28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[hey it's ethan]

Fantastic film.
MacGruber?

j/k I like both

[transmogrifier]

Videodrome - 76

Beautifully, perversely prescient, a gorgeously rendered nightmare of media-fueled and generated paranoia. Takes a while to really coalesce into a fully engaging whole, but once it does, it shoots for the moon and hits, repeatedly. Great stuff.

[B-side]

Videodrome - 76

Beautifully, perversely prescient, a beautifully rendered nightmare of media-fueled and generated paranoia. Takes a while to really coalesce into a fully engaging whole, but once it does, it shoots for the moon and hits, repeatedly. Great stuff.

Pretty much.

[MadMan]

Long Live The New Flesh!

Videodrome is amazing, and contains my favorite James Woods performance.

[transmogrifier]

Videodrome is ridiculously bad to the point of being insulting. The other one was shoddy in that it failed to affect; it was blandness served at a distance for me.


:pritch:

You boys got some 'splaining to do.

[Boner M]

Gotta have my bowl, gotta have cereal.

Saló
The Shootist
World on a Wire
Landscape Suicide
North by Northwest (rpt, cinema)

[soitgoes...]

Scarecrow
The King of Marvin Gardens
The Fury
Black Sunday
Pat Garret & Billy the Kid
The Getaway

[Boner M]

Scarecrow
The King of Marvin Gardens
The Fury
Black Sunday
Pat Garret & Billy the Kid
The Getaway
If you actually watch these movies, you'll realise they're really boring, cos you've already seen The Matrix.

[Mara]

I just saw Frears' The Queen and I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I thought. It's possible I just have a weakness for understated films where stoic people have conversations, but I'm glad they didn't build to a giant emotional catharsis, but let the story play out with restraint.

[Raiders]

I just saw Frears' The Queen and I have to say, I enjoyed it more than I thought. It's possible I just have a weakness for understated films where stoic people have conversations, but I'm glad they didn't build to a giant emotional catharsis, but let the story play out with restraint.

I loved it. I may have been just about the only one here, but I thought it was damn near perfectly acted and executed. I don't care much for Morgan as a writer, but he captured the differing perspectives and torn emotions well and Frears is always a competent craftsman.

[Mara]

I loved it. I may have been just about the only one here, but I thought it was damn near perfectly acted and executed. I don't care much for Morgan as a writer, but he captured the differing perspectives and torn emotions well and Frears is always a competent craftsman.

I was surprised that the script didn't really take sides, either for or against Diana, for or against the monarchy, for or against Tony Blair. Every character has strengths and weaknesses, and are both frustrating and (to an extent) sympathetic.

I sort of feel like rewinding a generation and watching The King's Speech, now. The references to the abdication and QEII's father were intriguing.

[Mara]

Also, those scenes at Balmoral (or wherever it was shot) were visually stunning.

[Wryan]

I liked The Queen a lot too, just didn't comment much on it at the time.

[dreamdead]

Cult Weekend:

Enter the Void
Burlesque

[Wryan]

Looking back, Buzz Lightyear flying at the end of Toy Story is pretty inexcusable.

[hey it's ethan]

The weekend:
Time of the Wolf
13 Assassins
The High Cost of Living (Canadian movie I'm required to see)
Fast Five

[Mara]

Looking back, Buzz Lightyear flying at the end of Toy Story is pretty inexcusable.

He wasn't flying! He was falling! With style!

[Qrazy]

Looking back, Buzz Lightyear flying at the end of Toy Story is pretty inexcusable.

Gliding bro.

[MadMan]

Weekend:

*Raw Meat (1972, or 73, or whatever)
*Anything else I particularly feel like watching. I did blind buy The Killer Inside Me from Blockbuster while it was closing, but if that movie's terrible hey I only payed $3.00. At some point I'll actually bother finishing Youth Without Youth. The first 20 minutes actually put me to sleep.

[Spun Lepton]

Weekend:

*Raw Meat (1972, or 73, or whatever)
*Anything else I particularly feel like watching. I did blind buy The Killer Inside Me from Blockbuster while it was closing, but if that movie's terrible hey I only payed $3.00. At some point I'll actually bother finishing Youth Without Youth. The first 20 minutes actually put me to sleep.

You keep saying you miss all these iconic horror flicks, and you turn around and watch that garbage? C'mon, MadMan.

I mean, c'mon.

C'MON!!!

[Raiders]

It's not iconic perhaps, but I've heard it from many people whom I trust that it is an excellent genre offering. I respect you Spun, but I think MadMan is making a wise choice.

Then again, who are we kidding, I bet he winds up not watching it out of laziness.

[Stay Puft]

weekend: In the process of moving and without my usual library of films to choose from so just whatever is playing at the theaters I suppose. Options include:

Incendies
Source Code
The Warring States (no idea what this is but it's a Chinese film that opened almost simultaneously in China and over here and does that usally happen? oh and it has Francis Ng)

edit - Oh and add Of Gods and Men to that list of options, I'm interested in that one as well.

[Sycophant]

I loved it. I may have been just about the only one here, but I thought it was damn near perfectly acted and executed. I don't care much for Morgan as a writer, but he captured the differing perspectives and torn emotions well and Frears is always a competent craftsman.

I, too, thought it was fantastic.

[Rowland]

Raw Meat was one of my best discoveries during my October Horror thread last year, it's very worthwhile.

[MadMan]

It's not iconic perhaps, but I've heard it from many people whom I trust that it is an excellent genre offering. I respect you Spun, but I think MadMan is making a wise choice.

Then again, who are we kidding, I bet he winds up not watching it out of laziness.:lol: :sad: :P


You keep saying you miss all these iconic horror flicks, and you turn around and watch that garbage? C'mon, MadMan.

I mean, c'mon.

C'MON!!!Hey now, I've got a Top 50 Horror Movies list already drawn up, and I've seen plenty of iconic horror movies. Besides, I often treasure the ones that I haven't heard too much about that turn out to be enjoyable and or good. Like last week with Strange Behavior.

I should go back through Rowland's October Horror thread.

Hey number8, I forgot to bookmark your one blog entry about overlooked 2010 movies. I was especially interested in it because Get Low was on there, and I thought it looked really good.

[Spun Lepton]

Raw Meat was one of my best discoveries during my October Horror thread last year, it's very worthwhile.

Nobody takes issue that the film spends SO MUCH time with Donald Pleasance and in the end he has no effect on the story?

[Derek]

Nobody takes issue that the film spends SO MUCH time with Donald Pleasance and in the end he has no effect on the story?

To be fair, I don't think anyone has ever successfully argued that a film should have less Donald Pleasance in it.

[Wryan]

Gliding bro.

On thin hard-plastic wings....mmhmm. Always stuck out for me, but I just look past it cause it's such a good movie otherwise. But it doesn't fit into the rest of the movie at all, I think, which is more grounded in their toy reality.

EDIT: Yes this is a movie about toys that come alive, I know.

[Qrazy]

On thin hard-plastic wings....mmhmm. Always stuck out for me, but I just look past it cause it's such a good movie otherwise. But it doesn't fit into the rest of the movie at all, I think, which is more grounded in their toy reality.

EDIT: Yes this is a movie about toys that come alive, I know.

The entire series plays fairly fast and loose with toy material/weight/physics in general I'd say. For example the Woody kite stuff in TS3.

[balmakboor]

Everything I've ever heard about Raw Meat has been quite favorable. Been meaning to check it out myself.

[Stay Puft]

The first time Buzz flies or "falls with style" is already fairly preposterous.

Referring to the scene in Andy's room if that wasn't clear.

[DavidSeven]

Unstoppable. I was entertained, and Scott's aesthetic was surprisingly palatable. It's consistently solid, but never exceptional. There's also some really silly stuff here. For example, Frank's daughters are apparently cheer-leading Hooters' waitresses for no other reason than someone having watched too many Adam Sandler comedies recently. Did anyone else think that attempting to place that marine on the train by dropping him on a rope attached to a helicopter was like the most unnecessarily complicated way of accomplishing that goal? Also, why would Will's wife think it's OK to bring their child closer to the site of a potentially massive chemical explosion? Whatever. The movie was edited well.

[Ezee E]

Unstoppable. I was entertained, and Scott's aesthetic was surprisingly palatable. It's consistently solid, but never exceptional. There's also some really silly stuff here. For example, Frank's daughters are apparently cheer-leading Hooters' waitresses for no other reason than someone having watched too many Adam Sandler comedies recently. Did anyone else think that attempting to place that marine on the train by dropping him on a rope attached to a helicopter was like the most unnecessarily complicated way of accomplishing that goal? Also, why would Will's wife think it's OK to bring their child closer to the site of a potentially massive chemical explosion? Whatever. The movie was edited well.
Not sure, but it is based on a true story. From what I read, the only stuff different is that the news footage exaggerated the story/drama, and that no names were released publicly as to whose fault it was.

[DavidSeven]

Not sure, but it is based on a true story. From what I read, the only stuff different is that the news footage exaggerated the story/drama, and that no names were released publicly as to whose fault it was.

I'm going to assume everything that I pointed out as silly was completely made up for this film.

[hey it's ethan]

Glory was pretty much typical Zwick. Generically handsome production values, liberal white guilt with a touch of patronizing, predictable and shallow character arcs, etc.

[Derek]

Salo (Pasolini, 1975) ***½

Good man, good man.

[Spun Lepton]

To be fair, I don't think anyone has ever successfully argued that a film should have less Donald Pleasance in it.

Well, the sad fact is that Pleasance is the best thing going for the movie. Too bad his character is useless.

