The SRK Movie Fanatic Thread (REVIEWS, QUESTIONS, RANTS, STARS...ETC.) EVERYTHING!

DUDE are you pussy whipped are something. I think you would have got a better response trying to discuss animated family movies. Or those Campy comming of age teen movies.

Iā€™ve never seen them and through certain circumstances those three movies came into my possesion. So before viewing them I was just wondering what to expect.

Just because a movie is a ā€œchick flickā€ so to speak doesnā€™t mean that itā€™s bad. Titanic is one of the greatest movies ever. .The funniest movie ever Thereā€™s Something About Mary is a chick flick too.

really, i just wanted to quote this. i donā€™t think i should say much elseā€¦

So Iā€™m a fanatic of TV MILFā€¦ Yeahhhā€¦

mini rant:

Rocky V > you. Rocky V > every movie you love or hate. Rocky ā€œGo for itā€ V is a worthy edition to the Rocky canon and stands well on its own right. You are not a Rocky fan if you donā€™t like Rocky V. Most of the people on here are my age or younger, so I know for 98% of you, Rocky V was the first Rocky that you could actually go see in the theater. It was also the first Rocky that didnt stick exactly to formula (beyond the recap of the fight from the previous film) which is one of the main reasons fans give it grief (god help someone tries something different). I mean really, if you compare rocky IV with V, IV is much more laughable (paulieā€™s robot anyone?).

Rocky V is the most quotable of the sequels, itā€™s got the return of sage stallone from Over the Topā€¦and itā€™s the most quotable of the sequels!

Plus theres no song track by survivor on the score

iā€™ve decided every single movie ā€œgeekā€ has a weakness of some sort that other ā€œgeeksā€ would consider bad movies. with me, its comedies, stupid comedies. i like trash that some people would mock me for like zoolander or grandmaā€™s boy, hell i would mock others for that kind of trash. my ex always had a soft spot for cheesey romantic comedies. i couldnā€™t stand em, but she loved em. with pg, iā€™ve noticed he enjoys alot of horros and 80ā€™s cinema that i find rather counter-intuitive to his usual movie fare. i think this points to a major aspect of cinema, entertainemnt factor. people always classify ā€œmovie geeksā€ as people who only watch art house films and must break every film down to its smallest elements. we all still have the ability to seperate what we consider fine art of cinema from the entertainment of cinema. these two aspects are not mutually exclusive, many times they cross path.

i think because of this prejudice, you get alot of people who automatically assume things about some one who does have a knowledge of cinema. it also lends itself to forcing cinema geek newbies into thinking they have to like only artistic films. i dunno, maybe iā€™m overthinking it, but its something iā€™ve noticed latelyā€¦

The Fountain was the shiznittle pure and simpleā€¦probably deserves its own thread for a crazy ass discussionā€¦but whateverā€¦

im outi

Roberth

Itā€™s the end of the yearā€¦so letā€™s get your top 3 movies of 2006 posted. Since Iā€™ve only seen two in theatresā€¦ Iā€™ll have to add on later.

  1. Pirates of the Carribean: Deadmanā€™s Chest - Davy Jones is the shiznit. I am impressed with all the visual effectsā€¦even though the overall story didnā€™t feel like a complete story.

  2. The Prestige: Hugh Jackman + Christian Bale = Gold.

im still working on my top ten best and worst list but there are still alot of movies from december to get in there.

And I keep hearing from everyone irl that the fountain is great

iā€™ve heard mixed reviews of it, but mostly they have said its visually stunning, which is always a bonus for me. unfortunately for me, my ability to go see movies is hindered by my complete lack of cash this monthā€¦

k, i know jester and pg could answer this, how disturbing or realistic are the guinea pig series?

I know this is dated, but hereā€™s a review I wrote for my college paper on Memoirs of a Geisha when I first saw it in January.

~

***The Sad Truth About Memoirs of a Geisha **

When it was announced that Ziyi Zhang would be starring as Sayuri in the film adaptation of Arthur Goldenā€™s Memoirs of a Geisha, many in Japan expressed their displeasure over a Chinese actress selected to play the lead role, accusing the filmā€™s producers of overlooking superior Japanese talent.

Memoirs of a Geisha begins on a dark, rainy night in 1929 when 9-year-old Chiyo (Suzuka Ohgo) is forcibly removed from her village home and sold to an ā€œokiyaā€ (a geisha house) located in Kyotoā€™s Gion district. The proprietor, affectionately referred to as ā€œAuntie Oimaā€ (Tsai Chin), dismisses Chiyo as a country girl upon seeing her muddied feet. Chin briefly steals the scene as Oima: a hardnosed woman with a pipe-smoking bravado.

