Just to check: did anyone here who saw "INfernal Affairs" really think "The Departed" was that great? I think some of the performances were very good, esp. Jack. Otherwise, I was largely disappointed by how poor the storytelling was.
Just to check: did anyone here who saw "INfernal Affairs" really think "The Departed" was that great? I think some of the performances were very good, esp. Jack. Otherwise, I was largely disappointed by how poor the storytelling was.
I thought "The Departed" was very good, but i still really like "Infernal Affairs" as well. I thought Scorsese did a good job of adapting the film for U.S. theaters.
The Fountain: Interesting film but not as good as his past works. Requiem and Pi were both entertaining and intelligent. This lacked in the entertaining department.
departed was better than infernal affairs borat was not really that funny children of men was aiiiiiiight science of sleep was great but the best movies I've seen this year were nowhere near 2006
One of the few current films I caught in the theater, and I really enjoyed it. I had a certain attatchment to the PKD novel, though, so I may be in the minority.
I also saw "Hollywoodland," and although not great, I wasn't mad at it. Ben Stiller was actually good, which is an achievement in itself.
Oh, and the best film I saw in the theater this year was not from 2006 but 1937 - thanks to Harvard University:
November 7 (Tuesday) 9 pm
Daughter of Shanghai Directed by Robert Florey US 1937, 35mm, b/w, 61 min. With Philip Ahn, Larry ???Buster??? Crabbe, Anthony Quinn, Anna May Wong
This action-packed thriller is about a woman trying to avenge her murdered father and destroy a gang of immigrant smugglers. It is unusual for its time, featuring two top-billed Asian co-stars (Wong and Ahn). 35mm print from the Library of Congress.
one of the best films i saw this year not from 2006 was this one (Barbara Stanwyck rules):
Inside Man's shortcoming were the characters - it could have taken a few lessons from noir films on how to create dark, mysterious characters instead of ones who felt incomplete and we had no real insight into their motivations (i'm thinking of Foster and Washington mostly). but hey, thanks for more notes on how to rob a bank.
Just to check: did anyone here who saw "INfernal Affairs" really think "The Departed" was that great? I think some of the performances were very good, esp. Jack. Otherwise, I was largely disappointed by how poor the storytelling was.
Yeah it didn't blow me away, I was pleasantly surprised by Leo's performance though I must confess I haven't seen him in much since he entered his portly manhood stage of his career.
Not a bad adaption for a different audience though I had real problems with the way the music was mixed not to mention that the reuse of Gimme Shelter added to the feeling that real ground wasn't being covered.
Just to check: did anyone here who saw "INfernal Affairs" really think "The Departed" was that great? I think some of the performances were very good, esp. Jack. Otherwise, I was largely disappointed by how poor the storytelling was.
I thought Infernal Affairs was only OK and I saw it in a movie theater. Good, but not great. I like the Departed MUCh more and saw it twice in a theater.
I'm not even sure of all the movies that came out this year, but The Departed is the last movie to really stick out in my mind.
I like Little Miss Sunshine, but thought it was cute, not great.
I really want to see the Last King of Scotland. Anyone checked it out?
I really want to see the Last King of Scotland. Anyone checked it out?
Forrest Whitaker stole the show...Really powerful perfomance. It was pretty good in the sense that it was better than most self-indulgentwhitepeoplelivingamongthesavagesinAfrica movies I've seen.
I saw Little Children this weekend, which was an interesting psychological study about surburban America (I mean, who would cheat on Jennifer Connelly for Kate Winslet?) and surprisingly dark.
I would agree that this year's movies basically sucked; it's telling that my favorite was Something New.
i only watched pirates of the carribean and superman this year and both of those movies fucking sucked. actually i think i watched fast and the furious 3 when i was drunk and that movie was pretty entertaining so if that came out this year it gets my nomination
Just to check: did anyone here who saw "INfernal Affairs" really think "The Departed" was that great? I think some of the performances were very good, esp. Jack. Otherwise, I was largely disappointed by how poor the storytelling was.
