tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7349866.post4061669808616595253..comments2023-10-05T13:13:52.933-04:00Comments on The Listening Ear: Film Notes Catchup (Early Autumn Edition)weepingsamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11885871104310819374noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7349866.post-39302024383226856422012-12-05T22:07:53.465-05:002012-12-05T22:07:53.465-05:00No question about Oslo, a great film that I think ...No question about Oslo, a great film that I think grows better in the memory. I might be underrating it here, if anything.... the fact is, I wrote most of this a couple months ago and somehow forgot to post it - I think a couple of the ratings would be different if I were doing it now. I think I overrated 2 Days in Paris - it's amusing, but I'm not sure I care all that much about any of it. <br /><br />Compliance is a strange one, being based on a real incident. I'm not sure what liberties were taken, but i think the basics are there. It's rather terrifying - and the idea that people will act this way - is terrifying. And believable enough - and the politics, both in the treatment of the desperation of low wage workers, and the way everyone in the film seems to just accept the absolute authority of the policeman on the phone - are to the point...weepingsamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11885871104310819374noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7349866.post-57149856658382708722012-12-05T16:55:20.098-05:002012-12-05T16:55:20.098-05:00WS---
I've seen every one in your superbly...WS---<br /> I've seen every one in your superbly-penned capsule round-up except for RESTLESS CITY, which does sound intriguing if not essential.<br /><br />The very best of this lot is unquestionably OSCO, AUGUST 31. Joaquim Trier, whose first film REPRISE deservedly won awards and accolades has gone even further with this film, which is the third film in 2012 I have gone the distance with the top rating, and still consider one of the best films I've seen in over the past 12 months. This is the wrenching personal journey of an intelligent and cynical young man who is out of a rehab to reassess his perceptions of whether life is worth living. It’s a lyrical jorney and an introspective one, complete with the director’s affections for Oslo, and with a singular voice and vision, negotiated by a searching camera and the astonishing performance by Anders Danielsen Lie, who also anchored Trier’s earlier film. But your own descriptive writing here frames this remarkable film beautifully. I did not like TWO DAYS IN NEW YORK at all, finding it tedious and trite, but I know many do like it, yourself included. I agree that COSMOPOLIS isn't all that great a film: COMPLIANCE at the end of the day stretches credibility with people who are clueless beyond belief, but it is still riveting; PARANORMAN is indeed nothing special, and I was more imprssed this year with FRANKENWEENIE, WRECK IT RALPH and BRAVE.<br /><br />Again, terrific round-up here!Sam Julianonoreply@blogger.com