[Qrazy]

Glory was pretty much typical Zwick. Generically handsome production values, liberal white guilt with a touch of patronizing, predictable and shallow character arcs, etc.

Don't forget the generally terrible fucking filmmaking from the use of slo-mo to the melodramatic employment of the score, etc.

[Rowland]

Too bad his character is useless.Some may argue this is to an extent the point.

[Spun Lepton]

Some may argue this is to an extent the point.

In that case, perhaps the film should have been more about police incompetence instead of some dull creep living in the subway tunnels.

[transmogrifier]

Dead Ringers - 59

Starts off great, not as self-conciously chilly as it ultimately becomes, but kind of funny, kind of dirty. Opens itself up to be a great investigation into the nature of identity, both body and mind. But unfortunately it ends up devolving into my most hated of movies, "the psychological disintegration" that ends up driving the plot and reducing every thing to a parade of random events that are meant to illustrate a profound understanding of the nature of man, but instead is merely two crazy people acting crazy. Boring.

Jeremy Irons owns, though.

[Raiders]

Opens itself up to be a great investigation into the nature of identity, both body and mind.

Which is precisely what it ends up being too.


Jeremy Irons owns, though.

This is truth.

[B-side]

Good man, good man.

Indeed.

[transmogrifier]

Which is precisely what it ends up being too.


No, it's too frustrating for me to see a character lurch into psychosis and have them be our guide for the themes of the film. Too arbitrary, too easy. It can work if there is a specific cause for it and/or operates according to some logic (i.e. the genuinely intelligent Videodrome), or if it is used as part of a larger plot, around which our characters will interact.

I know I have a personal bias against this type of story-telling, but I can't help it. I genuinely cannot get interested in a movie that relies on psychological disease as the main driving force without context.

[Yxklyx]

Hope to get to watch:

Highlander
The Long Good Friday
Time Indefinite

[B-side]

Dead Ringers is (or used to be) one of my favorite films. I wonder what I'd think of it now.

[Boner M]

Dead Ringers is (or used to be) one of my favorite films. I wonder what I'd think of it now.
If you're still a sentient human being, you'd still think it's awesome.

[B-side]

If you're still a sentient human being, you'd still think it's awesome.


–adjective
1. having the power of perception by the senses; conscious.

Oooh. That last part may disqualify me.

[transmogrifier]

If you're still a sentient human being, you'd still think it's awesome.

The first half is, then it's just silly.

[Boner M]

Good man, good man.
It was a lot more nuanced than I expected, addressing a different kind of fascism in each of its three episodes (eg, it's only once you've assuaged yourself that the kids are just eating chocolate that Pasolini's attack on modern consumerism really hits home). The fact that it's eerily beautiful and sometimes farcical amidst all the bludgeoning only makes it more complicated to deal with. It's thrilling to watch such a ballsy, grand statement of a film, as problematic as it might ultimately be.

I've always liked Catherine Breillat's reason for including it on her awesome Sight and Sound top 10 (http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/poll/voter.php?forename=Catherine&surname=Breillat): "Because it's essential it exists and it's terrible to watch."

[Qrazy]

No, it's too frustrating for me to see a character lurch into psychosis and have them be our guide for the themes of the film. Too arbitrary, too easy. It can work if there is a specific cause for it and/or operates according to some logic (i.e. the genuinely intelligent Videodrome), or if it is used as part of a larger plot, around which our characters will interact.

I know I have a personal bias against this type of story-telling, but I can't help it. I genuinely cannot get interested in a movie that relies on psychological disease as the main driving force without context.

So do you not like The Trial or Taxi Driver? Are you just like... why is this crazy person doing all this crazy shit!!??

[transmogrifier]

So do you not like The Trial or Taxi Driver? Are you just like... why is this crazy person doing all this crazy shit!!??

Taxi Driver at least has the city acting as an outside influence on Bickle, and as such his psychological breakdown is firmly related to the external setting in which he resides at all times (and to my mind he still operates on some logical rules, although his frame of reference is skewed). Whereas in Dead Ringers, Bev goes crazy because of the interaction between himself, his brother and the girl, and then basically stays crazy, reacting to nothing but the own little voices in his head, which just deadens the film for me because from that point on, the character acts almost independently of anything else going around him. Now, no doubt this is true to life - there are many, many people who are off in their own world - but it is inert as drama.

I was cool on Black Swan because, although it was set in a context where the lead character could conceivably be consistently reacting to external stimuli, the film doesn't really set this up well, and mostly it just seems like a girl acting nuts. Again, true to life, but there's no focal point for me, the audience.

Hated The Piano Teacher for much the same reasons. Arbitrary self-destruction does not interest me.

Haven't seen The Trial, but I'll be sure to avoid it.

[Qrazy]

But it is inert as drama.


Not really the case, seems more so your problem is 'I don't think this way! I don't care about the way in which other people think, more movies where people think the way I do please.'

[dreamdead]

Burlesque is, unsurprisingly, devoid of originality, drawing on each cliche to fill in the basic template. And though Stanley Tucci offers good recovery of a gay caricature, I don't see how he and Cumming can be so sorely under-utilized. The obvious comment about Christina Aguilera's acting can be filled in, as her character is so empty (but good-hearted!) that her story has no emotional investment. Bah.

[Spun Lepton]

Burlesque is, unsurprisingly, devoid of originality, drawing on each cliche to fill in the basic template. And though Stanley Tucci offers good recovery of a gay caricature, I don't see how he and Cumming can be so sorely under-utilized. The obvious comment about Christina Aguilera's acting can be filled in, as her character is so empty (but good-hearted!) that her story has no emotional investment. Bah.

#1 mistake made by the studio/filmmakers for this was thinking anybody would see a PG-13 movie about a burlesque show, rather than JUST GOING TO SEE A BURLESQUE SHOW with ALL the inherent R-rated-ness right there on stage.

[hey it's ethan]

I'm assuming attending a Burlesque show is quite expensive.

[Spun Lepton]

I'm assuming attending a Burlesque show is quite expensive.

Nah, not really. There are a number of bulesque groups in Minneapolis, and they travel from club to club, so it's usually door price, or maybe a little more than door price.

[origami_mustache]

After watching Matthew Barney's five Cremaster films, I'm not convinced any of them are particularly good or well made films or performance art (whatever you want to call it), but they are just as bizarre and interesting as they are tedious. I suppose they would work better as museum installations as they were originally intended to be seen as.

[Derek]

After watching Matthew Barney's five Cremaster films, I'm not convinced any of them are particularly good or well made films or performance art (whatever you want to call it), but they are just as bizarre and interesting as they are tedious. I suppose they would work better as museum installations as they were originally intended to be seen as.

Cremaster 3 is brilliant. The rest I can take or leave.

[origami_mustache]

Cremaster 3 is brilliant. The rest I can take or leave.

I think 3 is the most interesting of all of them, but 5 worked best as a cohesive film for me.

[Spun Lepton]

After watching Matthew Barney's five Cremaster films, I'm not convinced any of them are particularly good or well made films or performance art (whatever you want to call it), but they are just as bizarre and (..) tedious.

Definitely avant garde/performance art.

:D

[Spaceman Spiff]

I was in the mood for some thick Nicolas Cage ham, so I'm going to watch Vampire's Kiss. Has anyone seen it?

[hey it's ethan]

I was in the mood for some thick Nicolas Cage ham, so I'm going to watch Vampire's Kiss. Has anyone seen it?
The movie itself isn't great but at various points I saw the same fire in the eyes of Nic Cage that I see in Klaus Kinski.

[transmogrifier]

Not really the case, seems more so your problem is 'I don't think this way! I don't care about the way in which other people think, more movies where people think the way I do please.'

I appreciate your attempt to take my opinion and totally reimagine it Hollywood-style to make it more understandable to yourself, but sorry, that's a bunch of bullshit.

[Ezee E]

I was in the mood for some thick Nicolas Cage ham, so I'm going to watch Vampire's Kiss. Has anyone seen it?
I still say that's the most "Nic Cage" out of all Nic Cage movies. And probably the most underseen, but for good reason. It also happens to be one of his favorite projects as I found out a couple years ago.

[Qrazy]

I appreciate your attempt to take my opinion and totally reimagine it Hollywood-style to make it more understandable to yourself, but sorry, that's a bunch of bullshit.

Just responding to your direct statement 'merely two crazy people acting crazy. Boring.' Which is kind of just insulting to mental illness and filmmaking interested abnormal psychology in general. It's clear you can not relate to mental illness and thus simply relegate the vast majority of it to the 'crazy' category.

[transmogrifier]

Just responding to your direct statement 'merely two crazy people acting crazy. Boring.' Which is kind of just insulting to mental illness and filmmaking interested abnormal psychology in general. It's clear you can not relate to mental illness and thus simply relegate the vast majority of it to the 'crazy' category.

Insulting to mental illness? Get off it. If the worth of something to you is directly related to how cinematic it is as a subject, then I guess you and I have totally different ways of assigning value or importance.

But seeing as I don't really think you believe that, it means that your response to me is just crap, a hollow response designed to express your dissatisfaction with my opinion about a few films, but devoid of true meaning.

So I'd rather you lay of the crappy psychoanalysis and rather explain to me HOW the films I mention do manage to capture your imagination.

I mean, mental illness is very often poorly used in movies, because it gives filmmakers almost unlimited scope to have their characters do whatever the hell they want under the guise of "mental illness". Now, as I have said repeatedly, there is nothing wrong with this in film EXCEPT when the entire film rests on this arbitrary foundation without any other anchoring factors.