I thought Departed was phenomenally entertaining. And yes, I enjoyed it more than Infernal Affairs on a whole. And you know my pedigree when it comes to the HK flicks so you know I'm not hating. I actually thought Jack was the weakest link acting-wise. Just a little too hammy for me.
Movies of '06 that I dug...
The Departed
The Illusionist (enjoyable)
Cocaine Cowboys (as with The Departed, could've been better with re: to editing. Seriously, someone needs to show Marty that scissors can be a good thing)
Jonestown (coulda been better - particularly in re: to tying up a whole lot of loose ends)
Fearless (fun, best thing Ronny Yu has EVER done, which is not saying a lot though)
Casino Royale (best Bond in a long minute)
Inside Man (good, involving heist caper)
Children of Men (coulda been a LOT better, but still worth seeing - particularly for some incredibly well shot action sequences. Biggest minuses: Clive Owen is one boring, sad sack of an actor. Thank God he turned down Bond. Cuaron also tried a little too hard to be political. It was just a little too much for me to swallow that "homeland security" will pose a far greater threat to our future than fanatical muslim extremists )
Just to be fair, some films I haven't seen this year are: Last King of Scottland, Little Children, Curse of the Golden Flower, The Prestige, Letters To Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, Borat, Happy Feet and a couple others.
Biggest disappointments: Superman Returns, Children of Men, Flags of our Fathers, and some more.... )
Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro) Ghosts of Cite Soleil (Asger Leth) Taxidermia (Gyorgy Palfi) This is England (Shane Meadows) Cronica de una Fuga (Adrian Caetano) ILS / Them (David Moreau) Time (Kim KiDuk) Container (Lukas Moodyson)
"Little Miss Sunshine: Overrated but the end is hilarious. I otherwise thought this film was trying to be too quirky and the pacing was all wrong. They should have cut out the mute brother all together. "
i actually heard someone say they liked the movie up until the end and then it started sucking......i'm not sure what movie they were watching, the end was the only part that saved the movie
You guys don't like _________[/b]
This only works if you're talking to people who are panning a clearly stellar example of an art form. Little Miss Sunshine was a terd of sizable proportions. The only people I know who liked this film were my parents, who are nearly 60. I watched for about a half hour (I didn't laugh once) before walking out of the theater. But hey, if you regularly plant your hands on your hips and ask out loud, "Gosh, aren't people kooky?!?" than I'm sure this was right up your alley.
The Proposition was phenomenal. I enjoyed Fast Food Nation quite a bit, but I'll admit I probably wouldn't have been as into it if I hadn't liked the book so much. The Departed was a lot of fun, but Jack gave an embarrassing performance. He was practically a cartoon. Borat was disappointing. I was hoping for straight sketches, like the show. Jackass 2 was brilliant. The love note in the hotel hallway scene was genius. Science of sleep was great, but made me feel very un-hip.
been waiting to get my hands on this all year, downloaded it and there is no subtitles
I have the R3 Korean Import. I can rip the subtitles and e-mail them to you if you want, whatever works. Let me know. It was pretty interesting to see the R3 DVD come out 7 days after it premiered at CANNES, and 2 weeks before it hit small run theatres in France. I really liked this one. Anyhow, let me know.
This only works if you're talking to people who are panning a clearly stellar example of an art form. Little Miss Sunshine was a terd of sizable proportions. The only people I know who liked this film were my parents, who are nearly 60. I watched for about a half hour (I didn't laugh once) before walking out of the theater. But hey, if you regularly plant your hands on your hips and ask out loud, "Gosh, aren't people kooky?!?" than I'm sure this was right up your alley.
I'm not 60, nor do I do the latter, but I dug it. Just a little slice o' life I thought. Honestly, I'm surprised to see the strong reaction you've had to such an innocuous lil' movie.
