i only get out 2 c kids movies these day

last "grown up" movie i saw at the flix i seriously cant remember

last good movie i saw on tv was "pay it forward"

prb said:

It was so good it made you cry, eh?

I hardly ever go to movies, but about a month(?) ago I saw a documentary about Helvetica. From the website: "It's a film about typography, graphic design and global visual culture. It looks at the proliferation of one typeface (which is celebrating its 50th birthday this year) as part of a larger conversation about the way type affects our lives."

How interesting can a film about a typeface ("font") be, you are asking yourself? Well, it's actually pretty frickin' cool and interesting. I never gave much thought about the fact that someone had to invent different style letters and I had no idea how they do it. And with Helvetica, you don't realize that it really is used on signage all around you...which, depending on which designer you talk to, is either its brilliance or downfall. The film is only screening a select theaters and is usually sold out, so you'll have to do a little work if you want to see it. I definitely recommend it--even if you're not a designer or artsy.

The Museum of Modern Art even has an exhibition about Helvetica!


(ps. Yes, I'm a . )

DevotedPuppy said:

Well my sister used to work as a graphic designer and used to talk a lot about different fonts (Helvetica included) and I've done quite a bit of graphic design work myself so I think most of what is in the documentary wouldn't really be new to me. I'm sure it's still interesting though, and if I caught it on TV I'd definitely watch it.

Last movie I saw was "Across the Universe".....loved the way they used the Beatles music to tell the story...will pick up the DVD when it comes out.

retina said:

Hmm, well then I'd think you'd know that Helvetica is technically not a 'font' but rather a typeface. And don't be so sure that you wouldn't learn anything new from the documentary...that's pretty presumptuous, if you don't mind my saying. The film is not strictly a factual history of Helvetica; it has different interviews with various well-known graphic designers (including Stefan Sagmeister, Vignelli, Paula Scher, Michael Beruit, etc) who discuss the pros and cons of Helvetica. It's entertaining as well as informative and (I think) quite fascinating to think that something as basic as the shape or curve or lack of serif on a letter could have been so influential and contested that 50 years later there is an entire film about it. It causes people to pay attention to the details that are often times overlooked in hectic lives.

retina said:

I'll second Michael Clayton for the very reasons you've described.

I thought the combination of Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe & Ridley Scott would be killer.
For some reason American Gangster didn't blow me away.
It might be one of those movies i'll have to see again.


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

Keeping Mum was amusing. Not a "blow me away" kind, but fun and quirky.
LOVED Howl's Castle and Spirited Away.
Haven't seen anything too recent yet. Definitely plan to go see No Country for Old Men while it's on the big screen, as I'm a big Coen Bros fan.

retina said:

it was sad , but good

retina said:

Gregg Araki, yes. I've not seen his other films, but based on reviews I've read I suspect my reaction to his other work would be similar to yours - though I'll probably still check out a few of his other films now anyway, just because I'm curious.

Mysterious Skin - again, well, what a film. It's disturbing and painful to watch at points but then, its subject matter is disturbing and painful. Yet, even the harshest, ugliest scenes never become gratuitous, but rather are handled quite sensitively.

It really is an intense, haunting film.

another one 4 my want 2 see list

tell no one
(based on harlan cobens novel, but set in france apparently)

but its only at the state cinema

JasmineFire said:

If the trailer is anything to go by it should be brilliant.

DevotedPuppy said:

It's called "typsnitt" here in Sweden. I merely used the most common translation since I didn't expect a semantic discussion about that.



Actually I do, since you don't know anything about what I know.

Besides, I never said that I wouldn't learn anything new, I said that "most of what is in the documentary wouldn't really be new to me" which considering my experience isn't an extraordinary claim by any means, so I really don't know why you felt you had to doubt me.


[Edited 11/18/07 5:22am]

theAudience said:

That's what I've heard from other reliable sources too.

It seems like they haven't really done anything wrong, but haven't really done anything so right that it gets elevated above expectation either. It's not the first time that's happened with a Ridley Scott film. Kingdom of Heaven for example was thorouhly competent work, but it just didn't...take off somehow.

CarrieAnn said:

Me too. Very imaginative stuff.



Same here. The trailer was really nothing special but since it's the Coens I'll give it a chance.

WillyWonka said:

I'll check it out when I feel ready for the emotional impact.

Lately I've experienced enough emotional turbulence in real life as it is.

Me and a friend watched Because I Said So with Diane Keaton a week ago. We saw it on DVD. It was a romantic comedy about a mother trying to find a man for her daughter. I liked it.

scififilmnerd said:

A daughter's nightmare...

Saw Sean Penn's latest directorial effort 'Into The Wild'- it teetered on brink of parody, far too 'earnest' & self righteous for my tastes. Bleugh. Some wonderful cinematography though which has saved me the price of a plane ticket to Alaska & I will never eat wild berries again....

Watched 'The Squid & the Whale'- really loved it. Unlike Penn, the creators of this movie had a gentle but healthy disregard for the protagonists' pretensions. Beautiful.

Have got Italian afternoon lined up with 'Bellissima' (Anna Magnani- love her) & Pasolini's 'Pigsty'. Will probably be depressing but enlightening..

retina said:

I just saw last night as well. Loved it.

vikki said:

I think Sean Penn's previous movies have been very good (especially The Indian Runner) and I'm interested in outdoors survival, but people seem to have very mixed opinions on this one. A friend of mine thought they used way too much voice-over. Another thought it was Penn's best film so far. I guess I'll just have to find out for myself.



Why not? Do animals pee on them?



I'll have to look that one up.



I'm usually not too fond of Italian movies but thanks for the tip.

INSATIABLE said:

When I saw it the theatre was full of older ladies. I guess because Clooney is in it.

Then there was a bunch of guys who were obviously expecting a high-paced action thriller. They seemed sorely disappointed.

I, for one, was very pleased.

I'm not sure how you define 'Italian movies'- other than the fact that they're in Italian clearly! There are as many different styles & tastes as there are, umm, pizza toppings- some undoubtedly take more 'work' than others. My favourite Italian film, & probably, fave of all time is 'The Bicycle Thieves'- very simple & moving story.

As for the wild berries... well I don't want to spoil the ending for you but suffice to say, he doesn't make jam from them but ends up toast.

retina said:

I'm sorry to hear that. Hope things will soon settle down for you.

vikki said:

Well of course there are many different styles within each country but they also often have something in common that comes from the culture, be it a certain sense of humour, type of dialogue or whatever. For example I'm pretty sure I could identify an American movie even if the language was not English.

With that said, of course there are good Italian movies. I think the last one I saw was the big hit Il Postino and that was quite good. In general though, they're not quite to my liking.

WillyWonka said:

Thank you, I appreciate your concern.

retina said:

I believe that this is the first movie that Greg Araki was invovled in that he didn't write. I'm a huge Araki fan.

I think Nowhere and Totally Fucked Up are my favorites. I also loved THE DOOM GENERATION.

MIGUELGOMEZ said:

That's where they all get raped by nazis in the end (no pun intended), right?

It was so intense in every way that it almost became cartoonish but it did have certain qualities, sure. Definitely better and more fun than watching something well-crafted but conventional and boring anyway.

Just went and saw "Southland Tales," which I thought was great. Not a perfect movie, but chock full of ambition and intelligence.