28 Film Discussion Threads Later [Archive] - Page 154

Qrazy

12-30-2009, 05:27 AM

I think attributing technical decisions to the characters' psychological states is a way of normalizing them, and doesn't lead to any greater understanding of the film at hand. For instance, you can't explain away Ozu's low camera placements as somehow related to the psychology of the characters because he films all his characters in exactly the same way in every single scene.

Ah k well I can't speak in terms of Liverpool as I haven't seen it but I thought you were making the comment in general. Many directors use setting/composition/lighting to evoke a character's psychology but yes not all directors are interested in as direct a manner of expression. Although I'd have to say that Ozu does frequently use his compositions to underscore the general emotional undercurrent of a scene, albeit not necessarily the psychology of an individual character... unless they're alone in the frame in which case sometimes he does.

Melville

12-30-2009, 06:18 AM

I don't know why I never fully made the connection before, but Trier's totally a Nietzsche fan. Antichrist is a Nietzsche book title. Women being inexorably tied to nature. Yeah.
Can you expand on that? I don't really see any of Nietzsche's signature ideas in von Trier's films. Women being inexorably tied to nature was a pretty standard idea throughout history.

EDIT: actually, after thinking about it for a second, I can see a somewhat Nietzschean critique of slave-ethics in Breaking the Waves and Dogville, though von Trier takes that critique in a very different direction than Nietzsche did.

B-side

12-30-2009, 06:41 AM

SPOILERS

Can you expand on that? I don't really see any of Nietzsche's signature ideas in von Trier's films. Women being inexorably tied to nature was a pretty standard idea throughout history.

I'd have to know more and see the film again to give a lot of details, but Nietzsche seemed to have a thing with women being so explicitly emotional and irrational, as I believe he may have put it. All part of their ties to nature. The title could be ripped directly from the Nietzsche book of the same name, or it could simply be that the story is an inverse telling of the Christ story as said here:

As the title suggests, Antichrist is an inversion of the Christ story. Instead of the birth of a child, there is a death. Instead of three kings bearing gifts, there are “three beggars” demanding a sacrifice. Instead of redeeming the world, establishing moral order, “chaos reigns.” Instead of a crucifixion, there is a “gynocide.”

I don't know that I agree with this last part of that interpretation:

And, at the end, there is a resurrection: While Jesus died and rose again to forgive sin and turn the world toward justice , after Charlotte Gainsbourg dies we see the resurrection of Woman as many faceless women pour forth from Eden to commit sin and create injustice.

I don't know that Trier meant for the ending to be so negative. I kinda see it as a sign of a sort of forthcoming female dominance.

Melville

12-30-2009, 07:20 AM

SPOILERS
I'd have to know more and see the film again to give a lot of details, but Nietzsche seemed to have a thing with women being so explicitly emotional and irrational
Yeah, but that's all very traditional. I don't see much connection between von Trier's Antichrist and Nietzsche's Anti-Christ, which is an attack on Christianity. Their views of nature even seem rather different.

I don't know that Trier meant for the ending to be so negative. I kinda see it as a sign of a sort of forthcoming female dominance.
Hm. I wrote a paragraph about this just now, but then I decided that I better see the ending again to make sure that I'm not just making stuff up.

EDIT: clarifying that, I guess I can see that if you replace Christianity with psychotherapy (both in some sense denying nature/reality in favor of a conceptual/ideal framework), then there is a connection between the two works, but it seems pretty sketchy.

B-side

12-30-2009, 07:23 AM

Yeah, but that's all very traditional. I don't see much connection between von Trier's Antichrist and Nietzsche's Anti-Christ, which is an attack on Christianity. Their views of nature even seem rather different.

Right. I don't know. Maybe I'm reaching. I don't think it's that hard to buy, though. I know The Antichrist is a critique of Christianity, but if we're to believe Antichrist is the inverse story of Christ, the title could be fairly apt.

Hm. I wrote a paragraph about this just now, but then I decided that I better see the ending again to make sure that I'm not just making stuff up.

I could be misremembering the context of the ending.

Melville

12-30-2009, 07:31 AM

Right. I don't know. Maybe I'm reaching. I don't think it's that hard to buy, though. I know The Antichrist is a critique of Christianity, but if we're to believe Antichrist is the inverse story of Christ, the title could be fairly apt.
If the inversion somehow involved the Übermensch, then I'd definitely agree on the Nietzsche influence.:)

B-side

12-30-2009, 07:36 AM

If the inversion somehow involved the Übermensch, then I'd definitely agree on the Nietzsche influence.:)

Yeah, you'd be far more capable of making that connection than I would. I just scanned the Wiki article to confirm what I thought the Übermensch was, and it says it's essentially Nietzsche's notion of our next evolutionary stage, the "overman". Not sure I see the connection to a man-made deity in this as was indicated in the article, but perhaps this isn't a discussion for FDT.

Melville

12-30-2009, 07:52 AM

Yeah, you'd be far more capable of making that connection than I would. I just scanned the Wiki article to confirm what I thought the Übermensch was, and it says it's essentially Nietzsche's notion of our next evolutionary stage, the "overman". Not sure I see the connection to a man-made deity in this as was indicated in the article, but perhaps this isn't a discussion for FDT.
Simply put, where Christianity denies life in favor of ideals and idols, the Übermensch embraces life in all its pain and contradictions, rejecting all ideals except those he creates, and he does a lot of dancing and laughing.

EDIT: regarding Antichrist, I should say that my thoughts mostly mirror Spinal's (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?p=214900#post21 4900).

Boner M

12-30-2009, 11:01 AM

Watched Martin for the first time in something like a decade. One of the best studies of male loneliness and social phobia in film. And a pretty good horror flick too.

B-side

12-30-2009, 11:25 AM

Watched Martin for the first time in something like a decade. One of the best studies of male loneliness and social phobia in film. And a pretty good horror flick too.

Whoa, talk about coincidence. I randomly downloaded this last night.

baby doll

12-30-2009, 07:43 PM

So, The Limits of Control... That was... What the hell was that? And how did it get studio funding? (I mean, it's not like Broken Flowers was a Titanic-level hit or anything.)

baby doll

12-30-2009, 10:40 PM

Whoa. Literally within minutes of me dumping my top ten for the decade on my blog, there's already a link on The Auteurs' Notebook (http://www.theauteurs.com/notebook/posts/1362). How do these guys do it?

[/shamless plug]

MadMan

12-31-2009, 02:08 AM

Watched Martin for the first time in something like a decade. One of the best studies of male loneliness and social phobia in film. And a pretty good horror flick too.Still one of the best vampire movies I've ever seen. At one point it was in the bottom half of my Top 20 Horror Movies. I'll have to dig for my thoughts on it eventually, as its burried somewhere on my laptop.

Mysterious Dude

12-31-2009, 04:35 AM

I saw Don Giovanni, which was a very interesting experience. I've only seen clips of operas before, so it was new to see one the whole way through. The dialogue (or should I call them lyrics?) was surprisingly simple, but the story was quite compelling. It reminded me of Shakespeare with its mixture of comedy and tragedy. I also liked the filmmaking. There's something about 70's filmmaking that I like: it's the space. Compared to a music like, say, Sweeney Todd, which seems so enclosed and claustrophobic, Don Giovanni is often set outdoors. For a musical, it just seems right. But even in non-musicals, I notice it. In modern films, the camera seems a lot closer to the actors, so there just doesn't seem to be much space.

Qrazy

12-31-2009, 04:41 AM

There's something about 70's filmmaking that I like: it's the space. Compared to a music like, say, Sweeney Todd, which seems so enclosed and claustrophobic, Don Giovanni is often set outdoors. For a musical, it just seems right. But even in non-musicals, I notice it. In modern films, the camera seems a lot closer to the actors, so there just doesn't seem to be much space.

Exactly right.

The shift in camera proximity is one of the things that most puts me off the 80s (there are of course many 80s film exceptions).

MadMan

12-31-2009, 05:03 AM

Okay, my thoughts on Martin (and bear in mind I wrote this in a rather hasty fashion, so its kind of short):

Really this film is vastly underrated, and is overshadowed by Romero's more well know, although better, first three "Dead" films. I also think this movie contains many notable themes and is perhaps the most unique vampire movie ever. We don't get a conventional vampire tale here, not only because its Romero at the helm but also due to the fact that Martin really isn't a vampire. He sure acts like one, drinking blood (using a razor to retrieve his precious liquid), and wandering through life aimlessly. If anything Martin really is just a confused and alienated teen, separated from a world that doesn't understand him and pretty much detached from reality.

So its his misfortunate to fall into the clutches of his religious fanatic cousin, a man who has no knowledge of psychology and who is instantly hateful and distrustful of Martin, refusing to offer him help. Amongst the crumbling ruins of Pittsburgh a strange tale unfolds, as Romero uses the city's urban decay to reflect the mental and moral decay that dwells within the film's title character, resulting in someone who should really be in a mental institute instead of being allowed to roam the city's streets.

Despite the fact that I could see the film's tragic ending coming a mile away, I was fascinated deeply by this film. Especially since at the time I was just a sophomore in college, about to transfer to a four year school and uncertain about my future. I still really am, and thus "Martin" sort of speaks to me-I can sort of emphasize with his search for meaning in life, even if (of course) I don't share his blood thirst. Also I really dig the film's surreal black and white flashbacks, which only feed into the theme of Martin's fragile grasp on truth, and what is false and tangibly real.

Bosco B Thug

12-31-2009, 05:06 AM

Exactly right.

The shift in camera proximity is one of the things that most puts me off the 80s (there are of course many 80s film exceptions). Is this really it? Or a big part of it? Cool.

If filmmaking technique can be divided by decade, yeah put my vote in for the 70s. Let's Scare Jessica To Death made zero waves critically, but it's probably better than 75% of the 2000s best picture nominees by the sheer virtue of that 70s filmmaking touch.

Please don't call me out on any spuriousness in that last statement. :)

MadMan

12-31-2009, 05:15 AM

So far, I've seen little to change my belief that the 70s and the 90s will end up being the last two truly great decades for movies that we will have for some time. The 2000s have been merely good although somewhat disappointing in the second half, while the 80s are very good-which isn't a bad thing, really.

Mysterious Dude

12-31-2009, 06:50 AM

I'm hoping for a new renaissance in the 2010's. We're overdue.