I could not agree with you more about Pi, what a horrible horrible movie. It's the Douglas Coupland of movie making: beating you over the head with metaphor after meapthor after metaphor, and then suffocating you with 'weird imagery'. I hate that shit - David Lynch is in that category for me too. Weirdness for the sake of it, and no concept of subtlety whatsoever. What an incredibly lazy way of expressing a theme.
But anyhow, I thought Requiem was a marked improvement. A lot of movies attempt to be dark, but that one is plain sinister. So much so that I don't think I could watch it more than once every couple of years.
I could not agree with you more about Pi, what a horrible horrible movie. It's the Douglas Coupland of movie making: beating you over the head with metaphor after meapthor after metaphor, and then suffocating you with 'weird imagery'. I hate that shit - David Lynch is in that category for me too. Weirdness for the sake of it, and no concept of subtlety whatsoever. What an incredibly lazy way of expressing a theme.
But anyhow, I thought Requiem was a marked improvement. A lot of movies attempt to be dark, but that one is plain sinister. So much so that I don't think I could watch it more than once every couple of years.
David Lynch is in that category for me too. Weirdness for the sake of it, and no concept of subtlety whatsoever. What an incredibly lazy way of expressing a theme.
Came out in '05 so I need a late pass but the best flick I saw this year was "Searching For The Wrong-Eyed Jesus".
yes! i thought this doc was brilliantly executed. i mean, the content was there, but bbc took it the extra step and really strategized how they would shoot it. excellent doc. this makes me almost like art flicks again.
Comments
I thought "The Departed" was very good, but i still really like "Infernal Affairs" as well. I thought Scorsese did a good job of adapting the film for U.S. theaters.
My vote goes to this one. Most interesting experience I've had in a movie theater all year.
- spidey
Pi was one of the worst movies I've ever seen.
I also kinda hate Requiem.
- spidey
borat was not really that funny
children of men was aiiiiiiight
science of sleep was great
but the best movies I've seen this year were nowhere near 2006
One of the few current films I caught in
the theater, and I really enjoyed it.
I had a certain attatchment to the PKD novel,
though, so I may be in the minority.
I also saw "Hollywoodland," and although not great,
I wasn't mad at it. Ben Stiller was actually good,
which is an achievement in itself.
theater this year was not from 2006
but 1937 - thanks to Harvard University:
this is so good.
one of the best films i saw this year not from 2006 was this one (Barbara Stanwyck rules):
Inside Man's shortcoming were the characters - it could have taken a few lessons from noir films on how to create dark, mysterious characters instead of ones who felt incomplete and we had no real insight into their motivations (i'm thinking of Foster and Washington mostly). but hey, thanks for more notes on how to rob a bank.
Yeah it didn't blow me away, I was pleasantly surprised by Leo's performance though I must confess I haven't seen him in much since he entered his portly manhood stage of his career.
Not a bad adaption for a different audience though I had real problems with the way the music was mixed not to mention that the reuse of Gimme Shelter added to the feeling that real ground wasn't being covered.
Also the last shot made me physically cringe.
The whole last scene was utter bullshit.
I thought Infernal Affairs was only OK and I saw it in a movie theater. Good, but not great. I like the Departed MUCh more and saw it twice in a theater.
I'm not even sure of all the movies that came out this year, but The Departed is the last movie to really stick out in my mind.
I like Little Miss Sunshine, but thought it was cute, not great.
I really want to see the Last King of Scotland. Anyone checked it out?
Forrest Whitaker stole the show...Really powerful perfomance. It was pretty good in the sense that it was better than most self-indulgentwhitepeoplelivingamongthesavagesinAfrica movies I've seen.
I saw Little Children this weekend, which was an interesting psychological study about surburban America (I mean, who would cheat on Jennifer Connelly for Kate Winslet?) and surprisingly dark.
I would agree that this year's movies basically sucked; it's telling that my favorite was Something New.
I thought Departed was phenomenally entertaining.
And yes, I enjoyed it more than Infernal Affairs on a whole.
And you know my pedigree when it comes to the HK flicks so you know I'm not hating.
