28 Film Discussion Threads Later [Archive] - Page 101

Izzy Black

03-07-2009, 03:14 PM

Flight of the Red Balloon (Hou Hsiao-hsien) 78

The best I've seen by Hou, this is a gorgeously impressionistic ode to the power of art as a balm for the drudgery of the mundane, a means of expression for the physically/emotionally dislocated, and a universal source of communication that defies cultural and generational rifts, anchored by Juliette Binoche's impassioned performance and Hou's breathtakingly calibrated formal mastery, all reflective surfaces and a deceptively straightforward technique that proves slyly expressive, so that every movement and cut feels ripe with meaning. I could just watch lovely footage of the red balloon, itself an obvious but elegant metaphor, floating all about Paris, the contrast between its stark red and the earthly color scheme of the city a sight to behold, but this is a thematically loaded picture that I imagine offering something new with each viewing, as every work of art as multi-faceted and generous as this one does. Hell, Hou somehow manages to make the mere discovery of a heretofore hidden room of the apartment that most of the film resides in feel profound with a single elegant motion of his camera. And best of all, there isn't a single malicious bone in its body, purely humanistic without ever condescending to the audience. Just fantastic... writing about this in retrospect, I'm tempted now to raise my score even higher, but another viewing is warranted just to be safe. There was a scene or two I felt could have been condensed or excised entirely, and I was split about the blatantly surrogate function of the Chinese nanny character, however appropriate given the nature of the project.

The good 'ole reliable humanizer.

Great review. Superb film.

D_Davis

03-07-2009, 03:26 PM

Red Cliff: Part 2, is awesome. While not as good as a stand alone film as part 1, I have remind myself that it is not a stand alone. Red Cliff really was one 4+ hour film split down the middle. So in part 2, we're just getting part of act II and act III.

However, the final battle is incredible. It's a nearly 40 minute long extended action sequence featuring a kick ass naval battle and on-foot assault of a huge fortress. It rivals the Helm's Deep sequence in execution and excitement.

I did feel, however, that there were things cut from part 2: little moments of exposition and set up that could have made the drama better.

I am really looking forward to watching Red Cliff as one move - the way it should be watched. Unfortunately, one of the attorneys at my work has part 1 right now, so I'll have to wait awhile to do this.

I am now very, very excited to see what John Woo does next. Because he is back in a major way.

Spinal

03-07-2009, 03:47 PM

If I've watched the first 25 minutes of Primer and am bored senseless, is there any reason to continue? Does it pick up?

Pop Trash

03-07-2009, 03:51 PM

If I've watched the first 25 minutes of Primer and am bored senseless, is there any reason to continue? Does it pick up?
No.

D_Davis

03-07-2009, 03:52 PM

If I've watched the first 25 minutes of Primer and am bored senseless, is there any reason to continue? Does it pick up?

Nope.

megladon8

03-07-2009, 03:54 PM

Ezee E

03-07-2009, 06:33 PM

If I've watched the first 25 minutes of Primer and am bored senseless, is there any reason to continue? Does it pick up?
If you don't like it now, you probably could careless later.

Its technical approach to time-travel is better than any other movie, and I found that interesting, but I wouldn't argue with anyone that finds it tiresome.

number8

03-07-2009, 06:37 PM

I don't think I'll ever watch Primer again, but it was somewhat fascinating to watch the first time.

It's kind of like the audio/visual version of a physicist writing an essay about time travel for fellow time traveling enthusiasts.

Qrazy

03-07-2009, 07:28 PM

I don't know. I think things do change rather drastically in the second half of Primer.

Sycophant

03-07-2009, 08:16 PM

Weekend:
Because I can't stop thinking about it for some reason, I think I'm going to rewatch Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone tomorrow and it'll be the only movie I watch this weekend.

Rowland

03-07-2009, 10:20 PM

Dong (Jia Zhangke, 2008) 66

Brushed off by most as a middling prologue to Still Life, this 66-minute documentary actually functions as a remarkable companion piece to the fictional film it precedes. I'm not sure how well it would work on its own terms, but having seen Still Life and listened to Zhangke describe the circumstances behind the evolution of these projects, it's impossible not to scrutinize this picture through that prism. Doing so proves unexpectedly rewarding however, as you witness the ostensible subject being documented (Chinese realist painter Liu Xiao-dong) gradually become overshadowed by Zhangke's engagement in the social environments Dong is attempting (and largely failing) to embody through his work.

Zhangke begins the documentary as being generally attentive to Dong as he waxes philosophical over his approach to artistic inspiration, most of it unenlightening, and you sense that Zhangke agrees, as his camera begins to wander from his subject increasingly often, catching glimpses of suggestive details in his environments that prove far more revelatory than the mediocre artist his project was supposed to be documenting. Furthermore, he begins to suggest that Dong's fussy, shallow approach to the environments is symptomatic of the very social ills they are uncovering, exposing artifice and contrasting local color with Dong's alien presence, until finally they wind up in Taiwan, and instead of attempting to capture something raw, Dong pussies out by painting a blatantly artificial mural of seductive young brothel girls, allegedly because the social environment is so exotic as to being beyond his comprehension.

By this point, Zhangke is including assorted shots of Dong sleeping and traveling at cross purposes with the locals, seemingly betraying the artist's lack of engagement with these environments, until Zhangke decides to leave the artist in his studio (at one point drifting away mid-sentence!) to follow the brothel employees and record their lives outside their semi-nude posing for Dong. A turning point arrives when one of the girls receives news that her town was flooded and her family may possibly be missing, which seems to stir Zhangke's social consciousness and perhaps remind him of the situation at the Three Gorges Dam, where the documentary began and he ultimately abandons Dong to return to, in order to develop his Still Life feature.

The ending is particularly revealing, as Dong hypocritically discusses in his closing interview the need to seriously empathize with your subjects, from which Zhangke cuts to a blind Taiwanese man being led through a carnival by a barker while presenting a change jar, without a single person opting to contribute any change, a more vital encapsulation of the disregard for the destitute than anything Dong can muster. Two weeks later, Zhangke began filming Still Life...

Rowland

03-08-2009, 06:07 AM

The Road Warrior (George Miller, 1981) 76

A superbly-judged genre exercise, its apocalyptic milieu sharply rendered and immediately engrossing in large part because of its mythic minimalism, allowing Miller's defiantly visual storytelling to impart most of its lean narrative, which immensely benefits the immersion level and visceral impact of the piece. The pacing is refreshingly relaxed by today's standards, the humor delightfully eccentric, the archetypal characters convincingly sketched, the crushing desolation of the landscape strikingly evinced, and the action set pieces, excepting a minor sloppy moment or two, intelligibly elaborate without devolving into incoherence or excessive gimmickry. Kudos as well for the periodic grace notes, my favorite being the photo kept by Humungus, suggesting a tragic past and with it a modicum of humanity in its depraved villain.

Rowland

03-08-2009, 06:55 AM

Red (Lucky McKee & Trygve Allister Diesen, 2008) 52

A manipulative quasi-revenge tale that would have benefited from the two sides being less blatantly stacked, with more in the way of moral nuance being explored (our protagonist questioning the judgment in his actions and experiencing remorse in the final scene feels tossed off, the antagonists are southern hick caricatures and self-preserving brutes), a less contrived series of escalating tensions in the third act, and the trimming of a subplot or two. The piece is nevertheless afforded credibility and a charged emotionality in Brian Cox's soulfully dignified, arrestingly intense performance and a deliberately low-key formal strategy punctuated by flashes of elegant impressionism, the most haunting example being a simple dolly towards an open door that, in concordance with Cox's skillfully calibrated performance, elevates a shamelessly melodramatic monologue to poetry.

megladon8

03-09-2009, 12:13 AM

Rowland, you're totally making me want to give The Road Warrior another go, and see if I can get to appreciate it.

And it's a bit disappointing to learn that Red isn't too great. Jen has it coming in from the library tomorrow, so we'll see it at some point this week.

Oh and to whoever it was who was asking (checking...OK, dreamdead) [REC] was...fucking terrifying. Seriously, that was a very, very scary movie. The entire last 10 minutes I think I almost drew blood from my hands I was clenching them so hard.

And, like most great horror films, the social commentary was quite poignant, this time looking at the selfishness and irrational behaviour exhibited by people in stressful situations.

MadMan

03-09-2009, 01:02 AM

Role Models was pretty funny, and fairly enjoyable as well. And yes I find it amusing that even though its build as your usual stupid buddy comedy that a message of children needing guidence actually shines through near the end. Interesting. Not as good as many of the other comedies I saw from 2008, but still one of the best ones from that year.

dreamdead

03-09-2009, 04:43 AM

Powell and Pressburger's I Know Where I'm Going! has a solid if not rather archetypal spin on how common life transforms into love in otherwise bourgeois people. Though the narrator is unneeded and creates a distance that the film must then overcome, it's fascinating to watch a film like this when women were still given agency and maturity to sort through what they desire in life, be it security or passion, as well as foundation on matters of faith, even if they're used more as plot elements than as full-fledged consideration. I like the reversal of narrative logic in the curse that finishes the film, even if it's a tad too dependent on last-second confession.

James Foley's Fear is so thoroughly grounded in mid-'90s aesthetics, overwrought and materialistic, that it acquires an odd Marxist quality that's likely fully unintentional. To be sure, this story where Mark Wahlberg exists as a bad boy who contrives a life of virtue to ease Reese Witherspoon into loving him is thoroughly psychologically grounded, with the power play and paternal instincts of William Petersen dueling with Wahlberg, However, the film's insistence on Witherspoon's character wearing mini-skirts and adhering to high school appearances despite her personal travails is oddly fascinating. There's maybe three instances where she busts out jeans or something to cover her body, and when her character is ostensibly suffering such torment, it's perplexing to see her attired as she is; doing a Marxist reading on her conformist need to fit in with the aesthetics of clothing, regardless of her sufferings, would make this otherwise rote if committed thriller more valuable to film history.

megladon8

03-09-2009, 02:35 PM

To dreamdead or anyone else who's seen Quarantine, I'm curious about the ending/explanation of the viral outbreak.

What was explained in [REC] was different from anything I've ever seen in a horror before, and was executed really well. As I said earlier, the final 10 minutes of that movie were nothing short of terrifying.

Ezee E

03-09-2009, 02:48 PM

Looking forward to [REC] whenever it comes out on Netflix.

Dead & Messed Up

03-09-2009, 03:51 PM

So Stuck was disgustingly good. Nice to see that Gordon hasn't lost his skill at gallows humor.

balmakboor

03-09-2009, 05:18 PM

Not such a good weekend.

Frozen River was pretty horrible. I now have to find some way to make my "review" which is really more of a promo for our film society screening sound favorable. I guess I'll focus on Melissa Leo's performance.

Watchmen wasn't horrible but it stuck too faithfully to the source material and never found a way to breathe on its own.

I'll be watching Dear Zachary tonight, I suspect.

megladon8

03-09-2009, 07:30 PM

So Stuck was disgustingly good. Nice to see that Gordon hasn't lost his skill at gallows humor.

I must see this one. I love Stuart Gordon, and between you, Rowland and Raiders all loving it, I am dying to see it!

Raiders

03-09-2009, 07:34 PM

I must see this one. I love Stuart Gordon, and between you, Rowland and Raiders all loving it, I am dying to see it!

I haven't seen it. Maybe you're thinking of Spinal and/or Sven, both of whom I believed really liked/loved it.

Sycophant

03-09-2009, 07:35 PM

I haven't seen it. Maybe you're thinking of Spinal and/or Sven, both of whom I believed really liked/loved it.

Raiders, in the absence of Sven and in consideration of your joint "Minority Report" effort, his opinions have been transferred to you. Enjoy Mission to Mars, dawg.

megladon8

03-09-2009, 07:41 PM

I haven't seen it. Maybe you're thinking of Spinal and/or Sven, both of whom I believed really liked/loved it.

I guess it was. Sorry.

Rowland

03-09-2009, 09:42 PM

Ocean's Thirteen (2007) *½
YES. A serious downgrade from the first two.

D_Davis

03-09-2009, 09:50 PM

So Stuck was disgustingly good. Nice to see that Gordon hasn't lost his skill at gallows humor.

