28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[B-side]

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Miscellaneous/magdalenaviragajournalbanner.p ng

Magdalena Viraga is my second Nina Menkes film after being taken with the surreal melancholy of Phantom Love. It's becoming clear that Menkes is a unique, even important, voice in independent cinema. This film in particular is forged in the fires of the stasis; a largely static camera captures ennui and exquisite frames in lengthy shots. Ida, a prostitute, and her portly, darker-skinned fellow prostitute friend, speak in crypto-poetic fashion, simultaneously expressing and obfuscating Ida's plight. Not until the latter half of the film does Ida, or anyone else, emote whatsoever. Dialogue is delivered in highly stilted, monotone cadence. This style often eliminates the emotional pull of the film, forcing the viewer into a more critical reactionary mode, judging the film as visual poetry as opposed to traditional narrative drama. The film is subtitled "Story of a Red Sea Crossing", this of course referring to the parting of the Red Sea that allowed the Jews to escape slavery in Egypt. Given Menkes' devout faith, this would seem to position the narrative as an allegory of sorts for Ida's escape from the world of prostitution. But that reading is too simple; too reductive. Ida seeks love, but squirms with stoic visage as men thrust and pant on top of her. She once loved a man so much she wanted to die, she says, and seeks that level of passion again. Echoes of a man asking to be kissed on the lips haunt her thoughts. A murder takes place that she's accused of and imprisoned for, but she maintains her innocence. This aspect of the narrative is toyed with and made deliberately confusing. After all, this is less about who did what than why.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-03-29-03h30m40s84_400x303.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-03-29-03h56m13s53_400x303.jpg

[Morris Schæffer]

Also Morris I can't help but think "UM WUT?" in regard to this:



Especially when you have better movies and TV shows in your sig :P



I suppose one can make the argument that The Walking Dead Season 2 has bigger flaws, moments of stupidity than the likes of The Grey, The Descendants and A Separation, but given that one season lasts far longer than any movie, I'm willing to forgive these shortcomings as I don't think they're that debilitating in a TV show. They would be more crippling in a 100+ minute movie. When a TV show is done right, as I obviously think is the case here, I believe that they can be frequently more captivating than a movie with a similar premise as there's more time devoted to everything which in turns means I've actually felt like I spent time with these people and their trials. So it's perhaps not even fair to compare TV shows with movies, but they're both in the sig anyway. :)

[Morris Schæffer]

http://www.empireonline.com/images/features/movie-poster-mash-up/sylvester-stallone/9.jpg

http://www.empireonline.com/images/features/movie-poster-mash-up/sylvester-stallone/11.jpg

http://www.empireonline.com/images/features/movie-poster-mash-up/sylvester-stallone/25.jpg

http://www.empireonline.com/images/features/movie-poster-mash-up/sylvester-stallone/27.jpg

[MadMan]

Morris I was really curious since I find The Walking Dead to be really mediocre most of the time. Perhaps the show will vastly improve in Season 3, but I'm skeptical.

Those posters just prove that every movie could be improved with Sly Stallone starring :P

[baby doll]

Watched Breillat's The Sleeping Beauty and Fontaine's Coco Before Chanel in a double-bill of French female filmmakers at our university. [...] Fontaine's film is standard issue biopic fare, exploring the fashion designer's life before she became famous. It's decent enough, but in the last five minutes (re: on the period of Chanel's life where she is a success), the filmmaking jumps up in terms of cinematic depth. While a lot of it merely concerns mirrors and mirroring, it has a tangible quality that makes me wish the rest had explored that kind of depth. Alexandre Desplat's music is phenomenal, however.The same director made Nathalie, which is pretty solid, but then I'm biased towards anything with Emmanuelle Beart as a stripper.

[Spinal]

Absolutely LOVED Lesley Manville in Another Year. Don't know why I ever doubt Leigh. He always seems to come through.

[Winston*]

Absolutely LOVED Lesley Manville in Another Year. Don't know why I ever doubt Leigh. He always seems to come through.

He is the best.

[Boner M]

Manville's amazing in AY. Perfectly in sync with Leigh's hyper-naturalism.

[EyesWideOpen]

Just watched Battle Royale for the first time in a couple years and this is the first time I've seen the theatrical cut. I'll agree with the consensus and say that the theatrical cut is a better version of the film.

[MadMan]

I imagine the copy of Battle Royale I got from Netflix was the director's cut. So I don't really know the difference between it and the theatrical cut.

[Fezzik]

I got to see a double bill of "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz" at the FSU Student Cinema tonight, sandwiched around a 2-hr Q&A with Edgar Wright.

I expected it to be funny (it was), but I was more surprised at how informative Wright was about his process.

One story that really stood out is when he talked about "the low point" in his directing career.

When he was directing Spaced, they often shot scenes for different episodes on the same day.

One day, they decided they had to shoot 12 different scenes from seven different episodes. If that wasn't bad enough, it was at the end of the week so everyone was tired, and on top of that they were filming on a Saturday, and his normal DP didn't work on Saturdays so they had a fill in.

Wright said that he nearly had a meltdown on set and when everyone went to lunch, he just decided to walk.

At the end of the lunch break when they couldn't find him, they called him and it turns out he had just kept walking and was three miles down the road. They had to send a car to come get him.

It was really a great evening over all. He answered every question he could and was a really good sport about it. He even took a stab at the question someone posed that asked him that of all the characters in his films, which would he marry, fuck and kill?

I've heard this question posed on the net before, but was surprised to hear someone ask it of a director in person.

His answers, by the way?

Marry: Liz (from 'Shaun of the Dead' because 'she put up with a lot, so you know she'll stick around even when I fuck up')

Fuck: Simon Skinner (from 'Hot Fuzz') because, in his words "that accent, those eyes and that mustache would turn even the straightest guys in here"

Kill: Todd Ingram (from 'Scott Pilgrim') he didn't elaborate on this one much, but I did hear the word 'prick' mentioned ;)


It was a really great night.

[Boner M]

Well played, Reverse Shot (http://reverseshot.com/article/great_scott). Actually had me for a minute.

[Pop Trash]

Well played, Reverse Shot (http://reverseshot.com/article/great_scott). Actually had me for a minute.

Weird that Tony gets more love from the eggheads than Ridley these days. That never would have happened a dozen years ago.

[Irish]

Well played, Reverse Shot (http://reverseshot.com/article/great_scott). Actually had me for a minute.

The first line did make me do a double take. :lol:

[Watashi]

Well played, Reverse Shot (http://reverseshot.com/article/great_scott). Actually had me for a minute.
Even for Reverse Shot's backwards opinions, that write-up is pretty dumb.

[Izzy Black]

Ridley Scott is a borderline crap director.

Anywho, saw Like Crazy. It was OK.

[Boner M]

Even for Reverse Shot's backwards opinions, that write-up is pretty dumb.
u mad

[Spinal]

Black Hawk Down was the last straw for me. Haven't gone back to him since.

[Boner M]

The film was A Good Year, and oh what a good year it was—for cinema. Thanks to A Good Year.
:)

[Izzy Black]

Tony was always the better Scott.

[soitgoes...]

Cue Brightside...

[Pop Trash]

Tony was always the better Scott.

I hate to have this conversation again, but I don't think there has been a bigger trifecta of cinematic bullshit than Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, and Days of Thunder.

[Irish]

Ridley Scott is a borderline crap director.

Anywho, saw Like Crazy. It was OK.

One and a half outstanding movies over a thirty year career. Nothing borderline about it.


Tony was always the better Scott.

No.

[Watashi]

u mad
No.

[Izzy Black]

I hate to have this conversation again, but I don't think there has been a bigger trifecta of cinematic bullshit than Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, and Days of Thunder.

Top Gun is a good flick, and I don't mind Days of Thunder. That aside, even if you think these three films are awful, on average, Tony Scott is a more consistently interesting filmmaker than Ridley Scott.

[Derek]

:)

"*Author didn't see A Good Year."

:lol:

[Qrazy]

Top Gun is a good flick, and I don't mind Days of Thunder. That aside, even if you think these three films are awful, on average, Tony Scott is a more consistently interesting filmmaker than Ridley Scott.

Nope.

Top Gun is one of the worst films I've seen.

[Izzy Black]

Nope.

Top Gun is one of the worst films I've seen.

Again, as I've said, even if you disagree, Tony Scott, I think, is the more interesting filmmaker over the long run.

[Grouchy]

Again, as I've said, even if you disagree, Tony Scott, I think, is the more interesting filmmaker over the long run.
Why, exactly?

I've read that opinion on Matchcut many times and I don't know where it comes from.

[Irish]

Why, exactly?

I've read that opinion on Matchcut many times and I don't know where it comes from.

You bastard. Just had to let that genie out of the bottle, didn't you?

Now the next 16 pages are going to be about Tony Scott. :sad:

[Izzy Black]

Why, exactly?

I've read that opinion on Matchcut many times and I don't know where it comes from.

Ridley's responsible for the anomaly that is Blade Runner, but outside of that, most of what he has produced is pretty typical Hollywood fanfare. Tony on the other hand is a stylist. Deja Vu, Domino, Enemy of the State, The Hunger, Crimson Tide, True Romance, and Top Gun all make contributions to film style in one way or another that I think is interesting (even if they all aren't that great of films).

[Derek]

Now the next 16 pages are going to be about Tony Scott. :sad:

Not enough. We need more than 16 pages to discuss the man who reinvented color, montage and motion in modern cinema and whose influence is so clearly marked on such varied filmmakers as Johnnie To and the Dardenne Bros. Might I suggest a picture of Tony's eyes looking downwards as our new banner so he may stand in judgment of all our post and deem them worthy of the cinema we discuss which he, and he alone, has helped to shape?

[Izzy Black]

Not enough. We need more than 16 pages to discuss the man who reinvented color, montage and motion in modern cinema and whose influence is so clearly marked on such varied filmmakers as Johnnie To and the Dardenne Bros. Might I suggest a picture of Tony's eyes looking downwards as our new banner so he may stand in judgment of all our post and deem them worthy of the cinema we discuss which he, and he alone, has helped to shape?

It's no accident that this post demands hyperbole and exaggeration in order to achieve any level of critique, since in truth, the claim that Tony Scott is a stylist of note and of interest is a far more modest claim than the received cinephilic wisdom that would have it that he's one of the worst filmmakers in Hollywood. No reason to get any feathers ruffled over faint praise of Tony Scott.

[Rowland]

Tony Scott:

The Hunger (*½)
Top Gun (*)
Beverly Hills Cop II (*)
Days of Thunder (**)
Revenge (*)
The Last Boy Scout (**½)
True Romance (***)
Crimson Tide (--)
The Fan (--)
Enemy of the State (haven't seen since initial debut on video, don't remember at all)
Spy Game (*½)
Man on Fire (**)
Domino (**)
DéjÃ* Vu (**)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (--)
Unstoppable (**)

I used to be a bigger fan of his more recent stuff, specifically Man on Fire and Domino, which was back before he was in vogue, but catching bits of them on television recently and thinking about them in retrospect, I'm not so persuaded. Otherwise, his career trajectory has been from slick shit to hyper-kinetic mediocrity, with two guilty-ish pleasures in the mix, thanks primarily to their scripts and casts more than whatever Scott brings to the table. Crimson Tide and Enemy of the State have solid enough reputations that I should catch up with them for a more fully rounded take on his '90s work, which happens to be when he directed my two favorites of his.

[Izzy Black]

Scott is in vogue now? Lol, I had no idea. I must've missed the memo. I can count on my hand across both RT and MC the number of people that I know of that like him.

[Raiders]

You don't make, in a row, The Duellists, Alien and Blade Runner by mistake.

Still, neither of these two are worth the amount of discussion they get. I will say that, before Prometheus, I hadn't looked forward to a Ridley Scott film... well, ever (I was born the year after Blade Runner). I have occasionally anticipated a Tony Scott film. However, after the disappointment of Unstoppable, that too may never happen again.

[Izzy Black]

Seems like a mistake if you haven't made a good movie in 30 years. Probability suggests that it's a mistake. Plus, I think Alien is overrated.

[Izzy Black]

I will admit that I am curious about Prometheus. If it's good, I will re-evaluate my opinion of Ridley.

[StanleyK]

(s) The Dying Swan (Bauer, 1917) ***½
(s) After Death (Bauer, 1915) ***½
(s) Twilight of a Woman's Soul (Bauer, 1913) **½

Disregarding the Tony Scott stuff for a second, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on these. I very recently watched After Death, which I liked just a little less than you, and I'm glad to see I'm not alone in thinking Twilight of a Woman's Soul is weaker in comparison. Have you seen Her Sister's Rival (aka A Life for a Life)?

[Izzy Black]

Anyone notice there are 55 guests viewing the forum? Why don't people register?

[Raiders]

Anyone notice there are 55 guests viewing the forum? Why don't people register?

80% of them are probably bots/crawlers.

[Dukefrukem]

I don't think I've liked one movie Tony Scott has made. Ridley on the other hand, I own his filmography.

[Qrazy]

Again, as I've said, even if you disagree, Tony Scott, I think, is the more interesting filmmaker over the long run.

