Wednesday, November 18, 2009

wednesday 18/11/09: good film day.

woke up at 9 something. had a shower, did my washing, made breakfast, got water. downstairs, record some claps for western. break fo lunch, chille con carne. amazing! watched in the valley of elah.

i already talked about tommy lee jones yesterday so i don't need to do it again. he's much better in 'in the valley of elah' than 'the hunted'. charlize theron is pretty awesome too. was stoked to see jason patrick in there...james franco...josh brolin! amazing supporting cast. roger deakins killed it too. i'm a little annoyed though - my tv formatted the picture to 1:85 but it was shot in 2.35:1. still don't know why it did that. brutal story, well directed. see it if you feel like feeling sad.

then i came out of my room and we jammed on a new song. the guitar part is pretty intricate. needs both guitars to make it sound complete. drums are weird. after that i had a bar for dinner and settled down to watch the boxer. i was distracted and had trouble engaging in the flick so i turned it off when joe came around and put on road to perdition.

it's easily one of the most beautifully shot films i think i've ever seen. and so well directed! sam mendes really killed it. tom hanks was reliable as always. paul newman owns all over everything. jude law played against type and did so awesomely, same with daniel craig who's voice and manner were nearly unrecognisable. the music was stellar too thanks to thomas newman. can't say enough good things. the scene where tom hanks confronts paul newman in the rain is just...ugh. never seen anything like it before or since. i could watch it over and over. i don't think mendes can really top this. hasn't since, at least.

next up: jackie brown. never seen this before which is weird. incredible ensemble cast. on the whole it's all a little underwhelming. well executed but just not all that compelling. robert de niro is amazing and he just SITS there. barely does a thing. pam grier was solid. samuel l. just walks all over the thing...he has the most fun out of anyone. surprisingly shot in 1:85 as tarantino's aspect of choice is usually 2.35:1 (which inglourious basterds was shot and looks amazing in). i think cinemascope suits him better...jackie didn't have a whole lot of style about it. at least not compared to everything else he's made. quentin works better with his own material too.

finally: boxcar bertha. scorsese's first real film, a roger corman quickie. firstly, barbara hershey is a babe. it's weird seeing carradine act now that he's dead. funny that i don't feel as weird seeing paul newman...maybe it's just cause of how carradine died. changes the way you view everything in relation to that person. i'm amazed at the transfer of this mediorcre old mgm dvd release. the negative must have been in mint condition cause all the colours are so vibrant for a 60's film (albeit a late 60's film). obviously as it's marty's first flick it's a little shakey but promising. it's shot really well but that'd be mostly due to his planning...they shot it in 22 days on something like $300,000. inspires me a lot.

until tomorrow, bye.

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