Tuesday I finished watching The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the film is overlong but it was interesting and I thought it was alright. I didnt like Casey Affleck’s performance in the film, it kept dragging me out of the narrative. Brad Pitt wasnt terrible in it, although he wasnt great either, kinda blah….if you know what I mean.
I will say this however, this film is absolutely beautiful to look at, it was shot incredibly well and the director Andrew Dominik has a great visual sense, I thought his first film Chopper was pretty amazing and this film is flawed but wow is it beautiful.
I recommend it if you enjoy westerns and if you enjoy film making, as entertainment it will depend on taste, it’s a slow burn…..
I also just watched the red band trailer for the new Coen Bros. film “Burn After Reading” and it looks very good, back to comedy and it looks very Liebowski like…..I forgot to put the link in here but it is free at the iTunes Store….check it out.
just saw womens prison massacre, good sleazy women in priosn flick and this is the first laura gemser emmanuel film i have seen. Also saw Riki-O:the story of Riki, man that was an insane little film, I frigging loved it. Tomorrow i will be seeing heroes of the east with gordon liu.
just saw boarding gate new asia argento/michale madesn film starts out as a french type of character film then dovetails into a HK type of action movie. Pretty good and asia shows lots of skin in it. also saw zero woman:red handcuffs, very nice and slezy japanese exploitation with some of the craziest gore scenes i have ever seen.
Tuesday I finished watching The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the film is overlong but it was interesting and I thought it was alright. I didnt like Casey Affleck’s performance in the film, it kept dragging me out of the narrative. Brad Pitt wasnt terrible in it, although he wasnt great either, kinda blah….if you know what I mean.
I will say this however, this film is absolutely beautiful to look at, it was shot incredibly well and the director Andrew Dominik has a great visual sense, I thought his first film Chopper was pretty amazing and this film is flawed but wow is it beautiful.
I recommend it if you enjoy westerns and if you enjoy film making, as entertainment it will depend on taste, it’s a slow burn…..
STOP THE PRESS! Samurai and I actually (partially)disagree on something for once! I have to put in my 2 cents on a few things here Mr. Samurai, I personally found Casey Affleck mesmerizing as the young man who looks at and idolizes Jesse James with an almost childlike wonder/worship. I thought he was pretty creepy in the part, yet in the last 20 or 30 minutes, I found myself sympathetic towards him.. I agree that the film was a major slow burn and some would find it overlong, but I definitely didn’t. It’s a f*cking shame that this(and Zodiac) got completely ignored at the Oscars. I thought Brad Pitt was good as James, and did a good job conveying James’ sense of weariness and paranoia. I for one, think that people(not saying you Samurai, but people in general) discount Pitt as an actor because of how pretty he is. I personally think he’s a very good actor, who doesn’t let vanity get in the way of a meaty role that he wants to do. As for Chopper, I think it was awesome, but VERY messy as a film; basically, Bana’s performance carried the film on it’s back.. I would say if you like westerns, Jesse James is a definite watch(and FAR superior to 3:10 to Yuma), but be aware, it’s almost an art house western if you will. One question Samurai: what did you think of the narrator in Jesse James? at first i thought it was lazy filmmaking/needless exposition, but as time went on and the movie went on, I thought it added a certain poignancy to the film(esp. in the last 20 minutes or so). Oh and by the way, I’m a big Sam Rockwell fan, so it was nice to see him working..
just saw boarding gate new asia argento/michale madesn film starts out as a french type of character film then dovetails into a HK type of action movie. Pretty good and asia shows lots of skin in it. also saw zero woman:red handcuffs, very nice and slezy japanese exploitation with some of the craziest gore scenes i have ever seen.
I picked up Boarding Gate a few months back on a whim and hadn’t watched it yet, as the trailer seems to illustrate a very schizophrenic film, but now you’ve piqued my interest in seeing it with the French/HK action comment you made..