It's like, imagine something like Twister. (Bear with me here). The weather is essentially unpredictable, and uncontrollable. In this respect, mental illness has some parallels. Now imagine in Twister if, when the tornadoes arrived, the main characters just sort of sat around, and some survived and some didn't. And then they waited for the next twister to come. Or imagine just following a twister around, randomly destroying property and hurting nameless, faceless people. Neither of those two scenarios are dramatically interesting to me. Too often, movies focusing on mental illness do versions of that. Dead Ringers; the two brothers just devolve into psychosis and we follow them around, as they damage themselves or others, but it is hollow and inert because of the insular way the movie presents it.

Now, I look forward to this reply from you:


Seems to me you want every movie to be Twister and are angry that Dead Ringers doesn't have a tornado

[EyesWideOpen]

"One of the most popular and endearing films produced in the 1990's is undeniably Benny & Joon."

I was just reading a Benny & Joon blu-ray review that started with this sentence.

[Mara]

"One of the most popular and endearing films produced in the 1990's is undeniably Benny & Joon."

I was just reading a Benny & Joon blu-ray review that started with this sentence.

I was fourteen when it came out and I thought it was so, so cool.

I very much doubt I would still think so.

[Mara]

The following year I was very infatuated with What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Wonder how that holds up.

[DavidSeven]

You guys following this story about Elvis Mitchell being fired from Movieline for his Source Code review?


A small section of Mitchell’s mostly negative review referred to a scene where a character smokes a pipe – a scene that happened to exist in early drafts of the movie’s screenplay, but which never made it onto the screen.

This prompted the following Tweet from Source Code director Duncan Jones:

"Find it odd Movieline chose to complain about Jeffrey Wright smoking a pipe, something in an old draft of the script thats not in the film."

[Kurosawa Fan]

Wow. So is the allegation that Mitchell reviewed the film without ever actually seeing it? Because, yeah, that's definitely a fireable offense.

[Raiders]

Other critics (well, at least David Edelstein) claim he was there and I believe he did have access to the earlier draft at some point. The overall opinion seems to be that throughout his career he has been pretty lax with deadlines and it seems equally likely that he simply made a mistake here. There is also the rumor that Movieline is looking to unload a lot of salary as they are downsizing.

[Ezee E]

The line:


it’s like he’s on a mission find the final digits of Pi. It’s up to Jeffrey Wright, as the administrator supervising the Source Code — the machine that keeps firing Colter back, back, back to the recent past — and his eccentric brio to keep the silliness from piling up like ash from his pipe.

So is there a pipe at all or no?

[DavidSeven]

The next line of the review is equally damaging: "That’s how you know this film is science fiction — someone is smoking indoors in the United States."

There's no pipe. I think it might be possible that he did actually attend the screening but wrote the review with the script as a reference point rather than his own notes. That's still sloppy, but not quite as damnable as writing a review for something he didn't see. Dude seems to have had problems at all of his major gigs.

[hey it's ethan]

I just like Mitchell for his mad dredz.

Anyway, speaking as someone who had never seen an entire Takashi Miike film before (I turned off Ichi The Killer because it was boring) I have to say that I was quite a fan of 13 Assassins. It took me awhile to realize how he was communicating his message through action, similar to Ridley Scott in Black Hawk Down. The final 40 minutes or so are a complete non-stop samurai-a-palooza which establish the themes of the idiocy of war and personal belief. While it lives up to Miike's gory reputation, he manages to show restraint at the right times as well as it use to craft stunning images. I now want to give his filmography another shot after initially writing him off.

[Winston*]

The next line of the review is equally damaging: "That’s how you know this film is science fiction — someone is smoking indoors in the United States."

It's also a really bad dumb line. People smoking indoors was prevalent in the past. Science fiction is about the future and whatnot.

[megladon8]

Regardless of whether or not he saw the film, or whether or not he was using the script as reference material...

I'd say it's pretty bad form to knock a movie for something that wasn't even in it.

I've always wanted to tell Wats that I hate The Lion King. Specifically that scene where Simba and Nala have dirty lion anal sex in the jungle. Yeah, yeah, that never happened and was never in an earlier draft, but the fact that it could have happened (and was therefore implied) is sickening.

Pure filth.

[Ezee E]

Disappointing regardless. He's one of the rare critics that can actually interview very well.

Reminds me of the filmsRpriceless age of RT.

[MadMan]

Disappointing regardless. He's one of the rare critics that can actually interview very well.

Reminds me of the filmsRpriceless age of RT.I was there when IC ran filmsRpriceless right off the boards. That thread was epic. Biggest scandal in the forum's history, really.

[Boner M]

Day of the Outlaw was a way more de-familiarised take on the western than I'd expected; practically McCabe and Mrs. Miller-like in its tangible rendering of a wintry landscape, and always ready to complicate our feelings for the ostensible heroes and villains within (Bruhn's operation - and the empathy towards his impending mortality that De Toth offers him during that scene - being a prime example). What's most interesting is how the conflict between Starett and Crane is eventually engulfed by the arrival of the Bruhn's gang, and how that plays out as a microcosm for how the broader forces of nature make inter-personal conflict subside in the fundamental need for survival. It's an awesomely physical film, with scenes of dancing, fighting, snow-trudging etc all given a tremendously discomfiting tactility that puts you right in the moment, whilst never losing sight of the story's morality play. Great stuff.

Also Robert Ryan is megacool and Tina Louise has an epic rack.

[Mara]

I was there when IC ran filmsRpriceless right off the boards. That thread was epic. Biggest scandal in the forum's history, really.

I don't remember that-- before or after my time. What happened?

[Ezee E]

I don't remember that-- before or after my time. What happened?
This was way back when I first started posting on message boards. Anyway, filmsRpriceless was a teenage movie brat who claimed to have seen a ridonkarous amount of movies by the age of 16. Many of which he wouldn't understand at the age. He also wrote full reviews for all the recent ones such as Irreversible, City of God, and the like.

Somebody found out that he was just plagiarizing reviews from another critic, called him out on it, and posted the examples. This led to a huge feud. Tears were shed, and we never heard from filmsRpriceless again.

[Russ]

I watched Disney's Song of the South for the first time in an eternity and found that I still admire it for the genuine and heartfelt message at the core of its otherwise paradoxical narrative. I hope that Disney soon rethinks its position on this film and releases it for a new generation to appreciate. Young kids today could certainly be captivated by the friendship between Uncle Remus and Johnny in advance of becoming aware of some of the more "whitewashed" aspects of the portrayal of life around the ol' plantation (and, with parental participation, it could help open young eyes with a gentle education as to the less-than-honest look at the depiction of slave life and, to complete the history lesson, why such an approach was taken back in the 1940s).

http://songofthesouthdvd.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/south2.jpg

Regardless of anyone's view of the film, there is no denying that James Baskett was terrific as Uncle Remus and well deserving of his "honorary" Oscar. Watashi, did you ever get around to seeing this?


http://img140.imageshack.us/img140/4403/south3mg7.jpg

[Mara]

Somebody found out that he was just plagiarizing reviews from another critic, called him out on it, and posted the examples. This led to a huge feud. Tears were shed, and we never heard from filmsRpriceless again.

Actually, that sounds familiar. I may have been around.

What do you want to bed filmsRpriceless came back under a different name and is among us even now?

[Ezee E]

Actually, that sounds familiar. I may have been around.

What do you want to bed filmsRpriceless came back under a different name and is among us even now?
y8Kyi0WNg40

[dmk]

I was in the mood for some thick Nicolas Cage ham, so I'm going to watch Vampire's Kiss. Has anyone seen it?
I'd say it's one of the best films ever made.


Day of the Outlaw was a way more de-familiarised take on the western than I'd expected; practically McCabe and Mrs. Miller-like in its tangible rendering of a wintry landscape, and always ready to complicate our feelings for the ostensible heroes and villains within (Bruhn's operation - and the empathy towards his impending mortality that De Toth offers him during that scene - being a prime example). What's most interesting is how the conflict between Starett and Crane is eventually engulfed by the arrival of the Bruhn's gang, and how that plays out as a microcosm for how the broader forces of nature make inter-personal conflict subside in the fundamental need for survival. It's an awesomely physical film, with scenes of dancing, fighting, snow-trudging etc all given a tremendously discomfiting tactility that puts you right in the moment, whilst never losing sight of the story's morality play. Great stuff.

Also Robert Ryan is megacool and Tina Louise has an epic rack.
Right on. Yeah, it’s one of those films where you say you hate westerns but you watch it and realise you don’t really. I wanted to cry when Helen tells Blaisse she doesn’t love him anymore in the first scene, because it’s without explanation. I thought I may have been watching something by Philippe Garrel. It makes you wish more films began at the end of something and just progressed into something one level above, into a mythic dimension, which it does, because there’s something very Dantesque about it. Based on three films, De Toth was obviously a very unique artist with a big heart. And he used to wear an eye patch, how cool is that?

[Boner M]

And he used to wear an eye patch, how cool is that?
Seems to be a badge of Hollywood honor: cf. Ford, Ray, Lang, Walsh.

[Winston*]

Watching Jurassic Park on TV. Holds up. I'm totally ready for a new one.

[Winston*]

Oh no the velociraptors are gonna get them!

[Winston*]

Thank God for the T-Rex! Phew.

[Winston*]

Awesome theme music.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm now ready for Winston*'s play-by-play of a new Jurassic Park.

[Qrazy]

But seeing as I don't really think you believe that, it means that your response to me is just crap, a hollow response designed to express your dissatisfaction with my opinion about a few films, but devoid of true meaning.

