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Post by cheerypeabrain on May 29, 2011 18:55:25 GMT
Just watched the first and second episodes of the American version of Life on Mars ;D quite enjoyed it, altho I do really like the UK original. We're recording the rest and look forward to watching it.
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Post by lola on Jun 1, 2011 1:48:58 GMT
I think I made the mistake of trying the US version of Life On Mars in the middle of going through the UK one. Then I kept thinking things like, that is so NOT the Gov. Maybe in a year or two.
We watched The Tourist on DVD last night, and thought it was fun. Not sure why it was so roundly trashed, considering most of the competition out there. OK, so for half the movie it was impossible not to think of the Angelina Jolie character as anything other than Angelina, ditto Johnny Depp. The Venice location made it interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 1, 2011 6:27:01 GMT
I didn't see it since the critics everywhere said that it was not as good as the original movie "Anthony Zimmer." However, I was curious about what everybody called the laughably slow boat chase scenes.
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Post by thill25 on Jun 2, 2011 18:27:28 GMT
I've seen Fair Game, and 127 Hours since last time I checked in. Fair Game was interesting, but kinda boring. 127 Hours was terrific...inspiring for sure.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 12, 2011 18:48:34 GMT
I rented I've Loved You So Long to watch for the second time. What a brilliant however,god awful depressing movie. All the acting is superb.
Next up due to arrive via Netflix is the Ken Burns documentary on Frank Lloyd Wright.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 12, 2011 19:07:15 GMT
I started watching Treme again, even though I'd sworn off it after Season 1. The first episode of Season 2 wasn't any better, but luckily I gave the show another chance & was pulled in by Tim Robbins' direction of episode 2. Treme is still patchy and stagnant in many ways, but the direction has been better so far this year, and I've found myself actually feeling for some of the characters.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2011 19:47:37 GMT
I started watching Treme again, even though I'd sworn off it after Season 1. The first episode of Season 2 wasn't any better, but luckily I gave the show another chance & was pulled in by Tim Robbins' direction of episode 2. Treme is still patchy and stagnant in many ways, but the direction has been better so far this year, and I've found myself actually feeling for some of the characters. Keep your eyes peeled for an episode filmed at the Maple Leaf about a month ago. Rebirth Brass Band is featured in it. (you may also see someone you know...). I rented a movie highly recommended by the name of Catfish. (It's not about Catfish btw.) Anyone know it? I will keep y'all posted.
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Post by imec on Jun 16, 2011 2:06:25 GMT
LOVE this commercial...
(full song posted in Change the Station - New Favorites)
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 16, 2011 3:02:42 GMT
Not ignoring you, Imec, it's just that the video did nothing for me. Sorry! I started watching Treme again, even though I'd sworn off it after Season 1. The first episode of Season 2 wasn't any better, but luckily I gave the show another chance & was pulled in by Tim Robbins' direction of episode 2. Treme is still patchy and stagnant in many ways, but the direction has been better so far this year, and I've found myself actually feeling for some of the characters. Keep your eyes peeled for an episode filmed at the Maple Leaf about a month ago. Rebirth Brass Band is featured in it. (you may also see someone you know...). Hmmmmmm. Will it air as part of Season Two, the one now showing? Are you watching the show? I rented a movie highly recommended by the name of Catfish. (It's not about Catfish btw.) Anyone know it? I will keep y'all posted. I am not saying ONE WORD about that movie until you watch it. I just finished watching it about five minutes ago. Lemme know. If other people here have seen it also, that would be great for discussion.
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Post by Kimby on Jun 16, 2011 17:53:43 GMT
Can you give us a hint, bixa, if your review would be enthusiastic, scathing or mixed?
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 17, 2011 0:18:59 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 5:08:26 GMT
The trailer is interesting.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 17, 2011 10:49:19 GMT
Bixa,with reference to your question about the episode of Treme recently filmed at the Maple Leaf,I'm not really sure. I asked T. and he didn't know. I will inquire further. I do know that the production people have become notorious locally for not wanting to pay very much to local establishments for filming. The only reason our friend who owns the Maple Leaf acquiesced after being jacked around several times by them,is that the leader of Rebirth Brass band is a good friend, and Rebirth is the standard Tuesday nite house band there.
OK,with reference to Catfish. I was very touched by this movie. I knew nothing of it,had not read any reviews and rented it at the insistence of a good friend. I have never been a Facebook member/user whatever the term is. My only exposure to the world of cyberspace that I guess comes close is my being a member of this forum since it's opening and now 3 other forums subsequent to that,although only minimally.
