It did remind me of this much shorter and more energetic short film: Behind the Typeface: Cooper Black.

It is in the style of VH-1s Behind the Music documentaries.

We watched Baghdad Cafe again tonight. I forgot how good it is.

I love that film!
:)

I finally saw Juno yesterday. A shining example of why I should see films before the hype gets to high. I was mildly disappointed. Even though I was completely entertained, found it funny and charming, and

Also, I did not find anything unusual or requiring of belief-suspension about her teenage lingo. Not in the least. And I liked all the performances. I just didn't think the movie was that big a deal.




Similarly, I don't think There Will Be Blood (which I also saw yesterday) particularly lives up to its hype. Still, it's a fantastic movie with a stunning peformance by Daniel Day Lewis. Perhaps not at the Citizen Kane level it's being hoisted to by critics, but a great American film about a meglomaniacal oil tycoon at the turn of the century.



Not that it's a competition or anything, but I would recommend seeing There Will Be Blood in theaters right now ... while Juno is, imo, a fine Netflix film at home.

I found more that required suspension of disbelief in There Will Be Blood than in Juno. Particularly had problems with the last scene. Sure, Day Lewis had a great performance (as did the actor who played his son) but they were definitely flirting with the line of melodrama, a line I prefer to keep my distance from unless it's handled with a fair bit of comedy. Any attempt at comedy in TWBB fell flat for me. There were things to like about the film, sure, but on the whole it disappointed me. And fanboys are trying to bring "I drink your milkshake" into the realm of the mega-quotes (idrinkyourmilkshake.com) - while I would prefer to create a website called ithinkyourmilkshakeisoverrated.

Interestingly, perhaps, the milkshake straw analogy to oil field drainage was made, in reality, by New Mexico Republican Senator Albert Fall during Congressional hearings on the Teapot Dome scandal of the 1920's. Truth is often stranger than fiction .... and while this bit perhaps stands out in the film as over the top, it's actually a true quote dating from the period being portrayed.


I think the humor in There Will Be Blood worked wonderfully in the interplay between Plainfield and Sunday. The audience I saw it with thought so too.


To each his own ... or, for fun, should we have Juno Fan vs. Blood Fan WAR?!

We made it a day out in The City yesterday, ending with seeing There Will Be Blood way out at the Bridge Theater.

It wasn't the best conclusion to a great day we could have had but it certainly sparked conversation. Daniel Day-Lewis is fantastic. The movie was obviously made by an amazing filmmaker. The first hour was pretty great. The final 15 minutes pretty much forces you to consider it in relation to Citizen Kane, a sure sign of an extremely confident writer/director but in the end it isn't a comparison made well.

I was never bored but did eye my watch several times through the movie and when they moved to 1927 from 1911 I was definitely dreading another long segment. Fortunately it was only 15 minutes or so.

We had about 5 walkouts during our showing. I don't think anybody was disgusted by the movie (the usual cause of walkouts in my experience) but rather simply worn down, bored, and not sure how much more they were in for.

Glad I saw it, but my vote for No Country for Old Men as the best 2007 movie I've seen is safe. There Will Be Blood wouldn't make my top five.

Heheh, I compared it with No Country, too. I guess since they are the bigger "serious" movies of the season. I liked and admired them both.

The final act of No Country didn't sit too well with me ... and yet I consider it a fine film because I couldn't stop thinking about it for days.

I don't find myself ruminating too much on There'll Be Blood ... but I thoroughly enjoyed it's brief 3rd act that played off Citizen Kane so cannily (but yeah, if that's what prompted all the comparisons to the Welles classic, the filmmaker didn't do himself any favors with a choice that I happen to have enjoyed.)

I know this may sound ridiculous, but the Diving Bell and the Butterfly hit me in such an odd way, I nearly sobbed through sections of it.

It was like a visual representation of the odd dreamlike state I sometimes have after a particularly bad seizure, where I know I'm awake, but can't convey that to anybody.

As much as I love No Country, I'd take Diving Bell over it as my favorite film of 2007.

I also quite like Diving Bell - but not as much as Persepolis. Unfortunately, neither is on the shortlist for best foreign language film because France's proposed entry - Persepolis - didn't make the cut. Not that I care particularly if they win (though Oscar prognostication is a big hobby of mine) but I'd love for them both to have extra publicity. The Orphanage, too.