Dead & Messed Up

12-31-2009, 06:56 AM

I dunno. I think the 00's have been incredibly bountiful. Some of that comes from my own personal experience, but also think about everything that the Internet has done for movies. More streaming movies to watch, more opportunities to learn about movies, more information about foreign/indie releases, more ways to be made aware of current releases. Overall quality would be damn near impossible to determine.

However, I do agree with those preferring earlier decades for overall cinematic style. So much of film today looks like crappy television, in regard to handheld camera, boring editing/camera schemes, etc. While, ironically, a number of television shows have shown dramatic artistic potential.

Qrazy

12-31-2009, 07:25 AM

I'm hoping for a new renaissance in the 2010's. We're overdue.

The French New Wave started with a bunch of young critics. This next wave will begin with internet film forums. 2010's: The Match-Cut International Wave.

Philosophe_rouge

12-31-2009, 07:31 AM

The French New Wave started with a bunch of young critics. This next wave will begin with internet film forums. 2010's: The Match-Cut International Wave.
This would actually be pretty awesome

Qrazy

12-31-2009, 07:33 AM

This would actually be pretty awesome

We all seem to be just starting out. We can do it. Dream BIIIIG!!!

Philosophe_rouge

12-31-2009, 07:36 AM

We all seem to be just starting out. We can do it. Dream BIIIIG!!!
I believe <3

B-side

12-31-2009, 11:09 AM

So I really liked Martin...

lovejuice

12-31-2009, 12:46 PM

Old Joy - B-
me and you, we are on the same page. (and most likely, there are only two of us here.)

Qrazy

12-31-2009, 04:31 PM

me and you, we are on the same page. (and most likely, there are only two of us here.)

Why, what are other peoples reactions?

lovejuice

12-31-2009, 04:34 PM

Why, what are other peoples reactions?
i believe the movie is quite highly regarded around here.

NickGlass

12-31-2009, 04:47 PM

i believe the movie is quite highly regarded around here.

As well it should be. I'm bonkers for it.

Dead & Messed Up

12-31-2009, 05:05 PM

If and when I marry, I hope I have one tenth of the awesomeness of William Powell and Myrna Loy. After the Thin Man isn't quite as good as the first, but it's damn close, and it's got the Jimmy Stewart (my favorite actor), so I had a hell of a time.

Loy's my new dream girl:

http://16.media.tumblr.com/lpiclMrG59nw1f9pI1yQmAEd_400.j pg

Philosophe_rouge

12-31-2009, 05:50 PM

Myrna Loy is one of my absolute favourites <3 Unfortunately, the other Thin Man films are an even more significant drop from here on out, but i'll be damned if I still don't enjoy them for the Powell/Loy chemistry.

Qrazy

12-31-2009, 05:52 PM

i believe the movie is quite highly regarded around here.

Ahh yeah my reaction lies somewhere between these two imdb reviews.

"...If you have ever had a good friend and lost them to time this is a bittersweet retelling of that tale. It's true the dialog is sparse but that is because to make it more specific and verbose would not let the viewer blend what's happening in the film with what has happened in their own life, it would just be another impersonal film about others. To those of us who have been there, we are part of this film."

"Reichart is too unemphatic, and her understated dialogue is too naturalistic, for this implied discovery of lost friendship to have any drama, or for the differences between the two men to have any clear point. This is good film-making, but it seems almost at cross purposes with itself.

The colors are rich, the camera is precise, the sounds are finely recorded. The trip is meticulously observed. Reichart sees her little piece of ivory through a magnifying glass. The way Mark and Kurt talk seems authentic and true. They don't present back-stories, because it wouldn't be natural for them to do so -- though Kurt acknowledges Mark's daring in having a child; he says he's never done anything so "real." ... Nature and the urban world speak clearly in Reichart's film, but there's a substratum of feeling and experience that finds no voice."

---

I think there are a few great scenes. The scene where they're drinking/camping at night really hit home as well as the story of the dream. Furthermore, aside from the central disintegrating friendship the film also ties itself to our more general dynamic with the environment and this is all well and good. Still I feel like Reichart could have made an even bolder statement about politics/the environment/this friendship. What's there is good, but not great. It's a problem I have with Van Sant's contemporary approach also. Dialogue can be naturalistic and still communicate with more depth than these two characters seem to. When I lost a friend in a similar way there was similarly a lack of ease to the dynamic but we still had more to say. Yes their silence is frequently the point, but it's also a banal point. Getting lost and not being able to find the road signs, it's a bit too obvious. Essentially I don't feel these characters were fleshed out to their furthest potential.

MadMan

12-31-2009, 06:45 PM

Making a movie would be great fun, but I would be the ideas guy, as I can't direct and I lack screen writing skills.

baby doll

12-31-2009, 07:39 PM

Ebert's top ten for the decade (http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2009/12/the_best_films_of_the_decade.h tml) is up, and there's a few surprises.

Milky Joe

12-31-2009, 07:53 PM

Ebert rocks. His reviews have mostly declined, but he still knows what's up.

Watashi

12-31-2009, 08:10 PM

Since when did D_Davis come back?

Dead & Messed Up

12-31-2009, 08:13 PM

Grouchy

12-31-2009, 09:13 PM

Ebert rocks. His reviews have mostly declined, but he still knows what's up.
Where is the negative rape button?

Anyway, I saw Chabrol's Bellamy. Not a bad movie by any means, but it's amazingly difficult to follow for the first half hour or so. Chabrol packs information and conceals facts so quickly that I ended up rewinding several scenes. The last frame of the movie shows a quote about there always being a second, hidden story that the eyes can't reach - although it's not from that essay, this is the central thesis of Julio Cortázar's theory of short stories. Essentially, the film is a character study and a subtle family drama disguised as a detective's investigation. That's why the resolution to the crime plot is a throwaway courtroom joke. Depardieu and the cast (mostly unknown to me) are all incredible, and this is worth watching but it demands a helluva lot of patience.

Milky Joe

12-31-2009, 09:20 PM

What did I say to deserve negative rape, exactly?

Grouchy

12-31-2009, 09:20 PM

What did I say to deserve negative rape, exactly?
"Ebert rocks".

Watashi

12-31-2009, 09:37 PM

I'm pretty sure Grouchy was raped and fondled by Ebert at a very young age.

Milky Joe

12-31-2009, 09:38 PM

Oh. If it makes you feel any better, I said that mostly because he put Juno at #4.

Grouchy

12-31-2009, 09:49 PM

Oh. If it makes you feel any better, I said that mostly because he put Juno at #4.
That actually makes me feel terrible.

Milky Joe

12-31-2009, 09:54 PM

Scar

12-31-2009, 10:32 PM

Since when did D_Davis come back?

The beer thread brought him back.

lovejuice

01-01-2010, 12:05 AM

It's a problem I have with Van Sant's contemporary approach also. Dialogue can be naturalistic and still communicate with more depth than these two characters seem to. When I lost a friend in a similar way there was similarly a lack of ease to the dynamic but we still had more to say. Yes their silence is frequently the point, but it's also a banal point.
i agree with a lot of what you said here, but this last sentence really hits home. there is a time when a skeptic in me thinks that this approach to modern, naturalistic cinema is born out of the lack of a good writer in movie industry. silence is profound, but it's just too easy nowadays.

Spinal

01-01-2010, 12:27 AM

It's hard to get excited about Ebert selecting Me and You and Everyone We Know when he's stuck it behind fucking Juno. Not cool, Rog.

Watashi

01-01-2010, 01:44 AM

ledfloyd

01-01-2010, 02:53 AM

balmakboor

01-01-2010, 03:35 AM

Summer Hours was a beautiful, moving film about the fascination and bonding of materialism that ties a family down. The last 10 minutes are hopeful yet tragic. I also liked how the only American actor is Kyle Eastwood. Maybe the French love their Eastwood films?

This just hit instant watch so I'll be seeing it soon.

I just watched Food, Inc. My vegitarian daughter actually picked it while snooping through instant watch documentaries. Well put together and unsettling. It's the latest installment in the corporate America sucks product line. This one though actually treats Walmart pretty nice. It's Monsanto that really takes it up the ass this time.

For what it's worth, I agree that corporate America and capitalism in general and big lobbyists all suck.

balmakboor

01-01-2010, 03:38 AM

Symbiopsychotaxiplasm: Take One (Greaves, 1968) **

I see I enjoyed this little oddity a bit more than you did.

Melville

01-01-2010, 04:20 AM

who was he? and yes, it's easily one of the year's best films. it's more about globalization than materialism. but yeah, it's very concerned with the meaning of physical art and the meaning it can acquire.
I agree with Wats that it's more about material objects and how they accumulate a shared history and meaning for people, particularly families. Globalization seemed important too, and I think the two themes were interrelated, with the globalization causing a disintegration of the personal meaning of the objects, making them into something less meaningful but more globally shared (e.g. with the big party in the now-abandoned house, and with the stuff going into the museum).

ledfloyd

01-01-2010, 04:42 AM

I agree with Wats that it's more about material objects and how they accumulate a shared history and meaning for people, particularly families. Globalization seemed important too, and I think the two themes were interrelated, with the globalization causing a disintegration of the personal meaning of the objects, making them into something less meaningful but more globally shared (e.g. with the big party in the now-abandoned house, and with the stuff going into the museum).
you're right. i misread what he meant by materialism. i was thinking of gucci purses.

Melville

01-01-2010, 04:55 AM

you're right. i misread what he meant by materialism. i was thinking of gucci purses.
Gotcha.

baby doll

01-01-2010, 07:50 AM

Twitter-like briefs on the last three movies I watched:

35 rhums: Not a major Denis film, but a refreshingly unglamorous representation of Parisian life all the same.

Munyurangabo: Potentially moving story undermined by the plodding pace, crude technique, and uncharismatic acting.

Invictus: After taking a walk on the wide side (for Eastwood anyway) with Changeling and Gran Torino, we're back to the tastefully embalmed Oscar-bait autopilot mode of Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Watchable enough, but predictable and lifeless.

Philosophe_rouge

01-01-2010, 08:34 AM

Giordano Bruno (1973) is a restrained portrait of religious turmoil and political upheaval during the time of the inquisition. Profiling rumoured sorcerer and heretic, philosopher Giordano Bruno, we are given a strong portrait of not only a man of great intellect, but incredible will, humour and fortitude. This is a "serious" film, but in it's lack of cheap sentimentality, and desire to present the weakness of humanity rather than it's evils, it becomes something special, rather than your run of the mill indictment of the evils of Catholicism back in the day. Gian Maria Volonte gives an incredible performance, and is as compelling when he is densely verbose as he is in complete silence. Despite the negligible quality of the copy I saw, the film is still quite obviously beautiful, and use of moving camera is complex, without ever being distracting, and is able to transform the meaning of a shot through it's movement, while also furthering the ideas and themes of the filmmaker. Worth checking out.