I haven't seen the majority of his films because everything I saw I disliked so I can't form a hard opinion on the matter but of the handful I've seen from both directors (probably 6 or 7 from Ridley and 4 or 5 from Tony) Ridley is vastly superior dramatically and aesthetically.

But I know that you prefer Tony's montage so I mean I'm not expecting to come to an agreement on this, just voicing my disagreement.

[Irish]

Not enough. We need more than 16 pages to discuss the man who reinvented color, montage and motion in modern cinema and whose influence is so clearly marked on such varied filmmakers as Johnnie To and the Dardenne Bros.

YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH.

[Irish]

Anyone notice there are 55 guests viewing the forum? Why don't people register?

Obviously, Brightside has rallied a legion of TS fans, ready to register & descend on this thread.

:lol: now I'm really hoping Derek realizes that last post was a joke, too

[Qrazy]

Ridley's responsible for the anomaly that is Blade Runner, but outside of that, most of what he has produced is pretty typical Hollywood fanfare. Tony on the other hand is a stylist. Deja Vu, Domino, Enemy of the State, The Hunger, Crimson Tide, True Romance, and Top Gun all make contributions to film style in one way or another that I think is interesting (even if they all aren't that great of films).

The Duellists and Alien are very good films as well. Gladiator I think is pretty good even if I have some major issues with it. Matchstick Men is quite stylistically interesting but the narrative falls apart in the final act.

Legend I find interesting as well even if it's hugely flawed. As someone arguing the value of effects work on Total Recall I'm surprised you wouldn't stand up for this one on that level at least.

Black Hawk Down is very well done for what it is aesthetically, unfortunately what it is is crap. Kingdom of Heaven had some nice moments but just couldn't come together overall. I've heard the Director's Cut is better.

[Qrazy]

Seems like a mistake if you haven't made a good movie in 30 years. Probability suggests that it's a mistake. Plus, I think Alien is overrated.

I agree that it's overrated but I still think it's quite good for it's genre.

[D_Davis]

I like some of Ridley Scott's movies, and I like some of Tony Scott's movies.

[D_Davis]

Hannibal is an incredible horror film. I prefer it to Silence of the Lambs.

[Pop Trash]

I agree that it's overrated but I still think it's quite good for it's genre.

I think Alien is just 'rated.' I watched it a few years ago and it held up really well. Such interesting production design esp. for when it was made. Phenomenal cast too.

[Qrazy]

This conversation has inspired me to finally get around to watching Black Rain and White Squall.

[Qrazy]

I think Alien is just 'rated.' I watched it a few years ago and it held up really well. Such interesting production design esp. for when it was made. Phenomenal cast too.

Well a lot of people say it's the best horror film of all time or top three sci fi films of all time. I'd say it's closer to top 25 for both categories.

[Izzy Black]

The Duellists and Alien are very good films as well. Gladiator I think is pretty good even if I have some major issues with it. Matchstick Men is quite stylistically interesting but the narrative falls apart in the final act.

I like The Duellists, but I don't agree with the rest. Matchstick Men's white glow is annoying.


Legend I find interesting as well even if it's hugely flawed. As someone arguing the value of effects work on Total Recall I'm surprised you wouldn't stand up for this one on that level at least.

Black Hawk Down is very well done for what it is aesthetically, unfortunately what it is is crap. Kingdom of Heaven had some nice moments but just couldn't come together overall. I've heard the Director's Cut is better.

I like Legend, but Black Hawk Down's aesthetic is poor to me, and Kingdom of Heaven is actually interesting, but overall, these considerations are not enough for me to favor Ridley to Tony.

[Pop Trash]

Well a lot of people say it's the best horror film of all time or top three sci fi films of all time. I'd say it's closer to top 25 for both categories.

True. Plus I think I prefer Aliens a wee bit more.

[Pop Trash]

What's everyone's issue with Black Hawk Down? I remember it being pretty well liked by critics when it came out. It's been years since I've seen it, but I don't remember it being any better/worse than something like The Hurt Locker.

[Qrazy]

What's everyone's issue with Black Hawk Down? I remember it being pretty well liked by critics when it came out. It's been years since I've seen it, but I don't remember it being any better/worse than something like The Hurt Locker.

It's very shallow, borderline racist, full of histrionics, basically pro-combat and fairly pointless.

I don't particularly like The Hurt Locker either but the scope is a bit broader there and it at least attempts a psychological examination of the main character.

[Qrazy]

I like The Duellists, but I don't agree with the rest. Matchstick Men's white glow is annoying.



I like Legend, but Black Hawk Down's aesthetic is poor to me, and Kingdom of Heaven is actually interesting, but overall, these considerations are not enough for me to favor Ridley to Tony.

Which aspect of the aesthetic? The griminess and color scheme? His mise-en-scene is at least much more interesting than many other similar films. He provides a good sense of geography and you get a sense of the scope of the extraction.

By stylistically interesting I mean the treatment of OCD in Matchstick Men.

[Pop Trash]

It's very shallow, borderline racist, full of histrionics, basically pro-combat and fairly pointless.

I don't particularly like The Hurt Locker either but the scope is a bit broader there and it at least attempts a psychological examination of the main character.

Hmm. I did notice it came out a few months after 9-11 which might account for some of the rave reviews.

[Dukefrukem]

It's very shallow, borderline racist, full of histrionics, basically pro-combat and fairly pointless.


Argh! You summed up exactly what I was going to say in response to his post. Hate that movie so much.

[Spinal]

Yes, nicely done, Qrazy.

[Rowland]

Black Hawk Down is mesmerizing to watch just for its masterful assemblage. Mise-en-scene, editing, spatial dynamics, and sure, a superficial layer of gloss, though nowhere near as off-putting as the worst examples of Hollywood military fetishism. The politics are debatable, but again, nowhere near as retch-inducing as the worst offenders of the genre. Or perhaps they are, I admittedly haven't seen it in years.

[D_Davis]

I like BHD for its depiction of combat. I've never been in a combat situation, but I imagine it is similar to what is shown in Scott's film. Scott uses the geography of the city to great effect - the film firmly establishes its setting and its use of place is masterful. It is borderline racist only in that it depicts what I think a soldier must go through in a kill-or-be-killed, no-win situation - they look at the enemy in the bassist of terms, as simply a thing that must be destroyed. I don't think it glorifies the military or combat, but only presents a desperate situation in which the human desire for survival kicks in to the nth degree. In no way would I ever want to be in that situation, and Scott does a fantastic job of demonstrating why.

[Sven]

they look at the enemy in the bassist of terms

http://brucecmoore.com/media/Bona/rb_msb-2.jpg

Don't be deceived. He will stranglehold your rations.

[Qrazy]

I like BHD for its depiction of combat. I've never been in a combat situation, but I imagine it is similar to what is shown in Scott's film. Scott uses the geography of the city to great effect - the film firmly establishes its setting and its use of place is masterful. It is borderline racist only in that it depicts what I think a soldier must go through in a kill-or-be-killed, no-win situation - they look at the enemy in the bassist of terms, as simply a thing that must be destroyed. I don't think it glorifies the military or combat, but only presents a desperate situation in which the human desire for survival kicks in to the nth degree. In no way would I ever want to be in that situation, and Scott does a fantastic job of demonstrating why.

I only think this approach is justifiable if the film seeks to actively clarify that what we are seeing is filtered through the perception of the soldiers. Here though there are plenty of cut aways to things the soldiers couldn't be seeing (black people grabbing guns and yelling at each other) and really the film at large is adopting that perspective rather than seeking to comment upon it in any real way.

If the film did not feature the musical score it did, some of the emotive cut aways to other characters in places and certain stylistic tics such as slo-mo and such at crucial dramatic times then I would be inclined to agree with your second bolded point but as it stands I can not.

I do endorse others appreciation for Scott's visual and spatial craft in the film though.

[D_Davis]

You definitely raise some good points, Q, and I agree about the score. The film would have been better with no music at all.

[Watashi]

Zimmer's score for Black Hawk Down is amazing.

That's all I remember about the film actually.

[Ezee E]

I find it kind of weird that the only thing one could remember about Black Hawk Down would be the score.

The movie is possibly the best military movie of the 2000's. The layout of the city, military tactics, and execution are all superb. Sound, cinematography, and special effects are all seamless. It's incredibly well done. Thematically, it may have nothing to say at all, but that's not what the movie wants you to worry about anyways.

[Qrazy]

I find it kind of weird that the only thing one could remember about Black Hawk Down would be the score.

The movie is possibly the best military movie of the 2000's. The layout of the city, military tactics, and execution are all superb. Sound, cinematography, and special effects are all seamless. It's incredibly well done. Thematically, it may have nothing to say at all, but that's not what the movie wants you to worry about anyways.

Which is precisely what is wrong with it...

[D_Davis]

Which is precisely what is wrong with it...

Actually, that is precisely why it's so good. It's not saying anything, it is simply about the combat situation.

[Winston*]

That Reverse Shot April Fools joke comes from a place of such self-satisfaction that I find it hard to see the humour.

[Ezee E]

Which is precisely what is wrong with it...

How? The movie is a rescue mission through and through. It never tries to be more then that either.

[Qrazy]

Actually, that is precisely why it's so good. It's not saying anything, it is simply about the combat situation.

It really isn't though. It's not about exploring the nature of combat or the effect it has on men who engage in combat or why we engage in combat in the first place or the kind of men who engage in combat, etc. It has very little of thought to say about combat or conflict or anything at all. It's about portraying a visceral experience of it's own Hollywood creation in a patriotic manner in a propagandistic fashion.

Conflict is a universal experience. This film isn't in the slightest.

[Qrazy]

How? The movie is a rescue mission through and through. It never tries to be more then that either.

I expect a good film to say something of interest or value. You are arguing that this film doesn't even attempt that. That does not earn it any points in it's favor in my book.

It should try to be more than that.

Anyway, it is more than that. There's a fair amount of political commentary in the film, it's just not very insightful.

[D_Davis]

It's not about exploring the nature of combat or the effect it has on men who engage in combat or why we engage in combat in the first place or the kind of men who engage in combat, etc.


Exactly. It's not that kind of movie.

It's like a game. There are games like D&D that explore the characters, dramatic choices, and narrative impact. Then there are games like Advance Squad Leader which is a game of tactics and strategy completely removed from character.

BHD is the ASL of movies. It barely has characters at all. They aren't important. Their names and emotions are not important.

Obviously it's approach is not universally appreciated, and that's OK.

[D_Davis]

It should try to be more than that.


That's a terrible attitude. No film should do anything except for what it sets out to do. A film should be judged for what it is, not for what someone thinks it should be.

[Qrazy]

Exactly. It's not that kind of movie.

It's like a game. There are games like D&D that explore the characters, dramatic choices, and narrative impact. Then there are games like Advance Squad Leader which is a game of tactics and strategy completely removed from character.

BHD is the ASL of movies. It barely has characters at all. They aren't important. Their names and emotions are not important.

Obviously it's approach is not universally appreciated, and that's OK.

Did I say it should have more fleshed out characters? No, I said it shouldn't be propagandistic shit.

[Qrazy]

That's a terrible attitude. No film should do anything except for what it sets out to do. A film should be judged for what it is, not for what someone thinks it should be.

Wrong. I'm not going to endorse Yoko Ono's Fly because it did exactly what it attempted to do, which was to have a fly crawl slowly across a woman's naked body for 25 minutes. The concept behind a film is as worthy of criticism as the film's execution.

In fact the vast majority of films fail not because they are formally incompetent but because they are thoughtless.

[Derek]

Wrong. I'm not going to endorse Yoko Ono's Fly because it did exactly what it attempted to do, which was to have a fly crawl slowly across a woman's naked body for 25 minutes. The concept behind a film is as worthy of criticism as the film's execution.

Hold off on making any judgments until you know what woman's naked body.

[Derek]

I expect a good film to say something of interest or value. You are arguing that this film doesn't even attempt that. That does not earn it any points in it's favor in my book.

It should try to be more than that.

Anyway, it is more than that. There's a fair amount of political commentary in the film, it's just not very insightful.

I agree with this. I haven't seen it since theaters, but while it is was technically dazzling at times, I remember it laying the propaganda on pretty thick.

[Qrazy]

Hold off on making any judgments until you know what woman's naked body.

I've seen the film. It's a waste of space.

[D_Davis]

Did I say it should have more fleshed out characters? No, I said it shouldn't be propagandistic shit.

Yes, you did.


It's not about exploring the nature of combat or the effect it has on men who engage in combat or why we engage in combat in the first place or the kind of men who engage in combat, etc.


That's all character stuff right there.

[Winston*]

That's a terrible attitude. No film should do anything except for what it sets out to do. A film should be judged for what it is, not for what someone thinks it should be.

So if one wants to criticise Triumph of the Will it has to be in terms of effective it is in glorifying the Third Reich?

[D_Davis]

So if one wants to criticise Triumph of the Will it has to be in terms of effective it is in glorifying the Third Reich?

I've never seen it, so I have no idea what it is about or what it is trying to do.

[D_Davis]

In fact the vast majority of films fail not because they are formally incompetent but because they are thoughtless.

