Films of 2011

[Jim]

The Mechanic

A remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film. Now there was a bankable action star.

[Parrothead]

I'm hoping the release of the re-make of The Mechanic will lead to an airing (or two) of the Charles Bronson - Jan Michael Vincent version, I loved that movie back in the 70's, would be interesting just to see how it holds up.

[parallaxicality]

My last few posts on this thread have been marred by a lack of research. So I'm starting earlier than usual to ensure I have the time to properly follow my posts up. Sorry, but these posts take time and I usually do them late at night.

For the week of Friday, 4 February


Sanctum: James Cameron wants to tell the world just how much fun it's missing as it stays on its collective arse instead of going cave diving, which I have to say is a marginally saner pursuit than ice diving, because the passages don't move and there's slightly less chance of hypothermia. And at least you get to lend your name to a barren patch of abyssal moonscape that no one else has seen before! Like any film Cameron would lend his name to (which is really all he did; he neither directed this film nor directly produced it) it looks fantastic, but listens like playground jeering.

US:

The Roommate: What an ingenious idea. Make a movie about hot college chicks getting victimised by a psycho killer... who is also a hot college chick. I'd like to believe this is a trenchant examination of post-adolescent psychosis, or even a creepy psychological thriller ala Single White Female, but that momentary shot of girl-on-girl action gave me a pretty good idea of what level this is aiming for.

Frankie & Alice: Odd idea, this. A black woman has an alternate personality, and that personality is a white racist. Apparently based on a true story, though I'm fairly sure the actual circumstances were somewhat more nuanced. You can see why Halle Barry took this on; it's a chance to play two characters in one. Whether it will cure her of her seemingly terminal case of "F Murray Abraham's Syndrome" remains to be seen.

The Other Woman: Natalie Portman has so many movies coming out this year I couldn't keep track of them. Like Rabbit Hole, this is the kind of movie that takes a fairly conventional route through a fairly common tragedy (in this case two- divorce and bereavement), but then, again, there aren't that many routes to take. This was directed by the guy who wrote The Opposite of Sex, which was a somewhat less conventional take on similar events. From the trailer I think that Lisa Kudrow really should stick to comedy; she doesn't have the gravitas for drama. And that kid's a bonnie little psychopath. "Sell the kid's stuff on Ebay". Snot. Apparently this film was shelved for two years, only to be released when Natalie got her Oscar nod. Strange; the trailer's dull, but it's not unreleasably bad.

Waiting For Forever: "Romance" about a Pete Docherty-lookalike who stalks the girl he knew as a child but hasn't seen for 15-odd years. You know, with a less sugary soundtrack, this would be a horror film.

Love: With its cast of one, space station setting and pop-infused DNA (it's produced and scored by the rock band Angels and Airwaves) this movie is going to be compared to Moon; whether it will bear such comparison I can't say, but the trailer does look interesting.

Dressed: This is the kind of movie that only gets made in America; a documentary about a homeless guy who makes his debut at New York fashion week, and basically tells all other homeless people that what they're going through is their fault. All respect to him but the excuse of a good portion of the homeless, m'dear, is that they're mentally ill.

Cold Weather: dramedy about a hopeless case who wants to be Sherlock Holmes. I have to say, I can relate.

American Grindhouse: A documentary about exploitation cinema. Looks good (John Landis is always funny) but I think it missed its train by a few years.

UK:

Brighton Rock: I need to brush up on my Graham Greene. Can't speak to the plot, but it looks very well paced, and brilliantly acted by Mirren, naturally. Let's hope director Rowan Joffe has a more fruitful career than his father Roland, who went from The Mission and The Killing Fields to video game adaptations and torture porn.

The Clink of Ice: Interesting idea; a guy personifies his cancer as an annoying hanger-on asking him if he wants to die.

A Little Bit of Heaven: A Kate Hudson comedy. A kinder man would stop there. But not me; she plays easily the most unlikeable character she's ever played. Still here? OK, her character gets cancer, and finds true love with her oncologist. Oh, there you go.

