(no subject)

[salinea]

Last week I watched the Good, the Bad, the Weird, a Korean movie which, as the name indicates, makes a homage Sergio Leone as well as a bunch of other references which I could not get. Set in Manchuria during the Japanese invasion, it features a big bunch of various bandits amongst which our weird, a bounty hunter (the good) and a hired gun (the bad), and the Japanese army seeking a supposed treasure map from the end of the Qin dynasty.
It was very fun : it was pretty much action, action, action, comedy, action, pretty boys doing outrageously over the top badass posturing, action, comedy; at a breakneck pacing, and with a very interesting and cool cinematography. Stylistically very fun as well, from western remixed Asian style to the hilarious and gonzo action scenes and the gorgeous landscapes. Some of the action scenes dragged a slightly bit too long, and, you know, it doesn't pretend to depth the littlest bit, but overall FUN. Also interesting to see that kind of treatment of this period of history.

Yesterday I watched Slumdog Millionaire. Overall a good movie, but after the very strong and excellent beginning I was quite disappointed by the ending's descent into feel-good cheese. I guess I was hoping for a ending a la Usual Suspect, so, I was quite surprised when they set up one of the oldest rags-to-riches narrative and then played it utterly straight. Still a very interesting movie on several points, with great visuals and acting, and a well told story, but it left me with a bit of a "meh" feeling.

Comments

[luzisrighthand.livejournal.com]

Slumdog Millionaire is the only movie nominated for the Oscar I'm completely uninterested in.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

It's the only movie nominated for the Oscar which i've watched so far >_>; I want to watch Milk too, but I don't even know what the rest are about.

[luzisrighthand.livejournal.com]

I only saw the The Curious Case of Benjamin Button so far and enjoyed it.
I often decide which movies I watch because of trailers.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Me, too! But trailers can deceptive too. I watched Taken because of the trailer, and it was the worst movie I watched last year :( made me feel dirty just to watch it.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Also, yes, I think the Curious Case of Benjamin Button is the next movie I wanna watch. It's out next wednesday in France ^_^

[deeplyunhip.livejournal.com]

I generally like Slumdog Millionaire but I agree that it's a bit overrated (I will not be happy if it wins Best Picture at the Oscars, like I think it will). I think a lot of the people are so impressed with the general setting that they're kind of blinded to how un-original the story and the characters are.

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

If they were so impressed by the general setting, they should nominate foreign movies more often. And stop doing so many remake of foreign movies that did work :(

I admit I'm seldom very impressed by Oscar picks. Or by most movies awards really.

[rebbe]

...a movie about Manchuria that wasn't sad?

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Well, there were bits that were sad, and Japanese bashing to go around, but I wouldn't call it a sad movie, no. ^_^

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

I guess I was hoping for a ending a la Usual Suspect

You wanted Jamal to be revealed as a criminal mastermind? I'm not sure that would necessarily have made sense with the rest of the movie.

I don't mind the occasional film having a conventional and predictable happy ending. That said, I agree the flashbacks were the interesting part of the story rather than anything that happened when Jamal was actually playing Millionaire

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Not exactly a criminal mastermind, but at least that winning the game had to do with wit and not just with luck/destiny/having the scriptwriters on your side. I hate miracles as a plot device in movies :p

That said, I agree the flashbacks were the interesting part of the story rather than anything that happened when Jamal was actually playing Millionaire
I actually liked the bits of Millionaire as a framing device to the flashbacks. The inter spacing of the games with the torture at the very beginning was also extremely efficient.

[williamjm.livejournal.com]

Not exactly a criminal mastermind, but at least that winning the game had to do with wit and not just with luck/destiny/having the scriptwriters on your side. I hate miracles as a plot device in movies :p

Yes, it would have been better if he had actually known (or been able to deduce) all the answers from his experiences. That would still have made him very lucky to have the right questions come up, but it is the nature of the game that how far you go largely depends on how lucky you are with the questions. I think the final question would have worked better if Latika had known who the third Musketeer was when he phoned her rather than him guessing (especially since it doesn't make sense that he would gamble all that money on a 1-in-4 chance).