Yeah, it's awesome.

I need to check it out again.

Raiders

03-09-2009, 09:51 PM

YES. A serious downgrade from the first two.

Especially the second one which upon another viewing some time ago revealed itself as an enormously entertaining film. It was nonsense, but done so in as knowing and playful manner as possible. This one was just nonsense and almost no fun at all. It felt like work this time for the actors and filmmakers. It didn't flow naturally in any way.

It ain't even a heist film (well, there is a heist with the diamonds--but it feels like an afterthought and is given no care or set-up); it's a revenge-flick. Yuck.

Rowland

03-09-2009, 09:55 PM

So Stuck was disgustingly good. Nice to see that Gordon hasn't lost his skill at gallows humor.Yes. Gordon is really a master at mixing the blackest humor with unusually visceral, ugly violence and a human empathy for which he isn't often credited. Stuck was one of my favorites from last year, and possibly the best of his I've seen.

Rowland

03-09-2009, 10:02 PM

Especially the second one which upon another viewing some time ago revealed itself as an enormously entertaining film. It was nonsense, but done so in as knowing and playful manner as possible. This one was just nonsense and almost no fun at all. It felt like work this time for the actors and filmmakers. It didn't flow naturally in any way.. Absolutely, I remain bewildered by how underrated the second was. I only wish more mainstream entertainments were as loose, playful, and dare I say experimental as it was. I remember sitting in the theater for the third, watching an early scene in which Eddie Izzard just sits there for what felt like 10 minutes regurgitating endless exposition, thinking "is this what people wanted?"

Rowland

03-09-2009, 10:04 PM

And it's a bit disappointing to learn that Red isn't too great. Jen has it coming in from the library tomorrow, so we'll see it at some point this week.Be sure to share your thoughts, I'd like to read another perspective. I know Derek liked it a little less than I, but was somewhere in the same ballpark.

Oh and to whoever it was who was asking (checking...OK, dreamdead) [REC] was...fucking terrifying. Seriously, that was a very, very scary movie. The entire last 10 minutes I think I almost drew blood from my hands I was clenching them so hard.

And, like most great horror films, the social commentary was quite poignant, this time looking at the selfishness and irrational behaviour exhibited by people in stressful situations.I'll probably be watching this within the week.

Dead & Messed Up

03-09-2009, 11:18 PM

Yes. Gordon is really a master at mixing the blackest humor with unusually visceral, ugly violence and a human empathy for which he isn't often credited. Stuck was one of my favorites from last year, and possibly the best of his I've seen.

From a character perspective, it's probably his best. Russell Hornsby as Rashid was a surprise standout.

Pop Trash

03-09-2009, 11:23 PM

I must see this one. I love Stuart Gordon, and between you, Rowland and Raiders all loving it, I am dying to see it!
I liked it a lot as well. It's still in my top ten of 2008 and the more I think about it, the more I think it's the perfect movie for these economic times.

megladon8

03-09-2009, 11:40 PM

Holy shee-it, The Midnight Meat Train was a mess. All I can say is that, as a fan of Barker's short story, this one not only missed the mark, but wasn't even aiming in the right direction.

It seemed to focus on all the most uninteresting parts of the story, and what I wanted to know more about, or what thematics I wanted it to more deeply explore, it treated as after-thoughts.

Just about the only good thing I have to say about the movie is that it was occasionally nice to look at. But the well-composed shots were so poorly edited together that it's frequently incoherent.

The gore was pathetically rendered CGI crap, the characters were some of the most inept I've seen recently, the script and acting were piss-poor (and really, Leslie Bibb is awful...when Brooke Shields is out-acting you, you need to quit).

What a waste. It could have been so great.

lovejuice

03-09-2009, 11:59 PM

this news (http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6457&Itemid=99) aggravates me. am i just getting older and grumpier or hollywood now really sucks?

megladon8

03-10-2009, 12:02 AM

this news (http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=6457&Itemid=99) aggravates me. am i just getting older and grumpier or hollywood now really sucks?

Ugh.

However, I'm all for the "Daredevil" reboot. Doesn't need to be a franchise, I just want one good movie because the character deserves it.

lovejuice

03-10-2009, 12:14 AM

Ugh.

However, I'm all for the "Daredevil" reboot. Doesn't need to be a franchise, I just want one good movie because the character deserves it.
don't know much about the character, but a fan can say the same about almost anything, i think. star war deserves a better phantom menace, and indiana jone a better fourth installment.

Arthur Seaton

03-10-2009, 12:36 AM

James Foley's Fear is so thoroughly grounded in mid-'90s aesthetics, overwrought and materialistic, that it acquires an odd Marxist quality that's likely fully unintentional...

Wow, a Marxist reading on Fear. I just thought it freaking sucked donkey balls.

Oh, I found this story amusing:
http://torontoist.com/2009/03/one_weak_ad.php

YouTube commenters "reviewing" a movie based on its trailer? Canadians make me LOL.

number8

03-10-2009, 12:37 AM

Yeah, I wouldn't reboot Daredevil. Why bother? Just make a good sequel. Affleck isn't even a bad choice.

Sycophant

03-10-2009, 12:56 AM

:pritch: ~HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD!~ :pritch:

MadMan

03-10-2009, 12:59 AM

I kind of liked the first Daredevil, and Ben Affleck was fine in the role.

Also I like Ocean's Thirteen more than Ocean's 12. The first is certainly better than both, but I enjoy the series as a whole. All of them are very entertaining, decently crafted heist films, although I think only the first one sort of highly elevates its material successfully. The others get points for trying, though.

EyesWideOpen

03-10-2009, 01:22 AM

Yeah, I wouldn't reboot Daredevil. Why bother? Just make a good sequel. Affleck isn't even a bad choice.

Agreed. Hell the Director's Cut even made the original watchable. It's leagues better then the Fantastic Four films.

MadMan

03-10-2009, 01:24 AM

Agreed. Hell the Director's Cut even made the original watchable. It's leagues better then the Fantastic Four films.I forgot there was a DC. I now want to see it.

PS: Daredevil was also better than the rather mediocre Spiderman(2002).

Qrazy

03-10-2009, 04:47 AM

I forgot there was a DC. I now want to see it.

PS: Daredevil was also better than the rather mediocre Spiderman(2002).

PPS: False.

transmogrifier

03-10-2009, 11:09 AM

Ezee E

03-10-2009, 12:27 PM

I'm one of the few that thinks Ocean's Twelve is the best of the three.

And Daredevil is among the worst Marvel movies. Elektra being the worst by far.

megladon8

03-10-2009, 01:45 PM

I'm one of the few that thinks Ocean's Twelve is the best of the three.

And Daredevil is among the worst Marvel movies. Elektra being the worst by far.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/1296/punisherwarzoneposter62.jpg

At least Elektra and Daredevil had some idea of how a story is told.

Punisher: War Zone shouldn't have even been released. It would look bad next to STV movies.

megladon8

03-10-2009, 03:30 PM

NickGlass

03-10-2009, 03:55 PM

I'm having trouble finding online listings for movies in NYC that aren't just the usual big releases.

I want to see what kind of classic/foreign stuff is playing around town.

Does anyone know a good site that shows where/when this stuff is playing?

I have a list I sent to Sven when he first moved here; I'll send it along in a PM. For now, here is a sampling of arthouses/retrospective theaters off the top of my head.

www.filmforum.org
www.quadcinema.com
www.cinemavillage.com
www.angelikafilmcenter.com
www.ifccenter.com
www.filmlinc.com
www.bam.org
www.anthologyfilmarchives.org
www.moma.org (check under Film Screenings)

EvilShoe

03-10-2009, 04:16 PM

Daredevil is so awful. I don't see how a Director's Cut could fix it.

I'm all for a reboot. Hope they give Damian Lewis a call.

megladon8

03-10-2009, 04:53 PM

Daredevil is so awful. I don't see how a Director's Cut could fix it.

I'm all for a reboot. Hope they give Damian Lewis a call.

Mark Steven Johnson should never be allowed to touch another comic book film.

Actually, scratch that...he just shouldn't be allowed to touch a film ever again.

Same goes for David Goyer. Goyer's contributed some good ideas to a few films, but he cannot write or direct worth a damn.

That the two worked together on Daredevil is a testament to its quality.

Though EWO is right that the DC is better, it's not saying much.

megladon8

03-10-2009, 04:53 PM

And thanks so much, Nick, I really appreciate the help.

EvilShoe

03-10-2009, 05:25 PM

As nice as an HBO miniseries of Preacher would've been, I'm glad the project is now out of Johnson's hands.

MadMan

03-10-2009, 05:25 PM

Daredevil is so awful. I don't see how a Director's Cut could fix it.

I'm all for a reboot. Hope they give Damian Lewis a call.That would be a great bit of casting.

PPS: False.Its not my fault that the first Spiderman film sucked hard. I couldn't stop laughing at some of the really silly melodramatic moments.

THIS is what you are doing instead of making a Top 100 list? Really???Um......

.....yes? :shifty eyes:

number8

03-10-2009, 05:50 PM

As nice as an HBO miniseries of Preacher would've been, I'm glad the project is now out of Johnson's hands.

Oh, I dunno. He wouldn't be writing or directing it, so, you know...

Ezee E

03-10-2009, 06:03 PM

Sam Mendes is in charge of Preacher now. I saw that's a good great thing.

EvilShoe

03-10-2009, 06:43 PM

Oh, I dunno. He wouldn't be writing or directing it, so, you know...
Didn't he want to make each issue an episode, while also adding new stuff to get to the correct running time?

Let's not forget the directing was in hands of Howard Deutch, director of the classics "Grumpier Old Men" and "The Whole Ten Yards". Not much of an upgrade there.

dreamdead

03-10-2009, 07:06 PM

Kobayashi's Hari Kari was all sorts of awesome. It's wonderful to see a film that is so concerned with formal considerations of subjective perspective give voice to a critique of the same unflagging samurai notions of honor that undergird the Japanese industry in the '60s, even as Kobayashi also indicts the hierarchal institutions that placed 1600's Japan in such an alienating social condition. Just wonderful.

Rowland

03-10-2009, 07:41 PM

I never saw the second, but I actually enjoyed the first Fantastic Four. It wasn't up to the Batman or Spider-Man series, but it wasn't trying to be. In its energetically puerile and unpretentious way, I was entertained just fine. *shrug*

jamaul

03-10-2009, 09:42 PM

So, sent back my netflix. Gonna rent Sunrise and Come and See. I need a third movie. What should be the third film I rent? (the three Bunuel's I rented in my sig I'd already seen, but opted to rent instead of buy them to see them again).

Winston*

03-10-2009, 09:44 PM

jamaul

03-10-2009, 09:52 PM

Made of Honour

Preconceived hackwork with subtle artistic nuance unnoticed by a neglecting consensus of critics? A film that maturely explores the fascinating experience of women leading the life of an 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride' existence? Challenging, often provocative work desperately in need of a band of supporters ready to give it the notice it deserves? I'll gladly join the cause. Consider it queued.

Kurosawa Fan

03-10-2009, 09:54 PM

Preconceived hackwork with subtle artistic nuance unnoticed by a neglecting consensus of critics? A film that maturely explores the fascinating experience of women leading the life of an 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride' existence? Challenging, often provocative work desperately in need of a band of supporters ready to give it the notice it deserves? I'll gladly join the cause. Consider it queued.

Pretty sure it was just a sarcastic remark, and I'm really hoping this is too, for your sake.

Winston*

03-10-2009, 09:56 PM

If jamaul actually watches Made of Honour, he is my new favourite poster.

jamaul

03-10-2009, 10:05 PM

If jamaul actually watches Made of Honour, he is my new favourite poster.

Does it have any thematic or narrative link to Maid in Manhattan? Like, the second film in a projected trilogy?

Winston*

03-10-2009, 10:10 PM

Does it have any thematic or narrative link to Maid in Manhattan? Like, the second film in a projected trilogy?

It's a spiritual sequel to the Ted Danson/Whoopi Goldberg/ Will Smith smash hit Made in America.

jamaul

03-10-2009, 10:14 PM

It's a spiritual sequel to the Ted Danson/Whoopi Goldberg/ Will Smith smash hit Made in America.