So I'd rather you lay of the crappy psychoanalysis and rather explain to me HOW the films I mention do manage to capture your imagination.


Not really, I'm not responding to your opinion in relation to a few films, I'm responding to your general outlook on this matter, which you've expressed quite a few times. Personally I think Dead Ringers is solid but I can take or leave Cronenberg in general. Either way it doesn't matter much to me that you don't like that particular film and I don't really care for The Piano Teacher but for other reasons than yours. What I'm dismissing as is inadequate are your frequent responses to movies where you state essentially 'OMG this person is acting crazy WTF! This is lazy filmmaking!'. Your twister example is a terrible comparison.

[transmogrifier]

Your twister example is a terrible comparison.

Because?

[Melville]

Because?
Mental disintegration/craziness/whatever isn't something that comes upon people from the outside world; it's a modification or breakdown of their mode of being in that world. An exploration of it is necessarily an exploration of the characters themselves, and potentially an exploration of what constitutes human experience in general. Though your twister movie could end up pretty awesome too. I'm thinking Bela Tarr should direct.

[Mysterious Dude]

I watched Taxi Driver in the theater tonight. I'm trying to come up with a defense for the last scene. The only thing I can think of is: society is just as sick as Travis is. I can believe that the media would consider him a hero. But that doesn't explain how his injuries have completely healed and his hair has grown back to its prior fullness. If Scorsese and Schrader had some kind of point, I wish they had emphasized it a little more. Maybe show a little of Travis' recovery, and how things got to be completely normal again.

[DavidSeven]

Wasn't it implied that there was some passage of time that accounted for his full recovery? I thought the reading of the letter conveyed this. Plus, I thought the idyllic nature of the last scene was supposed to be both unsettling and ambiguous, given how sharply it contrasted with what came before. I think the uncertainty surrounding that last scene is one of the best things about the film, if not the best. You can also just run with the interpretation that Travis completely imagined that last sequence.

[Mysterious Dude]

Wasn't it implied that there was some passage of time that accounted for his full recovery? I thought the reading of the letter conveyed this.I still think he would show a few more signs of his injuries than he does, no matter how much time has passed. And it's not just that he's recovered, it's that everything is back to normal.


Plus, I thought the idyllic nature of the last scene was supposed to be both unsettling and ambiguous, given how sharply it contrasted with what came before. I think the uncertainty surrounding that last scene is one of the best things about the film, if not the best.
"Corny," "silly," and "false" are the adjectives I would use. It's reminding me of the end of The Last Laugh ("...but the author took pity on him and has provided a quite improbable epilogue"). There's no part of it that I find believable.


You can also just run with the interpretation that Travis completely imagined that last sequence.I can't. If there had been some other dream sequences in the film, maybe I could. It seems very inconsistent to suddenly throw a dream sequence in at the end. And if it is a dream, it's not a very good one. Very un-dreamlike. Scorsese did much better dreams in Shutter Island.

[megladon8]

I think the "society is just as sick as Travis is" reading is correct.

[D_Davis]

If I don't go to NYU, I'm not getting a film degree and I'd probably not pursue the profession very seriously. I'd like to hope that I wouldn't need to go to a school to make it big in the business that speaks to me most, but...

We'll see.

Don't worry about it being a "profession."

Be a filmmaker. Make films - seriously and passionately.

[D_Davis]

So Salt was OK up until the last 3rd when there were about a trillion twists. Lame-o.

[Derek]

"Corny," "silly," and "false" are the adjectives I would use. It's reminding me of the end of The Last Laugh ("...but the author took pity on him and has provided a quite improbable epilogue"). There's no part of it that I find believable.

I don't think it's meant to be believable. I find it akin to the fake bird at the end of Blue Velvet in that it presents a veneer of normalcy that, at least to me, feels awkward and off-putting while acting as a jarring transition from what came before. Whether it's meant to represent how Travis or society processes his actions is less important than the fact that brutally violent and extreme actions coming about through such psychologically damaged and morally specious thinking are transformed into morally righteous heroism. It's not realistic, but it's incredibly effective.

[transmogrifier]

Mental disintegration/craziness/whatever isn't something that comes upon people from the outside world; it's a modification or breakdown of their mode of being in that world. An exploration of it is necessarily an exploration of the characters themselves, and potentially an exploration of what constitutes human experience in general. Though your twister movie could end up pretty awesome too. I'm thinking Bela Tarr should direct.

But in my analogy, the thing that "comes upon people from the outside world" is not mental illness as a concept, but a person who is mentally ill, affecting the people around him/her.

Tornadoes have causes, but on the surface, all you see is random destruction. In too many movies, that's all you see, the random destruction, and people just re-acting to it.

EDIT: Please don't make the same mistake as Qrazy and assume that because I am criticizing the way mental illness is used in movies that I am somehow insulting the mentally ill (!) or that I don't know what mental illness is.

[MadMan]

Really Blue Velvet, Strange Behavior, and Taxi Driver all seem to have last act similarities in common. The whole "Its perhaps a dream" theory may fit, but I reject it for all of them. With Blue Velvet there's a chance its a dream, but I think its more interesting to think of the rather dreamlike quality of the film's ending as Lynch conveying the uneasy fact that the peace of the main characters could be shattered at any moment. That it was in fact fleeting, really.

Strange Behavior, on the other hand makes me wonder if that was just a choice on the part of the director, or if indeed we were supposed to puzzle if maybe, just like Blue Velvet, the happiness would be temporary. After all, what about the rest of the brainwashed kids who committed murder? What if someone continues the experiments? Etc.

As for Taxi Driver, yeah I agree (for now, anyways-I've only seen the movie once) that it means society's as sick as Travis. After all, didn't that guy who shot 6 people on the subway in New York become something of a hero to people after wards? Despite the fact that he killed people? So I can buy that.

[soitgoes...]

Bruce Dern must have acted in half of the American films that were released during the 70's.

[soitgoes...]

Also in a non-Bruce Dern 70's film related post, The Fury's ending is beyond awesome. :lol:

[Boner M]

Also in a non-Bruce Dern 70's film related post, The Fury's ending is beyond awesome. :lol:
One of cinema's greatest meta-moments/statements-of-intent.

Reigning master of cine-artifice blows up the reigning master of emotional truth! Take that!

[Melville]

But in my analogy, the thing that "comes upon people from the outside world" is not mental illness as a concept, but a person who is mentally ill, affecting the people around him/her.

Tornadoes have causes, but on the surface, all you see is random destruction. In too many movies, that's all you see, the random destruction, and people just re-acting to it.
Ah. I misunderstood your analogy. The first part, talking about the tornado as something that happens to the main characters, made me think the mental illness was the tornado. My response still applies, though. The movies you've mentioned (Dead Ringers, Black Swan) explore the characters' experience of the world. (And in the case of Dead Ringers, that includes a fairly rich and, for me at least, affecting relationship between the characters, which makes your analogy seem even less apt.) The explorations tell us about the characters and human existence. The tornado doesn't experience anything. There would be no analogous interest in it. I love disintegrating characters—partly for the feeling of transcendence in the breakdown of what's normally foundational and inescapable, but more for the way they illuminate those foundations, as pathological cases in math open up new vistas—but even if I didn't have that especial interest in them, I don't see why a focus on their psychology would be any less interesting than any other character study.

[soitgoes...]

One of cinema's greatest meta-moments/statements-of-intent.

Reigning master of cine-artifice blows up the reigning master of emotional truth! Take that!Like 10 times. Ssssoooooo over the top. I don't know how a knowledgeable film lover can't love that ending.

[happ]

Melancholia trailer = Kirsten Dunst naked = Kunst! :P = Art (in German) = WINNING Von Trier Film :lol:

[transmogrifier]

The explorations tell us about the characters and human existence.

And this is where we fundamentally disagree about the movie Dead Ringers.

[Rowland]

Strange Behavior, on the other hand makes me wonder if that was just a choice on the part of the director, or if indeed we were supposed to puzzle if maybe, just like Blue Velvet, the happiness would be temporary. After all, what about the rest of the brainwashed kids who committed murder? What if someone continues the experiments? Etc.
Cool to see you incorporating Strange Behavior into your discussion. I agree about the ending being weirdly dreamlike and ambiguous in tone. I kept waiting for the kid to kill his Dad during the wedding ceremony.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm having trouble grading Never Let Me Go...

[Kurosawa Fan]

I watched Taxi Driver in the theater tonight. I'm trying to come up with a defense for the last scene. The only thing I can think of is: society is just as sick as Travis is. I can believe that the media would consider him a hero. But that doesn't explain how his injuries have completely healed and his hair has grown back to its prior fullness. If Scorsese and Schrader had some kind of point, I wish they had emphasized it a little more. Maybe show a little of Travis' recovery, and how things got to be completely normal again.

I was always under the impression that

Travis died at the end, and that this is his vision of how things should have gone.

[Raiders]

If we are to believe Scorsese and Schrader:

It is not a dream or dying fantasy, but that the ringing and his subsequent staring into the mirror indicates he is not "healed" and is likely to return to violence and possibly no longer be "the hero."

I don't know which is better, worse, more accurate and so forth. It's an effectively surreal few minutes after the preceding events, off just enough to give pause to its validity and certainly to question not only those deemed heroes but ultimately whether the serenity of this hereafter will actually fuel further violence.

[balmakboor]

I've always found the ending of Taxi Driver a bit of a head scratcher, but not as puzzling as Betsy following Travis into a porn theater on their second date. The ending seems to fit the period though. People wanted to be puzzled, shocked, outraged, or something by movie endings. Neat and tidy coherence and assurance weren't the in thing with young audiences.

