28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Spinal]

I hope it's out on Bluray.

I watched it on Bluray.

[Qrazy]

Definitely a disappointment since I keep expecting Verhoeven to deliver one really good film, but oh well, I still have The Fourth Man and Total Recall to get to eventually.

He doesn't. They are worse than the ones you've already seen.

[MadMan]

Total Recall is awesome, Qrazy. You just don't want to admit it :P

ryjJ16y5LTY

[Morris Schæffer]

I like Black Rain. Ken Takakura was a really cool partner in that although I haven't seen anything else with him in it. Jan de Bont's lensing is great.

[MadMan]

I like Black Rain. Ken Takakura was a really cool partner in that although I haven't seen anything else with him in it. Jan de Bont's lensing is great.I didn't know that de Bont also worked on Black Rain. Too bad he never did anything after Speed.

[B-side]

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

Two quotes, equally disturbing, begin the film: one featuring directions for the occupation of Ukraine that espouses the necessity of keeping the citizens uneducated and hungry. The other, that of a Californian scientist, speaks of the inevitable destruction of the third world at the hands of the first. The scientist refers to third world denizens as animals and a malignant disease. These quotes provide an important framework for this guerrilla filmmaking feature that explicates the folly of first world intrusion into closed off third world communities. The Quechua-speaking natives were initially hostile to the filmmaker and crew until a coca leaf divination ritual revealed their good intentions. Though director Jorge Sanjinés is a Bolivia native, he comes from La Paz, the country's capital, which may as well be a million miles and a thousand years away. After Ignacio is shot in the hills by police, his wife and members of the community load him into a truck and the two of them travel a day's journey into the city to get care. Ignacio's wife stares wide-eyed and perplexed at the towering, modern architecture. They meet up with Ignacio's brother, a man who wears leather jackets and lives in an apartment. After Ignacio is taken to the hospital, the doctor informs the wife and brother that he needs blood before they can operate on him, but neither of them are compatible, which sets into motion the search for money that comprises much of the film's running time and the intercut footage of just precisely why the police shot Ignacio in the first place.

This is where the role of the "gringos" comes into play. Peace Corps Americans bring clothes to the children as the elders watch with sour faces. New, foreign-run hospitals are mistakenly associated with infertility some of the local villages are experiencing, and the three Peace Corps members featured are kidnapped and killed after a coca leaf divination reveals the aforementioned curse. After they are kidnapped, their blaring rock music threatens to drown out the inflated tensions between the two groups while the Americans attempt to argue against their fate. In an earlier scene, the Americans stop Ignacio's wife as she carries a basketful of eggs to her village. They insist she sell them all of the eggs, but she resists, saying she needs to take them to the market to sell to other members of the community. Though the intentions of the hospital, and perhaps to a lesser extent the Peace Corps members, are at least somewhat noble, the ultimate message is that it's incredibly difficult for two radically different cultures to come together peaceably. Clearly made on a remarkably low budget, the use of non-actor natives lends the film a feeling of raw importance; a daring political gesture that may be more important as historical document, but isn't without its own merits as vérité cinema.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-01-05h50m50s236_400x326.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-01-06h42m54s223_400x326.jpg

[Sven]

I didn't know that de Bont also worked on Black Rain. Too bad he never did anything after Speed.

Actually, did you know that he did?

[Irish]

Black Rain is crap. It's one of the triad (heh) of shitty YELLOW MENACE movies made in the late 80s.

Forgettable and embarrassing. The only thing more so is Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me.

[Raiders]

Forgettable and embarrassing. The only thing more so is Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me.

Have you seen White Squall? Good grief is that a terrible movie.

[Boner M]

I saw White Squall when it was released, but walked out with friends after an hour and snuck into the similarly themed Mr. Holland's Opus. In hindsight, it was a bad day at the movies.

[Grouchy]

May line-up for Ramona Reyes:

MAY - ESTO DEL HUMOR NO ME HACE NI PUTA GRACIA (roughly, THIS COMEDY BUSINESS AIN'T THE LEAST BIT FUNNY)

7th - Man on the Moon (Forman, 1999)
14th - Lenny (Fosse, 1974)
21st - Dying of Laughter (De la Iglesia, 1999)
28th - The King of Comedy (Scorsese, 1983)

[Spinal]

Lenny is brilliant.

[Qrazy]

Lenny is brilliant.

Yeah, probably the only Fosse I fully endorse.

[Grouchy]

It's great, isn't it? It's a bitter, downbeat film and I like how it stands in contrast to the other three, which are dark in nature but feature plenty of comedy relief.

I don't remember laughing once during Lenny.

[Derek]

Yeah, probably the only Fosse I fully endorse.

You're not big on All That Jazz??

[Spinal]

All That Jazz is brillianter.

[Qrazy]

You're not big on All That Jazz??

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. You have read my remarks on that one in the past right?

[Derek]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not. You have read my remarks on that one in the past right?

Come on. I can only keep track of so many thrashings of undisputably great films, Qrazy.

Honestly though, I'm not being sarcastic. I don't remember you airing your grievances about ATJ. Joe Gideon will not be happy...though maybe he has a pill for that.

[Qrazy]

Come on. I can only keep track of so many thrashings of undisputably great films, Qrazy.