Outstanding. Smith was a revelation in Made in America and Danson's performance is an obvious tour-de-force. Goldberg proved in this film, along with her bookending masterpieces Sister Act 1 & 2, to be the most accomplished black comedienne of the early 1990s. Can I expect the same greatness from Maid in Manhattan and Maid of Honor?

Raiders

03-10-2009, 10:21 PM

Made of Honour

favourite

You need to stop this pretentious habit. And don't give me that "this is how we spell it in [New Zealand, Australia, Austria--wherever ostentatious country you come from]".

Winston*

03-10-2009, 10:39 PM

You need to stop this pretentious habit. And don't give me that "this is how we spell it in [New Zealand, Australia, Austria--wherever ostentatious country you come from]".

I pronounce "lieutenant" the American way. You should feel content with that.

MadMan

03-10-2009, 11:50 PM

The last part of the last page=non stop hilarity.

lovejuice

03-11-2009, 12:35 AM

If jamaul actually watches Made of Honour, he is my new favourite poster.
i watched made of honor. in. theatre.

Winston*

03-11-2009, 12:45 AM

i watched made of honor. in. theatre.

You were already my favourite poster, lovejuice.

Qrazy

03-11-2009, 03:10 AM

You need to stop this pretentious habit. And don't give me that "this is how we spell it in [New Zealand, Australia, Austria--wherever ostentatious country you come from]".

Canada spells it that way too.

dreamdead

03-11-2009, 01:17 PM

Happy Go Lucky was a joy and a half. Just wondrously alive and developed. Even if Poppy can get cloying and artificial in her interactions, Leigh and company know that and grant small reactionary moments to her where Poppy can approximate an adult's silence, so that she has dimensions beyond her selfless mirth. And Scott the car instructor, while playing a limited number of notes, has enough variation that the two's encounters do not come off as contrived or overdetermined, so that when the violence erupts, it feels natural and dangerous. Lovely little continuous last shot on the lake, too. Not quite the best of last year, but it's fascinating to think of this alongside Naked and question what the two would reveal about Leigh's instincts and vision of England.

Soul of the Game is a little HBO Pictures release from the mid-'90s tracing the rise of Satchel Paige, Jackie Robinson, and Josh Gibson as they try to break from the Negro leagues into professional, and white, baseball. Though the film adheres to the projected model of exploitation in the interest of capital, it's interesting to assess how Paige likewise is trying to engineer the best deals for himself and those he thinks are graduating to the big leagues. Otherwise, it is rather conventional and has little in the way of directional flourishes, save for one little damning moment where Paige's wife helps a white girl pull her hair back and helps beautify her, only to be denied use of the only women's restroom at a grocer's. It's disarming in its strength, and a quiet moment focusing on the women of this time period before remembering its sports-nature and neglecting the women again.

Qrazy

03-11-2009, 04:35 PM

Haven't read this yet and don't know if it's legit but I'm pretty sure it is.

http://mysterymanonfilm.blogspot.com/2009/03/raiders-story-conference.html

Conference between Lucas, Spielberg and Kasdan where they originally discuss and concoct ideas for Raiders of the Lost Ark.

thefourthwall

03-11-2009, 05:41 PM

The World of Suzie Wong, made in 1960, shows an incredible relationship between Robert Lomax, an American artist living in Hong Kong, and a Chinese prostitute, Suzie. With the lead there is no Othering, Suzie is shown as a complex character with significant depth and nuance, played wonderfully by Nancy Kwan. The film offers a clear critique of Westerners who disdain Robert for his relationship. The leads and main story display a wonderful sensitivity and progressiveness towards race relations, although the rest of the culture is portrayed somewhat broadly. Dealing frankly with issues of sexuality and racism, the film would definitely be my pick were there to be another "Diamond in the Rough" film swap!

D_Davis

03-11-2009, 06:36 PM

Dead & Messed Up

03-11-2009, 07:55 PM

megladon8

03-11-2009, 10:49 PM

Cold Prey was another horribly disappointing horror movie. This film - from Norway - apparently gained quite a large fanbase in Europe (ultimately leading to its release here).

I don't know how it got popular, though, because it's nothing but a cliché-ridden slasher that's poorly paced, riddled with annoying and mind-numbingly stupid characters, and features a "twist ending" that not only made no sense, but that the film explained to us in the beginning.

Really, the movie pretty much outright tells us from the beginning who the killer was...yet it features this big "reveal" scene at the end like it's surprising us with the killer's identity. It was awful. It would be like if Halloween was totally unchanged, except for a final shot of Laurie ripping Michael's mask off and gasping "my god...Michael Myers...you're the killer!"

I feel like I could write the exact same review for this and The Midnight Meat Train, not because they share similarities in plot structure or anything, but because the only redeeming quality in both was occasionally nice photography.

Even the horror-hound bloodlust inside me was left completely unsatisfied, because aside from one shot of a guy having his neck broken, the kills happen entirely off-screen, either through a quick-cut to the victim's perspective (we see from their eyes as they lay on the ground helpless, a pick-axe comes speeding towards their face, and cut to black), or just a cut to an entirely different scene.

What a waste.

Qrazy

03-11-2009, 10:53 PM

I got through about twenty pages or so. It's an awesome read, especially if you enjoy the creative process.

Yeah, the article culling lessons from the original transcript was pretty well done as well.

Qrazy

03-11-2009, 10:53 PM

Sounds awesome. Thanks for the link.

No problemo. Someone posted it on RT, thought I'd repost here.

lovejuice

03-12-2009, 02:55 AM

i love shadow & fog. perhaps the closest thing to anachistic cinema that actually works.

Sycophant

03-12-2009, 03:08 AM

i love shadow & fog. perhaps the closest thing to anachistic cinema that actually works.

Interesting. I was pretty unimpressed with that one, though I'm not that familiar with the German expressionist films Allen borrowed from, so I may have missed appreciating it on that level.

Dead & Messed Up

03-12-2009, 03:49 AM

Repo: The Genetic Opera was pretty good for a while, but I was disappointed by the lack of genuinely fun songs. There were a few that caught my attention. "Zydrate Anatomy," "Chase the Morning," and "Seventeen" were standouts, the latter featuring a driving guitar riff from Joan Jett.

But I think the film pads itself with too much inconsequential singing with no recurring melody or time signature. Much of it is repetitive, as well, with the singing frequently duplicating information we just learned via monologue or comic book splashes.

Still, props to Bousman for creating a film so confident and idiosyncratic. After what I thought was cheap hackery on the Saw films, I'm suddenly a lot more interested in what he does next.

Qrazy

03-12-2009, 04:42 AM

Interesting. I was pretty unimpressed with that one, though I'm not that familiar with the German expressionist films Allen borrowed from, so I may have missed appreciating it on that level.

I still need to see it but based upon his other films that 'borrow' heavily from earlier works (Stardust Memories, Interiors, etc) I doubt it will tickle my fancy. You should definitely check out some early German expressionism though. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Nosferatu, Faust, Metropolis, and M for sure. I still need to see Destiny, The Last Laugh and Golem amongst others.

Rowland

03-12-2009, 07:52 AM

Doubt (John Patrick Shanley, 2008) 69

Perhaps the year's most undervalued studio-prestige effort, headlined by a modest ensemble of compelling performances highlighted by Hoffman's remarkably modulated turn as a progressive priest indirectly punished by Streep's authoritative nun for introducing the notion of spiritual doubt as a viable unifying force to his conservative congregation. Shanley pitches the tone of his material to a heightened degree, so that the picture avoids middlebrow stodginess in favor of the thrumming vitality of potent pulp, as he adapts his play for the screen in dynamic cinematic terms (if sometimes in a ham-fisted manner suggesting an arguably misplaced puckishness one might expect from the director of Joe vs. the Volcano), bolstered by a deluge of shamelessly baroque expressionist punctuations suggesting that the very balance of these characters' elemental and spiritual worlds is at stake. This sets the stage for a vividly performed series of impassioned confrontations as the characters essentially debate the very intrinsic principles they hold dear. Compulsively watchable from beginning to its unfortunately ill-conceived closing moments, loaded with stimulating thematic material explored in a thorny manner, Doubt proves an estimable studio release that runs like clockwork and fires on most cylinders, unfortunately ignored or dismissed by most quarters in favor of more typical award-season mediocrities. And it bears stressing again just how phenomenal Hoffman is here. :cool:

transmogrifier

03-12-2009, 08:34 AM

i love shadow & fog. perhaps the closest thing to anachistic cinema that actually works.

Me too. It's swell. I like Stardust Memories and Interiors too.

soitgoes...

03-12-2009, 09:49 AM

Weekend Possibilities:

Battle of Chile: Part 3 (First 2 parts were fantastic)
The Fate of Lee Khan
State of Siege
Rachel Getting Married
L'Aîné des Ferchaux
Le Petit Soldat

Boner M

03-12-2009, 11:25 AM

Just A Christmas Tale and Rolling Thunder for this weekend. Got a few assignments and other stuff to do.

balmakboor

03-12-2009, 12:55 PM

I finally popped An Autumn Afternoon in last night. The ending is just as perfectly, sadly devastating as I remembered. One of his most moving scores as well. Really beautiful movie and one of cinema's greatest swan songs.

Other great swan songs? I dunno.

Eyes Wide Shut
A Passage to India
?

Boner M

03-12-2009, 01:03 PM

Love Streams and L'Argent... both feel like their creators knew they'd be their last.

EDIT: I'm not counting Big Trouble for Cassavetes.

Raiders

03-12-2009, 01:27 PM

Other great swan songs? I dunno.

F for Fake
7 Women
A Prairie Home Companion - not a great movie, but a perfect last movie.
Tabu

Raiders

03-12-2009, 01:28 PM

And it bears stressing again just how phenomenal Hoffman is here. :cool:

No, it doesn't. He's the weakest link in the whole film. He's too tortured and guilty from the beginning. He doesn't display any of the charisma necessary for the character to be anything more than a one-dimensional, if slightly sympathetic, villain.

Ezee E

03-12-2009, 01:30 PM

Nothing for this weekend unless I check out something on the Watch Instant feature.

Ezee E

03-12-2009, 01:31 PM

Yeah, Doubt hasn't resonated as well with me since I've seen it. I'd like to have seen more done with Amy Adams' character.

Kurosawa Fan

03-12-2009, 02:39 PM

Benny Profane

03-12-2009, 03:03 PM

I might be seeing Two Lovers tonight. Anyone seen it? I don't see a thread on it.

D_Davis

03-12-2009, 03:38 PM

... and Rolling Thunder for this weekend..

Nice. It's still hard to believe that this hasn't been remastered on any official R1 DVD.

Ivan Drago

03-12-2009, 03:45 PM

Weekend:

Synecdoche New York (maybe)

And something at the movie theater...don't know what yet

lovejuice

03-12-2009, 03:54 PM

Me too. It's swell. I like Stardust Memories and Interiors too.
as stated, shadow & fog is a rare film in which randomness and chance encounters pay off. perhaps it has to do with allen's in-your-face fog metaphor. you throw a bunch into the fog, and anything can happen. any two characters emerge from the fog, exchange a few quips, enter the fog, and the same pattern occurs all over again. generally i hate this sorta non-structure, but it works here.

and i just check imdb page. the cast is just delightful. the relatively unknown reilly, cusack and macy. i don't even recall foster and bates.

Sven

03-12-2009, 04:26 PM

and i just check imdb page. the cast is just delightful. the relatively unknown reilly, cusack and macy. i don't even recall foster and bates.

My favorite is Kenneth Mars. Gwynne, too. But then, those guys are generally my favorite part of anything in which they appear.

So, for the next three weeks, I'm going to be pretty much glued to the computer for several assignments and one fairly involved project involving the viewing and cataloging of a massive backlog of independent films for my internship (and it's actually quite fun!). I will be less absent for the next little bit, I imagine, because of that. One of the many things this site is good for is therapeutic distraction, so long as Qrazy and I stay out of the same threads. :)

Sven

03-12-2009, 04:28 PM

I might be seeing Two Lovers tonight. Anyone seen it? I don't see a thread on it.