Nanette: As the trailer helpfully informs you, Nanette is an orangutan. It's basically a fly on the wall doc about her life in the Paris zoo. She certainly seems more world-weary than the exhibitionist youngsters she shares her enclosure with, but then, at 40 and wild-born, it's hard to imagine she'd be anything else.

[Gillianren]

Frankie & Alice: Odd idea, this. A black woman has an alternate personality, and that personality is a white racist. Apparently based on a true story, though I'm fairly sure the actual circumstances were somewhat more nuanced. You can see why Halle Barry took this on; it's a chance to play two characters in one. Whether it will cure her of her seemingly terminal case of "F Murray Abraham's Syndrome" remains to be seen.

At least she had the good humour to pick up her Razzie for Catwoman in person. But Multiple Personality Disorder, or whatever we're calling it these days, is still considered highly dubious by most of the psychiatric profession. Could be interesting, though.

Apparently this film was shelved for two years, only to be released when Natalie got her Oscar nod. Strange; the trailer's dull, but it's not unreleasably bad.

It's odd, sometimes, what the studios will hide away.

Dressed: This is the kind of movie that only gets made in America; a documentary about a homeless guy who makes his debut at New York fashion week, and basically tells all other homeless people that what they're going through is their fault. All respect to him but the excuse of a good portion of the homeless, m'dear, is that they're mentally ill.

Or in some cases, working but still unable to afford housing. But yes, quite a lot are mentally ill, and I doubt most homeless people have the talent to break into any artistic profession. Some people, huh?

[parallaxicality]

A combination of scary deadlines and crappy movies has made me cancel this week's update [sole interesting fact: Gnomeo and Juliet was produced by Elton John and David Furnish], but I thought I'd quickly post some new trailers that weren't on the original list:

Captain America: The First Avenger: 30-second Superbowl trailer. Only trailer I got, sorry. Try as they might, they are never going to make that shield look cool, but insofar as it is physically possible, I think Joe Johnston has successfully gritted up Cap to the point where he just might be relevant to 2011. Hayley Atwell has the posh British bird thing down cold.

X-Men: First Class: Blow me if this doesn't actually look good. MacAvoy puts more emotion into this three minute trailer than he did for all his time as Mr Tumnus. Fassbender is one of the great unexploded stars, and his channeling of McKellen was eerie.

The Wicker Tree: Christopher Lee and Robin Hardy have been trying to get this quasi-sequel to The Wicker Man up and running since before Neil Labute, way back when it was called (I kid you not) The Riding of the Laddie. Can't say much based on what I've seen (caution: trailer contains nudity), except that I wanted that hick chick to burn by about 50 seconds in. Say what you like about Edward Woodward's prissy character in the original, his arrogance covered a core of nobility and genuine faith. Doesn't look like this one's a musical, which is a shame.

[Parrothead]

Went to see The Way Back the other day. Peter Weir's film about an escape from a Soviet gulag in 1940 and six escapees making a 4,000 mile trek to India. Some stunning scenic shots, great score. Pruportedly based on a true story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-11900920 , http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/f...ck-review.html. Whether, the story is true or not, it is nice to finally see a film depicting life in the gulags. Anne Applebaum, Washington Post op-ed contributer and author of Gulag: A History, served as historical consultant on this flick. Stars: Colin Farrell, Ed Harris, Jim Sturgess. The 2hrs 15mins. runtime flew by.

I believe it is only in a limited release. Less than 300 locations in the US. Currently, only playing at the Varsity, here in Toronto.

[parallaxicality]

Late this week. Scary deadline over though.

I Am Number Four: It’s Twilight with aliens! Brought to you by Michael Bay! "Before they come for the others, they’ll come for me." Hm. I have to say that as an assassination technique, that seems remarkably inefficient.

