Lyndon in 2023

Lord_Lyndon
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Lyndon in 2023

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1. Vacancy (2007; Nimród Antal)
A pretty solid thriller/horror with good performances from Kate Beckinsale and Luke Wilson.

2. Mr. Right (2015; Paco Cabezas)
This film really throws a lot of ridiculous characters, ridiculous situations and ridiculous dialogue at you. It works. It was entertaining and funny. Anna Kendrick and Sam Rockwell were terrific.

3. Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949; Robert Hamer)
It is an acclaimed British dark comedy, a satire of aristocracy of sorts. It was wonderful.

4. The New World (2005; Terrence Malick)
Rewatch. Still a beautiful visual poem from Terry. Really love this film, even if it is not on the level of his 3 masterpieces (Badlands, Days of Heaven, Thin Red Line).

5. FLCL Progressive (2018)
It wasn't as coherent and as meaningful as the original. It was silly, random, nonsensical. I did like it, though. It was fun.

6. FLCL Alternative (2018)
More grounded than Progressive. It made more sense, but it was less fun. I generally liked it, though.

7. Devilman: Crybaby (2018)
Recommended by Rax. It uses a familiar premise of human merging with a demon. But it builds on that beautifully and becomes something great till the end. Last two episodes were fantastic, and that ending scene was truly devastating.

8. The Big O (1999–2003)
Another recommendation by Rax. It is an aesthetically pleasing and thematically ambitious series. Someone said it is like a hybrid of Batman Animated Series and Blade Runner. Also, someone said this: Big O can best be viewed as an allegory for man's search for identity, and an exploration of the relationships between memory, imagination, and knowledge. Overall, it was great.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Progressive and Alternative get a bad rap because they're not as good as the original FLCL (How could they be?), but taken on their own terms I thought they were decent little shows. That one fake-out episode in Alternative in particular strikes me as very sad.

Yeah Devilman Crybaby is something. I generally liked it better than the original manga it adapts- the overall basic story is the same but it really lands in Crybaby in a way it didn't for me in the original.

Yeah Big O is great, though it needs a rewatch for me. What did you make of that ending?
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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BTW where are you on Malick's Tree of Life? I haven't seen it in like ten years, but I remember thinking it was almost a masterpiece, except that the cosmic framing device with the dinosaurs and such didn't really work for me. Rest was very good though.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Yeah Big O is great, though it needs a rewatch for me. What did you make of that ending?
If I understood it correctly, they were all living in a kind of simulation. I think the point was that the main character, Roger Smith, realized that in the end. And despite the fact that he was aware that they were all simulated beings, he insisted that their identity, existence and relationships they forged, especially in his relation to female character Angel, were actually 'real' and very meaningful. In my opinion, that was a a very poignant way to end the series.
BTW where are you on Malick's Tree of Life?
I thought it was very good. The highlight of the film were definitely scenes of family living in Texas. By the way, I still haven't seen the extended version of the film, which is 3 hours long. Which means it has 40 additional minutes when compared to theatrical cut. I presume it expands on Sean Penn's character. He was barely in the original cut. I am very interested to find out about his character more, especially because I'm a big fan of Sean Penn. Believe it or not.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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You liked Mr. Right more than I did, and I’m a huge Rockwell fan.

For some reason I’ve always wanted to see Vacancy even though it’s normally a genre I don’t care for.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Sat Jan 14, 2023 5:20 pm
Yeah Big O is great, though it needs a rewatch for me. What did you make of that ending?
If I understood it correctly, they were all living in a kind of simulation. I think the point was that the main character, Roger Smith, realized that in the end. And despite the fact that he was aware that they were all simulated beings, he insisted that their identity, existence and relationships they forged, especially in his relation to female character Angel, were actually 'real' and very meaningful. In my opinion, that was a a very poignant way to end the series.
I was never sure if it was simulation thing or if Angel was like, literally some kind of creator deity and that there were some kind of time loop shenanigans set afoot in that final scene. Either way, I think thematically you're right with what the show is doing.
I thought it was very good. The highlight of the film were definitely scenes of family living in Texas. By the way, I still haven't seen the extended version of the film, which is 3 hours long. Which means it has 40 additional minutes when compared to theatrical cut. I presume it expands on Sean Penn's character. He was barely in the original cut. I am very interested to find out about his character more, especially because I'm a big fan of Sean Penn. Believe it or not.
Yeah I've also only seen the theatrical cut. Not really sure what the director's cut adds.

Sean Penn...I dunno. He's a perfectly fine actor but I've never had very strong feelings about him one way or another.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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9. The Bone Collector (1999; Phillip Noyce)
Haven't seen this one in ages. I decided to rewatch it mostly because Angelina Jolie is in it. It is a very good police procedural/serial killer film with some moody visuals and good performances from Angelina Jolie and Denzel Washington.

