Movie Review Thread

[MosJan]

Tue 12/20/05 ARTN & DEMQ SHOW PRESENT MER BAK 3

Tuesday, December 20, 2005 at 8:00 P.M.

 

Mer Bak 3

 

ARTN and DEMQ Show present Mer Bak 3, an Armenian comedy film about life in Armenia and featuring all the main and best known Armenian actors. The film is in Armenian.

 

Running time is approximately 3 hours with no intermission, and the film is suitable for all ages. No Discount Prices are available for this event.

 

Reserve Seat Tickets:

 

Orchestra - $20

Terrace - $20

Balcony - $20

 

Purchase tickets online or call the Alex Theatre box office at 818-243-ALEX (2539).

 

http://www.alextheatre.org/sabo_frame.html

[15levels]

I am curios, what made you compare Cronnenberg to Egoyan, why not a different director?Cronneberg is a little too much Hollywood fluff compared to Egoyan's moderate approach.

 

Well, those 2 are Canadians.. and there is always sort of competition butween them. I dont know about "moderate" or "holliwood fluff", but History of Violence is certainly (at least to me) is a brilliant film and it is not made in Holliwood, even though it has a Holliwood cast. Egoyan is too blurred to me most of the time and i am still coping with the failure of Ararat to meet my expectations..

[15levels]

There is another film with Simon Abkarian. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0426279/

The actress and the director is actually Israeli... She is known here, I also read some reviews of this film in Israel but it hasnt come on the big screen so I havent seen it yet.

Edited December 16, 2005 by 15levels

[Arvestaked]

.. and there is always sort of competition butween them.

 

No, there is not.

 

I don't believe one is better than the other.

[MosJan]

http://merbak.am/images/afisha-tmb.jpg

 

Մեր բակը-3

§Շարմ Հոլդինգ¦ ընկերության 15-ամյակի առթիվ եւ բազմաթիվ հանդիսատեսների խնդրանքով եթեր է դուրս գալիս §Մեր բակը¦ սիրված ֆիլմի շարունակությունը: Ի՞նչ է կատարվել այս տարիների ընթացքում սիրված հերոսների հետ, ինչո՞վ են նրանք ապրում, ինչպե՞ս է փոխվել բակը: Այս ամենի մասին է պատմում §Մեր բակը-3¦ ֆիլմը: Դիտեք ֆիլմի պրեմիերան Երևանի եւ Մոսկվայի կինոթատրոններում, Հ1-ի ամանորյա եթերում, ինչպես նաեւ դիտեք եւ լսեք ֆիլմի սիրված տեսաերիզներն ու ձայներիզները:

 

 

On the New Year's night you will also have the chance to watch the video version of "Yerevan-Moscow transit" concert and the long-awaited "Our yard – 3" comedy.

 

 

 

http://merbak.am/images/mer_bak1.jpg

 

Դերերում՝

Հրանտ Թոխատյան, Աշոտ Ղազարյան, Լալա Մնացականյան, Ռաֆայել Քոթանջյան, Լեւոն Հարությունյան, Շուշան Պետրոսյան, Ֆորշ, §Շիկեր¦, Գարիկ Մարտիրոսյան, Սեդրակ, Անդի, Հակոբ Ռուբինյան, Թաթա, Գրիգոր Աղախանյան, Ֆելիքս Խաչատրյան, Մարկ Սաղաթելյան, Լուիզա Ներսիսյան, Քրիստինե Զամինյան, Ալյոնա Իվանցովա

 

http://merbak.am/images/afisha.jpg

 

 

http://merbak.am/images/mer_bak2.jpg

 

http://merbak.am

[Arvestaked]

Caché will be fantastic. Playing in New York and L.A. Seeing it today.

[MosJan]

Mer bak on DVD it was nice, As good as the first one -

 

i love the song by Ande

 

 

way to much Add's - Reclam enq nayum te kino de lav haskanali e da el e petq arats dra chi lini - tsavoq srty

[Anileve]

Caché will be fantastic. Playing in New York and L.A. Seeing it today.

Haneke is a character. I am so excited to see this film, except that I don't really have a movie mate that shares my passion for cinema of various genres. Arvy if I lived in LA or you lived in NY I would be begging you to assist me in my cinematic explorations.