Vanishing on 7th Street: Even though every reviewer seems to have given up on this movie, I still want to love it, because it’s such a great concept. The world is brought to an end by… darkness. The days get shorter, shadows get longer, drawing people in. The only way to stay ahead of oblivion is to stay in the ever-dying light. Once the darkness has you, you don’t come back. Anyone who’s listened to HP Lovecraft’s bonechilling The Haunter of the Dark knows how horrifying darkness itself can be. And indeed this movie almost feels like a sequel to it. But apparently it is undone by plotholes big enough to drive a fleet of road trains through. “Why don’t they just light a [bleep]ing bonfire?” is apparently one of the most common heckles. Shame. I’m still going to see it though.

Unknown: Now we find out if Taken really was a fluke. Liam Neeson, though pushing 60, is still a more convincing action hero than Harrison Ford. Maybe it was all those years in North Belfast. The “You’re not insane; there really IS something wrong with the rest of the world” plot has been done before (Dark City, The Forgotten) but never very well, and this at least looks tightly plotted. January Jones has her first big role away from Mad Men playing… a duplicitous ice queen wife. Well, baby steps I suppose.

Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son: There isn’t much else I can say about this. Martin Lawrence’s career respirator bleeps on.

The Resident: Hammer Mk 2 had a critical hit but a commercial flop with their Let The Right One In remake, and their followup seems just as bereft of blockbuster potential. Hillary Swank (who I actually find attractive, unlike the majority of men, it seems) has a terrible track record with horror, and this premise has too little meat to sustain itself for 90 minutes. While Christopher Lee was bound to be cast in one of the Hammer reboots, I wish he’d held out for The Woman in Black. He seems completely out of place in that trailer.

The Chaperone: And I thought they learned from Kindergarten Cop; mixing scary cop violence and kiddie comedy doesn’t work. It’s horrifying to see Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson) and Ariel Winter (who, ironically, was almost cast in the Let The Right One In remake) debase themselves in this.

Immigration Tango: Ok, this looks bad. There’s a reason plots like this only happen in movies- real people aren’t submorons. Thankfully by watching that trailer you can pretty much work out everything else that happens.

Gawd Bless America: Not sure if this is a real documentary or not, but it feels tedious. Loved the crop circle punchline though. God I hope that was real. Whenever I feel inadequate or that I haven’t accomplished enough with my life, I remember that some people still believe in crop circles.

The Genesis Code: Oh goody! Creationist high school drama!

Even the Rain: Very meta Spanish film, with shades of Burden of Dreams and The Mission, about a film crew trying to tell the story of the conquest of the Americas during the Bolivian water riots, the result of one of the more blatantly unfair cases of corporate greed in modern history. By now Gael Garcia Barnal’s urgently idealistic features have graced so many issue movies he is gradually becoming indistinct from his Che persona.

Zero Bridge: restrained romantic drama set in the wartorn Kashmir region.

7 Khoon Maaf: I actually laughed at the punchline in this Bollywood trailer about a female serial bigamist.

The Last Lions: Jeremy Irons, aka Scar, narrates this doc about a lioness fleeing with her cubs across the Serengeti. The title is foreboding; as the video description points out, wild lions have declined by a factor of 25 since 1960.

8 Murders a Day: fairly self-explanatory title of a doc about the current state of law and order in Mexico.

Only one new UK release this week:

Confessions: in the heartwarming tradition of Battle Royale, Japan brings us another tale of adulthood taking revenge on murderous youth. Can’t really judge the tone from the trailer, whether it goes full on Korean or stays relatively restrained. But the actress has poise.

[Gillianren]

My best friend saw Big Momma's House 2 on an airplane some years ago. (I don't think she actually watched it, of course.) Ever since then, the running joke has been that, if she's seen a really terrible movie, it was probably on an airplane.