10. Apocalypse Now: Final Cut (1979; Francis Ford Coppola)
Coppola released this version in 2019. He decided to make it because he felt people were not satisfied with the redux version. Naturally, this version is longer than theatrical and shorter than redux version. Anyway, this is the greatest war film ever made. It is in my top 5 favourite films of all time.

11. The Great Dictator (1940; Charles Chaplin)
Rewatch after more than 10 years. This is a not very subtle satire/comedy. However, it is a masterpiece and Chaplin's greatest film with Modern Times.

12. Lost Highway (1997; David Lynch)
Rewatch after more than 10 years. A fantastic film from Lynch which shows his penchant for surreal mystery and atmospheric visuals.

13. Winter Sleep (2014; Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
A pretty solid art film from Turkey. It was very talkative which is not really my cup of tea.

14. Kong: Skull Island (2017; Jordan Vogt-Roberts)
I didn't like this when I saw it in 2020. I decided to rewatch it because Rax really liked it. After rewatching it, I changed my opinion. It is a pretty great, visually stunning film with great action sequences, beautiful scenery, Kong and other creatures looked great, John C. Reilly and legendary Samuel L. Jackson gave really good performances. Really great entertainment.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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15. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017; Guy Ritchie)
Decided to rewatch this for some reason. It is decent film with some neat direction from Ritchie: some really cool camerawork and editing. It is more of a fantasy film than some realistic historical account.

16. Bardo: False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (2022; Alejandro G. Iñárritu)
People have been comparing this one to Fellini's Eight and a Half. Similar kind of introspective journey by a filmmaker. It is a good film, but far from Iñárritu's best (Amores Perros, Birdman, Revenant).

17. Coraline (2009; Henry Selick)
Gendo mentioned a couple of times he saw this one and he liked it. I also heard from other people that this is a cautionary tale about dangers of living in a fantasy world. Decided to check it out and the execution is quite good. Some really good animation and sequences. I generally liked it.

18. Casino (1995; Martin Scorsese)
The idea here is very simple: De Niro's character represents the glamour of Vegas, and Pesci's character represents its murderous underside. It remains one of the most entertaining films of the 90's, with some really inspired camerawork and editing. This was my third time seeing it in the last five years.

19. Die Hard (1988; John McTiernan)
Saw this last time in 2018. Decided to rewatch it and it is one of the greatest action films of all time. Maybe even greatest films of all time generally speaking. Just like Gendo said: great screenplay and fantastic direction by McTiernan.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I like Casino a lot, and feel its fairly distinct from GoodFellas. Did you notice that Scorsese uses a music track from Godard's Contempt in it?

Die Hard rocks.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Raxivace wrote: Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:27 amDid you notice that Scorsese uses a music track from Godard's Contempt in it?
No, I didn't actually. But interesting that you mentioned Godard... I was just thinking how, when I was younger, Godard was way ahead of Scorsese on my list of favourite directors. But times change and people change. Now Scorsese is ahead of Godard on that same list. Both are in my top 15, though.
Here is another one of my random preferences: when I was younger I liked Tarantino and Nolan, but I thought they were somewhat overrated. Now I absolutely love all of their films.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I'm looking at De Niro's filmography and this is really impressive. Just look at some of the films he's been in:

Mean Streets
The Godfather Part II
Taxi Driver
The Deer Hunter
Raging Bull
The King of Comedy
Once Upon a Time in America
Brazil
The Untouchables
Goodfellas
Awakenings
Cape Fear
Casino
Heat
Jackie Brown
Stardust
Silver Linings Playbook
Joker
The Irishman

And he's been in some other really good films as well. I don't know if anyone else has this impressive filmography.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Just finished watching a De Niro film that’s not on that list. Write-up to come soon. Also, although I don’t remember it well because it was almost 20 years ago; I really liked City by the Sea with him.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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20. Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995; John McTiernan)
Fantastic. Almost as good as the first one. Really fast paced, some really great writing, some really great action. Samuel Jackson was great as usual.

21. Die Hard 2 (1990; Renny Harlin)
Not as good as first and third. But still very good. Some solid writing and some very good action.

22. Be Cool (2005; F. Gary Gray)
Wanted to see something with Uma Thurman in it. Decided to see this. It was not that bad. It is a comedy, a gangster film and film about music industry all in one. She is paired with John Travolta, 11 years after the legendary Pulp Fiction. The film has some really funny referential moments about film and music industry, and some really neat self-referential moments. My favourite scene was when she danced with Travolta, which was meant to be a homage to that legendary dance scene in Pulp Fiction.

23. Paycheck (2003; John Woo)
Entertaining, Hitchcockian running man action thriller with a brilliant sci-fi twist. Really enjoyed this one, and Uma Thurman continues to impress with her flawless beauty.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I always liked Die Hard 2 more than most people. The twist is pretty good, and I love William Sadler in anything. Die Hard with a Vengeance is my personal favorite, even if it’s not as technically good as the first one.