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

I think the final question would have worked better if Latika had known who the third Musketeer was when he phoned her rather than him guessing (especially since it doesn't make sense that he would gamble all that money on a 1-in-4 chance).
Agreed. Also it would have given her something to do, instead of just hanging there, looking pretty and being got by the guy.

[scriva.livejournal.com]

I have not watched the movie yet, but I am interested. And people do say that it is more of a fairy tale, so I know what to expect. However, I also have meta-reasons for wanting to watch the movie and wanting the movie to succeed. Apparently, Danny Boyle fought with the producers to include original language parts and lied to them to make those parts 1/3 of the movie. So, if the movie is a success, it can be one step towards more and better movies or a greater appreciation of non-english movies. Since this is a very slow progress, I'm grateful for every director that fights the good fight. (Well, at times, I'm a hoplessly optimist hippy, so I'm happy about movies like that.)

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Apparently, Danny Boyle fought with the producers to include original language parts and lied to them to make those parts 1/3 of the movie. So, if the movie is a success, it can be one step towards more and better movies or a greater appreciation of non-english movies. So, if the movie is a success, it can be one step towards more and better movies or a greater appreciation of non-english movies. Since this is a very slow progress, I'm grateful for every director that fights the good fight.
Fair enough, it's sad that it apparently takes an English (white) director to make that work. Anyway, it's still a good movie, so...

Have you seen that they just casted this movie's star as Zuko in the Avatar liveaction film? I kinda think that's hilarious.

[scriva.livejournal.com]

Have you seen that they just casted this movie's star as Zuko in the Avatar liveaction film? I kinda think that's hilarious.

No, I have not seen it yet. That kind of proves my point. LOL. I do agree with you that it would be better to distribute more movies from India and other countries with a cinematic tradition, but I have to admit that I'm grateful for the smaller steps as well.

P.S. Should have looked at his picture earlier

[scriva.livejournal.com]

I have now seen his picture in rawles's lj, and I have to agree that he looks so much like Sokka, it hurts. Those casting people are really stupid. Why don't they just re-cast everyone?

Re: P.S. Should have looked at his picture earlier

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

Why don't they just re-cast everyone?
They apparently only recasted him after the other white guy they had picked desisted. IOW, they are still made of fail.

[dizilla.livejournal.com]

I dunno, normally I'm wary of Oscar pics and I usually don't care if a movie gets hyped at Sundance. I really had no intention of ever seeing Slumdog. But then I was finally told what the story was, and was told the music was brilliant and then my friends were planning to see it so I went with.

I was pretty much blown away. Even though the general storyline was easy to guess at (especially the ending), I still think it was a fresh take on it. It was something different, and the characters were nicely flawed and for the most part rounded out (alas the girl like most of these type of storeis never is, but I think that was the point this time) that made you feel for them.

Not that I'm an expert on Indian movies (barely seen a handful) but wasn't surprised at all with the ending, especially the dance number. I don't think it was fully pulled off since it ends with the main chara not knowing what happened to his brother, and that still left a bit of unease in the air for me. Some reason I really tried my best to reason out the older brother's motives from other than being a dick throughout... XD

Anyhoo, will have to check out the other movie when I get a chance. =D

[etrangere.livejournal.com]

The music really is brilliant, and so is the cinematography :)

I still think it was a fresh take on it.
What did you find fresh about? How tough and violent the beginning is? The setting? Something else?

I'm sorry, I don't think the characters were flawed, apart from Salim. I thought they were pretty archetypal and not very deep.

LOL I loved the dance number. It wasn't even part of the movie, just a way to pay a little homage to Bollywood and very cute IMHO.

[dizilla.livejournal.com]

To a point the violence really didn't phase me. I dunno, it just felt fresh. I guess the setting and the directing. Majority of the movies out nowadays are tired remakes/sequels/prequels that really don't bring anything worthwile anymore. I was surprised at the end of the movie to find out it was based on a book, so I can't argue it was a great original screenplay heh.

I really think the format of it helped. Back and forth with the memories and the questions, how we go forward and backwards in the story.


I want to learn the dance number. XD