Honestly though, I'm not being sarcastic. I don't remember you airing your grievances about ATJ. Joe Gideon will not be happy...though maybe he has a pill for that.

Fair enough, I've spoken out against it two or three times and directly to you at one point (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=14&highlight=all+that+jazz+qrazy&page=1289). I thought I wrote more extended thoughts somewhere but now I can't find them.

[Derek]

Fair enough, I've spoken out against it two or three times and directly to you at one point (http://www.match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=14&highlight=all+that+jazz+qrazy&page=1289). I thought I wrote more extended thoughts somewhere but now I can't find them.

Hmm, how ever did I forget that 2-sentence exchange from 2 years ago where you gave a film a B-? ;)

[Watashi]

Man, the May lineup at the New Beverly is insane. You up for any of those movies, Derek?

[Derek]

Man, the May lineup at the New Beverly is insane. You up for any of those movies, Derek?

Normally I would be, but I'm stuck on the night shift til mid-to-late June, so M-F night movies are out for now. I've already seen Eraserhead on the big screen (toootally worth it if you haven't before), but I may very well go for the Blue Velvet/Straight Story double feature that Sunday.

I will probably be seeing as many of the Sat/Sun shows of the Bresson retrospective on the 12/13th & 19/20th at the Aero...if you feel like driving all the way up to Santa Monica for it. Your choice of Pickpocket/L'Argent, Mouchette/Au Hasard, Balthaspinal, Une Femme Douce (naked Dominique Sanda, huh?)/Les Anges Du Peche/Les Dames du Bois de Bologne or Lancelot of the Lake/Trial of Joan of Arc.

[Qrazy]

Hmm, how ever did I forget that 2-sentence exchange from 2 years ago where you gave a film a B-? ;)

I don't know Derek! I didn't forget! I"LL NEVER FORGET.

http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/7/2008/11/CryingEagle-Flag640.jpg

[Watashi]

Normally I would be, but I'm stuck on the night shift til mid-to-late June, so M-F night movies are out for now. I've already seen Eraserhead on the big screen (toootally worth it if you haven't before), but I may very well go for the Blue Velvet/Straight Story double feature that Sunday.

I will probably be seeing as many of the Sat/Sun shows of the Bresson retrospective on the 12/13th & 19/20th at the Aero...if you feel like driving all the way up to Santa Monica for it. Your choice of Pickpocket/L'Argent, Mouchette/Au Hasard, Balthaspinal, Une Femme Douce (naked Dominique Sanda, huh?)/Les Anges Du Peche/Les Dames du Bois de Bologne or Lancelot of the Lake/Trial of Joan of Arc.
I would love to do that Bresson retrospective, but Santa Monica is a bit far (though I did drive out there to see Whisper of the Heart last month).

[Derek]

I would love to do that Bresson retrospective, but Santa Monica is a bit far (though I did drive out there to see Whisper of the Heart last month).

Yeah, I know. Santa Monica's kind of a pain to get to even for me, so no prob if you don't wanna make the hike. I'm not sure which nights I'll be going (hopefully all, but more likely 2 or 3) and if you come up, we can go to Father's Office, which has the best burgers you'll find anywhere in SoCal and a ton of great beers on draft. I'll PM you next week.

[Kiusagi]

Man, the May lineup at the New Beverly is insane. You up for any of those movies, Derek?

Seriously. I'm gonna try to see every David Lynch movie.

[dreamdead]

Yesterday while the wife went to see The Raven with a friend, I settled in to pop my Whit Stillman cherry with Metropolitan. I made a good decision. Even though Stillman critiques many of these characters' intellectualism, there is a sense of grace and care offered to each of them in turn. And the depth of interest that these characters explore (seriously, Thorstein Veblen from post-graduates?) is heartening to see, even if other instances expose how fraudulent that depth is, such as when Tom stands by the notion of reading criticism to knock off a book and its criticism in one blow.

This was wonderful; one of the two or three best things I've seen all year. I moved The Last Days of Disco to the top of the queue.

[Boner M]

Movies I love you but you're bringing me down.

[Irish]

Roger Ebert, compiling his list of the best films ever made for Sight & Sound.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/04/the_greatest_films_of_all_time .html

There's a surprise at the end that some of you will like.

[Boner M]

His recent shortlist of recent films worthy of making the top 10 (http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2012/04/post_5.html) is reason enough to exclude his participation.

[Grouchy]

I know me ribbing on Roger Ebert is a tired schtick, but hasn't film got to withstand the test of time (at least a few years) before entering a critic's Top 10 of All Time? It doesn't seem too unreasonable to me.

[Raiders]

I know me ribbing on Roger Ebert is a tired schtick, but hasn't film got to withstand the test of time (at least a few years) before entering a critic's Top 10 of All Time? It doesn't seem too unreasonable to me.

No? Why would it have to do that? How is seeing a movie from 1940 for the first time and loving it any different than seeing a movie from 2011 for the first time and loving it? Or do you mean multiple viewings? In which case, who is to say how many times he has viewed it?

[Spinal]

Ebert doesn't have much time left. If he looks back on his long career as a critic and considers The Tree of Life to be worthy of inclusion amongst the best, so be it. Makes sense to me.