Mara

01-01-2010, 07:11 PM

Okay, I'm confused. I'm trying to watch Unfaithfully Yours, and I'm pretty sure it's on the recommendation of someone from MC. And I can't figure out why, because it's kind of terrible.

Under the best circumstances, I don't think a man fantasizing about killing his wife is particularly humorous, but I'm not saying it couldn't be done. But it's not being done here. The entire attitude towards women is somewhat horrifying, from the female harpists painting their nails during rehearsals to Harrison, in his "I'm a great guy" fantasy rhapsodizing about his wife's little hands that weren't meant to work, and her little mind that shouldn't have to worry about math.

My next problem has to do with Rex Harrison himself, who is kind of sucking. He can do the physical comedy, but every scene where he is supposed to be yelling in rage (and there are quite a few) he's sort of dead-eyed and unenthusiastic. A few times it looks like he's trying not to giggle.

Lastly, this film has the most ridiculous sound effects of just about any movie I've ever seen. They're loud, intrusive, inappropriate, and jarring. It's like watching a Scooby Doo episode. (Rex pokes some bread. The bread goes: "Boink! Boink!")

I dunno if I'm going to finish.

Mara

01-01-2010, 07:33 PM

Sort of finished it. Deeply unimpressed. The murders-are-harder-than-you-think scenes were mildly amusing, otherwise a huge waste of time.

Melville

01-01-2010, 07:55 PM

Mara

01-01-2010, 08:09 PM

I thought Unfaithfully Yours was great, one of my favorite comedies of the era, with stylish direction, clever structure, a pleasantly dark tone, and a hilarious look at a jealous man's ridiculous distortions of reality.

Some quick looking around makes it seem that everyone liked it but me. Good for the goose, I guess.

Derek

01-01-2010, 08:41 PM

Some quick looking around makes it seem that everyone liked it but me. Good for the goose, I guess.

Have you seen any other Lubitsch films? At least give Trouble in Paradise a shot (one of my all-time faves) and if you like that, The Shop Around the Corner and To Be or Not to Be.

Melville

01-01-2010, 08:45 PM

Have you seen any other Lubitsch films?
:confused: Isn't Unfaithfully Yours a Sturges film?

Derek

01-01-2010, 08:52 PM

:confused: Isn't Unfaithfully Yours a Sturges film?

OMG, you're right. If it's any consolation, I've had a minor case of food poisoning since Wednesday night, so I'm clearly still delusional.

Mara

01-01-2010, 09:09 PM

Hmm, let's see.

Lubitsch: I've seen The Shop Around the Corner, Ninotchka, and To Be or Not to Be. I enjoyed all three of those, finding them charming if not earth-shattering.

Sturges: I think all I've seen is The Lady Eve, and that was probably fifteen years ago, when I was going through my dissociative identity disorder obsession phase.

Mara

01-01-2010, 09:11 PM

Trouble in Paradise looks like fun... I'm putting it in my queue.

Derek

01-01-2010, 09:20 PM

Trouble in Paradise looks like fun... I'm putting it in my queue.

Well, I'm glad my inexcusable brain fart led to something positive. :) It's incredibly fun and surprisingly sexy. I heart Miriam Hopkins and I think you will too.

eternity

01-02-2010, 04:36 AM

2009: The Cinescape (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq1SNnDrmhA&feature=player_embedded)

Spaceman Spiff

01-02-2010, 05:19 AM

Any thoughts on Revanche, Derek? I saw it recently as well, and would maybe only knock off a half star.

MadMan

01-02-2010, 05:32 AM

The actual inspiration for QT's best movie to date, The Inglorious Bastards (1978, and actually spelled correctly) is a highly entertaining and badass movie. There really isn't a whole lot here aside from 70s style rebellion, very strong anti-war tones that are then casted aside in favor of a Dirty Dozen style mission, and the fact that it stars Fred "The Hammer" Williamson and Bo Sverson, both famous cult movie actors.

Regardless none of that is important, because if you watched this for say great acting or top notch FX (gotta love the cheap sets and the hilarious fake train explosion) well yes you would be disappointed. If anything this is a pure Grindhouse movie that's best watched the way I did it: while drinking beer and kicking back, enjoying the ride and not thinking twice about the whole experience. Recommended solely for an insight into B-movie style 70s film making, and as a successful rip off of far better war movies. Especially Kelly's Heroes, a highly underrated war comedy if there ever was one.

BuffaloWilder

01-02-2010, 05:36 AM

So, having a discussion with my friend, and I said to myself what the hell, I says. I'll throw the topic up for discussion here, see what those cats at Match Cut think:

See, I've always been a proponent of the train of thought that no idea is inherently ridiculous or otherwise in fiction, either way - only how that idea is realized, and the context it's placed in, within it's overarching story. That kind of thing. My buddy thinks otherwise. What does Match Cut think?

Philosophe_rouge

01-02-2010, 06:41 AM

Melville

01-02-2010, 06:50 AM

Yea, I love it too.
Favorite pre-1950 comedies—go!

Boner M

01-02-2010, 07:05 AM

Unfaithfully Yours is awesome, only slightly let down by Sturges' requisite overlong slapstick stretch near the end.

Spinal

01-02-2010, 07:05 AM

Favorite pre-1950 comedies—go!

Leaving out shorts for the sake of simplifying:

1. Seven Chances
2. The General
3. The Lady Eve
4. His Girl Friday
5. City Lights
6. The Thin Man
7. Bringing Up Baby
8. It Happend One Night
9. The Cameraman
10. Unfaithfully Yours

Something like that.

soitgoes...

01-02-2010, 07:06 AM

Favorite pre-1950 comedies—go!

No silents:

1. The Philadelphia Story
2. Pygmalion
3. It Happened One Night
4. Bringing Up Baby
5. Green for Danger
6. Trouble in Paradise
7. His Girl Friday
8. The Music Box
9. To Be or Not to Be
10. Sullivan's Travels
11. Le Million
12. The Awful Truth
13. The Palm Beach Story
14. The Thin Man
15. Sons of the Desert

With silents:

1. Sherlock Jr.
2. The General
3. Big Business
4. The Philadelphia Story
5. The Idle Class
6. Safety Last!
7. Pygmalion
8. The Gold Rush
9. It Happened One Night
10. Bringing Up Baby
11. The Circus
12. Green for Danger
13. Trouble in Paradise
14. The Cameraman
15. His Girl Friday

Boner M

01-02-2010, 07:09 AM

Also leaving out shorts.

1. Our Hospitality
2. The Lady Eve
3. Seven Chances
4. Unfaithfully Yours
5. The Awful Truth
6. Modern Times
7. Girl Shy
8. Hail the Conquering Hero
9. Trouble in Paradise
10. Design for Living

Melville

01-02-2010, 07:20 AM

No silents
Damn it. That's what I was thinking of. I should have said 1930s and '40s. Doesn't matter.

1. His Girl Friday
2. Duck Soup
3. Monsieur Verdoux
4. The Shop Around the Corner
5. Unfaithfully Yours
6. The Lady Eve
7. Animal Crackers
8. To Be or Not to Be
9. Holiday
10. Sullivan's Travels

ledfloyd

01-02-2010, 07:52 AM

Duck Soup
His Girl Friday
Unfaithfully Yours
To Be or Not to Be
The Awful Truth
The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
Sullivan's Travels
Arsenic and Old Lace
Trouble In Paradise
The Philadelphia Story

Melville

01-02-2010, 07:55 AM

I see from these lists that the next old-timey comedy I watch should be Trouble in Paradise.

ledfloyd

01-02-2010, 07:56 AM

i spaced on abbot and costello meet frankenstein. which should probably be on the list.

Qrazy

01-02-2010, 08:03 AM

I see from these lists that the next old-timey comedy I watch should be Trouble in Paradise.

Ditto.

Boner M

01-02-2010, 08:22 AM

I see from these lists that the next old-timey comedy I watch should be Trouble in Paradise.
I'd recommend Girl Shy over it. Seems like your kinda film.

Melville

01-02-2010, 08:23 AM

I'd recommend Girl Shy over it. Seems like your kinda film.
Seen it and loved it.

Boner M

01-02-2010, 08:24 AM

Seen it and loved it.
:cool:

Melville

01-02-2010, 08:25 AM

:cool:
Indeed. Your predictive powers are uncanny.

Rowland

01-02-2010, 09:06 AM

Girl Shy, Doctor Jack, and Grandma's Boy are the best Harold Lloyd comedies I've seen, all funnier than Safety Last!, which is good but overrated, possibly in part for being his most iconic film.

B-side

01-02-2010, 09:08 AM

The Cameraman (Sedgwick, 1928) ***½

*nods head in agreement*

Rowland

01-02-2010, 09:12 AM

Max Linder's virtually unknown Seven Years Bad Luck is a funny silent comedy, maybe not up to the greats, but certainly worth a viewing. It's available on Netflix Instant View.

Also, I tried watching Trouble in Paradise a few years back and found it almost boring. My sensibilities were probably not developed enough.

Rowland

01-02-2010, 09:16 AM

*nods head in agreement*The first half has more moments uninspired and clunky than his other two I've seen combined (Sherlock Jr. and The General), but the second half really carries it off. I love how he managed such an incisive auteurist statement in what was supposed to be the first of his films to deprive him of complete creative control.

B-side

01-02-2010, 09:19 AM

Also, I tried watching Trouble in Paradise a few years back and found it almost boring. My sensibilities were probably not developed enough.

I was actually a bit let down considering the reputation Lubitsch's talkies have. I prefer The Doll. Possibly I Don't Want to Be a Man as well.

B-side

01-02-2010, 09:22 AM

I was actually a bit let down considering the reputation Lubitsch's talkies have. I prefer The Doll. Possibly I Don't Want to Be a Man as well.

I guess I was expecting something a bit more... energetic? Maybe? Something more engaging, at the very least. Still, a fun and breezy 80 mins.

Philosophe_rouge

01-02-2010, 03:19 PM

Favorite pre-1950 comedies—go!

