I liked True Grit, which I saw a week before Winter's Bone, but the latter definitely seemed to have a more determined young female lead and a more badass older supporting dude. And - respect to Roger Deakins - the cinematography is better, in fact some of the best that comes to mind in the last few years.

The idea that the "good guys" know the "bad guys" and that the real difference (or difference-maker) is just external legal/financial pressure, is well-developed in both films. 

is so underappreciated. I watch some movies just because he shot them :)

Just a quick one, saw [Rec]2, they obviously wanted to make this what Aliens was to Alien. Unfortunately it doesnt really work despite a handful of very nifty moments. Most of it is down to exposition about how things came to be, and as usual, the unexplained version was much better than the explained version (which also lacks credibility). 

the unexplained in a film - particularly as it relates to threats - can be the best thing in a film. The complete lack of explanation in Alien, for example, is genius. Same with The Thing. And even for human characters, Chigurh and the Nolan/Ledger Joker are both so much creepier because their motives are, as one critic put it, "both unexplained, and beside the point."

Actually while I'm pretentiously ranting, David Simon (MacArthur award recipient and creator of The Wire) said that he went back to the Greek view of tragedy - where you just get arbitrarily fucked over - as opposed to the Shakespearean view where some character flaw, leading to a critical choice, fucks you over. He said he thought the Greek view of sheer arbitrariness was more appropriate to a world ruled by transnational, unaccountable institutions. I suspect this is why the movies I mentioned seem so profound now, whereas in the past it was easier to put a face and a motivation to the "bad guy," as much of a lie as that may have been people were more ready to believe it. 

is really the key. There is too much fetishism in modern cinema with explaining every last minute detail of stuff that doesnt really matter, at the expense of stuff that does (mainly characterisation).

As for greek v Shakespearean tragedy, I think both have their place, it really depends on what you're going for themtically and tonally, but knowing the difference is crucial. 

I was talking to a film student who knows way more than me today, and he pointed out that by the time film was 60 years old it had masterpieces that still haven't been surpassed, while the TV format is only now experiencing a renaissance, especially with regards to establishing character. I thought it was an amazing point, one damned good advance of the last 10 years is serious TV series.

PS I love Shakespeare but I vote for the Greek view. Shakespeare was contaminated (yes I'm that asshole) by Christianity. The Greeks never heard of that shit, they just talked about how nasty nature was. Nature'll fuck you, forget that lame ass satan. 

has helped tv a lot.

Challenging dense series that dont have a finite finish in every episode are way more accessible when you can sit through a whole season back to back. I really dont know how I could watch Mad Men, Deadwood, The Wire etc on a week t week basis :) 

ridiculous but I just realized (mostly because of your post), that the entire idea of an ending, is the most artificial shit ever. In fact, never give me an ending, and whoever wants an ending doesn't get the idea of TV as a random glimpse into a different world. 

Hehe Tronyn movies without endings are crap though. It'd be like if the LOTR, Matrix, Harry Potter never moved past the first movie. The story would just feel incomplete and I'd be completely dissatisfied. Like a game without a big end fight.

Has there ever been a movie that didn't have a conclusion/ending, where it worked? 

should not have moved past the first movie 

 

The Other Guys (2010)

It just does not end. Stupid movie. Depressing unlikable characters. Bland jokes. Stupid. Stupid. Still 30 minutes to watch, why am I doing this? 

Just re-watched it. Loved it.

Any of you guys have seen it? 

because I feel like mini reviewing again:

Book of Eli - Very interesting idea, although I'm not sure the very end does justice to it, and it also works as a genre film. Action scenes are impressive, as are Washington, Oldman and Kunis. Cinematography is a bit hit and miss due to the style used which sometimes feels a little too self conscious.

6.5/10

The Warlords (125 min HK cut) - Another film that splutters in the third act but up until then it's a pretty good mix of asian melodrama, brutal action and sweeping scenery. Jet Lit acquits himself well and the midpoint battle scene is spectacular.

6.5/10

Toy Story 3 - Not as good as 1 and 2, ut miles ahead of most movies, animated or otherwise. Took about 20 min for me to really get into it, but once the prison break storyline starts, its a heap of fun. Spanish Buzz Light Year is one of Pixar's best characters.

8/10

Daybreakers - Surprisingly excellent futuristic vampire genre film. The plot is actually pretty similar to the premise of True Blood but the script is smarter, edgier and less camp. Nothing groundbreaking but a very solid genre film with a number of nifty takes on the vampire mythos.

