28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Sven]

even footing with Thor.

I have become consumed by this strange phenomenon of people liking Thor. It's like I've slipped into a dimension where people express disgust with compliments.

[TGM]

A recent rewatch of Thor wasn't kind to it at all. I thought it was merely okay the first time around, mainly due to its humor. But the second time through, its flaws were that much more noticeable, and the humor really didn't hold up much at all. I still wouldn't say it's a bad movie entirely, but it is very much a flawed experience.

[Watashi]

I still think Thor is the best of the super flicks of 2011 (though it's probably the only one I actually enjoyed).

[EyesWideOpen]

I still think Thor is the best of the super flicks of 2011 (though it's probably the only one I actually enjoyed).

I agree with that although I haven't seen Captain America or Green Lantern.

[MadMan]

I have become consumed by this strange phenomenon of people liking Thor. It's like I've slipped into a dimension where people express disgust with compliments.I hate to be one of those people, but critics liked it, people liked it, hell I liked it. This isn't the same thing as wondering why people enjoy Twilight or Transformers, movies that are not entertaining or even remotely decent. Thor was a good, solid, entertaining super hero movie with a charismatic lead actor and some cool action sequences. This isn't rocket science, yo.

[Derek]

I have become consumed by this strange phenomenon of people liking Thor. It's like I've slipped into a dimension where people express disgust with compliments.

It's thoroughly mediocre, but people crave big budget nonsense in the summers, so if it doesn't suck, it'll likely get way more credit than it deserves.

[D_Davis]

I watched a movie!

Limitless

It was pretty good. Very slick. I liked the high-contrast look, and the zooming-tunnel effect during the trip-out parts was hella cool.

[Milky Joe]

I finally saw Midnight in Paris the other day. I could watch that movie on an endless loop. So good.

[Sven]

And now I have watched Punisher War Zone, which is, as expected, bereft of worth. Ugly in every way.

[MadMan]

Punisher War Zone is a mediocre movie at best, but I won't lie: when that one guy goes "Ha ha!" and then the guy behind him gets blown up by the Punisher, I laughed my ass off.

I mostly preferred the first one because of Thomas Jane, plus John Travolta as the bad guy. Also that one had a better script.

[Derek]

And now I have watched Punisher War Zone, which is, as expected, bereft of worth. Ugly in every way.

Why are you doing this to yourself?

[Sven]

Why are you doing this to yourself?

I kickstarted this marathon with a rewatch of Seven Samurai, so that I could properly ensconce myself in a healthy sheath of cinematic good will. But I think what ended up happening instead is that I put these films at a dramatic disadvantage by comparison.

[Grouchy]

I watched a movie!

Limitless

It was pretty good. Very slick. I liked the high-contrast look, and the zooming-tunnel effect during the trip-out parts was hella cool.
Two questions about this movie:

1) If Bradley Cooper is so smart all of a sudden, why doesn't he realize until the last minute he will eventually run out of smart pills?

2) Did they just forget about the plot of the murdered woman in the hotel? Why was that even mentioned?

Anyway, Robert De Niro has no shame or dignity left in him.

[TGM]

Two questions about this movie:

1) If Bradley Cooper is so smart all of a sudden, why doesn't he realize until the last minute he will eventually run out of smart pills?

2) Did they just forget about the plot of the murdered woman in the hotel? Why was that even mentioned?

Anyway, Robert De Niro has no shame or dignity left in him.

1. Because smart as the characters are supposed to be, the movie itself is stupid.

2. They want us to assume that he's so smart that he was able to get away with it. Why? See #1.

[Ezee E]

Watched Black Snake Moan again today. Still think it's great, although it peters out after the concert scene and Timberlake's reemergence. He's so wimpy compared to the other two characters that he just feels out of place.

Both of those characters are going through radically different lifechanges. Timberlake has anxiety, especially with loud noises. Just doesn't fit.

[MadMan]

Justin Timberlake clearly got much better as an actor, although he really wasn't that important to Black Snake Moan being a good movie. Samuel L. Jackson did great work in that film-he was right at home playing a down on his luck blues musician.

[eternity]

Limitless was insufferable. My family all seem to agree it is a "really smart movie."

Gah.

[transmogrifier]

Why are you doing this to yourself?

I think it's worth checking out generally derided films every now and then if it has a overall premise that appeals to you - sometimes you stumble across something that appeals to you (and maybe you only). Plus, it helps you to appreciate more movies done right.

[ledfloyd]

Watched Black Snake Moan again today. Still think it's great, although it peters out after the concert scene and Timberlake's reemergence. He's so wimpy compared to the other two characters that he just feels out of place.

Both of those characters are going through radically different lifechanges. Timberlake has anxiety, especially with loud noises. Just doesn't fit.
i liked the film a great deal when i first saw it, but the one aspect of it that has stuck with me are timberlake's anxiety attacks. perhaps it's hard to convey cinematically (and maybe he's not up to the task of conveying it dramatically) but they really do affect you radically. i could relate, anyway.

[Derek]

I think it's worth checking out generally derided films every now and then if it has a overall premise that appeals to you - sometimes you stumble across something that appeals to you (and maybe you only). Plus, it helps you to appreciate more movies done right.

I completely agree with you, but Sven was going for about a dozen in a row.

[megladon8]

Punisher War Zone is a mediocre movie at best, but I won't lie: when that one guy goes "Ha ha!" and then the guy behind him gets blown up by the Punisher, I laughed my ass off.

I mostly preferred the first one because of Thomas Jane, plus John Travolta as the bad guy. Also that one had a better script.


Yuck. Have you watched the Thomas Jane one lately? It has aged terribly, and is just, well, terrible.

Both Punisher movies are atrocious.

I almost, at this point, give the edge to War Zone because it at least tried to have some visual panache, and Ray Stevenson was a much more inspired casting choice.

But really, it's like saying I'd rather have diarrhea than be throwing up. It may be true, but ideally I'd rather do neither.

[Sven]

Yuck. Have you watched the Thomas Jane one lately? It has aged terribly, and is just, well, terrible.

I'll have to watch it again. I remember liking it's handle of tone and pace.


Both Punisher movies are atrocious.

Will have to check out the Lundgren one at some point. Saw it as a child.


at least tried to have some visual panache,

Really? I don't remember much panache. It was an overexposed, grimy eye-sore cast in the most unimaginative blue-gold lighting scheme this side of straight-to-DVD cover boxes. And the Jane film had plenty of stylized visuals.


and Ray Stevenson was a much more inspired casting choice.

We clearly have different ideas of the character. Stevenson was embarrassing. His jowls cast his mouth in a permanent droopy frown. The slicked hair and absence of jawline made him look like a coke dealer from a Golan-Globus film.

The positives: I liked Dash Mihok as Soap. I think Ennis is too hard on the character, and Mihok bypasses the more aggressive patheticness with which he was conceived. And I liked Dominic West's overemphatic Brooklyn accent.

[Grouchy]

I remember liking the Thomas Jane movie too. Of course, I haven't seen it since it came out, and I was young. So young.

[MadMan]

Yuck. Have you watched the Thomas Jane one lately? It has aged terribly, and is just, well, terrible.

Both Punisher movies are atrocious.

I almost, at this point, give the edge to War Zone because it at least tried to have some visual panache, and Ray Stevenson was a much more inspired casting choice.

But really, it's like saying I'd rather have diarrhea than be throwing up. It may be true, but ideally I'd rather do neither.Yes I've seen the Thomas Jane Punisher recently, and I still dig it a lot. Both movies actually had good visuals, and I will say that War Zone was better looking, but that doesn't mean it was the better movie. Stevenson deserved to be a much better movie without really shitty dialogue, too-he was good as the Punisher. Despite West's attempts, I really didn't care for the villain in War Zone at all. Having his face all managled up was, to me anyways, just a weak attempt to make him more interesting than your average gangster. I'm not saying that Travolta's gangster in the first film was any better, but at least Travolta gave the character some kind of sinister quality.

The Punisher-80
War Zone-55

Is about how I would rate both.

[Fezzik]

I've decided to do a list for Match-Cut coming up soon. I haven't done one here in a while, and I just felt like doing one.

And when I say "for Match-Cut," I mean it literally. It's inspired by the discussions I've seen and been a part of here.

[megladon8]

I'll have to watch it again. I remember liking it's handle of tone and pace.

I used to really like it (then again I was like 15 when I saw it in the theatre). But re-watching it recently was cringe-inducing. Thomas Jane felt all-wrong for the role (and I'm a big fan of Jane). He's not intimidating at all, and his forced mopey posture and growl are just bad.

And that doesn't even touch on the horrid script and poor acting from everyone involved.

Travolta was particularly awful. Similar to Jane, absolutely no sense of menace. I didn't believe he was a guy who tough guys would answer to and take orders from.



Really? I don't remember much panache. It was an overexposed, grimy eye-sore cast in the most unimaginative blue-gold lighting scheme this side of straight-to-DVD cover boxes. And the Jane film had plenty of stylized visuals.

I don't remember any stylish visuals from the Jane film, unless you count the hilariously hoaky (in both concept and execution) shot of the Punisher skull made of blown up cars.

I thought the super-saturated lighting and extreme camera angles in War Zone were more ambitious than anything in Jane's film. To put that statement in perspective, I thought War Zone was mediocre-at-best stylistically speaking...so I really thought there was nothing there in the Jane film.

That they even tried to give War Zone some kind of tonal, expressive lighting and camerawork puts it ahead of the '04 film in that regard.



We clearly have different ideas of the character. Stevenson was embarrassing. His jowls cast his mouth in a permanent droopy frown. The slicked hair and absence of jawline made him look like a coke dealer from a Golan-Globus film.

Are you not a fan of the Ennis Punisher stuff?

'Cause really, Stevenson's Punisher (I'm talking physically here, only - script and dialogue be damned) was pretty much Ennis' Punisher put on film.

The slicked-back black hair, the over-40 mature look (jowls and all), the "costume" being more of a tactical suit than an actual costume. They put "Punisher MAX" on film, looks wise.



The positives: I liked Dash Mihok as Soap. I think Ennis is too hard on the character, and Mihok bypasses the more aggressive patheticness with which he was conceived. And I liked Dominic West's overemphatic Brooklyn accent.

I just like Dominic West :)

[B-side]

Man, Ozu's compositions are wonderful.

