28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[megladon8]

I think it would be just about impossible to describe the plot of the Irish horror film Isolation to someone, without making them laugh. It really does sound like something close to Black Sheep.

But this story about people on a farm being killed one-by-one by a mutant cow is actually very frightening at times. And its claustrophobia shows a lot of influence from Alien.

I really liked this movie. It's well acted, and it's really well shot - in fact it's just great to look at.

It's not without its flaws, but it was a surprisingly scary and all-round good little horror flick.

[Raiders]

I think it would be just about impossible to describe the plot of the Irish horror film Isolation to someone, without making them laugh. It really does sound like something close to Black Sheep.

But this story about people on a farm being killed one-by-one by a mutant cow is actually very frightening at times. And its claustrophobia shows a lot of influence from Alien.

I really liked this movie. It's well acted, and it's really well shot - in fact it's just great to look at.

It's not without its flaws, but it was a surprisingly scary and all-round good little horror flick.

I rented this some time back and never got around to watching it. I really need to. Same with the indie horror Wind Chill I've been wanting to see.

[monolith94]

The Company of Wolves has the best Terrance Stamp cameo... ever.

[baby doll]

Yeah, allow me to indulge myself and pipe in and agree, in retaliation from the frustrating love its getting from my personal sphere (and then further an 84% on RT!).Yeah, I mean, are most horror movies really that awful that this is supposed to be exceptional?

[megladon8]

I rented this some time back and never got around to watching it. I really need to. Same with the indie horror Wind Chill I've been wanting to see.


That's the Emily Blunt one, right?

I wasn't too interested in that one, but I'm sure I'll check it out eventually.

I hope you like Isolation. One thing I really appreciated about it was its ability to show quiet, subdued scenes, and very slowly build the tension through the film.

Granted, it's not long - like 85 minutes - but, like Alien, a lot of it is just building tension. I think that's why it ends up being so effectively creepy.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, I mean, are most horror movies really that awful?

Yes.

[megladon8]

A lot of horror movies are bad, but the gems are really, really damn good.

[Wryan]

Quite the fan of Abominable, actually. Saw it late on FX (when the gore wasn't edited out), and it was actually pretty damn good. Never seen Company of Wolves or some of the others mentioned here. Might just go seek them out tonight.

[megladon8]

Quite the fan of Abominable, actually. Saw it late on FX (when the gore wasn't edited out), and it was actually pretty damn good. Never seen Company of Wolves or some of the others mentioned here. Might just go seek them out tonight.


Abominable is one I'm pretty interested in. I've read it's like, the first Bigfoot horror done right.

[Qrazy]

"An angel has no memory."

LOL

Barbarella is the worst thing ever created.

[Sycophant]

"An angel has no memory."

LOL

Barbarella is the worst thing ever created.
Indeed. Word. QFT.

[monolith94]

Bah. Barbarella is awesome.

[MadMan]

"An angel has no memory."

LOL

Barbarella is the worst thing ever created.I'll be seeing that later tonight on TCM. I expect nothing more than pure guilty pleasure trash, naked Jane Fonda, and lots of trippy moments.


Have you guys ever thought about a Horror version of Sunset Blvd.? Well, producer Sam Arkoff from AIP thought about it too, and came out with Madhouse, starring Vincent Price and Peter Cushing. It's an incredibly goofy, smirking movie which both homages and makes fun of Vincent Price the star, playing himself as an actor who grows too fond of a character named Dr. Death. I loved inside jokes like Cushing dressing up as Dracula for a party or telling Price (very convincingly) that he's the better drama man. This was one of the last low-budget Horrors starring the traditional faces of these types of movies, released by the time The Exorcist took the game back to A-list Hollywood, and works as a homage to the genre and to AIP movies in general, constantly featuring clips of the Roger Corman series of Poe adaptations. Every fan owes himself to watch this at least once.Thanks to TCM's Underground series I actually viewed this film last year and loved the hell out of it. Really, really awesome stuff and it actually managed to scare me a bite too. I didn't think anyone else had viewed it either. Wahoo :) I can't remember if I posted my short write up of it on this site or not (I think I did actually), but I loved the part where Price is being chased by what appears to be him dressed as Dr. Death, only its really Cushing in costume. I love how the film screws around with the audience, making you believe at times that Price is really the killer and then suddenly revealing that no, its actually Cushing. Oh and the Dr. Death mask is one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. Seriously.

[Philosophe_rouge]

"An angel has no memory."

LOL

Barbarella is the worst thing ever created.
It's not that bad, it's just not as bad-good as it could have been. Not enough boobs and sex. The opening sequence is pure genius, the rest kinda... not. I was expecting to be less bored, although I was somewhat amused.

[Grouchy]

Thanks to TCM's Underground series I actually viewed this film last year and loved the hell out of it. Really, really awesome stuff and it actually managed to scare me a bite too. I didn't think anyone else had viewed it either. Wahoo :) I can't remember if I posted my short write up of it on this site or not (I think I did actually), but I loved the part where Price is being chased by what appears to be him dressed as Dr. Death, only its really Cushing in costume. I love how the film screws around with the audience, making you believe at times that Price is really the killer and then suddenly revealing that no, its actually Cushing. Oh and the Dr. Death mask is one of the creepiest things I've ever seen. Seriously.
The spider lady was the most disturbing thing in the movie for me, great performance too. I actually saw the real identity of the killer coming, but it didn't bother me since it was a solid, logical twist. I have a question, by the way.

When Price is setting the house on fire because he thinks he's Dr. Death, the corpse of the PA chick that looked like she was 12 is sitting on the chair. Now, during the scene, there are several close-ups that show the body melting, since it's clearly a wax figure. Now, that's obviously a homage to House of Wax, but where in hell is the real body then? Was she even murdered in the first place?

[MadMan]

The spider lady was the most disturbing thing in the movie for me, great performance too. I actually saw the real identity of the killer coming, but it didn't bother me since it was a solid, logical twist. I have a question, by the way.Yeah she was really, really creepy. The scene where she talks about what a bunch of assholes did to her was quite eerie.


When Price is setting the house on fire because he thinks he's Dr. Death, the corpse of the PA chick that looked like she was 12 is sitting on the chair. Now, during the scene, there are several close-ups that show the body melting, since it's clearly a wax figure. Now, that's obviously a homage to House of Wax, but where in hell is the real body then? Was she even murdered in the first place?Honestly, I don't remember that entire thing very clearly, and I'm not sure what the answer is either. Perhaps she was murdered and left there, but I need a second viewing to determine that. Or I could go to the IMBD.com forums in search of an answer. Out of the countless idiots who post there a few folks with some good thoughts and ideas post, and are helpful in clearing up some matters. You just have to wade through the bullshit, which is why I don't do it too often heh.
Finally I forgot to mention the really cool fight near the end between Cushing and Price. Its super sweet that the film has two horror legends going at it, dueling away. And a cool finale to the fight what with Cushing's body falling into the spider pit.

[Grouchy]

Yeah she was really, really creepy. The scene where she talks about what a bunch of assholes did to her was quite eerie.

Honestly, I don't remember that entire thing very clearly, and I'm not sure what the answer is either. Perhaps she was murdered and left there, but I need a second viewing to determine that. Or I could go to the IMBD.com forums in search of an answer. Out of the countless idiots who post there a few folks with some good thoughts and ideas post, and are helpful in clearing up some matters. You just have to wade through the bullshit, which is why I don't do it too often heh.
Finally I forgot to mention the really cool fight near the end between Cushing and Price. Its super sweet that the film has two horror legends going at it, dueling away. And a cool finale to the fight what with Cushing's body falling into the spider pit.
Yeah, I might go IMDb myself and post the question. Just something that stood out enormously for me, like there was a scene cut somewhere. Or maybe they didn't care, it's not like the movie has a great deal of coherence either.

I hear Theatre of Blood has a similar premise, although it looks less in-joke and metacinema than this one. I think that's gonna be my next Vincent Price viewing.

[MadMan]

Yeah, I might go IMDb myself and post the question. Just something that stood out enormously for me, like there was a scene cut somewhere. Or maybe they didn't care, it's not like the movie has a great deal of coherence either.

I hear Theatre of Blood has a similar premise, although it looks less in-joke and metacinema than this one. I think that's gonna be my next Vincent Price viewing.Let me know if you get an answer. And yeah the movie isn't 100% clear about some things, and I'm sure there are a few plot holes to boot but hey I don't worry about such things unless they really affect a film.

Theater of Blood is in many ways a rehash of The Adomable Dr. Phibes. I like it a lot and I think its a good film (seeing Price spitting out Shakesphere is cool) but when compared to his other films its either not as good or as entertaining as most of them.

[Grouchy]

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/american-gangster11.jpg?t=1200717234

American Gangster
Ridley Scott, 2007

The Scott brother whose cameraman doesn't suffer from Parkinson is known, among many other things (detailed production values, prestige ensemble casts, strong females), for making at least one movie in each genre, and he'd never made a gang movie, methinks. About damn time. American Gangster is a movie based on the life of Frank Lucas, a black dope dealer most famous for cutting the middle man and bringing the stuff directly from Nam in the coffins of dead American soldiers, although Wikipedia says this is a fabrication. But it's also a movie about Richie Roberts, a goodie-goodie jewish cop most famous for turning in 1 million dollars in unmarked cash. This is apparently very true.

In many ways, Scott has directed a based-on-fact version of Heat. It's a two and a half hours long cat-and-mouse game, where Lucas and Roberts never meet face to face until the closing scenes. Unlike Heat, though, it's decidedly not an action movie. The violence is brief, harsh and to the point, never staying on screen longer than it's needed to tell the story, although there a lot of visually inspired deaths, like a dude who shoots himself while the maid is using the cleaner and the sound covers the gunshot completely, while we're watching through the glass doors in the background. American Gangster is in fact a biopic about a businessman in a very dangerous trade, and that's where one of the strenghts of the movie comes from. The script is written from inside the shoes of the characters. They don't think too much about the moral consequences of selling heroine. It's just a business, like any other. You gotta eat from somewhere.

That also becomes a weakness, which is that the cop angle is never as rich or as interesting as the mob one. Russell Crowe's character is almost too likeable, which is somewhat of an achievement considering Crowe is a pretty icky actor, and his scenes are lackluster, specially the ones where he argues with his wife, which are mostly played for laughs. Since the movie constantly cuts between its two leads, this is a serious problem. It's not that Richie Roberts is a bad character, and the plot of the movie needs him (well, and he actually imprisoned the guy, like, you know, in reality), but the interest of the filmmakers is obviously not on him. He's a device. Instead, Frank Lucas is a fascinating object. He's calm, collected, but unfilters his blind rage when needed. He makes good for his family and wife, and pioneers by flying to Thailand to secure the purest drugs for his empire. His story also has the more complex supporting characters, like the old mother who knows where the money comes from, but doesn't ask questions so his son won't lie to her.

Ridley Scott used this fascinating character and his world to create a movie about capitalism, and how the mob is like any enterprise, only a little more violent. It has a great script, and the final showdown between the characters is very clever writing. It also has extremely cool period setting, where the music (Bobby Womack's Across 100th Street was great), the language, and even the stuff on background TVs really contribute to make you believe in the era. Washington and Crowe are very good, and so is Josh Brolin in a pretty ungrateful role that is clearly elevated by the actor. Although it has a long running time, it's cut extremely fast, even too much so at times. I don't think any single scene is over three minutes long. Seriously.

Oh, and check this out - an interview (http://nymag.com/guides/money/2007/39948/) between Frank Lucas and Nicky Barnes for NY magazine. Cool and very honest stuff.

[Grouchy]

Theater of Blood is in many ways a rehash of The Adomable Dr. Phibes. I like it a lot and I think its a good film (seeing Price spitting out Shakesphere is cool) but when compared to his other films its either not as good or as entertaining as most of them.
Good to know. Incidentally, Dr. Phibes is my favorite Vincent Price and one of my all-time faves. Very creative and funny, and with a huge Avengers (TV show) vibe.

[MadMan]

Good to know. Incidentally, Dr. Phibes is my favorite Vincent Price and one of my all-time faves. Very creative and funny, and with a huge Avengers (TV show) vibe.Funny enough its also my favorite film of his as well, although House on Haunted Hill and The Last Man On Earth are close seconds. :pritch:


Finally I get to use that smily. I've been waiting for this day :lol:

[Stay Puft]

Thanks to TCM's Underground series I actually viewed this film last year and loved the hell out of it. Really, really awesome stuff and it actually managed to scare me a bite too. I didn't think anyone else had viewed it either. Wahoo :)

I've seen it, too. And I agree with both you, it's great stuff. My favorite bit is Pontius Pilate being crushed by the death trap bed. And, of course, the ending. Price and Cushing are powerhouses.

I will add that I also think Theatre of Blood is great, and it is perhaps one of my favorite Price movies. It has much more going for it than simply being a Dr. Phibes rehash. What I enjoy about both this and Madhouse is that they are movies about actors and acting. Seeing Price ham it up as a pompous and literally "washed up" Shakespeare actor is just the start of the movie's enjoyment. I love how he rewrites texts, "performing" his revenge as his last great creative act. Also, there is a fencing scene with trampolines. How many movies have something that silly and awesome? Not enough, I suggest.