Always been a big fan of Paycheck also. Even though the central sci-fi premise is stupidly flawed; if you could look around the curvature of the universe and back to your current location; you would be seeing the far distant past, not the future. And by far distant past I mean billions of years past.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Gendo wrote: Sun Feb 19, 2023 8:31 pm I always liked Die Hard 2 more than most people. The twist is pretty good, and I love William Sadler in anything.
When I think of William Sadler, two films come to my mind. Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey, where he gave a fantastic performance (one of my personal favourite performances of all time), and The Shawshank Redemption, which is the highest rated film on imdb.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I remember finding out several years ago that William Sadler was Death. He was also in a few great episodes of DS9.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Fri Feb 10, 2023 1:19 pm
Raxivace wrote: Fri Feb 10, 2023 10:27 amDid you notice that Scorsese uses a music track from Godard's Contempt in it?
No, I didn't actually. But interesting that you mentioned Godard... I was just thinking how, when I was younger, Godard was way ahead of Scorsese on my list of favourite directors. But times change and people change. Now Scorsese is ahead of Godard on that same list. Both are in my top 15, though.
Here is another one of my random preferences: when I was younger I liked Tarantino and Nolan, but I thought they were somewhat overrated. Now I absolutely love all of their films.
That's a tough one for me. When Godard misses I think he misses harder than Scorsese (The most insufferable of the Maoist propaganda films being the most obvious examples), but when he hits a bullseye I think he generally gives me much more to think about than Scorsese does. As much as I love Scorsese and find him more consistent and more superficially entertaining than Godard is, a lot of his movies do just kind of boil down to variations on Catholic guiltsploitation. He expresses that better than maybe anyone else to ever live, and I love him for it, but it doesn't haunt me the way Godard's stuff can.

Godard will also have an edge I think for Breathless being, IMO, the final film to genuinely revolutionize the medium the way The Birth of a Nation and Battleship Potemkin and Citizen Kane and such did. As much as I love Scorsese, none of his directorial work really matches that importance (Though the people that say his work with the World Cinema Project is greater than his work as a director might have a point). But it also shows to me that the medium of film has not had a genuinely new idea since 1960.
Last edited by Raxivace on Thu Feb 23, 2023 12:17 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Sat Feb 11, 2023 1:26 am I'm looking at De Niro's filmography and this is really impressive. Just look at some of the films he's been in:

Mean Streets
The Godfather Part II
Taxi Driver
The Deer Hunter
Raging Bull
The King of Comedy
Once Upon a Time in America
Brazil
The Untouchables
Goodfellas
Awakenings
Cape Fear
Casino
Heat
Jackie Brown
Stardust
Silver Linings Playbook
Joker
The Irishman

And he's been in some other really good films as well. I don't know if anyone else has this impressive filmography.
I've seen all of these except Stardust. Really the only bad movie on here I think is The Deer Hunter.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Raxivace wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 10:02 am That's a tough one for me. When Godard misses I think he misses harder than Scorsese (The most insufferable of the Maoist propaganda films being the most obvious examples), but when he hits a bullseye I think he generally gives me much more to think about than Scorsese does. As much as I love Scorsese and find him more consistent and more superficially entertaining than Godard is, a lot of his movies do just kind of boil down to variations on Catholic guiltsploitation. He expresses that better than maybe anyone else to ever live, and I love him for it, but it doesn't haunt me the way Godard's stuff can.

Godard will also have an edge I think for Breathless being, IMO, the final film to genuinely revolutionize the medium the way The Birth of a Nation and Battleship Potemkin and Citizen Kane and such did. As much as I love Scorsese, none of his directorial work really matches that importance (Though the people that say his work with the World Cinema Project is greater than his work as a director might have a point). But it also shows to me that the medium of film has not had a genuinely new idea since 1960.
Interesting observations about Godard, Scorsese, history of film and possible future. But I remembered something. Eva Yojimbo once said that Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul is doing something interesting with film as medium, something different from others. You should definitely check out some of his films.
Really the only bad movie on here I think is The Deer Hunter.
I personally loved Deer Hunter, but I remembered two reviews from tedg and tieman which could definitely be considered as controversial. I'm going to post them here.

Shawshank of Nam
tedg29 September 2002
Warning: Spoilers
Spoilers herein.

I admire films well done, and this is certainly one. But it succeeds only by attempting something so simple one wonders if it is worth the emotional investment of the audience. I think I prefer projects like `Thin Red Line' which also put you through the wringer but can transform your soul.