Excluding da silents

1. Cluny Brown (Lubitsch, 1946)
2. The Awful Truth (McCarey, 1937)
3. To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch, 1942)
4. Sullivans Travels (Sturges, 1941)
5. Unfaithfully Yours (Sturges, 1948)
6. Duck Soup (McCarey, 1933)
7. The More the Merrier (Stevens, 1943)
8. The Palm Beach Story (Sturges, 1942)
9. It Happened One Night (Capra, 1934)
10. Trouble in Paradise (Lubitsch, 1932)

Raiders

01-02-2010, 03:35 PM

Favorite pre-1950 comedies—go!

No silents:

1. His Girl Friday
2. The Miracle of Morgan's Creek
3. To Be or Not to Be
4. Trouble in Paradise
5. Kind Hearts and Coronets
6. Duck Soup
7. The Awful Truth
8. The Lady Eve
9. The Shop Around the Corner
10. Bringing Up Baby (suck it, Match-Cut)
11. My Man Godfrey

Melville

01-02-2010, 03:39 PM

10. Bringing Up Baby (suck it, Match-Cut)
I like it. It probably would have been number 11 or 12 on my list.

Philosophe_rouge

01-02-2010, 04:00 PM

I REALLY need to see Miracle at Morgan's Creek. I actually love Shop Around the Corner, and though funny, I didn't include it on my own list. I think because I appreciate it more for the romance than the lols.

BuffaloWilder

01-02-2010, 06:03 PM

So, because of the Peter Pan discussion a while back, I went and watched Hook again for the first time in a while, and - man, the movie's a mess, but Dustin Hoffman is just so cool as Hook.

...and who didn't believe I could do it?

Who doubted me?

Who amongst us doesn not belong?

Someone - here, does not belong among the loyal, I - will weed you out!

And, then he puts Glenn Close in the boo box.

Mara

01-02-2010, 06:45 PM

Bringing Up Baby

Totally enjoyable. It's not my favorite Hepburn/Grant pairing-- that would be The Philadelphia Story-- but it's good times.

The Mike

01-02-2010, 06:59 PM

No chance I can rank these, but off the top of me head:

Arsenic and Old Lace
My Man Godfrey
To Be Or Not To Be
His Girl Friday
The Philadelphia Story
Sullivan's Travels
Heaven Can Wait
The Shop Around the Corner
Holiday
The Palm Beach Story/Unfaithfully Yours (can't decide)

Derek

01-02-2010, 07:03 PM

Favorite pre-1950 comedies—go!

1. Trouble in Paradise (Lubitsch)
2. Design for Living (Lubitsch)
3. To Be or Not to Be (Lubitsch)
4. The Shop Around the Corner (Lubitsch)
5. Miracle at Morgan's Creek (Sturges)
6. The Philadelphia Story (Cukor)
7. Holiday (Cukor)
8. The Palm Beach Story (Sturges)
9. Midnight (Liesen)
10. Love Me Tonight (Mamoulian)

Mighty close: Ruggles of Red Gap (McCarey), Zero for Conduct (Vigo), A Nous La Liberte (Clair), Hail the Conquering Hero (Sturges)

ledfloyd

01-02-2010, 07:30 PM

i forgot cluny brown and kind hearts and coronets when making my list.

Mara

01-02-2010, 07:43 PM

kind hearts and coronets

Another favorite.

Russ

01-02-2010, 07:47 PM

No love for W.C. Fields?

1. It's a Gift
2. Hellzapoppin'
3. Duck Soup
4. Trouble in Paradise
5. To Be or Not To Be
6. The Palm Beach Story
7. The Philadelphia Story
8. Bringing Up Baby
9. The Awful Truth
10. Man on the Flying Trapeze

megladon8

01-02-2010, 07:55 PM

Why are we excluding silents again?

In no particular order...

The Awful Truth
Bringing Up Baby
Holiday
The Philadelphia Story
Arsenic and Old Lace
Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein
After the Thin Man
My Man Godfrey
To Be or Not To Be (it's grown on me)
The Great Dictator

baby doll

01-02-2010, 09:02 PM

Pre-1950 Sound Comedies:

Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian)
Trouble in Paradise (Ernst Lubitsch)
La Règle du jeu (Jean Renoir)
The Great Dictator (Charles Chaplin)
His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
The Shop Around the Corner (Enrst Lubitsch)
The Lady Eve (Preston Sturges)

Sycophant

01-02-2010, 10:36 PM

Pre-1950 sound comedies.

The Awful Truth
Sullivan's Travels
City Lights
The Shop Around the Corner
Unfaithfully Yours
The Great Dictator
The Thin Man
Arsenic & Old Lace
A Day at the Races
His Girl Friday

Really, every comedy Sturges made.

Sycophant

01-02-2010, 10:41 PM

I don't know why I've ignored Whit Stillman till just recently. The other night I watched Last Days of Disco on Sven's recommendation. It's exactly the kind of talky, upper-middle-class New Yorker human comedy/drama that I really adore. Incredible soundtrack, too. Gonna watch Metropolitan promptly.

ledfloyd

01-02-2010, 11:07 PM

sturges and lubitsch are really inimitable. though you can't forget cary grant, the marx brothers or the ealing comedies when talking about that period.

Qrazy

01-02-2010, 11:20 PM

Qrazy

01-02-2010, 11:21 PM

Russ

01-02-2010, 11:32 PM

Anyone who's even remotely a fan of the Marx Bros. brand of on-screen chaos owes it to themselves to track down Hellzapoppin', a film that was way ahead of its time. It's like an early 40's version of Airplane!: wall-to-wall jokes (even the obligatory musical numbers have gags, fer crissakes). Tech-savvy special effects included MST3K silhoutte viewing (of their own film!), fourth wall gags, fights with the film's projectionist, and all manner of meta, self-aware jokes. It's sure to have influenced countless films (and cartoons) down the line.

Sycophant

01-02-2010, 11:43 PM

City Lights is a silent.

That is not entirely accurate, as it had a recorded, synchronized soundtrack and sound effects. But perhaps you're right that it's not a "sound comedy."

Qrazy

01-03-2010, 12:12 AM

That is not entirely accurate, as it had a recorded, synchronized soundtrack and sound effects. But perhaps you're right that it's not a "sound comedy."

Yes, I'm aware, but I still consider it a silent film. That is to say as it is not fully a sound film and not fully a silent it seems much more the latter than the former to me.

Lucky

01-03-2010, 12:13 AM

I've only seen Metropolitan and was quite underwhelmed.

Metropolitan is one of my favorites.

Grouchy

01-03-2010, 12:36 AM

1. Duck Soup
2. The Philadelphia Story
3. L'Atalante
4. A Night at the Opera
5. Bringing Up Baby
6. His Girl Friday
7. Kind Hearts and Coronets
8. A Night in Casablanca
9. Room Service
10. Animal Crackers

Grouchy

01-03-2010, 12:41 AM

Despite my stand against remakes, I watched Death Race. Bad movie with some enjoyable elements - or maybe I just like Jason Statham a lot. Regardless, I don't understand why anyone would want to take a morbid surreal satire and turn it into an action movie in a prison, unless that someone was completely devoid of ideas. The race sequences are cool and I guess that's all that really matters. When the movie is not showing us a race, we gradually realize how stupid everything is. Ian McShane is great casting.

I also watched Face/Off for the first time in many years and gained an even greater appreciation for it. Not only is it an excellent US gun fu movie, it's a superb example of "star power", in that part of the fun of the script is that it allows two big movie stars to portray each other.

Derek

01-03-2010, 01:23 AM

I've only seen and was quite underwhelmed.

Fixed for future reference. ;)

I don't know why I've ignored Whit Stillman till just recently. The other night I watched [I]Last Days of Disco on Sven's recommendation. It's exactly the kind of talky, upper-middle-class New Yorker human comedy/drama that I really adore. Incredible soundtrack, too. Gonna watch Metropolitan promptly.

I liked Disco as well, but Metropolitan benefits from a more focused approach, mostly from the closer group dynamic, so it felt more intimate and rewarding.

La Règle du jeu (Jean Renoir)

3. L'Atalante

Two of the greatest films ever, no doubt, but I'm afraid I'd pull a muscle making the reach to count them as "pure" comedies.

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 01:30 AM

Another favorite.
so what you're saying is it's ok to kill your relatives, but it's wrong to fantasize about killing your wife? :P

Boner M

01-03-2010, 01:37 AM

The Son **1/2
http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepics5/BodySnatchers.jpg

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 01:39 AM

http://www.peteykins.com/sparklepics5/BodySnatchers.jpg
it's a positive rating! i didn't love it though, by any means. i've seen this and l'enfant and i'm just not sure if the dardennes style is for me. i'll probably give lorna's silence a chance. but i find it too distancing to get emotionally involved in the stories and they don't have the impact on me i think they are intended to have.

Qrazy

01-03-2010, 01:42 AM

Fixed for future reference. ;)

Pish posh, in general I've usually seen more than one film from any given director. I'm known for my completionistic tendencies! Also my high number of B ratings begs to differ on being underwhelmed. So NO Derek! Bad Derek!

Melville

01-03-2010, 01:47 AM

the dardennes style...distancing
:eek:

Derek

01-03-2010, 01:54 AM

:eek:

Yeah, I can't think of a working director's whose style more effectively replicates the physical and visceral experiences of their protagonists than the Dardennes. That said, The Son is their one film that left me sorta cold, despite Olivier Gourmet being his typically awesome, stolid self, but I plan to give that another shot for boner and others' sakes.

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 01:56 AM

:eek:
:lol:

it's the over the shoulder shot. i'm not sure what it is about it, but it removes me from the film. i feel like it makes you more an observer than a participant. i much prefer hou's more poetic brand of minimalism. to pull a babydoll and make a completely absurd comparison.

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 01:57 AM

despite Olivier Gourmet being his typically awesome, stolid self
this is true. he's fantastic.

Qrazy

01-03-2010, 02:05 AM

Yeah, I can't think of a working director's whose style more effectively replicates the physical and visceral experiences of their protagonists than the Dardennes. That said, The Son is their one film that left me sorta cold, despite Olivier Gourmet being his typically awesome, stolid self, but I plan to give that another shot for boner and others' sakes.

What's your av from?

Adam

01-03-2010, 02:07 AM

I wrote this earlier today in the Lorna's Silence thread

...Sometimes, for me, the Dardennes' greatest naturalistic strengths also serve to undercut what they're trying to do. Intellectually, I know I'm watching something very important happen to a character, but often I don't respond to it emotionally...