[Sycophant]

I was a little underwhelmed by Interstella 5555.

[Qrazy]

It's not that bad, it's just not as bad-good as it could have been. Not enough boobs and sex. The opening sequence is pure genius, the rest kinda... not. I was expecting to be less bored, although I was somewhat amused.

Ehhhh I think it's just kind of god awful terrible throughout.

[soitgoes...]

I was a little underwhelmed by Interstella 5555.
Hmm. I want to see this. Discovery is one of life's great albums. This film's bound to be good just by its soundtrack.

[Boner M]

So, Grindhouse turned out to be much more rewarding that I expected it to be. Planet Terror outstays it's welcome near the end as it gets increasingly desperate, but like most of Rodriguez's films, it gets by on spiritedness and has a lot of wit, even though he can never seem to do anything with the form he's working in - it's feels more like an amalgam of Carpenter/Romero with the unwelcome residue of Sin City and capped off by a splurge of diahorreic, fanboy-baiting 'awesome' tics.

However, Death Proof on second viewing proved to be a minor revelation; whereas Rodriguez can't sustain his own world, watching Tarantino's in this context made me able to appreciate how ingeniously structured and detailed the thing is, especially since it benefits so much from a tighter pace and the double-bill limitations. I still think the chatty diversions work better in theory, and I'm not as charmed by Zoe Bell as everyone else on account of Kiwis being inherently charmless, but mainly I just appreciated how structurally ingenious it is; the bifurcation not only allows the viewer the benefit of hindsight, but also reflects a similar desire to look back and use the most disreputable bumps in film history and ransack them for a more progressive(?) purpose - I think the film is for that reason, perhaps unwittingly, more critical of the cinema that it's indebted to than it appears to be. Plus, the missing reel gag is so ingenious in it's adherence to the film's game of expectation-thwarting that I involuntarily clapped when it arrived... it positively shames the cutesy variation in Rodriguez's half. Maybe the film doesn't add up to more than an airtight, thrillingly efficient experiment, but that's more than I can ask for.

Planet Terror: 5.5
Death Proof: 8.5 (sorry to disappoint the haters!)

[Ivan Drago]

I was a little underwhelmed by Interstella 5555.

I want to see this. Daft Punk is one of my favorite bands, and Discovery is one of my favorite albums.

[dreamdead]

Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a wonder to behold. I was always afraid of the proslytizing that I assumed this film would contain, but it's quite aware of the disjunction between dreams of Americana and the factual, inherently problematic notions of America. That is to say, the film is far more an indictment of American politics than it is gung-ho over America, so even if it retains Capra's fanciful notion of America as a collective unity, it also retains a calculated understanding of how fastidious we must be in order to approximate that dream of a better America. Jean Arthur lends the film a natural grace, and Stewart is typically awesome. Even if this film isn't as cinematic to me as It's a Wonderful Life, I think I prefer it over the latter, though I'll have to let my reaction linger for a few days...

[Sven]

Capra's Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is a wonder to behold. I was always afraid of the proslytizing that I assumed this film would contain, but it's quite aware of the disjunction between dreams of Americana and the factual, inherently problematic notions of America. That is to say, the film is far more an indictment of American politics than it is gung-ho over America, so even if it retains Capra's fanciful notion of America as a collective unity, it also retains a calculated understanding of how fastidious we must be in order to approximate that dream of a better America. Jean Arthur lends the film a natural grace, and Stewart is typically awesome. Even if this film isn't as cinematic to me as It's a Wonderful Life, I think I prefer it over the latter, though I'll have to let my reaction linger for a few days...

Rep!

*drink*

[megladon8]

I'm having trouble getting through Evil Aliens, because it's just so damn bad.

It tries so hard to be funny with all these ridiculous sight gags and WAY too many attempts at fancy camerawork and editing, and none of it works at all. All of the jokes are both eye-roll and groan inducing.

Sure the gore has been pretty good and there have been some good kills, but that's hardly enough to save a movie when the writing is so bad and the characters are freaking horrendous - WTF is up with that ambiguously gay actor??

Unless Godzilla is magically transported into the second half of the movie, and all the writers are suddenly replaced by the Monty Python crew, I'm going to have to say this is a really, really freaking terrible movie.

[Spinal]

Death Proof: 8.5 (sorry to disappoint the haters!)

*is disappointed*

[Sycophant]

Hmm. I want to see this. Discovery is one of life's great albums. This film's bound to be good just by its soundtrack.I like it more this morning than I did right after watching it last night. Its weakest point is actually some of the clunky transition-to-digital animation effects. It could have done better with twice the budget or maybe even if it were produced a couple years later or even earlier. It may not be cool to challenge the quality of the animation, but it seemed to be trying to work against instead of with its technical limitations. The music is, obviously, positively awesome, but the experience overall could have been a little richer.

[Kurosawa Fan]

My theater just got Atonement. After my wife drove out of town to see it. :|

However, it also got The Savages, so I might try to check that out this week.

[Watashi]

Saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly this afternoon. It's pretty good, but not one of the year's best nor the best directed. The most interesting aspect of the film is Kaminski's cinematography which paralyzes the audience to lock in Jean-Do's left-eyed condition. I kinda like My Left Foot better (which are two very similar extradorniary true stories).

[Sycophant]

Sundance 2008 Animation Spotlight Program

Madame Tutli-Putli (dir. Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski; Canada) Exquisitely crafted stop-motion animation with hauntingly accurate movements. Probably the best of the shorts on display here. ****

Yours Truly (dir. Osbert Parker; U.K., 2007, 8 min., Color & B/W) Interesting experimental collage piece. ***

Chonto (dir. Carson Mell; U.S.A., 2007, 15 min., Color) Stupid, overlong, retarded, self-amused, and stupid. The filmmaker noted afterwards that he had never done animation before this one and I had to refrain from nodding. *

Lapsus (dir. Juan Pablo Zaramella; Argentina, 2007, 4 min., B/W) Cute, fun, and a joy to watch, with simple line work. ***.5

1977 (dir. Peque Varela; U.K., 2007, 9 min., Color) Gorgeous mixed-media expression of aging, maturation, and the confusing choices involved in those processes. ****

For the Love of God (dir. Joe Tucker; U.K., 2007, 11 min., Color) Damned funny. ***

Dog (dir. Herman Karlsson; Iceland, 2006, 1 min., Color) It read like a dark picture book, or an indie graphic short story. Perhaps it would have been more effective that way, but then I probably wouldn't have seen it. ***.5

The Pearce Sisters (dir. Luis Cook; U.K., 2007, 9 min., Color) The animation in this surprising Aardman-produced short is visually striking and it probably had the best overall feel for composition in the spotlight. It belabors its point, though. It's surprising how many of these short pieces could be shorter still. ***

The History of America (dir. MK12; U.S.A., 2007, 31 min., Color) Hilarious film jumbling up American iconography (cowboys vs. astronauts) that overstayed its welcome. Could (and should) have easily been trimmed by about ten minutes. ***

[jesse]

Barbarella is the worst thing ever created. Wrong.

[Winston*]

I'm not as charmed by Zoe Bell as everyone else on account of Kiwis being inherently charmless,

I refuse to bite here. Refuse.

[Boner M]

I refuse to bite here. Refuse.
Heed Armond's words; you're a third-rate culture.

[Winston*]

Heed Armond's words; you're a third-rate culture.

Refuse.

[Watashi]

I'm trapped into watching Wild Hogs.

Save me boner. :sad:

[Boner M]

Save me boner. :sad:
Why me?

[Watashi]

Why me?
I wasn't talking to you....

[Boner M]

I wasn't talking to you....
Well, now I don't know what to think.

[MadMan]

*is disappointed*I for one also gave Death Proof 8.5, so I agree with him as well.


I've seen it, too. And I agree with both you, it's great stuff. My favorite bit is Pontius Pilate being crushed by the death trap bed. And, of course, the ending. Price and Cushing are powerhouses.

I will add that I also think Theatre of Blood is great, and it is perhaps one of my favorite Price movies. It has much more going for it than simply being a Dr. Phibes rehash. What I enjoy about both this and Madhouse is that they are movies about actors and acting. Seeing Price ham it up as a pompous and literally "washed up" Shakespeare actor is just the start of the movie's enjoyment. I love how he rewrites texts, "performing" his revenge as his last great creative act. Also, there is a fencing scene with trampolines. How many movies have something that silly and awesome? Not enough, I suggest.Well in all fairness you are right about how Theatre of Blood approaches acting and critics as well. Naturally Price is great in just about anything (I really wish he could have been in more dramas, and he actually rocks in The Ten Commandments in what is a bit role).
Oh and heh that fencing scene is pretty boss. I also love that he performs openly in front of a bunch of homeless bums, despite the fact that they probably have very little or no knowledge of the Bard or any appreciation for him. That's just cool in itself.

[megladon8]

Did anyone see that French horror film from 2006 called Ils (Them)??

It's gotten some pretty decent reviews, and the premise definitely sounds intriguing.

[Rowland]

Did anyone see that French horror film from 2006 called Ils (Them)??

It's gotten some pretty decent reviews, and the premise definitely sounds intriguing.So, do you watch nothing but horror now? :P

[megladon8]

So, do you watch nothing but horror now? :P


I'm just in a horror binge right now.

I tend to go through these little binges.

Last year I had something similar for Harryhausen-type monster films.

The year before that it was '50s sci-fi stuff like Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (great movie by the way).

Right now I'm just in a real horror mood.

[Rowland]

I'm just in a horror binge right now.
Heh, I know how that goes. I usually go through one every October.

[megladon8]

Heh, I know how that goes. I usually go through one every October.


I suppose if there's a time of the year to go through a horror binge, that's it :)

I go through these all the time, though. I rarely just pick a movie at random to watch - it's almost always a certain mood that dictates the type of movies I'm watching at a given time.

[Boner M]

Anyone seen Massacre at Central High? Pretty nifty mix of Orwellian politics and the usual assortment of nasty deaths. One of the better 70's exploitation flicks.

[Rowland]

Yo Boner, I noticed that your Juno score dropped a point. How'd that happen?

[Boner M]

Yo Boner, I noticed that your Juno score dropped a point. How'd that happen?
I watched it after Cloverfield, so it seemed a little better than it actually was at the time because of posterity. It's feathery charm has now worn off and I'm now more bothered by it's 'anything for a quip' approach to characterisation and plotting. That said, the cast do a pretty stellar job at giving it a lived-in quality, and Reitman's direction is crisp (aside from a few generic indie-film tics) so I don't completely dismiss it.

[Raiders]

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers (great movie by the way).

You think? I caught it on TCM a week or so ago and found it pretty dull.

[megladon8]

You think? I caught it on TCM a week or so ago and found it pretty dull.


Well it's certainly not Forbidden Planet - how'd you like that one, by the way? - but I thought it was a really entertaining piece of 1950's Cold War paranoia embodied in a sci-fi atmosphere.

[Raiders]

Well it's certainly not Forbidden Planet - how'd you like that one, by the way? - but I thought it was a really entertaining piece of 1950's Cold War paranoia embodied in a sci-fi atmosphere.

I didn't find much of the underlying subtext here like most of the superior 50s sci-fi films. The Harryhausen effects, namely at the end, were pretty good though.

Oh, and Forbidden Planet is excellent.

[MadMan]

Even though I liked and enjoyed it, Forbidden Planet is really cheesy, even for 50s sci-fi. Robby the Robot rocks though and its cool that the film is basically a sci-fi adaptation of "The Tempest."

[megladon8]

I didn't find much of the underlying subtext here like most of the superior 50s sci-fi films. The Harryhausen effects, namely at the end, were pretty good though.

Oh, and Forbidden Planet is excellent.


We watched Forbidden Planet this past Christmas and it really holds up well.

It has wooden acting and awkward dialogue, but I really find that adds to its charm.

And I absolutely love those old "Star Trek"-style sets. I would so decorate a room like that.

[Raiders]

In comparison to most films of its kind, I really don't think Forbidden Planet is cheesy or has bad acting. It's actually a pretty solidly produced, and well directed, film.

[megladon8]

In comparison to most films of its kind, I really don't think Forbidden Planet is cheesy or has bad acting. It's actually a pretty solidly produced, and well directed, film.


I didn't say it has bad acting, but you can't deny that it's a little stiff.

And yes, the direction is wonderful. And I still think the monster effects look really cool.

[MadMan]

Last night I viewed The Dark Half(1993). Some scattered thoughts:

After seeing some really great flicks from Romero it was interesting to view one of his lesser works, which this one really was. However what was remarkable is just how damn creepy this film was as some of the scenes were actually a bit on the scary side. The FX actually was too weird at times, especially near the end with a rather bizarro finale, but they didn't take away from the interesting and engaging story. For the most part this flick is worth viewing, if only because it does note and explore the notion that most artists are a tad on the crazy side. 77/100

So I'm thinking of switching rating systems and going over to the 100 scale. Maybe I'll eventually return to the **** scale in time. I donno. I hope this doesn't spark discussion of rating systems. Although that bit is part and parcel of FDT, and should probably be listed as one of the things that if someone mentions it, we should all drink.

[D_Davis]

Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers is awesome. I got to see it on the big screen at a Harryhausen festival. It was super cool.


