Great new movie you all need to see - JUNO

[DeputyMSU]

I haven't seen this film but I like Ellen Page. She was terrific in "Hard Candy".
If you haven't seen "Hard Candy" it is a bit dark and crazy....but I thought it was a terrific film. My wife had a difficult time with the subject matter (pedophilia) and some graphic scenes.

[greendogg]

Ozy,

You can't deny that some of these types of movies are very overrated. They get built up so much because of Oscar buzz but just don't have the impact that the critics say.

Take "Little Miss Sunshine" for example. Yea, it was a nice movie, but a Best Picture nominee? Come on.

By the way, Rob Schneider? What I am, a Michigan fan from Roseville?

[Ozymandias]

Originally Posted by greendogg

Ozy,

You can't deny that some of these types of movies are very overrated. They get built up so much because of Oscar buzz but just don't have the impact that the critics say.

Take "Little Miss Sunshine" for example. Yea, it was a nice movie, but a Best Picture nominee? Come on.

By the way, Rob Schneider? What I am, a Michigan fan from Roseville?

LMS was good, but definitely not an Oscar contender. JUNO is heads and shoulders above LMS.

Eh, the Rob Schneider insult is the perfect "I bet your movie taste SUCKS" response. Gotta go to the well sometimes.

[Plate of Shrimp]

Ozy, what about Juno made it amazing and above standard fare? was it just the lines and how they were delivered? because to me, that was the redeeming part of the movie, but i don't judge a movie in parts or microscopically. i macro view it, and what i saw was a kevin smith film polished of it's 90's grunge.

at times it was cute and people should see it because it's not white chicks, but it wasn't great.

[Jaheab]

It does seem like critics go crazy over these sundance darlings each winter. I think it is just their way of compensating for shilling studio blockbusters all summer. This is the critics time to shine and they take advantage.

[Kurt Sexington]

Ozy (and Portland, to some extent)

I dont think that every movie made after 1985 sucks. In fact, many dont. However, the fact remains that many of the best movies available (think 400 Blows, Seven Samurai, Tokyo Story) were made outside of the US, before the 1980`s.

A movie like Juno or Lars and the Real Girl (which I saw) are not BAD movies. However, they are not very good movies either. They are just intentionally quirky, festival circuit fare that is meant for the casual, american filmgoer. Liking movies such as Lars, Little Miss Sunshine, TYFS, Juno, the Squid and the Whale, Thumbsucker, ect. is pretty much part of the progression to getting interested in movies that are actually superb. I was into movies like that around four or five years ago. Believe me, soon you will realize how vapid 9although entertaining) films like Juno are and you will start getting interested in movies that either have stood the test of time, such as Ikuru or Breathless, or the Killer, or movies thta likely will stand the test of time such as In the Mood for Love or Oldboy.

I enjoy American movies alot, purely based on entertainment value. I go to the movies with my lady alot and we watch the standard American blockbuster fare because it is entertaining and never lets you down. However, when it comes to the actual movies I am interested, I realized that, outside of a few films, American cinema hasnt produced any solid work in decades.

Also, There Will be Blood looks very promising.

[GaryatMSU]

I did not like Squid and Whale that much either.

Saw Darjeeling Limited a couple weeks ago and loved it.

[Kurt Sexington]

Originally Posted by GaryatMSU

I did not like Squid and Whale that much either.

Saw Darjeeling Limited a couple weeks ago and loved it.

Darjeeling Limited was Wes Anderson's worst movie, by far. He is one of the only contemporary American directors I can stand, so that it bums me to say it.

[Plate of Shrimp]

Originally Posted by Kurt Sexington

...outside of a few films, American cinema hasnt produced any solid work in decades.

Which few films are those?

[Kurt Sexington]

Originally Posted by Plate of Shrimp

Which few films are those?

By a "few" in the last couple decades, I obviously mean a much larger number than say, a handful, simply because the US produces alot of movies. Several of the ebst documentaries in the world were produced in the US during the period I mentioend, i.e. The Thin Blue Line, Hoop Dreams, The Fog of War, ect. and several american directors released fantastic debuts such as PTA's Boogie Nights. It isnt hard to find some genuinely fantastic American movies relased in the post Indiana Jones/Godfather years, but the ratio of good movies to crap has not been very high.
Also, the American movies vying for, and winning, academy awards in the last two or three decades have been almost without exception mediocre, if not flat out bad.

[Kurt Sexington]

Originally Posted by spartyirish

The critic who hates other critics.......nice spin. LMS was an oscar contender for that year, due to the fact it was a WEAK year.

Every year is a "weak" year for the Oscar's because they only pick "Best Picture" nominees from a very small pool of films, i.e. major US studio releases (LMS notwithstanding). That is why piece of crap films like "Crash" and "Mystice River" get nominated, and sometimes even win.