[Van Rijn]

Vanishing on 7th Street: Even though every reviewer seems to have given up on this movie, I still want to love it, because it’s such a great concept. The world is brought to an end by… darkness. The days get shorter, shadows get longer, drawing people in. The only way to stay ahead of oblivion is to stay in the ever-dying light. Once the darkness has you, you don’t come back. Anyone who’s listened to HP Lovecraft’s bonechilling The Haunter of the Dark knows how horrifying darkness itself can be. And indeed this movie almost feels like a sequel to it. But apparently it is undone by plotholes big enough to drive a fleet of road trains through. “Why don’t they just light a [bleep]ing bonfire?” is apparently one of the most common heckles. Shame. I’m still going to see it though.

Maybe bonfires don't work, or don't last? I'll have to see this one, but I'll probably wait until it comes out on DVD. It reminds me of a childhood nightmare that I still manage to remember: I'm in the house, alone at night, with a lamp on, but I can feel the darkness is pressing in on the light (not anything in the darkness, just the darkness itself) and I don't know why, but I sense that the darkness is bad, an evil thing. So, I turn up the lamp, and that pushes the darkness far enough away to reach another lamp and I turn it on, and from there another, until I turn on all the lights in the house. That works for a bit, then I notice the darkness is creeping back, with the lights starting to dim. I move to the room with the brightest lights, and the dream ends as I'm standing next to a lamp as the light fades away, the last light going dark. I believe I woke up then, not in a happy state, and couldn't get back to sleep that night until a bright lamp was placed next to my bed. I still had to watch for a while to see they weren't dimming. For a while after that night, I slept with a light on, though I got over in a few weeks.

Anyway, I definitely could see how a movie could connect with remembered childhood fears about the dark like mine. It does sound like a good idea, in concept, at least.

[parallaxicality]

Wow. Have you ever considered turning that dream into a story? Nightmares often provide the best inspiration.


And speaking of scary stories, Apollo 18 has a trailer out. Given the sensitivity of the topic of lunar conspiracy on this forum, I think I'll refrain from passing judgment for now.

[HenrikOlsen]

Bonfires wouldn't last, limited fuel available.

[parallaxicality]

For the week of Friday 25 February:

US

Drive Angry: Why did they bother making this about a guy who breaks out of Hell? That has virtually nothing to do with the plot. It’s just a car movie. Where’s my Angel Heart sequel?

Hall Pass: It appears 2011 is the Year Of Male Fantasy. Sex with no strings, affairs with Carla Gugino and now REALLY obliging wives. Perhaps because it's the Year of the Rabbit? There is NO WAY IN HELL that a wife would give her husband a week to go randomly shag any chick he pleases. In my (admittedly second-hand) experience, if your wife tells you to take time off to be with other women she’s actually saying either “I’m testing you to see if you would actually be so stupid as to do that” or “I want a divorce.”

Brotherhood: See Films of 2010. In a word: dreck.

Of Gods and Men: Another 2010 release, but I thought I’d give it full treatment, seeing as it’s a bit more consequential than the one above and I didn’t have a decent trailer before (I’d advise stopping before the “My Dad Is A Zombie” trailer, though). Not really sure how I feel about this. Anyone familiar with the situation in Algeria at the time this movie is set would know that the GIA didn’t take prisoners, and anyone who strayed off the sanctioned paths was liable to end up with his head on a spike within 20 minutes. I suppose it depends how much good work the monks did in their community. If they actually were making a difference in the lives of those around them and felt they could continue to do so, then fine, stand your ground. But if they’re just stay-at-homes who like the contemplative lifestyle then they can do that from France. It’s not particularly heroic to stick it out. Anyhoo, just a mini-rant.

Heartbeats: Very French-looking.

The Grace Card: Despite its rather cynical title, I have to say that for a Christian movie this looks like it just might be slightly more than intolerable.

UK

Animal Kingdom: This Aussie crime family drama had a limited US release in mid-2010 but I must have missed it. It appears to be angling for the kind of eloquent street cred that Ben Affleck gave The Town, but Australia doesn't really have the history to lend such a film the necessary gravitas.

Howl: This biopic of Alan Ginsberg has been creeping through the festival circuit for over a year. This appears to be its first wide release. Looks well put together but I don’t think the Beats really have much to tell us these days except that the Man sure was uptight back then.