[MadMan]

Snake Eyes (1998) is powered by a really great Nic Cage performance, and also has Gary Sinise being pretty good. The movie does suffer at times from some unnecessary camp, and there are a couple of weak spots, yet its still a good rock solid thriller that moves fast and is fairly entertaining. In some ways I felt this was a 90s companion piece to De Palma's classic masterpiece Blow-Out, and you could somewhat compare and contrast the two. I will say that despite his faults De Palma knows how to craft an engaging tension filled movie.

[Raiders]

Man, Ozu's compositions are wonderful.

They'd have to be given how long his camera stares at them.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Following was a cute little trick from Christopher Nolan. Nothing substantial, but an interesting introduction to his skill set, which consists of how he pulls his audience through a narrative chiefly: via scene sequencing. A happens, then B happens, but then E and F happen, and then Q happens, and now we're learning about M. This amounts to little more than the assembly of a puzzle, but it's a fun puzzle. Later films like Memento and The Prestige find more pathos and intrigue in their mysteries.

B-

[MadMan]

Hey I have that movie on DVD, I just have not bothered to watch it yet.

The Lusty Men (1952) is a rather poetic yet harsh look at the life of the wandering rodeo cowboy. Robert Mitchum doesn't act in this movie so much as project himself onto the silver screen-his gruff exterior hiding the fact that he was a truly gifted actor. Some flaws aside, this was a pretty well made film, and I'm actually annoyed that I cannot find Mitchum's amazing monologue about trying and failing during his rodeo career. "I must have made half a dozen bartenders rich in my time. I threw away the down payment for a spread over a game of craps..."

Which reminds me that my local library has both Bigger Than Life and Rebel Without a Cause, so I'll have to rent those. Really wish they would hurry up and build on the new spot which is closer to my house. Driving all the way across town is a pain in the ass.

[Derek]

Hey I have that movie on DVD, I just have not bothered to watch it yet.

I'm going to start a grassroots movement here at MC called Occupy Madman, where we protest outside your lawn until you watch all these movies you've promised to watch or have but haven't bothered to watch. I'm hoping it stays peaceful, but once number8 shows up, I have a feeling a cop will inevitably end up shooting someone's dog. The laziness stops here Madman.

[MadMan]

I'm going to start a grassroots movement here at MC called Occupy Madman, where we protest outside your lawn until you watch all these movies you've promised to watch or have but haven't bothered to watch. I'm hoping it stays peaceful, but once number8 shows up, I have a feeling a cop will inevitably end up shooting someone's dog. The laziness stops here Madman.That's hilarious, although I've seen 18 movies this month (which for me is quite a bit, especially with school and work study thrown in, and distractions such as sports and the need for some kind of a social life, plus TV). Check my blog, people-I'll admit I'm a bit behind in reviews, but I did post a new one a couple days ago, and I have a Repulsion review that I just have to upload.

Why if number8 shows up will a cop shoot someone's dog, though? I like dogs. Anyone who hurts dogs should get maced in the face. Hey that rhymes.

I don't have to worry about that protest too much, cause you don't know where I live. I will warn you that I live near a school, and the kids are kind of mean-they'd probably throw rocks and trash at you.

[Yxklyx]

Following was a cute little trick from Christopher Nolan. Nothing substantial, but an interesting introduction to his skill set, which consists of how he pulls his audience through a narrative chiefly: via scene sequencing. A happens, then B happens, but then E and F happen, and then Q happens, and now we're learning about M. This amounts to little more than the assembly of a puzzle, but it's a fun puzzle. Later films like Memento and The Prestige find more pathos and intrigue in their mysteries.

B-

I loved how the lead actor's apartment was used in the film and that he had a Batman logo on the front door.

[B-side]

They'd have to be given how long his camera stares at them.

This sounds derisive, yet I can't imagine why you'd have an issue with lengthy takes. Really, Ozu doesn't hold his shots very long.

[Izzy Black]

Always nice to see someone else enjoying Ferrara's work. I knew you were a fan, but it's cool to see him discussed at any length. I wasn't all that taken with The Funeral, actually. Definitely one of my least favorite Ferrara's, along with King of New York and The Blackout. The latter two strike me as more formally ambitious and interesting, but not entirely successful. Their themes and ideas elevate them. I enjoyed New Rose Hotel more than any of them.

NRH is quite unique. I am surprised you didn't like The Funeral though. I thought it was very good. Admittedly, not very ambitious, but it has a nice feel to it, I think. It has an appealing sort of atmosphere, for me.

[Izzy Black]

Does anyone know if Melville still posts on this forum?

[Qrazy]

Does anyone know if Melville still posts on this forum?

From time to time, mostly in the book discussion thread.

[Izzy Black]

From time to time, mostly in the book discussion thread.

I see. Just wondering. I remembered him posting back when I posted a lot before and hadn't seen him since I've been posting more lately.

Does sic transit gloria still post? Or MacGuffin, whatever his new name was..

[Qrazy]

I see. Just wondering. I remembered him posting back when I posted a lot before and hadn't seen him since I've been posting more lately.

Does sic transit gloria still post? Or MacGuffin, whatever his new name was..

No, haven't seen him.

[Raiders]

Is Love Exposure alright for my first Sono? I'm starting my 2011 (US release) blitz this weekend.

[elixir]

Is Love Exposure alright for my first Sono? I'm starting my 2011 (US release) blitz this weekend.

Well, I watched it, really liked it, and still haven't seen another Sono...

[EyesWideOpen]

Is Love Exposure alright for my first Sono? I'm starting my 2011 (US release) blitz this weekend.

I've seen pretty much all besides Love Exposure (finally comes out on dvd Dec 20th) and you really can't go wrong starting with any of them. They're all pretty great.

[Sycophant]

It was my first Sono, and I've now seen nearly everything since Suicide Club. Still my favorite. Go for it!

[Boner M]

Love Exposure is the only Sono I've really liked (from the 4 I've seen).

[ledfloyd]

i really liked everything about the ides of march except for the plot. which was really really bad.

[baby doll]

Is Love Exposure alright for my first Sono? I'm starting my 2011 (US release) blitz this weekend.I haven't seen any others, but I liked this one only moderately. The first hour is hilarious, but the energy rapidly diminishes after the "miracle" occurs. Also, it looks like total ass throughout.

[Rowland]

Sono's Strange Circus (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvqWQGW5V1Q) is amazing, probably my favorite of his with hindsight, more people should see it. Just watching that trailer makes me want to watch it again. And yeah, I still need to make time for Love Exposure as well.

[EyesWideOpen]

Strange Circus is my favorite also.

[Sycophant]

Strange Circus is a wonderful film, indeed.

[Derek]

Am I the lone supporter for Noriko's Dinner Table? I like Love Exposure a lot too, even though it loses some steam in the second half.

[Sycophant]

Nope! Noriko's Dinner Table is also pretty great. The only Sono film I've had a negative reaction to was Suicide Club (though I didn't hate it--just thought it kind of a mess), which was my first, and I've been meaning to revisit.

[EyesWideOpen]

Nope! Noriko's Dinner Table is also pretty great. The only Sono film I've had a negative reaction to was Suicide Club (though I didn't hate it--just thought it kind of a mess), which was my first, and I've been meaning to revisit.

Noriko's is great also. I thought Suicide Club was good when I watched it back when it originally came out on dvd but I liked it a lot more on my rewatch.

[MadMan]

Weekend Viewings (I'm bringing it back, yo):

*Iron Rose-DVR
*Matinee-DVR

[transmogrifier]

Watched Legends of the Fall. (My wife loves melodrama and Brad Pitt, I was interested in checking out what Oscar-bait looked like 17 years ago).

Boy, what a downer. Did audiences really go for relentlessly bleak, but beautifully shot nonsense like this? By the third burial, it almost becomes like a black comedy, and all I could think about was Lisa and all the Snowball's in one of those Simpsons episodes during the crappy period. I hope Julia Ormond kept herself hydrated during the shoot, because it appears she lost gallons and gallons of water through tears.

That said, the miserabilism does contain a kernel of genuine melancholy and regret. But it's a hokey package to deliver it in.

[Ezee E]

Hmm... I look at the "masterpiece" movies that I haven't seen yet, and I have a feeling the best of the group may be Last Tango in Paris.

Five others:
-Winter Light
-Watership Down
-The Big Heat
-Ace in the Hole
-Rebecca

[transmogrifier]

Watership Down is a choppy mess.

[Mara]

Watched Legends of the Fall. (My wife loves melodrama and Brad Pitt, I was interested in checking out what Oscar-bait looked like 17 years ago).

I saw that in theaters-- pretty miserable experience. I was in high school, on a date, and I was too embarrassed to get up and use the restroom-- and I kept thinking that the film was almost over every time someone died. This was a lie. It just kept going and going no matter who died.

[Mara]

Watership Down is a choppy mess.

And seriously traumatizing to children.

[Qrazy]

No, Watership Down is great. But yes, very young children shouldn't be viewing it.

[Spinal]

Hmm... I look at the "masterpiece" movies that I haven't seen yet, and I have a feeling the best of the group may be Last Tango in Paris.

Five others:
-Winter Light
-Watership Down
-The Big Heat
-Ace in the Hole
-Rebecca

Winter Light ****
Watership Down ***1/2
Rebecca ***1/2
Last Tango in Paris **1/2

Your results may vary.

[Mara]

Rebecca is pretty awesome. The book, too.

[Qrazy]

Rebecca is well made but it's one of the Hitchcock's I find the least interesting. I just don't care about the story at all.

[B-side]

I'll post this here since I don't think it'd get read in the designated thread:

The Ides of March is very good, and further outlines Clooney's talents as a restrained director who is confident in his actors' ability to portray most of the complexity and nuance of the screenplay. Clooney squeezes in visual info discreetly, but this is a dialogue and person-driven film. The meat is in the keen observation of political and professional facade and the way in which it worms its way into the casual lives of seemingly decent and honest people. By avoiding easy black and white depictions and imbuing each "corruption" scenario with some gray, Clooney shifts the focus away from simple protagonist/antagonist binaries and allows the focus to remain on Gosling's character's self-imposed personality shift and the manners in which his mediator status pre-empts his more contemplative nature. He's experienced, though young, and a man of principle in a world of opportunists and cynics. His loyalty and affection are bounced back and forth through a maze of masked elders and naive young adults. Clooney's character is clearly an Obama surrogate, carrying the hope of Gosling's Stephen in the fashion of a modern liberal with Obama. The opening and closing segments are fantastic; evoking the theater of politics. And surely there won't be many more memorable images coming from 2011 films than this:

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2011-12-04-03h41m35s204_575x243.jpg

[B-side]

Rampart was real good, too. Moverman has a unique stylistic docu-drama vision with the camera often positioned and operated like a security camera. Its unfiltered naturalistic tendencies are perfect for such morally ambiguous content.

