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apulrang

Member since 6/23/2007, last signed in awhile ago.

"apulrang"

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Personal statement:

The first movie I ever saw was "Herbie Rides Again" (1974). I can't remember all the movies I've seen since then, but I'm working on listing and rating all of them.

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Interested in:Avant-garde / Experimental, Comedy, Crime, Culture & Society, Drama, Epic, Film, TV & Radio, Historical Film, History, Horror, Music, Science Fiction, Theater

apulrang's movie tags

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Colossus: The Forbin Project

No Frills
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"This may be the perfect Cold War / technology-paranoid film. There's nothing extra, and no relief offered. I was pretty sure I knew the outcome by the time the President explained what "Colossus" was supposed to do. But that didn't make the relatively short trip to doom uninteresting. The acting is pretty good, though not spectacular, but what really makes the film is the brilliant twist on science out of control, with two computers working togeyher, like two people who meet by accident, and find themselves to be kindred spirits. The film can also be read as a backhanded argument for cooperation between the Cold War rivals, and also as an endictment of anyone's ambitions to do good in the world. The final speech by Colossus could have been written by a staunch libertarian about any modern welfare state. I disagree with the implications, but the film is good enough to make the point worth considering. " [More]

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Re:Best disabled character
By apulrang in Disability On Film
"[quote user="joem18b"] I'd give a nod to Jean-Dominique Bauby in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Certainly the most disabled of them all. The same thing happened to a friend of mine; I used to visit him 4 times a week. But he was worse that Bauby, in that he couldn't even blink in a consistent way. [/quote] Thanks for contributing. I just saw "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly", and I liked it a lot. The depiction of the man may be my favorite at this point. However, taken as a whole, the movie falls just short of the "best" in my book. One thing bothered me. The film is so focused on Jean-Do, that the other residents of his hospital become pieces of the scenery. They serve to underscore the awful strangeness and sadness of his new situation in a couple of key scenes. This dehumanizes them, and reinforces that idea that disability is unrelentingly depressing. Which is not only offensive, it is out of sync with the rest of the movie, which superbly shows that even the most "confi ... " [More]

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Nuanced Disability Depiction
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"The Diving Bell and The Butterfly is a better depiction of disability than most reviews would indicate. It isn't "heartbreaking", or even especially "uplifting". It is, above all, authentic and absorbing. It seems like "Jean-Do" Bauby was absorbed by the experience of his disability, though obviously he also experienced heartbreak and uplift. What keeps him going, as he says in the film, is imagination and, of course, his one good eye. From the perspective of someone with a disability, I was very pleased to see that for the most part, we are spared splashy temper tantrums from the disabled person, calmed by a scolding non-disabled mentor. One scene suggests this familiar formulation, but steers away at the last moment. One thing I do wonder about is whether Jean-Do got to know any of the other residents of his hospital. In the film, they are treated as scenery, in a borderline offensive and definitely dehumanizing way. This is a very "good" disability depiction, in a "great" film. " [More]

Frozen River

In My Backyard
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"I wrote this email to a friend, about Frozen River, filmed in my backyard ... "I finally watched it. Wow. This is a really great film!I can understand why some local Native Americans don't like it. The depiction of reservation life is not flattering. This is especially true, I think, if the Native Americans who were at the screening really buy into or want to believe that reservation society is really quite noble. The movie depicts aspects of official reservation power structure as being fairly corrupt ... the bingo parlors, and the fact that they condone families stealing babies from disfavored family members. The smugglers are the closest things to good guys, yet they are the bad guys of the reservation ... or at least they are looked down upon.Then there's the fact that the white woman who upped the ante on the smuggling ... arguably getting the native woman in worse trouble ... ended up a selfless hero. That's gotta be a bit irritating to Native sensibilities.On the ot her si ... " [More]

In Bruges

Twists On Familiar Twists
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"At first, In Bruges appears to rely on plot and character "twists" that you've seen enough times that they aren't really "twists" anymore. The thoughtful hitman. Two contrasting buddies, one crude, the other refined. The comically-menacing crime boss. What you get here are new twists on these themes. The hitman is thoughtful in truly meaningful and difficult ways. The "crude" buddy may not actually be such a bad guy. The Mob boss's sense of "honor" is both familiar and refreshingly flawed. Meanwhile, the film truly is "a feast for the eyes". " [More]

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

Big Mistake
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"The fatal flaw in this second installment in the Chronicles of Narnia series is the completely unnecessary addition of a sort of love story between Caspian and Susan. It's not at all even hinted at in the book, and adds nothing to the movie. In fact, it overshadows and ruins what would otherwise have been a fairly decent depiction of one of my favorite of the Narnia books. "Dawn Treader" could be outstanding, or horrible. " [More]

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

A Good Start
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"Pretty good, considering the inherent difficulty of reproducing the spirit and feel of the books on screen. The essentials are there, with nothing unnecessary added. " [More]

Some Girls

Light, But Rich, too
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"Some Girls is light but tasty entertainment covering a rich center. It's fun to spot Patrick Dempsey, Jennifer Connelly, and Sheila Kelley early in their careers, and Michael is one lucky guy to be pursued by such beautiful, if perplexing, young women. But the real core of the story involves granny, who in her dementia connects with Michael, and affects him in ways as surprising to us as to him. " [More]

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Funny, but ...
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"Not bad, but the commentary is much, much funnier. I mean, Lou Rawls? " [More]

Let the Right One In

Yes, There Will Be Blood ...
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"I waited for over a week after I received Let The Right One In through Netflix before actually watching it. I liked what I'd heard about the premise ... a boy on the cusp of adolescence befriends a new neighbor girl on the verge of maturity ... who turns out to be a vampire. Oh, and it takes place in Sweden. That last bit really intrigued me, but then intimidated me. Well, I needn't have worried, because the dialog is almost unnecessary, and spare enough to make the subtitles easy to follow. And by all means, don't watch the dubbed version; it sounds silly. All you really need to know is the setup. Still, you might want to be prepared for some grisly violence. Probably more disturbing is the fact that the story is really about bullying and revenge. " [More]

Brick

After ten viewings
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"Things I noticed on my tenth viewing of Brick: (with some help from a friend watching it for the first time) Brendan never actually tells Brain that he found Emily dead. And Brain never explicitly acknowledges the he understands this. Stoic as he is, Brendan doesn't seem upset enough at Emily's death, but his brief breakdown much later in the story makes up for this, and we instinctively know it's his grief over Emily's death. Is Brendan faking or exaggerating his injuries in order to mislead Laura or keep he off balance? On his way to the meeting at the flood runoff pipe, he staggers away, seemingly about to collapse. Then he suddenly straightens out and walks steadily and with purpose. I always thought we were seeing his mind's resolve overcome his body's breakdown in real time, but now I think he was faking it. One of the most sympathetic main characters, other than Brendan, turns out to be Emily's killer. This tipped me off to what should have been obvious all along. This is a ... " [More]

Rachel Getting Married

Fantastic, but ...
By apulrang in apulrang Blog
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"I know this is supposed to be a family that loves one another despite a devastating interpersonal history, but I fell just short of buying that they could pull it together over and over again after such cataclysmic arguments. Still, I loved every minute, and the background pastiche of cultures was stunning and refreshing. " [More]

Lists

Films I've seen (263)
Films I've seen

Disability Movies (21)
Depictions of disability on film, good and bad.

Films I want to see (41)
Films I want to see

Films I want to buy (0)
Films I want to buy

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