Disqus - Latest Comments for faithx5

Re: My Top Tens: 1990s

Jandy — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 16:31:01 -0000

Now those are both films I’ve seen and don’t like very much. *shrug*

Re: My Top Tens: 2010s

Jandy — Sat, 16 Dec 2017 16:29:57 -0000

It’s an omission in my viewing! My time got way more limited in 2013, and I’ve prioritized classics, so all the lists from 2013 on suffer from far fewer viewings per year.

Re: Challenge Week 47: The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

Jandy — Mon, 26 Dec 2016 16:36:05 -0000

I agree! I think that was one of my major reservations about it. It's actually strange how the film treats all this as normal, even desirable.

Re: Challenge Week 43: True Stories

Jandy — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 16:17:07 -0000

I definitely think I'll like it more on a rewatch, when I know what to expect. Usually I like going in blind, but sometimes knowing more helps. :)

Re: Challenge Week 43: The Collector

Jandy — Mon, 21 Nov 2016 00:50:57 -0000

I remember you mentioning about the Code approval, but obviously you didn't tell me exactly what the issue was. I assumed the suggestions of nudity in the bathroom scene, but you're right, the ending isn't compliant either. But the ending is perfect.

Re: Challenge Week 42: Millennium Actress

Jandy — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 00:57:22 -0000

Yeah, I already can't wait to watch it again. This time enthralled me, but I can definitely see digging deeper being rewarding.

The chaos in Paprika turned me off a little. I know it's supposed to be a dream world or something, but it just got to be a little much. I would like to see it again. Tokyo Godfathers is really good. And Perfect Blue I've seen, but I really don't remember a thing about it.

Re: Challenge Week 27: Birdemic: Shock and Terror

Jandy — Sun, 10 Jul 2016 22:15:03 -0000

Right?! And that scene goes on forever, too! It was like they got the musician to be in the movie for free as long as he could perform a song in its entirety. Actually, that's probably exactly what happened, heh.

Re: Challenge Week 18: Fail-Safe

Jandy — Tue, 10 May 2016 10:19:14 -0000

Huh, you are correct. The plots are so identical I assumed they were based on the same thing. Looks like it was contentious back in the day, too, as George sued Burdick & Wheeler for plagiarism (and Kubrick also sued the producers of Fail-Safe when the films were in production, succeeding in having Dr. Strangelove released several months earlier).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wi...

Re: TCM Film Festival 2016: My Plans

Jandy — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 12:10:09 -0000

Can't wait to see you at some great films. :)

Re: TCM Film Festival 2016: My Plans

Jandy — Wed, 27 Apr 2016 12:09:42 -0000

I would if I thought I could stay awake!

Re: Challenge Week 8: Mr. Nobody

Jandy — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 11:13:51 -0000

I just looked back through your and Andrew's reviews/posts, which are excellent. I tried to read the comments, but reading other people pooh-poohing my transcendent experiences is no longer my bag. I don't think I could make it through the podcast.

Re: Challenge Week 8: Mr. Nobody

Jandy — Fri, 26 Feb 2016 11:12:26 -0000

There were too many parts I really dug to mention them all. The science programs sections WERE great. I also loved the story-within-the-story of the trip to Mars and how it kind of "belonged" to multiple layers of the narrative.

I still need to see Stories We Tell. Badly.

I've described Cloud Atlas as an everything movie, too. "What is that movie about," people ask. "Everything. It's about everything." The Tree of Life is like this, too, actually. Love it.

Re: 6 Illustrations That Show What It’s Like in an Introvert’s Head

Jandy — Sun, 21 Feb 2016 01:54:04 -0000

This is really interesting. I'm very much an introvert, and I do sometimes need to articulate what I'm thinking to really get a handle on it, too, but I can't do that by talking - I do it by writing. But I guess it's still more of an inward-focused process? I rarely share that writing with anyone. I wonder if that's something different than other introverts and if there's a name for it?

I guess I can sometimes talk things out with like that is my husband (also an introvert), but he's the only one, and those conversations often take weeks as we mull over our previous discussions, think of new insights or perspectives, and then bounce them off each other.

Re: Challenge Week 5: Lone Star

Jandy — Fri, 05 Feb 2016 12:27:12 -0000

You're not the first one to say that! I had one set of follow-up recommendations (from Ben, who recommended this one) that's right in line with your top three, and from a friend on Twitter who suggested Limbo, Lianna, and Brother from Another Planet. Sounds like he's got a pretty wide range to choose from!