I guess it's kinda sorta ironic that I can be distracted or taken out of a moment because of their style, when their approach is obviously meant to absorb the viewer even further

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 02:17 AM

I wrote this earlier today in the Lorna's Silence thread

I guess it's kinda sorta ironic that I can be distracted or taken out of a moment because of their style, when their approach is obviously meant to absorb the viewer even further
this is exactly my problem with the two i've seen.

Melville

01-03-2010, 02:26 AM

:lol:

it's the over the shoulder shot. i'm not sure what it is about it, but it removes me from the film. i feel like it makes you more an observer than a participant. i much prefer hou's more poetic brand of minimalism. to pull a babydoll and make a completely absurd comparison.
It does make you observe the character rather than identify with him. But it relentlessly makes you observe him so damn closely. It forces you to see him as a real person, not to identify with him but to see him as something real outside of you. But it forces you to do so at a closer range than is ever possible in real life, dragging you along with his every step, and trying to make you empathize with his experience as strongly as possible. If it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work for you, but I find it to be the most gripping thing going.

number8

01-03-2010, 02:28 AM

What's your av from?

Looks like the same movie as mine.

Derek

01-03-2010, 02:29 AM

What's your av from?

Antichrist

Pish posh, in general I've usually seen more than one film from any given director. I'm known for my completionistic tendencies! Also my high number of B ratings begs to differ on being underwhelmed. So NO Derek! Bad Derek!

Well, don't think I'm not fully aware of the irony of someone whose **1/2's are completely positive complaining about B-'s. I think it's mostly due to my general distaste for the A-F scale. I don't like things that remind me of Entertainment Weekly.

Melville

01-03-2010, 02:32 AM

I think it's mostly due to my general distaste for the A-F scale.
I've never really understood the meaning of the ratings in the grade scale. What's 'okay', not good or bad? B? C?

*not trying to start a discussion of rating scales*

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 02:35 AM

It does make you observe the character rather than identify with him. But it relentlessly makes you observe him so damn closely. It forces you to see him as a real person, not to identify with him but to see him as something real outside of you. But it forces you to do so at a closer range than is ever possible in real life, dragging you along with his every step, and trying to make you empathize with his experience as strongly as possible. If it doesn't work for you, then it doesn't work for you, but I find it to be the most gripping thing going.
yeah i understand, but i just don't really empathize. i appreciate their films on an intellectual level but don't find them very engaging emotionally. certainly not gripping.

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 02:36 AM

I've never really understood the meaning of the ratings in the grade scale. What's 'okay', not good or bad? B? C?

*not trying to start a discussion of rating scales*
i'm not derek...

Melville

01-03-2010, 02:37 AM

i'm not derek...
That is very strange...

ledfloyd

01-03-2010, 02:49 AM

That is very strange...
yeah, assuming you just clicked the quote button on derek's post.

BuffaloWilder

01-03-2010, 03:54 AM

So, in a couple of weeks, I'll start writing for Chazz Lyon's Gone Cinema Poaching - biweekly!

This is good.

B-side

01-03-2010, 04:07 AM

So, in a couple of weeks, I'll start writing for Chazz Lyon's Gone Cinema Poaching - biweekly!

This is good.

I don't know who or what that is, but congrats nonetheless.:P

Raiders

01-03-2010, 04:54 AM

After watching Andersson's You, the Living, I'm a little afraid to re-watch Songs from the Second Floor, which I absolutely loved four years ago when I first watched it. That film's apocalyptic undertones and vignette nature all felt like they were building to a collective, singular image (or vision). Here though, it felt less connected and though I can see Andersson's humanistic tendencies and affection for the wide range of human folly and emotion, this all felt more random and much less satisfying in the end. To be sure, Andersson's sense of framing, mise-en-scene and dry humor is outstanding and almost any one of the vignettes is terrific on its own. But as a whole film, I was left more bewildered and ultimately the best word is just, "meh."

Adam

01-03-2010, 05:07 AM

Feh!

Just because it's all-encompassing doesn't mean it lacks focus. I made a thread a couple of months ago asking everybody to pick one film they feel perfectly defines humanity and these days I'd personally be hard pressed to come up with a better answer than You, the Living

Raiders

01-03-2010, 05:09 AM

Adam

01-03-2010, 05:22 AM

That's fair, I guess, but isn't Andersson's whole point that we're all drudging away in the muck together and we might as well have a laugh about it while we're here? How fundamentally human is that idea?

In general, I'm pretty sure it's the terminal bleakness that makes us who we are, anyway. We're the only species on Earth that knows it's going to die, after all, and we have to deal with thoughts like that every day. And so it's refreshing to me when I see art that acknowledges those miserable ideas and then knowingly makes a joke out of them. Because, really, what else are you going to do?

Qrazy

01-03-2010, 06:30 AM

Looks like the same movie as mine.

Ahh I still haven't seen it.

B-side

01-03-2010, 06:31 AM

I updated my blog with the top 25 films I saw for the first time in 2009. Basically, an extension of the thread on here. Meh.

Qrazy

01-03-2010, 06:32 AM

I've never really understood the meaning of the ratings in the grade scale. What's 'okay', not good or bad? B? C?

*not trying to start a discussion of rating scales*

My subjectivized ratings:

A - Loved it
B (-/+) - Liked/Really Liked
C (-/+) - It was Weak/OK/Decent
D (-/+) - Strongly disliked/Disliked
F - Hated

Boner M

01-03-2010, 08:33 AM

Grouchy

01-03-2010, 11:16 AM

B-side

01-03-2010, 11:18 AM

http://i45.tinypic.com/rmqozs.jpg

Tokyo Drifter was pretty.

megladon8

01-03-2010, 09:02 PM

StanleyK

01-03-2010, 09:12 PM

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Great movie. Best musical score of this decade, alongside The Fountain.

megladon8

01-03-2010, 09:13 PM

Great movie. Best musical score of this decade, alongside The Fountain.

I'd agree with this, for sure.

And having Nick Cave sing "The Ballad of Jesse James" in the saloon was awesome-sauce.

Qrazy

01-03-2010, 09:38 PM

I liked it a bit more than you, but I agree... I also felt the same way about Songs when I saw it in the early 00's. I'm guessing one could mix scenes at random from both films and assemble them into a feature and I'd feel the same way about that hypothetical film too.

Yeah I agree as well. I think Songs is a bit more unified but it's still quite episodic. I think Andersson could fairly easily keep his style but tie his vignettes together more tightly if he wished to.

Adam

01-03-2010, 09:43 PM

So The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was quite the movie

The Assassination of Jesse James has this weird, intangible quality to it that, for me, makes it feel just like reading a book. I've never seen another film that provokes that sensation so thoroughly

Adam

01-03-2010, 09:50 PM

Yeah I agree as well. I think Songs is a bit more unified but it's still quite episodic. I think Andersson could fairly easily keep his style but tie his vignettes together more tightly if he wished to.

I would say part of the charm of You, the Living is that it's so intentionally sprawling and loosely-connected; even though all his vignettes are unified by a common theme

megladon8

01-03-2010, 10:40 PM

The Assassination of Jesse James has this weird, intangible quality to it that, for me, makes it feel just like reading a book. I've never seen another film that provokes that sensation so thoroughly

I was feeling that, too. It's funny you say that. It felt like a good novel.

And funny enough, I've heard that exact same thing said about The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which is another film I will be seeing for the first time soon, on BluRay.

balmakboor

01-03-2010, 10:51 PM

Want to see a movie that has some things of interest about it, but ultimately feels lifeless and pointless? Watch Birth.

Bosco B Thug

01-03-2010, 10:59 PM

Want to see a movie that has some things of interest about it, but ultimately feels lifeless and pointless? Watch Birth.
Aw. I love it. But it is kind of too esoteric, and that beach stuff at the end was not the right way to end it.

Raiders

01-03-2010, 11:00 PM

Want to see a movie that has some things of interest about it, but ultimately feels lifeless and pointless? Watch Birth.

:pritch:

Couldn't stand that movie, but I have long felt quite alone in that opinion.

balmakboor

01-03-2010, 11:07 PM

Aw. I love it. But it is kind of too esoteric, and that beach stuff at the end was not the right way to end it.

Yes, too esoteric is a good way to put it. I found it all unnecessarily cold and aloof. I do find Kidman to be very attractive and loved looking at her here with that short haircut.

Bosco B Thug

01-03-2010, 11:09 PM

:pritch:

Couldn't stand that movie, but I have long felt quite alone in that opinion.
What couldn't you stand about it? I guess the story is kind of annoyingly whimsical, and the score doesn't help (I actually kind of dislike the film's main theme, as it's used for the film).

balmakboor

01-03-2010, 11:15 PM

What couldn't you stand about it?

It totally failed to find a satisfying use for the boy. There must have been something much more interesting than simply having him stand around looking creepy. I never understood why she would even consider falling for him. I would've stuck him in a box and mailed him to Siberia or something.

Bosco B Thug

01-03-2010, 11:29 PM

It totally failed to find a satisfying use for the boy. There must have been something much more interesting than simply having him stand around looking creepy. I never understood why she would even consider falling for him. I would've stuck him in a box and mailed him to Siberia or something.
The film's telling us eternal love is pretty meaningless, and love itself is sometimes necessarily conditional - like if it's with a 10 year old boy. Pretty cool and bleak, no matter how perky the soundtrack is.

I see where you're coming from, tho.

Derek

01-03-2010, 11:32 PM

But Glazer reminds me a lot about Gray, and I felt Two Lovers and Birth have a lot of the same pros and cons: cons being the thin, fable-like story, pros being everything else - particularly, how they treat and make interesting these thin stories.

Gray's "thin" story is supported by characters with depth, a subtle yet rich representation of an Upper West Side Jewish family and their milieu, a satisfactorily complex treatment of one man's grief and depression and expressive visuals that capture the tone of the story and feeling of NYC in the winter. Gray's film uses a simple premise but fills it in with everything else. Glazer's film uses a simple premise to be coy and distant, teasing us with situations that ultimately go nowhere meaningful or interesting. It's pretty to look at but incredibly hollow and lifeless. I don't hate it, but I've felt the same way both times I've seen it.