Surprising, considering the recently developed Gray fetish 'round these here parts. I'd like to see it, though, so definitely echo your response here.

lovejuice

03-12-2009, 04:31 PM

I will be less absent for the next little bit, I imagine, because of that.
oh yeah, sven, nice to see you. :) i'm back. thank for posting in my kundera thread.

Sven

03-12-2009, 04:38 PM

oh yeah, sven, nice to see you. :) i'm back. thank for posting in my kundera thread.

Ha! I had to go back and find that Kundera thread to remember what you were talking about. Your reemergence has been a blessed thing.

NickGlass

03-12-2009, 04:39 PM

I might be seeing Two Lovers tonight. Anyone seen it? I don't see a thread on it.

It coasts over the usual romance tropes and occasionally catches a snag, but it's so finely observed--from the attention given to objects to the elegant juxtaposition of, not only two different lovers, but two different kinds of love. I'm not positive you'll like it. It's easy to find certain situations slightly contrived and character motivations implausible, but the thoughtful performances and palpable mood justify these flaws.

Benny Profane

03-12-2009, 05:12 PM

It coasts over the usual romance tropes and occasionally catches a snag, but it's so finely observed--from the attention given to objects to the elegant juxtaposition of, not only two different lovers, but two different kinds of love. I'm not positive you'll like it. It's easy to find certain situations slightly contrived and character motivations implausible, but the thoughtful performances and palpable mood justify these flaws.

Hmmm, very intriguing. Yeah, the trailer really caught my attention for some reason.

Rowland

03-12-2009, 06:44 PM

No, it doesn't. He's the weakest link in the whole film. He's too tortured and guilty from the beginning. He doesn't display any of the charisma necessary for the character to be anything more than a one-dimensional, if slightly sympathetic, villain.I don't see him as a villain at all, so that's just the beginning of where I disagree with you. The film is open-ended enough so that who one decides to heedlessly label the "villain" boils down to something of a rorschach test, to which his performance pays great dividends. If anything, I'd argue that Streep plays her character as a slightly too one-dimensional, if sympathetic, villain, though that suits the nature of her character.

Don't tell me everyone here took the film at surface value and assumed him a villainous child molester. The picture isn't even about whether or not he's "bad", but the corrosive nature of unwavering conviction. If anything, though his character's past and ulterior motives are always in question, I found him a most sympathetic character, obviously compassionate, down-to-earth, and paternal, but weak, hypocritical, and even gluttonous as well. If you're simply arguing that his performance doesn't adequately express this, then I suppose I can only disagree, because I found him rather brilliant at doing just this, his performance laden with piercing grace notes.

Rowland

03-12-2009, 07:22 PM

This. Is. Correct.Thank you Sister Aloysius. :P

Raiders

03-12-2009, 07:35 PM

Don't tell me everyone here took the film at surface value and assumed him a villainous child molester. The picture isn't even about whether or not he's "bad", but the corrosive nature of unwavering conviction. If anything, though his character's past and ulterior motives are always in question, I found him a most sympathetic character, obviously compassionate, down-to-earth, and paternal, but weak, hypocritical, and even gluttonous as well.

You can read my truncated thoughts in the Doubt thread (probably where this discussion belongs--but whatever), but basically I realize what the film is "about" (the title informs us of this), but I didn't think it went about it very effectively. To me, it is almost never in doubt, what with Hoffman's sweaty, guilt-ridden performance and the film's lack of dimension or charisma in dealing with his character. Therefore, I don't buy into the final moments of "doubt" because the film's tone has never left me with any.

If you're simply arguing that his performance doesn't adequately express this, then I suppose I can only disagree, because I found him rather brilliant at doing just this, his performance laden with piercing grace notes.

I am mostly blaming the performance, yes, but I think there should have been more scenes/evidence that would make us want to believe him as much as we think we should believe Sister Aloysius's conviction. I find the material, the film version anyway, fatally lacking in such ambiguity.

number8

03-12-2009, 07:42 PM

To me, it is almost never in doubt, what with Hoffman's sweaty, guilt-ridden performance and the film's lack of dimension or charisma in dealing with his character. Therefore, I don't buy into the final moments of "doubt" because the film's tone has never left me with any.

I am mostly blaming the performance, yes, but I think there should have been more scenes/evidence that would make us want to believe him as much as we think we should believe Sister Aloysius's conviction. I find the material, the film version anyway, fatally lacking in such ambiguity.

I can't say I disagree with you, but I recently listened to an interview with Shanley that brought up a rather interesting point. Apparently Shanley was banking on audience preconceived notion of the stars. He said he thinks audiences will equate a stern Mery Streep to her Devil Wears Prada character and PSH to have expectations of his character carried over from roles like Happiness and Mission Impossible III, etc. Shanley wanted the audience to immediately think he's guilty and then start introducing doubt halfway into the movie. I think it worked too well in that initial set-up and failed to peel back the surface.

What does that say about PSH, though? :lol:

megladon8

03-12-2009, 07:56 PM

Eden Lake was a fucking horrible, awful, mean movie. Here's what I imagine the pitch meeting was like...

PRODUCER: I want something British to combat the whole torture porn craze. You know, Hostel and all those movies?

WRITER: I have an idea. It's not exactly "torture porn", but it's got lots of torture.

PRODUCER: Awesome. Gimme a one line pitch.

WRITER: OK. Imagine this - what would it take to make a happy-go-lucky kindergarten teacher start brutally murdering children, and make it feel justified?

PRODUCER: I love it.

After one hour of ths movie, I felt that the filmmakers' only goal was to take every possible opportunity to make the film a more miserable experience for the viewer. Every twist in the plot, every chance the protagonists have to exact revenge or to get away or anything, it's always foiled by some string of coincidences that allow the filmmakers to make it a more depressing, taxing and hateful filmgoing experience.

By the 70 minute mark, I found Jen and I - two people who do not talk during movies - making jokes with each other, like our subconsciouses were so sick of being brutalized that they needed that lightening of the mood or else they'd just shut down.

The worst part is that it's well acted and convincingly executed. It's not done like some over-the-top exploitation film similar to other "torture porn" ventures like Hostel or the French film Frontiere(s). Its well acted, no-frills filmmaking that makes it an even more repulsive movie to watch.

For all intents and purposes it's an OK movie.

I never want to see it again. Ever.

Rowland

03-12-2009, 08:52 PM

*shrug* I was never convinced either way at any particular point, but from an ideological standpoint, I admit that I was on his side. Her perspective seemed too obviously clouded by her distaste for his indirect appeals to her authority through his championing of progressive thinking and indulgence over her reluctance to depart from the strict austerities of the past. Granted, he is obviously far from a pure character, but I personally believed the conviction of his defense. Whatever the case however, the did he/didn't he isn't as important as what the story says about believing anything beyond doubt, and in my eyes, the roots underpinning the conflict between left and right-wing ideologies.

Kurosawa Fan

03-13-2009, 12:30 AM

Thank you Sister Aloysius. :P

*slaps Rowland upside head*

Winston*

03-13-2009, 12:34 AM

Saw A Perfect World last night. Think if you cut every Eastwood/Dern scene from it, you'd have a very good movie. Excellent child actor in this, really shows that twat from Bridge to Terabithia what's what.

Sycophant

03-13-2009, 12:40 AM

That's kinda harsh.

Spinal

03-13-2009, 01:26 AM

I'm about 2 hours into Shoah. Not sure if I'm getting the full experience though since I'm not watching it in an IMAX theater.

Qrazy

03-13-2009, 01:32 AM

I'm about 2 hours into Shoah. Not sure if I'm getting the full experience though since I'm not watching it in an IMAX theater.

I find pressing my gelatinous orbs directly against the television screen helps simulate the IMAX experience quite nicely.

D_Davis

03-13-2009, 01:33 AM

I'm about 2 hours into Shoah. Not sure if I'm getting the full experience though since I'm not watching it in an IMAX theater.

You can calculate how much less of an experience you are getting by subtracting the total surface area of the screen you are watching it on from the total surface area of an average IMAX screen. The greater the number, the less enjoyment.

Spinal

03-13-2009, 01:37 AM

I find pressing my gelatinous orbs directly against the television screen helps simulate the IMAX experience quite nicely.

Good tip. I want to be able to see every blemish on Claude Lanzmann's face.

Spinal

03-13-2009, 01:44 AM

You can calculate how much less of an experience you are getting by subtracting the total surface area of the screen you are watching it on from the total surface area of an average IMAX screen. The greater the number, the less enjoyment.

Hmmm ... this stuff is more complicated than I thought. Since I am clearly not supposed to be enjoying a Holocaust film, does that mean I should be watching it on an iPhone? :confused:

Winston*

03-13-2009, 01:46 AM

Hmmm ... this stuff is more complicated than I thought. Since I am clearly not supposed to be enjoying a Holocaust film, does that mean I should be watching it on an iPhone? :confused:

Actually, Davis's formula gives you a greater enjoyment number the smaller the screen you watch it on.

EDIT: Wait no it doesn't. I'm an idiot.

D_Davis

03-13-2009, 01:49 AM

Hmmm ... this stuff is more complicated than I thought. Since I am clearly not supposed to be enjoying a Holocaust film, does that mean I should be watching it on an iPhone? :confused:

An iPod Nano will, in this instance, give you your best enjoyment factor.

Raiders

03-13-2009, 02:08 AM

You took a break from the movie for this?

Weak. :|

D_Davis

03-13-2009, 02:16 AM

You took a break from the movie for this?

Probably the most important conversation on the net today.

Spinal

03-13-2009, 02:20 AM

You took a break from the movie for this?

Weak. :|

No, I am not watching the 9 hours straight like you. Especially when I don't even have a Nano.

Raiders

03-13-2009, 02:23 AM

No, I am not watching the 9 hours straight like you. Especially when I don't even have a Nano.

Yeah, I have the iPod Touch, but they're kidding themselves with the monstrous 3.5" screen.

D_Davis

03-13-2009, 02:53 AM

Yeah, I have the iPod Touch, but they're kidding themselves with the monstrous 3.5" screen.

Typical American excess.

balmakboor

03-13-2009, 03:29 AM

I just watched Dear Zachary for a second time.

What can I say? I don't think it's possible to overstate how good this film is. Content-wise, I'm ripped to shreds and my heart is now on the floor. Filmmaking-wise, I can't even fathom the criticisms I've read. It's a masterpiece of editing. The cutting felt maybe a bit hurried to me the first time, but every cut sings with urgency and desperation and emotion watching it a second time. Of course, knowing where it is all heading changes the effect, but I was pleasantly surprised to find the film even more engaging and moving and just as suspenseful knowing the arc of its events.

Getting alerted to movies like this is why I love hanging out in Internet forums.

Mysterious Dude

03-13-2009, 03:32 AM

The only thing I don't like about Dear Zachary is the way he turns the judge and the one lawyer into cartoon characters, like Mel Gibson on South Park.

balmakboor

03-13-2009, 03:37 AM

The only thing I don't like about Dear Zachary is the way he turns the judge and the one lawyer into cartoon characters, like Mel Gibson on South Park.

I'll cut his a lot of slack on things like that. If he was an outsider to the situation, that making mouths move on still photos bit would've seemed cheap to me, but Kurt's intimate involvement made it feel like his version of David's outbursts of emotion. His way of getting even with people he probably hates in the editing room.

Qrazy

03-13-2009, 03:56 AM

Hunger was decent but underwhelming, not really sure what all the fuss is about.

MadMan

03-13-2009, 04:12 AM

I found that when I didn't post my weekend viewings last week, I actually watched all of the movies I was planning to see. This sounds like a good idea from now on.

Oh and welcome back to the site, iosos/Sven.

Benny Profane

03-13-2009, 01:52 PM

There were 7 people including my wife and I at the late screening of Two Lovers last night in the 5th largest city in the country. Doesn't bode well. It's too bad it's getting overlooked because it's a real good movie.

Raiders

03-13-2009, 01:55 PM

Two Lovers ... a real good movie.

Awesome. Seeing it this weekend.