Judging something on its thoughtfulness or thoughtlessness is not the same as judging something based on what you think it should be.

[Ezee E]

With that, if you disagree, what is the best military movie of the 2000's?

[Qrazy]

Yes, you did.



It's not about exploring the nature of combat or the effect it has on men who engage in combat or why we engage in combat in the first place or the kind of men who engage in combat, etc.

That's all character stuff right there.

The disjunction 'Or' is a sentential connective. It is true if and only if at least one of its disjuncts is true. If I had said 'and' rather than 'or' then I would be suggesting/requiring all of the above in the film. Whereas what I did say was that here are a series of things the film could be doing (take your pick as to which) to be as you say, 'about the combat situation'. As it stands I do not find it to be 'about the combat situation' because it has little to say about the situation. Simply as a point of argument, although I would not argue in favor of it's usage, a Godardian essayistic monologue/voiceover could achieve any of the above points without needing to flesh out the characters in the film via narrative backstory.

Anyway, I do not believe the film to be a realistic depiction (nor should it strive to be) of combat because it is much too aesthetically contrived (in the ways in which I noted earlier).

[Winston*]

I've never seen it, so I have no idea what it is about or what it is trying to do.

My point is that you more or less remove the option to criticise a film on political grounds, which is a problem when you're talking about a widely released film made about a foreign conflict in the midst of another foreign conflict.

[Winston*]

With that, if you disagree, what is the best military movie of the 2000's?
Bloody Sunday.

[Qrazy]

Judging something on its thoughtfulness or thoughtlessness is not the same as judging something based on what you think it should be.

I'm not saying it should be a musical here, I'm saying that trying to be a film about combat in isolation only from one side of the fence is an artistic mistake.

I'll repost someone else's review because I share (some of) their sentiments.

"Ridley Scott said that he wanted to make a war movie separate from the politics. (But) trying to make a war movie without politics is essentially impossible; (because) war is simply the continuation of politics by other means... what Ridley Scott made with Black Hawk Down is a war movie that affirms the dominant (i.e., the US) political point of view.

In Black Hawk Down, all the US soldiers are as good as can be. They care about their children and their families, and the underlying music supporting them is violins and the orchestra. There is little explanation of why the US is intervening in an internal civil conflict in a foreign nation. What little there is, the logic thereof could be dismantled by a six year old. At one point, US General Garrison asserts that the 300,000 people killed in the Somali conflict isn't war, it is genocide, and that is what justifies US military intervention. The US killed 600,000 of its own citizens in its Civil War. Should the dominant superpowers of the 1800s (the British and French Empires) have intervened in the US Civil War, to "save" the Americans from themselves? When the US soldiers die, everyone has pursed lips and fierce expressions; they know to be somber because one of THE GOOD GUYS is gone.

In contrast, the Somalis are about as bad as can be. They point and shout and fire their AK-47s in the air, they wear bandannas and masks and dark sunglasses, and are depicted as little more than black monkey children engaging in mob behavior. The underlying Somali music is detuned heavy metal guitar - as if you couldn't already tell that they were THE BAD GUYS. There is little to no exploration of the Somali point of view. When the Somalis die, that's it. It's like a video game. Some bodies fall, and more bodies step up to take their place. They're all expendable, and no one sheds a single tear for any of the "skinnies."

Of course, the idea that Scott tries to get across is that actual combat is NOT about politics; that it's about the man to your left and the man to your right, fighting to stay alive, and nothing more. But the natural question is, why is he fighting? Why is he killing? What about the man on the other side of the gun? Is he also fighting just for his comrades? Is it for something more than mere survival, self-defense? If so, what is that reason? What is that ideology? Thus the assertion that war can be divorced from politics is revealed as the basest of intellectual dishonesty.

The film is thus little more than cotton candy for that segment of the American populace that feels that its brave military can do no wrong; that it can "support the troops" even if they don't agree with the administration commanding those same troops. Similar thoughts were harbored by the citizens of other empires that exist now only in history books; the British, the French, the Prussian, the Roman, the Greek. Perhaps most damning is the production history of the movie itself - Scott had to involve the US DoD to borrow many of the pieces of military hardware used in the movie, and was only able to secure approval once the DoD was satisfied that the film portrayed the events in a positive (read: propagandistic) light.

From a purely technical point of view, the film is a tour de force. The sound of gunfire, the force of explosions, the chaos of urban infantry combat, it's all captured here by Scott in cinema verité/faux documentary style. I'm surprised he did it all on a fairly modest budget of $100M. Neither Scott nor his brother (Tony Scott, of Top Gun and Crimson Tide fame) lack for style or special effects. In this respect, it meets and surpasses the work that Steven Spielberg showcased in his war movie, Saving Private Ryan. For that, and that alone, the film receives a lone star.

But this isn't some brainless Saturday night special about explosions and gunfire. It's about war, one of the most frightening, destructive, and terrible acts that humans can engage in. And to try and present it merely as some sort of "ode to soldiers" without examining the reasons for the war is jingoistic at best and dangerous at worst.

The last war that the US had causus belli, or just cause, to fight, was WWII. At least in that conflict, the US remained neutral until it was attacked. Even then, the US is still the only nation in history to use weapons of mass destruction, dropping atomic bombs on civilian targets with no advance warning.

By comparison, this operation in Mogadishu is little more than another US imperialist adventure gone awry, whitewashed into glorious military history some nine years after the fact. It reminds one of the saying, 'A legend is merely a lie, that has attained the dignity of age.'"

[Derek]

Disregarding the Tony Scott stuff for a second, I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on these. I very recently watched After Death, which I liked just a little less than you, and I'm glad to see I'm not alone in thinking Twilight of a Woman's Soul is weaker in comparison. Have you seen Her Sister's Rival (aka A Life for a Life)?

There's still a lot to like about Twilight of a Woman's Soul. For 1913, it's remarkably complex structurally and the way it transfers the guilt and shame of Vera after being raped to the prince once he regrets turning her away when she tells him of her past is technically impressive and emotionally and thematically gratifying. That said, there are several stretches, particularly at the beginning that are relatively bland compared to the other two.

After Death impressed me most - the best pre-1920s film aside from Les Vampires IMO. Here, Bauer truly perfects the compression of time to achieve maximum dramatic effect, split-second decisions are quickly met with their dire and deadly consequences (love blossoms and turns destructive almost simultaneously), which is perfectly in line his fascination with the thin line between love and death. The elliptical editing is almost disorienting at times, but the drastic distance, both temporally and emotionally, between shots matches the otherworldy feverish passion that overtakes Zoya and ultimately Andrei. The long zoom into the close up of Zoya's face after her performance and the extended reverse zoom/pan at the party where they meet are years ahead of its time, yet both are stylistic devices that further develop the emotions on display rather than technical wizardry for its own sake.

I have similar praise for The Dying Swan, though it's a bit more sentimental and the painter character isn't as seemlessly integrated into the plot as everyone in After Death, however Bauer uses a similar structure to the one in Twilight... with the transferrence of guilt leading Gizella away from Victor and ultimately towards the artist and death itself.

These are the first 3 films I've seen from him, but I am psyched to check out more. How is Her Sister's Rival?

[Irish]

Wow, great discussion. I kinda wish, though, that you guys had picked a better movie to talk about. :lol:

And now, as I find myself agreeing with Qrazy for the second time in as many weeks, I must go throw myself off a bridge.

[soitgoes...]

There's still a lot to like about Twilight of a Woman's Soul. For 1913, it's remarkably complex structurally and the way it transfers the guilt and shame of Vera after being raped to the prince once he regrets turning her away when she tells him of her past is technically impressive and emotionally and thematically gratifying. That said, there are several stretches, particularly at the beginning that are relatively bland compared to the other two.

After Death impressed me most - the best pre-1920s film aside from Les Vampires IMO. Here, Bauer truly perfects the compression of time to achieve maximum dramatic effect, split-second decisions are quickly met with their dire and deadly consequences (love blossoms and turns destructive almost simultaneously), which is perfectly in line his fascination with the thin line between love and death. The elliptical editing is almost disorienting at times, but the drastic distance, both temporally and emotionally, between shots matches the otherworldy feverish passion that overtakes Zoya and ultimately Andrei. The long zoom into the close up of Zoya's face after her performance and the extended reverse zoom/pan at the party where they meet are years ahead of its time, yet both are stylistic devices that further develop the emotions on display rather than technical wizardry for its own sake.

I have similar praise for The Dying Swan, though it's a bit more sentimental and the painter character isn't as seemlessly integrated into the plot as everyone in After Death, however Bauer uses a similar structure to the one in Twilight... with the transferrence of guilt leading Gizella away from Victor and ultimately towards the artist and death itself.

These are the first 3 films I've seen from him, but I am psyched to check out more. How is Her Sister's Rival?
I tend to agree with pretty much everything you said here, though I prefer The Dying Swan a touch more than After Death (splitting hairs). His finest film though is probably Daydreams. He's far and away the most interesting filmmaker in the teens outside of Griffith and Feuillade.

[Qrazy]

With that, if you disagree, what is the best military movie of the 2000's?

I don't know but your question pushed me into finding this film which I now have and will watch soon.

Pretty Village, Pretty Flame. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116860/)

[Qrazy]

Black Rain (Scott) - Well that was pretty shitty.

Fucking Ridley Scott mother fucker.

[Irish]

Black Rain (Scott) - Well that was pretty shitty.

Fucking Ridley Scott mother fucker.

Yeah, I feel slightly guilty for not warning you about that, but I was caught up in the BHD talk.

For fun, make a night of it -- watch Rising Sun and Year of the Dragon next, for a sort of weirdly racist Asian gang movie night.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, I feel slightly guilty for not warning you about that, but I was caught up in the BHD talk.

For fun, make a night of it -- watch Rising Sun and Year of the Dragon next, for a sort of weirdly racist Asian gang movie night.

Year of the Dragon is in my sig. :lol:

I guess I could see Rising Sun. I have seen Pollack's The Yakuza though. I wonder if he's the one who started this trend? That was probably the best of the three I've seen, presumably because it was made in the 70's and they did things better back then.

[Irish]

Year of the Dragon is in my sig. :lol:

I guess I could see Rising Sun. I have seen Pollack's The Yakuza though. I wonder if he's the one who started this trend? That was probably the best of the three I've seen, presumably because it was made in the 70's and they did things better back then.

:lol: So it is. I have sig-related blindness.

I think the difference between Pollack's piece & the others is that they were all released in the mid to late 80s (Rising Sun was 93, but the book was popular and was published years before).

There was a huge anti-Japanese sentiment floating around, so we got all these weirdly racist movies. The cultural climate around the time Yakuza hit the screens was different.

Edit: Don't watch Rising Sun for anything outside its unintentional comedic value. It's a terrible movie.

Going pretty much on looks, because the content is terrible:

Year of the Dragon > Black Rain > Rising Sun

[soitgoes...]

What the fuck is wrong with you two? This "civility" isn't fooling anyone.

[angrycinephile]

The underlying Somali music is detuned heavy metal guitar - as if you couldn't already tell that they were THE BAD GUYS.

Even Hans Zimmer himself has talked about how his music was changed and rearranged during the editing process - presumably after 9/11. Zimmer actually wrote the heavy guitar riffing theme for the American troops since his approach was that the more modern music (i.e. electric guitars and techno/electronica) would accompany the American armies while the Somali soldiers would be accompanied by African vocals and instruments.

"While Zimmer intended for the Americans to be represented by the heaviest music, the scene in which the convoy of helicopters approaches the coast is switched so that the shots of rioting civilians are given the bombast while the choppers are treated to silence."

"I love african music. Black Hawk Down, which in Europe everybody thinks is some sort of American fascist statement, I tried to do exactly the opposite with the music, I tried to give Africa a voice in this, so it wouldn’t be just the voice of the soldiers and I was the counterpoint very much, for Ridley as well, so much so that at one point the studio said "You’re letting the wrong guys win" - Hans Zimmer.

[D_Davis]

My point is that you more or less remove the option to criticise a film on political grounds, which is a problem when you're talking about a widely released film made about a foreign conflict in the midst of another foreign conflict.

Not at all. If a film is about politics, or is political, then critique its politics.

[baby doll]

Not at all. If a film is about politics, or is political, then critique its politics.I haven't seen the movie since it was in theatres, but it seems to me that the movie couldn't be more political in its reticence to criticize the American military. In other words, it's as much a recruitment film as Top Gun.

[baby doll]

With that, if you disagree, what is the best military movie of the 2000's?I don't know about "best," but Waltz With Bashir is the first that comes to mind.

[Boner M]

Time-lapse single-shot reworking of Rear Window (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-phenomenal-time-lapse-single-shot-reworking-of-alfred-hitchcocks-rear-window-20120403)

Amazeballs.

[baby doll]

I'm not saying it should be a musical here, I'm saying that trying to be a film about combat in isolation only from one side of the fence is an artistic mistake.Is it still a mistake if it's done deliberately? I mean, Scott and his collaborators set out to make a patriotic war film in which the White Man dominates the African Other. If you want to be a successful filmmaker in the American mainstream, you have to uphold the dominant ideology, and Scott must know this.