Bosco B Thug

01-03-2010, 11:38 PM

Gray's "thin" story is supported by characters with depth, a subtle yet rich representation of an Upper West Side Jewish family and their milieu, a satisfactorily complex treatment of one man's grief and depression and expressive visuals that capture the tone of the story and feeling of NYC in the winter. Gray's film uses a simple premise but fills it in with everything else. Glazer's film uses a simple premise to be coy and distant, teasing us with situations that ultimately go nowhere meaningful or interesting. It's pretty to look at but incredibly hollow and lifeless. I don't hate it, but I've felt the same way both times I've seen it. My calling its story thin didn't mean to encompass those non-thin qualities you bring up. I agree on all counts. Their stories are just "simple," as you say. Two Lovers is the better film for its more down-to-earth treatment of a story that inherently is less infused by gauzy metaphor and fantasy, and a main character who's instability is more well-contextualized.

As for Glazer's film, I'd need to re-watch it to give it proper defense about it being "coy," but if anything, its distance - as opposed to the lively, appealing character-invested intimacy of Two Lovers - is in line with its bleak message and tone (which is why I dislike the incongruous chirpy score and, yes, Glazer's indulgence of it).

So if I compared them, it was to compare how similarly old-fashioned the two young filmmakers are, not to say each their individual films' attributes and particular attention to their plot can be measured up against one another in favor of Birth over TL, as it might have sounded.

Mara

01-03-2010, 11:45 PM

I'm extremely annoyed that Jupiter's Darling isn't available on DVD. Just because it's a silly, silly film doesn't mean that I don't love it and want to own it.

Derek

01-03-2010, 11:59 PM

My calling its story thin didn't mean to encompass those non-thin qualities you bring up. I agree on all counts. Their stories are just "simple," as you say. Two Lovers is the better film for its more down-to-earth treatment of a story that inherently is less infused by gauzy metaphor and fantasy, and a main character who's instability is more well-contextualized.

As for Glazer's film, I'd need to re-watch it to give it proper defense about it being "coy," but if anything, its distance - as opposed to the lively, appealing character-invested intimacy of Two Lovers - is in line with its bleak message and tone (which is why I dislike the incongruous chirpy score).

So if I compared them, it was to compare how similarly old-fashioned the two young filmmakers are, not to say each their individual films' attributes and particular attention to their plot can be measured up against one another in favor of Birth over TL, as it might have sounded.

Ok, I didn't see your 8.5 for Two Lovers (I'd give it the same score), but I took it from your post that you didn't like it that much. Simple has a much less negative connotation for me than thin, though I get what you're saying.

My problem with the "distance" in birth is it seems to be there merely to capture a mood without having to meaningfully delve into the admittedly intriguing set-up. The cinematography gives the film a sort of grandiosity that is never cashed in, so its "gauzy metaphor" (perfect word) is left flapping in the wind.

Qrazy

01-04-2010, 12:07 AM

I would say part of the charm of You, the Living is that it's so intentionally sprawling and loosely-connected; even though all his vignettes are unified by a common theme

I suppose it's mostly a matter of personal preference. I prefer my (even episodic) features to be more thoroughly connected. Still I do like his approach. And I love the scene where the guy pulls the entire set-up off the dinner table.

BuffaloWilder

01-04-2010, 03:48 AM

Hah. That's funny. I just posted a review of Birth a little while ago.

Meh.

Grouchy

01-04-2010, 06:23 PM

Yeah, didn't get Birth either.

Body of Lies is a good film, although I can sort of understand why it wasn't a big box office draw. It's provocative enough not to be considered a blockbuster, yet it's never violent or out there enough to capture attention. Regardless, Scott is still a fucking pro, and his spy thriller is big on gritty realism and classic storytelling. Besides the good performances by Di Caprio (slightly miscast, though) and Crowe, I was very impressed by Mark Strong. Very cool actor. Could pass for Andy Garcia.

Dead Reckoning is an average film noir which contains almost the entire rulebook of the genre. There's a femme fatale, a military man on a private eye role, the death of that man's best friend, a scene of that man being drugged by a drink, etc. The film has a couple of really imaginative scenes, specially the fainting one with a parachute dream sequence, but otherwise is really slow and lacks the constant violence of The Maltese Falcon. Bogart, though, is at the top of his game here and I have the impression that if the leading lady was a more charismatic actress (like Rita Hayworth) this would be a lot more remembered. As a funny aside, the Spanish title of the movie is Maldita Mujer [Accursed Woman]. In the context of how the plot unfolds, that's sort of like renaming The Usual Suspects as The Evil Cripple.

Ezee E

01-04-2010, 06:44 PM

Why does Milla Jovovich pick such bad movies to be in?

Ezee E

01-04-2010, 06:48 PM

Why does Milla Jovovich pick such bad movies to be in?
Since 2000, every movie she's been in is complete garbage.

Bah!

Rowland

01-04-2010, 06:59 PM

Since 2000, every movie she's been in is complete garbage.

Bah!Is that including 2000? Because I rather liked Winterbottom's The Claim.

D_Davis

01-04-2010, 08:02 PM

Why does Milla Jovovich pick such bad movies to be in?

Because she's a terrible actress.

Sycophant

01-04-2010, 08:53 PM

I watched Orphan last night, and I'm reasonably sure it's the worst film I've seen from 2009. Farminga and Sarsgaard (actors who are usually pretty reliable) embarrassed themselves with this cheap, sensationalist, exploitative tripe. Fake scares abound and the film subscribes to a retarded brand of Hollywood justice. The cinematography was moodily lit, making every shot from the very beginning scream "horror movie," but the framing was almost uniformly boring and obvious. The dialogue is chock full of hysterics and no case is ever made for any of the numerous very-stupid characters' very-stupid actions. At the end, you're just wondering if they're gonna buck trend and let characters die that you don't expect or suffer characters to live that you don't expect; they don't.

The "twist" wasn't ludicrous enough in execution to be entertaining; it sounds better on paper.

It's a miserable, wretched movie and I hate it.

Joshua this film ain't.

soitgoes...

01-04-2010, 09:37 PM

Kurosawa Fan

01-04-2010, 09:48 PM

Sycophant should hate films more often. That was an entertaining read.

Spun Lepton

01-04-2010, 09:59 PM

The cinematography was moodily lit, making every shot from the very beginning scream "horror movie," but the framing was almost uniformly boring and obvious.

I haven't seen Orphan, nor do I plan to. I know the twist, and that was enough to keep me from bothering.

However, your quote above makes me what to ask how framing can be "obvious"? No depth? No reveals? 'Splain.

lovejuice

01-04-2010, 10:22 PM

I haven't seen Orphan, nor do I plan to. I know the twist, and that was enough to keep me from bothering.
oh, try me. i love reading bad twist.

Sycophant

01-04-2010, 10:25 PM

However, your quote above makes me what to ask how framing can be "obvious"? No depth? No reveals? 'Splain.

First, it's uninspired. Bland and inexpressive no-brainers for the most part. Second, practically every shot (including the ones that seem designed to scare us or create suspense) from its first frame signals exactly what's going to happen in that frame. The same basic devices are reused ad nauseum. Really, it fits with the rest of the movie's elements, though, telegraphing everything that's going to happen before it does and just making the audience sit through what the film has to do to go through the motions.

Spun Lepton

01-04-2010, 10:32 PM

oh, try me. i love reading bad twist.

The "orphan" is a crooked 30 year old woman with a disease that makes her look 12.

Sycophant

01-04-2010, 10:32 PM

oh, try me. i love reading bad twist.

Instead of being an evil, murdering child, it's an evil, murdering, severely disturbed, 33-year-old proportional dwarf who wants to have sex with the men who adopt her.

Spun Lepton

01-04-2010, 10:44 PM

First, it's uninspired. Bland and inexpressive no-brainers for the most part. Second, practically every shot (including the ones that seem designed to scare us or create suspense) from its first frame signals exactly what's going to happen in that frame. The same basic devices are reused ad nauseum. Really, it fits with the rest of the movie's elements, though, telegraphing everything that's going to happen before it does and just making the audience sit through what the film has to do to go through the motions.

Ah, yeah. This kind of framing was rampant in a lot of the F13th movies. They frame up somebody frantically trying to start a car and they'll have left enough room to see the entire dirver's side window, and you know Jason's going to bust through it several seconds before he actually does.

I've always thought one neat way of messing with the audience would be to frequently frame things this way, even when nothing is going to jump out. Frame the lead standing next to a half-open door, but dedicate a lot of the frame to the door itself ... but nothing happens. Frame the lead inside their car with the entire driver's side window there ... but nothing happens. Put the audience on-guard the entire time and only pay it off occasionally.

EvilShoe

01-04-2010, 10:47 PM

I like Sycophant's summary of the twist best.
Sorry Spun.

Spun Lepton

01-04-2010, 10:50 PM

I like Sycophant's summary of the twist best.
Sorry Spun.

:lol: No need to apologize. He did, after all, see the movie. :D

Sycophant

01-04-2010, 11:04 PM

I've always thought one neat way of messing with the audience would be to frequently frame things this way, even when nothing is going to jump out. Frame the lead standing next to a half-open door, but dedicate a lot of the frame to the door itself ... but nothing happens. Frame the lead inside their car with the entire driver's side window there ... but nothing happens. Put the audience on-guard the entire time and only pay it off occasionally.

Orphan actually does a handful of these in its first act. Though every instance I can think of now was later repeated and paid off. It also does a lot of someone's-watching-you fake-outs.

I do believe that these techniques could be accomplished artfully, though. Because these were in Orphan, they were done here artlessly, as is the order of the day.

MadMan

01-04-2010, 11:09 PM

So The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was quite the movie - and a great BluRay viewing to boot.

Rich, complex characters, and visually stunning. Dominik's eye for lighting, composition and then editing remind me of the perfectionism found in the best Kubrick or Malick films.

The film is also strikingly somber throughout, with a final act that's tear-inducing.

A remarkable movie. I'm sad I put it off so long, but happy Jen and I finally got to it.Fantastic movie, and both Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt are brilliant in it. Included on my Top 20 Westerns of All Time, which will be posted when ever the hell I get around to writing commentary. So um, never :P

I don't know why I've ignored Whit Stillman till just recently. The other night I watched Last Days of Disco on Sven's recommendation. It's exactly the kind of talky, upper-middle-class New Yorker human comedy/drama that I really adore. Incredible soundtrack, too. Gonna watch Metropolitan promptly.I have that movie currently on my Netflix queue. Ever since I saw a copy of it at Barnes and Noble, I've been interested in watching it.