West is West: I really liked East is East, the film this is a sequel to, so I’m thinking I might see this. The first was a hit in the UK, but didn’t really make a splash in the US, which isn’t surprising, since it deals with issues that the US hasn’t really had to deal with, yet. With the culture clash between Pakistan and Britain gaining ever more apocalyptic overtones in the UK media, it’s nice to see a film series that’s willing to find the laughing heart of the matter.

[Gillianren]

Hall Pass: It appears 2011 is the Year Of Male Fantasy. Sex with no strings, affairs with Carla Gugino and now REALLY obliging wives. Perhaps because it's the Year of the Rabbit? There is NO WAY IN HELL that a wife would give her husband a week to go randomly shag any chick he pleases. In my (admittedly second-hand) experience, if your wife tells you to take time off to be with other women she’s actually saying either “I’m testing you to see if you would actually be so stupid as to do that” or “I want a divorce.”

I'm not sure how I can respond to that within the board rules. Let us just say that there are exceptions to your rules. Try reading the Savage Love column on the AV Club website sometime. (With the awareness that it's about really adult matters a lot of the time and uses NSFW language.) These are people with problems you've never imagined, a lot of them, in a very wide spectrum of relationships.

Animal Kingdom: This Aussie crime family drama had a limited US release in mid-2010 but I must have missed it. It appears to be angling for the kind of eloquent street cred that Ben Affleck gave The Town, but Australia doesn't really have the history to lend such a film the necessary gravitas.

Actually, I saw it. (The woman who plays the mom of the crime family is up for Best Supporting Actress; if she actually wins, I'll be stunned.) Gravitas, not so much. Fascination, possibly. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/user/2...Animal+Kingdom

[HenrikOlsen]

I'm not sure how I can respond to that within the board rules. Let us just say that there are exceptions to your rules. Try reading the Savage Love column on the AV Club website sometime. (With the awareness that it's about really adult matters a lot of the time and uses NSFW language.) These are people with problems you've never imagined, a lot of them, in a very wide spectrum of relationships.

That guy's giving really good advice. Definitely one for the bookmarks. Thanks for mentioning it.

As for a baut-safe response? How about "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."?


ETA I've just now realized that I just spent 6 hours reading old entries from an advice column.

[Gillianren]

That guy's giving really good advice. Definitely one for the bookmarks. Thanks for mentioning it.

You're quite welcome. He's actually local to me; he lives, I believe, up in Seattle with his long-term partner and their adopted son. Whose mother's picture is on their refrigerator.

As for a baut-safe response? How about "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy."?

There we go.

[parallaxicality]

For the week of Friday, 4 March


Rango: Johnny Depp. As a lizard.


The Adjustment Bureau: This Philip K Dick adaptation hasn’t been getting stellar critical notices, but then Dick adaptations seldom do (Leonard Maltin still hates Blade Runner). The fact that it’s been postponed from last year is far more alarming. But it’s got Matt Damon, Emily “the curvy Kiera Knightley” Blunt and General Zod in it. How bad could it possibly be?


US

Beastly: Ooh boy. Beauty and the Beast gets the Twilight treatment. I love how everyone treats the main character as if he’s turned into a blob of decomposing jelly with an eye and some teeth floating in it when he’s just been made up like The Enigma. Actually, they couldn’t even go that far. It seems that, as with Jane Eyre Hollywood treats unattractiveness like radiation; tolerable at certain background levels but lethal at concentrated doses.

Take Me Home Tonight: Wow. This movie must have been greenlit in 2007. Only then would pretending to work at Goldman Sachs be considered a viable wheeze to get chicks. Still, it is set in 1988. Which makes a plot about mindless acquisitiveness AOK.

Bereavement: Nice one this. Torture porn and child abduction.

I Saw The Devil: It’s called I Saw The Devil but even if it were called Dancing in the Flowers I would assume that, being Korean, this flick skews a bit dark. And it does. It’s got that dour guy from Oldboy in it too.