[D_Davis]

I don't know about "best," but Waltz With Bashir is the first that comes to mind.

I still need to see this, thanks for the reminder.

[D_Davis]

One thing I appreciate about BHD more so than other more popular war films like Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now is that I never hear people quote lines from BHD, nor do they talk about and remark about how "bad-ass" it is. FMJ always bothered me because of how people watched the first 1/2 like it was some kind of comedy; it might as well be Austin Powers with the way people quote the drill Sergeant. And AN took a disgusting part of American History and turned it into some kind of psychedelic vision quest.

I don't remember ever really be entertained by BHD. I remember being scared during the film, and exhausted after it was done. I didn't feel good about American soldiers, or about my country. The film's subject is too myopic, too laser-focused on the single combat situation to make me feel anything more than how it must feel to have to survive.

I haven't seen it since it was in the theater, and I don't really have the desire to watch it again. I also don't think a film needs to be re-evaluated, because sometimes you see a movie at a certain point and it resonates with you. I think there is a lot of value in critiquing a film after a single viewing and leaving it at that. So maybe my opinion on it would be different now...I don't know and don't really care to find out.

[Sycophant]

I have things I want to say about what you guys are saying, but I haven't seen BHD. Alas.

[Qrazy]

Is it still a mistake if it's done deliberately? I mean, Scott and his collaborators set out to make a patriotic war film in which the White Man dominates the African Other. If you want to be a successful filmmaker in the American mainstream, you have to uphold the dominant ideology, and Scott must know this.

I would describe an 'artistic mistake' as a mistake which undermines the overarching artistic value of a piece.

[Dukefrukem]

I'm trying to decide if I should give the posting award, which is an irrelevant award I just made up this second as I write this, to Qrazy for his Black Hawk Down discussion or Irish for "There are no intelligent Sci-Fi Films Discussion"


http://images.sodahead.com/polls/000831023/polls_Entertained_2323_911702_ poll_xlarge.png


This has been a content explosion this week for MC and I've been entertained.

[Irish]

This has been a content explosion this week for MC and I've been entertained.

Hey, that's cool. I'm tickled anybody found value in something I said. Since usually, uh, it doesn't go so well for me around here. :lol:

I vote for Qrazy, with a supporting nomination for D_Davis.

Those posts were good and insightful, but I'd also like to point out the post Q made a week or so ago about Polanski, I think it was. That one just blew me away with a flurry of technical insights. It was a really great read.

D_Davis made Q's posts possible, and provided insights from a viewpoint I didn't at all share, but I still appreciated the thoughtfulness behind them.

[elixir]

circlejerk!

[Irish]

circlejerk!

:lol: Well played, you magnificent bastard.

[Izzy Black]

RT used to do posting awards

[StanleyK]

There's still a lot to like about Twilight of a Woman's Soul. For 1913, it's remarkably complex structurally and the way it transfers the guilt and shame of Vera after being raped to the prince once he regrets turning her away when she tells him of her past is technically impressive and emotionally and thematically gratifying. That said, there are several stretches, particularly at the beginning that are relatively bland compared to the other two.

After Death impressed me most - the best pre-1920s film aside from Les Vampires IMO. Here, Bauer truly perfects the compression of time to achieve maximum dramatic effect, split-second decisions are quickly met with their dire and deadly consequences (love blossoms and turns destructive almost simultaneously), which is perfectly in line his fascination with the thin line between love and death. The elliptical editing is almost disorienting at times, but the drastic distance, both temporally and emotionally, between shots matches the otherworldy feverish passion that overtakes Zoya and ultimately Andrei. The long zoom into the close up of Zoya's face after her performance and the extended reverse zoom/pan at the party where they meet are years ahead of its time, yet both are stylistic devices that further develop the emotions on display rather than technical wizardry for its own sake.

I have similar praise for The Dying Swan, though it's a bit more sentimental and the painter character isn't as seemlessly integrated into the plot as everyone in After Death, however Bauer uses a similar structure to the one in Twilight... with the transferrence of guilt leading Gizella away from Victor and ultimately towards the artist and death itself.

These are the first 3 films I've seen from him, but I am psyched to check out more. How is Her Sister's Rival?

Yeah, After Death is some truly impressive filmmaking, particularly in its manipulation of time. I was taken aback by its jump cuts. I was really loving it until towards the end, when Zoya's apparitions become rather repetitive, too frequent with too little visual or narrative variation.

Her Sister's Rival is great, my favorite of the three of his I've seen. It's maybe not as daring as After Death, but within its more conventional melodrama frame it's superlative, never coming even close to falling prey to the genre's usual worst conventions of exaggerated, phony sentiment or talking down to the audience, and it also builds a strong emotional connection. Its filmmaking is every bit as exquisite, too.

[Stay Puft]

In the Heat of the Sun (Jiang 94) ****


No kidding?

Share some thoughts. I've only seen Let the Bullets Fly and wasn't too enthusiastic about it, didn't think it well directed or anything either. Liked him as an actor, though.

[Winston*]

Time-lapse single-shot reworking of Rear Window (http://blogs.indiewire.com/theplaylist/watch-phenomenal-time-lapse-single-shot-reworking-of-alfred-hitchcocks-rear-window-20120403)

Amazeballs.

So cool.

[Morris Schæffer]

. It's about portraying a visceral experience of it's own Hollywood creation in a patriotic manner in a propagandistic fashion.
.

Hm, I never really got that from BHD. I think the operation in the movie comes across as a failure which it was in real life too. The movie's entire philosophy I felt was nicely summarized by the Bana character when he states that "once that first bullet flies past you, politics and all that shit goes right out the window.". And there's a sentiment throughout the movie that, in the end, it's about the guys you fight with. You try to stay alive and cover each other's back as best as possible.

[Qrazy]

Even Hans Zimmer himself has talked about how his music was changed and rearranged during the editing process - presumably after 9/11. Zimmer actually wrote the heavy guitar riffing theme for the American troops since his approach was that the more modern music (i.e. electric guitars and techno/electronica) would accompany the American armies while the Somali soldiers would be accompanied by African vocals and instruments.

"While Zimmer intended for the Americans to be represented by the heaviest music, the scene in which the convoy of helicopters approaches the coast is switched so that the shots of rioting civilians are given the bombast while the choppers are treated to silence."

"I love african music. Black Hawk Down, which in Europe everybody thinks is some sort of American fascist statement, I tried to do exactly the opposite with the music, I tried to give Africa a voice in this, so it wouldn’t be just the voice of the soldiers and I was the counterpoint very much, for Ridley as well, so much so that at one point the studio said "You’re letting the wrong guys win" - Hans Zimmer.

I didn't write that review.

But anyway... it might have been a slightly better movie had that happened but it didn't and it would still be heavy handed. Interesting info though, thanks for that.

[Qrazy]

Hm, I never really got that from BHD. I think the operation in the movie comes across as a failure which it was in real life too. The movie's entire philosophy I felt was nicely summarized by the Bana character when he states that "once that first bullet flies past you, politics and all that shit goes right out the window.". And there's a sentiment throughout the movie that, in the end, it's about the guys you fight with. You try to stay alive and cover each other's back as best as possible.

The operation can be a failure and it can still be propagandistic at the same time.

Not sure how you can argue with the visceral experience part given that the majority of the film was combat.

[soitgoes...]

No kidding?

Share some thoughts. I've only seen Let the Bullets Fly and wasn't too enthusiastic about it, didn't think it well directed or anything either. Liked him as an actor, though.
Totally.

I'm drunk right now, but what the fuck.

One of the best Chinese films I've seen. I've read your thoughts on Let the Bullets Fly and was hoping for a better response. A perfect nostalgic film. Jiang does a wonderful job encapsulating youths living in the Cultural Revolution era Beijing. Never overly sentimental, as a matter of fact the film doesn't ever glorify anything as opposed to many coming of age stories. Filmed with a yellowish hue, he touches on first love as first love usually ends up being, that is something that ends in pain, anger, confusion. Narrated, he states at the very beginning that he is only going on what he recalls, how he wants to recall it. Which means the story isn't necessary a true account, but at the very least it's an honest account. The lead and his love interest are so perfectly cast. The film never becomes maudlin, rather it feels like something I could completely relate to, and Jiang doesn't over dramatize, he keeps a playful level throughout. I can't wait to see Devil on the Doorstep, which will probably be the next film to pop onto my sig. Great, great film that I highly recommend to you and anyone else who has access to it.

Also, having just seen The Missing Gun, which stars Jiang as an actor, I have to say that the lead he got for In the Heat of the Sun has an uncanny resemblance to him.

[MadMan]

I didn't miss anything while I was gone. Good.

[baby doll]

No kidding?

Share some thoughts. I've only seen Let the Bullets Fly and wasn't too enthusiastic about it, didn't think it well directed or anything either. Liked him as an actor, though.I haven't seen In the Heat of the Sun, but Devils on the Doorstep and The Sun Also Rises are both mind-blowing masterpieces. The former was banned in China and the latter was a huge flop, so one can rationalize Let the Bullets Fly as a film he needed to make in order to go on working.

[baby doll]

Hm, I never really got that from BHD. I think the operation in the movie comes across as a failure which it was in real life too. The movie's entire philosophy I felt was nicely summarized by the Bana character when he states that "once that first bullet flies past you, politics and all that shit goes right out the window.". And there's a sentiment throughout the movie that, in the end, it's about the guys you fight with. You try to stay alive and cover each other's back as best as possible.I think I would have less of a problem with Black Hawk Down if it didn't pretend not to be a political film when it obviously is. By narrowly focusing on what happens when "that first bullet flies past you," the film frames the story in such a way as to preclude any criticism of the United States. A flag-waving ode to the awesomeness of American military might at least would've been more honest. Then again, I suppose propaganda is more effective when it presents itself as apolitical entertainment. Still, I have a strong suspicion that, after the film's release, there was a sharp spike in enlistment for the US army.

[baby doll]

One thing I appreciate about BHD more so than other more popular war films like Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now is that I never hear people quote lines from BHD, nor do they talk about and remark about how "bad-ass" it is. FMJ always bothered me because of how people watched the first 1/2 like it was some kind of comedy; it might as well be Austin Powers with the way people quote the drill Sergeant. And AN took a disgusting part of American History and turned it into some kind of psychedelic vision quest.In the case of the films by Coppola and Kubrick, it's interesting (though not surprising) that, despite their clout within the industry, neither filmmaker was willing--or perhaps capable--of making a broader critique of American involvement in Vietnam. Coppola seems to think that the war could've been won had the US been more brutal, as evidenced by Brando's "horror" monologue, which at once represses acts of brutality by the US army against Vietnamese civilians and ignores the reasons why America became involved in the war in the first place. On the other hand, Kubrick's attitude towards the US army is ambivalent enough that anyone can read the film however they like. The drill sergeant's treatment of Gomer Pile (who may be retarded) is at the same time cruel and hilarious. (Much the same could be said for the attack on the village in Apocalypse Now, which shows the madness of war but is also a thrilling action set piece, thus satisfying both liberal and conservative viewers.) In terms of form and style, Kubrick's film is probably the most accomplished Hollywood movie about the Vietnam war (rivaled only by The Deer Hunter), though its acceptance in the mainstream is predicated partly on adhering to certain ideological parameters.

[Russ]

btw, a VERY big PRO for Haneke's Caché. I'm always a big wuss going into one of his films because I know he doesn't pull any punches, and therefore he's likely to catch me off-guard, which is exactly what happens here. Still, give me a dozen of these types of films over standard cookie-cutter thrillers any day of the week. Reminiscent in tone of Spoorloos, where you aren't spoon-fed all the information that you feel is required. Every single thing you need for this narrative is in place for you, however; you just need to pay attention and your inquisitive mind will do the rest. Love, love, love this one.

One of the best of the 2000's, imho.

[D_Davis]

Still, I have a strong suspicion that, after the film's release, there was a sharp spike in enlistment for the US army.

That could have also been due to the political climate of the time in which it was released. People did strange things during the time right after 9/11. Shoot, I actually liked Bush for about a year. 9/11 was a disruptive force for many people. Luckily, I feel as though I came out on the right side of the tunnel.

[Qrazy]

In the case of the films by Coppola and Kubrick, it's interesting (though not surprising) that, despite their clout within the industry, neither filmmaker was willing--or perhaps capable--of making a broader critique of American involvement in Vietnam. Coppola seems to think that the war could've been won had the US been more brutal, as evidenced by Brando's "horror" monologue, which at once represses acts of brutality by the US army against Vietnamese civilians and ignores the reasons why America became involved in the war in the first place.

No dude, no.


On the other hand, Kubrick's attitude towards the US army is ambivalent enough that anyone can read the film however they like. The drill sergeant's treatment of Gomer Pile (who may be retarded) is at the same time cruel and hilarious. (Much the same could be said for the attack on the village in Apocalypse Now, which shows the madness of war but is also a thrilling action set piece, thus satisfying both liberal and conservative viewers.) In terms of form and style, Kubrick's film is probably the most accomplished Hollywood movie about the Vietnam war (rivaled only by The Deer Hunter), though its acceptance in the mainstream is predicated partly on adhering to certain ideological parameters.