The simple thing here is to focus on situation as the driver of the story. The actors (fine actors mostly) form an ensemble that responds. This is radically different than the typical DeNiro picture which has it the other way around. It is the only DeNiro performance I credit as tolerable because he subordinates his presence to the vision of the filmmaker. He does do that with others (notably Scorsese) but in their case, their vision is entirely bounded by the character, so we watch him grimace and prance intently and are supposed to be amazed.

The situation here is an America that breaks its people. Quite bleak. The situation shifts to and from Vietnam and the actors react, but there is no mistake that they were terminally damaged before the first scene. The changing situation is like the revolver's chambers, that bullet will appear in one of them. Randomly.

In producing the film, sound is used effectively. Again, it is a simple effect (the framing of the church choir) but done well.

Ted's evaluation: 2 of 4 -- Has some interesting elements.

Magnum Hopeless
tieman6418 June 2013
Warning: Spoilers
"The story we tell ourselves about ourselves in order to account for what we are doing, is a lie. The truth lies outside, in what we do." - Zizek

A near scene-for-scene remake of 1939's "The Four Feathers", Michael Cimino's "The Deer Hunter" tells the story of several friends (Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken) from small town Pennsylvania. Early sequences watch as the gang work in a steel mill, congregate and go on hunting expeditions. Cimino's photography, aided by cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, is exceptional throughout, but his film quickly nosedives into pretentious, unintentionally funny territory. Cimino indulges in a prolonged wedding sequence (cribbed from Coppola who cribbed from Visconti), filters "Best Years of Our Lives" through a Vietnam era prism, has DeNiro run about naked like a Method Actor fishing for Oscars, and treats us to a forced sequence in which our heroes play Chopin on a piano whilst looking REALLY REALLY SERIOUS. This is a deep movie, see.

The hell of Industrial America then becomes the hell of the Vietnam War. Here our heroes, now American soldiers, watch North Vietnamese "savages" kill civilians. They're then captured by the Vietnamese and made to play Russian Roulette. They survive this ordeal, but Walken's character is pushed into madness and begins to play Russian Roulette for money in a Saigon gambling hall. Symbolically unable to escape the damage done by Vietnam, he spends six years there, gambling with bullets. You'd think the law of averages would catch up with him, but no.

"Don't leave me over there," Walken tells his buddy DeNiro, which leads to DeNiro having the longest delayed reaction in the history of cinema. Eight years later he goes back to Saigon in the hopes of finding Walken, a missing person's search which is apparently really easy. They find each other, Walken commits suicide (partially to punish - and prove his love to - "best man" DeNiro), the film ends with a funeral and a silly, unearned scene in which our gang sing "God Bless America". You can feel Cimino straining with every scene to make a GREAT EPIC. The film won five Oscars.

Like most Vietnam war movies, "Hunter" hinges on romanticised madness. Deer hunting becomes a metaphor for "virtuous, humane kills" and Russian Roulette becomes a metaphor for the madness inducing chaos of Vietnam. As is typical of racist war films, the Vietnamese are portrayed as grinning (their dialogue is not even Vietnamese), Oriental savages (introduced with propagandistic scenes showing the NVA killing babies and women) and the "reason" for US defeat is sidestepped by making the Vietnam war itself incomprehensible. Where else but in a wholly irrational country could the US lose a war?

Whilst several sequences play with irony (Russian-Americans playing Russian roulette etc), Cimino's tale is one of solemn tragedy. An account of what evil, sadistic, barbaric Vietnamese did to poor, innocent Americans, the film, like "Apocalypse Now", oozes macho self pity with a dash of counter-culture disillusionment and strained appeals to high culture (Conrad, Eliot, Chopin songs, Orthodox hymns etc). The film is silly elsewhere, with random helicopter rescues, love triangles, many cheesy "dramatic" scenes and exploitative Roulette sequences (why's everyone in Saigaon playing Roulette?) which Cimino shoe-horned from another Las Vegas themed script he was working on. Some critics, like Jonathan Rosenbaum, spotted the film's hokiness right away. Pulitzer Prize winner Peter Arnett would call it a "simplistic lie".

As with most war movies, the overriding message is "look what they did to us". Cimino perpetuates the racist stereotype that sustained much of America's involvement in Indochina, and hides behind designer madness and much irrationality. Compare to Pontecorvo's "Burn!", which offered a clear analysis of imperialist expansion, and "In the Year of the Pig" and "Hearts and Minds", two documentaries which the CIA waged war upon and whose theatres met with bomb threats.