I saw Superbad tonight. The best thing I can say about is that it is too long.

[Derek]

Sam Fuller's nearly impossible to find Park Row is airing on TCM this Tuesday @ 5pm PST. I've heard nothing but great things about it, including from Raiders who was supposed to send it to me a year ago along with my tape of Trust. *cough*

[soitgoes...]

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is indeed mediocre. I never got into it. I watched Barbarella earlier today, and it is awful. Not the worst thing ever awful, but pretty bad. The only redeeming factor is a hot Fonda, but even there they failed me by not showing her naked for the entire film. Oh well.

In other news, Straw Dogs is playing on the tube. My girlfriend was watching it, and I just got home in time for the end. Bear trap to head=bad way to die.

[soitgoes...]

Sam Fuller's nearly impossible to find Park Row is airing on TCM this Tuesday @ 5pm PST. I've heard nothing but great things about it, including from Raiders who was supposed to send it to me a year ago along with my tape of Trust. *cough*
My DVR is ready and waiting. There isn't a whole lot of Fuller I still want to see. This is one though that intrigues me.

[soitgoes...]

Also TCM is having a Charles Burnett night on Monday. 2 feature length and 3 short films. Other than Killer of Sheep I haven't heard of anything else by him.

[Qrazy]

Wrong.

Right.

[Qrazy]

In comparison to most films of its kind, I really don't think Forbidden Planet is cheesy or has bad acting. It's actually a pretty solidly produced, and well directed, film.

Agreed.

[MadMan]

Also TCM is having a Charles Burnett night on Monday. 2 feature length and 3 short films. Other than Killer of Sheep I haven't heard of anything else by him.I plan to view it and see what all of the fuss is about. I've never heard about Burnett until recently.

[Stay Puft]

Also TCM is having a Charles Burnett night on Monday. 2 feature length and 3 short films. Other than Killer of Sheep I haven't heard of anything else by him.

I don't have TCM, but I imagine this is going to be similar material from the DVD set? It has Killer of Sheep, both versions of My Brother's Wedding, and three or four short films (Several Friends, The Horse, and... I think When it Rains, maybe one other).

I look forward to digging into the DVD set next week, anyways.

[soitgoes...]

I don't have TCM, but I imagine this is going to be similar material from the DVD set? It has Killer of Sheep, both versions of My Brother's Wedding, and three or four short films (Several Friends, The Horse, and... I think When it Rains, maybe one other).

I look forward to digging into the DVD set next week, anyways.That would be it.

[Melville]

Death Proof: 8.5 (sorry to disappoint the haters!)
:sad:


A Night at the Opera was very disappointing. It suffered from a major deficit of anarchical zaniness, all the comedy routines were punctuated by awkward pauses, and Groucho's witticisms were sub-par. Wikipedia informs me that Irving Thalberg is to blame.

[MacGuffin]

Also TCM is having a Charles Burnett night on Monday. 2 feature length and 3 short films. Other than Killer of Sheep I haven't heard of anything else by him.

I thought Killer of Sheep was interesting, but fairly unspectacular. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it when you're through watching it.

[Grouchy]

A Night at the Opera was very disappointing. It suffered from a major deficit of anarchical zaniness, all the comedy routines were punctuated by awkward pauses, and Groucho's witticisms were sub-par. Wikipedia informs me that Irving Thalberg is to blame.
What Thalberg did was put the brothers routines in an actual feature Hollywood movie, with a coherent plot and lenght. He's to blame for the musical numbers and the romance, and it's advisable to simply skip those parts, at least if you've seen the movie already. But I disagree that their humor is subpar in Opera or in any of the movies they did with and after Thalberg, just because their first period is wackier and more anarchic. For one thing, the scene in the cabin with the visitors that keep coming is their most famous skit and a milestone of comedy cinema.

Yeah, Duck Soup is pure genius, but you can't continue making a movie like that forever. It's a one-time wonder.

[Grouchy]

I saw Naked Weapon. Hong Kong action with beautiful Chinese models spreading their legs wide open. It's a cheesy movie with plenty of shot-to-shot continuity goofs and plot holes, but it's all a blatant excuse for the mild erotism and the action, and it works most of the time. It's also particularly bloody and melodramatic, and I thought the training sequences looked inspired by Battle Royale. I'd never watch it again, but it didn't bother me at all. The one thing that did bother me was the product placement. Maggie Q, incidentally, is a fucking rising sun goddess.

[Velocipedist]

A Night at the Opera was very disappointing. It suffered from a major deficit of anarchical zaniness, all the comedy routines were punctuated by awkward pauses, and Groucho's witticisms were sub-par. Wikipedia informs me that Irving Thalberg is to blame.

Deficit of anarchical zaniness? The stateroom scene? The contract signing scene? I beg to differ! Plus, it has Margaret Dumont's best presence. And the Marx brothers are all about awkward pauses. A Night at the Opera is sincerely my favourite of theirs after Duck Soup.

[Sycophant]

I saw Superbad tonight. The best thing I can say about is that it is too long.Scathing.

[D_Davis]

I saw Naked Weapon. Hong Kong action with beautiful Chinese models spreading their legs wide open. It's a cheesy movie with plenty of shot-to-shot continuity goofs and plot holes, but it's all a blatant excuse for the mild erotism and the action, and it works most of the time. It's also particularly bloody and melodramatic, and I thought the training sequences looked inspired by Battle Royale. I'd never watch it again, but it didn't bother me at all. The one thing that did bother me was the product placement. Maggie Q, incidentally, is a fucking rising sun goddess.

One of Ching Siu Tung's minor efforts. It should have been better. I thought it would be more action packed and more fun.

[Grouchy]

One of Ching Siu Tung's minor efforts. It should have been better. I thought it would be more action packed and more fun.
That's the director, right? I did a little reading on the producer in Wikipedia, apparently he's the Chinese Jerry Bruckenheimer.

Which movies would you recommend instead?

[D_Davis]

That's the director, right? I did a little reading on the producer in Wikipedia, apparently he's the Chinese Jerry Bruckenheimer.

Which movies would you recommend instead?

Ching Siu Tung is one of my favorite HK directors, and my most favorite fight choreographer. He was an instrumental force behind the new school, and his wire-assisted fight choreography is just awesome.

I would check out:

As director -

Duel to the Death - his directorial debut
A Chinese Ghost Story 1 and 2
Swordsman 1 (co-director w/ Tsui Hark after King Hu left the production) and 3

As choreographer -

The Flying Daggers
Moon Warriors
Butterfly and Sword
Shaolin Soccer
Hero
Peking Opera Blues
The Killer

He worked a lot with Tsui Hark and his production company.

[Melville]

Yeah, Duck Soup is pure genius, but you can't continue making a movie like that forever. It's a one-time wonder.
I guess I'll just stick with Duck Soup.


Deficit of anarchical zaniness? The stateroom scene? The contract signing scene? I beg to differ! Plus, it has Margaret Dumont's best presence. And the Marx brothers are all about awkward pauses. A Night at the Opera is sincerely my favourite of theirs after Duck Soup.
The contract signing was damn funny, but the stateroom scene, despite its fame, didn't work for me. It felt flat, like it needed more energy, either from the actors or from the editing. I think the whole tone of the film was thrown off by making the brothers subordinate to a real-world story. What worked so well in Duck Soup, and what gave a more suitable context for the comedy routines, was how the brothers overthrew and redefined the rules of the story, rather than acting around them.

I was also kind of disappointed by Five Easy Pieces, which I just finished watching. Its presentation of modern ennui was made way too simplistic by surrounding Nicholson's protagonist with caricatures. The film doesn't present his character in an uncritical light, as he definitely comes off as a jerk, but it does present his alienation wholly uncritically—it gives us no option but to sympathize with him, because the world around him is such a broad exaggeration.

[Grouchy]

The Flying Daggers
Shaolin Soccer
Hero
The Killer
Well, I've seen these ones. Thanks a bunch for the info, I'll try to find some more of his work now that I got a lead. The moves were awesome in Naked Weapon, but I felt the editing could've been better, since you never got a sense of geography and reality from the fights. In fact, corpses on the floor disappeared a couple of takes after they were killed, like in a videogame.


The contract signing was damn funny, but the stateroom scene, despite its fame, didn't work for me. It felt flat, like it needed more energy, either from the actors or from the editing. I think the whole tone of the film was thrown off by making the brothers subordinate to a real-world story. What worked so well in Duck Soup, and what gave a more suitable context for the comedy routines, was how the brothers overthrew and redefined the rules of the story, rather than acting around them.
I feel weird arguing against this because I kind of agree. Horse Feathers and Duck Soup are my favorite Marx films because they're virtually plotless. I think you got to appreciate just how underground and marginal those movies were in the '30s, and how the partnership between Thalberg and the brothers was an attempt to move Marxist humor from critical success and intellectual applause into mainstream Hollywood cinema and expand their audiences. I don't think their wit suffered from the change, though. The scenes that are obviously Hollywood-ish are usually the musical number or the love interest scenes wich don't have the brothers on the screen.

So, basically, they sold out. But they were still hilarious.

[D_Davis]

Well, I've seen these ones. Thanks a bunch for the info, I'll try to find some more of his work now that I got a lead. The moves were awesome in Naked Weapon, but I felt the editing could've been better, since you never got a sense of geography and reality from the fights. In fact, corpses on the floor disappeared a couple of takes after they were killed, like in a videogame.


This is a good observation. I get the sense that Naked Weapon was made quickly, without much thought.

By the way, you might know this, so if you do please don't be insulted, but The Flying Daggers is different than The House of Flying Daggers. CST worked on both though. The Flying Daggers is an early '90s new school flick.

[Melville]

I feel weird arguing against this because I kind of agree. Horse Feathers and Duck Soup are my favorite Marx films because they're virtually plotless. I think you got to appreciate just how underground and marginal those movies were in the '30s, and how the partnership between Thalberg and the brothers was an attempt to bring the brothers into mainstream Hollywood cinema and expand their audiences. I don't think their wit suffered from the change, though. The scenes that are obviously Hollywood-ish are usually the musical number or the love interest scenes wich don't have the brothers on the screen.
I think my main problem might be that the comedy routines seem forced when they're within a "Hollywood-ish" context, whereas they feel natural within the narrative meltdown of Duck Soup. I'll have to check out Horse Feathers.

[Bosco B Thug]

I was also kind of disappointed by Five Easy Pieces, which I just finished watching. Its presentation of modern ennui was made way too simplistic by surrounding Nicholson's protagonist with caricatures. The film doesn't present his character in an uncritical light, as he definitely comes off as a jerk, but it does present his alienation wholly uncritically—it gives us no option but to sympathize with him, because the world around him is such a broad exaggeration. Uncritical even when

he abandons his wife at the gas station at the end of the movie?
But... I wouldn't be able to discuss, I don't remember the film too much in detail, except that I really liked it.

[Melville]

Uncritical even when

he abandons his wife at the gas station at the end of the movie?
But... I wouldn't be able to discuss, I don't remember the film too much in detail, except that I really liked it.
It's definitely critical of him; the final shot is from an extreme distance, obviously going for an objective view of the protagonist's actions. But by making his girlfriend (were they married?) into such an irritating caricature, the film makes his frustration and alienation simplistically one-sided. Although his specific actions make him seem like a jerk, his general frame of mind is made to seem inevitable by the sea of insipid personality around him. The film would have benefited greatly by giving the other characters more depth, making the protagonist's alienation a lot more meaningful while still allowing us to sympathize with him (after all, who can't sympathize with alienation?).

[megladon8]

So Evil Aliens was a waste of time and money. I'm glad I just got it in a 2/$10 deal, but at the same time I want my five bucks back.

The characters are some of the most annoying I have seen in a long time, the story is stupid, the CGI is terrible, the dialogue is atrocious and the humor is childish and completely unfunny.

While a lot of that seems to have been intentional in its mocking of genre clichés, even its criticisms of these clichés are clichéd - it's really quite painful.

So many of the ideas seemed like foolproof comedy/horror gold, but they still managed to muck it all up.

That being said, it has more to offer genre enthusiasts than some of the other pieces of crap I've seen lately, but this is pretty much all embodied in the recurrence of a lighter with the "Watchmen" symbol on it.

Don't waste your time watching this movie.

[Philosophe_rouge]

His Kind of Woman (1951) was good fun, something of a film noir comedy. It balances the absurdity of situation and character with some good dramatics. The leads Mitchum and Russell have a lot of chemistry and are really very good, but Vincent Price steals the picture as ham actor, Mark Cardigan, who has a fondness for hunting and tries capture in his own life the adventure he lives on the screen. This may very well be my favourite Price role, he's absolutely wonderful. Lots of great dialogue and nice little scenes like the card game, or the ongoing ironing gag.

[MacGuffin]

I'm going to go watch A Hole in My Heart. I hope it's as good as Lilya 4-ever.

[Watashi]

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is awesome.

Anyone agree?

[Spinal]

I'm going to go watch A Hole in My Heart. I hope it's as good as Lilya 4-ever.

It's much better.

[Sycophant]

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is awesome.

Anyone agree?
Yes. Emphatically.

[MacGuffin]

It's much better.

Sorry, but that was painful for me to sit through.