[Ezee E]

I've always found the ending of Taxi Driver a bit of a head scratcher, but not as puzzling as Betsy following Travis into a porn theater on their second date. The ending seems to fit the period though. People wanted to be puzzled, shocked, outraged, or something by movie endings. Neat and tidy coherence and assurance weren't the in thing with young audiences.
The following into the theater made it seem like it was just any other theater and that she just didn't notice. Or... too weirded out to ever say anything, which I would totally understand, until it was too much.

[MadMan]

Cool to see you incorporating Strange Behavior into your discussion. I agree about the ending being weirdly dreamlike and ambiguous in tone. I kept waiting for the kid to kill his Dad during the wedding ceremony.Despite my rating which was in the 80s (no pun intended, and one of the many reasons I should switch back to the **** star system), I actually keep thinking about it. Too bad it hasn't received a decent DVD release, as far as I know. Yep I too was waiting for the kid to just snap and plunge a knife into his dad. That would have been one of the most screwed up ways to end a movie, while at the same time having some raw power. But I guess the director decided to just keep us on our toes the whole damn time without it actually leading to anything other than happy dad and wife drive off while his son smiles.

I'll admit I still don't understand why Travis took Betsy to that porn theater.

[Bosco B Thug]

Time of the Wolf - More straightforward and less enigmatic than prime Haneke, but a really powerful movie in any case; a generic post-apocalypse movie that isn't generic because it's got Haneke writing and directing.

These Are the Damned - Good, but not as strong as other Losey films, IMO. Not as consistently inspired as he is usually, as the genre film's obligatory stretches of exposition are one drain to his constant flamboyance. It has a loopy premise that is filled with some hoary elements, which is fine, as it's intelligent and rich, but Losey's campier instincts seem less intentional here (such as shoe-horned hip-heppin' 60s rock).

Jane Eyre (Zeffirelli) - Now this is the one for fans of the book to hate on mercilessly. Lots of liberties taken, and a not-that-Byronic Rochester that will piss off many. Not perfect, a bit too content to be plodding and literary, but it's still a better film than the 2011 version because it has genuine style and life, and it's fully aware of its entirely gentler interpretation of Rochester (and Jane) and just goes with it, to an admirable degree. Gainsbourg helped the film a lot.

[Melville]

And this is where we fundamentally disagree about the movie Dead Ringers.
I think it's more likely where we fundamentally disagree about what constitutes meaningful information about characters and human existence. As an example, when the dominant twin says that what's gone wrong is them falling out of sync, and purposely destroys himself to get back in sync, that tells us, ipso facto, about how his Being is inextricably linked to his relationship with his brother, a relationship built on an ambiguity of them being identical and interchangeable yet different. Every aspect of the characters' disintegration is related to the structure of that relationship. That's something the movie tells us about them. Whether or not you care about it or its implications on human identity is another issue.

[Ezee E]

So Kathryn Bigelow and her writer already had a script written without an ending called, "Killing Bin Laden." Now Megan Ellison is ready to fund it since there's an ending. Ha.

[Spinal]

So Kathryn Bigelow and her writer already had a script written without an ending called, "Killing Bin Laden." Now Megan Ellison is ready to fund it since there's an ending. Ha.

John Turturro as Bin Laden, please.

[Spinal]

John Turturro as Bin Laden, please.

After posting this, I have learned that the two were born 10 days apart. I am startled.

[StanleyK]

Bergman said he would have died if he hadn't made Persona, and it shows; it really is the most emotionally naked movie I've seen. I wish I could actually say something about it, but every time I watch it it leaves me flabbergasted, not even knowing where to begin to dissect it. It feels like it contains the meaning of life. All I can say is that it's the film for me which defines what it is to be human, and to make and watch a work of art which defines being human. It's crazy, haunting, ugly, imperfect, delirious and wonderful; my favorite film.

[MadMan]

John Turturro as Bin Laden, please.That would be a perfect bit of casting.

[Qrazy]

Bergman said he would have died if he hadn't made Persona, and it shows; it really is the most emotionally naked movie I've seen. I wish I could actually say something about it, but every time I watch it it leaves me flabbergasted, not even knowing where to begin to dissect it. It feels like it contains the meaning of life. All I can say is that it's the film for me which defines what it is to be human, and to make and watch a work of art which defines being human. It's crazy, haunting, ugly, imperfect, delirious and wonderful; my favorite film.

B-

[transmogrifier]

I think it's more likely where we fundamentally disagree about what constitutes meaningful information about characters and human existence. As an example, when the dominant twin says that what's gone wrong is them falling out of sync, and purposely destroys himself to get back in sync, that tells us, ipso facto, about how his Being is inextricably linked to his relationship with his brother, a relationship built on an ambiguity of them being identical and interchangeable yet different. Every aspect of the characters' disintegration is related to the structure of that relationship. That's something the movie tells us about them. Whether or not you care about it or its implications on human identity is another issue.

It tells us all of that in a way that is distancing and distracting. I don't argue that the film is doing what you say, but to me it is doing it in one of the easiest, least challenging ways possible - mental breakdown and self-harm. It is one of the great artisitic cliches that mental illness in and of itself is reflective of some kind of fundamental truth about us as humans. As such, I found the last act of Dead Ringers to be drowning in cliche, and it became much, much less powerful as a result, especially in contrast to the start where the power dynamics between the two were intricately sketched and acted, and I looked forward to seeing how the characters reacted to the misbalance of the relationship. But there was no reaction, as such. Insanity reigned, and the whole then took away from the story the movie was telling.

[MadMan]

B-:lol:

Does 82=B-? I've never bothered to use the letter grading system for movies.

[soitgoes...]

Bergman said he would have died if he hadn't made Persona...But he did die Stanley, he did die.

[Qrazy]

:lol:

Does 82=B-? I've never bothered to use the letter grading system for movies.

B- is a metaphor for all life.

[Qrazy]

But he did die Stanley, he did die.

Yeah, from pompousassitus.

[Rowland]

Alright, I'm finally about to have something resembling a weekend:

Scanners
Lola
Eijanaika
Montenegro

[soitgoes...]

Prêt-Ã*-Porter now has company in the Films by Robert Altman That Are Dreck Club. Watching Quintet is an experience in yucky.

[Spun Lepton]

Scanners

Looking forward to your take on this.

Lead actor = plank of wood.

[Spun Lepton]

Prêt-Ã*-Porter now has company in the Films by Robert Altman That Are Dreck Club. Watching Quintet is an experience in yucky.

Kansas City falls into that category, right?

Only film that has ever put me to sleep in the theater.

[Qrazy]

Prêt-Ã*-Porter now has company in the Films by Robert Altman That Are Dreck Club. Watching Quintet is an experience in yucky.

Someday you will learn to listen to everything I say and save yourself the trouble. ;)

[Winston*]

Kansas City falls into that category, right?

Only film that has ever put me to sleep in the theater.
I thought it had some good stuff in it. I liked Harry Belafonte and the jazz sequences. It is unncesserily cynical though.

[soitgoes...]

Someday you will learn to listen to everything I say and save yourself the trouble. ;)
Films like Autumn Sonata keep me from giving you all my trust.

[MadMan]

B- is a metaphor for all life.Nah, that would be a C-.

Scanners is really solid. I was kind of disappointed with it, and my opinion of it would probably go down even more on a second viewing. And I agree with Spun that the lead actor=bland. But hey Michael Ironside is his usual awesome self, with the addition of psychic head exploding powers.

[Sven]

Prêt-Ã*-Porter now has company in the Films by Robert Altman That Are Dreck Club. Watching Quintet is an experience in yucky.

"Dreck"? Harsh.

[soitgoes...]

Kansas City falls into that category, right?

Only film that has ever put me to sleep in the theater.No, just those two. Kansas City is okay. Nowhere near his best work, but a passable film.


"Dreck"? Harsh.Yeah. But hey, I don't think Popeye is dreck!

[Sven]

Yeah. But hey, I don't think Popeye is dreck!

You are granted temporary immunity, so long as you don't besmirch the good name of Altman for 48 hours.

[soitgoes...]

You are granted temporary immunity, so long as you don't besmirch the good name of Altman for 48 hours.I love the guy. He's made two films I'd probably place in my top 100, and he's made two films which I dislike greatly. He's the only director who I can say that about. It makes a first time Altman viewing exciting!

[Sven]

I love the guy. He's made two films I'd probably place in my top 100, and he's made two films which I dislike greatly. He's the only director who I can say that about. It makes a first time Altman viewing exciting!

This is all very good news.

I am, of course, a massive fan, liking to loving just about everything he's done. Counting among the two or three exceptions, actually, is Quintet, though 1/2 a star seems a pitiable rating for such a bizarre and clearly experimental picture. There is still some dynamite photography after all.

[soitgoes...]

The best part of the film is seeing Brigitte Fossey, the little girl from Forbidden Games, in it. She's wasted along with Newman, Rey and Andersson. How a director of Altman's caliber can misuse a cast like that is beyond me. Altman's tracking shots/zooms framed with faux-iciness as they capture his "dead" actors working their way through a shit plot really doesn't inspire me. I understand that outside of a handful of films Altman can be divisive.

[Scar]

Watching from Dusk 'Till Dawn. Enjoying it as usual, and then I remembered that I saw this in the theater.

That was fifteen years ago.

Ooof.

[EyesWideOpen]

Watching from Dusk 'Till Dawn. Enjoying it as usual, and then I remembered that I saw this in the theater.

That was fifteen years ago.

Ooof.

That was the only movie I saw in a theater where people threw up.