[Mr. McGibblets]

I do think a movie should have to be not-Juno before entering a critic's Top 10 of All Time.

[Dead & Messed Up]

He says in the article that it's mostly an inclusion designed to spur more people to see it and discuss it.

Whatever. It's just a movie list.

[Grouchy]

No? Why would it have to do that? How is seeing a movie from 1940 for the first time and loving it any different than seeing a movie from 2011 for the first time and loving it? Or do you mean multiple viewings? In which case, who is to say how many times he has viewed it?
I can watch a film from 1940 or 2011 and put it on my Top Ten inmediately. But I'm not an international movie critic. I assume that Ebert has already seen most relevant movies from 1940 and that when he puts a film on a list such as this he's not only taking in consideration how much he liked it but how much it means to cinema history. And, in the case of Tree of Life, I think it's way too recent to make that call. There might even be an extended cut of it coming out which could modify one's perception of the film.

However, if Ebert doesn't have much time left, that sounds like a reasonable explanation to me.

[Qrazy]

I can watch a film from 1940 or 2011 and put it on my Top Ten inmediately. But I'm not an international movie critic. I assume that Ebert has already seen most relevant movies from 1940 and that when he puts a film on a list such as this he's not only taking in consideration how much he liked it but how much it means to cinema history. And, in the case of Tree of Life, I think it's way too recent to make that call. There might even be an extended cut of it coming out which could modify one's perception of the film.


I don't think this should really matter in putting together a top 10 of all time. I'm not going to place The Jazz Singer or Birth of a Nation over an Aleksei German or Tarkovsky film just because of their significance from a historical/technical perspective.

[elixir]

Yeah, who gives a fuck?

Also, L'Avventura placed at #2 in the 1962 poll, only 2 years after its release. (link: http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/topten/history/1962.html)

[Grouchy]

Okay then.

I guess I just like arguing about stuff.

[Irish]

I assume that Ebert has already seen most relevant movies from 1940 and that when he puts a film on a list such as this he's not only taking in consideration how much he liked it but how much it means to cinema history.

I don't think Ebert is concerned with cinema history. He's never struck me as a guy who stands on ceremony. It's one of the things that makes him so accessible and I suspect it's one of the keys to his popularity.

I think he's using this list to push movies he thinks are good, really good, into public view. It was one of the things his original show with Gene Siskel excelled at.

How many mainstream sites & outlets are talking about movies like Synedoche NY and Chop Shop years after their release?

[elixir]

xF6r1HrU-MA
Fell in love with this movie. Absolutely astonishing. This scene is incredible!

[B-side]

I do think a movie should have to be not-Juno before entering a critic's Top 10 of All Time.

Haha, yes.

[StanleyK]

Fell in love with this movie. Absolutely astonishing. This scene is incredible!

Awesome. I bookended last year with viewings of this film. This reminds me I still have to get to In Vanda's Room.

[Derek]

xF6r1HrU-MA
Fell in love with this movie. Absolutely astonishing. This scene is incredible!

Yup. Still probably the best film I've seen since I first saw a couple years ago.

[Spinal]

Is it possible that Roger Ebert likes Juno more than anyone on Earth, including the people who made Juno?

[kopello]

Anybody seen Veiko Õunpuu's The Temptation of St. Tony? I can't remember the last time my brain felt completely trumped by a movie. I couldn't even begin to describe what this movie is about, but with it's frustratingly annoying scenes (especially in the first half), it also has these wickedly cool and haunting parts (and a surprise appearance by Denis Lavant!). I don't think I'm totally sold on it, curious to know if anyone here has any opinions on it.

Also, O Sangue is good stuff.

[Derek]

I don't think I'm totally sold on it, curious to know if anyone here has any opinions on it.

Give Brightside a few hours and he'll have seen it.

[EyesWideOpen]

Is it possible that Roger Ebert likes Juno more than anyone on Earth, including the people who made Juno?

I don't consider it one of the "greatest movies" but I would call it a great movie.

[B-side]

Give Brightside a few hours and he'll have seen it.

:P

I've had it on my hard drive for probably a few years now. I've heard amazing things.

[Qrazy]

Give Brightside a few hours and he'll have seen the first film by that director because he loves to play the role of obscurantist cockgobbler.

Fixed.

[B-side]

I know you're teasing, but I like to chart a director's progress, so going for their early work initially makes sense to me.

[soitgoes...]

I know you're teasing, but I like to chart a director's progress, so going for their early work initially makes sense to me.

Don't sidestep the fact that Qrazy called you out on your cockgobbling habit.

[B-side]

Don't sidestep the fact that Qrazy called you out on your cockgobbling habit.

om nom nom

[Winston*]

I know you're teasing, but I like to chart a director's progress, so going for their early work initially makes sense to me.

Unless you're going through Merlin's filmography.