Ezee E

03-13-2009, 04:59 PM

That starts here soon, or might already be at the Landmark.

lovejuice

03-13-2009, 06:04 PM

return of the five deadly venoms: very charming in a b-movie/nostalgic kinda way. the fight choreograph is top-notched. fluid. raw. good camera-angle. if anything, a bit uncreative -- not many gadgets -- but that onlys show how grandeur the action is in its simplicity.

this movie demonstrates well what a b-movie should be or aspired to be. earnest. know you strong points. and be very very very good in that. the audiences will always forgive you in other aspects.

oh, and i like its homoerotic undertone.

so d, i have two quetions. first what does the movie has anything to do with its sequel or its title for that matter? i don't see anything "return", "five" or "venom." the second question is, now what?, in term of cheh's.

D_Davis

03-13-2009, 06:55 PM

so d, i have two quetions. first what does the movie has anything to do with its sequel or its title for that matter? i don't see anything "return", "five" or "venom." the second question is, now what?, in term of cheh's.

The short answer - nothing. At least in terms of narrative. Both the films just star the group of actors/martial artists known as The Venom Mob. The title just refers that the same dudes who were in The Five Deadly Venoms are in another movie, again.

Return of the Five Deadly Venoms is also known as the Crippled Avengers

The Venom connection/name change was, most likely, done outside of HK as a way to capitalize on the underground popularity of FDV.

And to your second question, now what? Oh geez...so much to rec!

Boxer from Shantung if you haven't yet.

Sycophant

03-13-2009, 07:01 PM

Weekend:
Race to Witch Mountain
Evangelion 1.0: You Are (Not) Alone (rewatch)

Yes, I am going to watch Race to Witch Mountain entirely because Dwayne Johnson is in it.

Rowland

03-13-2009, 07:15 PM

Weekend:

Ping Pong Playa
Tokyo Gore Police
Hard Boiled (rewatch)
[REC]

Mara

03-13-2009, 07:21 PM

jamaul

03-13-2009, 07:24 PM

Well for the weekend, I'm buying Milk and Synecdoche, New York tonight. I've got Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Role Models on top of my TV waiting to be watched, and three Kurosawa films I've already seen sitting in my mailbox. I'd love to go catch Watchmen again on IMAX, but I doubt I'll muster the actual will to go make that happen.

Maybe I should just watch nothing. :confused:

Rowland

03-13-2009, 07:28 PM

Cult classic Shack Out on 101 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048607/) is going to be on TCM tonight for those interested.

Mara

03-13-2009, 07:33 PM

Did you know that Kim Richards, the cute blonde Tia in Escape to With Mountain, is the aunt of Paris and Nicky Hilton?

I didn't.

The Mike

03-13-2009, 08:32 PM

Yes, I am going to watch Race to Witch Mountain entirely because Dwayne Johnson is in it.
I'm going entirely because The Rock is in it. None of this real name bull-stuff.

Pop Trash

03-13-2009, 09:32 PM

Did you know that Kim Richards, the cute blonde Tia in Escape to With Mountain, is the aunt of Paris and Nicky Hilton?

I didn't.

She's also the foxy babe in the unintentionally hilarious 80s movie Tuff Turf.

The Mike

03-13-2009, 09:40 PM

She's also the foxy babe in the unintentionally hilarious 80s movie Tuff Turf.

And the ice-cream loving girl in Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13!

lovejuice

03-13-2009, 10:17 PM

Boxer from Shantung if you haven't yet.
i did, and it's fantastic!

lovejuice

03-13-2009, 10:23 PM

As a very young child, the opening credits (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zk6jqEH2occ) of Escape to Witch Mountain was the scariest thing I had ever seen. I had nightmares after I first saw it, in kindergarten.

as a very young child, i loved return from the witch mountain. (that's the sequel, right?) the villain is a gentleman scientist who uses a device to hypnotize the boy. the climax is when the two children go mano-a-mano (or more appropriately psycho-a-psycho). i thought it was among the most thrilling scene ever. of course, as a disney flick in the 70s, it features nothing, no fight, no whatever, just a couple of machines esp-lifted and banged into one another.

soitgoes...

03-13-2009, 11:48 PM

Nico is masturbating on a rock in the desert. A figure appears far behind her. He approaches. He grabs Nico's arm, and she asks him, "Where are you taking me?" They walk away from the viewer into the unknown desert.

This is the opening shot of Garrel's The Inner Scar. It is definitely a different type of film. Running at just a shade over an hour, Garrel gives us deserty landscapes, wind, a naked man riding a horse while carrying a bow and arrow, and of course Nico. I'm not sure exactly sure what it is Garrel is trying to relay to the viewer. At times it feels like this is a personal film, especially the opening 15 minutes. Afterwards it descends further into the surreal. I'm definitely going to think about this film for a few days.

Pop Trash

03-14-2009, 08:09 AM

number8

03-14-2009, 06:56 PM

Anybody see or going to see The Last House of the Left remake? I dismissed it initially but this has gotten some good reviews from critics I respect (Nick Schager and Michael Phillips both liked it) so now I'm a little interested. And the original film was certainly flawed (and a loose remake in its own right) so it's not like its a completely untouchable film.

Ebert's review is interesting to me, if only for him saying that he wrote a review of the original 37 years ago and that he is no longer the same person now.

Grouchy

03-14-2009, 09:46 PM

Ebert's review is interesting to me, if only for him saying that he wrote a review of the original 37 years ago and that he is no longer the same person now.
I'm not even gonna say anything.

Well, since I recently returned from my two month journey into the unknown (namely Brazil and Colombia), I've been catching up on 2008 viewings like crazy. Here's what I got.

http://ticklebooth.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/curious-case-benjamin-button.jpg

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - I was very surprised when, reading the Fitzgerald short story the film is based on, I discovered it was a grotesque comedy instead of the epic romance Fincher directed. I liked the amount of detail and work that went into every frame of this, specially visible in the representation of different time periods. While I can't say it's a film that will stay in my mind for much longer or that it blew my mind like Zodiac did last year, I can say it was a blast watching it and I'd do it again whenever I have three hours to spare. The Forrest Gump-ish nature of the script is quite obvious and the comparisons easy to make, specially since it's the same writer, but this is for me a much better movie with a more interesting and developed protagonist. Brad Pitt was really good, but Cate Blanchett is a fucking cinema treasure - one of the best actresses around. I couldn't believe it when I found it she had no classic dance training previous to this movie.

Slumdog Millionaire - I see this as the latest installment in Danny Boyle's long-running obsession with money and ways to make it without working. A clear homage to Bollywood cinema, which also feeds on rags to riches tales, the movie is a visual spectacle but very inconsequential. Like its main Oscar competition, it's another romantic fantasy, only set in a more realistic environment. Although I liked the movie overall, the stand-outs for me were three or four scenes which were superbly directed and edited, like the one where Jamal has to jump into a toilet to get an autograph or the one with the mutilation of the kids. Boyle is solid and I'm glad this movie got him the amount of recognition it did. Although, for me, he'll never be able to top Trainspotting.

Watchmen - As close as you can get to making a Watchmen adaptation. That's Snyder's dubious achievement. He clearly loves the material and, even in the face of Moore's rejection, he dared to tackle a masterpiece of comics that was best left alone. The result is a mixed bag and, although the pros are more than the cons, the feeling I was left with was that the movie was unnecessary - the best part is that it might get some people to read the comic. Firstly, the cast is half terrible (Malin Ackerman and Matthew Good) and half excellent (Jackie Earle Haley and whoever played the Comedian), but the personalities of the characters are well translated on the screen nevertheless. The pacing of the movie is ridiculous because of the amount of information that needs to be collected. Snyder was right about changing the ending to make it a bit more logical in the context of the movie, and he also made more obvious some plot points that Moore had only hinted at - like Silk Spectre's paternity or the Comedian's role in Watergate and JFK. I loved the musical choices, though, even Leonard Cohen's "Halleluja" sex scene which apparently everyone had problems with. Like I said, a solid movie that didn't need to be done.

http://comunarte.files.wordpress.com/2009/02/the_wrestler_mickey_rourke.jpg

The Wrestler - I've been a Mickey Rourke fan for years now and, boy, did he reward my fandom here. I think he's a true actor whose offbeat reputation keeps him continually out of the mainstream. Still, it was mighty stupid of the Academy not to recognize his effortless work here. Aranofsky surprised me with a film that, if not subtle, was a lot less "directed" than Requiem for a Dream. In here, he leaves a lot more space for the actors to engage the audience. A couple of scenes, like The Ram's reunion with his daughter or the supermarket catharsis near the end, are the stuff classics are made of. The soundtrack is goddamn excellent. I can't think of anything bad to say about this gem of a film. I did catch one thing, though, that as an amateur filmmaker I would've done differently - I wouldn't have used a musical score in the scene where The Ram dances to no music with his daughter on the abandoned ghost train. Lessened the power of the moment, methinks. Of course, I haven't seen the footage without music so I'm not sure how I'd react to that.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona - I haven't seen a better Woody Allen film since Sweet and Lowdown in 2000. Screw Melinda and Melinda, gang rape that idiotic Match Point thing. This is a truly intelligent script which comes at a perfect moment in the Woodster's career - why do old artists always become sex-obsessed bastards? Although I still need convincing that Scarlett Johansson knows something about acting, the trio of Bardem, Rebecca Hall (beautiful-looking lady) and Cruz really sparkle together. The whole thing has a lightweight feeling to it that camouflages the fact that it's really tackling serious relationship issues. In that aspect, it reminded me a lot of Allen's work in the '80s. The soundtrack is another key aspect when setting up the tone of the film. The voice-over, while sometimes too patronizing with the characters, does a wonderful job of summarizing a lot of scenes into one. Overall, I loved this film. One of the biggest surprises of the year.

Gran Torino - Unlike some other MatchCutters, I fucking adored the trailer for this when it came out, so I wasn't as surprised that I liked the film a lot. Eastwood is once again relying on his movie persona to tell an excellent story about Christianity and sacrifice. The script, which Syd Field would've fucking adored, starts off with laughs based around Kowalski's constant grumpiness and endless supply of racial slurs, and ends in violence, suffering and a low-key sense of hope. The film really shows off more than anything else Clint's surprising abilities as an actor - even when he plays relatively similar characters, he always finds the right tone for each one of them. A couple of the comedy scenes were surprisingly outlandish for me, like the old lady spitting (reminded me of Outlaw Josey Wales) or the barber scene where they teach Toad to talk like a man.

Ivan Drago

03-15-2009, 05:17 AM

Eh, one thing that bugged me about The Wrestler was how absolutely every single shot was handheld. Does an establishing shot of Randy on a pay phone really have to be handheld?

Qrazy

03-15-2009, 05:38 AM

Eh, one thing that bugged me about The Wrestler was how absolutely every single shot was handheld. Does an establishing shot of Randy on a pay phone really have to be handheld?

I think you know that the answer to that is an obvious yes.

Spinal

03-15-2009, 06:43 AM

The defining moment for me in Shoah is when one of the interviewees, describing his despair in watching hundreds of people doomed to die in one of the Nazis' gas chambers, interrupts his story momentarily and, on the verge of tears, says "Please stop." He's not uttering that phrase to any of the horrific villains from his past. He's saying it to the film's director, Claude Lanzmann. Lanzmann's camera, of course, does not in fact stop. In what has to be considered one of the most important films ever made, he asks Holocaust survivors, witnesses and even a few perpetrators to describe in detail atrocities that most of them have clearly tried to erase from their memory. In hearing the details of the nightmarish conditions inflicted upon the Jews, I found myself increasingly bewildered at how such cruelty could become standard operating procedure for a supposedly civilized nation's government, and that it could happen within the past 100 years. The more I learned, the less I felt I understood. However, the goal of Lanzmann's film is not to search for understanding; it is to bear witness. And this is most certainly accomplishes, assuring those haunted forever by such unspeakable memories that their survival will hold some meaning.

lovejuice

03-15-2009, 06:44 AM

Eh, one thing that bugged me about The Wrestler was how absolutely every single shot was handheld. Does an establishing shot of Randy on a pay phone really have to be handheld?

not sure what you mean. are you suggesting the movie constantly change from handheld to something else? won't that be weird?