[Mara]

That was the only movie I saw in a theater where people threw up.

I had to leave to throw up during The Blair Witch Project, and a girl in front of my hurled on her boyfriend.

Could have been the shaky cam, could have been that it was really stupid.

[Mara]

Oh, wait, there was a six-year-old in front of me during Hannibal that threw up, too. I was really affronted that a six-year-old was brought to Hannibal.

Also not a good film.

[MadMan]

Watching from Dusk 'Till Dawn. Enjoying it as usual, and then I remembered that I saw this in the theater.

That was fifteen years ago.

Ooof.That would be an awesome movie to see in theaters. Too bad I was 10 when it came out.

The Blair Witch Project is a good movie, Mara :P

[EyesWideOpen]

I had to leave to throw up during The Blair Witch Project, and a girl in front of my hurled on her boyfriend.

Could have been the shaky cam, could have been that it was really stupid.

My wife can't watch shaky cam movies either. And you are right Blair Witch is really stupid.

[Mara]

My wife can't watch shaky cam movies either.

I can watch them in a smaller format, like on a television. Where I can look away for a moment and orient. Just not in theaters.

[Raiders]

I have never been made nauseous from a film, but my wife literally felt sick after No Country for Old Men. Not sure why that film in particular, but she found it overwhelmingly tense and her stomach hurt afterwards.

[Sven]

Only film to bring me close to vomiting is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Love musicals, love cross dressers, love 70s cinema and Tim Curry, love sexual deviance of all stripes. But there's something about that one... I should watch it again.

[Mara]

I don't think I've ever been brought to vomit just by visual disgust. (And I'm not a cautious throw-upper. I'll do it just to get it out of the way.) Smells, yes. Sights, no.

For the record, I once made a roommate actually throw up just by telling her a story. I'm so proud of that.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I've never thrown up due to a film, but there have been a select few that have made me feel quite nauseated. The Celebration was one of them.

[D_Davis]

Cool World and Natural Born Killers both gave me major headaches.

The camera movement in Irreversible made me sick.

And that new cutting style of movie trailers makes me sick to my stomach. I can't watch new trailers. That constant strobing/fading of images makes me feel like I'm going to throw up.

[Mysterious Dude]

I think the closest I've ever come to vomiting at a movie was during the poop-eating scene of Pink Flamingos.

[Derek]

I think the closest I've ever come to vomiting at a movie was during the poop-eating scene of Pink Flamingos.

That just made me regret choosing Raisinets at the concession stand.

[dreamdead]

Both Salo and Ordet have left me physically shaken after viewing them. There are different reasons for each--one, the overwhelming physicality of the scatological violence, and the other for the purity of the climax.

[Sven]

That just made me regret choosing Raisinets at the concession stand.

One should never regret purchasing Raisinets.

[Rowland]

The Toxic Avenger almost made me nauseous, which had more to do with the revolting texture of the work as a whole than any one of its uniformly sleazy gags.

[MadMan]

The Toxic Avenger almost made me nauseous, which had more to do with the revolting texture of the work as a whole than any one of its uniformly sleazy gags.I still want to see that one, and its sequels. I expect a lot of cheese and tons of gore and camp.


Scanners (Cronenberg, 1981) ***½1/2 a star too high, but I'm still interested in reading your thoughts on this one. When it comes to earlier Cronenberg, I prefer Rabid, The Brood, and The Dead Zone to this one. Out of the ones I've viewed, so far.

Which are:

1. A History of Violence (2005)-**** (99)
2. Videodrome (1983)-*** 1/2 (95)
3. Rabid (1977)-*** 1/2 (92)
4. The Dead Zone (1983)-*** (90)
5. The Brood (1979)-*** (88)
6. Scanners (1981)-*** (80)

I'll hopefully get to Shivers, next, and maybe try and get my hands on some of his school movies. Then further on into his later 80s and 90s material, and of course the remainder of his 2000s efforts.

[Sycophant]

Quibbling over a difference of half a star is quibbling indeed.

[MadMan]

Quibbling over a difference of half a star is quibbling indeed.Quibbling is such great fun, though :P

[Irish]

Seen this? Recent interview with Werner Herzog in GQ:

http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201105/werner-herzog-profile-cave-of-forgotten-dreams?printable=true

[Derek]

Quibbling is such great fun, though :P

Speaking of quibbling, how exactly does a 95/100 = ***1/2?

[megladon8]

Seen this? Recent interview with Werner Herzog in GQ:

http://www.gq.com/entertainment/movies-and-tv/201105/werner-herzog-profile-cave-of-forgotten-dreams?printable=true


Great read.

That's actually the first I'd ever heard of people saying Grizzly Man was fake.

[Sven]

That's actually the first I'd ever heard of people saying Grizzly Man was fake.

Haven't read the article yet, but it was kind of a biggish thing at the time to wonder about the authenticity of the documented attack that Herzog never shows. Which echoes the Bin Laden thing at the moment, I guess.

[MadMan]

Speaking of quibbling, how exactly does a 95/100 = ***1/2?Why not? 92-96=*** 1/2 (or when it comes to 92, some may get a *** depending on how I feel about the movie) 97-100=****. Which is why I'm considering going back to the 10 scale-its a hell of a lot easier to convert to.

[Mr. Pink]

Quibbling is such great fun, though :P


No it isn't.

[Sycophant]

Why not? 92-96=*** 1/2 (or when it comes to 92, some may get a *** depending on how I feel about the movie) 97-100=****. Which is why I'm considering going back to the 10 scale-its a hell of a lot easier to convert to.
So the rest of the scale might look something like:

87-91 = ***
82-86 = ** 1/2
77-81 = **
72-76 = * 1/2
67-71 = *
62-66 = 1/2
0-61 = ZERO

So, this is like a letter grade thing?

[MadMan]

So the rest of the scale might look something like:

87-91 = ***
82-86 = ** 1/2
77-81 = **
72-76 = * 1/2
67-71 = *
62-66 = 1/2
0-61 = ZERO

So, this is like a letter grade thing?Why would anything in the 80s get a ** 1/2? Or a 60s rated film receive 1/2 or * 1/2? That doesn't make any sense to me.

91-75=***
60-74=** 1/2
59-40=**
39-30=* 1/2
29-1=*
And of course, 0=0 stars.

[DavidSeven]

1/2 a star too high

6. Scanners (1981)-*** (80)


I would guess that Rowland's "***1/2" translates to something like an 80.

[Sycophant]

I was trying to make sense of your 4-or-5-point constraint for the upper two classes.

[MadMan]

I would guess that Rowland's "***1/2" translates to something like an 80.Nah, it would translate to 94-96.


I was trying to make sense of your 4-or-5-point constraint for the upper two classes.At first, the 100 point scale was fun-just slap a number for a rating, don't think about it-but now its become an annoying pain in the ass. **** scale is too damn limited, but 10 fits just fine, so I'm going back to that sometime next year. I really only use 100 for Criticker.com, anyways.

[DavidSeven]

Nah, it would translate to 94-96.


Touché.

[MadMan]

Honestly I'm making this rating scale up as I go along. But that's probably really obvious.

What are people's thoughts on Venus in Furs? I have it on my Netflix Instant Viewing queue, and according to Netflix its a horror movie, but a rather bizarre one.

[StanleyK]

I don't know, when I see someone rating a film 90 out of 100, I think "this person really loved this movie", whereas if I see them rating it *** I think "this person thought the movie was pretty good but not great"; I don't see how they translate into each other.

[StanleyK]

Reservoir Dogs is a pretty remarkable deconstruction of the gangster-movie genre's glorification of criminals; the first scene sets the players up as larger-than-life figures, impossibly cool while walking to slow motion, and gradually reveals them to be psychopaths, racists and raging assholes. It's worrisome how many people miss this and just think the movie's 'awesome', but I can't fault Tarantino for that; what I can fault him for is his tendency to take a trip to self-indulgence town, with some truly forced turns of phrase or pop culture references (the Like a Virgin analysis is neat, but how does it fit into the big picture?), and while the film is a stylistically interesting update on Leone, some scenes are covered and shot in a fairly standard manner (and I don't know if this is unfair criticism, but for being the main setting of the film, the warehouse is kind of drab and visually dull). Overall, it's a very strong debut, entertaining and clever (maybe a bit self-consciously so to a fault), already showcasing Tarantino's sensibilities and style.

My favorite scene: team psycho Mr. Blonde tortures a cop in the warehouse, and the camera follows him outside as he grabs a gasoline can with the intent of burning him alive. The neighborhood is idyllic, the soundtrack filled by children's laughter; then Mr. Blonde walks in again, and the outside world remains oblivious to the violence happening indoors, uncomfortably close to our homes but out of sight and thus out of mind.

[megladon8]

I'm going to have to watch Reservoir Dogs again.

I've never been all that taken with it.

[Irish]

I'm going to have to watch Reservoir Dogs again.

I've never been all that taken with it.

Yeah, StanleyK's review was more interesting than the movie itself (which is good, but I'm one of those wing nuts who silently seethes over the whole City on Fire thing).

Particularly liked the Like a Virgin criticism (and the sort of thing Tarantino did, awfully, in the climax in one of Kill Bill movies).

Also, the deconstruction of criminals in gangster movies. Something I've never particularly thought about but was spot on.

[Qrazy]

Honestly I'm making this rating scale up as I go along. But that's probably really obvious.

Ya think?

[Qrazy]

Reservoir Dogs is a pretty remarkable deconstruction of the gangster-movie genre's glorification of criminals; the first scene sets the players up as larger-than-life figures, impossibly cool while walking to slow motion, and gradually reveals them to be psychopaths, racists and raging assholes. It's worrisome how many people miss this and just think the movie's 'awesome', but I can't fault Tarantino for that.