I actually thought Jack was the weakest link acting-wise. Just a little too hammy for me.
Movies of '06 that I dug...
The Departed
The Illusionist
(enjoyable)
Cocaine Cowboys
(as with The Departed, could've been better with re: to editing. Seriously, someone needs to show Marty that scissors can be a good thing)
Jonestown
(coulda been better - particularly in re: to tying up a whole lot of loose ends)
Fearless
(fun, best thing Ronny Yu has EVER done, which is not saying a lot though)
Casino Royale
(best Bond in a long minute)
Inside Man
(good, involving heist caper)
Children of Men
(coulda been a LOT better, but still worth seeing - particularly for some incredibly well shot action sequences. Biggest minuses: Clive Owen is one boring, sad sack of an actor. Thank God he turned down Bond. Cuaron also tried a little too hard to be political. It was just a little too much for me to swallow that "homeland security" will pose a far greater threat to our future than fanatical muslim extremists
Just to be fair, some films I haven't seen this year are: Last King of Scottland, Little Children, Curse of the Golden Flower, The Prestige, Letters To Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, Borat, Happy Feet and a couple others.
Biggest disappointments:
Superman Returns, Children of Men, Flags of our Fathers, and some more.... )
Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro)
Ghosts of Cite Soleil (Asger Leth)
Taxidermia (Gyorgy Palfi)
This is England (Shane Meadows)
Cronica de una Fuga (Adrian Caetano)
ILS / Them (David Moreau)
Time (Kim KiDuk)
Container (Lukas Moodyson)
been waiting to get my hands on this all year, downloaded it and there is no subtitles
This only works if you're talking to people who are panning a clearly stellar example of an art form. Little Miss Sunshine was a terd of sizable proportions. The only people I know who liked this film were my parents, who are nearly 60. I watched for about a half hour (I didn't laugh once) before walking out of the theater. But hey, if you regularly plant your hands on your hips and ask out loud, "Gosh, aren't people kooky?!?" than I'm sure this was right up your alley.
The Proposition was phenomenal. I enjoyed Fast Food Nation quite a bit, but I'll admit I probably wouldn't have been as into it if I hadn't liked the book so much. The Departed was a lot of fun, but Jack gave an embarrassing performance. He was practically a cartoon. Borat was disappointing. I was hoping for straight sketches, like the show. Jackass 2 was brilliant. The love note in the hotel hallway scene was genius. Science of sleep was great, but made me feel very un-hip.
i just got some vhs screener bootleg thingy of this and hands down some of the funniest shit ive seen all year.
I have the R3 Korean Import. I can rip the subtitles and e-mail them to you if you want, whatever works. Let me know. It was pretty interesting to see the R3 DVD come out 7 days after it premiered at CANNES, and 2 weeks before it hit small run theatres in France. I really liked this one. Anyhow, let me know.
I'm not 60, nor do I do the latter, but I dug it. Just a little slice o' life I thought. Honestly, I'm surprised to see the strong reaction you've had to such an innocuous lil' movie.
I could not agree with you more about Pi, what a horrible horrible movie. It's the Douglas Coupland of movie making: beating you over the head with metaphor after meapthor after metaphor, and then suffocating you with 'weird imagery'. I hate that shit - David Lynch is in that category for me too. Weirdness for the sake of it, and no concept of subtlety whatsoever. What an incredibly lazy way of expressing a theme.
But anyhow, I thought Requiem was a marked improvement. A lot of movies attempt to be dark, but that one is plain sinister. So much so that I don't think I could watch it more than once every couple of years.
Do you even like movies?
yes! i thought this doc was brilliantly executed. i mean, the content was there, but bbc took it the extra step and really strategized how they would shoot it. excellent doc. this makes me almost like art flicks again.
Just watched Miami Vice, not exactly a classic but stunning visuals.
Films I'd rate for the year: The Departed, The Prestige and Borat.
Honorable mention: Inside Man.
Shocked by views on Aronofsky and Lynch.