Re: Top Ten: Judy Garland Films

Jandy — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 01:07:46 -0000

Hi, thanks for the comment! For Me and My Gal is a favorite for a lot of people, I know. It's not that high on my list, but it's been a while since I saw it. Maybe I'd like it better now!

Re: Challenge Week 1: Babette’s Feast

Jandy — Sun, 10 Jan 2016 20:29:57 -0000

I think the Catholics may have a better understanding of feasting than Protestants - one thing Protestants were protesting was the profligacy and extravagance of the Catholic Church, and they often overcompensated in ways like pietism. Not that Catholicism doesn't have ascetic sects or individuals, but I think (not an expert on Catholicism by any means!) that it's generally considered a special calling for individuals or monks/nuns rather than a recommended way of life for everyone. The Catholic church year is full of feast days in honor of various saints.

(My Protestant denomination restores a lot of traditional liturgy and doctrine, and we think of every Sunday as being a mini-feast day - you'll find us gathered almost every week after church feasting at someone's house.)

Re: 2015: The Year in Movies

Jandy — Mon, 04 Jan 2016 12:34:08 -0000

I only made it to about 75 new-to-me films this year myself! Obviously if I complete the Challenge, I'll have at least 104 new ones next year. :)

Steve McQueen was pretty unbelievable as a teenager. His parents were like "go to your room," and I was like, really? You're going to give Steve McQueen a curfew?

Re: The 2016 Movie Challenge: A Preview

Jandy — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 18:11:34 -0000

I've had enough people rave about Babette's Feast that I'm sure it's much better than its logline indicates, but I'd be lying if that logline did anything for me on its own.

As for A Man for All Seasons, my expectations may be suffering by my apathy toward Becket, which seems like a similar story and which I forgot almost instantly after watching it. I'm definitely hoping they're both better than my ignorant impressions of them!

Re: The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge

Jandy — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 00:07:29 -0000

Cool! Shall I add you to the group on Facebook, and you can add your choices there when you have them?

Re: The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge

Jandy — Tue, 01 Dec 2015 14:46:02 -0000

Nice! I was hoping someone would give me Harakiri, and Nausicaa's been on my list for a while, just needed a push.

Re: The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge

Jandy — Mon, 30 Nov 2015 10:17:16 -0000

Cool! I know you'll have some great recommendations.

Re: The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge

Jandy — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 22:53:44 -0000

Great, Dan! I was hoping you'd come on board. :)

Re: The 2016 Movie Watching Challenge

Jandy — Sun, 29 Nov 2015 16:34:14 -0000

Awesome! But you can just come up with two. :)

Re: Against Evaluative Criticism: A Personal Manifesto

Jandy — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 00:31:17 -0000

Note: I am not always successful at exercising it, as evaluation is pretty ingrained.

Re: Against Evaluative Criticism: A Personal Manifesto

Jandy — Fri, 09 Oct 2015 00:30:28 -0000

"Useless for whom?" - Useless for me. The hierarchy among things I like (which is most films I see) is meaningless. Right now the top film on my loosely ranked Letterboxd list of films I saw in 2015 is Stranger on the Third Floor, and the reason it's up there is because I was so enamored with the dream sequence and the bits with Peter Lorre. I don't know that I really liked the movie AS A WHOLE more than everything else I saw this year. It's the drive to give an overall rating the I'm rebelling against.

My point is I'd rather talk about the elements I liked (which, yes, is to some degree evaluative) and not try to tally all those element into a single judgement that's somehow supposed to apply to the entire film. "Well, I liked the dream sequence 5 stars, but the courtroom scene is only 2 stars, and the acting is kind of like 2.5 stars, but the cinematography is 5 stars, so I guess that's like 3.75 stars overall." Except that's not really representative. Some sites I've seen do break everything into elements like that (well, not individual scenes, but like acting, cinematography, story, etc.), but how stressful that would be!

Really, the underlying assumption is that if I'm writing about it, it's good. Otherwise, I wouldn't care about it enough to bother. So therefore, there's no need to discuss whether it's good or not, hence no need to foreground evaluation. That could never work if writing reviews, because working reviewers have to review things they don't like. That's a luxury I have, and I intend to exercise it.