Winston*

03-15-2009, 08:19 AM

Is there any reason to continue For Your Consideration past the half hour mark I'm at? I can't remember a time I've seen so many hilarious people work together to produce so little funny.

soitgoes...

03-15-2009, 08:34 AM

Sycophant

03-15-2009, 08:46 AM

So, I watched Punch to Witch Mountain: Punching People Solves Everything. It wasn't very good, but was kind of interesting to see the basic sixties and seventies live action Disney approach to making movies taken into the 21st century.

And what the hell happened to Tom Everett Scott?

balmakboor

03-15-2009, 02:14 PM

Eh, one thing that bugged me about The Wrestler was how absolutely every single shot was handheld. Does an establishing shot of Randy on a pay phone really have to be handheld?

I went into the movie knowing that it was shot with a handheld camera and was in that frame of mind. There's nothing inherently right or wrong with "every single shot" being handheld. It's just a matter of does it work for this film and for this character. I thought Randy was a handheld kinda guy if there ever was one.

lovejuice

03-15-2009, 03:22 PM

Is there any reason to continue For Your Consideration past the half hour mark I'm at? I can't remember a time I've seen so many hilarious people work together to produce so little funny.

that movie's so bad it makes me sad.

D_Davis

03-15-2009, 03:46 PM

Spinal

03-15-2009, 06:03 PM

number8

03-15-2009, 06:11 PM

megladon8

03-15-2009, 09:47 PM

Creep wasn't too great. Complaining about a stupid character in a horror film is pretty redundant, but that she was also a selfish, unlikable whore made it hard to have any feelings towards her at all.

And I really felt the language barrier made it hard for Potente to execute some of the dialogue, where her character is supposed to be a snarky bitch. It felt awkward, and like she was fighting with the lines.

The "reveal" left too many questions unanswered, and jumped the shark a bit.

Really nicely shot, though, and the music by The Insects was great.

Dead & Messed Up

03-16-2009, 12:53 AM

I watched God Told Me To earlier today. I was intrigued by the first half, and irritated and maddened by the second half. From the description I'd heard, I thought it was going to be a gritty, realistic look at something that *might* be supernatural. But things went pretty gonzo by the end, and the sound mix got really irritating, because it seemed like a lot of vital lines were lost in the din of explosions and flames. I think I got the gist of it:

Circa thirty years earlier, the main character (who's unknowingly evil) and Bernard "J. C." Phillips were twins born of a woman impregnated by aliens with vaginas on their stomachs.

Its fusion of science fiction and religion reminded me uncannily of Prince of Darkness.

Winston*

03-16-2009, 10:08 AM

Finally watched I'm not There. It was...okay. A bit like reading a media studies essay that states its premise at the outset and then you realise you've got to spend the next 16 pages reading it rephrase that premise. Not really my scene.

Qrazy

03-16-2009, 05:35 PM

Wryan

03-16-2009, 06:24 PM

Watchmen: Lots of good stuff but more than a handful of bad moments. Poor, poor Malin. What were they thinking of beyond her body? Could have just gotten Gugino to just play second Spectre and it prob still would have worked. I haven't read the source material but could feel that it was pared down for ready consumption. Annoying musical cues for the most part. And what's with the people saying, "Golly gee, I had heard that Snyder overused the slow-mo, but hey, there wasn't as much as I thought." Are you HIGH!? It's all over the goddamn thing. Irritatingly so at times, well-done at others.

Rachel Getting Married: Powerful. Ranks with the best of family dysfunction from a Eugene O'Neill or Arthur Miller, really. Very little I didn't like or wasn't affected by. One thing though: When friend Emma makes the caustic remark upon Kym's arrival, asking if she's hurt/killed anyone with her car lately, it's simply at the time a flippant "stupid junkie" remark. When the deeper sibling pain is revealed later, this remark seems, in afterthought, WHOLLY out of character not only for Emma but also considering the comparative lack of response from Kym and, moreso, Rachel, who's right there to hear it. Seriously? That kind of DEEPLY HURTFUL remark only provokes, at best, some cussing? The moment fails in retrospect only. Rest of the movie works really damn well.

The Reader: Meh. The young boy is good and Winslet is her usual naked, crying, aging, accented concentration camp guard self. Which is to say she's about as good as usual. I didn't really agree with or like her refusal to tell the truth about herself when it would have helped her tremendously and then his refusal to come forward about it as well. But alas, personal choices and whatnot. It's fine. Was kind of shocked to see the DP credits: a tag team of Chris Menges and Deakins, was it? I didn't think the photography was of that beauty, but it was certainly accomplished. Music was a bit too much at times. Nice to see a semi-new wrinkle on The Holocaust Movie though. EDIT: Oh, and the "reconciliation" scene at the end with the daughter-survivor played some bizarre notes. Not...quite...right. Hmm. EDIT2: OH! And I thought that, for having the trial in the more self-aware 80s, the fairly obvious and clear reality of Hannah's character was oddly passed over and never addressed: she seems to bear a light fetishizing and sexualizing of adolescence and infancy (seen, at the least, when she matronly washes him like Mrs. Hughes at the beginning of The Aviator...and then has sex with him). Strange that this was never really mentioned. Maybe it wouldn't have added anything. /shrug

Sycophant

03-16-2009, 06:27 PM

Been meaning to watch something by Nicholas Ray for a very long time. Saw Johnny Guitar yesterday, and it was pretty much incredible.

dreamdead

03-16-2009, 06:38 PM

Been meaning to watch something by Nicholas Ray for a very long time. Saw Johnny Guitar yesterday, and it was pretty much incredible.

Indeed. I had first heard about it because of the whole camp aesthetic with Crawford, but the overwhelming agency granted to the women in the film, rather than the men, makes it quite striking. Plus, in terms of a McCarthyist critique, its ribald anger makes it one of the best.

Stanwyck fans... Is there any reason to see Night Nurse beyond some leg shots by Ms. Stanwyck? I know I'm watching Jean Harlow in the Red-Headed Woman and Stanwyck in Babyface this month, but is Night Nurse even relatively essential...?

megladon8

03-16-2009, 06:40 PM

The Reader: Meh. The young boy is good and Winslet is her usual naked, crying, aging, accented concentration camp guard self. Which is to say she's about as good as usual.

:lol:

I laughed.

Wryan

03-16-2009, 06:44 PM

Been meaning to watch something by Nicholas Ray for a very long time. Saw Johnny Guitar yesterday, and it was pretty much incredible.

Pretty much is. Good ol' Mercedes.

Yxklyx

03-16-2009, 07:24 PM

Indeed. I had first heard about it because of the whole camp aesthetic with Crawford, but the overwhelming agency granted to the women in the film, rather than the men, makes it quite striking. Plus, in terms of a McCarthyist critique, its ribald anger makes it one of the best.

Stanwyck fans... Is there any reason to see Night Nurse beyond some leg shots by Ms. Stanwyck? I know I'm watching Jean Harlow in the Red-Headed Woman and Stanwyck in Babyface this month, but is Night Nurse even relatively essential...?

Baby Face is the best of the three. I liked Night Nurse alright, it also has Joan Blondell. You get some nice cleavage shots too. Essential if you're a Stanwyck fan.

Yxklyx

03-16-2009, 07:26 PM

Spinal

03-16-2009, 09:07 PM

You ever have directors that you approach with skepticism even though you end up liking most of their work?

For me it's:
Gus van Sant
Brian DePalma
Robert Altman

Don't know why. Maybe it's because each of them dances on the precipice of total disaster with each project despite the fact that they mostly succeed.

Sven

03-16-2009, 09:09 PM

You ever have directors that you approach with skepticism even though you end up liking most of their work?

Edward Zwick (even though I still don't much like The Last Samurai) and Anthony Minghella (even though I still don't much like Cold Mountain). I'm sure there are others.

The Mike

03-16-2009, 09:15 PM

I think that question defines Tarantino for me.

Grouchy

03-16-2009, 09:51 PM

Eh, one thing that bugged me about The Wrestler was how absolutely every single shot was handheld. Does an establishing shot of Randy on a pay phone really have to be handheld?
But... wouldn't it be worse if the movie jumped from handheld to fixed shots for no apparent reason?

Now that would have bugged me.

Raiders

03-17-2009, 01:52 AM

You ever have directors that you approach with skepticism even though you end up liking most of their work?

David Lynch
Steven Spielberg
Michael Winterbottom

Sven

03-17-2009, 02:00 AM

Edward Zwick (even though I still don't much like The Last Samurai) and Anthony Minghella (even though I still don't much like Cold Mountain). I'm sure there are others.

I guess I was pretty hard on The English Patient as well, now that I think about it.

Also, Tony Scott and Robert Zemeckis.

Ezee E

03-17-2009, 04:04 AM

The Hughes Brothers are alive!

The Book of Eli
http://img2.timeinc.net/ew/dynamic/imgs/090225/first-look-1037/denzel-book-eli_l.jpg

Consider this highly anticipated now.

megladon8

03-17-2009, 04:53 AM

Martin Scorsese for me.

I sometimes find myself not even including him in a "greatest directors alive/ever" list, even though most of his films that I've seen have been a 9 or 10.

Dead & Messed Up

03-17-2009, 05:36 AM

Pin was a disquieting, if seriously uneven, look at psychosis. The story revolves around a boy who becomes so used to his father's ventriloquist dummy (a hospital aid), that he unconsciously projects a personality onto the puppet. There's never any suggestion of supernatural goings-on, and so the film focuses more on the codependence that's generated between Leon and his sister. I really wish someone, at some point, bluntly called out Leon on his insanity, but that never happens. Terry O'Quinn (TV's Lost) plays their well-meaning father, who never once considers the ramifications of unendingly speaking through "Pin."

Die Monster Die! is half of a reasonable movie, which makes it just bad enough to disappoint. Based nominally on "The Colour Out of Space," the film takes most of its cues from the Corman "Poe Pictures" also produced under AIP's banner. Boris Karloff does what he can as Whitley, an elderly man hiding twisted secrets in the bowels of his mansion that may or may not involve radioactive meteor particles. Wheelchair-bound, Karloff is reduced to rolling from plot point to plot point, while the romantic leads act as most romantic leads do in these types of movies: awfully.

Rowland

03-17-2009, 06:03 AM

Tokyo Gore Police sucked. Stick to being Sion Sono's make-up artist, dude.

origami_mustache

03-17-2009, 07:03 AM

I thought Two Lovers was great...anyone else seen it?

Bosco B Thug

03-17-2009, 07:04 AM

Pin was a disquieting, if seriously uneven, look at psychosis. I keep on telling myself to watch this on Netflix WATCH NOW, but I just can't get myself to watch stuff with that function.

Die Monster Die! is half of a reasonable movie, which makes it just bad enough to disappoint. Come on, The Dunwich Horror was much less boring than this one. :)

Stuck is a sad, sad movie. Gordon and Suvari create for us a sad, sad portrayal of the weakened, enfeebled mind of the common (wo)man. Its spare, essentialist portait of the weak-willed Brandi Boski (ugh, even a sad, sad name) is tragic and hard-hitting. I wish Stuart Gordon was a more visually haughty, discerning director, but oh well. This was a sad, sad movie; goes well with Wendy and Lucy. Mena Survari is a real minx the way she fluctuates between vulnerable and bitchily repulsive, then combines them in the end.

transmogrifier

03-17-2009, 07:54 AM

Dead & Messed Up

03-17-2009, 08:17 AM

Come on, The Dunwich Horror was much less boring than this one. :)

Oh, I agree. But it's not much better.

Stuck is a sad, sad movie. Gordon and Suvari create for us a sad, sad portrayal of the weakened, enfeebled mind of the common (wo)man. Its spare, essentialist portait of the weak-willed Brandi Boski (ugh, even a sad, sad name) is tragic and hard-hitting. I wish Stuart Gordon was a more visually haughty, discerning director, but oh well. This was a sad, sad movie; goes well with Wendy and Lucy. Mena Survari is a real minx the way she fluctuates between vulnerable and bitchily repulsive, then combines them in the end.

Yes, it's sad, but there's almost something deeply hilarious about the entire situation. "Oh no, I hit someone!...I should really do something...but that would ruin my chances at getting the promotion...speaking of which, I'm late for work."