D_Davis

01-04-2010, 11:19 PM

Instead of being an evil, murdering child, it's an evil, murdering, severely disturbed, 33-year-old proportional dwarf who wants to have sex with the men who adopt her.

That's hot. I can't even count how many fetishes that fulfills.

soitgoes...

01-04-2010, 11:21 PM

That's hot. I can't even count how many fetishes that fulfills.She also has jagged yellow-brown teeth!

D_Davis

01-04-2010, 11:21 PM

She also has jagged yellow-brown teeth!

OMG. Sexual jackpot.

D_Davis

01-04-2010, 11:25 PM

If you tell me she has webbed feet I'm buying the DVD.

soitgoes...

01-04-2010, 11:27 PM

If you tell me she has webbed feet I'm buying the DVD.Woah. Maybe you should take it easy there. This is Hollywood. There's limits!

megladon8

01-04-2010, 11:41 PM

For some reason this conversation has reminded me of the exchange in "Sealab 2021" where Murphy gets Veerjay to try a philly cheese steak for the first time.

MURPHY: Now if that isn't the best damn thing you ever shoved in your curry hole?

VEERJAY: It's like there's a party in my mouth and everyone's inv-

MURPHY: Whoa! Take it easy, man!

Ezee E

01-05-2010, 12:21 AM

Because she's a terrible actress.
I've liked her roles in Dummy (a great deal here) and The Messenger.

Dead & Messed Up

01-05-2010, 12:43 AM

I found Milla and her bodice acceptable in The Fifth Element.

Spun Lepton

01-05-2010, 01:32 AM

I don't have a problem with Milla. I also liked her ... and her outfit ... in The Fifth Element, even though the movie itself leaves me a little flat.

On the Josh Hartnett Scale, 10 being Not At All As Bad as Josh Hartnett and 1 being Josh Hartnett, I'd probably throw her in around 8.

Qrazy

01-05-2010, 02:45 AM

She's also good in Dazed and Confused. I may be watching Chaplin soon, I'll report back as to how good she is in that.

Derek

01-05-2010, 03:51 AM

She's also good in Dazed and Confused.

True, though having about two lines in the whole movie and mostly standing around in the background like a hippie do wonders to help the cause. Say what you will about Linklater, he's always gotten great performances from the unlikeliest of places (Milla, Affleck and McConaughey in this film alone).

B-side

01-05-2010, 03:56 AM

So I've been watching some Kenneth Anger lately. Pretty wacky dude. I have Eaux d'Artifice and Scorpio Rising to watch next.

Grouchy

01-05-2010, 06:36 AM

Just seen Run Fatboy Run on TV. Huh... Ok? I only watched it because of Simon Pegg.

The fact that I now have DirectTV with a TiVo-like system makes me watch shit I wouldn't have even considered before. I basically just scan the HD channels and tape everything I haven't seen. I'm even considering taping Twilight.

lovejuice

01-05-2010, 06:49 AM

that twist for orphan doesn't sound half bad. if handled right, that is.

Adam

01-05-2010, 07:59 AM

Say what you will about Linklater, he's always gotten great performances from the unlikeliest of places (Milla, Affleck and McConaughey in this film alone).

I honestly feel like McConaughey is this secretly capable comic character actor. If he had smoked less pot and made better choices after Dazed & Confused and Lone Star and whatnot, he probably could have become like a low-rent Brad Pitt. I was almost completely indifferent to Tropic Thunder, but ridiculously, I thought McConaughey had some of the best, subtly funny moments in that piece

soitgoes...

01-05-2010, 10:25 AM

The fact that Leni Riefenstahl cast herself as a nude dancer at the beginning of Olympia only proves that today's directors just aren't as dedicated to the art of film as their predecessors were.

B-side

01-05-2010, 10:29 AM

The fact that Leni Riefenstahl cast herself as a nude dancer at the beginning of Olympia only proves that today's directors just aren't as dedicated to the art of film as their predecessors were.

Absolutely.

Apparently I need to see some Riefenstahl, eh?:lol:

soitgoes...

01-05-2010, 10:32 AM

Absolutely.

Apparently I need to see some Riefenstahl, eh?:lol:
About an hour into it, and it is a beautiful film. There's no real hint of propaganda. Probably less than a NBC broadcast today. I really like ToW too, fascism be damned. She's exceptional at composing shots.

Oh yeah, and she was pretty hot to boot. ;)

B-side

01-05-2010, 10:33 AM

About an hour into it, and it is a beautiful film. There's no real hint of propaganda. Probably less than a NBC broadcast today. I really like ToW too, fascism be damned. She's exceptional at composing shots.

Oh yeah, and she was pretty hot to boot. ;)

I have Triumph of the Will already downloaded. I may just watch that here momentarily.

B-side

01-05-2010, 10:37 AM

soitgoes...

01-05-2010, 10:40 AM

I'm still not sure how I feel about De Palma. I haven't loved anything I've seen from him. I don't think I'm capable of loving his brand of self-serious camp. He's got good ideas, just doesn't seem to execute them all that well.I kinda agree. I think I may like him a little more than you, but I've never been blown away. He does have his fans around here.

Boner M

01-05-2010, 10:43 AM

B-side

01-05-2010, 10:43 AM

I kinda agree. I think I may like him a little more than you, but I've never been blown away. He does have his fans around here.

I even mildly enjoyed The Black Dahlia. It's as if his films are constantly on the precipice of being great or awful and they can't seem to be pushed in either direction.

B-side

01-05-2010, 10:45 AM

I'm pretty certain you'll love Hi Mom!

Yeah, I've been glancing at that one. I'll make it my next De Palma and we'll see how I feel after that.

B-side

01-05-2010, 02:11 PM

Dillard

01-05-2010, 10:32 PM

The Host - Bong (2006) Really strange mix of moods, great music, loved the slacker dad character, sad to see Grandpa go so soon, too many slow parts to the movie - 5.5/10

Summer Hours - Assayas (2008) Great characters and character interactions, refuses to settle for cliche conflicts, wonderful scene with the nurse looking in on the emptied out country estate with the camera shooting from inside, loved the ending - 9

Up in the Air - Reitman (2009) Clooney's very good at characters like these, actresses shine as well, dialogue snappy in parts, the fired employee interviews were the highlight, going to win a lot of Oscars for its subject matter, glad for the lack of a "happy" ending. On the other hand, it ain't great - the direction isn't wonderful, some of the dialogue grows tiresome. Overall - 6.5

Fezzik

01-06-2010, 02:16 AM

So, random question.

How do you guys see so many movies? Do you pay for them all? Have a contact at the theater? Are you accredited press and get in for free?

I am noticing that if I want to keep up with the films as they are released, I'm going to go broke. That's no way to try to fuel a hobby. I need my money for other things.

(I'm asking because I'm about to relaunch my movie blog, so waiting for DVD isn't always a viable option).

Ezee E

01-06-2010, 02:32 AM

Netflix. Matinees. Film Festivals.

Netflix has everything I could want, and if I miss out on it when it's released, I'll rent it for $1 from a redbox.

The AMC theaters are $6 if you go before 2 PM or so. There won't be any silly people either, and you get to have the day when you get out.

Film festivals will usually get me to the foreign movies that I had intended to see. I volunteer at Telluride, and get to see nothing but North American premieres (in most cases). This year I got to see A Prophet, Up in the Air, The Last Station, My Son My Son What Have Ye Done, Fish Tank, The Road, An Education, and probably a couple more. All for free.

Fezzik

01-06-2010, 04:40 AM

I have Netflix, but I usually cant wait for a film to be on DVD to write a review for the site.

There aren't any film festivals within driving distance from here (I live in Tallahassee, FL)

and I work till 5pm, so no pre 2pm movies for me :D

When I can, I like going pre-noon on Weekends. Thats when the tickets are cheapest, but its also when i seem to be in the worst frame of mind to see a movie. Double edged sword :D

soitgoes...

01-06-2010, 04:56 AM

Well depending on your morals, the internet can be an awfully friendly place to be a film lover.

EyesWideOpen

01-06-2010, 05:52 AM

Summer Hours - Assayas (2008) Great characters and character interactions, refuses to settle for cliche conflicts, wonderful scene with the nurse looking in on the emptied out country estate with the camera shooting from inside, loved the ending - 9

The scene with the housekeeper and her son where she tells him why she picked the vase to take is my favorite in the film.

ledfloyd

01-06-2010, 11:24 AM

Esther Kahn is definitely my least favorite of the three Desplechin films i've seen.

Sven

01-06-2010, 12:24 PM

Watched Play Time for the 2nd time. Hard not to be bewildered by the time, effort and money that went into it. Lot easier to not be when it comes to what's actually on screen.

Full thoughts in the blog.;)

Sprinkled throughout are bits of Keaton and Chaplin-esque humor that elevate the material above cold observation, and one can’t help but wish there were more.

Ummm... one actually CAN help it. Because I am one. And I cannot say that I wished this.

You find yourself waiting for the amusing Hulot to stumble his way on screen and make everything a bit more enjoyable.

This is wrong: I don't find myself waiting.

Sorry for being such a downer. I'm kind of grumpy, and I never respond well to a writer trying to tell me how I feel. I'm glad you like the movie though.

B-side

01-06-2010, 01:40 PM

Ummm... one actually CAN help it. Because I am one. And I cannot say that I wished this.

This is wrong: I don't find myself waiting.

Sorry for being such a downer. I'm kind of grumpy, and I never respond well to a writer trying to tell me how I feel. I'm glad you like the movie though.

I'm not speaking for the reader. I guess I could've just kept using "I" in place of those words, but that'd get kind of redundant after a while.

Sven

01-06-2010, 01:47 PM

I'm not speaking for the reader. I guess I could've just kept using "I" in place of those words, but that'd get kind of redundant after a while.

It's SO much better than unintentionally deflecting what is yours onto the reader. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it, but I find it almost insulting. It's like reviewers who say "You will like this movie because..." or "If you like A, then you'll love B." ARGH! Don't tell me who I am. Is this in my pet peeves thread? It should be if it is not.

I am usually very impressed with your thoughts, so let's do move on. Sorry for my less than amicable self this morning.