[Spinal]

A Hole in My Heart (Moodysson, 2005) 1.0

*sigh*

[MacGuffin]

*sigh*

Please take this in the least offensive way possible: but does anybody appreciate this besides you on this forum? I give it .5 for the actor who played Eric, and .5 for the avant-garde inserts, as meaningless as they were (I'm a sucker for experimentation), but this didn't have a glimpse of humanity the whole way through, and if I wanted to watch an anti-porn, The Wayward Cloud does it a whole lot better, I think.

[Spinal]

Please take this in the least offensive way possible: but does anybody appreciate this besides you on this forum?

No. Which is why I sigh. I thought I might have a decent shot at a supporter this time.

And I think the film is supposed to be difficult to sit through, much like Salo is supposed to be difficult to sit through. It's a vision of hell.

My review. (http://filmepidemic.blogspot.com/2005/12/hole-in-my-heart-moodysson-2004.html)

[MacGuffin]

No. Which is why I sigh. I thought I might have a decent shot at a supporter this time.

And I think the film is supposed to be difficult to sit through, much like Salo is supposed to be difficult to sit through. It's a vision of hell.

My review. (http://filmepidemic.blogspot.com/2005/12/hole-in-my-heart-moodysson-2004.html)

Yeah, sorry to let you down. As far as it being a vision of hell, so was Lilya 4-ever. However, at least that was tolerable. This just felt like Lukas Moodysson in Gaspar Noé mode, and if you had asked me a year or so ago, I'd say there's nothing wrong with that, but to this day I'm not so sure.

[MadMan]

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is awesome.

Anyone agree?Aye, although when it comes to John Candy films my favorite is Spaceballs followed by The Great Outdoors.

[Duncan]

It's definitely critical of him; the final shot is from an extreme distance, obviously going for an objective view of the protagonist's actions. But by making his girlfriend (were they married?) into such an irritating caricature, the film makes his frustration and alienation simplistically one-sided. Although his specific actions make him seem like a jerk, his general frame of mind is made to seem inevitable by the sea of insipid personality around him. The film would have benefited greatly by giving the other characters more depth, making the protagonist's alienation a lot more meaningful while still allowing us to sympathize with him (after all, who can't sympathize with alienation?).

I don't think the girlfriend is as much of a caricature as you say. She's portrayed as an idiot, sure, but there's still a lot of compassion to her as well. I think my favorite scene in Five Easy Pieces is when Nicholson confronts that "intellectual" woman (who, I admit, is quite a caricature herself). The first time I watched the film it really turned my perceptions of the girlfriend upside down, because I had been doing something very similar to what the other woman had been doing. I felt implicitly criticized. And maybe the film sets us up for that criticism by portraying her as such a dunce. It reveals our (or at least my own) quick analysis and dismissal of people like the girlfriend. It's been a few years since I've watched it though. I might not like it as much now. Can't even remember character names.

[Duncan]

Saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly today. It was alright. I was hoping for something more. There are plenty of ways to make a film feel intensely subjective. The POV camera is boring and, frankly, a pretty obvious conceit. Max von Sydow has still got it. What an actor.

[ledfloyd]

I guess I'll just stick with Duck Soup.
Work backwards from it. Horse Feathers, Monkey Business and Animal Crackers are in a similar vein. I agree with you in not liking their "Hollywood" stuff so much. There are hysterical gags in all of them, but the movies themselves are pretty flat.


I just rewatched A Clockwork Orange. First time I'd seen it in about 7 years. Last time I saw it I was 15. I loved the first half hour or so, thought the rest of it was slightly boring. This time I initially had almost the exact opposite reaction. The first 40 minutes or so was hard to stomach, I didn't really like how the camera seemed to be enjoying the violence. I loved the rest of it. Based on that initial viewing I had considered it one of Kubrick's lesser films. I didn't really care for the caricaturesque portrayals of many of the supporting characters. I wasn't sure where the film stood ideologically. About halfway through I realized the caricatures and the blood lust of the first half were due to the "camera" for the most part being Alex. The other characters are exaggerated cause you're seeing them as he saw them. The violence is exciting because he found it exciting. It also raises the question of whether or not a sociopathic narrator is a trustworthy one. Which made me wonder specifically about the scene with the cops. Staying underwater that long is likely impossible for Alex, as he isn't an olympic swimmer. Is that an example of his exaggeration? I still have to think it over, but I liked the film loads more this time. I would've initially rated it perhaps one star. However, now I think it's probably closer to *** out of ****.

[Ezee E]

Planes, Trains, and Automobiles is awesome.

Anyone agree?
Duh.

Although I like it more because of Steve Martin.

[Grouchy]

I think my favorite scene in Five Easy Pieces is when Nicholson confronts that "intellectual" woman (who, I admit, is quite a caricature herself). The first time I watched the film it really turned my perceptions of the girlfriend upside down, because I had been doing something very similar to what the other woman had been doing. I felt implicitly criticized. And maybe the film sets us up for that criticism by portraying her as such a dunce. It reveals our (or at least my own) quick analysis and dismissal of people like the girlfriend.
Ok, so the movie does idealize the Nicholson character nihilism and egolatry, I won't argue with that, but this is very true of that scene - it suddenly adds a character that totally despises the girlfriend, yet that character is very loathsome. In a way, it's openly challenging the audience.

It's like reading a Bukowski novel, or Catcher in the Rye. None is safe when you're born a cynic bastard. I liked Five Easy Pieces.

[origami_mustache]

Yeah, sorry to let you down. As far as it being a vision of hell, so was Lilya 4-ever. However, at least that was tolerable. This just felt like Lukas Moodysson in Gaspar Noé mode, and if you had asked me a year or so ago, I'd say there's nothing wrong with that, but to this day I'm not so sure.

Speaking of Gaspar Noé, I just watched I Stand Alone. Although I liked Irréversible , after watching I Stand Alone and 4 his short films last week, I really am not impressed with his other work.

[MacGuffin]

Speaking of Gaspar Noé, I just watched I Stand Alone. Although I liked Irréversible , after watching I Stand Alone and 4 his short films last week, I really am not impressed with his other work.

I thought I Stand Alone was pretty bad. I'm going to have to revisit Irréversible, and I get the feeling I'm not going to like it as much a second viewing.

[origami_mustache]

I thought I Stand Alone was pretty bad. I'm going to have to revisit Irréversible, and I get the feeling I'm not going to like it as much a second viewing.

I don't know, I haven't watched it in a while, but I've retained my memory of it much better than most films, which says something. I think his reliance on stylization in Irréversible actually supports rather than hinders the film, whereas this is not the case in his other films.

[MacGuffin]

I don't know, I haven't watched it in a while, but I've retained my memory of it much better than most films, which says something. I think his reliance on stylization in Irréversible actually supports rather than hinders the film, whereas this is not the case in his other films.

I'm a bit creeped out by the man, honestly. What I Stand Alone stood for was just... wrong.

[origami_mustache]

I'm a bit creeped out by the man, honestly. What I Stand Alone stood for was just... wrong.

Hmm, yeah I guess Noé wants his films to be associated with that sort of shock gimmick, but I'm not sure he was promoting that particular relationship. It was more of a universal statement about creating one's own personal morality and justice using the nameless butcher/common man's story as a representation.

[Ezee E]

I'm surprised with all these torture movies out, that Gaspar Noe hasn't had a new movie come to the states, or at least be working on one yet.

Where are his shorts at?

[origami_mustache]

I'm surprised with all these torture movies out, that Gaspar Noe hasn't had a new movie come to the states, or at least be working on one yet.

Where are his shorts at?

I downloaded them...actually I just found a series of three shorts films called EVA from 2005 using google. I haven't seen these yet and they weren't credited on IMDB.

[megladon8]

Wilderness was pretty bad, but at least somewhat serviceable.

The dialogue isn't too horrendous, but perhaps I'm being overly kind after seeing Evil Aliens.

The biggest problem is a lack of a charismatic or even remotely believable star. The role seems like something that would have been filled by Arnie 20 years ago, but it's played a skinny little chav with zero ability to carry the movie. He has a ridiculous haircut, and there's just absolutely nothing about him to make one believe he could be this stone-cold badass killer, because he certainly does try really, really REALLY hard to be a badass...but it's like a 12 year old dressing up as Rambo for Halloween. Sure it's cute and amusing at first, but eventually it's just annoying and unintentionally hilarious.

It also painfully rips off Severance in both ideas and kills. They both came out the same year - 2006 - but even if this actually came out before Severance, Severance did it all much better.

On the whole it's a very cliché-ridden film, and it's kind of funny to watch in the special features how the director seems to think he's doing something very original and that he's the first one to ever think of the idea of putting people on an isolated island and seeing how they act without laws or society to govern them.


EDIT: Just discovered that the zero-charisma action hero in the movie was the guy who played the younger, disabled brother in Dead Man's Shoes.

So imagine him trying to play Rambo, and you've got his character in Wilderness.

[Benny Profane]

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu -- I hope I never end up in a Romanian hospital, but it's nice to know they have such pretty doctors. I like their "sass".

[Melville]

I don't think the girlfriend is as much of a caricature as you say. She's portrayed as an idiot, sure, but there's still a lot of compassion to her as well. I think my favorite scene in Five Easy Pieces is when Nicholson confronts that "intellectual" woman (who, I admit, is quite a caricature herself). The first time I watched the film it really turned my perceptions of the girlfriend upside down, because I had been doing something very similar to what the other woman had been doing. I felt implicitly criticized. And maybe the film sets us up for that criticism by portraying her as such a dunce. It reveals our (or at least my own) quick analysis and dismissal of people like the girlfriend.
If that was the intention, then it definitely didn't work for me. At that point I was criticizing the film's portrayal of the girlfriend, rather than criticizing the girlfriend herself. Not that there aren't real people very similar to the girlfriend, but those people inevitably have more depth and internal conflict than she was allowed. Nicholson's attack on the "intellectual" woman (who is indeed every bit as irritating a caricature as the girlfriend) and defense of his girlfriend thus seemed obvious to me—in fact it seemed too obvious, because the intellectual was a caricature demanding rebuttal. Even in defending his girlfriend, Nicholson's character was the only one allowed any depth; both the girlfriend and her antagonist remained exaggerations.

[D_Davis]

The dialogue isn't too horrendous, but perhaps I'm being overly kind after seeing Evil Aliens.


Evil Aliens is one of the worst films I've ever seen. I despise this film.

[Russ]

Damn...I just realized what a great year 1973 was for film (I've seen 20/23):

Amarcord
American Graffiti
Badlands
Day for Night
Don't Look Now
Enter the Dragon
The Exorcist
Fantastic Planet
High Plains Drifter
The Holy Mountain
I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse
The Last Detail
The Long Goodbye
Mean Streets
Paper Moon
Papillon
Scenes from a Marriage
Serpico
Sisters
Sleeper
Spirit of the Beehive
The Sting
The Wicker Man

[Raiders]

Damn...I just realized what a great year 1973 was for film

And it was followed by my personal favorite, 1974.

[Qrazy]

It's definitely critical of him; the final shot is from an extreme distance, obviously going for an objective view of the protagonist's actions. But by making his girlfriend (were they married?) into such an irritating caricature, the film makes his frustration and alienation simplistically one-sided. Although his specific actions make him seem like a jerk, his general frame of mind is made to seem inevitable by the sea of insipid personality around him. The film would have benefited greatly by giving the other characters more depth, making the protagonist's alienation a lot more meaningful while still allowing us to sympathize with him (after all, who can't sympathize with alienation?).

I'm not overly enamored with the film either (more so because I don't feel that it's formally spectacular) but I don't see it as particularly about ennui or alienation. I see it more as a film about a character who repeatedly tries to escape his past and fails... and the emotions this engenders. I think he rather despises ennui actually. He loathes the bourgeois-ness of it and tries to distance himself from that, but of course it always remains a part of him. He feels some alienation as a result of this for sure, but he's more self-destructive than anything else.

In response to other comments... I also don't think the film idealizes or even views the character as particularly nihilistic. He certainly both has the potential to and actually cares about many different things (although he's certainly no idealist, he does care to one degree or another about the women he's with and cares enough about his father to go see him). I think more than idealizing nihilism, the film respects the humor found in his particular brand of cutting through bullshit in a very bullshit society. He's definitely not a saint and he's not portrayed as one, but just let him order the toast already!

[Qrazy]

Oh and to all Flight of the Conchords fans... Eagle vs. Shark was fucking terrible, stay away from that one.

[Qrazy]

If that was the intention, then it definitely didn't work for me. At that point I was criticizing the film's portrayal of the girlfriend, rather than criticizing the girlfriend herself. Not that there aren't real people very similar to the girlfriend, but those people inevitably have more depth and internal conflict than she was allowed. Nicholson's attack on the "intellectual" woman (who is indeed every bit as irritating a caricature as the girlfriend) and defense of his girlfriend thus seemed obvious to me—in fact it seemed too obvious, because the intellectual was a caricature demanding rebuttal. Even in defending his girlfriend, Nicholson's character was the only one allowed any depth; both the girlfriend and her antagonist remained exaggerations.