Dear Lemon Lima: cute looking highschool underdog story with a touch of Juno-style indie quirkiness.

Happythankyoumoreplease: Hm. Not sure about this. I’d need to hear more of the dialogue but it seems from the trailer to be taking the easy way out: “I sing.” “Songs?” “Yeah”. “I write.” “Words?” “Yeah”. See that sounds knowing and hip but it’s really just uncreative. Kinda like using the same word twice in a poem and calling it a rhyme. Still, the actors seem into it, which is nice. Is that Amber from House?

The Imperialists Are Still Alive!: This is another example of the trailer giving too little away. Lots of attractive young people saying clever young things to each other. And apparently there’s some kind of conspiracy.

The Human Resources Manager: However glib their political voice these days, there’s no denying that the Israelis have been producing some remarkably contemplative and humorous films of late. This one, about an HR guy who has to return the body of an eastern European cleaning lady to her homeland after she’s killed in a bombing, looks exemplary of that particular Israeli brand of dark comedy.

A Cat In Paris: Sorry no trailer, just a very out of context clip. Still, given the current form of French feature animation, it should be worth a look.

UK:

Eleanor’s Secret: Another sweet-looking French animation, though I would have preferred better dubbing. Why does only the daughter have a British accent?

Archipelago: Wry, bleak dramedy set during a holiday to the Scilly Isles. Anyone who has ever holidayed in the UK can empathise.

Ironclad : It seems that gritty, digital-shot, jump-cut historical action flicks are the in thing in the UK right now. Doesn’t look that great, but the idea of seeing Paul Giamatti play King John has a certain WTF factor.

Age of the Dragons: I never could get through Moby Dick, but maybe my problem wasn’t with the impenetrable blocks of text but the lack of dragons. Strange how I find it easier to accept dragons in early mediaeval Europe than black people. My closet racism coming out I suppose. But hey, Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones; that’s a pairing to see. And the girl at least looks cute, which is apropos given how keen the trailer was to show her with her shirt off.

The Insatiable Moon: Quite poignant-looking little Kiwi film about a guy who thinks he’s the second son of God, and the boarding house of borderline cases he ends up with. As a bit of a borderline case myself, that world is one I know well, and their reality is one worth exploring.

Patagonia: I have yet to see a movie in Welsh, but I really should. This looks like a sweet little indie, and it’s the feature debut of bubbly R&B singer Duffy, which is interesting in itself. It takes guts to make your feature debut in a language only half a million people on the planet speak.

[Gillianren]

Rango: Johnny Depp. As a lizard.

And really, isn't that reason enough? As a side note, did you know that the Academy doesn't consider voice performances acting?

The Adjustment Bureau: This Philip K Dick adaptation hasn’t been getting stellar critical notices, but then Dick adaptations seldom do (Leonard Maltin still hates Blade Runner). The fact that it’s been postponed from last year is far more alarming. But it’s got Matt Damon, Emily “the curvy Kiera Knightley” Blunt and General Zod in it. How bad could it possibly be?

Oh, I've got a guess. My problem with it, though, is that the person you think of General Zod, I think of as Bernadette from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It's like my Hugo Weaving test--What's-His-Name from LotR or What's-His-Name from The Matrix? Neither! Mitzi the Magnificent!

Beastly: Ooh boy. Beauty and the Beast gets the Twilight treatment. I love how everyone treats the main character as if he’s turned into a blob of decomposing jelly with an eye and some teeth floating in it when he’s just been made up like The Enigma. Actually, they couldn’t even go that far. It seems that, as with Jane Eyre Hollywood treats unattractiveness like radiation; tolerable at certain background levels but lethal at concentrated doses.

Well, Jane is really supposed to be more plain than unattractive. However, the "beast" in this particular movie is neither. Because that wouldn't appeal to teens? Where's Ron Perlman when you need him? (Answer: too old to be in a teen romance picture as the love interest.)