B-side

01-06-2010, 01:57 PM

So, Carl Dreyer. Interesting guy, eh? Rosenbaum claims he wasn't even particularly religious. Day of Wrath is quite good. Moody, darkly lit interiors. Hypocrisy. Religious oppression breeding the "witches" they so seek to persecute. Good stuff. Hoping Ordet is even better. In the meantime, screencap extravaganza!

http://i46.tinypic.com/2jeu2d4.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/2m3hc11.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/2hd09rk.jpg

http://i49.tinypic.com/1zlf6ki.jpg

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http://i48.tinypic.com/13zai68.jpg

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http://i47.tinypic.com/ve43g6.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/30x7tqc.jpg

http://i48.tinypic.com/143qrg7.jpg

http://i50.tinypic.com/2mxeqs5.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/106d288.jpg

http://i46.tinypic.com/2whp3y1.jpg

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http://i47.tinypic.com/2vt37ns.jpg

http://i47.tinypic.com/10dgpe1.jpg

http://i45.tinypic.com/21kbaxw.jpg

B-side

01-06-2010, 01:59 PM

It's SO much better than unintentionally deflecting what is yours onto the reader. Maybe I'm just sensitive to it, but I find it almost insulting. It's like reviewers who say "You will like this movie because..." or "If you like A, then you'll love B." ARGH! Don't tell me who I am. Is this in my pet peeves thread? It should be if it is not.

I am usually very impressed with your thoughts, so let's do move on. Sorry for my less than amicable self this morning.

I wasn't aware anyone took it this way. Hmm. I'll try and avoid it in the future.

Impressed with my thoughts? You flatter me, sir. Must be some sort of drug you're taking.:lol:

Honestly, though, I absolutely appreciate anyone taking the time to read my write-ups, let alone praise them to any varying degree, so thank you.:)

B-side

01-06-2010, 02:04 PM

Upcoming Criterions:

http://criterion_images.s3.amazonaws. com/current/current_wackynewyear.jpg

balmakboor

01-06-2010, 02:23 PM

B-side

01-06-2010, 02:26 PM

You find a LOT of time to watch movies. What do you do when not watching movies?

Sleep and browse MC and RT. I'm unemployed and not going to school. In other words, I'm living the good life. And by good life, I mean I fill the void in me with foreign films.

balmakboor

01-06-2010, 02:45 PM

Sleep and browse MC and RT. I'm unemployed and not going to school. In other words, I'm living the good life. And by good life, I mean I fill the void in me with foreign films.

You should start a local film society or something. You're in a perfect position to turn your movie passions into something.

Something about "Up in the Air" that I really identified with was the concept of baggage. (I know you didn't like the movie much.) I have so much baggage with wife and kids and pets and a mortgage and car payments and other debts and a job I hate that I have to keep because of all of the above that it is really hard for me to follow dreams like writing novels and screenplays. (I'm still working at it though.)

You're in a perfect position to do anything you want. I envy you in a way.

B-side

01-06-2010, 02:49 PM

You should start a local film society or something. You're in a perfect position to turn your movie passions into something.

Something about "Up in the Air" that I really identified with was the concept of baggage. (I know you didn't like the movie much.) I have so much baggage with wife and kids and pets and a mortgage and car payments and other debts and a job I hate that I have to keep because of all of the above that it is really hard for me to follow dreams like writing novels and screenplays. (I'm still working at it though.)

You're in a perfect position to do anything you want. I envy you in a way.

There are a few movie-going clubs about 45 mins from here, but they're not film buffs like me, they just like going to the theater a lot. I'm just gonna have to start hanging around the Criterion section of the closest Barnes & Noble and hope someone comes around.:P

I'm terrified of being in your situation, which is probably why I'm still stuck where I am. Not to make your life sound miserable. It's just not for everyone, y'know? I'm not even sure I want a kid. As long as you're still following your dreams, then I suppose it should be me envying you for doing so.

balmakboor

01-06-2010, 02:53 PM

There are a few movie-going clubs about 45 mins from here, but they're not film buffs like me, they just like going to the theater a lot. I'm just gonna have to start hanging around the Criterion section of the closest Barnes & Noble and hope someone comes around.:P

I'm terrified of being in your situation, which is probably why I'm still stuck where I am. Not to make your life sound miserable. It's just not for everyone, y'know? I'm not even sure I want a kid. As long as you're still following your dreams, then I suppose it should be me envying you for doing so.

This is basically why I really liked "Up in the Air." It views "baggage" as being both a positive thing and a very confining thing which fits reality so completely.

balmakboor

01-06-2010, 02:57 PM

I'm also especially in tune to this this morning. Last night I wanted to carve out a little time to re-watch Anvil! because I need to have a review written for the paper by this weekend. But, my 8th grader is failing algebra so I spent the evening working on that with her instead. I'll probably be spending a lot of evenings for a while on that until she's, you know, no longer failing algebra.

Dillard

01-06-2010, 03:41 PM

The scene with the housekeeper and her son where she tells him why she picked the vase to take is my favorite in the film.
Yeah, that's another good one.

Question for you Assayas buffs: does he have any other films like Summer Hours in terms of being character-focused with a nostalgic mood? I'm guessing Boarding Gate and Demonlover don't fit the bill, eh? Maybe something earlier on?

number8

01-06-2010, 03:45 PM

The museum scene almost made me cry, actually.

D_Davis

01-06-2010, 03:55 PM

Upcoming Criterions:

http://criterion_images.s3.amazonaws. com/current/current_wackynewyear.jpg

So we've got:

The Big Baby Standing Over a Feather
The Samurai and the Ballerina
Old Slutty Girl With a Gun
The Blue Cheetah Laying on the Ground
Hotel Sign
The Motorcycle, The Devil, and a Dude in a Tweed Jacket With a Pot of Flowers
That Dude From That Daft Punk Video
Axe Stuck in Stump
Crazy Road Sign
Thing on the Ground
Poorly Drawn Sun in the Sky

Man, they're getting really esoteric with their new releases.

Sven

01-06-2010, 04:06 PM

Well, all the blue stuff I take it means it will be a Blu Ray release, such as M, The Leopard, and Dog Star Man. Obnoxious diagram.

number8

01-06-2010, 04:10 PM

Reminds me of that Empire 50 horror movies painting. Pretty silly.

Dukefrukem

01-06-2010, 04:19 PM

Well depending on your morals, the internet can be an awfully friendly place to be a film lover.

This.

number8

01-06-2010, 04:23 PM

No. If you can't wait until DVD, unless there's a workprint leak, the only torrents you'll find are theater recordings. In which case, if you watch those, you are not a film lover.

Dukefrukem

01-06-2010, 04:36 PM

the only torrents you'll find are theater recordings.

False.

Raiders

01-06-2010, 04:45 PM

I'll guess Red Desert might be another upcoming Criterion. I also was thinking of Kiarostami's Close-up and I guess Ang Lee's Ride With the Devil? Also, definitely Rossellini's War Trilogy on those sign posts.

Ezee E

01-06-2010, 05:05 PM

Che's been released hasn't it? Or is it just on Instant Watch?

Also, Honey I Blew Up The Baby.

Fezzik

01-06-2010, 06:38 PM

False.

While Duke is right (Ive seen non-theater recordings on torrents) there is rarely, if ever, any way to tell what you're getting.

The "DVD rips" that are advertised as such in the file name rarely are actual DVD rips.

It's annoying.

number8

01-06-2010, 06:40 PM

And if there's no leak, how pray tell, could there be torrents that aren't recordings?

Dukefrukem

01-06-2010, 06:49 PM

And if there's no leak, how pray tell, could there be torrents that aren't recordings?

DVD-Screeners. Wait until the oscar nominations and they'll pour out.

Qrazy

01-06-2010, 06:50 PM

The turn around for DVD is so quick these days anyway and there are so many movies worth seeing that there's really no need to blow hundreds of dollars on films in the theater. Unless you're a journalist just see the films you really want to see in the theater.

number8

01-06-2010, 06:55 PM

DVD-Screeners. Wait until the oscar nominations and they'll pour out.

So if it's a Summer movie, you either wait 2 months to rent the DVD or the end of the year to download a screener. Nice.

Dukefrukem

01-06-2010, 06:56 PM

So if it's a Summer movie, you either wait 2 months to rent the DVD or the end of the year to download a screener. Nice.

That was just an example.

balmakboor

01-06-2010, 07:17 PM

These days with digital projection you're often just watching a dvd on a huge, very expensive home theater system when you go to the theater. I know that what our film society usually gets sent is dvds. Last season, the projectionist screwed up during a screening and hit pause somehow. We had like 150 people sitting there looking at a freeze frame with the tell-tale pause symbol in the upper left corner for almost two minutes. The prior season, you could see him cycling through the subtitle options trying to find English during the screening.

So, if theaters are just getting a digital copy of the movie on disk, the projectionist or theater owner is just one quick step away from posting the movie on a torrent.

MadMan

01-06-2010, 07:28 PM

Currently I work at a movie theater, but I find myself still using Netflix a lot. In the end, I've always rented movies, and just only saw the ones I really wanted to watch in the theater. Or the ones that I let myself get dragged to by friends (like Notourious this year, although I went willingly to the Friday the 13th remake).

And even though I work at a movie theater, I don't have time to see everything they have there. Plus most of it isn't worth my time.

Dukefrukem

01-06-2010, 07:33 PM

worth watching! (http://www.boingboing.net/2010/01/06/alma-animated-short.html?utm_source=feedburn er&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+boingboing/iBag+(Boing+Boing)&utm_content=Google+Reader)

Rowland

01-06-2010, 10:10 PM

The Headless Woman (Martel, 2009) **½

Primarily an exercise in subjectivism, and a reasonably compelling one at that for its first half, given the unfolding details of the protag's personal/socioeconomic milieu that successfully reflects her own disorientation coupled with the mysterious nature of the car accident that lends the proceedings some much-needed suspense, as well as Martel's use of shallow focus, close-ups, destabilizing compositions, and fragmentary editing to keep the viewer in a state of dislocation. By the second half however, I found my patience tested as the narrative trailed off, the characters/situations became virtually interchangeable, and the suspense related to the prologue essentially dissipated. In retrospect, it occurs to me that this was itself likely an intended and thus successfully conveyed subjective response given the thematic suggestion that the protag's life after the accident was no different than before or upon regaining her memory, in that her existence is defined primarily by a sort of free-floating inertia, and that she is essentially oblivious, whether consciously or not, to the machinations that keep her happily buffered within her upper class strata, an idea solidified by a final twist revealing that she has been let off the hook without even being aware. In the end however, I found the film successfully distancing to a fault, especially as it left me increasingly ambivalent as it progressed, so that I find it easier to respect than to like, and more interesting to ponder in retrospect than to actively watch.