I don't agree with you about the girlfriend either. I thought she was given the screen time and range of emotion to demonstrate a believable personality. I also don't feel the sister was a caricature, even with her limited screen time I was sold on her character. For me the film's weaknesses were mediocrity in the visual and editorial realms rather than with the characters. The 'intellectual' was thinly sketched, but such thinly sketched people exist in real life. We could have had more screen-time with her being less of a pompous ass but the film is a character piece, not an ensemble piece. To me her statements and response when shot down felt genuine in the time she was allotted. Perhaps you feel that the film's themes would have been better expressed or the tone more resonant if more of the characters were given the time to be fleshed out?

[Velocipedist]

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu -- I hope I never end up in a Romanian hospital, but it's nice to know they have such pretty doctors. I like their "sass".

I'm Romanian. :)

[dreamdead]

Been sitting on thoughts on Apichatpong Weerasethakul's Syndromes and a Century for the weekend, trying to master what exactly is so endlessly fascinating about it. Ultimately, it's the ethereal way that Joe orchestrates the two bifurcated stories, choosing little details so that the stories (and, thus, the worlds) open up into vast narratives. There's something so indescribably tender about the first story, with its focus on the monk/singer relationship and identities that must conform to certain expectations of a rural vision of Thailand. The urban and contemporary story approximates a more traditional story of love and its myriad complications, but retains a tenderness that Hou Hsiao-Hsien lacked in the final narrative to Three Times. While both Hou and Joe have their respective reasons, there's a humanity here even in the throes of growing alienation, whereas Hou's film lacked that former sense in its contemporary narrative. Gorgeous cinematography of the land and framing of the hospital, and the closing is as deceptively thrilling as Kitano's closing dance sequence in Zatoichi. Mesmerizing stuff, and I now want to go back and revisit his earlier work, as this currently feels like his most complete film...

[Rowland]

The ATHF movie rocks. To my surprise, it strikes me as a close cousin of Paprika.

[Skitch]

Any websites where you can snag lists of movies released by year?

[odditie]

Any websites where you can snag lists of movies released by year?
http://imdb.com/list

That's probably the best way to round down to what you are looking for...its still hard if you watch semi-obscure stuff to find a good full list.

I suppose another way for some years would be using RTs best reviewed movies per year, that'll give you a list based on T-Meter ratings...

[Skitch]

See, now if I could just bare more than 30 seconds of imdb at a time, I probably would have found that on my own. Thanks though!

[Rowland]

See, now if I could just bare more than 30 seconds of imdb at a time, I probably would have found that on my own. Thanks though!At least IMDB still has a crisp format. RT is nigh unusable in its new format.

[Skitch]

At least IMDB still has a crisp format. RT is nigh unusable in its new format.

Huh. It's been working fine for me...but I seem to be the only one.

:)

[Derek]

The ATHF movie rocks. To my surprise, it strikes me as a close cousin of Paprika.

Definitely. It's equally interested in deconstructing its own realities, peeling back one layer after another. The reappearances of the dancing robot cracked me up every time.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Odd Man Out (1947) is a rather incredible film about a nationalist leader who finds himself abandoned and injured, and the events that unfold as a result. The film is magnificently shot, if you've seen the Third Man it's easy to reckonize Reed's noir vision. The film plays heavily like a game of chess, with the injured gangster as a pawn who'se used and abused by those around him. His best interest is never considered, as others feign efforts in relieving him of his pain or suffering, but only to the point it serves their own lives and interests. I think this is what makes the finale all the more tragic and poignant... more emotionally ambiguous than one would expect from a film of the era. I really need to revisit the Third Man.

[Skitch]

The Third Man is a great flick.

[Ezee E]

Jees, Halloween is godawful. Rob Zombie has made one really good movie, and two piles of crap.

I'm not even a huge fan of the original, but boy did he butcher it with the "update."

[Yxklyx]

Any websites where you can snag lists of movies released by year?

Go to imdb.com and do a Power Search. Enter the year up near the top and towards the bottom check a box to display the 100 highest rated movies. Also, there's a box above that to list the minimum number of votes - enter 100 (or 1000) or something like that. You may want to select a drag down or two (like no TV shows).

[Philosophe_rouge]

The Third Man is a great flick.
I think it was my first film noir, and I saw it years ago. I need to revisit it because I wasn't very fond of it, although I remember it very clearly and it only grows in appreciation in my mind. I need to give it a fair shot.

[Rowland]

Jees, Halloween is godawful. Rob Zombie has made one really good movie, and two piles of crap.

I'm not even a huge fan of the original, but boy did he butcher it with the "update."It's funny, I went into this prepared to hate it more than anyone, given my love for Carpenter's movie and the toxic buzz it has accumulated, and here I am now as one of its few vocal defenders. I thought it was fascinating to watch Halloween filtered through the sensibilities of one of our only distinctive modern "horror" filmmakers. Zombie depicts murder and psychological abuse with a genuine ugliness that the fratboy types like Roth could learn from. The movie isn't particularly scary or tense in the conventional sense, but it's a fascinating experiment, and yet another bold illustration of the auteur theory in a year bursting with them.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's funny, I went into this prepared to hate it more than anyone, given my love of Carpenter's movie and the toxic buzz, and here I am now as one of its few vocal defenders. I thought it was fascinating to watch Halloween filtered through the sensibilities of one of our only distinctive modern "horror" filmmakers. Zombie depicts murder and psychological abuse with a genuine ugliness that the fratboy types like Roth could learn from.

Yeah, because Eli Roth paints such a pretty picture of murder...

:confused:

[Rowland]

Yeah, because Eli Roth paints such a pretty picture of murder...

:confused:On the basis of Hostel II, he has forgotten how to elicit anything beyond tedium with his gross-out-inclined pseudo-transgressions.

[Qrazy]

The Unknown did nothing for me. Freaks was much better.

[Philosophe_rouge]

The Unknown did nothing for me. Freaks was much better.
I like both, but the Unknown feels so incomplete comparitively.

[Rowland]

I haven't seen Freaks, but I really dug The Unknown. The version I watched had some really great music attached to it too, which probably helped a lot.

[soitgoes...]

Eclipse is going to be releasing a Silent Ozu box (http://www.criterion.com/asp/boxed_set.asp?id=2001000). I love that they are releasing these, as I haven't seen any of them, but I question why they are already repeating a director on this their 10th set. I would love to see them tackle directors who have little to no Region 1 releases. Ozu is becoming as favored by Criterion as Kurosawa.

[Rowland]

Eclipse is going to be releasing a Silent Ozu box (http://www.criterion.com/asp/boxed_set.asp?id=2001000). I love that they are releasing these, as I haven't seen any of them, but I question why they are already repeating a director on this their 10th set. I would love to see them tackle directors who have little to no Region 1 releases. Ozu is becoming as favored by Criterion as Kurosawa.I'm sure monetary considerations play very heavily into this. After all, the service they provide isn't cheap.

[soitgoes...]

The Unknown did nothing for me. Freaks was much better.
I enjoyed them both. Freaks is better, but both are pretty great. Two of Browning's best, from what I've seen.

[dreamdead]

Rohmer's Boyfriends and Girlfriends explores the typical Rohmerian issues of upper-class relationships and the many couplings that issue forth from such malaise. This feels like one of his slightest pictures, though he does explore some issues of desiring the Image of another, which are interestingly explored. That said, some of the acting here felt more amateurish and inexpressive than I'm used to in his films. Despite that, the climax by the lake is quite beautiful, and I was laughing out loud at the coda, when the two couples meet up at the restaurant, each decked out in the other couple's colors (blue/green). It is a genuinely funny moment, and shows that Rohmer isn't too confined to class dramas, but is willing to engage in some moments of comedy as well. And as long as I believe that Rohmer is silently critiqiuing the upper class and not just doing a rote drama, I can find value in this one, though it's probably the least demanding of his films that I've seen thus far.

[Sven]

That said, some of the acting here felt more amateurish and inexpressive than I'm used to in his films. Despite that, the climax by the lake is quite beautiful, and I was laughing out loud at the coda, when the two couples meet up at the restaurant, each decked out in the other couple's colors (blue/green).

I saw this one in the theatre and I literally busted up at this part, making the rest of the silent film crowd around me noticeably discomforted, for which I do not apologize. I thought the coda was hysterical in its matter-of-factness.

[MadMan]

The Third Man is a great flick.Damn right it is. I love that zither score, the elegant cinemtography (its one of the most beautifully shot black and white films ever), and the expert performances and some of the themes the film dives into. So far its the best old school film noir I've seen, although granted I still have much left to view from the genre.


The ATHF movie rocks. To my surprise, it strikes me as a close cousin of Paprika.


Definitely. It's equally interested in deconstructing its own realities, peeling back one layer after another. The reappearances of the dancing robot cracked me up every time.I thought I was alone in liking that film. Awesome. To me Neil Pert's drum solo of life and when Shake sings his crappy song on the roller coster were the funniest parts of the film.

Also I agree that the Halloween remake is rock solid. I too went in not expecting anything good (the original is the best horror film I've ever seen) but I too left digesting the film and noting that aside from the weak third act the flick was, "Surprise!" good.

Oh and Snakes On a Plane was an awesome, cheesy, crazy ass thrill ride that after a dull first 20 minutes entertained me throughout after that. The snake attacks were actually creative and really cool/freaky, and the cast of cardboard cliched characters actually managed to be not really annoying, which was good. To me this film didn't take itself too seriously, and that was a good thing because if they had played it straight this movie would have been awful.

[Skitch]

Damn right it is. I love that zither score, the elegant cinemtography (its one of the most beautifully shot black and white films ever), and the expert performances and some of the themes the film dives into. So far its the best old school film noir I've seen, although granted I still have much left to view from the genre.

Damn straight. See also, The 39 Steps.

[Bosco B Thug]

On the basis of Hostel II, he has forgotten how to elicit anything beyond tedium with his gross-out-inclined pseudo-transgressions. I dunno, Zombie's own sensibility, one for operatics, melodrama, and overwrought devotional to the evil and cruelty in the world, can be equally tedious.

But I enjoy both of their output, so just saying.

The ATHF movie... eh. I wasn't feeling it. Good for a watch though with a big group of people to express your WTF exclamations to.

[MadMan]

Damn straight. See also, The 39 Steps.Duly noted (its one of the many Hitchcock films I have left to see). I must also note that I rented Shadow of a Doubt(1943) and Series 7: The Contenders for this week. What interests and somewhat worries me is that I've almost reached the exact number of films I saw in this month last year, and the month isn't even over yet. I partly blame TCM but also my large amounts of free time due to school not giving me any large assignments yet.

[Ezee E]

It's funny, I went into this prepared to hate it more than anyone, given my love for Carpenter's movie and the toxic buzz it has accumulated, and here I am now as one of its few vocal defenders. I thought it was fascinating to watch Halloween filtered through the sensibilities of one of our only distinctive modern "horror" filmmakers. Zombie depicts murder and psychological abuse with a genuine ugliness that the fratboy types like Roth could learn from. The movie isn't particularly scary or tense in the conventional sense, but it's a fascinating experiment, and yet another bold illustration of the auteur theory in a year bursting with them.
I don't know. I would label it right with Eli Roth and the Saw movies as a movie that goes right for the gore.

That's not the main problem I had with it. It was the silly characters that shouted and cussed the whole time that belonged in The Devil's Rejects. Not in this movie. I could understand a small insight into the past, but not a half hour.

[Dead & Messed Up]

On the basis of Hostel II, he has forgotten how to elicit anything beyond tedium with his gross-out-inclined pseudo-transgressions.


Probably true, but I don't think he's trying to paint an attractive picture of murder. Additionally, I'm curious as to who else fits into the "fratboy" mold of Eli Roth.

[megladon8]

I, too, didn't hate Halloween as much as others did, Rowland.

I wouldn't say I particularly loved it or anything, but as you said, it's an interesting experiment, and I felt it was sort of the anti-Hostel.

The first murder of the boy in the woods actually made me cringe and feel genuinely disgusted by the evil this boy was already capable of at such a young age.

I find Rob Zombie to be an exciting filmmaker, to be honest.

[Rowland]

I don't know. I would label it right with Eli Roth and the Saw movies as a movie that goes right for the gore.There are degrees to gore. Where those filmmakers see the gore as being awesome, I get the impression that Zombie sees the sheer ugliness and brutal absurdity in his violence (physical and psychological), which deepens the games of audience identification he plays in The Devil's Rejects and Halloween.

That's not the main problem I had with it. It was the silly characters that shouted and cussed the whole time that belonged in The Devil's Rejects. Not in this movie. I could understand a small insight into the past, but not a half hour.Why not in this movie? It isn't Carpenter's Halloween. If there is one absolutely vital mistake I believe Zombie made over all of his others (I'm under no illusions that this was anything remotely approaching a flawless movie), it was in carrying over Carpenter's music. Those themes simply did not belong here.

[MadMan]

To me the first half of the Halloween remake completely stamped itself as something very different as opposed to what the original really was. Those who remake films should actually take stock of what directors such as Rob Zombie and John Carpenter do when they re-image a previously made film.

[Rowland]

Probably true, but I don't think he's trying to paint an attractive picture of murder. Additionally, I'm curious as to who else fits into the "fratboy" mold of Eli Roth.The Saw filmmakers strike me as such in their sensibilities (I still sorta like the first Saw though), as does Aja, who is admittedly more talented, ambitious, and promising than the rest of them.