 

My latest viewings are: Yes, Osama, Black Peter, The Piano Teacher, Faithless, The Kid, Modern Times and Notorios. All of them were riveting. Osama particularly stands out for it's cinematography, acting, plot and disturbing content. I am still under its influence, considerably more intense and harrowing than The Piano Teacher. Yes was also a very moving force, it had some flaws but overall, very impressive acting by Simon Abkarian and Joan Allen, and the cinematography was gorgeous.

[Arvestaked]

Haneke is a character. I am so excited to see this film...

 

I think you'll enjoy it. I loved it. I'll see it again soon.

 

I don't really have a movie mate that shares my passion for cinema of various genres. Arvy if I lived in LA or you lived in NY I would be begging you to assist me in my cinematic explorations.

 

And I would play hard-to-get.

[Arvestaked]

I don't know if I ever said how beautiful The New World was so I'm saying it now. God damn.

 

Manderlay opens in NY on 1/27 and in LA on 2/3. Can't wait.

[Anonymouse]

Two movies that I recently saw and I must say I was pleased with both of them.

 

I saw Match Point, which is the latest Woody Allen film (and the only reason I saw it is because it was a Woody Allen film that wasn't a Woody Allen film. By that I mean that it wasn't in New York, and it didn't have Woody Allen in it), starring my favorite Goddess, Scarlett Johansson. It was everything I didn't expect the movie to be. The acting was crisp, and her looks were as killer as always. The plot made me a little worried at the end since I thought it could have ended in a much better way, but oh well, in the end, it was an ending, and that'll do.

 

And the other movie I saw starred one of my favorite actors, Bill Murray in Broken Flowers. Jim Jarmusch is an excellent writer and director and he produced here, what I consider a masterpiece. Now this got me interested in his earlier movie Coffee and Cigarettes. As for Bill Murray, I loved his performance, and I would say that it was equal to, and rivalled that of his performance in Lost in Translation.

Edited January 31, 2006 by Anonymouse

[Arvestaked]

I just saw Bubble and thought it was an ok movie. But I wasn't impressed. I'm still not a fan of Soderbergh. He's made a couple of movies that I liked but none that I loved and a few that I hated. And this is what I expected. When Soderbergh gets ambitious he produces a movie that's acceptable. It wasn't groundbreaking or anything like a lot of people were expecting it to be. He went for that minimalist style that Gus Van Sant had in his last to films but it just didn't work for me because he gave it a story that should have been incidental but wasn't. The fact that it wan't took away from the movie because it wasn't good enough and it just ended up clashing with the spirit of the movie. I'd take Van Sant's work over this without out the slightest bit of a second thought.

 

And I just couldn't get over the sound issues. There was bad ADR for one. I love Fellini movies where the sound sits in the back seat. But it didn't work here. You're making this effort to produce a movie that has a very candid feel with nonprofessional actors representing a group of people in Buttplug Nowhere America but you turn around and ask them to do dialogue replacement. I could have miked that set for him with a couple of hypercardiods and an omni and it would have sounded perfect in mixdown. Maybe he was trying the Fellini style of active directing. But why? You can't be afraid to waste film if you're shooting in DV and there is nothing natural about it. You need real actors for that. So maybe he wanted a very natural feel on set with not much going on. Well, let's forget about the fact that having three decent mics is not a big deal and talk about the post. They made no effort to give the ADR recordings any natural reverb. You want this natural, candid feel and all I can picture while watching your movie is people standing in a cold, reverb-dead ADR booth not knowing what they're doing. Not cool.

 

Anyway, it's an alright movie that is not special but it is worth checking out. It does have some good ideas. I'll say it's a good practice movie and that maybe next time he does this he'll iron out the wrinkles.

Edited February 2, 2006 by Arvestaked

[Accelerated]

"Munich" = Really Good.

[Arvestaked]

I just saw Bubble and thought it was an ok movie. But I wasn't impressed. I'm still not a fan of Soderbergh. He's made a couple of movies that I liked but none that I loved and a few that I hated. And this is what I expected. When Soderbergh gets ambitious he produces a movie that's acceptable. It wasn't groundbreaking or anything like a lot of people were expecting it to be. He went for that minimalist style that Gus Van Sant had in his last to films but it just didn't work for me because he gave it a story that should have been incidental but wasn't. The fact that it wan't took away from the movie because it wasn't good enough and it just ended up clashing with the spirit of the movie. I'd take Van Sant's work over this without out the slightest bit of a second thought.