[B-side]

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

Originally conceived as a radio drama in Argentina, The Nazarene Cross and the Wolf is still, to this day, the most widely viewed Argentinian film in its country of origin ever made, the director winning several of their Oscar equivalents. Favio gleefully indulges the film's folkloric origins with a dark color scheme and baroque, painterly aesthetic. After the credits roll over a soothsaying witch warning of the forthcoming curse if a woman has a seventh son, the announcement of a pregnancy is greeted with a speedy zoom and a smash cut to men on horseback floundering in a river. Cackles of maniacal laughter resound when Nazareno is told by who we later find out is The Devil that he'll turn into a werewolf when night strikes after he's fallen in love with a local girl. Though muffled a bit in the rip I watched, the soundtrack is a loud cacophony of diegetic and non-diegetic sound, the latter sometimes making the film feel like a bizarre 1970s music video, for better or worse. The gonzo theatrics and slides into surrealistic tendencies give the film a lot more in common with Alejandro Jodorowsky's two films from the same decade than the previous two films of Favio's I've seen, both of which were very good, if not great, and at least marginally superior to this. There are stretches of tedium, but it's a fun trip into strange territory regardless.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-03-05h32m28s204_400x300.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-03-05h56m12s100_400x300.jpg

[Qrazy]

I know you're teasing, but I like to chart a director's progress, so going for their early work initially makes sense to me.

Reasonable-ish.

[Raiders]

The General - C

Neither Keaton nor Boorman deserves this grade.

[Qrazy]

Neither Keaton nor Boorman deserves this grade.

Boorman does. I saw the colourized version though so perhaps it would have been slightly better had I seen the black and white one.

[B-side]

I'm jumping on board the Yevgeni Bauer train. Might watch one tonight.

[soitgoes...]

I'm jumping on board the Yevgeni Bauer train. Might watch one tonight.
They're all nice and short. That should make him an instant favorite with you. Seriously though, he's one of the top directors of his generation.

[B-side]

They're all nice and short. That should make him an instant favorite with you. Seriously though, he's one of the top directors of his generation.

I watched The Dying Swan a while ago and remember being moderately fond of it. I might enjoy it more now. Crazy that his career only lasted 5 years.

[B-side]

Brumes d'automne (1929) ***½

This is real good. Glad you liked it.

[Grouchy]

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

The Nazarene Cross and the Wolf is still, to this day, the most widely viewed Argentinian film in its country of origin ever made, the director winning several of their Oscar equivalents.
I'm not sure if this is true, but it should be. Everyone should see more of Leonardo Favio's filmography.

By the way, it's not "The Nazarene Cross". "Nazareno Cruz" is a name, "Cross" being the last name.

[Raiders]

Crazy that his career only lasted 5 years.

Well, he died. I am sure it would have lasted longer.

[Yxklyx]

Has there ever been a movie that is so awesome in yet so ridiculous as Zabriskie Point?

OK, I love Antonioni's early works and this one seems to have been derided by many so I'd avoided it until now. I don't see anything ridiculous here - just awesomeness. This was not a misfire.

[B-side]

By the way, it's not "The Nazarene Cross". "Nazareno Cruz" is a name, "Cross" being the last name.

I know, I'm just using the international English title.


Well, he died. I am sure it would have lasted longer.

I know! It's just sad that he was only able to make films for 5 years.:P

[Qrazy]

OK, I love Antonioni's early works and this one seems to have been derided by many so I'd avoided it until now. I don't see anything ridiculous here - just awesomeness. This was not a misfire.

Nah it's terrible, and I love Antonioni. Only redeeming factor is the last 10 minutes.

[B-side]

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

Glistening waves stretch across the shore in The Girl and the Echo, a terse tale of subtle politics and childhood awakening. A young girl, likely 10 or 11, stays at her grandfather's house on the shores of the Baltic Sea where she swims frequently and engages her natural surroundings. Her father is away, and Zebriunas never indulges us in a reason for his absence, though when he does return he's carrying a suitcase, so my guess would be that he's a businessman of some sort. In anticipation of his arrival, the grandfather takes off in a shoddy rowboat for an unknown destination while Vika, the little girl, roams the seaside. Early on, alluding to the previously mentioned subtle politics, a group of young boys are playing a game. The elder and "leader" offers one of the followers a chance to take charge if he can only dive into the sea and find the crab marked with a cross he's going to throw in alongside an unmarked crab. While the eager younger kid faces the sea, the elder drops the marked crab and throws only the unmarked crab in the sea, an act Vika witnesses and exposes only for the elder to claim she painted the cross on a different crab, thus quelling much of the uproar over the rigged game. Later, she swims nude in the sea and is discovered by another boy who just moved nearby recently. She's not terribly shy, but enough to not want to completely expose herself to the young boy. They become close until the boy holds her clothes hostage in an attempt to win the favor of the aforementioned group of boys. Vika is forced to walk on the rocks in front of all of the boys completely naked to gather her clothes, and while passing her friend calling him a coward. The giant rock formations near the sea -- specifically The Devil's Finger, which a single partisan held against the fascists -- used to carry an echo, but it seems the wind carries the echo and in this windless day of betrayal the only thing that can generate an echo is the grandfather's dog. While escaping the group, Vika's friend traces similar steps as the partisan up the formations and away from persecution. While Vika screams into the cavernous rock towers, the camera mimics an echo, zooming quickly in and out in patterns. Zebriunas' camerawork is terrific, and the seaside vistas would be much easier to appreciate if the print were in better shape, but what's here is nonetheless great. Even after WWII, Lithuanian partisans fought for an extra 8 years or more, losing 30,000 soldiers and supporters, and many more being arrested and deported to Siberian gulags. An estimated 780,000 Lithuanians were lost in WWII. Lithuania then became the first former Soviet country to declare independence from the Soviet Union on March 11th, 1990.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-05-05h20m24s178_400x286.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-05-05h53m39s166_400x286.jpg