Another female character making life in the okiya difficult for Chiyo is Hatsumomo: a conniving geisha made jealous by Chiyoā€™s blossoming potential. Conventional film tells us to cheer for the heroine while jeering the rogue, but viewers may find themselves rooting in favor of Hatsumomo. Yeah, she might be a big-time sadist. And she does have a tendency to bring down the okiyaā€™s reputation-up late night, sleeping around, hair and kimono disheveled with a hangover to boot. Li Gong plays the hell out of Hatsumomo, reminding us just how interesting villains can be.

Ziyi Zhangā€™s first appearance in Memoirs does not come until halfway, but she is effective nonetheless. Zhang is without question an adorable presence on screen. Her face is capable of making a camera blush and their expressions will make you believe the moon is made of lemon meringue.

Memoirs of a Geisha is not without its rough edges. Letā€™s face it: this movie lacks a higher level of authenticity. Despite being set in Japan, the dialogue is predominantly English. Pre-release articles suggested Zhang was required to learn intensive Japanese, which gave the impression that Memoirs would be categorized as a foreign release. This was a gross overstatement. Ziyi and other non-Japanese actors only spoke a few lines of the language.

Another issue lies in Chiyo becoming a proper geisha. When girls as young as 5 move to an okiya, they are trained in various disciplines (e.g. tea ceremony and conceptual dance). Think of it as a glorified sorority. It takes upwards of 10 years before they are allowed a formal debut. In Memoirs, this process was cut down to only a few months, giving Chiyoā€™s transformation into Sayuri a rushed feel.

Most people think of geishas as high-class prostitutes, and the okiya nothing more than a high-end brothel, but this is a common misconception. They specialize in fine etiquette and performance arts. If a geisha were found promiscuous, the okiya would under most circumstances disown her. Late in Memoirs, Sayuri, torn by unrequited love, auctions her virginity to the highest bidder. This only fuels the notion that a geisha is limited to sexual compromise.

The fourth major flaw is its reliance on visual flair. Itā€™s superficial: nothing more than 2 hours of elaborate kimonos and a not so bizarre love triangle. Memoirs fails to wean itself of the tripe often associated with modern American cinema.

No one has a greater problem with Memoirs of a Geisha than Mineko Iwasaki, the basis of both the film and novel. During the 1990s, Arthur Golden befriended Iwasaki and referred to her during the bookā€™s production stages. The relationship between Golden and Iwasaki later soured following its publication in 1998. Iwasaki accused Golden of breaching a confidentiality agreement that protected her name from being mentioned as a source. She also accused Golden of taking instances from her life and greatly exaggerating them to the point of near defamation. Both parties settled out of court in 2003.

If you would like more information on Mineko Iwasaki, please refer to her 2003 autobiography entitled Geisha, A Life (U.S.) or its U.K. equivalent Geisha of Gion.

Grade: C*

I also did not enjoy Geisha. For a more honest look at a similar circumstance I would suggest Moll Flanders

and oh god angrylib - THEY ARE DOING IT TO US AGAIN!

from criterion coming in january - new editions of Yojimbo and Sanjuro
Yojimbo:

Sanjuro:

Note that the current criterion dvds of these films had non-anomorphic transfers and no extras, not even the commentaries.

Criterion is also releasing them packaged together

http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=52
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/release.asp?id=53
http://www.criterionco.com/asp/connections.asp?id=63

time to put the old ones on ebayā€¦

lucky for me, i hadnā€™t picked those up. i almost purchased that four disk set, but you saved my ass on that one and i ended up only getting seven samurai. iā€™ll be picking these up when i have some cash next yearā€¦

awards season has officially kicked off with the golden globes noms.

www.hfpa.org

some interesting notes -

leo gets 2 noms in the same catagory: actor in a leading role - drama
2 of the foriegn language movies are directed by american directors - letters and apocalypto

iā€™d also like to make a case for borat being a true contendor for at least lead actor oscar nom - though the academy doesnā€™t honor comedy as much as they should, sacha cohen deserves the actor nom simply because of the challenge of the role he played. while most actors get take after take to perfect the scene, most his work was done with only one shot at keeping character and convince real people of his character.

but at the same time he has had multiple seasons and many episodes to perfect the shtick

yeah, thats what my fiance said tooā€¦

jus saw Harsh times. for some reason I found that movie fuckikng hilarious.

Not as violent as i thought it would be but i can relate to it well.

peeps should check it out if theyre looking for something unblockbuster

My Top Three:

POTC: DMC- Despite the fact that it wasnā€™t as good as the first, itā€™s still a decent flickā€¦

Clerks II- I fuckinā€™ liked it

Superman Returns- Okay, so I like train wreck films, but I got what I wanted out of the filmā€¦and that was to see how modern special effects would handle Supermanā€¦

agree on clerks 2, Superman was a big disappointment thoughā€¦

For everyone with Netflix - letā€™s get an srk friends list going. Mine is gfowlkes at gmail dot com for those who want to add