitz, Morgan, and the Slant team, I'm not the same Brian who recommended <I>Tokyo Drift</I>. I wish I had time to try to find the gems from among the summer action extravaganzas, but I must confess I've for the most part given up on them in my journey down the rabbit hole of arthouse and repertory cinema screenings. <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/outlawvern/ReviewsF.html#tokyo_drift" REL="nofollow">Vern</A> makes it sound tantalizing though.Brian Darrhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17693169310367670898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167773342047285772007-01-02T13:29:00.000-08:002007-01-02T13:29:00.000-08:00Wow, what an all-inclusive year-end list. Where el...Wow, what an all-inclusive year-end list. Where else could you get the added attraction of the best children’s films from their own perspective?!<BR/><BR/>I still need to catch LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA and PAN’S LABYRINTH (which is set to open very soon here in Winnipeg), as well as a host of others from your top-spots. <BR/><BR/>Can’t believe I missed PRAIRIE HOME, especially now that Altman’s shuffled off this mortal coil. It still hasn’t sunken in that there never will be a new Altman film to get lost in, so perhaps now I can attribute my delay in seeing it to my psyche always wanting to believe that there’s a “new’ film out there by him that I’ve yet to experience.<BR/><BR/>I would have never guessed at the start of the year that CASINO ROYALE would be so damned impressive and, even more than that, received so well; my hopes are high for the next release in the series.<BR/><BR/>Funny you should place LOOKING FOR COMEDY IN THE MUSLIM WORLD in the category of movies you’ve wished you had seen in theaters, as that made for one of my more memorable film-going nights in 2006: it seems the projectionist goofed up with the soft-matte and included crew members in several shots with boom poles resting highly over their heads (so very blatant in the scene with Penny Marshall). Instead of getting up to complain (though someone in the audience finally did), I went along with it, and it added unexpected dimensions of reality intruding in a film where Albert Brooks is playing “Albert Brooks”, but not really…<BR/><BR/>Glad to see someone else could appreciate the meager charms of BEERFEST, though I may have responded favorably because I caught it at a drive-in and it appeared second on a double-bill with STEP UP!<BR/><BR/>Oh, and Happy New Year!Aaron W. Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11988034390125865431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167768129693400412007-01-02T12:02:00.000-08:002007-01-02T12:02:00.000-08:00Brian: I was somewhat middle of the road on Pirate...Brian: I was somewhat middle of the road on <I>Pirates 2</I>. I felt it could've been much better at about half the length-- did we need two (or was it three) spectacular Kraken attacks? But huge financial success rarely inspires mainstream filmmakers to scale things down, does it? As for <I>Tokyo Drift</I>, you know me-- I'm always on the lookout for a solid piece of enjoyably trashy action, and I like Lucas Black plenty. So consider it queued and my list amended. This is what I love about having friends whose taste I trust!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167767596276087862007-01-02T11:53:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:53:00.000-08:00Dennis-- Great list, and let me second the hurrahs...Dennis--<BR/> Great list, and let me second the hurrahs for having Dave Chappelle's gloriously funky film in there. Just wanted to say you might sneak Tokyo Drift into your netflix queue for a boring rainy day-- I wouldn't put it anywhere near my top ten, twenty or even thirty films of 2006, but it's a solid piece of enjoyably trashy action, and after the mind-numbing, bullying, interminable mess that was Pirates of the Carribbean 2 (easily the worst movie of the year), I took tremendous pleasure in its unpretentious craftsmanship.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167765410284309992007-01-02T11:16:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:16:00.000-08:00Great list. It sidesteps the commercialist bent m...Great list. It sidesteps the commercialist bent most lists practice by virtue of your capsules and a lack of numbering, altho preferences are obvious. Glad to see BLOCK PARTY make its way in there. It's my favorite movie of the year. Despite doubts, I feel like I ought to see PAN'S LABRYNTH cuz it does look pretty and intriguing...and I need to get into the city to see the IWO JIMA movie. And I gotta get THE DESCENT. Too many people have told me they liked it for me to not watch it, even tho I'm not a straight horror fan (I prefer SHAUN to DAWN OF THE DEAD).