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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Raise the Red Lantern
For the Gong Li Film Festival
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/ ... antern.php
Quote: The dead bodies of two wives from earlier generations of The Master’s family fail to impress upon the women how dire their own situations are. The skeletons are drenched out by the red light of the lanterns The Master hangs in the quarter of his selected wife-of-the-night. The public act of selection and degradation drives the wives into a frenzy and the generational “tradition†reflects the more ugly “tradition†in the rooftop mausoleum. The stagnation of pomp and circumstance kills its offspring, and Zhang’s unbalanced wives sink in far above their heads, scrambling to grasp for air and return to the mainland.
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| Thu Jul 20, 2006 11:51 pm |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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A Scanner Darkly
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/ ... Darkly.php
Quote: Because the animation does not add to the effect or narrative of <i>A Scanner Darkly</i>, one is left with only as persuasive an environment as Linklater conceived in his original mise-en-scene, and sadly that isn’t very much. Somewhere in between filming and production digitizing <i>A Scanner Darkly</i> got lost. Neither process shouldered the true burden of relaying the physical or emotional space of the movie. That <i>A Scanner Darkly</i> is pretty much a couple of guys sitting around being thrice duped by the government’s “War on Drugs†doesn’t add much to the viewing mix.
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| Sun Jul 23, 2006 1:33 am |
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Bradley Witherberry
Extraordinary
Joined: Sat Oct 30, 2004 1:13 pm
Posts: 15197
Location: Planet Xatar
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dolcevita wrote: A Scanner Darklyhttp://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/ ... Darkly.phpQuote: Because the animation does not add to the effect or narrative of <i>A Scanner Darkly</i>, one is left with only as persuasive an environment as Linklater conceived in his original mise-en-scene, and sadly that isn’t very much. Somewhere in between filming and production digitizing <i>A Scanner Darkly</i> got lost. Neither process shouldered the true burden of relaying the physical or emotional space of the movie. That <i>A Scanner Darkly</i> is pretty much a couple of guys sitting around being thrice duped by the government’s “War on Drugs†doesn’t add much to the viewing mix. Bradley's glossary entry #8: What do artsy film critics mean by "mise-en-scene"?
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| Sun Jul 23, 2006 7:34 am |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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bradley witherberry wrote: That's the long, complicated answer. I always thought it just meant how you framed and set up the space within the camera frame. If you put the actor to the left or to the right of the scene, if the couch is yellow or green, or if you cut it off at a weird angle or let the couch remain in full throughout the shot, etc. Basically, how you "set up" each frame, like a painter chooses how to place his objects, people, and scene within the confines of a canvas square (or circle).
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| Sun Jul 23, 2006 12:41 pm |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Ju Dou
Another review for the (one man) Gong Li Film Festival :-)
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/JuDou.php
Quote: Yimou keeps his tragedy behind closed doors, and because the walls are so thick and the plight so dramatic, it’s hard to recognize his early film as having the same commentary as the later Raise the Red Lantern. Though both deal to some extent with female disempowerment, Ju Dou detours into the world of star-crossed lovers and remains securely within those boundaries. It’s a timeless tale, but its pleasures unfold reel-time with afterthought being tossed to the wind.
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| Wed Jul 26, 2006 12:32 am |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Little Miss Sunshine
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/ ... nshine.php
Quote: There’s a scene early into <i>Little Miss Sunshine</i> where our heroine is painfully confronted with one of the greatest conflicts all aspiring beauty contestants eventually face: she loves chocolate ice cream.
After excitedly ordering her waffles <i>a la mode</i> she stares down the two abysmal paths of her future, as coached by her drywall of a father. Should she choose the ice cream she will become fat, unlike the beauty queens she adores on TV. In a sudden camaraderie built upon a foundation of rebellion, her silent older brother, suicidal uncle, anxious mother, and defiant, vulgar grandfather dig into her abandoned bowl slurping up the tasty concoction until they mount the diner dinner table victorious in appealing to the young girl’s love of chocolate ice cream.
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| Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:32 pm |
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zennier
htm
Joined: Sun Oct 23, 2005 2:38 pm
Posts: 10316
Location: berkeley
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Or, you two could have looked mise-en-scene up in the dictionary, heh 
http://webster.com/dictionary/mise-en-scene 
Fantastic review, dolce. My anticipation has skyrocketed.
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| Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:24 am |
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Cotton
Some days I'm a super bitch
Joined: Sun Oct 24, 2004 7:22 pm
Posts: 6645
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Glad that you liked it.
It's such a nice, simple little movie that conveys itself so beautifully and eloquently.