[Russ]

Szindbád (Zoltán Huszárik, 1971) PRO

I didn't really know what to expect from this obscure Hungarian filmmaker's provocative take on the Sinbad narrative (here, Szindbád is envisioned as a womanizing philanderer) but, suffice to say, I was pretty captivated by the director's verve. Obviously a filmmaker of immense talent, Huszárik would only direct one other feature, 1980's Csontváry; he, like the charismatic star of Sinbad, Zoltán Latinovits, both committed suicide at the prime of their careers.

I don't know a lot about Hungarian cinema, but I've enjoyed pretty much everything I've seen. This one's no different. The loose narrative concerns the dying protagonist's memories (shown in a wildly non-chronological order) of his romantic trysts, along with his philosophical musings (and regrets) and the various stories of the women who continue to pine for him. Based on the "unfilmable" short stories of Hungarian surrealist Gyula Krúdy, Huszárik's film seems to share some of the author's ambiguity in his stream-of-consciousness approach to the material -- it's like a Slaughterhouse Five treatment of Victorian romances.

What truly makes this film special is the careful collection of sumptuous imagery and the immaculate shot selection employed -- using quick edits to careen from beautifully composed wide shots to macro-filmed closeups. It must be said that this is one of the most colorful and breathtakingly shot films of its time -- courtesy of cinematographer Sándor Sára. There is a prominent scene of food gratification that surely must rank with the greatest ever captured in all of cinema. A recent poll of Hungarian critics placed this film third on a list of the greatest films in that country's history, and it's easy to see why.

Spinal, this is newly released on a Region 2 DVD, and I thought of you while watching it -- it's right up your alley. It would make a great companion piece to Valerie and Her Week of Wonders.

http://i536.photobucket.com/albums/ff324/astrojester/szindbad.jpg

[Spinal]

Thanks for the tip.

[B-side]

That one's been on my radar for a while now. I should really get to it.

[Boner M]

Armond White and I are now Facebook friends. :o

EDIT: actually this just feels voyeuristic and weird.

[Qrazy]

Armond White and I are now Facebook friends. :o

EDIT: actually this just feels voyeuristic and weird.

Don't kid yourself. Armond White has no friends.

[Derek]

Don't kid yourself. Armond White has no friends.

I'm pretty sure I've mentioned this before, but he actually bought a DVD off me years ago (randomly off of half.com in '04 or '05). I included a copy of his notorious "If you don't love Mission to Mars, you don't love cinema" review and asked him to sign it and mail it back, even included a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Of course, given his complete lack of sense of humor, I never got it. Someone else at the time suggested I send him anthrax instead. I have regretted my decision every day since. I failed cinema that day.

[Sven]

I have an Armond White-signed copy of the Crank DVD, with the message: "Good taste"

It is a prized possession.

[Derek]

I have an Armond White-signed copy of the Crank DVD, with the message: "Good taste"

That's like a deaf man saying you have a beautiful voice.

[Sven]

That's like a deaf man saying you have a beautiful voice.

Tosh.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I should send him a copy of Toy Story 3 and see if he could sign it "Tedious commercial pablum! - AW".

I'd keep it and show it to friends.

[B-side]

To be fair to Armond, Toy Story 3 isn't very good.

[MadMan]

Armond White and I are now Facebook friends. :o

EDIT: actually this just feels voyeuristic and weird.Hah, awesome.

[Boner M]

He only has 235 friends, which is what makes it feel weird. Although, the chances he'll see & applaud my pan of the new Winterbottom film when I post it are higher.

[/dork]

[Boner M]

Also, a rewatch of The Garbage Pail Kids Movie made me wonder how I could've liked it even as a 6-7 year old. This is some unwatchable, nauseating shit... but the 'State Home For the Ugly' is so inspired that it warrants an extra ½ star. Pretty sure someone not on the film's chief creative team came up with it.

[Dukefrukem]

I watched The Third Man (Reed, 1949) over the weekend and it promptly made it into my top 100 of all time list. Joseph Cotten was fantastic and it was surprisingly fast paced.

[Grouchy]

To be fair to Armond, Toy Story 3 isn't very good.
I thought it was clearly one of the major achievements of its year.

[Sven]

There was one good part of Toy Story 3 that lasted about a second and a half.

[Kurosawa Fan]

There was one good part of Toy Story 3 that lasted about a second and a half.

Holding hands while facing certain death?

That was the only moment that stood out to me. I've forgotten everything else.

[Sven]

Holding hands while facing certain death?

The moment when they trap reprogrammed Buzz in a plastic container and he tries to use his arm-laser to burn a hole through it and escape. Instead, he bumps into the wall and falls down. I laughed pretty hard. Everything else is a blur.

