Wednesday, 19 January 2011

Movie Matters #5

In the first Movie Matters episode of 2011, co-hosts Lee Howard and Michael Mackenzie cast they eyes over the best (and some of the worst) films of 2010, counting down their ten favourites of the past year. The listeners also get their time in the spotlight with their own personal lists.

With over 2 hours and 45 minutes of banter, this is the biggest Movie Matters episode yet!




The music sampled in this episode is from SHUTTER ISLAND (Symphony No. 3, 4th Movement: Passacaglia - Allegro Moderato by Krzysztof Penderecki), AMER (from WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? by Stelvio Cipriani), KICK-ASS (the Prodigy), the Millennium trilogy (Jacob Groth) and TOY STORY 3 (Randy Newman). Special thanks to David Mackenzie for audio support.
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10 comments:

  1. Daniel Joseph Sardella20 January 2011 at 01:46

    Looking forward to listening at work tomorrow!

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  2. Count Fosco20 January 2011 at 16:50

    Thanks for continuing support fella. An epic show for us at nearly three time the usual length, lol!

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  3. Daniel Joseph Sardella20 January 2011 at 21:52

    Pt. 1

    My notes on topics mentioned in Ep 5:

    I want to purchase Video Nasties, but I really want the Limited Edition, and I don’t see it for any cheaper than $45 on eBay at the moment.

    I very much want to see Amer.
    I imagine that the UK BD is probably not playable on a US PS3?
    Why on earth would a studio ditch the amazing theatrical one sheet for that crappy unexciting cover??

    Lee mentioned rewatching Top 10 Films; I've rewatched these ones so far:

    Scott Pilgrim (bought BD)
    The Social Network (bought BD)
    Inception (bought BD)
    Frozen (rented BD)
    Piranha (rented BD)

    I plan on buying the Shutter Island & Machete BDs when I can get them closer to $15 each. I will definitely buy Black Swan & True Grit BDs and possibly Predators at some point.

    I will add The Horseman BD to my Netflix queue if they offer it for rental.

    I agree with Lee, I could care less about the "twist" of Shutter Island (I don't generally try to "figure films out"; I like to surrender myself to them) - I loved it because it's Scorsese, I loved the visuals, the OTT acting, the Euro flavor, the Hitchcockian feel. But I also agree with MicMacs that the explanation at the climax didn't need to be so long and heavy handed. I can't wait to rewatch it. As a side note, I have a six degrees of separation story re: Shutter Island - the fellow with the large Jesus tattoo who is seen very briefly from behind in a cell was tattooed by a guy who works at a shop where my parents get tattooed. I’ve also been camping on the islands near where the story takes place.

    It’s interesting that Lee mentioned he could care less about Facebook. I definitely understand this mindset, but I think FB has its advantages. I’m in a band, so it’s an extremely helpful promotional tool and a good way to gain fans, if you don’t have a dedicated website. But FB is undoubtedly full of a lot of crap and can be a dangerous thing after a breakup (I know from experience, to some degree). What’s ironic though is that the principle of FB is to bring people together through an online presence for various reasons - people who may be shy/socially awkward in person, people who share interests who don’t necessarly live near each other, etc. I think these principles can be applied to websites/blogs, which is how I came to “know” the two of you. So, while I admittedly had the same reactions that Michael had (Fincher’s making a movie about Facebook??), we’ve probably all come to realize that sites like Facebook have changed the way the world works (for good or bad or both, depending on your opinion) and I can see why that fact, in addition to the fact that FB was essentially started by a college kid who got dumped and didn’t make it into the clubs that he wished he could have was what attracted Fincher to the project. Obviously, a great screenplay with almost Mamet-like dialogue helps as well!

    I should have included Splice on my Honorable Mentions. I really enjoyed it. What I did to get my list was to go through my Films Viewed (I keep an Excel file – OCD!) in 2010 that were actual “2010” films, and Splice was released originally in 2009. My Top 10 lists are always based on whether a film was available for me to see in my area. For instance, I believe There Will Be Blood did not play anywhere near me in 2007, and I saw it in the theater in Jan 2008, so it was included on my 2008 Top 10.

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  4. Daniel Joseph Sardella20 January 2011 at 21:52

    Pt. 2:

    I’m very interested but very skeptical of The Thing prequel. The Thing is my favorite Horror film ever.

    I need to get on seeing The Millennium Trilogy, but I’m waiting until all the BDs are available for rental here in the States.
    As a huge Fincher fan, I’ll go see his version in a heartbeat.