[Izzy Black]

I love Rebecca, but not a big fan of Hitchcock myself.

[Spun Lepton]

A Serbian Film.

Dredges the lowest and darkest pits of real-life human depravity and presents it in a way that borders on flippancy. Then the final scene attempts dark humor 4chan style, essentially punishing the audience for finishing the movie.

I have no respect for this film, nor anybody involved. I will not add it to my signature. I feel like a bad person for watching it and hope to eventually erase its memory. There's one scene -- those of you who've seen it know which -- that I will never be able to forget, and for that I say a very special fuck you, too to the filmmakers.

-100/10

[Dead & Messed Up]

Conan O'Brien Can't Stop was about the right length for its generally thin premise - that Conan's desire to make people laugh comes out of deep-seated needs that have nothing to do with the people. Honestly, there's not too much to remember, either, as it mostly alternates between traveloguing and Conan being reflective. Sorta glad I watched it. I guess. Hell, I don't know.

[Derek]

Rampart was real good, too. Moverman has a unique stylistic docu-drama vision with the camera often positioned and operated like a security camera. Its unfiltered naturalistic tendencies are perfect for such morally ambiguous content.

I hated the style of this film so much, the complete opposite of naturalistic. Moverman overthought every composition to the point that it had a total film school thesis film look to it. The film itself was also rather unfocused and never took any of its various angles in satisfying directions. For such a great premise, this spent much of its time spinning its wheels. I do suspect I'll be in the minority on this one, but hopefully others see it as a sham as well.

[Rowland]

Ed Gonzalez just posted what appears to be an evisceration (http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/we-need-to-talk-about-kevin/5946) of We Need to Talk About Kevin over at Slant. Since I haven't yet seen the film, I only briefly skimmed over the review, noting that he appears to also take potshots at Afterschool, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Elephant (which I thought he liked), in favor of Polytechnique.

[Raiders]

Elephant (which I thought he liked)

Heh. Well, in this very review, the link on the film's name takes you to his three-and-a-half star praise of it. I don't think he's ragging Van Sant's film but mourning what he perceives as the backlash of its Tarr-inspired minimalism and "fashionably nihilistic" style.

[elixir]

I don't see Afterschool or MMMM as fashionably nihilistic at all. I despise Elephant though (and I'm pretty much indifferent to Polytechnique).

[Rowland]

Heh. Well, in this very review, the link on the film's name takes you to his three-and-a-half star praise of it. I don't think he's ragging Van Sant's film but mourning what he perceives as the backlash of its Tarr-inspired minimalism and "fashionably nihilistic" style.Ahh yes, I thought he gave it four stars, but it has been awhile. Nevertheless, referring to its "fussily minimalist aggrandizement of the Columbine massacre" and "fashionable nihilism" doesn't sound terribly positive, so maybe he has changed his mind to some degree about the film over time. I know he once loved Donnie Darko (four stars back when he was a more lenient grader) but doesn't consider himself a fan anymore.

[Boner M]

Gonzalez's review is lousy, like much of his recent output. He seems to conveniently overlook the fact that the entire film is blatantly subjective and conjured as a sort-of waking nightmare in the mind of Swinton's character at a moment where her guilt has reached its apex.

Wanna see Polytechnique though. Was a fan of Incendies (which I'm surprised so few people saw here).

[Rowland]

Was a fan of Incendies (which I'm surprised so few people saw here).I keep meaning to, especially after being so impressed by Polytechnique.

[Ivan Drago]

A Serbian Film.

That's one of the five movies I have no interest in seeing. Coincidentally the other four are Cannibal Holocaust, Pink Flamingos, Salo, and The Human Centipede 2.

[Yxklyx]

That's one of the five movies I have no interest in seeing. Coincidentally the other four are Cannibal Holocaust, Pink Flamingos, Salo, and The Human Centipede 2.

While Pink Flamingos and Salo were meh, I thought Cannibal Holocaust was quite good and much overhyped in the squeam department. Not intending to see the Human Centipede films though...

[Rowland]

That's one of the five movies I have no interest in seeing. Coincidentally the other four are Cannibal Holocaust, Pink Flamingos, Salo, and The Human Centipede 2.So you do have some interest in Norbit, or have you already seen it?

[Philosophe_rouge]

If you guys like Polytechnique and/or Incendie, please see Villeneuve's earlier films :)

[Bosco B Thug]

Ahh yes, I thought he gave it four stars, but it has been awhile. Nevertheless, referring to its "fussily minimalist aggrandizement of the Columbine massacre" and "fashionable nihilism" doesn't sound terribly positive, so maybe he has changed his mind to some degree about the film over time. I know he once loved Donnie Darko (four stars back when he was a more lenient grader) but doesn't consider himself a fan anymore. Or it just means he has more nuances to his evaluations of film than is easily given away by one criticism. I offer that meaningfully, not cattily, as it may read. I'm on an off-mood with the guy, anyway (probably for not liking Melancholia). In any case, he's on to something with "fatuous mood" in regards to Afterschool.

[Bosco B Thug]

A Serbian Film.

Dredges the lowest and darkest pits of real-life human depravity and presents it in a way that borders on flippancy. Then the final scene attempts dark humor 4chan style, essentially punishing the audience for finishing the movie.

I have no respect for this film, nor anybody involved. I will not add it to my signature. I feel like a bad person for watching it and hope to eventually erase its memory. There's one scene -- those of you who've seen it know which -- that I will never be able to forget, and for that I say a very special fuck you, too to the filmmakers.

-100/10 Can't say I disagree about that. This definitely lives up to its hype, as it's a little-bit-of-everything hellride of torture, blood, vacuous boobs/cocks/pussies, jerking, beating, etc.

But I liked it more than you... there's things to appreciate. One, it sports an elaborate, extremely worked-upon story and screenplay that is half blatant political allegory. In terms of attitudes toward sex and human perversion, it comes off as the hypothetical result of Gaspar Noe deciding to make a commercial torture porn horror film (then having a somewhat hacky but equally pretentious filmmaker direct it for him). Like Human Centipede, it struck me once or twice that Takashi Miike could've mined the thematic caves of the premise with actual measure and some grace.

There's a certain power these apex-of-horror exploitation-novelty pieces have (this, Human Centipede, Salo, Miike's Visitor Q, Martyrs in some ways), and it is in showing to us the worst cruelties that can happen to human beings, and showing us there's ways to return from it, to share these terrors and ruinations en masse, and to appreciate those who suffer these things as they suffer them instead of us (unless, of course, one has - I Spit On Your Grave, for example, is one film that of course has much reference in the real world, unfortunately). In all these films, the depths of depravity is juxtaposed with a story of survival, or victims living on to the next day, and so we're incited to respond with deep acceptance (Centipede's utterly debased victims, Visitor Q's perverted family) or, in the case of A Serbian Film, an actually somewhat inciting, sort of exhilarating outrage that these things can occur (which makes its closest cousin the Pasolini film).

That said, please don't make me the one that convinced you to watch this film. It's tiringly full of porno imagery and graphic sex acts (if all clearly simulated), it's crassly commercial narrative (which is what makes it watchable... as you see, I made it through the film...), and if you are at all happy with the role of porno films in your life and as a positive thing to indulge, this movie's aim is to smash that. It's tagline should be, "What Psycho did to showers, and Jaws did to beaches... Just when you thought it was safe to get back into pornography again." The film is also derivative of Videodrome, and it talks about porno the way Cronenberg's film talks about video technology.

[Rowland]

Or it just means he has more nuances to his evaluations of film than is easily given away by one criticism. I offer that meaningfully, not cattily, as it may read.I was merely suggesting that he sounded, if not negative, than certainly more mixed, in his perspective of Elephant than I would expect given his effusive praise for the film in the past. I wasn't attempting to make any grand statement about his approach to criticism or what have you, and if anything, I would appreciate his willingness to publicly offer a more nuanced, hindsight-aided reappraisal like that.

[Rowland]

Agreed about A Serbian Film most resembling Salo of all the recent films of its ilk, and also about it being kinda interesting for its sheer moral outrage (rooted in sociopolitical allegory), but also too juvenile and hacky to really work. The lead was a more compelling protagonist than these things often have too, which helped.

[Qrazy]

Rewatched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly and Once Upon a Time in the West. D Davis was right, the latter is the superior film. I cherish both but it has more heart and that flashback reveal is one of the best ever. Plus the openings of both are similar and OUATITW wins out in that category. The subtext of manifest destiny are also a little bit more potent than the commentary on the civil war in GBU. Obviously GBU's final duel is the bomb diggity and Eastwood+Wallach+Van Cleef > Bronson+Cardinale... but Fonda and Robards help buoy that dynamic.

[Bosco B Thug]

I was merely suggesting that he sounded, if not negative, than certainly more mixed, in his perspective of Elephant than I would expect given his effusive praise for the film in the past. I wasn't attempting to make any grand statement about his approach to criticism or what have you, and if anything, I would appreciate his willingness to publicly offer a more nuanced, hindsight-aided reappraisal like that. Certainly, I didn't think you had much problem with it, and that "hindsight-aided reappraising" is exactly what I was regrettably soap-boxing about with my response.

I do essentially disagree with you a bit that his recent statement is strong evidence of a change in opinion about Elephant. We all do that thing where we become somewhat flippant and sound-byte critical about films we love.

[Bosco B Thug]

Agreed about A Serbian Film most resembling Salo of all the recent films of its ilk, and also about it being kinda interesting for its sheer moral outrage (rooted in sociopolitical allegory), but also too juvenile and hacky to really work. The lead was a more compelling protagonist than these things often have too, which helped. Okay, just back-searched this, and I hadn't realized so many people here had seen this. I really thought it was just me and Russ who had spent their time on this thing. :lol: I would've kept my blurbing to a minimum (... D_Davis previously making the Miike analogy... red-faced...).

[Rowland]

Okay, just back-searched this, and I hadn't realized so many people here had seen this. I really thought it was just me and Russ who had spent their time on this thing. :lol: I would've kept my blurbing to a minimum (... D_Davis previously making the Miike analogy... red-faced...).Oh yeah, just noticed that it's not being tallied in the 2011 database thread for some reason, where I gave it a mild nay.