Tuesday I finished watching The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, the film is overlong but it was interesting and I thought it was alright. I didnt like Casey Affleck’s performance in the film, it kept dragging me out of the narrative. Brad Pitt wasnt terrible in it, although he wasnt great either, kinda blah….if you know what I mean.
I will say this however, this film is absolutely beautiful to look at, it was shot incredibly well and the director Andrew Dominik has a great visual sense, I thought his first film Chopper was pretty amazing and this film is flawed but wow is it beautiful.
I recommend it if you enjoy westerns and if you enjoy film making, as entertainment it will depend on taste, it’s a slow burn…..
STOP THE PRESS! Samurai and I actually (partially)disagree on something for once! I have to put in my 2 cents on a few things here Mr. Samurai, I personally found Casey Affleck mesmerizing as the young man who looks at and idolizes Jesse James with an almost childlike wonder/worship. I thought he was pretty creepy in the part, yet in the last 20 or 30 minutes, I found myself sympathetic towards him.. I agree that the film was a major slow burn and some would find it overlong, but I definitely didn’t. It’s a f*cking shame that this(and Zodiac) got completely ignored at the Oscars. I thought Brad Pitt was good as James, and did a good job conveying James’ sense of weariness and paranoia. I for one, think that people(not saying you Samurai, but people in general) discount Pitt as an actor because of how pretty he is. I personally think he’s a very good actor, who doesn’t let vanity get in the way of a meaty role that he wants to do. As for Chopper, I think it was awesome, but VERY messy as a film; basically, Bana’s performance carried the film on it’s back.. I would say if you like westerns, Jesse James is a definite watch(and FAR superior to 3:10 to Yuma), but be aware, it’s almost an art house western if you will. One question Samurai: what did you think of the narrator in Jesse James? at first i thought it was lazy filmmaking/needless exposition, but as time went on and the movie went on, I thought it added a certain poignancy to the film(esp. in the last 20 minutes or so). Oh and by the way, I’m a big Sam Rockwell fan, so it was nice to see him working..
We were bound to disagree at some point huh? I tell ya I didnt like the narration at first but as the film went along I really quite liked it. I do agree with you it is better than 310 To Yuma but I just couldnt get into the performances as much as I wanted to….I really like Sam Rockwell in this film and I apologize for not mentioning him the first time around….I think Pitt can be good, dont get me wrong, he just wasnt tough guy magnetic and he did that crazy laugh thing he does which didnt fit in this film….we will have to agree to disagree when it comes to Affleck….I loved his performance in Gone Baby Gone it was very good…this one just seemed like he was trying too hard…..I do think the director of this film will be on to bigger things. All I can say is what I’ve already stated…it is simply a beautiful film to look at and it feels a little empty sometimes…I liked it, but I wanted to love it….
Samurai: I guess we’ll agree to disagree for once in our lives. We are still pretty much a mini borg collective though as far as I can see.. Affleck was f*cking awesome in Gone Baby Gone(which, as a film, was a very pleasant surprise for me) As for Andrew Domink, I also hope he can parlay this into much more success as he is clearly a talented film maker
Just got home from the theatre after viewing Stuart Gordon’s STUCK - it far exceeded my expectations and Stephen Rea’s acting was excellent!!! Gordon’s best film yet and a huge step up for him.
just saw some recent dvd releases and they were all quite good.
Otis:this was a great stire on the whole torture porn genre and Illeana DOulgas as th mom hell bent on revenge and Jere Burns as the FBI profiler were awesome, the ending was great since it was so abrupt.
the Signal-This film really had a slezy exploitational feel to it , and it basically has the same plot as Stephen King’s Cell, but pulled off much more expertly. The best part is the 2nd transmissin it just has some great dark comedic moments.
Funny Games-What a brutal as f**k film. It really had the feel of the original TCm as alot of the violence is implied rather than shown. I also loved the buts where the killers broke the fourth wall. Definitely a film watching experience that will stay with you for awhile.