[Sven]

Oh, and I watched Valhalla Rising last night. Thanks to everyone for pushing it. Tremendous film.

[Raiders]

Oh, and I watched Valhalla Rising last night. Thanks to everyone for pushing it. Tremendous film.

Ugh. Didn't like this one much at all. Thoughts here:

http://match-cut.org/showthread.php?p=369729

[Qrazy]

Ugh. Didn't like this one much at all. Thoughts here:

http://match-cut.org/showthread.php?p=369729

Agree with your review.

[Watashi]

Not this shit again.

[Sven]

Not this shit again.

Take a deep breath. Things will work out.

[Derek]

Oh, and I watched Valhalla Rising last night. Thanks to everyone for pushing it. Tremendous film.

Nice. Love that movie.

[Dukefrukem]

Oh, and I watched Valhalla Rising last night. Thanks to everyone for pushing it. Tremendous film.

Love it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

To be fair to Armond, Toy Story 3 isn't very good.

It's pretty good. It's not bad. I'm glad I saw it, mostly.

[EyesWideOpen]

I've been watching through the Mission: Impossible movies since I've only ever seen the first one and I wanted to watch Ghost Protocol so I figured why not watch all of them. The first one is a pretty good spy movie but holy hell was John Woo a terrible choice for the sequel. The first half of the movie is good and has a similar feel to the first but as soon as he starts Wooing it up with slow motion pigeons, a cgi dove, and Ethan Hunt doing unnecessary spins and flips (most of the time while shooting guns in the process) for dramatic effect it's overkill and doesn't fit in to the established universe and feel of the franchise. I'm looking forward to Abrams take on the third one.

[Rowland]

doesn't fit in to the established universe and feel of the franchise.Don't expect any of them to match the feel of the original, which remains my favorite, as the franchise was conceived by Cruise as a means through which each individual installment would reflect the sensibilities of the filmmaker involved. If you can accept the second M:I as a straight-up Woo joint, though it has been a decade since I last saw it, I recall its flamboyant bombast being pretty irresistible.

[Scar]

Don't expect any of them to match the feel of the original, which remains my favorite, as the franchise was conceived by Cruise as a means through which each individual installment would reflect the sensibilities of the filmmaker involved. If you can accept the second M:I as a straight-up Woo joint, though it has been a decade since I last saw it, I recall its flamboyant bombast being pretty irresistible.

I loves me some MI2.

[MadMan]

The first Mission: Impossible is fairly solid/good, although De Palma has done better in terms of paranoid suspense action/thrillers. MI:2 is over the top, outrageous, and incredibly cheesy. I saw it in theaters, and thought it was highly entertaining, and I still do. I'm not really sure you can take that movie seriously, at all, and I wonder if it was really John Woo's own private joke. MI:III was fairly solid, but I felt that something was missing for some reason-it could probably use a rewatch. At some point I'll view the latest installment, particularly since yes Brad Bird is involved. Oh and Paula Patton...

[Rowland]

The first Mission: Impossible is fairly solid/goodWhich one is it, fairly solid or fairly good?!

[MadMan]

Which one is it, fairly solid or fairly good?!Eh I'm not really sure. I gave it a 75 at the time, so I suppose more solid than good. I haven't viewed it since I saw it in theaters back in 2006, so my memory is a bit fuzzy-which is why I stated that it warrants a rewatch.

[B-side]

Another great Nina Menkes film behind me with The Great Sadness of Zohara, a 40 minute long evocation of spiritual desolation in the Middle East. She really is one of the best American filmmakers currently working. Her eye for composition is near second-to-none. Her frames emote more than her characters.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-08-01h49m52s173_400x297.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-08-02h02m58s101_400x297.jpg

[Derek]

She really is one of the best American filmmakers currently working.]

Not even remotely close. Neither The Bloody Child nor Phantom Love are particularly good.

[Pop Trash]

Speaking of lambasted John Woo joints, they showed the trailer for Hard Target before a midnight screening of Predator the other night. Dear Lord did that look awesome.

[B-side]

Not even remotely close. Neither The Bloody Child nor Phantom Love are particularly good.

I haven't watched The Bloody Child yet, but Phantom Love is very good.

[Rowland]

Speaking of lambasted John Woo joints, they showed the trailer for Hard Target before a midnight screening of Predator the other night. Dear Lord did that look awesome.It is pretty awesome, and definitely top tier as far as Van Damme is concerned.

[B-side]

50 First Dates is very underrated.

[Morris Schæffer]

Speaking of lambasted John Woo joints, they showed the trailer for Hard Target before a midnight screening of Predator the other night. Dear Lord did that look awesome.

Jesus they did that? Man, that's so awesome. Seeing Predator on the big screen is awesome, but preceded by a trailer of Hard Target is nearly as awesome.

[EyesWideOpen]

The final scene in MI:II also has a similar scene to The Room. They both have a group of people throwing a football to each other while standing three feet apart.

[Derek]

50 First Dates is very underrated.

http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/still/fifty_first_date11.jpg

[Derek]

The final scene in MI:II also has a similar scene to The Room. They both have a group of people throwing a football to each other while standing three feet apart.

But weren't they all wearing tuxedos in The Room?