[B-side]

I hated the style of this film so much, the complete opposite of naturalistic. Moverman overthought every composition to the point that it had a total film school thesis film look to it. The film itself was also rather unfocused and never took any of its various angles in satisfying directions. For such a great premise, this spent much of its time spinning its wheels. I do suspect I'll be in the minority on this one, but hopefully others see it as a sham as well.

The naturalness comes from the performances and staging, not the compositions, which as I noted, often feel approached from the perspective of a security camera. If you recall, that's not exactly out of left field given what occurred in the film that got him into trouble in the first place.

[Rowland]

Has anyone seen Elite Squad 2 yet? It has received such strong press that I'm thinking about doing a double feature with it and the original, which I understand had a much more middling reception.

[EyesWideOpen]

Has anyone seen Elite Squad 2 yet? It has received such strong press that I'm thinking about doing a double feature with it and the original, which I understand had a much more middling reception.

It's playing at a theater near me in a few weeks. I was thinking of checking it out.

[Qrazy]

Has anyone seen Elite Squad 2 yet? It has received such strong press that I'm thinking about doing a double feature with it and the original, which I understand had a much more middling reception.

Yes, it is not as good as the original which is a quite solid genre picture. It's still decent though.

[MadMan]

If anything the more controversial the movie, the more likely I am interested in seeing it. This has lead to some really bad results, but its also lead to me seeing some good movies.

[Li Lili]

This week-end I watched for the 3rd time, Transylvania by Tony Gatlif, and still like it a lot, the music is great as usual (gypsy music). Anyone knows this film or this filmmaker ?

[Sven]

So you do have some interest in Norbit, or have you already seen it?

Movie is great.

[Ivan Drago]

So you do have some interest in Norbit, or have you already seen it?

There's a better way to word what I said, I know. But I will be content with never seeing those films.

[NickGlass]

Gonzalez's review is lousy, like much of his recent output. He seems to conveniently overlook the fact that the entire film is blatantly subjective and conjured as a sort-of waking nightmare in the mind of Swinton's character at a moment where her guilt has reached its apex.

You're right--not about "all his recent pieces," but this one in particular. He really fails to place Ramsay's techniques in perspective. It's a rough film, though--I suppose I can understand a viscerally negative reaction (especially to the Kevin character--from baby to teenager), without an exact reason to nail it in prose; the review, however, does come off as both broad and nit-picky, though. I like the film, but understand that certain truths are conveniently (and, yet, justifiably) obfuscated. Of course, this worked for me, so...


Wanna see Polytechnique though. Was a fan of Incendies (which I'm surprised so few people saw here).

I thought Incendies was heavy-handed and downright stupid. I avoided Polytechnique, but I suppose I'm willing to give it a shot.

[Dillard]

Hey Match-Cut folks, I'm wondering if you guys would be up for doing some Match-Cut best of genre lists, like for sci-fi films, or musicals, or horror films, or whatever. I'd appreciate debating genre definitions, the merits of different films, and in the end, having a firm list in hand.

I don't know what the best way to do it would be, but would love to try to generate discussion en route to submitting lists rather than having folks just submit lists straight away.

Would anyone be up for this?

Or perhaps y'all have already done something like this and I can't find the fruits of your labor by searching.

[Qrazy]

Hey Match-Cut folks, I'm wondering if you guys would be up for doing some Match-Cut best of genre lists, like for sci-fi films, or musicals, or horror films, or whatever. I'd appreciate debating genre definitions, the merits of different films, and in the end, having a firm list in hand.

I don't know what the best way to do it would be, but would love to try to generate discussion en route to submitting lists rather than having folks just submit lists straight away.

Would anyone be up for this?

Or perhaps y'all have already done something like this and I can't find the fruits of your labor by searching.

We did a sci fi list, I bumped it a few months ago so it shouldn't be too far back.

[Dillard]

Oo nice I'll take a look.

[MadMan]

I'm always down for lists. They're just fun to make for some reason.

[Grouchy]

I like the idea, but I think we really shouldn't do the traditional genres you find on IMDb or TV guides but focus on sub-genres instead. Like "Woman's Revenge", "Heist" or "Prison Breaks". I think that would be a lot more difficult and entertaining. It would also lead to discovering some new movies instead of bringing up the same titles everytime.

We all know the best Western is Rio Bravo and the best War movie is The Dirty Dozen anyway. That's just absolute truth.

[Grouchy]

Also, I forgot to mention it, but this Grouchy bastard saw The Godfather on the big screen last week.

[transmogrifier]

The Wild Bunch, Apocalypse Now.

[Grouchy]

The Wild Bunch, Apocalypse Now.
Those are good too.

[Robby P]

Finally got around to watching Exit Through the Gift Shop. Pretty brilliant hoax. Definitely on par with F for Fake.

[Rowland]

Nostalgia for the Light (Guzman, 2011) ****Excellent. This is one of my favorites of the year, and only a handful of us have seen it.

[B-side]

We Need to Talk About Kevin is a parade of horrors. It's the culmination of a new parent's worst fears. As Eva scrubs away the metaphorical maternal blood her and her home are bathed in, representative of the guilt and the residue of a lost cause and a failed child-rearing, Ramsay's portrait of a child gone wrong isn't quite as narrow in view as I'd come to expect. Though the aesthetic is one of horror, and the film is as appropriately foreboding and subjective as befits the genre, there aren't any clear designations of blame and there is no "point" or answer. Perhaps her initial ambivalence during pregnancy, seemingly in anticipation of such a worst case scenario, fed a lack of patience and desire to properly connect with the child. Perhaps he was never going to be anything more than what he was. Perhaps it was a mixture of the two, but Ramsay isn't interested in providing simple answers, but rather visual abstractions and color symbolism in service of a psychological portrait of maternal terror and a destruction of idealized visions of grace and beauty in motherhood. If I have a complaint, it's the excessive use of pop songs to compliment the on-screen action. It grew tiresome pretty quickly.

[transmogrifier]

The French Connection II - 75

Ah, Frankenheimer. One of those directors who doesn't really have a specific visual scheme, but who certainly has a "type" in terms of editing, themes and characters. I loved how this was pretty much three separate shorts stiched together - a loose, funny, laid back fish-out-of-water opening, the sudden left-turn drug addiction sequence, and then the cold, balls-to-the-wall revenge pic. The whole thing has a beautiful internal rhythm to it, and Hackman is awesome as per. This, Seconds, The Train, Black Sunday....this guy!

[Sven]

Good call. Love that guy and love that film.

[transmogrifier]

I'm gonna have to watch all his films now, just because I think that even in his worst, there will be something going on in the edges, because that's the type of director he is.

[Sven]

I'm gonna have to watch all his films now, just because I think that even in his worst, there will be something going on in the edges, because that's the type of director he is.

... y'know, he's done better and I don't know how much of the end result is his, but I think that The Island of Dr. Moreau is over-hated. The direction is quite nice.

[transmogrifier]

His worst that I've seen is Reindeer Games. Haven't seen Island yet. I sure plan to, though.

[Scar]

... y'know, he's done better and I don't know how much of the end result is his, but I think that The Island of Dr. Moreau is over-hated. The direction is quite nice.

I hate that movie with the fire of 10,000 suns.

[Sven]

I hate that movie with the fire of 10,000 suns.

You don't like The Exorcist II either, right? I guess there's a strain of earnest, dark loopiness that doesn't work for you. The two films hold a similar attraction to me: bombastic performances, outlandish special effects, dreamlike pacing, all kind of ontological. What makes a human human?

[MadMan]

So far I find Frankenheimer to be awesome, too. Still need to see Seconds (stupid Netflix never released it to me), and also The French Connection II. I hear The Birdman of Alcatrez is pretty good, too.

[Scar]

You don't like The Exorcist II either, right? I guess there's a strain of earnest, dark loopiness that doesn't work for you. The two films hold a similar attraction to me: bombastic performances, outlandish special effects, dreamlike pacing, all kind of ontological. What makes a human human?

Honestly, its been a long time since I've seen it. I saw it in the theatre, and it was the worst experience I've ever had in a theatre. With that said, to be fair, I should try watching it again, with more 'mature' eyes.

I have tried to watch Exorcist II. Trust me, I've tried, but I've never been able to finish it.

[Qrazy]

So far I find Frankenheimer to be awesome, too. Still need to see Seconds (stupid Netflix never released it to me), and also The French Connection II. I hear The Birdman of Alcatrez is pretty good, too.

Watch The Train.

[MadMan]

If its on Netflix Instant Viewing I will. What I've seen of Reindeer Games can be described as awful, but at some point I'll view it anyways. I wish his last film had been the rather underrated Ronin instead.

[Sven]

but at some point I'll view it anyways. I wish his last film had been the rather underrated Ronin instead.

I hate to think of you on your deathbed, rueful that you never got to see all the movies that you've committed to watching at some point.

Also, Ronin isn't underrated by any means. Everyone loves that one.

[MadMan]

I hate to think of you on your deathbed, rueful that you never got to see all the movies that you've committed to watching at some point.

Also, Ronin isn't underrated by any means. Everyone loves that one.Actually when I'm on my deathbed, I'll only regret that I wasted time at this website responding to snarky insulting posts that could be a lot funnier but are actually lazier jokes than my own.

Everyone loves Ronin? Everyone? I highly doubt that, Sven.

[Scar]

Actually when I'm on my deathbed, I'll only regret that I wasted time at this website responding to snarky insulting posts that could be a lot funnier but are actually lazier jokes than my own.

Everyone loves Ronin? Everyone? I highly doubt that, Sven.

It sure as shit isn't under-rated.

[MadMan]

It sure as shit isn't under-rated.So its just merely "Well-Rated?" Like a burger cooked well done? That kind of rated? :P

[Sven]

Actually when I'm on my deathbed, I'll only regret that I wasted time at this website responding to snarky insulting posts that could be a lot funnier but are actually lazier jokes than my own.

You sure are a confusing person. But that's why you should always post here.

[MadMan]

You sure are a confusing person. But that's why you should always post here.Nah. And actually I'm starting to wonder why I even post here.

[elixir]

I like you, MadMan. :)

[MadMan]

Thanks.


Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog, 2010) 4I saw this was on Netflix Instant Viewing, and I've heard rather mixed things about it. Thoughts?

[elixir]

I saw this was on Netflix Instant Viewing, and I've heard rather mixed things about it. Thoughts?

I don't have much to say. It feels like 25 minutes of material stretched to feature-length, and while the first few shots of the cave are stunning, it grows tiresome after the fiftieth time (perhaps the 3D would have helped here?). Talking heads are uniformly uninteresting. I found the whole thing rather dull really.