A Cat In Paris: Sorry no trailer, just a very out of context clip. Still, given the current form of French feature animation, it should be worth a look.

Indeed. I got to see The Illusionist a week ago, and it was quite good.

Eleanor’s Secret: Another sweet-looking French animation, though I would have preferred better dubbing. Why does only the daughter have a British accent?

One of my favourite animes is essentially unwatchable in dub; they Westernize everything. The Professor, who is Japanese like everyone else, is given a German accent--and name. This is why I only watch it subbed. Which might be the better way of watching this one.

Age of the Dragons: I never could get through Moby Dick, but maybe my problem wasn’t with the impenetrable blocks of text but the lack of dragons. Strange how I find it easier to accept dragons in early mediaeval Europe than black people. My closet racism coming out I suppose. But hey, Danny Glover and Vinnie Jones; that’s a pairing to see. And the girl at least looks cute, which is apropos given how keen the trailer was to show her with her shirt off.

One of the gods in Thor is black. You can imagine the general reaction to that. Quite sensibly so, as is your reaction. I also suspect Danny Glover can't manage to play Not American very well, all things considered.

Patagonia: I have yet to see a movie in Welsh, but I really should. This looks like a sweet little indie, and it’s the feature debut of bubbly R&B singer Duffy, which is interesting in itself. It takes guts to make your feature debut in a language only half a million people on the planet speak.

Have you seen Incubus?

[parallaxicality]

As a side note, did you know that the Academy doesn't consider voice performances acting?

Really? There was a big push to get a nom for Jeremy Irons as Scar in 94 as I recall; the Academy claimed they didn't have a problem with it then.

My problem with it, though, is that the person you think of General Zod, I think of as Bernadette from The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. It's like my Hugo Weaving test--What's-His-Name from LotR or What's-His-Name from The Matrix? Neither! Mitzi the Magnificent!

I did like that movie, but it didn't make nearly as much of an impression as Superman II. I'm a geek, see.

One of the gods in Thor is black. You can imagine the general reaction to that. Quite sensibly so, as is your reaction.

I would have had more of a problem with Heimdall being black if the Asgardians in Thor were actual Norse gods, but they're not; they're aliens from another dimension pretending to be Norse gods. So I just assume that the Norse took one look at Heimdall and decided to gloss over that fact in their sagas.

Have you seen Incubus?

I have not, though I was thinking of it while the trailer for Patagonia was playing.

[SeanF]

Really? There was a big push to get a nom for Jeremy Irons as Scar in 94 as I recall; the Academy claimed they didn't have a problem with it then.

He wasn't nominated, though, was he?

Frankly, I'm not entirely sure I disagree with the Academy on this point. I mean, I wouldn't say it's not acting, but it's not motion picture acting, which is the talent they're awarding.

If someone were to take a radio dramatization and build an animation around it, should the voice actors be eligible for Academy Awards? If so, why aren't they already? They didn't do anything different. And if not, why should they be elgibile in the actual animated-movie realm?

[Gillianren]

Really? There was a big push to get a nom for Jeremy Irons as Scar in 94 as I recall; the Academy claimed they didn't have a problem with it then.

Apparently, they do now. I forget where I read that, but there were several of the more byzantine Academy rules listed. Some of them make my head hurt.

I did like that movie, but it didn't make nearly as much of an impression as Superman II. I'm a geek, see.

I know I've seen Superman II, but I'm not sure how long ago it was.

I would have had more of a problem with Heimdall being black if the Asgardians in Thor were actual Norse gods, but they're not; they're aliens from another dimension pretending to be Norse gods. So I just assume that the Norse took one look at Heimdall and decided to gloss over that fact in their sagas.

But leaving the fact that Loki turned into an eight-legged mare and gave birth was fine?

I have not, though I was thinking of it while the trailer for Patagonia was playing.

It's not very good. Really, it's more an anthropological curiosity than a movie, so far as I'm concerned.

[parallaxicality]

But leaving the fact that Loki turned into an eight-legged mare and gave birth was fine?

