Joel Mayward Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 4 hours ago, Evan C said: I saw Manchester as a story about flawed characters who suffer a lot of hardships due to misfortune, but their own flaws exacerbate those hardships. While most Baumbach films aren't nearly as grief-centered as Manchester, he excels at flawed yet sympathetic protagonists who make their lives even harder than they need to be, and that applies to most of his filmography, which is why I was thinking of Baumbach through most of Manchester. I definitely see that theme in Baumbach's films, but I didn't see Manchester as much about suffering hardships as about navigating grief, if those experiences can somehow be distinguished. The grieving process for Lee's character--or lack of process, as he seems resolutely stuck in a Kubler-Ross moratorium--doesn't seem like a parallel to, say, Frances or Greenberg or Brooke, because of the nature of the suffering. Self-inflicted suffering due to lack of vocational understanding or middle-class ennui is very different from grieving the loss of family member through unexpected death (though the divorce in The Squid and the Whale comes close, as it's the prolonged death of a marriage). It seems strange, even unfitting, to compare the depth of suffering, but I find the hardships of Frances to be dissimilar from the hardships of Lee, despite both films being about (as you said) characters whose flaws exacerbate their painful circumstances. But I now see where you're going with your statement. Quote cinemayward.com | twitter Link to post Share on other sites
Evan C Posted December 13, 2016 Report Share Posted December 13, 2016 15 hours ago, Joel Mayward said: I definitely see that theme in Baumbach's films, but I didn't see Manchester as much about suffering hardships as about navigating grief, if those experiences can somehow be distinguished. The grieving process for Lee's character--or lack of process, as he seems resolutely stuck in a Kubler-Ross moratorium--doesn't seem like a parallel to, say, Frances or Greenberg or Brooke, because of the nature of the suffering. Self-inflicted suffering due to lack of vocational understanding or middle-class ennui is very different from grieving the loss of family member through unexpected death (though the divorce in The Squid and the Whale comes close, as it's the prolonged death of a marriage). It seems strange, even unfitting, to compare the depth of suffering, but I find the hardships of Frances to be dissimilar from the hardships of Lee, despite both films being about (as you said) characters whose flaws exacerbate their painful circumstances. But I now see where you're going with your statement. That distinction is fair, and I realize that the degree of hardships is not comparable between Manchester and most of Baumbach, which is why I cited those two specifically. Quote "Anyway, in general I love tragic artists, especially classical ones.""Even the forms for expressing truth can be multiform, and this is indeed necessary for the transmission of the Gospel in its timeless meaning."- Pope Francis, August 2013 interview with Antonio Spadaro Link to post Share on other sites
Darrel Manson Posted December 19, 2016 Report Share Posted December 19, 2016 Secret of the Kells is a better version of Moana. Quote A foreign movie can't be stupid.-from the film Armin Link to post Share on other sites
Darrel Manson Posted December 21, 2016 Report Share Posted December 21, 2016 Arrival is a better version of The Day the Earth Stood Still (and I liked the original Day) Quote A foreign movie can't be stupid.-from the film Armin Link to post Share on other sites
kenmorefield Posted December 25, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2016 Siddharth is a better version of Lion, which is itself a way better version of Finding Dory. Quote 1More Film Blog Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volume II Link to post Share on other sites
kenmorefield Posted December 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 Guns of Navarone is a better version of Rogue One. Quote 1More Film Blog Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volume II Link to post Share on other sites
NBooth Posted December 29, 2016 Report Share Posted December 29, 2016 17 minutes ago, kenmorefield said: Guns of Navarone is a better version of Rogue One. Yes. Quote Nathanael T. Booth More Man than PhilosopherTumblr--Twitter Link to post Share on other sites
John Drew Posted December 30, 2016 Report Share Posted December 30, 2016 (edited) 3 hours ago, NBooth said: Yes. But....Rogue One is a better version of Force 10 from Navarone. Edited December 30, 2016 by John Drew Quote Formerly Baal_T'shuvah "Everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You just can't let the world judge you too much." - Maude Harold and Maude Link to post Share on other sites
Joel Mayward Posted January 16, 2017 Report Share Posted January 16, 2017 On 12/25/2016 at 1:56 PM, kenmorefield said: Siddharth is a better version of Lion, which is itself a way better version of Finding Dory. Haven't seen Siddharth yet, but I actually think Finding Dory is a better version of Lion. Quote cinemayward.com | twitter Link to post Share on other sites
Evan C Posted April 21, 2017 Report Share Posted April 21, 2017 In that both are films about healing after World Wars and personal betrayals, and both involve music as a crucial plot point, Phoenix is a better version of Frantz. Quote "Anyway, in general I love tragic artists, especially classical ones.""Even the forms for expressing truth can be multiform, and this is indeed necessary for the transmission of the Gospel in its timeless meaning."- Pope Francis, August 2013 interview with Antonio Spadaro Link to post Share on other sites
John Drew Posted July 22, 2017 Report Share Posted July 22, 2017 (edited) The Little Hours is a better version of The Beguiled (well, a least for me a better time at the movies). Edited May 3, 2019 by John Drew Quote Formerly Baal_T'shuvah "Everyone has the right to make an ass out of themselves. You just can't let the world judge you too much." - Maude Harold and Maude Link to post Share on other sites