<BR/><BR/>TLRHB: Maybe it's cuz doing Garfield means just waking up, strolling down to a booth and acting goofy at a microphone all day for a couple of weeks instead of playing dumb with Cameron SHRILL Diaz and Drew DITZY Barrymore and Lucy UH, HOT BUT ICY Liu for, like, months.Ryland Walker Knighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09233954424885027837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167765335815325222007-01-02T11:15:00.000-08:002007-01-02T11:15:00.000-08:00Anonymous: My lack of interest in Babel has every...Anonymous: My lack of interest in <I>Babel</I> has everything to do with my feeling that <I>21 Grams</I> was a cruel, self-important, fairly obvious story tricked up by Inarritu's time and space shifting games to make itself look and feel important, a movie that wore its relentless grimness as a badge of honor. Everything I've read written by people I trust regarding the new movie has led me to believe, rightly or wrongly, that <I>Babel</I> is going to be more of the same-- a jittery howl of despair and chaos theory editing schematics designed with one eye squarely fixed on awards season. Frankly, I haven't felt a lot lately like having my nose rubbed in a lot of misery that, if <I>21 Grams</I> can be said to be representative of the director's work, was likely to leave me just as irritated and manipulated as that movie did. I could be entirely wrong, and if and when I do see <I>Babel</I>, if I am wrong I'll certainly own up to it. And I admit I'm still interested in seeing <I>Amores Perros</I>. But as I stated in my introduction, my time is limited and, as broad as I'd like my perspective to be, I'd rather take the few opportunities I have to get out to the theater to see something I have a more solid expectation of appreciating. <I>Babel</I>, however many Golden Globes and/or Oscars it may win, will have to wait for DVD, and even then there'll be a whole lot of other titles ahead of it on my Netflix queue. <BR/><BR/>Benaiah: I loved <I>Nacho Libre</I> for its deadpan visual grandeur, its incredible silliness, and for the utter commitment of Jack Black's riotously funny performance-- the guy set me off on what felt like a nonstop giggle fit for 90 minutes from a little as an artfully arched eyebrow or an exaggerated lunge at his Hispanic accent. And anybody so gleefully self-effacing as to make his rotundity a good-natured joke for an entire movie, and consistently get laughs from it, is okay by me. (My daughters were severely disappointed that I scuttled my plans to dress up as Nacho Libre for Halloween.)<BR/><BR/>TLRHB: Good point about Bill Murray and his choices. The appeal of <I>Garfield</I> must be the fact that he's hiding, that he never has to appear on-screen. Oh, and that paycheck too. (I don't think I could ever understand the logic of choosing CGI lasagne over Lucy Liu, but that's just me.) As for my daughter, she is struggling with me to drive home the value of concise expression, but I think it's fairly obvious she's been losing that battle! Happy New Year to you too, my friend!Dennis Cozzaliohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01954848938471883431noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167760809551196002007-01-02T10:00:00.000-08:002007-01-02T10:00:00.000-08:00Nice list, Dennis. And, of course, your daughter's...Nice list, Dennis. And, of course, your daughter's taste is impeccable. And she's so really into the whole brevity thing! Although you're really depriving them on Garfield Deux and the weirdness of sitting there in the theater thinking: Bill Murray bitched about doing Charlie's Angels and then he does this??? <BR/><BR/>Happy New Year, my friend.The 'Stachehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03426658288145524160noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167753849080958602007-01-02T08:04:00.000-08:002007-01-02T08:04:00.000-08:00a trend in stupid American comedies that... equat...a trend in stupid American comedies that... equate the making of a pop culture reference with the making of a joke about that reference.<BR/><BR/>That is the essence of why Family Guy went from one of the best shows on TV to one of the worst. Look, its Stewie in some 70s show, look at Peter sing a song from the 80s.<BR/><BR/>I am a little surprised to see you say Nacho Libre was good, I haven't seen it, but I didn't hear anything good. Perhaps you can elaborate on what you liked (or didn't hate) about it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8795280.post-1167751318142590102007-01-02T07:21:00.000-08:002007-01-02T07:21:00.000-08:00Who does a year end review and writes "NO INTEREST...Who does a year end review and writes "NO INTEREST IN SEEING BABEL"???<BR/><BR/>My friend, this is a decision you will regret. Go see it on a big screen now. Babel is a film that will be long remembered. If you can watch Borat - you owe it to yourself to see Babel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com