[megladon8]

To me the first half of the Halloween remake completely stamped itself as something very different as opposed to what the original really was. Those who remake films should actually take stock of what directors such as Rob Zombie and John Carpenter do when they re-image a previously made film.


I agree completely.

Even if it completely fails, at least they tried something different.

Remakes which try too hard to stick to the original film's material very, very rarely (if ever) manage to hold a candle to the first incarnation of the story.

And let's not even start getting into the dreaded scene-for-scene remake. What a boring way of capitalizing on another film's successes.

[Grouchy]

I'm in a B-movie binge recently, so I saw The Thing with Two Heads and I finally understood that Treehouse of Horror episode with Burns and Homer. Really, the high concept sells the movie - two heads, one body, one head is black, the other one white and racist. One of them is Rosey Grier, the other Ray Milland. Which leads me to how much I love Ray Milland, the most underrated actor of all time in my book. The movie is fun and very, very bad. It also has quite a budget, at least from that desert chase scene which included exploding helicopters and stuff. They should've included a sex scene with both heads arguing at the same time and it was an instant classic. I guess it already is.

I also saw some more cultured stuff, Haneke's Code Unknown. There was a Haneke discussion a while back in this thread, and I have to say I'm 100% respect for the man, one of the few distinctive and genuinely groundbreaking filmmakers of the moment. This is a movie told in vignettes of uncut takes about a bunch of different characters, connected by an incident on a Paris street when a teen throws a paper bag at a beggar and another kid tries to get him to apologize. There isn't a plot, instead it's all about discovering different sides of the characters - in a way it's like an ensemble piece, told in a puzzling way. In fact, I have to attribute the fact that I liked this less than my other two Hanekes (Funny Games and Caché) to the disorientating effect, which sometimes was a little too much. If the film was slightly more connected and didn't attempt to confuse the audience so often, it might've worked better. Still, it's an awesome piece of work, and I can only imagine the effort put into some of these sequence-long takes, like the one in Africa with at least a hundred extras or the opening one with the beggar.

[Ivan Drago]

I thought I was alone in liking that film. Awesome. To me Neil Pert's drum solo of life and when Shake sings his crappy song on the roller coster were the funniest parts of the film.

I really enjoyed the Aqua Teen movie. The critics thought it was an anti-movie - it's not. It's just easier to understand if you're a fan of the show.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Saw filmmakers strike me as such in their sensibilities (I still sorta like the first Saw though), as does Aja, who is admittedly more talented, ambitious, and promising than the rest of them.

I don't know. Having met Aja, he doesn't seem like the frat-boy type at all. And Darren Lynn Bousman has basically admitted as to growing bored with the Saw pictures; his Repo: the Genetic Opera! certainly seems like a more ambitious production.

[MadMan]

I really enjoyed the Aqua Teen movie. The critics thought it was an anti-movie - it's not. It's just easier to understand if you're a fan of the show.Oh yeah, I forgot about your positive rating for that film as well. I too don't think its the anti-movie any more than the show is the anti-show. I agree also with Stay Puft's (I think that was him) noted how much the film expanded upon and took into account the actual show. Also I'm thinking of buying the film's soundtrack.

[megladon8]

I really liked Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theatres as well.

Though I admit the show is much better, because the short snippets work better than a full-length feature with this particular show's formula.

[Ivan Drago]

I agree also with Stay Puft's (I think that was him) noted how much the film expanded upon and took into account the actual show.

Was this on the old site or this site?

[Rowland]

I don't know. Having met Aja, he doesn't seem like the frat-boy type at all. And Darren Lynn Bousman has basically admitted as to growing bored with the Saw pictures; his Repo: the Genetic Opera! certainly seems like a more ambitious production.I'm just responding to what I see in their movies, and mind you, I'm not necessarily saying that I literally imagine them as fratboys. It's more a certain sensibility that I'm lazily labeling as such.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I really liked Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theatres as well.

Though I admit the show is much better, because the short snippets work better than a full-length feature with this particular show's formula.

The movie really disappointed me, precisely because the lunacy and non-sequiturs work well in a fifteen-minute format. At over an hour in length, it just gets exhausting. But even forgetting that, the writing seemed lazier than usual.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I'm just responding to what I see in their movies, and mind you, I'm not necessarily saying that I literally imagine them as fratboys. It's more a certain sensibility that I'm lazily labeling as such.

Ah. Well, regardless, that sensibility, if indeed it existed, seems to have run its course, and most of the directors in the "Splat Pack" are moving on to different things.

[Russ]

I'm in a B-movie binge recently, so I saw The Thing with Two Heads and I finally understood that Treehouse of Horror episode with Burns and Homer. Really, the high concept sells the movie - two heads, one body, one head is black, the other one white and racist. One of them is Rosey Grier, the other Ray Milland. Which leads me to how much I love Ray Milland, the most underrated actor of all time in my book. The movie is fun and very, very bad. It also has quite a budget, at least from that desert chase scene which included exploding helicopters and stuff. They should've included a sex scene with both heads arguing at the same time and it was an instant classic. I guess it already is.
One of the most entertaining bad movies ever. Gotta love the reaction of Rosey's girlfriend to his extra appendage: "You get into more shit!"

How Milland kept a straight face during filming I'll never know. http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4963/751bv3.jpg

[MadMan]

I really liked Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theatres as well.

Though I admit the show is much better, because the short snippets work better than a full-length feature with this particular show's formula.I agree fully, although I think they do have enough material for 30 minute episodes. But then in comparrison the American version of The Office seemingly had enough stuff to be expanded into an hour, and look how that turned out (according to the critics-I haven't seen any of the hour long episodes from Season 4, although the ones in Season 3 were pretty good).


Was this on the old site or this site?I believe it was in this thread.

[megladon8]

I'm just responding to what I see in their movies, and mind you, I'm not necessarily saying that I literally imagine them as fratboys. It's more a certain sensibility that I'm lazily labeling as such.


I think I understand what you mean.

They're sort of like those labels of "The Rat Pack" (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, etc.), "The Brat Pack" (Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, etc.) and now "The Frat Pack" (Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, etc.).

Except this is a group of directors, and they all have films similarly showcasing torture. Aja, Bousman, Wan, etc.

[MacGuffin]

Should I see Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters if I'm not even completely familiar with the television show?

[Russ]

The Hack Pack?

[Rowland]

The length complaint regarding the ATHF movie seems to be a common one. Nevertheless, I felt that its essential nature as a deluge of surrealism worked in its favor.

[Grouchy]

I think I understand what you mean.

They're sort of like those labels of "The Rat Pack" (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, etc.), "The Brat Pack" (Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, etc.) and now "The Frat Pack" (Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, etc.).

Except this is a group of directors, and they all have films similarly showcasing torture. Aja, Bousman, Wan, etc.
The Slash Pack.

I think to become a "pack" you gotta hang out together a lot and have credits together in the same movies, though.

[Rowland]

I think I understand what you mean.

They're sort of like those labels of "The Rat Pack" (Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra, etc.), "The Brat Pack" (Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, etc.) and now "The Frat Pack" (Will Ferrell, Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, etc.).

Except this is a group of directors, and they all have films similarly showcasing torture. Aja, Bousman, Wan, etc.You would be referring to the Splat Pack label, which I hate. No, I'm not referring just to torture as much as a certain wanness to their filmmaking. This is a pretty tired topic though.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The length complaint regarding the ATHF movie seems to be a common one. Nevertheless, I felt that its essential nature as a deluge of surrealism worked in its favor.

Oh, it's successfully surreal. The question is whether or not the viewer finds surrealism for an extended period of time fascinating or arbitrary. I fall on the second adjective.

[Rowland]

Oh, it's successfully surreal. The question is whether or not the viewer finds surrealism for an extended period of time fascinating or arbitrary. I fall on the second adjective.I should have emphasized "deluge." I meant that its essential nature as a prolonged deluge of arbitrariness is what I perceived to be one of its chief strengths

[Qrazy]

I enjoyed them both. Freaks is better, but both are pretty great. Two of Browning's best, from what I've seen.

Yeah, just to clarify I didn't think it was bad or anything. I was just completely apathetic throughout.

[Stay Puft]

I believe it was in this thread.

It was the thread about animated films eligible for Oscars.

I didn't really expand on any thoughts other than saying I appreciated the way it expanded the show's mythos. What I meant is that, on the most obvious and literal level, the movie is an "origin story" about the characters that attempts to explain how everything came into being. As such, the movie is about the show, or the progeneration of the show's "reality," and in this way makes the most definitive statement of its postmodern aesthetic. There is no origin - the characters do not find answers to their questions (or more precisely, uncontaminated answers), nor is their "reality" satisfactorily explained or understood (again, on the basis of being uncontaminated). They find only referents that refer to nothing, or back to themselves. They are ostensibly searching for a grand narrative and wind up destabilized.

The most potent illustration of this is perhaps when Frylock's memories are revealed to be nothing more than poorly edited recordings on a VHS tape, set to music by Phil Collins.

[MadMan]

Damn Stay Puft. That single post was a far more equalent and well worded defense of the movie than I could have ever mounted. Kuddos.

[MacGuffin]

Should I see Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters if I'm not even completely familiar with the television show?

Anybody? :|

[Rowland]

Anybody? :|I'm only passingly familiar with the show, but I knew what I was getting myself into and adjusted my expectations accordingly..

[MacGuffin]

I'm only passingly familiar with the show, but I knew what I was getting myself into and adjusted my expectations accordingly..

Okay, fair enough. I think I'll give it a try.

[Melville]

I'm not overly enamored with the film either (more so because I don't feel that it's formally spectacular) but I don't see it as particularly about ennui or alienation. I see it more as a film about a character who repeatedly tries to escape his past and fails... and the emotions this engenders. I think he rather despises ennui actually. He loathes the bourgeois-ness of it and tries to distance himself from that, but of course it always remains a part of him. He feels some alienation as a result of this for sure, but he's more self-destructive than anything else.

In response to other comments... I also don't think the film idealizes or even views the character as particularly nihilistic. He certainly both has the potential to and actually cares about many different things (although he's certainly no idealist, he does care to one degree or another about the women he's with and cares enough about his father to go see him). I think more than idealizing nihilism, the film respects the humor found in his particular brand of cutting through bullshit in a very bullshit society. He's definitely not a saint and he's not portrayed as one, but just let him order the toast already!
I think the character's interactions with others clearly indicates his alienation from them, and his boredom and dissatisfaction with life qualify as ennui, even if he loathes and tries to escape from that ennui. Certainly those feelings are related to his flight from his past, but even his flight from his past is a purposeful alienation from it and what it represents. And his self-destructiveness is integrally tied up with his flight and with his alienation.

I agree that there isn't much of a trace of nihilism in him. But I think his cutting through bullshit was made too easy to support by making the bullshit so simply bullshit.


I don't agree with you about the girlfriend either. I thought she was given the screen time and range of emotion to demonstrate a believable personality. I also don't feel the sister was a caricature, even with her limited screen time I was sold on her character. For me the film's weaknesses were mediocrity in the visual and editorial realms rather than with the characters. The 'intellectual' was thinly sketched, but such thinly sketched people exist in real life. We could have had more screen-time with her being less of a pompous ass but the film is a character piece, not an ensemble piece. To me her statements and response when shot down felt genuine in the time she was allotted. Perhaps you feel that the film's themes would have been better expressed or the tone more resonant if more of the characters were given the time to be fleshed out?
All of the characters are believable in the sense that I believe people act like that, but none of them were given enough depth or range to present real Subjectivities. As I mentioned in the first post you quoted, I think they needed more depth in order for the protagonist's alienation to have real meaning; if he's a Subject and everybody else is an object, his alienation is just too simplistic. The way it is, it felt like it was coasting on standard "rebel searching for meaning/escape/whatever" stuff. Part of this is due to the aesthetic, which presents a kind of ragged pseudo-realism that demands a more global viewpoint, rather than essentially giving us the protagonist's viewpoint but masking it with a modicum of objectivity.


Yeah, just to clarify I didn't think it was bad or anything. I was just completely apathetic throughout.
Even at the end? That ending rocked.

[Qrazy]

I didn't realize James Horner did The New World score until now.

[Barty]

I didn't realize James Horner did The New World score until now.

That's probably because most of his music was cut for Mozart and Wagner. A good choice, but I still think Horner's score is good.

[Duncan]

All of the characters are believable in the sense that I believe people act like that, but none of them were given enough depth or range to present real Subjectivities. As I mentioned in the first post you quoted, I think they needed more depth in order for the protagonist's alienation to have real meaning; if he's a Subject and everybody else is an object, his alienation is just too simplistic. The way it is, it felt like it was coasting on standard "rebel searching for meaning/escape/whatever" stuff. Part of this is due to the aesthetic, which presents a kind of ragged pseudo-realism that demands a more global viewpoint, rather than essentially giving us the protagonist's viewpoint but masking it with a modicum of objectivity.
I don't think the bolded part is correct. Other people that are treated as Subjects: the girlfriend (though obviously we disagree there), his buddy in the beginning who Nicholson seems to genuinely like, those two girls he and his buddy fool around with (specifically the one who tells the story about God touching her on the chin), his sister for sure, his brother's girlfriend, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting. It has its fair share of objects, I agree, but I think there's enough depth given to a number of the other characters that I can forgive its stereotyping.