Actually, it was his son, Sleipnir, who had eight legs. He was just an ordinary mare, more or less.

BUT... I grant there are weirder things in Norse mythology than a dark-skinned man... to us! But perhaps a dark-skinned Heimdall was simply too much for the average Norse bard to bear. And Heimdall was said to be the son of nine mothers anyway, so who knows what kind of genetic variation would occur in that situation.

[Jim]

The Adjustment Bureau: This Philip K Dick adaptation hasn’t been getting stellar critical notices, but ... How bad could it possibly be?

We-e-e-ellll...

I've seen a couple of ads for this one and it strikes me as a cross between Dark City and The Matrix.

... This is why I only watch it subbed. ...

The problem I have with subtitles is I can't keep up with the coincidental action on the screen. Or I watch the action and miss the dialogue.

I need faster eyes.

[HenrikOlsen]

The problem I have with subtitles is I can't keep up with the coincidental action on the screen. Or I watch the action and miss the dialogue.

I need faster eyes.

Training, training, training.
It helps to grow up in a country where only movies for very young children are dubbed, too.
In Denmark, by the time you're about 14 you're expected to be able to follow subtexts, and/or understand English, well enough that movies targeted for you are no longer dubbed.

[Gillianren]

Actually, it was his son, Sleipnir, who had eight legs. He was just an ordinary mare, more or less.

My mistake. I'm sorry; Greek mythology is more my thing. But the point is, a male god changed into a female horse and gave birth. The eight-legged son thing isn't helping matters much, I shouldn't think.

BUT... I grant there are weirder things in Norse mythology than a dark-skinned man... to us! But perhaps a dark-skinned Heimdall was simply too much for the average Norse bard to bear. And Heimdall was said to be the son of nine mothers anyway, so who knows what kind of genetic variation would occur in that situation.

I'm not buying it, I'm afraid. After all, the Norse were traders. Trade goods and currency from as far away as the Middle East have been recovered from various archaeological digs. No, we're not talking Antonio Banderas in The Thirteenth Warrior, but darker skin was not entirely unknown to Norse civilization.

As for subtitles, Graham pauses things to read if he needs to catch up.

[Jim]

As for subtitles, Graham pauses things to read if he needs to catch up.

The theaters let him do that?

[SeanF]

The theaters let him do that?

This guy named Potts gave him this stopwatch, see...

[Gillianren]

The theaters let him do that?

Graham wouldn't pay theatre prices for a movie with subtitles! Especially if nothing blows up! (Okay, yes, we saw The Illusionist in the theatre. But it's essentially silent.) And most of the foreign-language movies we watch at home are old enough so we never had the chance to see them in the theatre anyway. We saw Hero, but he hated it. He felt lied to by the advertising.

[parallaxicality]

I'm beginning to wonder what keeps the two of you together.

[Gillianren]

The things I don't talk about, mostly. I was thinking after I'd posted that the impression you'd get of him and of our relationship from what I say here isn't the most accurate one. In theory, we have very different tastes in movies and TV, but when I got Defying Gravity from Netflix, he watched it with me despite the fact I didn't expect him to. (It's a dramatic science fiction TV series.) No, he won't watch most dramas with me, but I've gotten him in to see a few by not telling him the plot, and he's generally liked them when I do that. I got him interested in Terry Pratchett. Good Eats, too.

We're very different people in a lot of ways, but we're similar in enough so that we've got a stable, lasting relationship. It's just that it's more fun to complain, and you don't want to hear a lot of the saccharine stuff.

[Ara Pacis]

I'm not buying it, I'm afraid. After all, the Norse were traders. Trade goods and currency from as far away as the Middle East have been recovered from various archaeological digs. No, we're not talking Antonio Banderas in The Thirteenth Warrior, but darker skin was not entirely unknown to Norse civilization.

Just because trade goods made it from one location to another doesn't mean the people in one location traveled to the other location, I assume they had middle-men.