7-7.5/10

Tropic Thunder - much better than I was expecting, mainly due to Robert Downey Jnr but Stiller also deserves credit for making it smarter than it should be. Does still resort to stupid gags quite a lot but some of Downey Jnr's scenes are hilarious.

6-6.5/10

Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters - excellent biopic of Japanese author Yuko Mishima. Paul Schrader aboids the usual biopic narrative (and its trappings) by mixing together scenes from Mishima's last day, his childhood, and hyper stylized recreations of 3 of his more famous novels. Bit confusing for someone who doesnt know anything about the subject (like me), but riveting nonetheless.

7.5/10 

Okay I suppose, action scenes were unnecessary and felt out of place, but I suppose the actors did well enough jobs of playing their characters that you can forgive it. Wasn't as witty or quirky as other action/adventure movies. Felt it was completely watchable though. 

although the BBC version of Sherlock that I just finished shits all over it.

Check it out, 3 mini movies, second a little weak but first and third are great.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1475582/ 

Totally loved that modern day Sherlock. Can't wait for more. Doing 3 movies instead of 12 episodes or whatever zany UK schedule they use is weird but I totally appreciated it.

Asaki didn't like it, cuz he's a dork. 

This long haul flight has the expendables in it's movie system - and airnz let you drink as much as you want - rock on! 

Rambo 4 - had never seen any of the Rambos but was pleasantly surprised by the sheer efficiency of this one. Its a little bit contradictory thematically but its beautifully shot and the action scenes are suitably visceral. Stallone also has surprisingly decent presence in this one.

6.5/10 

oh nitin you disappoint me, how could you have not seen ANY of the previous Rambos! 1 and 2 are best. The third is crap. In fact, I'm yet to really like any American-based middle eastern war movie. Maybe Vietnam was just a much better setting, but it's had some classics; Rambo 2, Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Full Metal Jacket. Hell even Forest Gump and Jacob's Ladder, although they're not officially war movies. What the fuck has middle east had? Three Kings and Green Zone were okay. Blood Diamond and Body Of Lies were decent (because of Di Caprio) but certainly not classics.

Anyway back to Rambo. The 4th was okay, but definitely nowhere near as good as the first 2. 

Oh and Nick Nolte and Tom Cruise made Tropic Thunder for me. I wish Danny Mcbride and Steve Coogan were used a lot more as well, they're both funny pricks. Although Coogan seems to be struggling with being funny any most of his hollywood movie characters, Knowing Me Knowing You and The Alan Partridge Show is classic brit comedy.

I've seen enough of Robert Downey Jr, Jack Black and Ben Stiller. In fact, apart from Zoolander and There's Something About Mary (which was funny due to the script and other characters, not Stiller), not one of those 3 have done a very funny comedy in their careers. 

First Blood is okay, but 2?! This scene sums it up pretty accurately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DrA4G48Jr0 

<rant>
I thought Rambo 4 was pretty terrible and morally rancid. This from someone that loves violent games. The entire film is about a hour of set up so you can morally enjoy watching people get slaughter in as bloody a way as they could.

As ruthlessreviews summerised it: Aging slab of beef slaughters asians. Whites rejoice.

It would have been alright if it wasn't trying to tie itself into real world events. Yeah, news footage of real masacres and stuff at the beginning... really tasteful guys. Revenge fantasy isn't necessarily awful, although it's very questionable, but trying to tie it to the real world in so blatant a way, tells of a nation (or at least a core market) with a fucked up psyche.

imo

</rant> :) 

no interest in previous Rambos, I know what I like :) Watched 4 because someone else was.

Middle East war movies, Jarhead was good, Hurt Locker was excellent, and even though its not american The Bsttle of Algiers sits at the top of the pile.

And as for Downey Jnr, I like him a lot. Stiller and Black not so much.

ZQF, morally rancid, arguably so. Well made action movie, I would say arguably so.

As for the violence, I personally think if there is to be violence on screen, it should be on the ugly side rather than the cartoony side.

As for tying into real world events, there's plenty of entertainment that takes its cue from tragedies in the real world. Most modern video games for example. 

"there's plenty of entertainment that takes its cue from tragedies in the real world."

Certainly funny to see how over the top the latest CoD games have become. Quite funny to see something trying so hard to be shocking or intense :p 

Daybreakers was really good. A grittier antidote to all the festering cheese teenage romance vampire bullshit.

Tropic Thunder on the otherhand, was utterly awful and devoid of any entertaiment value. I would struggle to give it 6-6.5 %.