 

And I just couldn't get over the sound issues. There was bad ADR for one. I love Fellini movies where the sound sits in the back seat. But it didn't work here. You're making this effort to produce a movie that has a very candid feel with nonprofessional actors representing a group of people in Buttplug Nowhere America but you turn around and ask them to do dialogue replacement. I could have miked that set for him with a couple of hypercardiods and an omni and it would have sounded perfect in mixdown. Maybe he was trying the Fellini style of active directing. But why? You can't be afraid to waste film if you're shooting in DV and there is nothing natural about it. You need real actors for that. So maybe he wanted a very natural feel on set with not much going on. Well, let's forget about the fact that having three decent mics is not a big deal and talk about the post. They made no effort to give the ADR recordings any natural reverb. You want this natural, candid feel and all I can picture while watching your movie is people standing in a cold, reverb-dead ADR booth not knowing what they're doing. Not cool.

 

Anyway, it's an alright movie that is not special but it is worth checking out. It does have some good ideas. I'll say it's a good practice movie and that maybe next time he does this he'll iron out the wrinkles.

 

 

Apparently, neither of my two film friends noticed an issue with sound. I may have seen a bad screening.

[Arvestaked]

Manderlay was fan-friggin'-tastic. Twisted, of course, in the Trier sort of way but really great.

[ED]

I dont remember how many times i have seen "forest gump" but every time it is just watching it for a first time

every time i watch it it brings a calm on to me

[Anoushik]

I dont remember how many times i have seen "forest gump" but every time it is just watching it for a first time

every time i watch it it brings a calm on to me

Yes, I liked that movie too when I saw it (I've just seen it once though, didn't feel like watching it again today, especially after work)

 

Forrest Gump is such a great character

[Anileve]

Recently saw Vittorio De Sica's "Umberto D." I am sure I've seen many neo-realist films but this was by far the perfect archetype. At first I was interested then I was a little frustrated then I was confused. I really like the concept and it's definitely different from anything that I have seen before. I am not sure I understand it completely, but I am still thinking about it, which means it was worth 1 1/2 hours or the most uneventful movie I have ever seen. Nothing really happens in this movie, just towards the end it's a very ambiguous climax. Has anyone seen this one?

[Anileve]

Also Marlena, Take out your Handkerchiefs and Blow-Up (Which I couldn't really finish), were some of my recent cinematic experiences. Anyone familiar with these?

[ED]

B- for the 300

 

if you must see it then its worth watching, Hollywood extravaganza at its best, to many special effects, inaccurate historical facts.

 

I recomend it only for entertainment, which the movie does so well

 

another Hollywood movie where the "enemy" is portrait evil, in this case the great Persian empire.

I only went because I wanted my son to see it

[Sip]

Saw 300 at IMAX. Was worth seeing it at IMAX ... otherwise, not worth it.

[Zartonk]

Hollywood extravaganza at its best, to many special effects, inaccurate historical facts.

 

Accuracy?! Are you kidding? Did you see Xerses, that hairless, pierced thing...? I love Frank Miller, but the details are pure fiction.

[SanVal]

"Black Snake Moan" is worth seeing, if you like independent films but are tired of their cliches (e.g. people snorting cocaine). The plot wasn't all that interesting, but the setting is unusual--pretty backward for this day and age--and it has a bluesy, southern flavor to it. I usually don't like weird artsy movies, but this one was different. All three of the main actors are good.

[Zartonk]

I have heard that the only good thing about BSM is the blues, which Sam Jackson sings himself. But I guess critics are never right...

[SanVal]

I have heard that the only good thing about BSM is the blues, which Sam Jackson sings himself. But I guess critics are never right...

 

Sometimes they're right, sometimes they aren't. The biggest mistake they made in 2006 was putting "Babel" in their top ten lists. That movie didn't strike a chord with me; I found it tedious and not very touching, with the exception of the story about the Japanese girl (i.e. only 1/3 of the movie).