Ehh... Tarantino still loves his characters even when they're morally problematic. Jackie Brown is probably the one where he attempted to strip the veneer of coolness away the most but even then it's clear he still has a soft spot for these guys. That is to say that all his movies are fairly invested in being 'awesome', he just happens to be one sick puppy who finds extreme violence to be awesome. So yes, he's always deconstructing to some degree, but he's also reveling in genre simultaneously.

[StanleyK]

Ehh... Tarantino still loves his characters even when they're morally problematic. Jackie Brown is probably the one where he attempted to strip the veneer of coolness away the most but even then it's clear he still has a soft spot for these guys. That is to say that all his movies are fairly invested in being 'awesome', he just happens to be one sick puppy who finds extreme violence to be awesome. So yes, he's always deconstructing to some degree, but he's also reveling in genre simultaneously.

Well, he has to present these characters as appealing on at least a surface level, but if you look beyond that they're basically empty, less actual people and more a checklist of bad-ass dialogue and bad behavior. Only Mr. Orange has a developed personality and arc, and I'd say he's the protagonist of the film and the one we're meant to 'identify' with; there's a noticeable difference between the genuine teenage boy's ideal of awesome that the gangsters represent, and his attempt to fit in with them.

That said, I agree that Tarantino is very much in love with his creations, hence the self-indulgence I mentioned. I didn't feel it was too thematically problematic in Reservoir Dogs, but I plan to go through his filmography and I'll see if it sticks out in his other movies.

[balmakboor]

I don't know, when I see someone rating a film 90 out of 100, I think "this person really loved this movie", whereas if I see them rating it *** I think "this person thought the movie was pretty good but not great"; I don't see how they translate into each other.

I think of *** as something like a 75. You know:

**** - 100
*** - 75
** - 50
* - 25
No Stars - 0

You just pick which number it comes closest to and give it that star rating. So like an 88 or higher is ****. If you want to throw 1/2s in there, just bisect everything.

[balmakboor]

My weekend:

Midnight Cowboy
Cape Fear (Scorsese)
Andrei Rublev
Zabriskie Point

[Qrazy]

My weekend:
Andrei Rublev
Midnight Cowboy
Cape Fear (Scorsese)
Zabriskie Point

Great.
Very good.
Quite poor.
Terrible.

[Spinal]

Midnight Cowboy **1/2
Cape Fear (Scorsese) ***
Andrei Rublev **1/2
Zabriskie Point ***

[D_Davis]

I still want to see that one, and its sequels. I expect a lot of cheese and tons of gore and camp.


Parts 1 and 4 (Citizen Toxie) are something else. Especially part 4. That movie is just all kinds of wrong, but in a good way. I still can't believe some of the stuff in that flick.

[Qrazy]

Midnight Cowboy **1/2
Cape Fear (Scorsese) ***
Andrei Rublev **1/2
Zabriskie Point ***

Your opinions in life are bad.

[balmakboor]

Great.
Very good.
Quite poor.
Terrible.

I'm actually a fan of Zabriskie Point and have been wanting to revisit Cape Fear for years. I've also been curious about what I think of Midnight Cowboy now. I've found it great in parts, but overall considerably overrated in the past. I agree though that the Tarkovsky is the masterpiece of the bunch. I'm kind of working my way through rewatches of all his films, one per week.

[balmakboor]

Parts 1 and 4 (Citizen Toxie) are something else. Especially part 4. That movie is just all kinds of wrong, but in a good way. I still can't believe some of the stuff in that flick.

I only made it through about four scenes in Citizen Toxie. I just couldn't find anything redeeming within its bad taste. I love the first Toxic Avenger though.

[soitgoes...]

Your opinions in life are bad.Actually he's not far from the truth on the three of those I've seen.

[Boner M]

Thurs-to-next-Thurs viewings:

Source Code
Hangmen Also Die!
Pepe Le Moko
Lola Montes
Oceans
The Manchurian Candidate (rpt, theatre)

[soitgoes...]

Weekend viewing:

Great Northfield Minnesota Raid
The Getaway
The King of Marvin Gardens
Street Angel
Lucky Star

[Ezee E]

I have the next two days off. Think I'll watch some movies again.

King's Speech
Make Way For Tomorrow
The Bad Sleep Well

Thor?
Source Code?
Hanna?

[Mysterious Dude]

I spent $133.00 at the Minneapolis International Film Festival this year. And there's still "best of the fest" to get through. My butt hurts.

[Sven]

Being as removed as I have been from the movies (a nice vacation from what has been quite a marathon obsession) for the last couple of years, I have decided to offer the current list of the only filmmakers that still give me that bosom-stirring desire to dip into the waters of cinema, even on mere mention of their names.

Robert Altman
Paul Verhoeven
Werner Herzog
Mike Leigh
Takeshi Kitano
The Coen Brothers (I have somehow been able to bypass my comparatively lukewarm response to True Grit)
Fritz Lang
Wes Anderson, believe it or not
Jacques Tati

I mean, there are other directors whose work I categorically love, Hitchcock, Kurosawa, etc, but these are the ones that still make my heart skip.

[Qrazy]

Actually he's not far from the truth on the three of those I've seen.

Yours are bad too.

[Derek]

Yours are bad too.

Your opinions on life range between a B- and a C-. Or 88-94 on the Madman scale.

[Spinal]

Thurs-to-next-Thurs viewings:


Hangmen Also Die!


Woot!

[Qrazy]

Your opinions on life range between a B- and a C-. Or 88-94 on the Madman scale).

On the plus side at least you're not one of those who jumped on the omgdz! Carnival of Souls bandwagon. Thoroughly average filmmaking.

[Derek]

On the plus side at least you're not one of those who jumped on the omgdz! Carnival of Souls bandwagon. Thoroughly average filmmaking.

I'd give it a B-.

Really, I would. :)

[B-side]

Railroaded! (Mann, 1947) **½

Aw. I wanna see this. The screenshots on KG look great.

[Milky Joe]

I had to go lay down in the theater aisle during Passion of the Christ. That's kind of embarrassing.

The majority of Reservoir Dogs usually makes me really queasy, also. Tim Roth's squealing in the back of the car, the ear scene, etc. So much blood and torture. Egh.

[elixir]

Speaking of feeling queasy, Mysterious Skin made me feel that way numerous times. Very disturbing. Its approach to the tough subject matter is mature and honest, though, and aided by some great performances, the cumulative effect of the movie is a terribly sad story about how two people deal with their past and how they try to move on from unspeakable events (and if that's even possible). And it must be said...the soundtrack is AMAZING.

[Boner M]

Thoroughly below-average opinions
Indeed.

[Bosco B Thug]

So many 10s for this one... Well, I liked Ordet very much - I'll even defend the initially puzzling, much contested ending - but I have to admit I found it a bit starchy. I do love Dreyer's sublime moving camera and theatrical instinct, but simultaneously, the film's intentional languidness and willful (lovely) plainness in depicting wholly quaint domestic lives also makes the film a bit stodgy and soporific. Thankfully, the story is a corker of theological conflict and intense grief, and it builds up wonderfully.

[soitgoes...]

Goddammit De Sica, you fucked up the end of Miracle in Milan big time. It had all the makings for something great, and then it went all wonky over the last 20 minutes or so. None of the previous seven or eight De Sica films I've seen prepared me for that, neo-realism dosed with a large amount of acid. Absolutely gorgeous film nonetheless, and great performances throughout.

[MadMan]

Your opinions on life range between a B- and a C-. Or 88-94 on the Madman scale.Damnit Derek, if you're gonna mock me get it right....


Ya think?Well no one was saying it, Mr. B- :P

Carnival of Souls is a really good horror movie. Better ones than it have been made. Worse ones than it have also been made. The end.

[Derek]

Aw. I wanna see this. The screenshots on KG look great.

It's on Netflix Instant Watch now too. One of Mann's weaker efforts, but still quite good.


So many 10s for this one... Well, I liked Ordet very much - I'll even defend the initially puzzling, much contested ending - but I have to admit I found it a bit starchy. I do love Dreyer's sublime moving camera and theatrical instinct, but simultaneously, the film's intentional languidness and willful (lovely) plainness in depicting wholly quaint domestic lives also makes the film a bit stodgy and soporific. Thankfully, the story is a corker of theological conflict and intense grief, and it builds up wonderfully.

You want starchy? Check out Gertrud. It's fantastic, but it makes Ordet look like Fast Five.


Goddammit De Sica, you fucked up the end of Miracle in Milan big time. It had all the makings for something great, and then it went all wonky over the last 20 minutes or so. None of the previous seven or eight De Sica films I've seen prepared me for that, neo-realism dosed with a large amount of acid. Absolutely gorgeous film nonetheless, and great performances throughout.

I was not a fan of this one, but I agree the ending was easily the worst part.


Carnival of Souls is a really good horror movie. Better ones than it have been made. Worse ones than it have also been made. The end.

I agree with the bolded. It is neither the best nor worst movie ever made.

[Qrazy]

Indeed.

Nah, my opinion is law. You fail.

[Qrazy]

Goddammit De Sica, you fucked up the end of Miracle in Milan big time. It had all the makings for something great, and then it went all wonky over the last 20 minutes or so. None of the previous seven or eight De Sica films I've seen prepared me for that, neo-realism dosed with a large amount of acid. Absolutely gorgeous film nonetheless, and great performances throughout.

Same reaction.