The Oscars, to me at least, are as discredited as the Grammy Awards. If you want to use an awards show or festival to dictate your movie tates (which you shouldnt in the first place) try to follow what is going on at the Berlin or Venice film festivals.

[Ozymandias]

Originally Posted by spartyirish

The critic who hates other critics.......nice spin. LMS was an oscar contender for that year, due to the fact it was a WEAK year.

There were other movies out there that were much better than LMS and didn't get a Best Picture nomination.
- CHILDREN OF MEN
- THE FOUNTAIN
- PAN'S LABYRINTH
- LITTLE CHILDREN
- UNITED 93

[Ozymandias]

Originally Posted by Kurt Sexington

Every year is a "weak" year for the Oscar's because they only pick "Best Picture" nominees from a very small pool of films, i.e. major US studio releases (LMS notwithstanding). That is why piece of crap films like "Crash" and "Mystice River" get nominated, and sometimes even win.

The Oscars, to me at least, are as discredited as the Grammy Awards. If you want to use an awards show or festival to dictate your movie tates (which you shouldnt in the first place) try to follow what is going on at the Berlin or Venice film festivals.

CRASH is a terrible film. At first I liked it, then after watching it again I wanted to punch myself in the face. I fell for Paul Haggis' trick like a rube.

MYSTIC RIVER is a good film and got nominated because 2003 was weaker than the UM hoops team.

[Blade Runner]

Haven't seen it yet. It's on my "must see" list, along with There Will Be Blood.

[Blade Runner]

Hey Kurt Sexington, I could challenge you for film snob status. I've seen the entire IMDB Top 250. You mentioned Kurosawa, he's my 2nd favorite director (behind Hitchcock).

I'm one of the few people you'll meet who can tell you the plots of movies like Umberto D., The Wages of Fear, Come and See, Stalker, etc.

[Ozymandias]

Originally Posted by spartyirish

I find this post extremely baffling

Originally Posted by spartyirish

Again, don't understand this statement at all

Please explain what confuses you.

[beko99]

So it seems that JUNO is
a good movie for those
people like me who:
- go to maybe 10 movies a year
- want to get away from the kids
- don't want to research too much
- want to enjoy a funny story line
- don't feel the need to compare it
to every movie from the past 30 years
- have more than a few laughs
- walk out refreshed from not
having to think too much

In Short:
why not just enjoy a funny movie?

[Kurt Sexington]

Originally Posted by jbails007

Hey Kurt Sexington, I could challenge you for film snob status. I've seen the entire IMDB Top 250. You mentioned Kurosawa, he's my 2nd favorite director (behind Hitchcock).

I'm one of the few people you'll meet who can tell you the plots of movies like Umberto D., The Wages of Fear, Come and See, Stalker, etc.

Now we're talking.

I think being a film snob isnt that bad, because it usually means that your tastes in movies have progressed to a point where you enjoy movies that have qualities which stand up to repeated viewing and time.

I like the fact that Ozy starts film threads because usually it gets a good debate going, even though I always come off pompous and pretentious in them. I think Ozy's taste in film is getting to a place where he will be regularly watching movies like some of the ones you mentioned in a few years time.

[Kurt Sexington]

Originally Posted by Ozymandias

There were other movies out there that were much better than LMS and didn't get a Best Picture nomination.
- CHILDREN OF MEN
- THE FOUNTAIN
- PAN'S LABYRINTH
- LITTLE CHILDREN
- UNITED 93

Case in point. All these movies were better than the Best Picture nominees that year, yet they are all good but not great films. Anything that is ever associated with the Oscars, aside from the rare "Best Foreign Film," is almost always overhyped at best, crap at worst.

[GaryatMSU]

Originally Posted by Kurt Sexington

Now we're talking.

I think being a film snob isnt that bad, because it usually means that your tastes in movies have progressed to a point where you enjoy movies that have qualities which stand up to repeated viewing and time.

I am pompous and pretentious.

Yeah, like Reefer Madness, Rocky Horror, and It's a Wonderful Life.

[Salted NutsNE1]

Originally Posted by jbails007

Hey Kurt Sexington, I could challenge you for film snob status. I've seen the entire IMDB Top 250. You mentioned Kurosawa, he's my 2nd favorite director (behind Hitchcock).

I'm one of the few people you'll meet who can tell you the plots of movies like Umberto D., The Wages of Fear, Come and See, Stalker, etc.

Come and See was tweaked.

[Plate of Shrimp]

Originally Posted by jbails007

I've seen the entire IMDB Top 250.

You lose.

[Fighting With A Vim]

I would like to see JUNO

Too bad it's not out anywhere near Lansing