Sign up
Search
Advanced search settings

Search only in certain items:

Search results
All (73)
Content
People
Apps
Books
Orbs
Movies
Music
Podcasts
Shows
Tabletop Games
Tech
TV
Video Games
YouTube Channels
Videos
40x40

Henry Rollins recommended The Graduate (1967) in Movies (curated)

 
The Graduate (1967)
The Graduate (1967)
1967 | Classics, Comedy, Drama
8.0 (15 Ratings)
Movie Favorite Watch

"The Graduate directed by Mike Nichols. It’s just a perfect film. And it was, I think, the first non-student real film for Dustin Hoffman. It’s just a beautiful, perfectly written… perfectly shot, perfectly acted film, where you have Dustin Hoffman who has bedded both Anne Bancroft and Katharine Ross and he breaks up the marriage. I saw it as a little kid because I lived with my mom and she liked to go to the movies. She couldn’t always get a babysitter and so now and then I would get taken to films that were quite adult. There’s not necessarily nudity, because there doesn’t need to be. The thing is so well written; the adult themes and just how screwed up adults are is on full display in The Graduate. You can tell all these people are just so damn talented, and you look at a young Dustin Hoffman and you go, “Damn, man. Look at the career you’re about to have, dude. You’ve got it.” His talent was just so huge yet so innate in that he’s not gonna fail. He’s one of those people like, “Man, you were born to act.” I’ve tried to get to Buck Henry to get him to tell me stories about The Graduate and I’ve hung out with him a couple of times. And I’m like, “You wrote The Graduate!” And he’s always very funny and kinda belligerent to me, “Ah, shut up… Rwagh, Rwagh.” I’m like, “OK [laughing].”"

Source
  
40x40

Bob Mann (459 KP) rated Ocean’s 8 (2018) in Movies

Sep 29, 2021  
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
2018 | Comedy, Crime
4
7.1 (77 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
Can 8 women do the work of 11, 12 or even 13 men?
The female empowerment #SheToo implications of the title are clearly writ large for this movie! The answer of course…. is a major spoiler, so we won’t go there.

Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock, “Gravity“), the previously unreferenced sister of arch-scoundrel Danny Ocean (George Clooney) from the reboot trilogy, is released from prison after a 5 year stretch. This has given her plenty of time to plan her next job – a jewellry heist from the New York Met – in intricate detail. She recruits biker-chick Lou (Cate Blanchett , “Carol“) as her partner and they then proceed to recruit a team of expert crimimals: well… some are not criminals, but soon will be! Will they succeed, or will Debbie have an even longer time to plan her next heist?

Stiff as planks…. Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.
The movie unfortunately is rather like watching paint dry. It’s very glossy and expensive paint, I grant you, but compared to certainly Ocean’s 11 and even Ocean’s 13 it’s not in the premier league. There’s virtually nothing about the plot that leaves you surprised. Even the twists are merely “oh”s rather than “OH!’s”.

Stylistically the film attempts to model the Soderbergh split-screen visuals of his films, doing it quite well, and is accompanied by a similar jazz-style soundtrack which works effectively. Arguably, the well-chosen music by Daniel Pemberton (“King Arthur: Legend of the Sword“) is the best thing in the film.

When they said they were stealing from the Met…. perhaps I misunderstood?
Otherwise though, that’s where most of the similarities end, with there being limited character development to make you really care all that much whether the team win or lose. The script, by director Gary Ross (“The Hunger Games”) and Olivia Milch had a few clever lines that made me smile: but it’s not laugh-out-loud territory. So the story had better be good. Unfortunately, here Gary Ross’s story has so many implausible coincidences and incredulous leaps of intuition – “yeah, I’m from the hood innit but I have a grasp of magnetic resonance couplings learnt the hard way, from the street up!” – that belief is less suspended and more hung, drawn and quartered. This is not saying that the Ocean’s trilogy was without a few similar issues – reaching its nadir with Julia Roberts pretending to be Julia Roberts in “Ocean’s 12” – but this film is more consistently bonkers.

Hang on… I only count seven here?
I have to admit that the build up to the heist through the first half of the film left me sufficiently entertained, but that momentum suddenly fizzles out and the final reel becomes quite tedious. I also expected something to happen at the end, cameo-wise, that never did!

Acting wise, the best turn comes from Anne Hathaway (“Colossal“, “Les Miserables”) as a vainglorious actress but Helena Bonham Carter (“Suffragette“, “Harry Potter”) is also good value as the quirky fashion expert, coming across like some sort of ditzy Fatima Blush.

Good value – Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter.
I also liked Rihanna’s ‘Nine Ball’ character. Less successful for me was Bullock, who I felt came across as very wooden, and Blanchett, slightly less so. There are also some ‘B-list’ celebrities attending the Met-gala that are fun to watch out for, as well as two members of the earlier films’ cast.

After Diamonds but with nowhere to store an Umbrella: Rihanna knocks them dead on the red carpet.
So, it’s a disappointing effort from Gary Ross. All glitz and glamour but with little substance.
  
40x40

Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Ocean’s 8 (2018) in Movies

Jul 8, 2019  
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
Ocean’s 8 (2018)
2018 | Comedy, Crime
7
7.1 (77 Ratings)
Movie Rating Watch
For the last five plus years all Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) has had to think about was how to steal a $150 million dollar necklace of the neck of a mark during the Met Gala. Why she had all that time to think about was because she was incarcerated. The plan is flawless on paper but it would have to be to pull off this caper at one of the most high profile events of the year. Meticulously thought out and every eventuality covered. Now all she needs is a crew to make it happen. She gets her right hand girl Lou (Cate Blanchett) and they set out to plan the heist. The start with getting down on her luck designer Rose Weil (Helena Bonham Carter), who must persuade the mark, socialite actress Daphne Kluger (Anne Hathaway), to wear her dress and the diamonds to the even. Then let add a fence, Tammy (Sarah Paulson), a pick-pocket, Constance (Awkwafina), diamond expert, Amita (Mindy Kaling), and a hacker, Nine Ball (Rihanna), everyone they need to make this plan happen. The plan is made, the crew is assembled and the Met Ball is days away and all they have to do is rob a highly protected necklace in a museum filled with people and more cameras than you can count.

David Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) wrote and directed the most recent film in the Ocean’s storyline. It definitely is in the same mold of the male dominated Ocean’s trilogy of films. There are even cameos from the old crew and the direct link of the main character being the sister of the protagonist of those films really ties them together. There are several nods to the original films and even the music and cinematography match up pretty well. At times I would say that it tries too hard to be like those films.

The cast does a great job. The character development is really good and if successful could definitely lead to follow up films. Awkwafina, who I had not heard of before going into this film, was a real bright spot and stood out in the scenes she was in. James Corden, as insurance investigator John Frazier, was also fun. The flow and pace of the film really went along well. There were definitely fun moments, also some moments that were a little cheesy, which are to be expected. Also to be expected in heist movie are some twist and turns, which this film delivers on. It keeps you guessing until the end.

Overall this was a fun movie going experience but maybe on I would be more likely to rent than see on the big screen.