Well, a gathering is brie, mellow song stylings; shindig, dip, less mellow song stylings, perhaps a large amount of malt beverage, and hootenanny, well, it's chock full of hoot, just a little bit of nanny.

Oz ,'Beneath You'


Buffista Movies 4: Straight to Video  

A place to talk about movies--old and new, good and bad, high art and high cheese. It's the place to place your kittens on the award winners, gossip about upcoming fims and discuss DVD releases and extras. Spoiler policy: White font all plot-related discussion until a movie's been in wide release two weeks, and keep the major HSQ in white font until two weeks after the video/DVD release.


erikaj - Jan 03, 2006 10:05:38 am PST #9526 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!

That is what I think about Six Feet Under. Not that I didn't enjoy the season-worth I watched...they're all great actors and everything, but sometimes it felt like "Wow, aren't we deep? Making so much of this glass breaking on the kitchen floor." or whatever.And I wish Mama Fisher could have met a Hecubus and gotten a haircut from this decade.


bon bon - Jan 03, 2006 10:13:41 am PST #9527 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

Am I wrong in thinking 2005 had a bumper crop of good-to-great movies? One metric I am thinking of that shows just how much better this year's slate was is possible Oscar nominees. Most years I can't be bothered to care, but this year it seems like there might be about two dozen movies that would be satisfying oscar wins for something or another. A partial list of 2005 movies that might be pretty good, even if I think they're overrated or haven't seen it:

Brokeback
Junebug
Broken Flowers
Good Night and Good Luck
capote
Kong
Match Point
The Constant Gardener
Syriana
Munich
The Squid and the Whale
Wallace and Gromit
Narnia, Pass the Chronic(what)les of
A History of Violence
Serenity
Me and You and Everyone We Know
Grizzly Man
Kung Fu Hustle
Walk the Line
Upside of Anger
Aristocrats


DavidS - Jan 03, 2006 10:15:47 am PST #9528 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Am I wrong in thinking 2005 had a bumper crop of good-to-great movies?

Most year end lists have noted it was a good year to be a movie fan. And usually they're desultory.


Jessica - Jan 03, 2006 10:15:54 am PST #9529 of 10002
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

Grizzly Man

Already passed over for Oscar consideration, much to my dismay. (Not that it ever had a chance at beating the penguins anyway, but still.)


Nutty - Jan 03, 2006 10:21:26 am PST #9530 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

What amazes me is how many of bon bon's list I have seen -- 6. Last year, I skipped the Oscars entirely, because I hadn't seen anything that was nominated.

I'm not sure that it's really been a year of Quality, so much as a year where all the blockbusters happened to be crap, so the smaller movies are the only candidates for awards. Usually there is some Saving Private Ryan or some other big feely movie that is considered good (if not by me) and is widely-seen enough to basically become a shoo-in for all the bigger prizes.


bon bon - Jan 03, 2006 10:25:12 am PST #9531 of 10002
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.

I don't agree, Nutty. I think that movie is Brokeback, Narnia or King Kong.


Jesse - Jan 03, 2006 10:27:12 am PST #9532 of 10002
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

There isn't one obvious Oscar-Blockbuster though, it's true.


Jessica - Jan 03, 2006 10:27:45 am PST #9533 of 10002
If I want to become a cloud of bats, does each bat need a separate vaccination?

I can't see Narnia or Kong winning anything but tech awards, especially after last year's LotR sweep.


Nutty - Jan 03, 2006 10:29:49 am PST #9534 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."

I have only seen one of those (Brokeback), and it's not that big a release, is it? I mean, it is playing at the Harvard Theatre, which is usually a sign that it does not have Art House Wait For DVD tattooed on its forehead, but it's not playing on 2500 screens either.

I guess King Kong did have some good reviews, didn't it? I just have exactly zero interest in its subject matter.

I don't think Oscar voters will vote in a children's movie as best picture, whatever its pedigree. Even LOTR, which was often called adolescent fodder, had actual adults as its main characters, which is not the case for Narnia.


IAmNotReallyASpring - Jan 03, 2006 10:30:26 am PST #9535 of 10002
I think Freddy Quimby should walk out of here a free hotel

I found it too self-aware to be successful.

Oh, I understand. I've seen very little Freaks and Geeks but it had struck me as a conventionally made drama about mundane incidents, rather than a drama striving for a fly-on-the-wall-look-into-the-lives-of-people-waiting-for-bus feel. Do you feel the same way about everything that is aiming for realism, like, say, The Office?

ETA. Sorry for sounding like a questionnaire