It's Suvari's best work, that's for damn sure.

Benny Profane

03-17-2009, 03:39 PM

I thought Two Lovers was great...anyone else seen it?

Me!

Bosco B Thug

03-17-2009, 03:50 PM

Yes, it's sad, but there's almost something deeply hilarious about the entire situation. "Oh no, I hit someone!...I should really do something...but that would ruin my chances at getting the promotion...speaking of which, I'm late for work."

It's Suvari's best work, that's for damn sure. Oh, definitely. The way she walks into the garage to just furrow her eyebrows at him like a hurt dog, and then convince herself she's been doing all she could to help him, then walks back out to do whatever... hilariously terrifying and handled just right and Suvari/Gordon.

jamaul

03-17-2009, 04:59 PM

Christ, it's about time:

http://www.criterion.com/films/1517

Raiders

03-17-2009, 05:09 PM

Christ, it's about time:

http://www.criterion.com/films/1517

Is that the actual cover art? WTF?

jamaul

03-17-2009, 05:14 PM

Is that the actual cover art? WTF?

I hope not, but I haven't been able to see this film, so I'm just excited it's finally getting a DVD release.

Sven

03-17-2009, 05:28 PM

Is that the actual cover art? WTF?

I love it. It's perfect for the film.

megladon8

03-17-2009, 05:50 PM

Jen won tickets to an early screening of Sin Nombre, so we're going to that this Wednesday.

We're also probably going to check out both Tokyo! and Tokyo Sonata.

We're also very intrigued by all the Cronenberg that's doing midnight Fri/Sat showings. This week is The Dead Zone (which I've never seen) and next week is Videodrome.

Sven

03-17-2009, 05:51 PM

megladon8

03-17-2009, 05:56 PM

Okay, people, I'm getting a hankering:

Please recommend me a good, no, GREAT anime that features either smart science fiction or a well-developed plot and lots of action. Think Akira or Metropolis.

I've been wanting more exposure to Oshii. Is this a good place to start? I wasn't too big on Ghost in the Shell, but I'm not adverse to trying more.

Not sci-fi, but check out Vampire Hunter D: Bloodlust. It features some of the most beautifully composed visuals of any film ever, amazing action, great plot, and you'll be surprised by how emotionally affecting the ending is.

You might also enjoy the Appleseed movies. Plot is a bit convoluted (but what anime isn't?) but the action is stunning. Think if John Woo were to direct a sci-fi film with a female protagonist.

D_Davis

03-17-2009, 05:57 PM

I've been wanting more exposure to Oshii. Is this a good place to start? I wasn't too big on Ghost in the Shell, but I'm not adverse to trying more.

Might as well start with the best: Patlabor 1-3 - great SF, great Oshii.

Sven

03-17-2009, 06:01 PM

megladon8

03-17-2009, 06:02 PM

Sven, you also must see this. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113799/)

Great little trilogy of sci-fi stories.

Sycophant

03-17-2009, 06:05 PM

Everything I was going to recommend, I know you've either already seen or suspect you wouldn't like. I'm actually much better versed in anime series than films, and even then I'm a little lacking.

I gave you a copy of Kemonozume on DVD a couple years ago. It's a 13-episode series that has positively thrilling animation (it's not the most expertly plotted show, though). It's by Masaaki Yuasa. You probably don't have it anymore, but you may want to seek it out.

EDIT: Oh, and Kaiba, too.

Sven

03-17-2009, 06:05 PM

Sven, you also must see this. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113799/)

Great little trilogy of sci-fi stories.

Oh yeah, definitely seen that. I own it, in fact. I really like Cannon Fodder.

D_Davis

03-17-2009, 06:11 PM

Also, Oshii's Angel's Egg is quite good, if a bit on the weird side.

Oshii is one of my favorite filmmakers - if you can't tell.

Patlabor is indeed slow, very, very slow. As far as I know there are only 3 Patlabor films, as well as an OVA series and a TV series. The films are far more serious and deliberate, with hardly any action at all.

If you are more in the mood for great (some of the best) space opera, then I also recommend the two Galaxy Express films.

I thought Appleseed, both versions, was absolutely terrible, and totally failed to convey the greatness of the original comic books (created by Shirow Masamune, the mind behind Ghost in the Shell).

If you can get past the old-style of animation, the original 4 Gundam films, up to an including Char's Counter Attack, offer some well-written and engaging space opera/Military SF as well.

Also, the Gundam OVA series, War in the Pocket, is incredible.

More high quality space opera/SF:

Crusher Joe 1 and 2
Dirty Pair (the first 2 OVAs are a lot of fun)
Project A-Ko (more wacky, comedy SF)

megladon8

03-17-2009, 06:12 PM

I've wanted to see Angel's Egg since the first time D wrote about it.

D_Davis

03-17-2009, 06:15 PM

Also, don't know if you want a series or not, but Serial Experiment LAIN is incredible; some of the best SF I've seen. It's short, only 13 episodes. And while it's more horror-themed, I'd also recommend Boogiepop Phantom; it's confusing as hell, but also entirely atmospheric and haunting.

Sven

03-17-2009, 06:26 PM

As far as I know there are only 3 Patlabor films, as well as an OVA series and a TV series. The films are far more serious and deliberate, with hardly any action at all.

A-ha. It was the third film that I saw. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318819/ The WXIII confused me. Good movie, though, I think. I'd have to see it again.

Stay Puft

03-17-2009, 06:26 PM

I found Appleseed obnoxious. The first of the two Shinji Aramaki ones, anyways (I didn't bother with Ex Machina). The plot did not appear to me convoluted, necessarily, but simply poor (and awfully transparent). The action is perhaps serviceable, but it did not strike a chord.

And I, too, need to spend more time getting into Oshii. I was not terribly impressed with Ghost in the Shell, but I remember watching the two Patlabor movies on Teletoon a long time ago and being mighty intrigued. I should just revisit everything at this point, I think. I was planning to see The Sky Crawlers in Toronto, but had a schedule conflict.

D_Davis

03-17-2009, 06:33 PM

A-ha. It was the third film that I saw. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318819/ The WXIII confused me. Good movie, though, I think. I'd have to see it again.

Yeah - that's the 3rd film.

I can't wait to see his newest, The Sky Crawlers. Been waiting for a long time.

Beautiful Dreamer is also an amazing Oshii film, although way more of a teen-comedy with aliens. Still though, it is very good.

Watashi

03-17-2009, 07:52 PM

You've seen Cowboy Bebop, right?

Grouchy

03-17-2009, 07:56 PM

Changeling was really good. Clint seems to be in a roll these couple of last years. I'd heard from critics and audiences that the movie "lacks nuance", and I can't figure out what they're talking about. If it seems reiterative it's because the story is the account of a clash of convictions - Miss Collins can't keep herself from seeing that the kid she has been sent is not her son, and the police (represented by Captain Jones) are adamant upon committing any atrocity instead of admitting their mistake. How could the script have become more nuanced? Introduce one or two positive police characters? I thought the period reconstruction was one of the film's strenghts, as was the casting. I kept thinking how awesome it was that a mega star like Angelina Jolie disappeared so well into a housewive role. Same goes for John Malkovich's character.

The movie is indeed very long, but I thought it stopped just barely short of becoming too much. It followed the police case until the very end and ended on a hopeful if ambiguous coda. I liked the closing shot a lot - it reminded me of similar "protagonist disappears into the crowd" endings like the ones in Chinatown and Silence of the Lambs. Overall, I think the film deserved more attention than it got.

Sven

03-17-2009, 07:58 PM

You've seen Cowboy Bebop, right?

Yes. The series and the movie. It's fun, but it's a little too trying-to-be-badass for my taste.

MadMan

03-17-2009, 10:14 PM

Thanks to my local library I got my hands on The Final Configuration, which I plan on viewing tonight. I can't remember if it was Davis or iosos that dug it a great deal.

Raiders

03-17-2009, 10:17 PM

Thanks to my local library I got my hands on The Final Configuration, which I plan on viewing tonight. I can't remember if it was Davis or iosos that dug it a great deal.

Is that The Ninth Configuration? If so, I dig it a great deal.

The Mike

03-17-2009, 10:17 PM

Thanks to my local library I got my hands on The Final Configuration, which I plan on viewing tonight. I can't remember if it was Davis or iosos that dug it a great deal.

Do you mean The Ninth Configuration? 'Cuz I love that one.

Or, you might mean The Final Countdown. I love that one too.

<----------- Easy. :lol:

MadMan

03-17-2009, 10:19 PM

Yes, I meant the The Ninth Configuration. I somehow confused it with The Final Countdown. My lazy excuse is that my brain is switched off for Spring Break :P

D_Davis

03-17-2009, 10:38 PM

Yes, I meant the The Ninth Configuration.

Great film.

Rowland

03-17-2009, 11:08 PM

The Italian cut of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath is amazing, probably one of his best. This guy really doesn't get enough attention.

MadMan

03-17-2009, 11:14 PM

I love Planet of the Vampires and I liked Kill Baby...Kill!. But that's all I've seen from Bava so far.

Dukefrukem

03-17-2009, 11:16 PM

Role Models wasn't too bad. Rudd and Scott were pretty good together and of course the kid probably stole some of the screen with his swearing and attitude. 72

Russ

03-17-2009, 11:32 PM

I love Planet of the Vampires and I liked Kill Baby...Kill!. But that's all I've seen from Bava so far.
You should see Danger: Diabolik asap. My favorite comic book-based film, by far.

MadMan

03-17-2009, 11:34 PM

You should see Danger: Diabolik asap. My favorite comic book-based film, by far.Actually, come to think of it I did see most of it, as it was showcased in the last ever episode of MSTK. However that was so long ago and I really wasn't paying attention to the actual film, just the awesome insults/one-liners spit out by the robots.

Rowland

03-17-2009, 11:59 PM

Speaking of Role Models, Rudd's new movie I Love You Man looks so dull and uninspired. Is Segal getting beat up by Lou Ferrigno the best they can do for every TV spot?
Role Models wasn't too bad. Rudd and Scott were pretty good together and of course the kid probably stole some of the screen with his swearing and attitude. 72I found the swearing black kid more tiresome than anything. His plot with Scott was the weakest element of the movie, which I only found marginally funny as a whole. There were lots of superior comedies last year.

Qrazy

03-18-2009, 12:21 AM

I saw one of the Patlabor films (I think it was 5) and was impressed at its willingness to take things slowly. I am intrigued. Will look into it.

I've seen Bloodlust and it is good. Appleseed I have only heard about, but will consider.

Any good fantasy anime recs, too. Things like Ninja Scroll. I just want something crafty and kinetic right now and I find that animation is usually a good medium for that. However, I would like to circumvent anime-cool. Things like taciturn badass heroes that look cool with guns in slow-motion. Think Cowboy Bebop. While it is a fun show, I'm looking for a little less posturing.

Both Appleseed's are bad.

I suggest you watch Rebuild of Evangelion 1.0. Which Miyazaki's have you seen? All three Ghost in the Shell films are also worth a look to varying degrees. Satoshi Kon's films (Paprika for sci-fi) also. Have you seen Mindgame yet? It redefines kinetic. I recently enjoyed Sword of the Stranger, Brave Story and Origin-Spirits of the Past. They were all somewhat average in the story department but delivered with reasonably strong storytelling and very strong visuals. If you're not averse to checking out some shows...

# Seirei No Moribito
# Paranoia Agent
# Mushishi
# Death Note (probably not as up your alley but who knows)
# Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (probably not as up your alley but who knows)
# Last Exile
# Fullmetal Alchemist
# Code Geass
# Now and Then, Here and There (not really kinetic sci-fi or fantasy but you may like this)
# Kemonozume

Qrazy

03-18-2009, 12:28 AM

Yeah - that's the 3rd film.

I can't wait to see his newest, The Sky Crawlers. Been waiting for a long time.

Beautiful Dreamer is also an amazing Oshii film, although way more of a teen-comedy with aliens. Still though, it is very good.

I downloaded Avalon and skimmed through it... it looks kind of bad... but I"ll still give it a try I suppose.