In 2012, the Pentagon began The Vietnam War Commemoration Project, a 13 year, 65 million dollar propaganda effort to clean up the image of the Vietnam war. What are they covering up? The fact that the North Vietnamese constituted a political movement with near total local, popular support, that the US artificially divided Vietnam in disregard of Geneva negotiations (becase Eisenhower knew over 80 percent of the population would vote for Ho Chi Minh), that the US put in place and backed psycho puppet leaders, that even the South didn't support the US, that the US did everything it could to prevent unification and scuttle elections, that 4 million Vietnamese died, that more bombs were dropped than in all previous wars combined, that tens of thousands were assassinated by the CIA's Phoenix Program, that nukes were threatened 13 times, that US land-mines still kill Vietnamese to this day (52000 and counting), that millions of gallons of poison, herbicide and chemicals were used, that US campaigns in Cambodia were directly responsible for the rise of the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot (later supported with 89 million dollars) and the genocide which took place afterwards, that the first Tonkin Gulf incident was started by US aggression, that the second never happened, that over five million villagers were forcibly displaced, that political prisoners were jailed/tortured in "tiger cages" and that 90 percent of Northern levees, hospitals, villages, towns and industries were intentionally bombed. The US has similarly destabilised over 80 countries in the past 100 years. And yet here's a film with the NVA torturing small-town Americans.

During and after the Iraq war, US soldiers committed suicide at a rate of 1 every 25 hours. This figure doesn't include attempted suicides (roughly 1900 in 2009 alone). In Vietnam, the number of US suicides totalled about 150,000. In real life, these vets were trapped in a double bind, unable to reconcile their belief that their conflict was righteous with their actual deeds; they thus nihilistically self-destructed. Cimino wants you to believe the opposite; that the NVA pushed men to suicide.

3/10 – Depressing.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Stardust is excellent; though it only has a bit of De Niro.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Lord_Lyndon wrote: Thu Feb 23, 2023 7:15 pmInteresting observations about Godard, Scorsese, history of film and possible future. But I remembered something. Eva Yojimbo once said that Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul is doing something interesting with film as medium, something different from others. You should definitely check out some of his films.
I've seen Mysterious Object at Noon at least. I didn't think that movie was very good tbh, but I've been told its not very representative of his overall body of work and given the very specific nature of that movie I would believe that. Still, one day I'll have to check out more of his stuff.
I personally loved Deer Hunter, but I remembered two reviews from tedg and tieman which could definitely be considered as controversial. I'm going to post them here.
I think the performances are fine, but everything from the incredibly tedious wedding sequence to the really goofy number of Russian roulette scenes to the generally bland visual style just kills the movie for me. I just don't think there's much of substance there, whether on cinematic level, on thematic level, or on character level.

I don't know what that tedg person is going on about with talk of actors "subordinating presence" to filmmakers- some films require that and some call for showy performances or whatever. Some very good films are star vehicles. Its odd to single out Scorsese here as someone De Niro "subordinates" to when he was at least part of the creative process of Taxi Driver (Specifically its most iconic scene- "You talkin' to me?") and he's the reason that Scorsese even made Raging Bull after nearly killing himself with that cocaine bender he went on. I just can't agree with this philosophy that there's only like one specific way for acting or movies in general to be good- that's not to excuse all acting or all movies as being good as long as you have the correct interpretive lens, but about understanding what filmmakers are trying to achieve to begin with and judging them based on that (And even that standard isn't only way something can be enjoyed! Films can also be understood and/or enjoyed in ways not intended by their creators).

As much as I don't like The Deer Hunter, I think that tieman fella is being awfully uncharitable in his interpretation. Like I really don't think the "God Bless America" bit is intended as irony-free and I don't think the movie was ever painting the war itself in a charitable light. He seems a bit contradictory too- like in the review he tries to paint the idea of the movie presenting "America" as rational unlike "irrational" Vietnam, but earlier in the review he also talks about the movie as presenting "Industrial America" as "hell" just like it presents Vietnam War as "hell". Which is it that he's arguing, that the film presents both America and the Vietnam War as bad or that America was fine and dandy until it was corrupted by misadventures in Vietnam? His seemingly pro-war interpretation of the film seems stretched to me.

To me it seems like the movie is making the case that the Vietnam War is itself an extension of American industry, however told from the point of view of characters that can't themselves make the connection between American's capitalism and America's international actions and can't see that their true enemies are not the Vietnamese. I don't think the movie makes the argument very compellingly mind you, but I think its a more reasonable explanation of what the movie is trying to do.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Thanks, Rax. That was very interesting to read. I just want to point out a couple of things about tedg and tieman. Tedg is a big fan of what he calls folding in films. I suppose we call it layering. He generally doesn't like Scorsese's films. He feels that Scorsese just attaches camera to one of his characters and he follows them around, and according to ted that just isn't great filmmaking. Interestingly though, he praised his work on Gangs of New York and The Aviator. Ted is a big fan of Kurosawa, Welles, Tarkovsky, Medem, Greenaway, Wong Kar-wai.
Tieman, on the other hand, is a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick is by far his favourite director. It doesn't surprise me that you said tieman contradicts himself within the same review, as he always tries to cram as many intellectual ideas in his reviews as he can. He is undoubtedly knowledgeable and has read a lot of analyses/essays about films, but that doesn't mean his is always right, of course. Interestingly, he also doesn't like Scorsese's films, but I think in tieman's case it is because he feels Scorsese's films aren't particularly substantial. He said that Scorsese is 'good, but overrated'.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I've seen only 2 films this month, but I have some leftovers from February.