Agree with Qrazy that it's a bit dull aesthetically.

Agree with you about the ending rocking.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Caught (1949) was dissapointing, I didn't like the actress and the plot was not only ridiculous, but outrageous and boring. I rarely can use both those words to describe the same film... It's a shame on the other hand because Ophuls' visual style is still up to par, and Robert Ryan is marvelous as a Howard Hughes type millionaire. Even James Mason isn't at the top of his game. A resounding meh, although mildly recommended for those little things.

[Melville]

I don't think the bolded part is correct. Other people that are treated as Subjects: the girlfriend (though obviously we disagree there), his buddy in the beginning who Nicholson seems to genuinely like, those two girls he and his buddy fool around with (specifically the one who tells the story about God touching her on the chin), his sister for sure, his brother's girlfriend, and probably a couple others I'm forgetting. It has its fair share of objects, I agree, but I think there's enough depth given to a number of the other characters that I can forgive its stereotyping.

Yeah, I guess I just disagree about how much depth was required. I definitely didn't see the girlfriend as a fleshed-out character.

[Duncan]

Yeah, I guess I just disagree about how much depth was required. I definitely didn't see the girlfriend as a fleshed-out character.
Hmm. I guess another aspect of it is that the girlfriend reminds me almost exactly of the first real girlfriend I had. Maybe I'm mapping my memories of her onto the film character. Possible.

[Qrazy]

All of the characters are believable in the sense that I believe people act like that, but none of them were given enough depth or range to present real Subjectivities. As I mentioned in the first post you quoted, I think they needed more depth in order for the protagonist's alienation to have real meaning; if he's a Subject and everybody else is an object, his alienation is just too simplistic. The way it is, it felt like it was coasting on standard "rebel searching for meaning/escape/whatever" stuff. Part of this is due to the aesthetic, which presents a kind of ragged pseudo-realism that demands a more global viewpoint, rather than essentially giving us the protagonist's viewpoint but masking it with a modicum of objectivity.

Fair, I've had problems with aesthetic in relation to content before as well... Crash for instance... a frequent defense of the film I've heard is that it's supposed to be a parable, etc. All issues of why being a parable excuses disgustingly cloying and cheap narrative manipulation aside... I couldn't buy into the film's 'parable-ness' (if that was the intention) because of it's street level, hand-held cam, semi-realistic approach. Something along the lines of Do the Right Thing's aesthetic works much better for a parable in my estimation.



Even at the end? That ending rocked.

Ehhh, the plotting was pretty insipid.

A: 'I"m on the run from the law so I pretend to have no hands!'
B: 'I hate hands!'
C: 'I have big hands.'
A: 'Show her your hands!'
B: 'Oh no I hate those hands!'
A: 'Good thing no one really cares all that much that I'm on the run so I can still have hands.'

A: *to self* 'Damn I really ought to get rid of these hands.'
A: *gets rid of hands*
C: 'A, let's get married.'
B: 'OK.'
A: *to self* 'Now I really have no hands!'
B: 'Turns out I don't really hate hands that much.'
A: 'Fucker!'

A: *to self* 'I must get rid of C's hands.'
A: 'I'm scheming. This is my scheming face.'
A: *horse kick to head*
B: 'Oh C, I love how you hold me in your hands.'

Curtain.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, I guess I just disagree about how much depth was required. I definitely didn't see the girlfriend as a fleshed-out character.

On another note, a major goof I noticed... When Nicholson first opens the door to see his father you can see a crew member in the mirror in the background standing behind the just opened door.

Another film that has like three such goofs is Mikey and Nickey. I'm all for improvisation and Falk and Cassavetes dole out some good stuff but god damn, get your crew off the flubbin' set.

[Duncan]

Oh, you guys were talking about a different film's ending. Ah well.

[Melville]

Hmm. I guess another aspect of it is that the girlfriend reminds me almost exactly of the first real girlfriend I had. Maybe I'm mapping my memories of her onto the film character. Possible.
Actually, in certain moments she reminded me of my current girlfriend; or at least Nicholson's reactions to her reminded me of my own reactions.
Don't tell my girlfriend.
But that's one reason that I thought she was underdeveloped, because personal experience tells me that she should have been allowed more subjectivity.


Ehhh, the plotting was pretty insipid.

A: 'I"m on the run from the law so I pretend to have no hands!'
B: 'I hate hands!'
C: 'I have big hands.'
A: 'Show her your hands!'
B: 'Oh no I hate those hands!'
A: 'Good thing no one really cares all that much that I'm on the run so I can still have hands.'

A: *to self* 'Damn I really ought to get rid of these hands.'
A: *gets rid of hands*
C: 'A, let's get married.'
B: 'OK.'
A: *to self* 'Now I really have no hands!'
B: 'Turns out I don't really hate hands that much.'
A: 'Fucker!'

A: *to self* 'I must get rid of C's hands.'
A: 'I'm scheming. This is my scheming face.'
A: *horse kick to head*
B: 'Oh C, I love how you hold me in your hands.'

Curtain.
But the genius of it is that he ends up with no hands!

Plus, you forgot the part where A falls in love with B and then has a look of delirious horror at finding out that he needn't have cut off his hands after all. Delirious horror always makes up for insipid plotting.


Oh, you guys were talking about a different film's ending. Ah well.
Well, I liked the ending of Five Easy Pieces as well. Or at least I would have liked it if it had been preceded by a slightly different movie.

[Bosco B Thug]

Well, how about we all just agree that she had a delightfully sexy name. Rayette. That's all the character development she needs, really!

And she's played by Karen Black in another blonde wig.

[Qrazy]

Plus, you forgot the part where A falls in love with B and then has a look of delirious horror at finding out that he needn't have cut off his hands after all. Delirious horror always makes up for insipid plotting.


That was the Fucker! bit... *crams more delirious horror into fucker*.

[Qrazy]

What are everyone's thoughts on Merchant-Ivory productions? I haven't seen any.

[Sycophant]

Why did Wendell B. Harris, Jr. never do anything after Chameleon Street? The film is decidedly imperfect, but it had such a raw passion and evidence of real talent (and quite unlike anything I've yet seen in African-American cinema, though I've been sorely negligent in diversifying my viewing there) that I was expecting to find it was the launching point of an underappreciated yet stellar career. However, it's his only film (though apparently he had roles in Out of Sight and, uh, Road Trip). I'm still working out some of my thoughts on it, but it's definitely worth your time.

Also, Harris's voice is just beautiful to listen to. Reminded me of Orson Welles.

[Sycophant]

Oh. Big Bang Love, Juvenile A was quite lovely as well.

[Qrazy]

A Room with a View was quite good, and features an early and compelling performance from a young Day-Lewis as the cast-off engagement. Aside from minor quibbles my only major complaint is with the sound design. All the sound work is functional, but it's immediately apparent that it was recorded in a studio. The direction is restrained and through the filter of this restraint the drama is even more effective, but the sound design lacks that breath of expression which the rest of the film possesses.

[megladon8]

The 2004 Canadian thriller The Dark Hours really surprised me. Perhaps a lot of my admiration of it comes from the fact that it's so similar to my own story/screenplay, but it's also - I think - just a really good, really well written little film.

It's not without its flaws. The villain wasn't cast very well - I really didn't find him menacing. Of course his actions are terrifying and disturbing, but he doesn't have very much presence at all, and doesn't seem realistically "fucked up".

It's short and sweet with an interesting (if a little bit telegraphed) ending.

I really enjoyed it. I'd love for more people to see this one.

[Grouchy]

The Hollywood version of Aeon Flux is, well, exactly that. The surrealism and lack of continuity of the series are completely gone, and instead there's a conventional dystopia story with some trippy moments. It's funny how the series was, among other things, a satire of action movies, while this is a big-budget action movie taken very seriously. Still, I dug the chick with four hands and there is worse shit out there, although I wouldn't wanna run across it.

[Buffaluffasaurus]

I should have emphasized "deluge." I meant that its essential nature as a prolonged deluge of arbitrariness is what I perceived to be one of its chief strengths
I totally agree.

I loved what they did with the film. As Stay Puft says, the deconstruction of the origin story is brilliant (and completely in line with the whole ouroboros kind of self-containment and self-cannibalisation of the show), and the longer it goes, the stronger the whole point of the film gets. I don't think it's just surreality for surreality's sake (although it does definitely indulge in that style of humour), but rather a carefully orchestrated practical joke on both TV-to-movie adaptations and on fans of the show. It's a giant "fuck you" to any sense of purpose, while also totally playing in line with what you would expect from a feature length episode.

I loved it.

[MadMan]

My final note on ATHF is that after my friend and I left the theater we left wondering what the hell we had just watched. Upon meeting some other friends later we proudly noted that we had seen one of the weirdest movies ever, and that was it more like an "experience" than anything else. Heh. Oh and that the spoof of those old "Movie snack" cartoons followed by the death mental piece was easily the best part of the entire movie. Just really awesome stuff.

[Yxklyx]

Yes, Odd Man Out is indeed brilliant. I rented it from Netflix but it seems they no longer carry it. I like it more than The Third Man. Also, His Kind of Woman was fun. Check out The Big Clock if you liked that one.

[Yxklyx]

A Room with a View was quite good, and features an early and compelling performance from a young Day-Lewis as the cast-off engagement. Aside from minor quibbles my only major complaint is with the sound design. All the sound work is functional, but it's immediately apparent that it was recorded in a studio. The direction is restrained and through the filter of this restraint the drama is even more effective, but the sound design lacks that breath of expression which the rest of the film possesses.

Now watch Fight Club to get the whole Carter experience!

My fave Ivory/Merchant is The Remains of the Day.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Yes, Odd Man Out is indeed brilliant. I rented it from Netflix but it seems they no longer carry it. I like it more than The Third Man. Also, His Kind of Woman was fun. Check out The Big Clock if you liked that one.

I haven't seen The Big Clock, will do though! The more I think about Odd Man Out, the more I like it. An absolutely wonderful film.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Quickly threw this together, kinda messy... but I think it puts across the fact that I think this film is awesome. I've been watching so much James Mason lately... and there is no end in sight!

Next up comes the first Nicholas Ray film to truly blow me away. I really liked On Dangerous Ground, Rebel without a Cause and In a Lonely Place… but something was missing. Was it James Mason?… Bigger than life is an astonishingly fresh and frightening film, James Mason stars as a hard working school teacher who falls ill. His life in danger, the doctors suggest a miracle drug that will save his life. At first energized, the drugs begin to take a terrible toll on him. He becomes dependent, and his personality and behaviour become erratic. More than just a film about addiction and pharmaceuticals, the film is an indictment on the middle American lifestyle and the characters’ desire to live beyond what is expected of them. Cinemascope is used to great effect, while the effect was no doubt created for epics in the style of the Robe, it was perhaps best used in Ray’s and Sirk’s melodramas. The enormity of the space creates this delirious emptiness between characters. The small home, which comprises most of the set, is exaggerated and adapted to match Ed’s ups and downs. It’s almost fetish-ized, as even the most pedestrian action and object seems to take on resonating symbolism about the characters.

The film has so much to offer, and can be read in so many different ways I can’t even think where to begin. I feel to start at the end, or after.. or French? French? The new wave critics adored Nicholas Ray, he was named alongside such notables as Hitchcock and Hawks as a cinematic “auteur”. His visual style, and consistent thematic interests support this idea. Like his other films, Bigger than Life is about a character, or characters who can’t fit in to society… or more accurately don’t seem to want to. The ambiguity of the direction and Mason’s performance suggest that in some ways the drug was just a catalyst for revealing his inner desires and anxieties. He’s free from inhibition, and can say what he never would say out loud. In a way, the drug allows him to escape his life as an underpaid, underappreciated teacher, as well as his physical problems. The results however, are more than disastrous. Total freedom from societal conventions leads to more than anarchy, it leads to a fascist madness. His character’s new found liberation is peculiar, because even now it’s unclear whether he’s everything the American ideal rejects… or a fully realised masculine ideal (perhaps they’re one in the same?). As the film progresses, he seems increasingly disturbed by his sons’ lack of manliness. He often pushes him beyond his physical limits, asking him “Don’t you want to be a man?” His character champions firmness and discipline, particularly in a scene which is quite funny as he calls childhood a plague, and education the cure. He puts a lot of importance on discipline, and the rejection of (what I imagine) are new ideas like personal expression as creating a generation of morons. This, tied with his rejection of his wife, seems to be a rejection of femininity and all that is not masculine, strong and manic. He’s quite literally bigger than life as his character becomes the ultimate alpha male, slowly rising above everything. By the end, he is even above religion and conventional morality as he declares in a frightening scene “God was wrong!”, before trying to enact his own vision of megalomaniacal justice.

All of these ideas and effects are enhanced by Ray’s direction, as mentioned earlier space is used beautifully. It’s especially potent in the transition from Ed pre-drugs, and post- drugs. The low angles of the second half of the film suggest German expressionism, and famous characters of horror films. He’s not unlike Nosferatu, or Frankenstein as he towers above the other characters and the viewers. Extreme shadows are also used, especially notable in the now iconic scene where he towers over his son teaching him math. It’s right out of a horror film… so much of the film actually is more horror than anything else, not only in the shots, the character even in perpetuating stereotypes like cutting phone lines. It’s an interesting approach to the material, which is probably why it’s worth watching and remembering. Godard once said this is among the 10 greatest American films. You know what, he might not be wrong.