Apocalypse Now is more accomplished in form and style than either of those. In fact I was thoroughly underwhelmed by a rewatch of Full Metal this past year. I don't think it's even a very good film.

[Stay Puft]

One of the best Chinese films I've seen.


I haven't seen In the Heat of the Sun, but Devils on the Doorstep and The Sun Also Rises are both mind-blowing masterpieces.

Well then!

Gonna have to seek these out. Another lesson in not being so quick to dismiss, I suppose.

[Rowland]

so one can rationalize Let the Bullets Fly as a film he needed to make in order to go on working.Or that it may just not be Stay Puft's thing. I've seen some pretty high marks from respectable critics.

[elixir]

Through the Forest (Jean-Paul Civeyrac, 2005)
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb187/ears550/throughtheforest2.png
An hour-long ghost story in which a grief-stricken woman attempts to connect with her dead lover, Through the Forest is composed of ten single-take scenes (all of which are titled, except the first) in which the technique is less about exerting formal rigor than it is to evoke a dreamlike state which mesmerizes (me, at least) with its languor. Perhaps a film with such clear dividing chapters was bound to be uneven, but this was frustratingly so, with scenes like the first and "Pure Happiness" chapter working as wonderfully strong envisonings of overpoweringly (almost painfully so) romantic love, the former playing between light and darkness to slyly comment on its unreality, and the latter using red and purple color saturation to aid the already otherworldly feel. Unfortunately, when the protagonist recieves her "powers," the film actually loses its magic for me (haha), though it does have a very strong ending, enough so that it recaptured the riveting nature of the first few scenes, making me ultimately think this film is pretty damn good, if a bit disappointing (because it could be so much more).

[Irish]

Coppola seems to think that the war could've been won had the US been more brutal, as evidenced by Brando's "horror" monologue, which at once represses acts of brutality by the US army against Vietnamese civilians and ignores the reasons why America became involved in the war in the first place. On the other hand, Kubrick's attitude towards the US army is ambivalent enough that anyone can read the film however they like. The drill sergeant's treatment of Gomer Pile (who may be retarded) is at the same time cruel and hilarious. (Much the same could be said for the attack on the village in Apocalypse Now, which shows the madness of war but is also a thrilling action set piece, thus satisfying both liberal and conservative viewers.) In terms of form and style, Kubrick's film is probably the most accomplished Hollywood movie about the Vietnam war (rivaled only by The Deer Hunter), though its acceptance in the mainstream is predicated partly on adhering to certain ideological parameters.

Huh? I don't know how you can see FMJ as ambivalent at all.

The Paris Island sequence very heavily underlines the brutality of the Marines, and expresses the idea that, gee, if you break someone down & teach them only to be a killing machine, they'll be willing to kill anyone, for any reason. Even their drill sergeant.

Nevermind that it's got so many moments of dark humor, it's almost black comedy. Remember the Captain describing the initial results of the Tet Offensive, about how the whole country was fucked? And Joker turns to him with a straight face and deadpans, "Does this mean Anne Margaret isn't coming, after all?"

Maybe my perspective is skewed, because I read the book & it's deeply cynical. A lot of that tone is in the movie.

[MadMan]

In the case of the films by Coppola and Kubrick, it's interesting (though not surprising) that, despite their clout within the industry, neither filmmaker was willing--or perhaps capable--of making a broader critique of American involvement in Vietnam. Coppola seems to think that the war could've been won had the US been more brutal, as evidenced by Brando's "horror" monologue, which at once represses acts of brutality by the US army against Vietnamese civilians and ignores the reasons why America became involved in the war in the first place.You missed the entire point of that scene. Unless Coppola actually said what you are stating, you are horribly mistaken.

Anyways despite loving both AN and FMJ, I find AN to be superior due to it transcending the war film genre, although really FMJ was meant to be an embrace of sorts of war movies. After all, Kubrick also made Paths of Glory, and both Barry Lyndon and Spartacus have strong war elements involved one way or another, so the war genre and the film noir genre were the ones he worked the most in, really. Irish's reading of FMJ as almost a black comedy is fairly spot on. The last time I saw the film, I laughed at everything that Hartman said.

[baby doll]

You missed the entire point of that scene. Unless Coppola actually said what you are stating, you are horribly mistaken.Kurtz's conclusion after telling the story about the innoculated arms is that if he had ten divisions of these men, "our troubles here" would soon be over. (Nevermind why the US was there in the first place as long as "we're" the winners.) Furthermore, the voice-overs explaining who Kurtz was and why the army wants him dead make it clear that he was winning the war by going outside the rules and being as barbaric as "the gooks."


Anyways despite loving both AN and FMJ, I find AN to be superior due to it transcending the war film genre, although really FMJ was meant to be an embrace of sorts of war movies. After all, Kubrick also made Paths of Glory, and both Barry Lyndon and Spartacus have strong war elements involved one way or another, so the war genre and the film noir genre were the ones he worked the most in, really. Irish's reading of FMJ as almost a black comedy is fairly spot on. The last time I saw the film, I laughed at everything that Hartman said.As with Black Hawk Down, I think the idea that Apocalypse Now somehow "transcends" politics or ideology is simply an indication of how Coppola stays within the parameters of acceptable criticism (i.e., all wars are full of madness, so don't think too much about the specifics of American involvement in Vietnam).

[baby doll]

Huh? I don't know how you can see FMJ as ambivalent at all.

The Paris Island sequence very heavily underlines the brutality of the Marines, and expresses the idea that, gee, if you break someone down & teach them only to be a killing machine, they'll be willing to kill anyone, for any reason. Even their drill sergeant.

Nevermind that it's got so many moments of dark humor, it's almost black comedy. Remember the Captain describing the initial results of the Tet Offensive, about how the whole country was fucked? And Joker turns to him with a straight face and deadpans, "Does this mean Anne Margaret isn't coming, after all?"

Maybe my perspective is skewed, because I read the book & it's deeply cynical. A lot of that tone is in the movie.There are definitely critical elements in the movie, but it still presents war as deeply fascinating. Yes, the drill sergeant pushes Gomer Pile over the edge, but the film also spend a great deal of time on his verbal abusing the recruits. I think there's something to Sam Fuller's critique of the movie that teenagers who went to see the film with their girlfriends would come out wanting to enlist. (Incidentally, if you want to see a war film that's genuinely critical, I'd recommend checking out Godard's Les Carabiniers.)

[Irish]

There are definitely critical elements in the movie, but it still presents war as deeply fascinating.

It's a morbid fascination, though. As when Animal Mother was playing with a VC corpse or they stood around in a circle watching that your Viet girl asphyxiate.


I think there's something to Sam Fuller's critique of the movie that teenagers who went to see the film with their girlfriends would come out wanting to enlist.

You could make the argument that any war film is war porn, but in the case of FMJ, this definitely wasn't true with me or anyone I knew.

[Watashi]

There are definitely critical elements in the movie, but it still presents war as deeply fascinating. Yes, the drill sergeant pushes Gomer Pile over the edge, but the film also spend a great deal of time on his verbal abusing the recruits. I think there's something to Sam Fuller's critique of the movie that teenagers who went to see the film with their girlfriends would come out wanting to enlist. (Incidentally, if you want to see a war film that's genuinely critical, I'd recommend checking out Godard's Les Carabiniers.)

What the fuck?

[Qrazy]

Kurtz's conclusion after telling the story about the innoculated arms is that if he had ten divisions of these men, "our troubles here" would soon be over. (Nevermind why the US was there in the first place as long as "we're" the winners.) Furthermore, the voice-overs explaining who Kurtz was and why the army wants him dead make it clear that he was winning the war by going outside the rules and being as barbaric as "the gooks."


The film does not ENCOURAGE or EMBRACE Kurtz's perspective. This is fairly obvious.

[Qrazy]

You could make the argument that any war film is war porn, but in the case of FMJ, this definitely wasn't true with me or anyone I knew.

You couldn't make this argument with Come and See (Klimov) which is why it remains the best film about war I've seen, although not the best 'war film' in the sense that it's the best cinematically. But it does treat violence the best which is to say as the worst.

[Boner M]

The film does not ENCOURAGE or EMBRACE Kurtz's perspective. This is fairly obvious.
I think you're forgetting that rule of dramatic orthodoxy stating that unless a character is killed immediately by an electrical appliance in the bathtub, the filmmaker encourages and embraces their perspective.

[Boner M]

Tom Arnold retweeted me. My life is complete.

[elixir]

Trust (Hal Hartley, 1990)
http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/bb187/ears550/trust.png
Spurred on by Hartley's mention in the Stillman thread, I watched my second of his, and it shares some similarities with the one I have seen, his debut. And while I do like The Unbelievable Truth a good amount, Trust is leagues ahead of it--while revisiting much of the same territory (and Hartley has already created his own universe of sorts with these two films), it is much more assured. Not to mention that Martin Donovan is a helluva presence especially compared to the bland lead male of his debut. Ratcheting up the theatrically stilted dialogue even more, Hartley's deadpan humor really works for me ("Well, thanks for the five dollars" is one of the more hilarious lines I've heard recently, though there's a few here that could hold that claim) and within his artifice is a real authentic sense of emotion for all these damaged people; y'know, there's genuine within the artificial, or something. Adrienne Shelly is so amazing and gorgeous and I pretty much fell in love with her here...and with the film as well. Great stuff!

[Irish]

You couldn't make this argument with Come and See (Klimov) which is why it remains the best film about war I've seen, although not the best 'war film' in the sense that it's the best cinematically. But it does treat violence the best which is to say as the worst.

I was prepared to unequivocally state that BD was wrong, that you'd have to be a raving loon to watch something Full Metal Jacket and want to enlist.

Then I remembered Anthony Swafford's memoir of the Gulf War, where he tells stories about these Marines chain-watching movie like Apocoplypse Now as a form of war porn, to psych themselves up.

Come and See is an interesting counter example. I think the difference there is the it's a road movie about survival, set in war zone. The film lacks anything that approaches action set pieces like Duvall on the beach because the protagonist is a little kid, not an active duty soldier.

[Irish]

The film does not ENCOURAGE or EMBRACE Kurtz's perspective. This is fairly obvious.

This is true, but the potential for misinterpretation is obviously there.

This is why young men became stockbrokers after they watched Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, or thought starting their own backyard fight club was a great idea after viewing Fincher's film.

I don't really agree with baby doll on the face of it, but if he's trying to point that there are no anti-war films, I can kinda see it.

I imagine that, since the late 70s, Ride of the Valkyries has been blasted from stereo speakers more than once by US soldiers as they traveled to a hot zone.

[Russ]

I imagine that, since the late 70s, Ride of the Valkyries has been blasted from stereo speakers more than once by US soldiers as they traveled to a hot zone.
Not to mention some fans of The Clash (on this side of the Atlantic) who may have admired Charlie Don't Surf for all the wrong reasons (ie, not recognizing the anti-American-imperialist lyrics). Probably the same lot who were surface fans of Col. Kilgore. Hell yeah!!!

[Qrazy]

This is true, but the potential for misinterpretation is obviously there.

This is why young men became stockbrokers after they watched Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, or thought starting their own backyard fight club was a great idea after viewing Fincher's film.

I don't really agree with baby doll on the face of it, but if he's trying to point that there are no anti-war films, I can kinda see it.

I imagine that, since the late 70s, Ride of the Valkyries has been blasted from stereo speakers more than once by US soldiers as they traveled to a hot zone.

He's trying to point out what it is he pointed out, which is that he believes Kurtz's character is representative of the film's larger message which is that we would have succeeded in Vietnam by waging total war. He is wrong that the film is saying this.

If he's trying to point out that thoughtless people watch films uncritically he is right, but this isn't exactly news.

Saying there are no anti-war films is like saying there are no unselfish acts. Vaguely true on the face of it but ultimately false when delineating between altruism/selfishness or anti-war/neutral stance/pro-war filmmaking.

[Qrazy]

Let the Right One In - Hrm, not sure I really understand the raves for this. Certainly well made and great for the genre, but the progression of the narrative and the overall 'point' of the film. Meh.

Is it every little goth kid's dream that a fantastical creature will enter his life and dismember the bullies which prey upon him? I didn't much care for the peripheral characters either. They seemed thinly sketched to me (the bar fellows), which is okay if you don't give them their own screen time but if you do it should be a bit more purposive.

Also I recognize their (secondary characters) thematic purposiveness... 'let the right one in' being a metaphor for relationships and who you let into your life as much as it is for the specific vampire law. The couple who fights perhaps not letting the right one in as Oskar perhaps did not let the right one in given his most likely doomed future, but I still feel those characters could have been fleshed out a bit more. Do away with the cat scene and add something that explores that layers that metaphor more richly.

[MadMan]

Kurtz's conclusion after telling the story about the innoculated arms is that if he had ten divisions of these men, "our troubles here" would soon be over. (Nevermind why the US was there in the first place as long as "we're" the winners.) Furthermore, the voice-overs explaining who Kurtz was and why the army wants him dead make it clear that he was winning the war by going outside the rules and being as barbaric as "the gooks.Qrazy already addressed this.