[Derek]

As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty (Jonas Mekas, 2000) 10

God bless you, sir. Still the best film I've seen all year.

[elixir]

God bless you, sir. Still the best film I've seen all year.

Yeah, well, I must thank you (I've been meaning to, really!) because I probably wouldn't have watched it without your great post on it, which made it sound, y'know, very appealing to me...but it far exceed my (high) expectations. Just one of the most beautiful films I've seen, in every single way. It's really an astounding achievement.

[Spinal]

Actually when I'm on my deathbed, I'll only regret that I wasted time at this website responding to snarky insulting posts that could be a lot funnier but are actually lazier jokes than my own.


Or you could just recognize it for the good-natured ribbing that it is, realize that it happens to everyone who posts here and then not worry about it.

[Ivan Drago]

A part of me regrets missing Cave of Forgotten Dreams in 3D theaters. But while I might still see it, I'm more interested in Into The Abyss.

[MadMan]

Or you could just recognize it for the good-natured ribbing that it is, realize that it happens to everyone who posts here and then not worry about it.:rolleyes:

I'd say I get it more than most. But whatevers.


I don't have much to say. It feels like 25 minutes of material stretched to feature-length, and while the first few shots of the cave are stunning, it grows tiresome after the fiftieth time (perhaps the 3D would have helped here?). Talking heads are uniformly uninteresting. I found the whole thing rather dull really.Bummer. I'll still check it out, but I think that sounds along similar lines of what others have been saying, too.

[Beau]

Also, I forgot to mention it, but this Grouchy bastard saw The Godfather on the big screen last week.

So did I, and for the same reason you did!

[Fezzik]

Very, very cool photo shoot.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/12/06/magazine/13villains.html#

[dreamdead]

Very, very cool photo shoot.


The Rooney Mara and Dunst ones are quite cool, as is Oldman's. Thanks for sharing!

[Kurosawa Fan]

I'm having trouble placing a few of the villains. Are they all supposed to be based on movie characters? Here's what I've deduced thus far:

Pitt - Jack Nance/Eraserhead
Mara - Alex de Large/Clockwork Orange
Oldman - Dummy/Magic
Mia - ?
Gosling - Invisible Man/Invisible Man
Clooney - Laughton/Mutiny on the Bounty
Davis - ? (too many evil nurses; Nurse Ratchett?)
Dunst - ? (Lolita maybe? Doesn't make sense with villainy)
Shannon - Lancaster/Sweet Smell of Success (or Gordon Gekko)
Chastain - ?
Dujardin - ?
Oduye - Bonnie/Bonnie and Clyde
Close - Gloria Swanson/Sunset Blvd.

Any help with the others?

[Spun Lepton]

Very, very cool photo shoot.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/12/06/magazine/13villains.html#

Before I click, would you consider this work-safe?

EDIT: Never mind.

[Sven]

Clooney is Laughton from Mutiny.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Clooney is Laughton from Mutiny.

Ah. Good call.

I suspected Viola Davis was Nurse Ratchett, but I'm not entirely sure. Doesn't explain the bugs, but they could just be a symbolic device.

[Raiders]

It's not necessarily one-to-one with which villain they are. They are all representing villain types. Most are obviously directly influenced by a specific villain, but the piece isn't about individual villains but the specific types of villians. Wasikowska for instance is "Home Wrecker."

[Sven]

Is Henry from Eraserhead a villain?

[Raiders]

Is Henry from Eraserhead a villain?

Pitt is "The Madman." According to him, he was channeling Peter Lorre and Kramer (from Seinfeld). I think they just used that and adopted the deranged face and attire of Henry from Lynch's film.

There are also videos that accompany each of these "characters."

[Mara]

The answers, if you don't want to struggle.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/12/11/magazine/villain-references.html

[Grouchy]

So did I, and for the same reason you did!
Hahah true that.

Do you have Facebook?

[MadMan]

Brad Pitt and Rooney Mara were my favorite ones. Gary Oldman I didn't even recognize, and his was by far the creepiest.

I blame finding dummies frightening on having read the Slappy series from Ghostbumps as a kid.

[Ezee E]

I almost figured Dujardin was Bronson.
And Chastain being Michelle Williams in SHutter Island.

Both seem weird choices, but still.

Also, Rooney's video was the highlight.

[Beau]

Hahah true that.

Do you have Facebook?

Yep. I assume you do too.

[EyesWideOpen]

I have such a crush on Mia Wasikowska.

[Ezee E]

eternity won the National Board of Review contest on awardsdaily, haha.

I don't think he gets anything though.

[Spinal]

Let's re-title the thread. PM me your ideas and I'll choose the best one I receive in the next 3 hours or so.

I'd suggest that you don't post them in the thread itself, just so it doesn't clog up with non-film-discussion posts.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Oh, man. I loved The Naked City. I'd just about put it on par with Rififi, as far as Dassin is concerned, something I didn't think was possible.

[Qrazy]

Oh, man. I loved The Naked City. I'd just about put it on par with Rififi, as far as Dassin is concerned, something I didn't think was possible.

Really? Not that big a fan. Night and the City on the other hand. God. Damn.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Really? Not that big a fan. Night and the City on the other hand. God. Damn.

Loved the way it captured New York, loved the matter-of-fact way it handled the police investigation, loved the bits of humor, and the way the mystery played out. Loved just about everything about it. Only thing that lacked was a few of the performances and Don Taylor's uncanny resemblance to Luke Wilson.

[Raiders]

Oh, man. I loved The Naked City. I'd just about put it on par with Rififi, as far as Dassin is concerned, something I didn't think was possible.

Ehhh, seriously? I found it quite mediocre outside its location shots. Just kind of trodded along and the narration was terrible.

Night and the City is soooo much better.

EDIT: I see Qrazy beat me to it.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Ehhh, seriously? I found it quite mediocre outside its location shots. Just kind of trodded along and the narration was terrible.

Night and the City is soooo much better.

EDIT: I see Qrazy beat me to it.

At the start, I found the narration off-putting, but as the movie played along, I thought it integrated nicely with the style Dassin created.

[MadMan]

Oh, man. I loved The Naked City. I'd just about put it on par with Rififi, as far as Dassin is concerned, something I didn't think was possible.I liked that one a lot, and its still the only Dassin I've viewed. They need to put more of his movies on Netflix Instant Viewing-I only saw The Naked City thanks to TCM. The characters may be a bit sketchy, but that's par for the course when it comes to most film noirs. I love the documentary style film making employed for The Naked City, the shots of the skyline, and the fact that its a pretty good exercise in suspense.

[Sven]

X Men First Class's professional appearance was a half step above the rest of these superhero movies, but the film is a serious step down from what I would call "decent". Most puzzling of all was trying to figure out why it exists at all, beyond the obvious cash-in. But the few competently executed visuals do not dismiss the amount of botched, bloated material here.

Speaking of bloated, I cannot fathom why the above movie gets a free pass while Superman Returns, which I also recently watched, is all but annihilated. It is excellent throughout, Singer mounting with only occasional mild missteps a quality visual spectacle. Wince-free performances and its even clip keep the admittedly overlong run-time from feeling like a chore. Not perfect, as I think the film's crux amounts to hero worship, but definitely above par.

Speaking of above par, I ALSO watched the original Punisher film. It is the only one of these comic book movies so far to satisfyingly address the topic of innocent deaths. These movies are obsessed with crowd kill sequences, the characters cavalierly shrugging off the tragic aftermath of hundreds of people dying all the time. Oddly, this one, of all I've seen so far, has the most humane outlook. Lundgren is ghastly in it, giving Castle a spectral presence. The movie's frequent tracking shots through the sewers reinforces the film's plunge into the darker recesses of Castle's derangement. Some of the action bits are weak, but some are not.

[Spun Lepton]

X Men First Class's professional appearance was a half step above the rest of these superhero movies, but the film is a serious step down from what I would call "decent". Most puzzling of all was trying to figure out why it exists at all, beyond the obvious cash-in. But the few competently executed visuals do not dismiss the amount of botched, bloated material here

Speaking of bloated, I cannot fathom why the above movie gets a free pass while Superman Returns, which I also recently watched, is all but annihilated. It is excellent throughout, Singer mounting with only occasional mild missteps a quality visual spectacle. Wince-free performances and its even clip keep the admittedly overlong run-time from feeling like a chore. Not perfect, as I think the film's crux amounts to hero worship, but definitely above par.

Fast-paced, efficient, a few bad ideas = bloated
Languid, emo, boring, numerous bad ideas = excellent

Gotcha.

[Dead & Messed Up]

X Men First Class's professional appearance was a half step above the rest of these superhero movies, but the film is a serious step down from what I would call "decent". Most puzzling of all was trying to figure out why it exists at all, beyond the obvious cash-in. But the few competently executed visuals do not dismiss the amount of botched, bloated material here.

Speaking of bloated, I cannot fathom why the above movie gets a free pass while Superman Returns, which I also recently watched, is all but annihilated. It is excellent throughout, Singer mounting with only occasional mild missteps a quality visual spectacle. Wince-free performances and its even clip keep the admittedly overlong run-time from feeling like a chore. Not perfect, as I think the film's crux amounts to hero worship, but definitely above par.

My memory is that most here agree that the film is a lovely visual treat. And so it is. I grew frustrated with the film's pat portrayal of Superman and refusal to engage the ideas he presents, instead trafficking in what you admit is mostly "hero worship." Sometimes this works - I love the mystique and development of the shuttle crash. But most times the film feels dumb. One of the weirder ideas in recent genre film is giving Lois Lane a Pulitzer-worthy lambasting of Superman's utility...and never giving the audience any of idea of what she said. Rest assured, it was Pulitzer-worthy stuff.

Film is beautiful though. Not about to argue that point. Would that more superhero films were produced with such aesthetic care.

[Watashi]

X Men First Class's professional appearance was a half step above the rest of these superhero movies, but the film is a serious step down from what I would call "decent". Most puzzling of all was trying to figure out why it exists at all, beyond the obvious cash-in. But the few competently executed visuals do not dismiss the amount of botched, bloated material here.

Speaking of bloated, I cannot fathom why the above movie gets a free pass while Superman Returns, which I also recently watched, is all but annihilated. It is excellent throughout, Singer mounting with only occasional mild missteps a quality visual spectacle. Wince-free performances and its even clip keep the admittedly overlong run-time from feeling like a chore. Not perfect, as I think the film's crux amounts to hero worship, but definitely above par.