[D_Davis]

I agree with the bolded. It is neither the best nor worst movie ever made.

Wait a minute you jerk. This is the INTERNET. Something has to be either the best, or the worst.

[Ezee E]

King's Speech... Okay, I don't mind that critics didn't love it, but why was it loved at so many film festivals? Blegh.

[Mara]

King's Speech... Okay, I don't mind that critics didn't love it, but why was it loved at so many film festivals? Blegh.

Just saw it myself. It wasn't very ambitious, but the story is pretty interesting, and Firth does an excellent job.

That's about all I can say about it.

Oh, except that I forget how gorgeous Helena Bonham Carter is under the thick layer of crazy she always wears.

[Bosco B Thug]

You want starchy? Check out Gertrud. It's fantastic, but it makes Ordet look like Fast Five. Sounds like it should be the other way around.

"In the elegant world of artists and musicians, Gertrud ends her marriage to Gustav and takes a lover, the composer Erland Jansson."

vs.

"In the volatile world of old man bickering and Christian households, everything plays out in full shot!"

Not that it's not also great filmmaking. Just saying.

As for the ending

as I see it, it's a hollow miracle, especially after the demented scenes between the uncle and the little girl. The uncle's crazy schtick was very annoying, too; probably my favorite bit was him essentially face-planting during his initial attempt to resurrect Inger.

[NickGlass]

King's Speech... Okay, I don't mind that critics didn't love it, but why was it loved at so many film festivals? Blegh.

Have you ever witnessed a typical public film festival crowd? They're usually sycophants who prefer heart over intellect.

And even if you're just thinking of Toronto, their Audience Award history is pretty patchy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_International_Film_Fes tival

Slumdog? Tsotsi? Hotel Rwanda? Whale Rider? C'mon.

[Mara]

I like Whale Rider. A lot.

[Ezee E]

I don't really even see the heart in the movie though.

[Derek]

Sounds like it should be the other way around.

"In the elegant world of artists and musicians, Gertrud ends her marriage to Gustav and takes a lover, the composer Erland Jansson."

I call false advertising in that synopsis! Actually, it's probably not much more ascetic and minimalist than Ordet, but it is noticeably slower paced.

[DavidSeven]

There's definitely a "crowd pleasing" element to a lot of those past TIFF Audience Award winners. (Crowd pleasing films winning audience awards? You don't say). I still liked The King's Speech. And Whale Rider.

[Ezee E]

By the way Mara, I spotted your typo before you corrected it!

[Mara]

By the way Mara, I spotted your typo before you corrected it!

I was confusing it with the famous porno made in Cardiff.

[soitgoes...]

You want starchy? Check out Gertrud. It's fantastic, but it makes Ordet look like Fast Five.Ugh, this one. Remember that Dreyer consensus where all our ratings were nearly the same? You then told me to watch Gertrud. I did. That was the moment I learned we could never be together Derek.

[B-side]

Ugh, this one. Remember that Dreyer consensus where all our ratings were nearly the same? You then told me to watch Gertrud. I did. That was the moment I learned we could never be together Derek.

I hated that movie back when I watched it. Wonder how I'd feel now.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I like Whale Rider. A lot.

Me too.

[soitgoes...]

I hated that movie back when I watched it. Wonder how I'd feel now.I'm glad I've seen enough of him so that when I finally saw Gertrud I knew it wasn't indicative of the rest of his work.

[Spinal]

I understand why someone wouldn't like Gertrud, but I think (http://filmepidemic.blogspot.com/2007/07/gertrud-dreyer-1964.html) it's pretty great. Such a bold experiment.

[D_Davis]

I like heart and intellect, but if I had to choose one over the other, I'd take heart any old day.

[megladon8]

I like heart and intellect, but if I had to choose one over the other, I'd take heart any old day.


And you'd take Dick over either.

[elixir]

The choice between heart and intellect is such a false dilemma. I find they go hand in hand most of the time.

[DavidSeven]

Memories of Murder (Bong Joon-Ho, 2003) 9

Right on.

[Rowland]

I had no idea Jerry Lewis was still directing movies into the '80s. I guess there's a reason I wasn't aware.

[Boner M]

Toronto, their Audience Award history is pretty patchy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_International_Film_Fes tival

Slumdog? Tsotsi? Hotel Rwanda? Whale Rider? C'mon.
Hah, Bad Timing in 1980 sticks out so awkwardly on that list.

[Derek]

Ugh, this one. Remember that Dreyer consensus where all our ratings were nearly the same? You then told me to watch Gertrud. I did. That was the moment I learned we could never be together Derek.

I'm way out of your league anyway.


I understand why someone wouldn't like Gertrud, but I think (http://filmepidemic.blogspot.com/2007/07/gertrud-dreyer-1964.html) it's pretty great. Such a bold experiment.

Honestly, anytime I question your sanity for an opinion in the future, keep reminding me of this and all is forgiven.

[Boner M]

Hey Derek (and others), you should check out Adrian Martin's Gertrud commentary on the R4 Madman DVD. One of the best I've heard.

Also, any words on the Pialats? Your ratings for the 60's ones are about right, but I thought you'd like Van Gogh a bit more.

[Derek]

Hey Derek (and others), you should check out Adrian Martin's Gertrud commentary on the R4 Madman DVD. One of the best I've heard.

Unfortunately that's not the version on KG, but I may eventually just pick up the DVD just for that.


Also, any words on the Pialats? Your ratings for the 60's ones are about right, but I thought you'd like Van Gogh a bit more.

I liked Van Gogh, but I couldn't shake the feeling that VG's relationship with Theo was underexplored, or perhaps left deliberately vague, and that I much preferred how Altman tackled it in Vincent and Theo. I did like a lot of the stuff surrounding his mistress, but too much of the film left me grasping for meaning for me to fully embrace it.

L'Enfance Nue on the otherhand wore its humanity on its sleeve and the use of non-pros was really perfect. The scenes with the kid and the grandmother were little masterpieces in and of themselves. Any other Pialat's you'd recommend after these and Loulou/A Nos Amours?

[Sven]

I had no idea Jerry Lewis was still directing movies into the '80s. I guess there's a reason I wasn't aware.

Hardly Working is truly abysmal, the only Jerry Lewis film (and oh yes, I've seen em all) that I would call bad. And is it ever. A shame, because it's clearly intended as a personal, summary work. Ouch.

[balmakboor]

Hardly Working is truly abysmal, the only Jerry Lewis film (and oh yes, I've seen em all) that I would call bad. And is it ever. A shame, because it's clearly intended as a personal, summary work. Ouch.

Have you seen The Day the Clown Cried?

[Sven]

Have you seen The Day the Clown Cried?

No, because it does not exist. Would that it did.

[Boner M]

Any other Pialat's you'd recommend after these and Loulou/A Nos Amours?
The Mouth Agape is a pretty great take on a family dealing with their dying mother; it's as unsentimental and crude as the title suggests, and Philippe Leotard is phenomenal as the brutish son. It has two long takes, one near the beginning of a conversation between him and his mother, and another near the end that I won't spoil... both really take the film to another level, much like the final scene of L'Enfance Nue did.

We Won't Grow Old Together is a bickering couple movie in the vein of Everyone Else and Happy Together. I must admit it tested my patience and made me feel the way that detractors of the aforementioend two film felt... but it stayed with me, and my opinion has grown immeasurably over time.

Graduate First is a dry run for A nos amours but still pretty great. French coming-of-age tales in provincial towns are never bad. Police is his weakest that I've seen, but it's still a fascinating failure - his stab at Killing of a Chinese Bookie-esque genre subversion. Like A nos amours it has an amazing freeze-frame ending, this time made of an insert from what was supposed to be a different scene.

I still have yet to see Under the Sun of Satan (his Palme D'or winner) and Le Garcu, but the latter has this amazing scene:

XuVO6C-9BIw

[Qrazy]

Hah, Bad Timing in 1980 sticks out so awkwardly on that list.

Cause of what a piece of shit it is?

[balmakboor]

No, because it does not exist. Would that it did.

Really? From what I've read it does exist at least in a rough cut form and is considered something of a Holy Grail among Lewis fans and fans of cinematic oddities in general.

[Sven]

Really? From what I've read it does exist at least in a rough cut form and is considered something of a Holy Grail among Lewis fans and fans of cinematic oddities in general.

I'm not convinced that it exists in any form beyond a poorly cobbled-together idea from rushes that are now too bent out of shape to be usable. There is little concrete evidence that there are any existing edits of the film. And if there are, it's certainly not being screened or circulated anywhere.

[Raiders]

The film, completed and edited, does exist. Lewis screened it a few times back in the 70s I think, but since has kept the only known copy locked away. No other negatives are known to exist.

[origami_mustache]

Akira Kurosawa's The Most Beautiful (1944) is a great film within the historical context it comes from. Kurosawa masterfully blends a propaganda war-time message with melodrama as the girls working in a lens factory establish friendships and encourage each other to meet their demanding quota. His aesthetically pleasing compositions often include 10 - 20+ women in frame, overemphasizing the collective effort of the factory workers as they privately deal with their own individual problems and make sacrifices for the greater good of their country.

[Bosco B Thug]

Cause of what a piece of shit it is? You have been like a well-oiled machine lately. Why, you're welcome. ;)


Resnais's Love Unto Death - Pretty standard existential and theological statements made here about love, the afterlife, and the eternal soul, such that, believe it or not, this is a Resnais film that feels absolutely predictable. Still, it has an experimental form and a residual coating of Resnais's intellectual whimsy, over the relatively conventional narrative and, unfortunately, a rather drab and weepy mortality drama.