As with Black Hawk Down, I think the idea that Apocalypse Now somehow "transcends" politics or ideology is simply an indication of how Coppola stays within the parameters of acceptable criticism (i.e., all wars are full of madness, so don't think too much about the specifics of American involvement in Vietnam).Really though AN isn't about Vietnam directly, Coppola's rather outlandish and insane statement that "The Film Was Vietnam" that he made when it was finally released. To me AN has been more of a great adaption of Heart of Darkness using the Vietnam War as a backdrop. The most interesting aspects of AN stem from the Kurz-Willard dynamic. And honestly AN benefits from Coppola not going either way about Vietnam-if anything, I almost think that he takes a rather dim view of the war. If you are going to read into AN literally, then you can't ignore the aspects of the movie where Willard states that the war is insanity.

Anyways, I believe there are plenty of anti-war war movies. Paths of Glory is clearly one, for example. Come and See is another, as is Johnny Got His Gun.

[B-side]

Let Me In may very well be the better film, Qrazy. Give that one a go.

I'm not overly fond of either, btw.

[baby doll]

The film does not ENCOURAGE or EMBRACE Kurtz's perspective. This is fairly obvious.Not totally, but on this point, his monologue reaffirms a number of observations that Willard makes on the journey about the differences between American soldiers and the Viet Cong ("Charlie doesn't get much USO"), which are meant to explain why the US lost the war.

[Raiders]

Not totally, but on this point, his monologue reaffirms a number of observations that Willard makes on the journey about the differences between American soldiers and the Viet Cong ("Charlie doesn't get much USO"), which are meant to explain why the US lost the war.

What makes you think this film is interested with who won the war?

[Qrazy]

Let Me In may very well be the better film, Qrazy. Give that one a go.

I'm not overly fond of either, btw.

Meh, my problems with the initial film are I don't really care that much for the story itself so I don't think I'll be watching another adaptation for a while. Some day maybe.

[Qrazy]

Not totally, but on this point, his monologue reaffirms a number of observations that Willard makes on the journey about the differences between American soldiers and the Viet Cong ("Charlie doesn't get much USO"), which are meant to explain why the US lost the war.

No.

[Boner M]

Blissfully Yours (2002) ****
yes yes a billion times yes.

[dreamdead]

yes yes a billion times yes.

I'm really hoping to do a Joe marathon this summer and rewatch this, Tropical Malady, and Syndromes and a Century. I grant that Joe's fallen into a trend with bifurcated narratives and city-to-rural/past-to-present explorations, but I find myself drawn to his more recent films just because of when I've last seen them. I think rewatches would elucidate how they actually stack up more.

[Rowland]

I haven't had any motivation to watch movies lately, thanks to a decrease in free time due to real-life-related shit, an increased desire to play videogames, and uninspiring choices in theaters, but with both The Kid With a Bike and The Deep Blue Sea opening this week, maybe I can rekindle the flame.

In regards to a few recent repeat viewings, Machete is still fun and curiously endearing for its blunt political commentary, but it's also one of Rodriguez's least inspired efforts in terms of cinematic craft, most of the film playing like it was conceived on auto-pilot. I argued two years ago that this worked in the film's favor because it emulates the dashed-off style of real low-budget exploitation, but now too much of it just plays as lazy and uninspired. Still, I like the film more than not, it's cute.

And while I thought revisiting Resident Evil: Afterlife on blu-ray with a massive television set to 1080p would be an ideal environment to reassess the film, in light of the kinder evaluations Anderson's work has been garnering in certain critical circles, it turns out instead that I liked it even less this time around. Granted, it's kind of amusing as cheesy spectacle at a few points, the score rocks, the visual luster has its ogle-worthy moments, and it's nice to see what's happening during most of the set pieces with relative clarity, albeit too often through the obnoxious overuse of slow-mo. These minor attributes are cancelled out and then some however by how much of a deadeningly vacuous grind the film is as a whole, utterly lacking in creativity, wit, coherent thought, and emotion of any discernible kind.

[StanleyK]

I love Joe, but Blissfully Yours left me cold both times I saw it. It's the one film of his where I think the stillness and deliberate pace work against its effect rather than enhancing it.

[StanleyK]

I have a question regarding Persona.

Very near the end, when Alma is having a verbal hemorrhage and banging her fists on the table and such, she draws blood from her arm with her fingernails, makes Elisabet drink it, and then slaps the shit out of her. The significance of this eludes me.

Any ideas?

[Qrazy]

I have a question regarding Persona.

Very near the end, when Alma is having a verbal hemorrhage and banging her fists on the table and such, she draws blood from her arm with her fingernails, makes Elisabet drink it, and then slaps the shit out of her. The significance of this eludes me.

Any ideas?

She's a bitch?

[Spinal]

Let Me In may very well be the better film, Qrazy. Give that one a go.

I'm not overly fond of either, btw.

He'd be better off reading the book.

[Russ]

He'd be better off reading the book.

A friend of mine had this to say about the book:


The book is a mixed read - Ajvide Lindqvist has a talent for setting stages and getting pop-culture details right (the novel's set in 1981), but he also has an annoying habit of "getting into the heads" of more or less every single goddamn character in the book, speaking in their voices at every chance he gets ("Lacke felt good about tonight"; "Oskar thought about his Mom"; "The nurse enjoyed her cigarette break"). This could've been interesting if it was just the heads of Eli, Oskar and maybe Eli's companion HÃ¥kan, but we get EVERYBODY, down to a jogger who will be dead in 20 seconds, and (and I'm not kidding) a fucking squirrel, observing something from a distance. That's some Douglas Adams/Hitchhiker's GTTG shit, and it made me almost hate the book at times - if he'd thrown out that storytelling device the novel would've been 280 pages instead of 450.

[Spinal]

That's someone's personal preference. I don't see what's inherently wrong with that device.

[Melville]

I have a question regarding Persona.

Very near the end, when Alma is having a verbal hemorrhage and banging her fists on the table and such, she draws blood from her arm with her fingernails, makes Elisabet drink it, and then slaps the shit out of her. The significance of this eludes me.

Any ideas?
I haven't seen it in a few years, but here's what I'd guess:
Elisabeth has vampiric connotations throughout the movie. She sucks Alma's identity away. In at least a few images, she literally looks like a ghostly creature. But really, she says almost nothing for most of the time: she just watches; Alma offers up her own identity, giving it over to Elisabeth by exposing it, making it something in the eyes of the Other (for example, in the scene where she reminisces about the beach, while Elisabeth silently watches her). Alma is complicit in Elisabeth's vampirism. She's angry at both herself and Elisabeth for that, for making herself known to herself in an ugly way. The scene in question sounds to me—I don't actually remember it—to be a physical parallel to that vampiric relationship, in which Alma's complicity is manifest. But it's a conscious paralleling on Alma's part. She wants to remove the unstated ambiguities of the situation by bringing it into the open. She expresses her rage at herself and Elisabeth basically by re-enacting their relationship and punishing Elisabeth for it.

[Rowland]

The Ghost Writer is even more beautiful than I recalled, every scene popping with expertly controlled, evocatively framed formal interest. Also smarter, funnier, etc. Perhaps I was swayed a bit by the mixed reception upon its release, but I'm now firmly on the film's side. Love Polanski etc.

[Derek]

Perhaps I was swayed a bit by the mixed reception upon its release, but I'm now firmly on the film's side. Love Polanski etc.

Wasn't this pretty much universally loved by critics and MC alike? I remember being one of the only people not to care much for it when it came out.

[Pop Trash]

Spot on review:

http://www.slantmagazine.com/film/review/titanic-3d/6171

I've long been annoyed by Titanic haterz mentioning the dialogue as the reason why the movie "sucks" as if movies should be judged like stand-up comedy routines. Read a fuckin' book about direction people.

[Rowland]

Wasn't this pretty much universally loved by critics and MC alike? I remember being one of the only people not to care much for it when it came out.By mixed, I suppose I meant that it was generally well-received but not loved, which is the impression I had regarding its reception around these parts and amidst many of the critics I hold in a higher esteem than the general consensus that I generally don't pay much mind.

[Derek]

By mixed, I suppose I meant that it was generally well-received but not loved, which is the impression I had regarding its reception around these parts and amidst many of the critics I hold in a higher esteem than the general consensus that I generally don't pay much mind.

I'm pretty sure it made the top 10 of 2010 the MC end of year poll and was fairly high on Slant's, FilmComment's and IndieWire best of lists as well. Anyway, it doesn't really matter, just not a film I'd ever associate with a mixed reception.

[Rowland]

I'm pretty sure it made the top 10 of 2010 the MC end of year poll and was fairly high on Slant's, FilmComment's and IndieWire best of lists as well. Anyway, it doesn't really matter, just not a film I'd ever associate with a mixed reception.Yeah, you're probably right. I just did a bit of research and discovered that there were only a few notably lukewarm responses from D'Angelo, RS, and Sicinski, and I recalled trans and yourself not liking it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Bong Joon-Ho's Mother rocked my socks off and then back on again. Should've figured, given how much I loved Memories of Murder and The Host, but still amazed by how he blends comedy and suspense and tragedy. Can't wait to scope out Barking Dogs Never Bite.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Bong Joon-Ho's Mother rocked my socks off and then back on again. Should've figured, given how much I loved Memories of Murder and The Host, but still amazed by how he blends comedy and suspense and tragedy. Can't wait to scope out Barking Dogs Never Bite.

Yeah, I'd still likely rank Mother above everything else I saw in 2010.

[Qrazy]

Yeah, I would say Mother is his best film. I wasn't entirely won over until that one. Very engaging, poignant stuff.

[Boner M]

Well, Bellflower certainly does a bang-up job outlining what a dubious virtue 'originality' is. Double feature with Certified Copy, perhaps.

[B-side]

Yeah, we saw it on Twitter, Ian. Move along. Geez.

[Boner M]

Yeah, we saw it on Twitter, Ian. Move along. Geez.
Cover blown.

[Ezee E]

Mother is great indeed. Probably the best "twist ending" in the past 5 years.

[Wryan]

Been using our On Demand package to watch things either I sorta wanted to see but didn't get to, or things I didn't want to pay for at the time.

Tangled is fantastic. Great music and songs. Beautiful animation. I liked that Gothel wasn't just an evil spell-slinging witch. Good voicework, funny, again just plain beautiful animation. I thought this was a Dreamworks gig at first and was going to say they did well, but no it's Disney.

Speaking of Dreamworks, though, saw How to Train Your Dragon and enjoyed it just as much. But then I like anything related to Vikings and dragons, so how could it fail? Not a great biological design on the big bad dragon (doesn't make much sense--though actually none of them really do, so I guess it's just atypical design). Great animation and voicework again. Found it really funny.

Battle LA was wretched. Throw every hoorah military cliche in the blender, toss in a lot of hectic camera work and a could-not-care-less story, and you've got a real gem. Not sure why we needed this movie to exist.

RS's Robin Hood was pretty thoroughly okay. Just really amazingly, professionally okay. Good acting and of course pretty to look at most of the time. Didn't need this running time. Would rather have watched a whole movie about William Hurt's character.

Red Riding Hood...Oh Julie Christie. Whatcha doin here? At least Gary Oldman is having some fun, I think. I don't see how anyone could take this the slightest bit seriously, especially once the wolf starts communicating thru telepathy. My god...awful but it could have been just thunderingly terrible. Had at least some very minor things going for it.

Fast-forwarded thru Green Lantern to just watch the action/effects stuff. Sorry, but couldn't be bothered to watch the rest. But even they were terrible.

[EyesWideOpen]

Bong Joon-Ho's Mother rocked my socks off and then back on again. Should've figured, given how much I loved Memories of Murder and The Host, but still amazed by how he blends comedy and suspense and tragedy. Can't wait to scope out Barking Dogs Never Bite.

Just a warning Barking Dogs while not bad is a huge step down from those other three.

[Derek]

Oh, Hitch. :lol:

zl6SMOSXa7A

[Ezee E]

Watching Passion of the Christ and it almost seems like a Zack Snyder film. So much slo-mo. The only thing missing is Mary Magdalane with a nothing-there outfit. It's so close too, with the casting of Monica Bellucci in the role.

[Spinal]

Watching Passion of the Christ and it almost seems like a Zack Snyder film. So much slo-mo. The only thing missing is Mary Magdalane with a nothing-there outfit. It's so close too, with the casting of Monica Bellucci in the role.

First time watching it? It really is comically bad.

[Morris Schæffer]

I gave Inglourious Basterds four stars back in 2009. The 1978 original is different, a more typical men-on-a-mission flick, but still pretty forgettable with bland camerawork, a cheesy score and some pretty obvious miniature work for the big action scenes. Still, it has those (very minor) elusive charms that seem to be present in a lot of cult movies. And that really starts with the cast which includes Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson, but also, surprisingly, the great Ian Bannen (who's not so great here).

[B-side]

The Woman in the Rumor is definitely underrated Mizoguchi.

[Boner M]

The Woman in the Rumor is definitely underrated Mizoguchi.
I got the Artifical Eye set (Osaka Elegy, Sisters of the Gion, Story of the Late Chrysanthemums, Utamaro & His Five Women) a few days ago and can't wait to watch 'em.