[Boner M]

Rep 4 u, rouge! I completely know how you feel, all of his films that I'd seen beforehand had ranged from good (On Dangerous Ground, Rebel, The Savage Innocents) to excellent (They Live By Night, In a Lonely Place), but somehow fallen short of being masterpieces, but BTL knocked my socks off and has instantly become a favorite after seeing it a few months ago (wrote a bit about it in this thread). I have a strong personal connection to the film because my family has undergone similar experiences, and I was so impressed by how the Ray manages to make the action so melodramatic, yet powerful and truthful. So glad you liked it!

[Philosophe_rouge]

Rep 4 u, rouge! I completely know how you feel, all of his films that I'd seen beforehand had ranged from good (On Dangerous Ground, Rebel, The Savage Innocents) to excellent (They Live By Night, In a Lonely Place), but somehow fallen short of being masterpieces, but BTL knocked my socks off and has instantly become a favorite after seeing it a few months ago (wrote a bit about it in this thread). I have a strong personal connection to the film because my family has undergone similar experiences, and I was so impressed by how the Ray manages to make the action so melodramatic, yet powerful and truthful. So glad you liked it!
I can't wait to see They Live by Night, my video store finally got a DVD copy and I'm just waiting for it's rental price to drop. I also really want to see Johnny Guitar. Suddenly Ray is all kinds of exciting! The film does tread a very careful line, and it's all very uncomfortable. The few opening scenes resonate throughout, you never really forget the person Ed was, and this really sells the film for me. Scenes like the parent-teacher interview thing are both funny and cringe inducing all at once, it's incredible how well everything falls together. Ray makes it seem effortless.

[Derek]

I have got to see Bigger Than Life ASAP. I just got a raise today so I'm buying the Region 2 disk as a present to myself.

I think it's a shame that On Dangerous Ground is often overlooked as a minor Ray film. Its blending of melodramatic conventions within the framework of a noir is absolutely brilliant and effectively applied through its visual motifs and subtle toying with narrative conventions. I've seen it three times and it gets better every time.

[Melville]

I should be seeing Bigger than Life at the Toronto Cinematheque in about a month. I didn't know much about it before reading your review, rouge, so now I'm anticipating it more than ever.

[MacGuffin]

Someone is playing "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner in their car outside.

*movie reference*

[Melville]

Does every Louis Malle movie contain an Oedipal relationship between a young attractive mother and her sensitive son, or does that just happen to be in the two I've seen?

[dreamdead]

Someone is playing "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner in their car outside.

*movie reference*

Knowing your tastes, I'd put my money on the reference being Show Me Love.

I'm trying to work myself into Tarr's Damnation. Solid thus far, but life keeps pulling me away. Hopefully I'll knock it out by Friday.

[MacGuffin]

Knowing your tastes, I'd put my money on the reference being Show Me Love.

Yep, that's what it is. However, the music was actually playing outside.


I'm trying to work myself into Tarr's Damnation. Solid thus far, but life keeps pulling me away. Hopefully I'll knock it out by Friday.

I didn't like this movie, and I loved Werckmeister Harmonies.

[soitgoes...]

I'm getting ready to watch To's Running Out of Time. I'm giddy with excitement. He's 3 for 3 so far. *fingers crossed*

[number8]

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days is good.

[DSNT]

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days is good.
It comes on Movies on Demand this weekend. Can't wait to see it.

[origami_mustache]

I have 3 more Cinema Obscura invites.
PM me with email address if interested.

[Velocipedist]

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days is good.

Meh, meh, meh.


I have 3 more Cinema Obscura invites.
PM me if interested.

I'd sell my soul for a Karagarga one...

[Ezee E]

4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days is good.
Well, sure.

[origami_mustache]

I'd sell my soul for a Karagarga one...

I think I should have some in a week or two.

[Raiders]

I didn't like this movie, and I loved Werckmeister Harmonies.

I liked it, but it wasn't up to par with his 2000 masterpiece. It was better than the middling, disappointing The Man from London however.

[Velocipedist]

the middling, disappointing The Man from London

Spoiler! Spoiler! La Tilda!

[Raiders]

Sam Jackson's jam session in the club near the end of Black Snake Moan may be my favorite scene from last year.

[Yxklyx]

Does every Louis Malle movie contain an Oedipal relationship between a young attractive mother and her sensitive son, or does that just happen to be in the two I've seen?

I don't recall any kids in Atlantic City so I think he's come to terms with that idea.

[Ezee E]

Sam Jackson's jam session in the club near the end of Black Snake Moan may be my favorite scene from last year.
Hell yeah! Glad someone else has noticed. I nominated it for Best Song in our awards thread.

[number8]

I want to rep your post, Raiders, but for some reason it won't let me.

Black Snake Moan is the most underrated movie of 2007. That movie is awesome on a stick.

[MadMan]

Sam Jackson's jam session in the club near the end of Black Snake Moan may be my favorite scene from last year.That scene was pretty radical. Jackson was just simply electric and badass in that movie, and while I think it was pretty solid overall at times him and Christina Ricci carried that flick (Justin Timblerlake wasn't too bad in it either). While I felt a bit underwhelmed by the movie I must say that Jackson gave one of his best performances in a long time in it. Oh and its trailer was a mixture of coolness and absolute hilarity.

PS: number8 I got you covered.

[Duncan]

I thought The Man from London was last year's best film.

[Grouchy]

Yeah, I also loved Black Snake Moan and particularly that scene.

Futurama: Bender's Big Score is everything that made the show brilliant, made feature film. The irony here is that, as a TV movie an hour and a half long, it's ten times better than the Simpsons movie that was released in theatres earlier this year, and its humor is much more irreverent and mind-boggling. Check out how Bender mocks every paradox ever to be thought of about time-travel and its consequences, or how, despite the script going off in unexpected tangents in true Groening style, everything has a sense of purpose at the end, including Lars and the one-horned mammal Leelo. Genius movie, and the Hypno-Toad is my God.

But weren't Fry and Leela joined together in the final episode? Was that just ignored?

[number8]

But weren't Fry and Leela joined together in the final episode? Was that just ignored?

They never officially got together, just Leela starting to appreciate his love for her. This has happened several times throughout the series, and it wasn't really supposed to be "the end". It was just a great and fitting episode to say goodbye to fans with.

[Sycophant]

There are few things I hate more than watching a mediocre actor trying to effect an accent. Kirby Heyborne (Saints and Soldiers) has probably never heard a real British accent in his life.

[Derek]

Despite liking Cloverfield notsomuch, I'm actually going to recommend it for one thing that no other film can provide. If you've ever found yourself rubbernecking as you pass by the accidents of the human condition called Laguna Beach, The Hills or one of their mentally damaged clones and thought to yourself, "Dear God, if you're up there, could you please bring the apocalypse down upon us now or maybe send a really cool monster to eat 'em up one by one", J. J. Abrams and Co. have granted that wish.

[Duncan]

Despite liking Cloverfield notsomuch, I'm actually going to recommend it for one thing that no other film can provide. If you've ever found yourself rubbernecking as you pass by the accidents of the human condition called Laguna Beach, The Hills or one of their mentally damaged clones and thought to yourself, "Dear God, if you're up there, could you please bring the apocalypse down upon us now or maybe send a really cool monster to eat 'em up one by one", J. J. Abrams and Co. has granted that wish.

By far the most enticing review of this film that I've read.

[lovejuice]

so there's no thread for me to express how cool shoot 'em up is? a pity. what a kick-ass little film! what i like most about this movie is how true they stay to the concept. notice the lack of explosion. because it's not titled blow 'em up. i've never described myself as a geeky action-film-philia male type, but damn! this movie hits all the right notes.

[MadMan]

Shadow of a Doubt(1943) rocks. To me its one of the most intelligent of the 11 Hitchcock films I've seen, and I admire how it tauntly walks the line between comedy, suspense, and mystery. It may be a little bit early to say but Joesph Cotten is shaping up to be one of my favorite actors (he is really great in this) and Teresea Wright is both lovely and likable as the niece in over her head and unsure of the truth. So far 1940s Hitchcock is looking pretty damn good to me after seeing this, Rope, and Notorious.

[Derek]

By far the most enticing review of this film that I've read.

I also think there's something to be said for the main character exerting his "will to power", which drives the narrative to its inevitable conclusion. Keep in mind, none of this makes it a remotely good film, but I had to do something to prevent my mind from being completely numbed by nearly every moment of character interaction.

[Ezee E]

Hmm... I don't know what it is, but 28 Up is kinda disappointing compared to the first three in the series. Maybe going from 21-28 is just kinda boring compared to what happens to people from 7-21 in which you start realizing what goes on in the world, how you're being shaped, and how you become the person you will be.

Anyone else have this problem?

[Velocipedist]

Shadow of a Doubt(1943) rocks. So far 1940s Hitchcock is looking pretty damn good to me after seeing this, Rope, and Notorious.

True, it rocks. And Rope is my favourite Hitchcock movie, by far.

His most underrated is The Trouble with Harry, though.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Boy was The Savages ever a dull experience. I'm really surprised what little involvement I felt with the entire film. Linney was great though, and amazingly gorgeous.

[megladon8]

True, it rocks. And Rope is my favourite Hitchcock movie, by far.

His most underrated is The Trouble with Harry, though.


You're my soulmate.

[Velocipedist]

You're my soulmate.

Perfect. Just tell me you're a Fassbinder fan and you dislike Querelle and we're settled.

[Raiders]

Rope is very good, but 'best by far?' Seems a little much. Stewart's character would have been much more interesting if he actually stood his ground at the end and had been made to seem at least a little morally responsible. He turns very quickly on the boys, acting as if his philosophies and teachings should be ignored when applied to actual humans. Of course he's right, but that's the easy way out. There never once seems any culpability on his part because the two boys who accuse him of guiding them are too comically exaggerated; one is a smug, egomaniac who thinks he's God and the other is scared and emotionally unstable. It's a very pat conclusion, which is a shame considering the interesting discussions of superiority and morality that the film had displayed earlier.

[megladon8]

Perfect. Just tell me you're a Fassbinder fan and you dislike Querelle and we're settled.


Um...yes...I agree on both points...

*cough*

















I've never seen a Fassbinder movie

[Derek]

Boy was The Savages ever a dull experience. I'm really surprised what little involvement I felt with the entire film. Linney was great though, and amazingly gorgeous.

:pritch:

[Velocipedist]

I've never seen a Fassbinder movie.

You should!

Does anyone care for a debate on what movie represents the best entry point into Fassbinder?

My first one was Die Ehe der Maria Braun, but I'd actually recommend Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss when it comes to his 'upscale' movies and Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel when it comes to his 'downscale' ones.

[Raiders]

You should!

Does anyone care for a debate on what movie represents the best entry point into Fassbinder?

My first one was Die Ehe der Maria Braun, but I'd actually recommend Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss when it comes to his 'upscale' movies and Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel when it comes to his 'downscale' ones.

I'd go with Fear Eats the Soul myself. Probably his most famous, anyway. My two personal favorites are In a Year of 13 Moons and Martha.

[Derek]

You should!

Does anyone care for a debate on what movie represents the best entry point into Fassbinder?

My first one was Die Ehe der Maria Braun, but I'd actually recommend Die Sehnsucht der Veronika Voss when it comes to his 'upscale' movies and Mutter Küsters' Fahrt zum Himmel when it comes to his 'downscale' ones.

Ich würde mich beginnend mit Den Bitteren Rissen von Petra von Kant empfehlen. Es stellt seine fähigkeit mit der richtung der schauspieler zur schau und übermittelt schön gefühl mit seinem blockieren und kinematographie in begrenztem raum. Nein? ;)

[Velocipedist]

Ich würde mich beginnend mit Den Bitteren Rissen von Petra von Kant empfehlen. Es stellt seine fähigkeit mit der richtung der schauspieler zur schau und übermittelt schön gefühl mit seinem blockieren und kinematographie in begrenztem raum. Nein? ;)

Fine. I'll list all movie titles in Romanian from now on.

No, I'll write in Romanian. No, I'll even talk in Romanian.

[Derek]

I'd go with Fear Eats the Soul myself. Probably his most famous, anyway. My two personal favorites are In a Year of 13 Moons and Martha.

Yeah, Fear Eats the Soul is a good choice as well, since it's a nice entry point to his engagement with Sirkian melodrama and is more accessible than most of his other films. I love 13 Moons, but that one is definitely best saved until you've seen at least a few of his prior films...not that you were arguing otherwise. I've really gotta see Martha - I know you and at least one other person here love it and I think Rosenbaum considers it Fassbinder's best.

[Raiders]

Ich würde mich beginnend mit Den Bitteren Rissen von Petra von Kant empfehlen. Es stellt seine fähigkeit mit der richtung der schauspieler zur schau und übermittelt schön gefühl mit seinem blockieren und kinematographie in begrenztem raum. Nein? ;)

Bless you.

[Sven]

Best entry to Fassbinder: Ali: Fear Eats the Soul. Bar none. Not necessarily his best, but the ratio of accessible drama to Fassbinder's quirks, it's easily the winner.