What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[Ben Thomas]

George Harrison: Living in the Material World

Fascinating, definitive.

Lady Vengeance

Brilliant, unexpected.

Project Nim

Powerful, slick.

Of the three, Nim is the one I wanted to be longer. Its not just a documentary about chimps. Its implications and the ideas it touches on are far-reaching and key to our understanding of the role of language in evolution.

[Captain Russ]

After The Wedding.

Lost it like Squeak Scolari in the pineapple suit a couple of times. Well acted, well scripted Danish family drama with Mads leading the ensemble. The actors who portray Jorgen and Anna edge him out in one scene toward the end though, and it is fucking devastating.

Malena.

After seeing a shitty little seaside village full of gossiping fuckholes publicly decimate her, I've come to the conclusion that Monica Bellucci (probably the best she's ever looked aside from that Gans movie with the tasteful boob-to-mountain dissolve) gravitates toward roles that allow her to be a masochistic exhibitionist.

It explains those Matrix sequels anyway.

[Bobby Bear]

Agreed, but taken in the context of when the film was made and the budget they had to play with, I'll give it a pass....

Piper Laurie did almost too good a job as Carrie's mom, almost to the point of being typecast.... foreshadowing Marcia Gay Harden's Mrs. Carmody in King's The Mist.

That's a great call on Harden, man! They're two of the better examples of King's recurrent character types on film.

I also share your leniency towards said Alien cut. To be honest, it's part of what I dig about the flick. For me, a choice between accepting something like that and trying to look past the horrible PS2 cut-scene haze of bad CGI is no choice at all.

It's not about nostalgia. It simply irritates me the way a "too digital" aesthetic can, essentially, sterilize a film, draining it of the sort of atmosphere that keeps Alien evergreen.

[Timothy225]

That's a great call on Harden, man! They're two of the better examples of King's recurrent character types on film.

I also share your leniency towards said Alien cut. To be honest, it's part of what I dig about the flick. For me, a choice between accepting something like that and trying to look past the horrible PS2 cut-scene haze of bad CGI is no choice at all.

It's not about nostalgia. It simply irritates me the way a "too digital" aesthetic can, essentially, sterilize a film, draining it of the sort of atmosphere that keeps Alien evergreen.

[Bobby Bear]

*John Bender fist-pump.jpg*

[Ben Thomas]

Thor - with director's commentary.

Really made me understand why fans of the film enjoyed it so much more than me and gave me a much greater appreciation for how well crafted the film is on almost every level. Highly recommended, especially for fans of the character. Branagh is a delight to listen to - considered, deferential, committed, with an excellent grasp of genre, lore, tone... Just a pleasure. Its rare that I make it through a commentary without switching to the film's native soundtrack about 20 minutes in, but this is one of the better ones I've stuck with in recent years.

In that note, I thoroughly recommend the commentary track on the Senna blu. Opened up elements of the man's life and career that the film only touches on, as well as being a pretty fascinating study of editing and shot choice (quality, taste etc) in documentary making.

[Keith]

Le Cercle Rouge. Followed by Captain America. Again.

Hi, I've been out of circulation for a bit, but I'm fairly certain I know a lot of you from that one message board, you know the one I'm talking about, where people where always talking about stuff and things?

[Abraham Smashington]

Nothing wrong with Captain. Just wasn't of a fan of the 3rd act for the most part.

[Captain Russ]

Needed the Bucky loss to push it. Died too soon and in too awkward of a way to really pay it off. If the Skull had done him in personally, or if he went out in the final push, that third act would have been considerably better for it.

[Abraham Smashington]

Totally agree. His death was like "Really? That's it? Bummer..."

[Matt]

Thor - with director's commentary.

Really made me understand why fans of the film enjoyed it so much more than me and gave me a much greater appreciation for how well crafted the film is on almost every level. Highly recommended, especially for fans of the character. Branagh is a delight to listen to - considered, deferential, committed, with an excellent grasp of genre, lore, tone... Just a pleasure. Its rare that I make it through a commentary without switching to the film's native soundtrack about 20 minutes in, but this is one of the better ones I've stuck with in recent years.

In that note, I thoroughly recommend the commentary track on the Senna blu. Opened up elements of the man's life and career that the film only touches on, as well as being a pretty fascinating study of editing and shot choice (quality, taste etc) in documentary making.

SENNA's out on blu ray???? Why did I miss this????

Seriously guys...SENNA is the best movie of last year.

[Abraham Smashington]

Never seen it.

[BillyG]

I tried to watch it on Netflix a couple weeks back, but fell asleep. Pretty sure beer and tacos were involved.

[Timothy225]

Needed the Bucky loss to push it. Died too soon and in too awkward of a way to really pay it off. If the Skull had done him in personally, or if he went out in the final push, that third act would have been considerably better for it.

Yeah, Bucky's death bugged me, too. Too awkward, not enough emotional gravitas to it. If either of Russ' examples were used, his death would have more meaning and serve as more motivation for Cap.

ETA: Watched Powder last night, before our power went out. Right during the scene with Powder, Lance Henriksen and his wife at the wife's bedside. COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!

[Bobby Bear]

Hi, I've been out of circulation for a bit, but I'm fairly certain I know a lot of you from that one message board, you know the one I'm talking about, where people where always talking about stuff and things?

Greetings, Keith. I don't believe I recognize you, but I was never the best at telling aliases apart from one board to the next.

Completely agree with you fine gents about Captain America. I loved so much of the Red Skull stuff, but it's just a shame he didn't have a chance to cement his villainy by banishing Bucky to the land of wind and ghosts.