Saw Woman in the Rumor a few years ago but can't remember a damn thing about it, sadly.

[B-side]

I got the Artifical Eye set (Osaka Elegy, Sisters of the Gion, Story of the Late Chrysanthemums, Utamaro & His Five Women) a few days ago and can't wait to watch 'em.

Blu, I hope?

[Boner M]

Blu, I hope?
I pre-ordered the DVD before the blu was announced, but according the review in Sight & Sound the DVD looks better.

[Ezee E]

First time watching it? It really is comically bad.
I watched it when it first came out, originally had good praise for it.

It's comparable to a Saw movie. The scene at the pillar is ridiculously long. South Park's reenactment doesn't exaggerate. I stopped watching after because it was time for bed.

Some creepy imagery that Gibson gets whenever demons are involved, but he keeps himself confined, and ultimately has nothing to say about the story.

[B-side]

I pre-ordered the DVD before the blu was announced, but according the review in Sight & Sound the DVD looks better.

Really? Huh.

[Qrazy]

I watched it when it first came out, originally had good praise for it.

It's comparable to a Saw movie. The scene at the pillar is ridiculously long. South Park's reenactment doesn't exaggerate. I stopped watching after because it was time for bed.

Some creepy imagery that Gibson gets whenever demons are involved, but he keeps himself confined, and ultimately has nothing to say about the story.

I liked the flashbacks with the mom and there are some legitimately quality shots in the film (one of the opening shots in the garden and as Jesus dies and the camera pans back from the cross). But ultimately yeah... also I just found this scary place on youtube.

sZbTvuyj5Os

[MadMan]

I gave Inglourious Basterds four stars back in 2009. The 1978 original is different, a more typical men-on-a-mission flick, but still pretty forgettable with bland camerawork, a cheesy score and some pretty obvious miniature work for the big action scenes. Still, it has those (very minor) elusive charms that seem to be present in a lot of cult movies. And that really starts with the cast which includes Bo Svenson, Fred Williamson, but also, surprisingly, the great Ian Bannen (who's not so great here).I think its great fun, and a really good movie as well. Considering the glut of WW II movies that came out in the 60s and 70s, its one of the more interesting ones.

Last night, I watched Natural Born Killers. I wrote a review for it in my head on the drive home, and then I forgot it of course. For now I'll just say "Wow. That movie really lived up to the hype." 1994 was truly a great year for movies.

[Rowland]

Wasn't 13 Tzameti something of a minor cult hit several years back? I never saw it, but I understand that the American remake, written and directed by the same dude behind the original, is very much the same film, only with added flashbacks for the sake of further character development and social commentary, color cinematography, and a cast comprised of the likes of Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Ray Winstone, and Michael Shannon. Whatever the case, I watched it because of the original's reputation and positive marks from critics Keith Uhlich and Simon Abrams, and it was fucking terrible. It's pretty much direct-to-video quality across-the-board, with its ugly, artless cinematography, dopey score, pedestrian cutting, and a script that almost entirely fails to capitalize on what should be a compelling scenario. If you ever happen across it on cable, it may be worth keeping on in the background for the Russian roulette scenes, which aren't all that well-executed but remain inherently suspenseful, and Michael Shannon, whose awesome performance is the only one to really transcend all the substandard shit surrounding it.

[B-side]

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Miscellaneous/allthatjazzjournalbanner.png

Bob Fosse is among my needlessly neglected crowd of popular directors I just never quite managed to prioritize, despite being interested in their work. And as I often suspect will be the case, I'm now frustrated that it took me this long. All That Jazz is a sensationally-edited confluence of autobiographical elements galvanizing into a hallucinatory work of breathless momentum and mortality. Working as a de-romanticization of the world of musicals, Fosse implies, and explicitly wallows in, sexuality at every turn. From minute one, the pace is set; rhythmic editing that would've made Eisenstein proud and slick juxtapositions of purgatorial confessions and a life lived through a drug-induced haze of womanizing show biz wildness. Though the latter half holds the majority of the aforementioned hallucinatory aesthetics, it's the first half that holds the subversive wit and unchained biopic reworking that most impressed me. Above all, All That Jazz is a uniquely mounted work in the musical drama genre that had me rarely less than entranced.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-04-10-05h44m24s247_500x275.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-04-10-05h55m05s3_500x275.jpg

[MadMan]

I want to see more Fosse. The guy had style. Welcome to the All That Jazz club, Brightside. Membership is rather large.

[Wryan]

I also forgot to mention that I watched the latest POTC movie. Ian McShane was about as good as I expected him to be, but he seemed to be the only one having a jolly good time. This was at least a decent attempt to streamline the movies and pare them back down to something a little simpler rather than the giant bizarre spectacles the first trilogy became. Really, it feels a lot more akin to the first Pirates movie. But...it doesn't work anywhere near as well as that movie. Cruz is pretty useless, and Depp's Sparrow is just its own archetype now and thus not very memorable or watchable (nothing's new with him anymore); hell, Rush has a more complex story arch, which is saying little. Meh. I don't think they can go anywhere else here and make it fun again. Probably time to pull down the sails.

[Ezee E]

Pretty sure All That Jazz would be Match Cut's favorite musical.

Masterpiece to me as well.

[Derek]

Pretty sure All That Jazz would be Match Cut's favorite musical.

Masterpiece to me as well.

Yeah, I imagine only Singin' in the Rain or Wizard of Oz would come close.

[Raiders]

If only more people had seen Love Me Tonight, I imagine it too would stand a chance.

[MadMan]

My favorite musical used to be The Wizard of Oz. Now its The Blues Brothers. And yes I think you can consider that movie to be a musical.

[Qrazy]

All that Jazz is not that good nor is Fosse. I can think of about 25 musicals that are better.

[Winston*]

All that Jazz is not that good nor is Fosse. I can think of about 25 musicals that are better.

Name them all.

[Derek]

If only more people had seen Love Me Tonight, I imagine it too would stand a chance.

True dat.


All that Jazz is not that good nor is Fosse. I can think of about 25 musicals that are better.

You're not that good. I can think of 25 posters that are better than you!

Actually I can't...luv ya, you grumpy bastard.

[MadMan]

You're not that good. I can think of 25 posters that are better than you!

Actually I can't...luv ya, you grumpy bastard.
I'm #26th....

[Qrazy]

Name them all.

Don't feel like it. I have things to do. Here's three.

The Young Girls of Rochefort
A Hard Day's Night
Gold Diggers of 1933

[Boner M]

Poto and Cabengo: A study of identical twin children who speak their own made-up private language, living largely cut off from the rest of society except for the (somewhat cruel) media scrutiny they're subject to; nonetheless, the text "What are they saying?" scrolling across the screen in English is the only thing that registers as aberrant.

[B-side]

Poto and Cabengo: A study of identical twin children who speak their own made-up private language, living largely cut off from the rest of society except for the (somewhat cruel) media scrutiny they're subject to; nonetheless, the text "What are they saying?" scrolling across the screen in English is the only thing that registers as aberrant.

That sounds amazing.

[B-side]

If you happen to live near Vancouver, the Pacific Cinémathèque is screening a brand new 35mm print of Four Nights of a Dreamer right now. That film is not available to anyone in any decent shape. If you consider yourself a film fan and don't see it, I'm revoking your cinephile card, shredding it and pissing on the remnants.

[Derek]

If you happen to live near Vancouver, the Pacific Cinémathèque is screening a brand new 35mm print of Four Nights of a Dreamer right now. That film is not available to anyone in any decent shape. If you consider yourself a film fan and don't see it, I'm revoking your cinephile card, shredding it and pissing on the remnants.

Considering it's a minor Bresson (though quite interesting in that it's by far his most light-hearted, comical film) and MC is a haven for Bresson haters, I'd almost prefer no one here sees it. :)

Complete Bresson retrospective hitting LA next month! Assuming we get everything that showed in NYC, it'll be everything but A Gentle Woman. Fuck. yeah.

[elixir]

If you happen to live near Vancouver, the Pacific Cinémathèque is screening a brand new 35mm print of Four Nights of a Dreamer right now. That film is not available to anyone in any decent shape. If you consider yourself a film fan and don't see it, I'm revoking your cinephile card, shredding it and pissing on the remnants.
Hey, I was busy. I have an exam due tomorrow (so I'm spending time on here). I do plan to see The Devil, Probably and maybe L'Argent which are showing in the next two weeks [this is not Vancouver].

[elixir]

MC is a haven for Bresson haters, I'd almost prefer no one here sees it.
It is? Boo.

[MadMan]

The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover is equal parts magnificent and bleak, comedic and disturbing, a film that is a journey into the depths of hell (literally in this case, as the restaurant setting is bathed completely in red). Plus that ending: Well I can't believe that happened. Yikes. "Cannibal."

This is the second 1989 film I've seen this year, and I only realized it now. Peter Greenaway clearly has a strong visual style and a clear eye for composition, but unfortunately only a few of his movies are available on Netflix Instant Viewing.

[Derek]

Hey, I was busy. I have an exam due tomorrow (so I'm spending time on here). I do plan to see The Devil, Probably and maybe L'Argent which are showing in the next two weeks [this is not Vancouver].

Oooh yeah, L'Argent will look amazing. As much as Balthazar is unsurpassable as my favorite his, as it's my favorite period, L'Argent stands the best chance of doing eventually. Seen it at least a ten times and it literally gets better every time.


It is? Boo.

Yeah, I prefer not to think about it.

[Qrazy]

The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover is equal parts magnificent and bleak, comedic and disturbing, a film that is a journey into the depths of hell (literally in this case, as the restaurant setting is bathed completely in red). Plus that ending: Well I can't believe that happened. Yikes. "Cannibal."

This is the second 1989 film I've seen this year, and I only realized it now. Peter Greenaway clearly has a strong visual style and a clear eye for composition, but unfortunately only a few of his movies are available on Netflix Instant Viewing.

Do you give it a 96?

[Qrazy]

Oooh yeah, L'Argent will look amazing. As much as Balthazar is unsurpassable as my favorite his, as it's my favorite period, L'Argent stands the best chance of doing eventually. Seen it at least a ten times and it literally gets better every time.



Yeah, I prefer not to think about it.

You should probably spend less time rewatching L'argent and more time watching Aleksei German's filmography.

[elixir]

Oh yeah, that Ivan Lapshin guy...

[Spinal]

Do you give it a 96?

Too low.

[elixir]

I've seen Glenn Kenny reference the Khrustalyov movie like 80 times in his twitter feed, I'll probably watch that next...

[Derek]

You should probably spend less time rewatching L'argent and more time watching Aleksei German's filmography.

Well, I only watched it that many times since my thesis focused on his last 3 films. I have Khrustalyov, My Car which I'll watch soon and I'll probably eventually see everything available since he made so few films. Speaking of Russians, have you seen any of Evgeni Bauer's work. Dude has been very impressive for pre-20s cinema and one can only imagine what he not died so young.

[Derek]

Too low.

Well, that is only ***1/2! This'll probably get 100 since he's only given out like 5 of those so far this year.

[MadMan]

I had a long rant in response to the previous posts, but I'm just going to ignore the lot of you and wait for someone who feels like discussing The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover with me. If no one will, then I'll just pen a write up for it eventually to put in my blog. You can read it there if you like.

PS: I had no idea that giving out five 100s out of 42 movies on the year was so goddamn many. Whoa! Stop the presses. Hold the phones. Tell me once again I misspelled a word wrong, or something.

[Spinal]

I was serious. It's one of my very favorite movies. The use of light and color is extraordinary. It's hard to call it beautiful because it's about so much ugliness, but it is masterful. I miss that Greenaway.

[Qrazy]

Well, I only watched it that many times since my thesis focused on his last 3 films. I have Khrustalyov, My Car which I'll watch soon and I'll probably eventually see everything available since he made so few films. Speaking of Russians, have you seen any of Evgeni Bauer's work. Dude has been very impressive for pre-20s cinema and one can only imagine what he not died so young.

Ahh, that makes sense then. I haven't seen any of Bauer's films. What's his best?

[MadMan]

I was serious. It's one of my very favorite movies. The use of light and color is extraordinary. It's hard to call it beautiful because it's about so much ugliness, but it is masterful. I miss that Greenaway.Okay, I'm just a little annoyed that people take my ratings seriously. Its the fucking 100 scale, people-you slap on a goddamn number that's really quite meaningless, unless you are Qrazy and decide to give everything a C-. I actually started using it because of Stay Puft.

Looking on Criticker I see that Greenaway makes only documentaries now, it seems. I haven't seen a film use color so masterfully in quite a while-its incredibly well shot. The 1980s seemed to be that special time and place where British gangster movies truly very good and great: The Long Good Friday and The Hit also come to mind, although I'm not sure if you can really label The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover her a gangster movie per say. Ebert's review was rather spoiler filled yet great (I'm glad I read it after I saw the film), and I agree with him about the MPAA's decision affecting the movie. I miss that kind of Ebert-I think he hasn't bashed the MPAA in a while because he's given up hope that they fix a rather broken system.