Speaking of above par, I ALSO watched the original Punisher film. It is the only one of these comic book movies so far to satisfyingly address the topic of innocent deaths. These movies are obsessed with crowd kill sequences, the characters cavalierly shrugging off the tragic aftermath of hundreds of people dying all the time. Oddly, this one, of all I've seen so far, has the most humane outlook. Lundgren is ghastly in it, giving Castle a spectral presence. The movie's frequent tracking shots through the sewers reinforces the film's plunge into the darker recesses of Castle's derangement. Some of the action bits are weak, but some are not.
Now this post makes sense.

Superman Returns is such a beautifully told film. Too bad we'll never get another superhero film like it.

[Sven]

I think it's an issue of interest. My memory is that most here agree that the film is a lovely visual treat. And so it is.

Maybe my emphasis on this part is too heavy. It's just such a relief to watch a superhero movie made by people that actually care how to make a movie look good.


I grew frustrated with the film's pat portrayal of Superman and refusal to engage the ideas he presents, instead trafficking in what you admit is mostly "hero worship." Sometimes this works - I love the mystique and development of the shuttle crash. But most times the film feels dumb. One of the weirder ideas in recent genre film is giving Lois Lane a Pulitzer-worthy lambasting of Superman's utility...and never giving the audience any of idea of what she said. Rest assured, it was Pulitzer-worthy stuff.

You're right on all counts. It was effective shorthand of the overarching emotional journey of the character, but in a movie as long as it is, you'd at least get a sense of what the article contained. Seems like she just has abandonment issues.

[Sven]

Fast-paced, efficient, a few bad ideas = bloated

Is there any reason why any of the characters were even around? All the time spent on back stories to characters that just ran around, affecting nothing. Hardly efficient.

[megladon8]

Superman Returns > X-Men: First Class

And I enjoyed First Class quite a bit.

Superman Returns was the perfect companion piece to the original two Reeve films, and one of the few instances where I felt that the sequel's happening 20+ years later was actually used to some effect (though in the universe of the film it was only a few years that had passed).

A beautiful, elegant film. Amazing score, too. One of the best of the decade.

[Spun Lepton]

Superman Returns > X-Men: First Class

Whatever. You're biased.

BIASED!!

[Scar]

Whatever. You're biased.

BIASED!!

I'm going to have to side w/ Meg on this one. There's a soft squishy spot in my heart for Superman Returns.

[Spun Lepton]

I'm going to have to side w/ Meg on this one. There's a soft squishy spot in my heart for Superman Returns.

Biased.

[transmogrifier]

Superman Returns is such a beautifully told film. Too bad we'll never get another superhero film like it.

Thank God.

[Watashi]

Thank God.
You know you anticipate every comic book movie release.

[StanleyK]

Watched La Promesse again. Man, the Dardenne brothers are good. They certainly never took the easy way out. It would have been easy in this story to make the mother a saintly figure and the boy a scrappy hero slave to an over-the-top evil father. Instead, Igor is a petty thief and Assita a belligerent bitch; and still, in a harsh world populated with unlikeable people, where it would have been easy to descend into nihilism, they manage to make this an optimistic tale of redemption, while never ringing false or sappy, and building towards a quietly devastating finale. I think this is my favorite of theirs outside of The Son now. Must rewatch Rosetta.

[Spun Lepton]

Is there any reason why any of the characters were even around? All the time spent on back stories to characters that just ran around, affecting nothing. Hardly efficient.

It's an origin story. The movie is ultimately about Prof X and Magneto.

[Sven]

The movie is ultimately about Prof X and Magneto.

...and Banshee and Havoc and Angel and Beast and Emma Frost and Mystique, all of whom have too much screen time and contribute nothing to the film's elusive heft. They are in there because training sequences are an easy way to pad superhero movies. Nothing that happens to any of them is of any consequence.

[Ezee E]

...and Banshee and Havoc and Angel and Beast and Emma Frost and Mystique, all of whom have too much screen time and contribute nothing to the film's elusive heft. They are in there because training sequences are an easy way to pad superhero movies. Nothing that happens to any of them is of any consequence.

Pretty sure Mystique has some actions that are important, but you are correct in the others.

Man, that Magneto solo movie would've been great though.

[MadMan]

I think that both X-Men First Class and Superman Returns are good movies. I much prefer X-Men First Class, however-and it was mostly due to the really good to great cast that movie had. SR's cast was pretty good, too, though. I just wish they had shortened both movies to be honest, although SR's was either longer or it just felt longer.

[Derek]

...and Banshee and Havoc and Angel and Beast and Emma Frost and Mystique, all of whom have too much screen time and contribute nothing to the film's elusive heft. They are in there because training sequences are an easy way to pad superhero movies. Nothing that happens to any of them is of any consequence.

Yeah, half the film is spent watching dumb teenagers showing off and exploring their new powers with little consequence to the actual film. Also, Jennifer Lawrence was just awful. Please tell me I'm not alone in noticing this.


Man, that Magneto solo movie would've been great though.

People were thinking that about a solo Wolverine movie and look how that turned out.

Hint: It was shit.

[MadMan]

I thought Jennifer Lawrence was just fine in that movie, but now that I think about it they really didn't give her much to do. Might has well have just called the movie "Magnento and Xavier." With Kevin Bacon thrown in, wahoo.

[Sven]

Also, Jennifer Lawrence was just awful. Please tell me I'm not alone in noticing this.

I liked her casual style, but it was off for this film. She's clearly a natural, but two-dimensional superhero arcs are not for her.

Now, if you wanna talk about January Jones, on the other hand...

[MadMan]

You mean Jones was bland enough to be in a superhero movie? I haven't seen her on Mad Men, but she was pretty dull in X-Men: First Class.

[TGM]

People were thinking that about a solo Wolverine movie and look how that turned out.

Hint: It was shit.

Of course, it hardly turned out to be an actual solo movie about Wolverine, but rather more of a showcase of all the mutants rejected by the main trilogy. The upcoming Wolverine, on the other hand, sounds like it may be an actual solo movie for the character, so we'll see...

[baby doll]

As far as minor early Bergman goes, Summer With Monika doesn't have flashes of brilliance so much as moments of interest in the midst of general mediocrity.

[Ezee E]

Of course, it hardly turned out to be an actual solo movie about Wolverine, but rather more of a showcase of all the mutants rejected by the main trilogy. The upcoming Wolverine, on the other hand, sounds like it may be an actual solo movie for the character, so we'll see...
This. It may as well have just been another X-Men title.

We saw some snippets of what the solo Magneto was aiming to be, and those are the best parts of First Class.

N

[Raiders]

Superman Returns love makes me happy. It is probably my favorite superhero film since X-Men jump-started the trend 11 years ago. That or Lee's Hulk.

[transmogrifier]

Hunger - 74

Loved the structure, the decontextualizing of the first half as we follow a handful of characters who have plunged into the inhumanity of the prison (though the young policeman crying was a little on the nose, and something out of a more Ron Howardish movie), and seeing the erosion of the physical form, the second half with someone determined to take his body back and use it to make a change for the better, or at least provide him one last piece of freedom. The long scene with the priest is a great dividing line between the two, (making the piss mopping scene all the more elongated and pointless, at least where it is situated in the film related to the rest of the structure).

McQueen has a good eye and an already well-developed editing rhythm, but there are hints that he may like to gild the lily a bit in terms of how he approaches his narratives. As impressive as this debut is, I'm not looking forward to Shame all that much, because the premise bores me to tears, and I'm not sure McQueen would be the director to transcend it - he'd be more likely to take it far too seriously. Someone feel free to put me straight on that, however.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Holy crap, Dead Ringers was heartbreaking, repulsive, involving thriller-making. I feel funny that after falling for the admittedly lavish Black Swan, here is a film that plays the drama a bit closer to reality, a bit harsher, and ends up all the more tragic for it. Jeremy Irons is never less than riveting. Although his two personalities are bifurcated in a basic way, with one as smarmy id, the other as effete superego, he keeps both performances subtle, so that the Mantle twins play as people instead of archetypes. I was a bit leery once Cronenberg introduced the Giger-esque medical tools, and their presence may be a bit too much as far as misdirection goes, but I suppose it is a way of showing the grotesquerie bubbling beneath the twins' eerie symbiosis. There's something sickly about their connection, and that only increases, until they take their final circle around the abyss. What a fantastically disturbed piece of filmmaking.

[Boner M]

Combat Shock - Plays like Taxi Driver if Travis was unemployed, had a wife and the baby from Eraserhead to deal with, and Hermann's lush noir-jazz was replaced with a worn-out Moroder LP playing two rooms down. A queasily atmospheric cry of Reagan-era despair, wherein the anger and conviction transcends the lack of professionalism in almost every department.

[Boner M]

he'd be more likely to take it far too seriously. Someone feel free to put me straight on that, however.
No, that's about right.

Not sure how a premise can bore you to tears, though.

[transmogrifier]

No, that's about right.

Not sure how a premise can bore you to tears, though.

Well, the story of a sex addict and how hollow his life is.....God, I'm bored just typing it out.

[MadMan]

Rom-com premises usually bore me to tears. I think I see where trans comes from with the crying and the sadness and the being bored :P

[StanleyK]

A second viewing of Blissfully Yours didn't improve it as I hoped it would. Joe is great at using ambience (mostly the dense vegetation and droning sounds of the forest) to amplify his character's emotions and establishing moods. But the characters here are very thin and even their small gestures (which mostly involve caressing; Orn caresses her belly; Roong caresses Min's dick; both women caress his peeling skin), which I understand carry great significance, don't resonate at all. As such the long stretches of stillness and silent walks through the woods aren't captivating, but actually really boring. Weerasethakul is probably my favorite director of this past decade on the strength of his following three movies, and his natural filmmaking prowess makes Blissfully Yours still worth watching, but it didn't really do anything for me.

[Li Lili]

I saw Carnage by Roman Polanski with Judy Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly. Base on the play by Yasmina Reza.

Anyone has seen it ?
Anyway, I thought it was extremely well played and done since the film is based on the acting and the dialog, very incisive, ironical and sharp dialog. The film is mainly set in a living room during almost all way through (it lasts 80 minutes).
With only 4 characters, each one perfect in their acting, one location, one event (a little fight of 2 young kids) to launch the reason of this meeting, Polanski manages to keep a flowing pace.