I was quite startled although, not real real surprised at the turn of events that occurred in the movie. I can now easily see how this kind of thing could happen. I wanted to be reviled at the main female character's behavior but,I found myself responding in a much more empathic way than I would have expected. The level of desperateness,neediness and pathos,for lack of a better word I guess, spoke to me. Basically,the lengths people will go to meet their emotional and personal needs. On another level,it was very very frightening, startlingly so,the degree of deception,manipulation etc. that can be manifested via internet relationships come to life. In this woman's case,her emotional,psychic state being so fragile in so many ways,yet,being able to go the lengths that she did to have a relationship with this young man was really,really pathetic. Also,it seems that both parties ended up exploiting each other when all was said and done. It was really quite fascinating. I loved the description that the husband gave at the end of the movie explaining Catfish,and therefore,the title given the film. I look forward to hearing more feedback from others who viewed the film.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 18, 2011 16:23:29 GMT
I'm sure Treme thinks it's giving a giant boost for business to the places used in filming, which is a giant laugh when one knows the the success those places already enjoy. Anyway, I can't see that Treme needs the money, with what they must get paid for their totally unsubtle product placement. Did you know that everyone in New Orleans and in New York drinks Miller beer? Oh, exception -- Sonny, poverty-stricken street musician & dope addict, drinks Heineken. Okay, anyone who has not yet seen Catfish, don't read any further & try to block what Casimira has written out of your mind. ;D I say that because I think the movie is enhanced by coming to it cold. She did, and I certainly did, after having read Reply #620. It seemed a great idea to watch a movie based only on the fact that it was supposed to be good & without knowing a thing about it. Casimira, I agree with every single thing you said with a minor exception. One thing that was really super about it was how it was put together. It's all very immediate, as though we're right there with them through the whole thing. Angela is intensely interesting. As you say, so fragile in so many ways, yet her life demonstrates an amazingly tough generosity of spirit on one level, then an almost sociopathic detachment from the game she plays with another human being. Yes, pathos is exactly what she evokes, not only in us, but in her "victim". The husband is also intriguing, with his description of how he sees her at the end -- Buddhistically loving in its detachment and the immensely subtle and surprising analogy. I have to wonder if he knew something was up all along, and just elected to let her run with it. I mean, there has to be some explanation for his simply shrugging off allusions to large mysterious sums of money. I think it was brilliant the way he's sort of presented to us as this dumb lug, only to have the veil pulled aside towards the end to give us a brief but dazzling illumination of what he might really be. Although she does evoke sympathy, there's also the scary element of the meaning behind her casting of everyone in her elaborate drama. Speaking here of the personae she created, rather than their real life counterparts ........ I guess Abby is little Angela, all new & with a whole life ahead of her that won't have the wrong turns real Angela apparently took. Then there's imaginary Megan, 19 years old & screwed-up, which seems a pretty obvious parallel to whatever went on in Angela's real past. The fb husband is left as somewhat of a cypher, just background to the whole play. Alex the imaginary son is an effective, abbreviated Greek chorus. None of that is particularly scary, as it's essentially what fiction writers do, although channeled very differently. What is alarming is her targeting of Nev and pulling him into what should have remained a private, harmless make-believe. I don't really agree with you about the mutual exploitation. She was definitely guilty of exploitation, but I would say that Nev and the rest were not. Yes, they "used" her to make a movie, but with her cooperation. And not only did they not react in any of the very understandable negative ways they could have, especially Nev, but they treated her and her family with kindness and respect, showing sympathy but not pity. The movie definitely stays with you! Hope others watch it & comment, too.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 18, 2011 17:30:32 GMT
I have now watched Catfish as well, and it is an amazing film, yet without a single surprise for me. I have been online since 1983 with the French Minitel system that predated most of the internet. At that time, I already learned about multiple personalities -- sometimes malicious and sometimes harmless -- but basically the huge number of people who have an intense need to invent a different life from their own. I respect these people, but I feel sorry for the even huger number of people who have not realized that these virtual people exist.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 18, 2011 17:45:30 GMT
But that kind of deception has been going on since time began, and probably more effectively pre-internet, when there was no Google nor PeopleSearch to do the detecting for you.