[Qrazy]

I had a long rant in response to the previous posts, but I'm just going to ignore the lot of you and wait for someone who feels like discussing The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover with me. If no one will, then I'll just pen a write up for it eventually to put in my blog. You can read it there if you like.

PS: I had no idea that giving out five 100s out of 42 movies on the year was so goddamn many. Whoa! Stop the presses. Hold the phones. Tell me once again I misspelled a word wrong, or something.

Don't take us seriously, we're just teasing. But if you're finding the teasing omnipresent I suppose I can ease off... It will be fucking hard. But I'll try. :lol:

I simultaneously like and dislike most Greenaway films. The Cook is one of the ones I like more than I dislike. Formally immaculate, great score, but I find his films too symbol driven for my taste. Still, I quite like it.

[Qrazy]

I was serious. It's one of my very favorite movies. The use of light and color is extraordinary. It's hard to call it beautiful because it's about so much ugliness, but it is masterful. I miss that Greenaway.

He's not dead...

[MadMan]

Don't take us seriously, we're just teasing. But if you're finding the teasing omnipresent I suppose I can ease off... It will be fucking hard. But I'll try. :lol:Every goddamn time though...it really gets fucking old. I don't try to bust anyone's balls around here, nor do I feel the need to do so.


I simultaneously like and dislike most Greenaway films. The Cook is one of the ones I like more than I dislike. Formally immaculate, great score, but I find his films too symbol driven for my taste. Still, I quite like it.Really to be honest I was too preoccupied with the amazing color schemes, the great camera work and the fantastic score to truly examine the film's themes. I guess I didn't know as much about Thatcher as I thought I did, seeing as the film is supposed to be about Thatcher England. I actually prefer to think of it as being more broader than that, although I'll firmly make a decision on a second viewing in the future.

[Derek]

I had a long rant in response to the previous posts, but I'm just going to ignore the lot of you and wait for someone who feels like discussing The Cook the Thief His Wife & Her Lover with me. If no one will, then I'll just pen a write up for it eventually to put in my blog. You can read it there if you like.

Oh c'mon.

Agree with Spinal that I wouldn't really call this beautiful, but it's a hell of a fierce films and probably the most impressive condemnation of Thatcher's England I've seen. Check out A Zed and Two Naughts if you haven't already.


PS: I had no idea that giving out five 100s out of 42 movies on the year was so goddamn many. Whoa! Stop the presses. Hold the phones.

Yes, it is. 12% of your movies are in the top 1% of your scale. OCCUPY MADMAN! The 40s, 50s and 60s have to eat!


Tell me once again I misspelled a word wrong, or something.

Well, if you misspell a word wrong, that means you spelled it correctly, so no one will tell you when that happens.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;) [/jackass]

[Derek]

Ahh, that makes sense then. I haven't seen any of Bauer's films. What's his best?

After Death, then Dying Swan and Daydreams. The first two are on one DVD called Mad Love: The Films of Evgeni Bauer. All 5 I've seen are all around 45 minutes, so they're pretty easy to watch. Feverish madness as one would expect from a good Russian.

[Stay Puft]

I actually started using it because of Stay Puft.

You can't put this on me. http://i.imgur.com/Xk8mw.gif

j/k, everything is cool, peace and love, Greenaway is awesome

[B-side]

Complete Bresson retrospective hitting LA next month! Assuming we get everything that showed in NYC, it'll be everything but A Gentle Woman. Fuck. yeah.

I'm assuming that's the same one, but the one in Vancouver includes A Gentle Woman. Unsure of the condition of the print, though. It's gotta be decent, right? No such decent print exists for the home video market, unfortunately. I think the issue with Four Nights of a Dreamer is some rights nonsense. You'd think the 5 bucks total someone would make from royalties wouldn't be enough to keep the fucking thing from reaching the hands of so many film fans.

[B-side]

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Miscellaneous/stilllifejournalbanner.png

A production reminiscent of Soviet-style stasis (think Sharunas Bartas 16 years before he was anything, and perhaps even slightly less eventful than his output), Still Life is a portrait of rural social alienation in Iran. The color palette is drab and the dialogue is restricted to short sentences -- no more than a few at a time. We watch an elderly couple live out their meager existence on the outer edge of society. The woman splits her time between serving food and tea and sitting hunched over by her loom. The man takes in a ritualistic homemade cigarette at the expense of his embattled lungs and walks back and forth to his job at the railroad tracks bringing the gate up and down a few times a day. Their daily ingestion of tea sees the woman asking the man to remember to ask someone for tea and sugar, something which he never seems to do. When the man is delivered a governmental letter he can't even read informing him of his retirement, he confoundedly asks the young man who gave him the letter what exactly it means to be retired. He returns to the small cabin near the tracks, the size of which can't even accommodate the small man lying down straight, after his forced retirement, and encounters the young man who is replacing him. In a last ditch bit of defiance, he locks the cabin and takes the key home, only to have the young man follow him home and sit on his porch until the older man finally invites him in for supper, a distinctly humane moment that stands out amidst the time-draining ennui. The old man repeats "I've been dismissed" like a self-defeating mantra. His only means of maintaining what meager means he had has been taken away and he's left with only time to question the motives behind the letter. Their rundown house is roughly painted blue, the wife sleeps on the floor, the man sleeps on what can barely be considered a bed and only a photograph of Elvis and a small mirror decorate the cement walls. Their aged frames can barely hold the tea in its plate without it rattling a steady hum. Still Life isn't as good as Bartas' better films, but it's certainly not without its own appeal.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-04-11-06h11m07s6_450x295.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-04-11-06h38m29s49_450x295.jpg

[Spinal]

He's not dead...

I know. I meant that I miss the Greenaway who makes spectacularly good films.

[Qrazy]

I know. I meant that I miss the Greenaway who makes spectacularly good films.

Ahh I haven't seen anything post-The Pillow Book (which I didn't care for), nothing really stacks up?

[MadMan]

Oh c'mon.

Agree with Spinal that I wouldn't really call this beautiful, but it's a hell of a fierce films and probably the most impressive condemnation of Thatcher's England I've seen. Check out A Zed and Two Naughts if you haven't already.I wish A Zed and Two Naughts was available on Instant Viewing, but it isn't. I'm really considering going back to one DVD out at a time/Instant Viewing even though its 15.00 a month, but if I have a job (which I do at the moment) then its no big deal.


Yes, it is. 12% of your movies are in the top 1% of your scale. OCCUPY MADMAN! The 40s, 50s and 60s have to eat!12% isn't particularly large, though. Come back to me at the end of the year. For 2011, I saw about 9 or 10 movies that got the 100 rating out of 142. If anything, I loathe the **** scale these days because its too easy to give out ****'s.


Well, if you misspell a word wrong, that means you spelled it correctly, so no one will tell you when that happens.

Sorry, I couldn't resist. ;) [/jackass]I had to re-read this joke twice. I'm slightly amused :P

The [/jackass] tag was a great touch.

[Spinal]

The [/jackass] tag was a great touch.

Just make it your sig, Derek.

[Derek]

Just make it your sig, Derek.

I'll do you one better.

[Grouchy]

I'm sorry I haven't been posting here for a while, but I wanted you guys to see what I'm doing since it relates so heavily to watching movies, which is what we all like doing after all.

www.ramonareyes.comuv.com

It's in Spanish for obvious reasons. It's a Monday movie show with different monthly themes (we're currently showing a month on black and white movies where - sometimes - there are guns) and we also try to make a different Sweden remake each week.

[B-side]

Utamaro and His Five Women is the most sexually explicit Mizoguchi I've seen thus far, and coincidentally, also probably the best. Being that it was filmed before his post-1950 transformation into more simple technical frameworks, it's full of brilliant, deep staging and those superb and ever-so important tracking shots. Swastikas decorate the lamp posts throughout town, and Utamaro is sentenced to 50 days of house arrest for offending a shogunate -- his hands handcuffed so as to not allow him to paint -- so I'm inclined to read autobiographical elements into this.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/UtamaroAndHisFiveWomen1946720p BluRayx264-MOOVEE04-38-34.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/UtamaroAndHisFiveWomen1946720p BluRayx264-MOOVEE05-25-31.jpg

[Morris Schæffer]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/6334758365_9b72664862.jpg

Horror Express was.....solid. My copy was in horrible health, but I enjoyed it enough. Yes, two stars isn't much, but it's sort of a ramshackle production. Not amateurish, but just devoid of interesting shots, or anyone particularly standing out from an acting pov. Having Cushing and Lee was a major casting coup, but apart from realizing these are horror heavies, I wasn't greatly engaged by the acting on this. Some shots are pretty creepy though especially when the lights go off and the creature's red eyes are exposed. I liked the trick with the eyeballs and the images it yielded. I should say that I haven't seen any Hammer movies of which horror express is supposedly very reminiscent so I'm not sure how this adds up to the best of Hammer flicks. My guess is the great ones such as Dracula are probably superior still. That said, while not massively scary, it was a decent watch.

[Yxklyx]

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6213/6334758365_9b72664862.jpg

Horror Express was.....solid. My copy was in horrible health, but I enjoyed it enough. Yes, two stars isn't much, but it's sort of a ramshackle production. Not amateurish, but just devoid of interesting shots, or anyone particularly standing out from an acting pov. Having Cushing and Lee was a major casting coup, but apart from realizing these are horror heavies, I wasn't greatly engaged by the acting on this. Some shots are pretty creepy though especially when the lights go off and the creature's red eyes are exposed. I liked the trick with the eyeballs and the images it yielded. I should say that I haven't seen any Hammer movies of which horror express is supposedly very reminiscent so I'm not sure how this adds up to the best of Hammer flicks. My guess is the great ones such as Dracula are probably superior still. That said, while not massively scary, it was a decent watch.

My favorite is The Devil Rides Out which reminds me a lot of a creepy well made Dr Who episode with Christopher Lee as the Doctor.

[MadMan]

I'm sorry I haven't been posting here for a while, but I wanted you guys to see what I'm doing since it relates so heavily to watching movies, which is what we all like doing after all.

www.ramonareyes.comuv.com

It's in Spanish for obvious reasons. It's a Monday movie show with different monthly themes (we're currently showing a month on black and white movies where - sometimes - there are guns) and we also try to make a different Sweden remake each week.Whoa. Trippy opening page, followed by a really cool layout. Nice. Too bad I don't speak Spanish.


I'll do you one better.:lol:


Just make it your sig, Derek.Ouch, heh.

As much as I love The Horror Express, The Devil Rides Out is the better film of the two.

[Grouchy]

Horror Express is an insane movie. I love it so much. I would rank it above The Devil Rides Out which I also love.

I saw Sherman's March. Never thought a documentary with that premise and running time could be entertaining, but it is.

[Qrazy]

I saw Sherman's March. Never thought a documentary with that premise and running time could be entertaining, but it is.

Yep, it's good.

Did you watch Le Trou yet?

[Grouchy]

Yep, it's good.

Did you watch Le Trou yet?
No! But I'm sure I'll watch it soon. We decided to do a month on prison escape films.

[Qrazy]

No! But I'm sure I'll watch it soon. We decided to do a month on prison escape films.

Hah! My montage is coming along so you'll get some good ideas there. :)

[NickGlass]

I saw Sherman's March. Never thought a documentary with that premise and running time could be entertaining, but it is.

Yes, it's fantastic. Definitely check out more of McElwee's films if Sherman's March worked for you.

[StanleyK]

Had Freedom Writers foisted upon me. Not a good movie. I mean, just read the IMDB synopsis:


A young teacher inspires her class of at-risk students to learn tolerance, apply themselves, and pursue education beyond high school.

Yup. It appears I'm the only person that watched it on this site. Nobody's missing out on anything.

[Stay Puft]

Vertical Ray of the Sun (Tran, 2000) 8

http://i.imgur.com/XJyGY.gif

[B-side]

http://i.imgur.com/XJyGY.gif

:lol:

I'll be honest, for the first, say, 20 minutes, I was pretty indifferent, perhaps because I just wasn't quite sure what I was getting into, but after about a half hour or so I realized I was pretty taken, and my fondness for its warmth grew.

[B-side]

Thanks to Masters of Cinema's Twitter feed, I've been alerted to the fact that Ford's unreleased and fantastic The Sun Shines Bright is available to watch on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRZ4H2UEpk4). If you're a Ford fan, do yourself a favor and watch it. You won't regret it.

[B-side]

Thanks to Masters of Cinema's Twitter feed, I've been alerted to the fact that Ford's unreleased and fantastic The Sun Shines Bright is available to watch on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRZ4H2UEpk4). If you're a Ford fan, do yourself a favor and watch it. You won't regret it.

And the 300-some word blurb I wrote to accompany it. (http://reeltimepodcast.org/2012/04/14/unreleased-john-ford-film-now-streaming-online/)

[Qrazy]

Long Days Journey Into Night
The Pawnbroker
Fail Safe
The Verdict

The Hill and The Fugitive Kind are good, but don't need to be prioritized.

Going to have to disagree somewhat. Just watched it and The Hill was great. Better than Fail Safe and The Pawnbroker imo.