[Qrazy]

So a few months ago or a year or so two montage videos were posted here. One was a year in review. The montage was tight but the movies it featured were terrible. In the other video the montage was loose but the movies featured were good. So I thought hmm, what if I combined the strengths of both of these and did one myself? The result is the following. Took me a while to grab all the films but the editing itself only took 2-3 days.

http://vimeo.com/33495157

The only annoying part was the xvid watermark that crops up from time to time. I don't know how to remove it. Anyway, hope you enjoy. If you do please pass it along!

[Melville]

Good stuff. What are the movies with the guy lighting a cigarette and the guy balancing a glass on his head?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Excellent work, Qrazy! Obviously I wish a couple more movies made it on there, but that speaks more to the challenge of fitting everything possible into six minutes. Good, simple editing, and a wonderful variety of films. The music selection has me listening to Nameless Furs for the first time on Spotify right now.

[Qrazy]

Good stuff. What are the movies with the guy lighting a cigarette and the guy balancing a glass on his head?

The Man from London (Tarr) and Khrustalyov, My Car! (Aleksei German) respectively.

[Ezee E]

Well done. How'd you find all the clips?

[Qrazy]

Excellent work, Qrazy! Obviously I wish a couple more movies made it on there, but that speaks more to the challenge of fitting everything possible into six minutes. Good, simple editing, and a wonderful variety of films. The music selection has me listening to Nameless Furs for the first time on Spotify right now.

Thanks! (Handsome Furs)

[Qrazy]

Well done. How'd you find all the clips?

Pirated.

[Ezee E]

Pirated.
With trains, I guess there's at least a theme. Trying to do a 2011 movie one myself, and it's pretty tough!

[Qrazy]

With trains, I guess there's at least a theme. Trying to do a 2011 movie one myself, and it's pretty tough!

Yeah this made it a lot easier. I just had to remember my favorite films with train sequences (with help from match-cut of course) skim through and cut that sequence and then further cut down my favorite shot from the sequence. Plowing through dozens of full films for the right shot would be brutal.

[Morris Schæffer]

Good job. Well worth the effort!

[Ezee E]

Yeah this made it a lot easier. I just had to remember my favorite films with train sequences (with help from match-cut of course) skim through and cut that sequence and then further cut down my favorite shot from the sequence. Plowing through dozens of full films for the right shot would be brutal.
Just been taking random sequences so far.

[ledfloyd]

good stuff, what program did you use to make that?

[Milky Joe]

Last night I was treated to a screening of the only known 35mm print of The Boxer's Omen, a nearly lost Shaw Brothers classic found a year or two ago along with a ton of other films beneath the floorboards of an old Chinese theater in Vancouver, BC. Holy fuck. What a serious dose of psychedelic voodoo Buddhist insanity that was. It makes Hausu look like Oscar-bait. I guess it's on DVD, but that hardly compares to seeing it screened on 35mm at 2am in a crowded theater. I recommend that experience.

[Qrazy]

good stuff, what program did you use to make that?

Final cut pro.

[Grouchy]

Holy crap, Dead Ringers was heartbreaking, repulsive, involving thriller-making. I feel funny that after falling for the admittedly lavish Black Swan, here is a film that plays the drama a bit closer to reality, a bit harsher, and ends up all the more tragic for it. Jeremy Irons is never less than riveting. Although his two personalities are bifurcated in a basic way, with one as smarmy id, the other as effete superego, he keeps both performances subtle, so that the Mantle twins play as people instead of archetypes. I was a bit leery once Cronenberg introduced the Giger-esque medical tools, and their presence may be a bit too much as far as misdirection goes, but I suppose it is a way of showing the grotesquerie bubbling beneath the twins' eerie symbiosis. There's something sickly about their connection, and that only increases, until they take their final circle around the abyss. What a fantastically disturbed piece of filmmaking.
Good opinions. I agree, while I liked Black Swan a lot, for a psychological thriller with true depth, Aranofsky is no match for Cronenberg. And somethimes I think this is the Dave's best film.

[Grouchy]

That's a sweet edit. Love the moment in between the Ray and the Buster Keaton movies.

[B-side]

So a few months ago or a year or so two montage videos were posted here. One was a year in review. The montage was tight but the movies it featured were terrible. In the other video the montage was loose but the movies featured were good. So I thought hmm, what if I combined the strengths of both of these and did one myself? The result is the following. Took me a while to grab all the films but the editing itself only took 2-3 days.

http://vimeo.com/33495157

The only annoying part was the xvid watermark that crops up from time to time. I don't know how to remove it. Anyway, hope you enjoy. If you do please pass it along!

Very nice.

[Qrazy]

Anyone have any more questions about which film is featured in any given clip?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Good opinions. I agree, while I liked Black Swan a lot, for a psychological thriller with true depth, Aranofsky is no match for Cronenberg. And somethimes I think this is the Dave's best film.

I might still prefer The Fly, if only because that film's female lead stays involved to the end of the story, while Dead Ringers eschews the actress character, who might impede the twins' descent. Even so, the film's profoundly sad and expertly wrought.

It's funny how I began my horror-going career in love with the go-for-broke zaniness of Raimi and Peter Jackson, but I'm now really, really loving the films of more steady hands like Stuart Gordon and David Cronenberg, who are more reserved with their style but also more engaged with their stories' ideas and personalities.

Not to disparage the others. I just find the difference interesting. Evil Dead II is still an ingenious B-movie masterwork.

[StanleyK]

Rosetta is pretty great, not quite as great as the Dardennes' previous or next film though. For some reason it's the one where they shake their camera around the most to the point where it's pretty irritating at times. Unlike the other two, it has a scene that rang false (Rosetta's double-recitation to herself was a bit too much). It's also their least hopeful and most depressing film, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing as it's still an intelligent and exceedingly well-crafted drama.

[megladon8]

Did a little DVD trade with a fellow movie fan at work.

I lent him Seven Samurai (I had also brought him The Seventh Seal but he'd seen it already) and he lent me Eraserhead and Paths of Glory.

Might try to watch Eraserhead tonight.

[Grouchy]

Anyone have any more questions about which film is featured in any given clip?
You could make a list.

[Qrazy]

You could make a list.

I think it could be fun for people to try to guess them all but I could PM you a list if you want.

[StanleyK]

Old Joy is really good. Reichardt has a very nice editing rhythm, evident in the long takes she holds until the exact moment to cut in to a close-up. Scenes like Kurt's rambling 'teardrop-shaped universe' (followed by a hilarious cut to Mark's WTF face), or the cellphone conversation with Tanya seen at a distance through the windshield as Kurt tokes up in the foreground, are particularly effective because of her skillful composition and cutting. I also enjoyed the trek back home and the slow unfolding of images of the forest, the road and then the city showing their gradual return to civilization. Great movie, remarkably perceptive about old friendships and the process of growing up and letting go of the things that once defined your life, filled with sadness and longing amidst its quietude.

[Dukefrukem]

This is well cut!!!!!!!!

QgTsQW9tyHg

[Qrazy]

This is well cut!!!!!!!!

QgTsQW9tyHg

Gen I is good but I have to say that her 2010 montage was exactly what I was responding to when I made my own. So two things really, she uses a lot of bad films and she has a tendency towards hyper editing. I'd much prefer the shot be held for a bit than to go all Michael Bay on it's ass.

I also found her 2010 montage a bit stronger. Here it seems like she's just using the dialogue to pull us through a collection of images rather than actually establishing a connection/correlation between any two images she selects to place next to each other (I mean visual connection, there is certainly a thematic link via the dialogue). That being said she does have talent for sure.

[Mr. Pink]

I was pretty glad to see Seth Rogen('s production company) tackle some heavy/not Seth Rogen material with 50/50. They pulled it off pretty well, though. Funny as hell (given the premise), and even a little moving.

[Lucky]

I agree with Qrazy's critique on it. There are some very clever things done with the dialogue, but the majority of it lacks cohesion. Makes the six minutes go by very slowly, I was pretty bored by the end. I like eternity's friend's effort in the YouTube thread much better.

[eternity]

I don't know how Gen Ip's videos became so popular, since Matt Shapiro and Kees van Dijkhuizen have been doing it better and earlier.

[eternity]

-mEfsU0EPSQ

[Ezee E]

I swear most of that clip was put together with just the trailer shots.

[StanleyK]

I will admit to not being completely engrossed by the first half of Tropical Malady (and it also contains a pretty big pet peeve of mine, which is a gay couple that doesn't kiss on-screen. It's like, why? Why are they making out with each other's hands which is creepy instead of just kissing?), but once it gets to the second half in the jungle, holy shit. First-class visceral suspense filmmaking, and it makes the whole thing click as I realize that the two parts really do compliment each other beautifully.

[dreamdead]

Aren't there restrictions/prohibitions on gay sexuality in Thai cinema? That might be one logical reason...

[StanleyK]

Aren't there restrictions/prohibitions on gay sexuality in Thai cinema? That might be one logical reason...

Hadn't thought of that... Still pretty depressing though.

[Derek]

Hadn't thought of that... Still pretty depressing though.

Are you equally depressed when a straight couple doesn't make out during a film? I mean, I understand taking issue when films whitewash gay couples and try to present them in a more red state-friendly fashion, but surely this is not what Joe is doing. It just seems weird to me to get hung up on kissing when the film is erotic in many other ways.

[StanleyK]

Are you equally depressed when a straight couple doesn't make out during a film? I mean, I understand taking issue when films whitewash gay couples and try to present them in a more red state-friendly fashion, but surely this is not what Joe is doing. It just seems weird to me to get hung up on kissing when the film is erotic in many other ways.

The 'depressing' was more about the restrictions. You're right about the film's eroticism; it's just something that tends to bother me.

[Qrazy]

I don't know how Gen Ip's videos became so popular, since Matt Shapiro and Kees van Dijkhuizen have been doing it better and earlier.

The answer lies in your post bro.

Being a girl = +10000000 points on youtube.

[B-side]

The Mill and the Cross is, in the vein of Snyder's 300 and Singh's Immortals; history by way of artistic artifice -- a comparison I'm sure turned most reading this off of this film already -- a highly artificial take on historical material. In an act of simultaneous retrofitting, Rutger Hauer plays Peter Bruegel as he walks in and out of, and crafts, his own painting, "Way to Calvary." Michael York plays a participant in the drama that is the inspiration for the piece, and consults Bruegel as he works on it. With incredulity, he looks at Hauer's confident artist gazing upon tragedy and asks, "You think you can express this?" Our view of history is shaped entirely by secondhand accounts and beyond, and in that regard, artists play a huge role in the aesthetic we associate with an era we've no filmed or photographed recording of. Never before has the phrase "it's like a painting brought to life!" been more accurate than here. This isn't Barry Lyndon. It's old school painted Hollywood backdrops with modern green screen artificiality, accentuated with art direction appropriate of the premise in both style and impressiveness. Only 3 characters have discernible dialogue in the film, and none of it is within the painted background action that Majewski has given full life to.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Well, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was a dull, fairly miserable little film. I didn't even have very high expectations, and it still sucked.