Joel Mayward Posted August 5, 2017 Report Share Posted August 5, 2017 The first half of 2017 edition of "A Better Film About..." For films about grief and the afterlife, Personal Shopper is a better version of A Ghost Story, which are both much better than The Discovery. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets is a better sci-fi CGI spectacle than Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Quote cinemayward.com | twitter Link to post Share on other sites
Buckeye Jones Posted August 28, 2017 Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 Highlander is a better version of The Age of Adaline. Quote I have Flickritis Link to post Share on other sites
Buckeye Jones Posted August 28, 2017 Report Share Posted August 28, 2017 On 12/13/2013 at 9:50 AM, Mr. Arkadin said: Fritz Lang's Die Nibelungen is a much better version of Jackson's Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit. Also better than Jackson's Tolkien flicks: Milius' Conan the Barbarian. That giphy is from Conan the DESTROYER. There came at ya. Quote I have Flickritis Link to post Share on other sites
Mr. Arkadin Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 True enough, but sometimes you just gotta go with the better GIF. Quote I've Seen That Movie Too Link to post Share on other sites
Evan C Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 Ocean's 11 is a better version of Logan Lucky. Quote "Anyway, in general I love tragic artists, especially classical ones.""Even the forms for expressing truth can be multiform, and this is indeed necessary for the transmission of the Gospel in its timeless meaning."- Pope Francis, August 2013 interview with Antonio Spadaro Link to post Share on other sites
Joel Mayward Posted August 29, 2017 Report Share Posted August 29, 2017 2 hours ago, Evan C said: Ocean's 11 is a better version of Logan Lucky. I'm writing my review of Logan Lucky now, and the "Oceans 7-11" joke made me actually roll my eyes. (I think I liked LL more than you did, but still.) Quote cinemayward.com | twitter Link to post Share on other sites
kenmorefield Posted November 1, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 The Boss Baby is a better version of mother! Quote 1More Film Blog Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volume II Link to post Share on other sites
Rushmore Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 2 hours ago, kenmorefield said: The Boss Baby is a better version of mother! Not having seen Boss Baby, I find this very hard to believe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Anders Posted November 1, 2017 Report Share Posted November 1, 2017 8 minutes ago, Rushmore said: Not having seen Boss Baby, I find this very hard to believe. I haven't seen either, but the summaries of Boss Baby I've heard makes it sound both insane and morally objectionable to me in its portrayal of family. I'm tempted to watch it. Quote "A director must live with the fact that his work will be called to judgment by someone who has never seen a film of Murnau's." - François TruffautTwitter.Letterboxd. Reviews and essays at Three Brothers Film. Link to post Share on other sites
Evan C Posted November 2, 2017 Report Share Posted November 2, 2017 On 11/1/2017 at 8:54 AM, kenmorefield said: The Boss Baby is a better version of mother! Now I feel as if I have to watch The Boss Baby, which I had so far been successful in not doing. Quote "Anyway, in general I love tragic artists, especially classical ones.""Even the forms for expressing truth can be multiform, and this is indeed necessary for the transmission of the Gospel in its timeless meaning."- Pope Francis, August 2013 interview with Antonio Spadaro Link to post Share on other sites
Peter T Chattaway Posted November 13, 2017 Report Share Posted November 13, 2017 Gifted is a better version of Captain Fantastic. Both films feature a guy trying to raise a precociously smart child (or children) after the mother has committed suicide, and both films feature the guy struggling to retain custody of the child(ren) when the mother's parent(s) get involved. But Captain Fantastic is steeped in anti-religious bigotry and Gifted, most definitely, is not. Quote "Sympathy must precede belligerence. First I must understand the other, as it were, from the inside; then I can critique it from the outside. So many people skip right to the latter." -- Steven D. Greydanus Now blogging at Patheos.com. I can also still be found at Facebook, Twitter and Flickr. See also my film journal. Link to post Share on other sites
kenmorefield Posted December 21, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 21, 2017 Thelma is a better version of Requiem (which is a better version of The Exorcism of Emily Rose). It's also a better version of God's Not Dead, though I'm not sure that is an endorsement. Quote 1More Film Blog Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema Faith and Spirituality in Masters of World Cinema, Volume II Link to post Share on other sites
Evan C Posted December 22, 2017 Report Share Posted December 22, 2017 For films about examining traditional notions of heroism and suggesting there is victory in loss and retreat, Dunkirk is a better version of The Last Jedi. Quote "Anyway, in general I love tragic artists, especially classical ones.""Even the forms for expressing truth can be multiform, and this is indeed necessary for the transmission of the Gospel in its timeless meaning."- Pope Francis, August 2013 interview with Antonio Spadaro Link to post Share on other sites
Darrel Manson Posted December 24, 2017 Report Share Posted December 24, 2017 (edited) Films about the same fairly short period of time and events: Dunkirk is better than Darkest Hour. (Although I think they would make a great double feature--Dunkirk playing first Edited December 24, 2017 by Darrel Manson Quote A foreign movie can't be stupid.-from the film Armin Link to post Share on other sites
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