[MadMan]

50 First Dates is very underrated.I like it a lot. Its one of Sandler's better movies.

Also Predator on the big screen would be beyond amazing to me. I'd be drunk already and super excited.

I've only seen some of Hard Target, but what I viewed was pretty decent. I like Van Damme as an action hero, although it took Timecop for me to realize this.

[Pop Trash]

Jesus they did that? Man, that's so awesome. Seeing Predator on the big screen is awesome, but preceded by a trailer of Hard Target is nearly as awesome.

And a Commando trailer!

[Morris Schæffer]

And a Commando trailer!

I didn't say you could torture me further. :P

[Dukefrukem]

mgOtPXDyKjA#!

[Qrazy]

Captain America - Wow this was really awful... from the themes to the narrative to the effects to the action, to the acting, just staggeringly bad on almost every plane.

[eternity]

I didn't sign an NDA, so I'm allowed to say that Wreck-It Ralph is kind of awesome. It's Scott Pilgrim and The King of Kong dyed into a Toy Story-like parable. It was very incomplete, but it's really well-written; went far above just being a bunch of nostalgic pop-culture iconography spoonfed to the Comic-Con audience who will eat it up for just that reason anyway.

John Lasseter was there. He can rock the fuck out of a Hawaiian shirt.

[B-side]

The first half hour or so of The 47 Ronin is among the best cinema has to offer. I say without an ounce of hyperbole that Masaki Kobayashi wishes his film about the rigid samurai code of conduct were as good as those first 30-40 minutes. It slows down from there and becomes a lot of speculation and features less spectacular technical showpieces, but the first part is still terrific art. I'm about to start part two, and if it keeps pace with the quality of part one, then this is going to be a fantastic experience.

[B-side]

The first half hour or so of The 47 Ronin is among the best cinema has to offer. I say without an ounce of hyperbole that Masaki Kobayashi wishes his film about the rigid samurai code of conduct were as good as those first 30-40 minutes. It slows down from there and becomes a lot of speculation and features less spectacular technical showpieces, but the first part is still terrific art. I'm about to start part two, and if it keeps pace with the quality of part one, then this is going to be a fantastic experience.

Just finished this and yeah, it's a great, great film. The promise of those first 30-40 minutes isn't fully realized, but that's not really much of a complaint. Everything in the film is protracted beyond reason, making the film feel so somber and fateful it's near unbearable at times, especially toward the end. Mizoguchi's longest takes yet.

[Yxklyx]

Just finished this and yeah, it's a great, great film. The promise of those first 30-40 minutes isn't fully realized, but that's not really much of a complaint. Everything in the film is protracted beyond reason, making the film feel so somber and fateful it's near unbearable at times, especially toward the end. Mizoguchi's longest takes yet.

Where'd you get it? Also, I looked on Netflix and found that they're doing a remake of 47 Ronin in 2013 starring Keanu Reeves and lots of Japanese actors.:shock:

[B-side]

Where'd you get it? Also, I looked on Netflix and found that they're doing a remake of 47 Ronin in 2013 starring Keanu Reeves and lots of Japanese actors.;)

KG.

[Qrazy]

The first half hour or so of The 47 Ronin is among the best cinema has to offer. I say without an ounce of hyperbole that Masaki Kobayashi wishes his film about the rigid samurai code of conduct were as good as those first 30-40 minutes. It slows down from there and becomes a lot of speculation and features less spectacular technical showpieces, but the first part is still terrific art. I'm about to start part two, and if it keeps pace with the quality of part one, then this is going to be a fantastic experience.

You're right, the word hyperbole doesn't fit there. You are just flat wrong though because Kobayashi > Mizoguchi and there's absolutely no reason to speculate that Kobayashi would wish any such thing but yeah, not hyperbolic.

[B-side]

You're right, the word hyperbole doesn't fit there. You are just flat wrong though because Kobayashi > Mizoguchi and there's absolutely no reason to speculate that Kobayashi would wish any such thing but yeah, not hyperbolic.

But that first 30-40 minutes is better than Black River, Harakiri and Kwaidan.

[Qrazy]

But that first 30-40 minutes is better than Black River, Harakiri and Kwaidan.

Black River is one of his lesser films so I'm not sure why it wouldn't be. Kwaidan is great but disjointed. Have to disagree re: the totality of the films in relation to 47 vs Harakiri anddd then there's The Human Condition Trilogy and Samurai Rebellion.

Personally I prefer Harakiri and The Human Condition to Ugetsu and Sansho (my two favorite Guchi's), I do love Mizoguchi as well but his atmosphere/aesthetic doesn't speak to me as much as Kobayashi's.

I really wish Kobayashi's later films would become available.

[soitgoes...]

But that first 30-40 minutes is better than Harakiri.But you're wrong.

[Derek]

This discussion is silly. Both 47 Ronin and Harakiri are equally awesome.

[Boner M]

I've gotta start watching proper movie again soon. Weekend possibilities (because listing them here helps me commit):

Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (Mizoguchi)
River of Grass (Reichhart)
Container (Moodyson)
A Man Vanishes (Imamura)
Dead Ringers (Cronenberg, rpt)

[Spinal]

Container (Moodyson)

Am I the only one here who's seen this and liked it? Probably.