[Raiders]

Well, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House was a dull, fairly miserable little film. I didn't even have very high expectations, and it still sucked.

I thought it was charming enough. It is certainly superior to the deadful Tom Hanks quasi-remake.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I thought it was charming enough. It is certainly superior to the deadful Tom Hanks quasi-remake.

I didn't find it funny at all. Might have laughed twice, or more accurately, chuckled a bit. It was just a string of annoying circumstances for 90 minutes with a cheap denouement to make everything better.

As for The Money Pit, I loved it when I was around 7 or 8 and haven't seen it since then, which I'm sure means it's terrible. I haven't been anxious to revisit it.

[Mr. Pink]

I didn't find it funny at all. Might have laughed twice, or more accurately, chuckled a bit. It was just a string of annoying circumstances for 90 minutes with a cheap denouement to make everything better.

As for The Money Pit, I loved it when I was around 7 or 8 and haven't seen it since then, which I'm sure means it's terrible. I haven't been anxious to revisit it.

Yeah, that description fits The Money Pit as well. I bought it in a two-pack with The Burbs (possibly better than I remembered, and I used to love it), but The Money Pit was astonishingly bad.

[StanleyK]

I remembered The Sixth Sense being better. Shyamalan sure likes his character whispering silly dialogue in a deathly serious tone. Pretty good movie overall, though. I enjoy the slow, deliberate pace (the famous reveal is preceded by 45 minutes of build-up), and the direction which gives preference to two-shots and longer takes. If it had less/better dialogue and less SPOOKY! music cues I'd probably consider it a legit great film.

[transmogrifier]

Yes, the whispery acting thing. I remember being bugged about this in Shyamalan films right from the start. Glad more people are starting to see the horrendous stiltedness of it all.

[dreamdead]

Aaron Katz's Cold Weather moves closer to achieving something unique for the indie DIY movement by appropriating mystery tropes. It's a solid progression away from the typically dreary twentysomethings ambivalently flailing through life, but some of the dialogue is still too stunted to achieve anything dramatic. It's a naturalizing technique, but one that suggests the fundamental non-entities of these characters' lives. I still think Katz will stumble upon a great script to pair with his excellent mise-en-scene and soundtrack, but this isn't it yet...

[megladon8]

I've always thought Unbreakable to be superior to The Sixth Sense.

I still find the conversation between Haley Joel Osment and Tiny Collette near the end, in the car, to be effectively tear-inducing.

[MadMan]

From M. Night I love The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, and Signs. I didn't think The Village was utterly terrible-more decent, really. However I must have taken it as a sign of bad things to come, and I haven't seen any of his movies since.

[TGM]

Of his movies I've seen, Unbreakable is definitely the best. I haven't seen The Sixth Sense since the first time I watched it way back when, but I should probably get on that sometime. But despite the twist ending and everything, I just never felt the need to go back and rewatch it.

I also enjoy The Happening, though for entirely different reasons. That movie is seriously hilariously awful!

[StanleyK]

Tiny Collette

:lol:

And yeah, Unbreakable is better in every possible way. Its only drawback is again some stilted dialogue, but that's down to a tolerable minimum here. The climactic scene is wordless, even, and it really works. Shyamalan's direction is stellar. Every shot in the movie is a pleasure to look at, and the story unfolds at just about a perfect pace.

[Yxklyx]

If you liked Frownland you'll probably love Daddy Longlegs - with the director of the former the lead in the latter. Love both these films! The closest I've seen to Cassavetes' early work.

[Grouchy]

Your Highness - The magic thunder of Pineapple Express definitively didn't strike twice. This fantasy satire fails in almost every possible aspect a satire can fail. It's truly a piece of shit of the highest order. The only positive I can say about it it's that the production design and the monsters looked really nice.

Great Expectations (Cuarón) - Modern adaptation of a Dickens novel I haven't read. The first half of this film is great filmmaking. Cuarón's love affair with long takes suits the mood of this story very well and the cast is all excellent. This is one of the last times De Niro must have tried acting in a movie. However, after the action moves to New York and Finn becomes an artist, I thought the script seemed to deflate. Too many scenes started to become repetitions and, frankly, the Hawke-Paltrow romantic connection doesn't have enough on screen chemistry to work. Still worth a look.

Colombiana - Sometimes I just want to look at a stupid action film and I'm not always sure which ones will be too stupid for me and which ones I'll enjoy. Usually the Luc Besson genre is a good choice. This was bad, though. Stereotypical Hollywood even to the smallest details. However, it's so blatantly a B movie that I enjoyed it in some level. Well, in two levels. The other being that Zoe Saldana is one of the hottest on-screen females I've ever seen. I swear I get hard just watching her walk. If I ever saw her on the flesh I'd probably just explode.

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y121/HawleyGriffin/being_john_malkovich-1.jpg?t=1324112410

Being John Malkovich - Yep, I had never watched this until today. In fact, I sort of feared that the hype might have killed it for me. Not the case. I loved this movie with a passion. Kaufman's finest hour next to Eternal Sunshine. I loved the tone of the comedy (dark) and it's really as strange and as intelligent as I was warned it would be.

[StanleyK]

Irma Vep feels a little slight, but the filmmaking energy, the clever metanarrative and Cheung's screen presence make for some really great scenes (I loved in particular Maggie tripping in her hotel room followed by her embodying her character, or the quiet goodbye between her and Zoe) and a crazy fun experience.

[Sven]

Being John Malkovich - Yep, I had never watched this until today.

That's super surprising.

[StanleyK]

I used to like Signs, but watching it today... Man, it it just riddled with problems. The god-awful dialogue is just the most obvious one; there's also the terrible acting from both of the children (and to be honest, although Gibson and Phoenix do the best they can, with what they're given to work with they also come off pretty badly at some instances), its rather simplistic view of faith (breaking people down into just two categories is always problematic; also, if the preacher-turned-atheist due to a personal tragedy isn't a cliché, is sure feels like one, and it's weak writing either way), the first instance of Shyamalan's inflated ego (his first scene in the movie is literally everybody looking at him in awe while saying "Is that him?"), and of course, its ultimate message, which I tried to defend in the past as being that Gibson simply found signs of his faith again, but now I see is really about him finding signs (evidence, really- the film is actually pretty unequivocal about it) of God's presence and will being acted out (and another problem I have is that the people in the Brazilian video are clearly not speaking Brazilian Portuguese, and also one of the kids in it says something in English for no reason. This might just be a nitpick, but it's pretty irritating). I still maintain that Shyamalan's direction is excellent and quite suspenseful, hugely helped out by Howard's beautiful score, which makes it an overall decent movie, but it's a shame how much it's squandered on such weak material.

[Li Lili]

Irma Vep feels a little slight, but the filmmaking energy, the clever metanarrative and Cheung's screen presence make for some really great scenes (I loved in particular Maggie tripping in her hotel room followed by her embodying her character, or the quiet goodbye between her and Zoe) and a crazy fun experience.

I thought it was just ok, have you seen Olivier Assayas second film with Maggie Cheung, called Clean ? I think it was better, saying that, it's been years seen I last saw them...

[ledfloyd]

so now that i've seen cold fish sion sono is the sole director that has a film that would be in my top 20 as well as a film that would probably be in my bottom 20.

[Rowland]

Also, Koresky nails (www.reverseshot.com/article/skin_i_live) The Skin I Live In at Reverse Shot.Thank goodness you posted that, I somehow didn't even think to check RS for a review of this one, but I agree with Koresky almost to a tee. It was unsatisfying enough to watch, and thinking about it in retrospect hasn't done it any favors. I'm surprised you say that he nailed it though, since I thought you responded very well to the film, gave it a 7 or something.

[Bosco B Thug]

Thank goodness you posted that, I somehow didn't even think to check RS for a review of this one, but I agree with Koresky almost to a tee. It was unsatisfying enough to watch, and thinking about it in retrospect hasn't done it any favors. I'm surprised you say that he nailed it though, since I thought you responded very well to the film, gave it a 7 or something. Well, I mainly responded to the first paragraph, which is nailing city. He then goes on to be a bit more nitpicky than me. Ultimately, I was won over by the big reveal, which I of course failed to precipitate as you did. I can see how that would take the wind out of the film's sails.

That said, I have mostly good feelings for the film. It's a toss up how a 2nd viewing will go, as I'll know the story and ideally it fills up the film's spaces with subliminal heft, but I definitely found chunks of it uninspiring and can't imagine it really opening up in any way.

[StanleyK]

I thought it was just ok, have you seen Olivier Assayas second film with Maggie Cheung, called Clean ? I think it was better, saying that, it's been years seen I last saw them...

I'll see it very soon.

I just saw Demonlover, which is quite a strange film. Not as fun as Irma Vep, but probably meatier. It's certainly very effective in pointing out the creepiness and exploitative nature of some pornography; there were a couple of scenes where I was close to throwing up. Horribly shot action scenes aside it's also very formally accomplished. It's certainly interesting how different this and Irma Vep are to Summer Hours, which I've heard is closer to Clean.

[Grouchy]

so now that i've seen cold fish sion sono is the sole director that has a film that would be in my top 20 as well as a film that would probably be in my bottom 20.
Clarify. I want to see Cold Fish very soon.

[StanleyK]

You know what? The Village is actually a pretty great movie. Is it a bit too self-serious, which overly hypes and takes some punch out of the rather silly scare moments? I guess. But it makes sense if you think of it as showing the inherent folly of the elders' plan. For one thing, Shyamalan's stilted dialogue is for once appropriate- the children in the village are closed off from the outside world, are suffering from poor health and are slightly dumb. It's pretty funny, and I think it's meant to be funny. It's a wonderfully directed movie, of course- the walk through the woods in particular is phenomenal filmmaking. The film's major criticism, which is that the twist is stupid, I just don't get. What's stupid about it (I said so myself (http://match-cut.org/) almost 3 years ago and now I have no idea why)? It works perfectly as a cautionary modern fairy tale of sorts. Not a perfect movie, but hugely satisfying.