response 276 of 304:

Jun 10 21:45 UTC 2002

has anyone seen the extra features/scenes on the requiem for a dream dvd?
there's this scene where marlon wayans (out-take) gets tickled (perturbed)
about having to play a stereotypical nyc black dude and starts saying his
lines all like jar jar, and goes wild for about 5-10 minutes. it's hilarious.

response 278 of 304:

Jun 11 12:15 UTC 2002

Ep. I wasn't so good.  Ep II outright sucked, aside from the special effects.
And even the special effects in Ep II got tiresome; did *every* spaceship need
to have a choppy drive sound?

response 280 of 304:

Jun 20 14:25 UTC 2002

Ok, so I'd just finished up an "editorial" by a female journalist in the
Detroit News denouncing and clucking over universal male reviewer distaste
for that Yaya Sisterhood movie, having decided that I probably didn't want
to see it regardless because I tend to find "chick flicks" excessively
emotional and pointless. I decided to flip through the digital cable listings
to find something interesting, when a movie description caught my eyes for
two reasons: One, there was nothing else one, and two, it was about Lesbians
in Nazi Germany.
 
Men are pigs.
 
So I turned it on. Even though it was Sundance, or maybe because it was, I
was expecting some B-movie farce, probably poorly acted, as part of Sundance's
Out Loud! movie series (although I'm not sure I've seen any of the others in
their series, movies made specifically for the gay audience tend to be
mediocre-to-bad, suffering from low budgets and the burden of having political
agendas as well as entertainment ones; Lesbian flicks seem to be especially
bad, with "But I'm a Cheerleader" topping my personal list of schlock).
 
So now I've got my loins and my morbid curiosity. Add in that it's German (hey
hey, even if it truly sucks, I can work on my translation skills), and I've
got a few hours of brainrot to veg out to. My Reptile brain is enthusiastic.
 
Boy was it disappointed (well, except for one scene). Instead, I got to see
one of the better movies I've seen in a long time, "Aimee & Jaguar." This
movie fit the qualifications as a "chick flick" -- all of the principals are
female, the story is about love and relationships in trying times, it has a
tragic ending during which one of the main characters is enlightened -- but
it just seems so unfair to put it in the same genre.
 
The story revolves around a Jew who's working (under pretenses) for a Nazi
newspaper, her Gentile friend Ilse, and Ilse's employeer, an anti-Jew
socialite whose husband is away on the Eastern Front. What I most enjoyed
about the movie was the way in which it communicated the blight and tragedy
of living in late-War Berlin, and the irrationality of love, with complex
characters... all without, in my view, going "over the top" and becoming a
weep fest. Maybe that's what I tend to dislike about "chick flicks" -- the
women are often overwhelmed with emotions that are too big for the situation,
and while the women in this movie had big emotions, they had a right to have
them -- both of the principals (other than Ilse) stood to lose everything if
they were discovered. It also did well in contrasting the enthusiastic naivete
of the Socialite, who goes from being disgusted at the thought of Lesbianism
to dumping her husband and putting all of her new friends -- many of them
Jews, unbeknownst to her -- at risk, with the hardened cynicism behind
Felice's (her love interest's) carefree facade.
 
There were spots that lagged, of course, and a few spots that, even in the
situation, got too weepy. Also, there were a few confusing spots, because as
a German movie made about WWII Berlin, there were certain assumptions made
about audience knowledge that I didn't have. Other than that, the movie is
well worth seeing.

response 282 of 304:

Jun 21 04:06 UTC 2002

It's possible, although that wouldn't apply here, since this was an entirely
German production. The success of gay characters in maintream movies (My Best
Friend's Wedding, Four Weddings and a Funeral, As Good as it Gets, American
Beauty, Chasing Amy...) may also contribute to Hollywood willingness to spend
more on movies with gay-oriented tales.

response 284 of 304:

Jun 21 05:32 UTC 2002

  Greg Kinnear's character..

response 286 of 304:

Jun 21 15:36 UTC 2002

The neighbor with the little dog that Nicholson tosses down the garbage chute.
When Kinnear gets beaten up by thieves associated with one of his models (also
gay), Nicholson has to take the dog in while Kinnear recovers in the hospital.
 
Last night, saw "Bourne Identity." Even though I haven't seen The French
Connection or whatever movie it was, I was skeptical when I heard Bourne has
the best car chase since that movie. My skepticism was ill-founded; the chase
*is* intense, even by today's standards. A very well made action flick,
overall, as well as a better-than-average job by Damon (as said by a Matt
Damon fan). Both of those should be taken in whatever context you put "action
flick" and "Matt Damon" movies, because I think the teaser ads pretty much
show you what you're going to see in the movie, as far as intensity, acting,
and style. The usual action flick plot holes and stretches, and the fights
are VERY violent (again, as shown in the teaser). And no, despite the
audience's votes, that is *not* Eddie Murphy in an uncredited cameo (at least,
so sayeth IMDB)... I'd blame that "they all look alike" stereotype, but it
was the black audience members who were the most vocal in "Go Eddie!".
 
Overall, for the genre, definitely a standout film.

response 288 of 304:

Jun 21 16:58 UTC 2002

I thought "I hear the Mermaids Singing" was a pretty good lesbian film.

response 290 of 304:

Jun 21 18:22 UTC 2002

better car chase than "Ronin"?

response 292 of 304:

Jun 21 18:48 UTC 2002

#290> I don't recall seeing that car chase; I'm not sure I saw the movie
(actually, IIRC, I saw the first twenty minutes or so and didn't enjoy it,
so I switched to something else, but I may be thinking of a different movie).

response 294 of 304:

Jun 21 18:51 UTC 2002

ronin: robert deniro and that french guy that was in the professional. (i
love that guy and always forget his name) plus some other people in france
to do a job. its ok but the car scenes are pretty nice. one chase in
particular i really dug, and theyre in those tiny european city streets for
parts of it too.

response 296 of 304:

Jun 21 20:29 UTC 2002

Bourne Identity had a pretty cool car chase.  (I didn't actually see Ronin,
so can't compare.  But car chases in Europe seem more exciting to me because
the streets are much smaller and twistier.>

response 298 of 304:

Jun 21 21:18 UTC 2002

(Or rather, a car chace in Venice would be especially cool _because_ they
don't let cars in Venice)