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| Tue Aug 01, 2006 2:34 am |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Quinceanera
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/Quinceanera.php
Quote: The personal story holds water where the social commentary is riddled with holes. Carlos gets involved with a newly arrived gay couple who spend their time having parties where their fellow rich, white, gay neighbors chat about Latino boys like cuts of bacon from the corner live butchery, and where the Adonis-like men descend from upon gentrified high to wreak the havoc of their Roman decadence on the blue-collar good people of the Los Angeles barrios Echo Park. When the couple experiences marital woes, the entire neighborhood apparently feels their callous wrath. Their names matter not, as they are stereotypes so positively enforced by all their dinner party guests who act, look, and discuss all the same issues in the same petty, self-indulgent way. Don’t forget the lisps.
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| Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:32 pm |
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Jeff
Christian's #1 Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 8:25 pm
Posts: 28110
Location: Awaiting my fate
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dolcevita wrote: Quinceanerahttp://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/Quinceanera.phpQuote: The personal story holds water where the social commentary is riddled with holes. Carlos gets involved with a newly arrived gay couple who spend their time having parties where their fellow rich, white, gay neighbors chat about Latino boys like cuts of bacon from the corner live butchery, and where the Adonis-like men descend from upon gentrified high to wreak the havoc of their Roman decadence on the blue-collar good people of the Los Angeles barrios Echo Park. When the couple experiences marital woes, the entire neighborhood apparently feels their callous wrath. Their names matter not, as they are stereotypes so positively enforced by all their dinner party guests who act, look, and discuss all the same issues in the same petty, self-indulgent way. Don’t forget the lisps. Ouch!
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| Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:59 pm |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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A true nightmare that I wish I'd bothered to read about prior to seeing. As it stands I just spent ten bucks supporting the careers of the directors and I'm truly upset about it. Utter garbage...
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| Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:12 pm |
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Jeff
Christian's #1 Fan
Joined: Sat Oct 23, 2004 8:25 pm
Posts: 28110
Location: Awaiting my fate
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dolcevita wrote: A true nightmare that I wish I'd bothered to read about prior to seeing. As it stands I just spent ten bucks supporting the careers of the directors and I'm truly upset about it. Utter garbage... Understandable, guess I'll avoid this one for sure then. Heh.
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| Mon Aug 07, 2006 11:19 pm |
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Christian
Team Kris
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:02 pm
Posts: 27584
Location: The Damage Control Table
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RogueONE wrote: dolcevita wrote: A true nightmare that I wish I'd bothered to read about prior to seeing. As it stands I just spent ten bucks supporting the careers of the directors and I'm truly upset about it. Utter garbage... Understandable, guess I'll avoid this one for sure then. Heh. By all means, please do!!!
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| Tue Aug 08, 2006 10:11 am |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Christian wrote: By all means, please do!!! You got suckered into watching it too? I was so expecting a Real Women Have Curves (which I loved). Guess they pulled the hood over my eyes with the posters for that one...
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| Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:25 am |
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Christian
Team Kris
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:02 pm
Posts: 27584
Location: The Damage Control Table
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dolcevita wrote: Christian wrote: By all means, please do!!! You got suckered into watching it too? I was so expecting a Real Women Have Curves (which I loved). Guess they pulled the hood over my eyes with the posters for that one... Yeah, it's even baffling how it won those two awards at Sundance. I was kind of tolerating the contrivances but the landlord stuff is what really sent me over the edge. Then it disturbed me to learn that the director used to direct gay porn.
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| Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:49 am |
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Christian
Team Kris
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 5:02 pm
Posts: 27584
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Gentrification 
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| Tue Aug 08, 2006 11:50 am |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Conversations with Other Women
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/ ... swomen.php
Quote: The feature-length dialogue inevitably suffers from a shocking and unexpected twist to an old saying. Conversations with Other Women, much like such films as 2001’s The Business of Strangers or 1991’s Closet Land, is a simple case of “Substance over Style,†and if you’re not warm to the subject, Conversations is not going to hold your attention. It’s the small story of an unnamed man and woman who meet on the eve of the man’s sister’s marriage. The two never address each other by name, and at times appear to be flirting newcomers while at other times slipping into moments of uneasy intimacy. Their intimacy slides down stages of depth, beginning first with a “we have met before†and ending the following morning with a “but can’t we stay together?â€Â
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| Fri Aug 18, 2006 12:49 am |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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 Half Nelson
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/HalfNelson.php
Quote: At a ripe young thirteen, Drey is coming of age and eager to absorb the complexities of life. She is non-judgmental but also frightened and exhilarated. Her energy and also her faux-pas force Dunne out of his dream-state and into reality. His reality is not pleasant, but it does exhibit a pulse long since deadened through heavy snorting (at one point his nose bleeds in class), smoking, and drinking. He is ultimately a selfish man who cannot rehabilitate himself because he lacks wider investment in the world around him. How did a passionate young school teacher arrive at such a sorry state of blasé withdrawal from the world? We’ll never know, but Fleck at least saves us from suggestions that the emotional scarring is a consequence of exposure to urban teen life. Half Nelson is no sop story about saving children with chocolate bars like puppies being rewarded with bone treats. Some of Dunne’s children are bored, others are invested, most do their homework, and one or two cheat. This is a pretty typical classroom setting that doesn’t type-caste its students as misfit losts just waiting to be found and saved.
