A fair comment, and I can’t argue against subjective values. I do, however, want to make a couple of objective observations, especially for those who haven’t seen the movie.
One is that the relationship between the professor and the student is not really central to the major plot point, which I can’t give away without spoiling the movie. Also, it’s Jill (Emma Stone) who makes the advances to the prof, who pushes back because he knows it’s inappropriate.
The matter of Woody Allen himself is a very complicated story that is irrelevant to this thread, but I just want to say that sometimes (not always) it’s possible and productive to distinguish between an artist’s work and his personal proclivities. Also, whatever Allen’s personal failings, he and Soon-Yi have had a long and loving marriage. My personal belief is that the worst thing he’s guilty of – as a judge once accused him of – is being self-absorbed and self-indulgent.
I’m reminded of a comment I heard on the radio many years ago. The radio host said that he’d been to the theater and walked out in disgust because the movie showed an older man attracted to a young teenage girl. Well, the movie in question went on to be nominated for eight Oscars, and winning five, including Best Picture. It was called American Beauty.
In a final bit of irony, one of its major stars was Kevin Spacey.
You definitely should see the original. Dario Argento is a genius at making horror films. I tried to watch the remake and quite frankly couldn’t get into it and quit part way through.
It was pretty bland. I watched it in bed before going to sleep and I can honestly say that I do not remember if I saw the whole thing or fell asleep before it ended. If I did see the whole movie, I don’t remember how it ended - and I’m not going back in.
Oppenheimer The Manhattan Project has fascinated me my entire life. I want to see a movie about it. This wasn’t even a good movie about a single person.
You know Billy Joel’s song We Didn’t Start The Fire? Know how it’s a list of events spat out at a rabid clip. Not even a series of events, just a list of events. The song doesn’t explore any of them. The idea the song is trying to get across is that all of these chaotic events, bad and good, were set in motion before the speaker and listener were born. So they don’t really matter and the chaos is ok.
Here the concept of taking all the chaotic events of Oppenheimer’s life and juxtaposing them with an atomic chain reaction doesn’t work.
It was a 3 hour movie that felt like a 5 hour movie that needed 15 hours minimum to cover the topics it brought up often unnecessarily.
I had seen this movie before, but had paid very little attention and remembered almost none of it. I chose to pay better attention this time and liked it quite a bit.
I get that the use of a 12-year old Chloe Moretz could be seen as controversial, but her violence in the movie did not bother me. It felt more like a parallel world to ours than taking place in our own world. Very strange, but not bothersome. I heard that some folks complained she used the “f-word” and “c-word” in the movie, but were not as bothered about her 20+ body count in the movie. Ah, America.
I think this movie would have been more cutting edge and ahead of its time in the year 1995 or so. In 2010, the year of its release, it felt like a pretty typical fun movie. We’ve seen a whole heck of a lot more violent movies and other than this one somewhat featuring a kid, it offered not a whole lot new.
Still, fun and I liked it.
Note: Good for Amazon Prime for streaming quite a few movies in 4K at no additional charge. Both this and Suspiria were 4K for me and it was nice to get some full use of my new TV’s 4K resolution. I watch a ton of things in 1080p.
I saw and liked Kick-Ass very much when it first came out. Over-the-top (and funny) amateur superhero ultraviolence. Nic Cage is good in a surprisingly restrained supporting role, but the young cast really carries the film.
Never saw the sequel, which IIRC didn’t get nearly as good reviews.
Despicable Me, what a genuinely good movie. It’s fun, it yanks on your feels, it introduces the Minions in their best form, hilarious yellow tic-tacs who are enthusiastic, child like, have their own silly language and can be immediately accepted without explanation.
Jason and the Argonauts (1963, directed by Don Chaffey). Like most of you, I’ve seen it many times. It might have been 30 years since the last time, so I’d forgotten a few of the surprises and other details. In particular, I was impressed by the editing, because time passes quickly while watching the film despite its defects. The brisk pace would be too compressed for another kind of film but works great here. For example, when Jason’s love interest first appears (they spot her floating in the water), there’s an almost instantaneous transition from the preceding dialogue to “Look! What’s that?” and Jason’s lickety-split dive into the water. I had to laugh at that one, but I think it works great in this film. The special effects still look very good, too, although it would be reasonable to complain that they’re outdated. I think Ray Harryhausen did an excellent job, period. There are a few carefully placed details that absolutely make up for the technological limitations of the time. For example, one of the harpies grabs onto the blind man’s tunic and flies off, leaving him rolling on the ground as the tunic unwinds. Although the script has a few clunkers, I thought nearly all the actors did a pretty good job with the material they were given. It’s not a great film, but it sure is entertaining. And with that comment, let me just add that, for the first time, I think I now get the fans of the Indiana Jones franchise and maybe those of other similar films. I’ve never cared for those films and still won’t watch them if there’s something better to do, but I think I understand the fans now.