24. Paprika (2006; Satoshi Kon)
I liked this when I saw it for the first time. Decided to rewatch it and now I love it. It has some really great visual imagination and I loved the merging of dreams.

25. Smokin' Aces (2006; Joe Carnahan)
This is a solid action thriller. Certainly a stylish film that didn't take itself too seriously for the most part. It tries to turn into something more serious thematically in the end. I don't know. That didn't bother me. It was fine.

26. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001; Peter Jackson)
One of my favourite films, but I agree with Derived Absurdity when he said it was cheesy at times. I would even use the term 'unintentionally funny'. However, I really love it for its great sense of adventure and those beautiful, beautiful Olympian visuals (I stole this term from tieman).

27. Fight Club (1999; David Fincher)
One of the most iconic, legendary, popular, entertaining, famous, widely-seen films of all time. Basically a satire of consumerism, but also a film about a group of people forming an underground fight club so they can somehow deal with existential problems/frustrations. Certainly an amazing film that will be remembered for a long time. I've seen it many times.

28. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015; George Miller)
Derived Absurdity's favourite film. This is a rewatch. The only thing I can say after his long analysis is that it has some of the best cinematography and editing I've ever seen, and some really stunning set-pieces. Definitely one of the best films I've ever seen, and one of my personal favourites.

29. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960; Mikio Naruse)
This is a Japanese classic. It is Naruse's most famous film. I liked it, but these kind of character-driven films aren't my cup of tea anymore. Now I'm a huge fan of set-piece cinema.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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30. Trouble in Paradise (1932; Ernst Lubitsch)
Very good romantic comedy about three characters: male thief, female thief and a rich woman they are trying to rob.

31. The Thin Man (1934; W.S. Van Dyke)
This is part murder mystery, part romantic comedy. It was very good. William Powell and Myrna Loy played of each other beautifully.

32. Duck Soup (1933; Leo McCarey)
This is a rewatch. It is a fantastic anti-war satire/comedy. Some really great physical and verbal comedy, brilliantly executed by brothers Marx.

33. Destry Rides Again (1939; George Marshall)
Very good western with James Stewart and Marlene Dietrich. Some really good comedy and action. The Stewart/Dietrich romance was the least impressive aspect of the film.

34. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (2022– )
Decided to check out season 1 because of the huge hype surrounding it. It was very good. Some really epic and bloody battles in the first half of the season. Second part of the season was more about Ichigo Kurosaki's personal journey. He is the main character. I think season 2 will come out pretty soon.

35. Grand Hotel (1932; Edmund Goulding)
Very good film about adventures and misadventures of several characters in some hotel in Berlin. Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford are in it.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I watched and reviewed all The Thin Man movies a couple years ago. Overall pretty good; especially the chemistry between the leads. Duck Soup is one of 3 Marx Brothers films I've seen (with 2 left to go in my collection)... I can't remember any specifics about it to separate it from the other ones I've seen, but as a whole I remember finding it quite funny.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I've seen all those movies and also liked them.

EDIT: Wait I goofed, Duck Soup is not one of the Marx Brothers films I've seen. D'oh!
Lord_Lyndon wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 9:34 pm34. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (2022– )
Decided to check out season 1 because of the huge hype surrounding it. It was very good. Some really epic and bloody battles in the first half of the season. Second part of the season was more about Ichigo Kurosaki's personal journey. He is the main character. I think season 2 will come out pretty soon.
This I haven't seen however. Is this a remake of the original Bleach? I remember a seeing a few episodes of the original Bleach years and years ago on TV but didn't get too into it.
Last edited by Raxivace on Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Gendo wrote: Fri Mar 31, 2023 11:06 pm I watched and reviewed all The Thin Man movies a couple years ago.
The Thin Man sequel I remember best is the one with the young James Stewart. So bizarre seeing him play the villain.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I just wanted to offer my deepest apology to you guys. I know I promised I would post here regularly. That hasn't happened and I'm really sorry. And I know that me doing really bad in life is not an excuse. I can only say that I will try to make it up to you guys.
Raxivace wrote: Tue Apr 04, 2023 6:42 am This I haven't seen however. Is this a remake of the original Bleach? I remember a seeing a few episodes of the original Bleach years and years ago on TV but didn't get too into it.
I'm sorry I didn't respond earlier, Rax. I still haven't seen anything this month. I will copy/paste this for you, Rax:

Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War (BLEACH ?????, Burichi: Sennen Kessen-hen) is a Japanese anime television series based on the Bleach manga series by Tite Kubo and a direct sequel to the Bleach anime series. In March 2020, Weekly Shonen Jump and "Bleach 20th Anniversary Project & Tite Kubo New Project Presentation" livestream announced that the manga's last story arc, "Thousand-Year Blood War", would receive an anime project.[1] In November 2020, it was announced that the anime project would be a television series. The trailer and visual for the series were revealed at the Jump Festa '22 in December 2021.[2][3]

The series is directed by Tomohisa Taguchi and premiered on TV Tokyo in October 2022.[4][5][6][a] The series will run for four cours with breaks in between.[6][7] The first cour, The Thousand-Year Blood War, consists of 13 episodes[8] and ended in December of the same year.[9] The second cour, subtitled The Separation, will begin airing in July 2023.[10][11][12]
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Here are my Francis Ford Coppola rankings/ratings:

Apocalypse Now (1979) 10/10
The Godfather Part II (1974) 10/10
The Godfather (1972) 10/10
The Conversation (1974) 9.5/10
Rumble Fish (1983) 8.5/10
Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) 8.5/10
The Godfather: Part III (1990) 8/10
The Outsiders (1983) 7.5/10
Tetro (2009) 7.5/10
Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) 7/10
The Rainmaker (1997) 7/10
The Cotton Club (1984) 7/10
The Rain People (1969) 7/10
Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) 6.5/10
Jack (1996) 6.5/10
One from the Heart (1981) 6/10
Gardens of Stone (1987) 6/10
Youth Without Youth (2007) 6/10
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I haven't seen all the Coppolas, but I personally liked Dracula more than The Conversation.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Raxivace wrote: Thu Apr 20, 2023 1:29 pm I haven't seen all the Coppolas, but I personally liked Dracula more than The Conversation.
Yes, I remember. I also remember that you've read the Dracula book, and you said that you enjoyed the film much more. And I certainly agree with you that Coppola's Dracula is a much more visually stunning film than The Conversation.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Every once in a while, I remember that he directed Jack; and it’s like “wut?”
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Here are my Brian De Palma rankings/ratings. I really think he is a very good director.

Scarface (1983) 10/10
Blow Out (1981) 9/10
The Untouchables (1987) 9/10
Snake Eyes (1998) 8.5/10
Body Double (1984) 8.5/10
Dressed to Kill (1980) 8.5/10
Carlito's Way (1993) 8.5/10
The Black Dahlia (2006) 8/10
Phantom of the Paradise (1974) 8/10
The Fury (1978) 8/10
Carrie (1976) 8/10
Casualties of War (1989) 8/10
Femme Fatale (2002) 8/10
Mission: Impossible (1996) 8/10
Sisters (1972) 7.5/10
Raising Cain (1992) 7.5/10
Mission to Mars (2000) 7.5/10
Redacted (2007) 7/10
Passion (2012) 6.5/10
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I like his Mission: Impossible and that's about it.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Carrie is a masterpiece.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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It has one good sequence with the pig's blood or whatever but its mostly pretty shallow revenge porn IMO.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Here are my Hayao Miyazaki rankings/ratings:

1. Porco Rosso (1992) 10/10
2. Howl's Moving Castle (2004) 10/10
3. Castle in the Sky (1989) 10/10
4. Spirited Away (2001) 10/10
5. Princess Mononoke (1997) 10/10
6. Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (1979) 9.5/10
7. Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) 9/10
8. Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984) 8.5/10
9. Wind Rises (2013) 8.5/10
10. Ponyo (2008) 8/10
11. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) 8/10
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Miyazaki is largely lacking in my collection. Just picked up Spirited Away a couple weeks ago. I either didn’t know or completely forgot that he did Castle of Cagliostro!
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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It's been too long since I've seen Cagliostro to really talk about but I remember not liking it much. I largely prefer the episodes of the 1971 Lupin III series that he and Takahata co-directed and they're probably my favorite thing from both of them.

I've seen most of Miyazaki's films at this point and Kiki's is the only one I particularly liked.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I saw only 3 films in April. I rewatched 3 Angelina Jolie films.

36. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001; Simon West)
I generally liked the plot and action sequences.

37. Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - The Cradle of Life (2003; Jan de Bont)
I really enjoyed this one. I thought the action was great.

38. Original Sin (2001; Michael Cristofer)
This one is mostly remembered because she looked amazing in it, but I thought it was a pretty solid erotic thriller. Antonio Banderas co-stars.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I think I saw the Tomb Raiders when they were new but I don't really remember them. Never played the games much either.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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39. Apocalypse Now Redux (1979; Francis Ford Coppola)
I found two really memorable quotes about this film. First one is how the film represents a ' hallucinatory descent into the a-hole of the world', and the second one is that the film is a 'metaphorical journey into the darkest depths of the human soul'. I have to say that this is by far my favourite film of all time. It consists of several incredibly iconic and brilliantly directed set-pieces. The last 45 minutes of the film (when they finally reach Kurtz/Brando) represent the best stuff ever filmed IMO. I don't think any other film will ever top this one for me personally.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I think I have slight preference for theatrical cut but the multiple versions sort of add to the mystique of Apocalypse Now for me anyways. Some version of AN is usually around my top 10 and I think probably the best thing to come out of New Hollywood.