D_Davis

03-18-2009, 01:01 AM

Avalon is okay. As an extension to the themes presented in Ghost in the Shell, it's pretty good, and it has a wonderful score. It also has one of the best Oshii-signature city-tour sequences. Plus, a live-action basset hound.

For horror/fantasy anime, I definitely recommend Wicked City. From the makers of Ninja Scroll, WC has a ton of cool monsters, some crazy sex, fantastic animation, and great atmosphere.

And if D&D is your thing, the original Record of Lodoss Wars OVA series is cool.

Brave Story wasn't bad at all - but not spectacular either.

Rowland

03-18-2009, 01:10 AM

I'll second the Wicked City recommendation, I had a blast with that one.

Sven

03-18-2009, 01:18 AM

Which Miyazaki's have you seen?

All of 'em

Satoshi Kon's films (Paprika for sci-fi) also.

Seen 'em.

Have you seen Mindgame yet? It redefines kinetic.

I think I was the third person on this board to've seen it. It may've even been before you were a regular. Not sure. Too drunk to search.

I recently enjoyed Sword of the Stranger, Brave Story and Origin-Spirits of the Past. They were all somewhat average in the story department but delivered with reasonably strong storytelling and very strong visuals. If you're not averse to checking out some shows...

# Seirei No Moribito
# Paranoia Agent
# Mushishi
# Death Note (probably not as up your alley but who knows)
# Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann (probably not as up your alley but who knows)
# Last Exile
# Fullmetal Alchemist
# Code Geass
# Now and Then, Here and There (not really kinetic sci-fi or fantasy but you may like this)
# Kemonozume

I will look into these. Thanks for the recs.

MadMan

03-18-2009, 01:31 AM

Speaking of Role Models, Rudd's new movie I Love You Man looks so dull and uninspired. Is Segal getting beat up by Lou Ferrigno the best they can do for every TV spot? I found the swearing black kid more tiresome than anything. His plot with Scott was the weakest element of the movie, which I only found marginally funny as a whole. There were lots of superior comedies last year.Oh come on man...."Love Gun!" :P

But yeah I actually agree that the Rudd/nerdy kid who played McLovin' plot line was much stronger.

And I think I Love You Man looks funny, but it won't be as good as some of the other comedies featuring actors who have appeared in Judd Aptow's works.

Russ

03-18-2009, 01:33 AM

I don't have much to add to the anime recs, Sven, but have you seen Cat Soup? Not sci-fi. Nor action. More like if David Lynch had been hired by Studio Ghibli to adapt one of their films. But it's by the guy that went on to do Mind Game. Only weirder. Much, much weirder. Also rare and long-OOP. Interested? Holla.

Rowland

03-18-2009, 01:56 AM

Hamlet 2 (Andrew Fleming, 2008) 47

The primary reason this works even as well as it does can be attributed to Steve Coogan's inspired comedic performance, and whose scenes with Catherine Keener pulse with passive-aggressive intensity. The writing isn't all that funny or clever for the most part, barring a few sharp running jokes, including the skewering of inspirational-teacher conventions, David Arquette's purposely affectless performance, and Coogan's complete lack of artistic taste or ability, while the narrative has enough drive courtesy of the build-up to the play so that the picture never grows wearisome. Stabs at pathos in the third act feel contrived, in large part because Fleming doesn't successfully balance his jokey satire with the seriousness he seemingly strives for, undermined by an overriding air of hypocrisy. The play itself focuses too much on the kitschy elements when it should have been the picture's emotional trump card.

Qrazy

03-18-2009, 02:10 AM

I think I was the third person on this board to've seen it. It may've even been before you were a regular. Not sure. Too drunk to search.

Yeah I saw it before the board but if you liked it you should look into Kemonozume and Kaiba.

I will look into these. Thanks for the recs.

Sure thing. Unfortunately there's probably only a handful of decent anime films left for you to see. You're probably starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel. I've seen about 100 and haven't stumbled upon a really great one in a while (except for certain quality new releases). I'm sure there's still some good stuff I haven't seen out there but damned if I know where it is or how to find it, this is primarily why I've turned to shows.

Dead & Messed Up

03-18-2009, 02:34 AM

The Italian cut of Mario Bava's Black Sabbath is amazing, probably one of his best. This guy really doesn't get enough attention.

I should check this out - the American cut was damn good.

When Bava's on, he's on. Black Sunday is one of the best-looking horror flicks ever. I have Blood and Black Lace coming up on Netflix, and I'm psyched.

Rowland

03-18-2009, 02:55 AM

I admittedly need to revisit the film, but I've always gone against the grain by considering Black Sunday mid-tier Bava. *shrug*

Dead & Messed Up

03-18-2009, 03:14 AM

I admittedly need to revisit the film, but I've always gone against the grain by considering Black Sunday mid-tier Bava. *shrug*

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_126/jeff.gif
"It's minor Dickens."

dreamdead

03-18-2009, 03:53 AM

Watched Kang Je-gyu's '99 Korean blockbuster Shiri. As usual, Choi Min-shik graces the film with a quiet dignity and shines as one of the North Korean armed forces that aims to precipitate reunification between South and North Korea forcibly. His monologue toward the end about the horrific conditions of North Korean life is perhaps the highlight here. When Choi isn't on-screen, however, the film withers a tad, as it's too adherent on traditional spy reversals and slow motion melodramatics. And while that's par for the course on the Korean film front, here there are perhaps two too many voiceovers restating a now-ironic line of dialogue. Spatially, too, the film struggles to secure consistency, for Kang frequently neglects to give us spatial understanding of a room/building before an action sequence breaks out and architectural logistics fall into rapid fire editing that's devoid of understandable space even if the rhythm is right. Good stuff overall, and a good entryway into some of the second-tier Korean filmmakers, as I'll be researching this country past decade or so of cinema for the next few months.

D_Davis

03-18-2009, 04:43 AM

Shiri was one of the first K-films I saw. That, and Attack the Gas Station.

dreamdead

03-18-2009, 04:51 AM

Shiri was one of the first K-films I saw. That, and Attack the Gas Station.

I've heard good things about the latter film, if I remember correctly. I'm looking at hitting up Park's J.S.A., Im's Chunyhang and Chi-Hwa-Seon: Painted Fire, and a few melodramas and romantic comedies before circling back and visiting Park's revenge trilogy before summer... anything else I should make a priority mid-90s-and-up Korean genre-wise?

Derek

03-18-2009, 04:51 AM

You should see Danger: Diabolik asap. My favorite comic book-based film, by far.

Been meaning to see that one, but a comic book-type film that seems up your alley is the Czech New Wave film, Who Wants to Kill Jessie?. Fun, creative stuff.

"What if someone had an absurd dream and the visions ran out in the street?" a scientist asks Rose, a researcher who discovers a way to engender beneficial dreams (to produce contented, productive workers). There's a problem: after an injection of her elixir, dream elements become real. Rose learns this after dosing her husband Henry to stop his dreaming about Jessie, a curvaceous comic-book heroine who has anti-gravitational gloves he needs to study so he can solve a problem at the factory where he's chief engineer: Henry wakes up with Jessie asleep next to him pursued by a cowboy and a super hero. Jealousy consumes Rose. All this plus satire aimed at the Czechoslovak state.

As for Black Sunday, I haven't seen a lot from Bava, but I thought it was fairly mediocre, especially when compared to Kill Baby...Kill and Blood and Black Lace. Great looking for sure, but not much else going for it.

Bosco B Thug

03-18-2009, 05:08 AM

soitgoes...

03-18-2009, 05:10 AM

I've heard good things about the latter film, if I remember correctly. I'm looking at hitting up Park's J.S.A., Im's Chunyhang and Chi-Hwa-Seon: Painted Fire, and a few melodramas and romantic comedies before circling back and visiting Park's revenge trilogy before summer... anything else I should make a priority mid-90s-and-up Korean genre-wise?
Jang's Save the Green Planet! was a lot of fun.

Rowland

03-18-2009, 05:31 AM

Mother of Tears (Dario Argento, 2008) 60

Most of this doesn't really work. There are no successful scares, no sequences of legitimate suspense, little in the way of Argento's expressionistic visual craftmanship, and attempts at drama range from unconvincing to hilarious. So why the relatively high score? This oddball picture feels alive, entirely unpredictable from beginning to end, so that watching it jump around with a playful sort of nightmare logic to rival Argento's most delightfully irrational past works proves irresistable, aided by a propulsive narrative thrust that feels uniquely singular in the Argento canon. A few turgid expositional scenes muck up the breathless pace, but Argento is smart enough to either have the talk supported by imagery or related in a surreal context, and it's always buffered by location hopping and/or outlandish set pieces. Furthermore, he doesn't hold back with the tasteless violence, going all the way with a lunatic, sometimes-uncomfortably brutal showmanship he hasn't exhibited in nearly two decades. Lots of potential in the narrative is wasted, with plot threads unexplored and often immediately discarded, but that almost feels like the logical result of Argento's desire to titillate his audience with as much silly B-movie nonsense as possible. This isn't a particularly good movie in the traditional sense, in fact a great deal of it is awkwardly ill-judged and cheaply executed, but it's pricelessly irreverent in a manner that suggests Argento has come to terms with his waning talents, and has resigned to being perhaps the only filmmaker capable of producing schlock as exuberantly campy as this.

Pop Trash

03-18-2009, 05:42 AM

I didn't really like Pierrot le fou. Am I just wrong here? I think I actually prefer "whole hog" Godard with Contempt and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her, as excruciating as those can be. 'Pierrot' had many, many moments, though.
I thought it was a lot of fun and one of Godard's most entertaining films. However, I attempted to watch La Chinoise recently and found it excruciating. I had to turn it off after awhile. I couldn't take it.

Philosophe_rouge

03-18-2009, 06:37 AM

Philosophe_rouge

03-18-2009, 06:41 AM

I like Bava, need to see more. Kill, Baby , Kill is probably my favourite. Such stunning visuals and the sense of dread... oh my god, I was at the edge of my seat. One of the most frightening films I've ever seen. I love Black Sunday, I love Barbara STeele. It's really just short of being truly excellent, but it's one of my favourites anyway. I didn't like Black Sabbath at all though.

origami_mustache

03-18-2009, 10:48 AM

I thought it was a lot of fun and one of Godard's most entertaining films. However, I attempted to watch La Chinoise recently and found it excruciating. I had to turn it off after awhile. I couldn't take it.

I liked it as well, although it was pretty similar to Week End. My girlfriend didn't like it very much and Contempt and My Life To Live are two of her favorites; neither of us were too enthralled with La Chinoise.

balmakboor

03-18-2009, 12:44 PM

La Chinoise is one of my favorite Godards. Each to his own I guess.

The only ones I've struggled to sit through have been In Praise of Love, Notre musique, and Tout va bien, although I thought the later two were going to be favorites for the first 10 or 15 minutes.

Qrazy

03-18-2009, 03:58 PM

Aside from M Butterfly these are the only Cronenberg's I have left to see and they're all his early work. How are they?

# Stereo (1969)
# Crimes of the Future (1970)
# Shivers (1975)
# Rabid (1977)
# Fast Company (1979)

Rate M Butterfly too if you like. Thanks.

megladon8

03-18-2009, 07:02 PM

Quarantine wasn't very good at all, so those of you who have seen it and are weary of seeing [REC], I still strongly recommend it - but I will say that, unfortunately, [REC] may be slightly ruined for you simply because the American remake does use many exact scenes and ideas. But it still feels like an entirely different film.

Where the Spanish original actually felt like a real reporter doing a real newscast with real interviews, Quarantine felt like a movie through-and-through, which took much of the edge off. It also made the mistake of casting too many familiar faces, which really breaks the fourth wall.

Also, about 10 minutes worth of scenes near the beginning that make one of the firefighters out to be a misogynist pig and the other a nice guy were unnecessary, and killed the pacing completely. In the original, there were no "good" or "bad" guys, but we came to like some of them more, in a natural way, because of their actions. Not because of forced, cheeseball dialogue.

And the change of the ending revelation sucked. Way to go, Hollywood, changing one of the most original and terrifying endings in a long while, to a very typical "the government is evil!!!" ending. Even Doug Jones was totally wasted as the end creature/person/thing.

What an unnecessary movie.