I’ve seen Jason more times than i can count; it was one of all-time favorites growing up, and I then indoctrinated my children with it.
I can only think of 2 Honor Blackman films --this, and Goldfinger.
“Zeus, my godly husband…did you order the profanation of my temple in Thessaly?” is not a line one hears often.
I was watching North by Northwest recently, and there was a moment in the score (by frequent Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Hermann) that was very reminiscent of the score from Jason (which is indelibly imprinted in my brain). So I checked, and indeed Hermann did the score for Jason as well.
I’m a huge Harryhausen fan, too, and have watched this more times than I can remember. A couple of notees:
1.) After prophesying that Jason would be the death of King Pelias, wee never DO see what happens to Pelias. The movie ends as the Argo is on its way home.
2.) In the myth, Talos isn’t described as being huge, even though he does throw boulders The most famous vase painting we have of him has him the size of a normal human
Harryhausen making him huge, obviously inspired by the Colossus of Rhodes, was a brilliant touch. And gave him an excuse for another special effect.
3.) Jason didn’t kill the Hydra – that was Hercules. Jason went after a serpent or dragon. Again, though, Harryhausen’s choice was inspired. I cannot begin to imagine animating seven heads and two tails and, in some scenes, the dead body of Acastus – keeping track of nopt only which way they’re moving, but how fast as well. A real tour de force. And the scene where he mixes reality with animation by having Jason stab the hydra in the belly was beautifully done.
4.) About 25 years ago Hallmark, who were doing lots of classic stories at the time, made their own version of the story, which was arguably closer to the myth (abd which shows Pelias getting his comeuppance). The effects are CGI, and some of them haven’t aged well (although others stand up). Worth looking up if you get the chance. You can compare the ways the two films depicted the harpies, the dragon, andf the clashing rocks.
Finally got around to seeing Barbie. It didn’t knock me over, but I enjoyed it, and I feel like every actor was perfectly cast. The musical bits may have been my favorite parts.
The best Dario Argento movie I’ve seen, though I have really only seen about 4 or 5 of his movies. I do see the attraction to people today and why they remade it. I can tell you, the remake is very different and is ultimately a better movie, at least in my opinion.
I would still really recommend this original movie. Very well made, incredibly shot. I wouldn’t say it was particularly scary or shocking, which the remake definitely is. Just a really well made.
The original is 90 minutes and yes, this feels right. The new one is 150 minutes. It’s a better movie, but is overlong.
A disappointment. This movie comes from the creator of Alice in Borderland, a great TV show. Zom 100 starts very strong; both my wife and thought we were going to enjoy the entire movie. Nope, it loses all of its strength about 40 minutes in and never recovers.
It’s mostly comedic in tone, but it isn’t funny enough at all.
Thanks. I respect your judgment even if I sometimes disagree, so I’ll do that. Not sure when, as I have other stuff I want to see – there are only so many hours in a movie-watching night!
It’s more of a re-imagining than a remake, mind you. Same names, takes place at a dance studio, but otherwise it goes in a completely different direction. The first one was about a girl(Susie) and how she overcomes a coven of witches at a dance studio. Let’s just say if you stick with the new one…that…uh…is not ultimately the plot. It’s actually quite a twist/change if you had seen the original. Yeah, they reframed the entire story.
I’ve always liked Jason, though I have a soft spot for 7th Voyage of Sinbad, the first Harryhausen film I saw in my youth.
However, my most prized possession is an original one-sheet Jason and the Argonauts movie poster, autographed by Ray Harryhausen. We attended a presentation at which he demonstrated his models, showed clips and talked about creating his special effects. He then signed autographs and did a meet-and-greet. He was very friendly and obviously enjoyed meeting his fans. We had our Jason poster with us, just in case, and he was happy to see it and sign it. For me, my wife, and many others in attendance, it was one of the most memorable days in our lives.
His stop-motion effects may look creaky to audiences reared on CGI, but there was a magic to them. an other-worldliness, that captivated all of us who saw them back in the day.
Me, too. I saw it at a matinee at a local theater, and was blown away. Still my favorite. Love the Bernard Hermann music, too.(Although not the first Harryhausen I saw – I had seen Mighty Joe Young on TV earlier, and he worked on that).