Brando gets all the love for his performance and I get why, he's amazing, but I think Martin Sheen is honestly underrated in the film.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I just wanted to share something with you, guys. I decided to make a list of my top 20 favourite films. I also ranked them. I would like to hear your comments guys, whether they are positive or negative. Here is the list:

1. Apocalypse Now (1979; Francis Ford Coppola)
2. Barry Lyndon (1975; Stanley Kubrick)
3. Days of Heaven (1978; Terrence Malick)
4. Fight Club (1999; David Fincher)
5. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966; Sergio Leone)
6. Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997; Hideaki Anno)
7. Ran (1985; Akira Kurosawa)
8. Porco Rosso (1992; Hayao Miyazaki)
9. Chungking Express (1994; Wong Kar-wai)
10. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998; Terry Gilliam)
11. Casino (1995; Martin Scorsese)
12. Evil Dead II (1987; Sam Raimi)
13. Café Lumière (2003; Hou Hsiao-hsien)
14. Nostalghia (1983; Andrei Tarkovsky)
15. Ulysses' Gaze (1995; Theodoros Angelopoulos)
16. Shadow of a Doubt (1943; Alfred Hitchcock)
17. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000; Béla Tarr)
18. L'Avventura (1960; Michelangelo Antonioni)
19. Citizen Kane (1941; Orson Welles)
20. 5 Centimeters per Second (2007; Makoto Shinkai)
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Seems pretty good. I haven't seen everything on that list but its mostly stuff I like.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Well I’ve only seen 8 of them. But it’s always been clear that I’m lacking in a lot of experience with a lot of foreign films.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I saw 6 more films. 5 of them are rewatches.

40. Wolfwalkers (2020; Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart)
Haven't seen this one before. It is yet another fantastic animated film from Moore. He also directed 'The Secret of Kells' and 'Song of the Sea', two wonderful films. This one is about a conflict between humans and wolves. Wolfwalkers are beings that have traits of both humans and wolves.

41. Stripes (1981; Ivan Reitman)
Still a great comedy with a fantastic performance from Bill Murray. There is even some great action in the end.

42. The Sacrifice (1986; Andrei Tarkovsky)
Still great. It is basically Tarkovsky doing Bergman, but this film still has that magical Tarkovsky touch. Here is what Eva Yojimbo said: 'Because of the lack of dramatic momentum, Tarkovsky was at his best when his characters were more like sculptures in a silent space, allowing the maestro to conduct his haunting symphonies with his moving camera.'

43. Dead Ringers (1988; David Cronenberg)
Still fantastic. It is a bizarre and disturbing film from Cronenberg. Jeremy Irons is fantastic here. He plays twins.

44. Hour of the Wolf (1968; Ingmar Bergman)
Love this even more now. It is a fantastic film about tortured soul of an artist, and internal demons. Bergman visualises these themes brilliantly. It is one of his most aesthetically accomplished films, with great black and white cinematography and wonderful use of light and shadow. It is definitely some kind of art-house horror.

45. Stray Dog (1949; Akira Kurosawa)
Love this even more now. It is considered by many as Kurosawa's first great film. It was fantastic. It is famous for one incredible wordless sequence which features Mifune roaming city streets. That sequence has some wonderful cinematography, editing and overlaying of images. The rest of the film is terrific too. Just a great police procedural.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I’ve only seen one of those, and I saw it for the first time a couple months ago.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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Stray Dog is wonderful film, though I never understood the people that called it the first "buddy cop" film since Shimura and Mifune seem to have more of a master/apprentice relationship in the movie IMO.
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Re: Lyndon in 2023

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I rewatched 3 more films.

46. Seven Samurai (1954; Akira Kurosawa)
This was my fourth time seeing this timeless masterpiece. Definitely one of the greatest films of all time. This film has everything: great story, great characters, action scenes with innovative cinematography/editing, beautiful scenery, little bit of romance, little bit of comedy (mostly through Mifune's character), compelling themes, great ending, beautiful black & white cinematography throughout. I simply love this film.

47. Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020; Cathy Yan)
I like this a little bit more now. It was fun, funny and stylish. Both Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor were great.

48. Suicide Squad (2016; David Ayer)
I also like this a little bit more now. It was entertaining from start to finish, with some really decent characters and some really good performances. For example, I really enjoyed watching Will Smith this time around. I should really see some more of him in the future.
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