Also, the people fooled were modern young people, savvy in the ways of the net. I do think the movie was partly about delivering surprise, but it was much deeper than that.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 10:48:37 GMT
My favorite 'surprise' in Catfish was when they fished their own untouched mail out of the mailbox and the dawn broke.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 15:17:56 GMT
My favorite 'surprise' in Catfish was when they fished their own untouched mail out of the mailbox and the dawn broke. That was very cool. Bixa,your describe so eloquently so many aspects of this film. I particularly love your description of the husband and your analysis,analogies, regarding Angela's children. The fact that these guys from NY were so incredibly savvy of the world of cyberspace continues to make the whole thing seem that much more scary. Angela's husband,I suppose, that aside from the financial gain that was involved,perhaps was able to turn a blind eye to his wife's intimate online "relationship". Having saddled her with the domestic situation she was in, and seeing how happy this guy made her life, may have eased up some of his guilt in not being able to give her what she so craved and missed out on had she not married him. Dunno.... Food for thought really.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 19, 2011 22:29:39 GMT
Oh, that's an interesting angle about the husband! However, I think he had no idea that she was having any kind of "thing", and certainly not about the whole house of cards she'd built. His whole reaction when Nev showed up was simply open and friendly. She must have been peeing herself.
But yes, the movie is definitely food for thought & I'm so grateful you led me to it. I like fluff as much as anyone, but resonance in a movie is fine, fine thing also.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 19, 2011 22:41:45 GMT
He may not have been totally conscious of what was going on detail wise,but,certainly her whole demeanor and mood,and state of mind psychologically had to have been noticed AND welcomed, and, subsequently, made life in that household much,much more pleasant for everyone involved.
I do hope that more folks check this movie out and add to the discussion.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 19, 2011 22:54:08 GMT
Ah yes ~~ hadn't thought of that.
Ditto about discussion.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 5:15:37 GMT
More and more people living a couples are having 'secret' or semi-secret internet lives, and I'm sure that the subject still requires quite a bit of sociological/psychological study as to how healthy or unhealthy this is. There's already lots about game addicts, but I'm under the impression that the surface has barely been scratched about internet forums and message boards (other than that funny lists about the various internet personalities).
In the olden times of postal mail, there were some intense relationships of people who had never met, but the internet now makes it possible for everybody.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 11:42:06 GMT
Interesting discussion. I haven't seen the movie, but what Kerouac just said above rings very true, and is perhaps (now) common knowledge.
It does. It makes you wonder/think about why some people are more prone to being 'internet cheaters' then others. My guess is they have too much time on their hands, are unhappy about their own personal real lives, and need an outlet or a fantasy world to belong to. Many lonely people on the internet, who have no real lives get pulled into this sort of thing. Men find willing women who will listen to them and flirt with them and what's more they don't have to pay for their services. And vis versa. Some will take this further by putting sexual innuendos into the conversation, and yet others will take it one step further and meet up with these men/women for sexual encounters. Why do it? Because they can, and because they get away with it, and really, because it seems accepted by (on the whole) the internet community. Too bad for the poor real life suckers living with these internet cheaters in their real lives.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 11:47:47 GMT
I don't watch much T.V., but last night I saw the movie 'Girl Interrupted'. It reminded me of 'The Cookoos Nest' but from a female point of view. Angelina Jolie played are part like an ace, I can see why she is ranked as one of the best female actors around today.
Pushing Daisy's buttons:
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 12:15:48 GMT
That is one of the only films where I thought Angelina Jolie did a really fine job.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 20, 2011 13:01:07 GMT
What with her reputation of being a 'wild child', I'm sure some of her real self was dragged out in order to play that role. And with her looks playing the tough character roles in future movies probably wasn't necessary in order for her to earn those big bucks. So she took the easy way out. So it wasn't a case of she 'couldn't do it', but more that 'she couldn't be bothered to do it'.
Just saying.
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Post by Jazz on Jun 20, 2011 21:46:00 GMT
I have never thought of Angelina Jolie as one of the 'finest actors of today'. But, I agree that she was superb in 'Girl Interrupted'.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 0:23:32 GMT
I think she is talented, yes. In Hollywood, looks will only take you so far. Talent, determination and intelligence also play a part. I admire her caring ways too, being an ambassador for children around the world. She's a busy lady. She was very good in GI.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 21, 2011 13:04:34 GMT
Last night I watched "There's Something About Mary" again. I had forgotten how sick some of the humour is. But it's still pretty hilarious.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 22, 2011 13:15:44 GMT
Jolie does indeed redeem herself greatly playing the role of a borderline personality disorder. It may not have been that much of a stretch for her to do IMHO.... I'm with you regarding your opinion of Jolie, Jazz. (good to see you btw!!! ). Lest anyone reading the previous posts regarding the movie Catfish,be put off by thinking that the focus of the movie is solely based on" just another" internet online relationship,deception etc.,the movie is much more complex and multi faceted in so many ways to make that type of generalization. I am now watching The Lives of Others,for the second time. My husband and I watched it when it first made it's debut,and,it was very powerful and frightening,intense,suspenseful and beautifully acted,written,and directed. Set in the 1980's East Berlin,it is a portrait of life under the watchful eyes of the state police. A must see.
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