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| Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:03 am |
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Libs
Sbil
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 3:38 pm
Posts: 48677
Location: Arlington, VA
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I really want to see Half Nelson. I hear Ryan Gosling (yayyyy, The Notebook) is amazing.
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| Mon Aug 21, 2006 12:27 am |
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Dkmuto
Forum General
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2004 1:00 am
Posts: 6502
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I want to see it, too. Reviews have been great. When Kevin Smith subbed for Ebert on E&R, he said it was one of the best films he's seen this decade.
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| Mon Aug 21, 2006 2:53 pm |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Dkmuto wrote: I want to see it, too. Reviews have been great. When Kevin Smith subbed for Ebert on E&R, he said it was one of the best films he's seen this decade. It wasn't that good! I liked it alot, but I'm perpetually frustrated with certain aspects of this movie. One is the lack of sexual curiosity on the part of Drey. Not sex, just curiosity. This is a girl coming of age. But like all American movies, there isn't really a lick of sex in this movie, cause its too taboo. Drug use isn't, but sex is. Ah well. I also do just get a little bored looking at drug taking scenes, I had the same problem with Requiem for a Dream though. After awhile I'm like, ok, I get it. But this movie, just like that one, make the most of building a convincing space *around* the drug use, so while I got kinda bored of watching certain snorting scenes, what came before and after them was always interesting.
It was a pretty good movie. One of the top five, maybe top three of the year so far. Let me know what you two thought after you see it.
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| Mon Aug 21, 2006 3:02 pm |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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Idlewild
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/Idlewild.php
Quote: That brings us to the main pitfall of this happy-go-lucky film; why oh why wasn’t a decent scriptwriter or two bankrolled during pre-production? <i>Idlewild</i> is by no means a cheaply made movie, and it seems like Outkast and music video director Bryan Barber pulled out all the stops for anything having to do with the music and dance sequences. They unfortunately forgot about the good hour and fifteen minutes that connect those sequences. There’s a ridiculous love scenes that is sure to make audiences squirm far more than Percival singing to a dead body ala Tom Petty’s final homage to Mary Jane.
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| Sat Aug 26, 2006 1:48 pm |
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dolcevita
Extraordinary
Joined: Tue Oct 12, 2004 11:24 pm
Posts: 16061
Location: The Damage Control Table
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The Illusionist
http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/Galia/Illusionist.php
Quote: With a title already alluding to magic in the air, The Illusionist’s gift to audiences everywhere is its ability to meet its self-proclaimed enchanted standards. Here are the star-crossed lovers of timeless renown dressed in colorful costumes, striking theatrical poses, and ultimately pulling enough twists and turns to put to shame most contemporary heist hoax films. As if plot and romance weren’t enough, still more delectable ingredients were added to this potent potion of a late-summer film. Entering theatres with excellent cinematography, playful special effects, and the strongest score of the year thus far, The Illusionist is a complete package with a sprinkling of spice, everything nice, and even a little suspense as the wrapping comes off.
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| Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:38 pm |
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A. G.
Draughty
Joined: Tue Oct 19, 2004 9:23 am
Posts: 13347
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Oh an A. Nice.
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| Fri Sep 01, 2006 11:50 pm |
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zingy
College Boy Z
Joined: Mon Oct 11, 2004 8:40 pm
Posts: 36662
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"The New World" Trend:
[s]Stage 1: dolcevita sees it and loves it.[/s]
Stage 2: loyalfromlondon sees it and gives it an A or A+.
Stage 3: A bunch of followers see it and love it.
Stage 4: A bunch of people after that are disappointed.
Stage 5: DVD releases, mixed reactions.
I'm hoping I like it, though. Just saw the trailer today, actually, and it looks really good.
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| Sat Sep 02, 2006 1:10 am |
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