    I didn’t like The Incredibles, but I LOVE The Iron Giant.

    I admit to only watching a few of the more disturbing scenes in A Serbian Film, something I try never to do because it’s not fair to judge it based on that, but I have no desire to watch it all the way through.
    I would never tell someone NOT to watch a film (I would merely say “I don’t think you’d like it”), but this is one that I would warn anyone ahead of time that it is extremely offensive.
    Lee hits it right on about the OTTness of the climax; it negates any credibility.

    Good analogy comparing Gangs Of New York to The Ghost (Writer). I have a love/hate relationship with GONY.

    I haven’t seen Kick Ass, and I can’t say I really have any desire to.
    I wouldn’t refuse to see it, but I’m not going to put it in my queue (at this point).
    It sounds like it Kicked Lee’s Ass, but not Michael’s.

    Re: Inception – I though Cottilard was fine; it’s Ellen Page that I think is flat, overrated and doesn’t do anything for me (in general).
    Even in Whip It, she’s mainly just kind of cute and could have been portrayed better by another actress.

    Re: The Social Network SF Disc was fantastic, which is to be expected from a Fincher film. I loved when Armie Hammer’s facial features were being captured in that crazy looking contraption and he said “Just make sure a fly doesn’t get caught in there when you turn it on.”

    And don’t worry Lee – I like Ben Button a lot too! The first time I saw that film in the theater, I was left feeling a little odd, I liked it but I felt ike I didn’t get what I was looking for, but upon the second viewing, I already liked it a lot more.

    I admit, I have yet to see any of the Toy Story films, but I think the only Pixar film that I have seen is Wall-E anyway (which I really liked the first ½ of, but not so much the 2nd ½).
    This is probably because I don’t really like computer animated films all that much and it has a lot to do with not liking the character designs and the overly pristine look.
    I did like The Secret of The Kells quite a bit, but correct me if I’m wrong, that was a combination of hand-drawn and CG animation (similar to The Iron Giant), yes?

    I’ll have to check out Nokas – I love the original Insomnia (I hope CC releases a BD some day).

    Thanks for an extra long podcast - it made work a lot less boring today!

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  5. Count Fosco20 January 2011 at 21:59

    Thanks for listening and leaving such detailed feedback.

    We should think of a topic or theme for an episode and get you on as a guest host, if your interested?

    Thanks.

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  6. Count Fosco20 January 2011 at 22:04

    I've just realised we have already booked you, lol! You're coming on for a discussion of Italian Horror right?

    Man, that is going to be awesome as I know both Michael & I are bonkers for gialli & Italian Horror cinema in general :D

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  7. Daniel Joseph Sardella20 January 2011 at 23:32

    I'll be there in a heartbeat!

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  8. Benjo32122 January 2011 at 18:20

    Enjoyed the show very much guys. Pleased to hear nods to some of the great animated films that came out. I think The Princess and the Frog is a great return to form for classic hand-drawn Disney animation. The Secret in Their Eyes was another wonderful watch and given a bit more time it would have easily made it into my top 5 list ( http://benjo321.com/2011/01/04/new-year-honours-list-movies/ ).

    One thing I do know after listening is that I really must watch A Serbian Film. Lee's reaction to it was just priceless so I'm more interested than ever!
    I really should have been to see The Social Network, I'd completely forgot that Aaron Sorkin wrote it and just got put off it by my loathing of Facebook. Incidentally, Catfish is a fascinatingly creepy documentary about Facebook that's well worth a watch.

    Blu-Ray wise, I thought the restored version of Metropolis was a fantastic package and while Ponyo looked phenomenal it wasn't anywhere near Miyazaki's best.

    Keep up the great work guys :-)

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  9. Phuriphonics4 March 2011 at 06:19

    I must admit I was surprised that there was no mention of Gaspar Noe's absolute headfuck of a movie Enter the Void on the podcast, presumably as neither of you guys had seen it.

    Well it's getting a release at the end of April according to Amazon, but this is undoubtedly a cinematic piece and worth the price of admission to see people's reaction to the opening credits alone.

    It's not a popcorn movie by any stretch of the imagination, but I struggle to think of any one as provocative, daring and imaginative working in cinema as Gaspar Noe.

    Apparently he wants to do an 'erotic movie' next. The mind boggles at what he'll conjure up. In the meantime I think he's working on a short about exorcism in Cuba - uh oh!

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  10. Anonymous21 April 2012 at 23:00

    My favorite movie I saw in the theatre in 2010 was the documentary 'The Art of the Steal', which actually came out in 2009. It was absolutely enthralling.

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