[Qrazy]

I've gotta start watching proper movie again soon. Weekend possibilities (because listing them here helps me commit):

Story of the Late Chrysanthemums (Mizoguchi)
River of Grass (Reichhart)
Container (Moodyson)
A Man Vanishes (Imamura)
Dead Ringers (Cronenberg, rpt)

Yor, the Hunter From the Future (Margheriti, 1983) *½

I find this deeply disheartening... not because I"ve seen it but because of that wonderful Yor title song.

[Winston*]

Baby's Day Out (Johnson, 1994) ***

I'm more interested in this.

[Watashi]

I'm more interested in this.
I used to watch that movie all the time as a kid.

It's the hardest I've ever seen my dad laugh at a movie.

[Derek]

I'm more interested in this.

As am I. I assume drugs and/or alcohol were involved...

[B-side]

I've gotta start watching proper movie again soon. Weekend possibilities (because listing them here helps me commit):

River of Grass (Reichhart)

I really enjoyed this. Definitely felt inspired by Jon Jost.

[Boner M]

As am I. I assume drugs and/or alcohol were involved...
Correct. However, it's pretty hilarious and comes closer to capturing the spirit of classic Harold Lloyd/Buster Keaton than most kids slapstick movies. The construction site climax is wonderful.

(I live-tweeted it, fwiw; see sig)

[Winston*]

Aside from The Avengers the only films I've watched in the last two months have been about the Holocaust. :(

[Boner M]

Yor, the Hunter From the Future (Margheriti, 1983) *½

I find this deeply disheartening... not because I"ve seen it but because of that wonderful Yor title song.
That + the frenzied camerawork + the numerous unintentional lulz redeem it considerably.

I didn't here the full title before my friend played it for me, so I thought every character was saying 'Your' and not the titular name. It was very confusing.

[Qrazy]

Los Enchiladas - I quite like Mitch Hedburg but his single writer/directorial outing is fairly weak sauce. Still it's an interesting precursor to films like Waiting and other restaurant-centric comedy cinema. It's a very mellow film and there are a few funny moments but the acting and dramatic direction is just too poor to carry this thing along. Best bits... "Who buys driftwood?" "Who doesn't buy driftwood is a shorter list." And the chef quitting his job to become a full time menu writer... "Why are you expending all your energy making food when you could be describing it?"

[Morris Schæffer]

Yor, the Hunter From the Future (Margheriti, 1983) *½

I find this deeply disheartening... not because I"ve seen it but because of that wonderful Yor title song.

That's similar to Atlantis interceptors (aka the raiders of atlantis). Also a 1983 flick, also helmed by an Italian hack (Deodato) and also sporting a title song that's somehow more memorable than it should be.

Ok, this is awesome. i just went to youtube to check out Yor's title song. And it says music by John Scott, who's the composer for the rather cool 1980 sci-fi flick The Final Countdown, but, get this, it also says that additional music is by Guido and Maurizio de Angelis, and these are the brothers who composed the title song for atlantis intceptors called "Black Inferno." The pieces have fallen into place, it all makes sense now! :lol:

lYpbqOt8wb0

[B-side]

Boner, you might be interested to know that the Australian Madman DVD of The 47 Ronin has audio commentary by Adrian Martin.

[Melville]

The best thing about Baby's Day Out is this review: http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/other-movies/babys-day-out/

[Boner M]

Boner, you might be interested to know that the Australian Madman DVD of The 47 Ronin has audio commentary by Adrian Martin.
Way ahead of ya. (http://match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=268882&postcount=43291)

[B-side]

Way ahead of ya. (http://match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=268882&postcount=43291)

I didn't have too much trouble keeping up with it, but yeah, it's about as formally accomplished as Mizoguchi films get. Like I said, especially in that first little while, Mizoguchi really flexes his technical muscles with the big budget he'd been given, employing all those brilliant crane shots and keeping the camera rolling well beyond the length one would expect in a film from 1941.

[Melville]

The best thing about Baby's Day Out is this review: http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/other-movies/babys-day-out/
Nevermind, that one doesn't get good for a while. This one's better: http://redlettermedia.com/plinkett/other-movies/cop-dog/

[Boner M]

If Wendy & Lucy didn't already tell us, River of Grass does: Kelly Reichardt really, really likes Wanda. Fortunately, she also seems to really like Pierrot Le Fou, as her debut plays like an unlikely blend of Godard's form and Loden's content. Many American indies from the 90's can have an off-puttingly petulant, 'life ain't like the movies' counter-signalling tendency, and while Reichardt doesn't completely sidestep this, she nonetheless rebukes lovers-on-the-lam cliches effectively, using montages of magazine photos to evoke an insidious media-scape that her characters seem to be unconsciously affected by on their road to nowhere. Doesn't always escape its low-budget trappings, but the seeds of a major artist are there.

[Dukefrukem]

Captain America - Wow this was really awful... from the themes to the narrative to the effects to the action, to the acting, just staggeringly bad on almost every plane.

Yes

[Qrazy]

Yes

So yeah I watched Avengers Assemble. New Hulk was probably the best of the bunch (had already seen the first Iron Man). Iron Man 2 is well done graphically but both films are just so smug and obnoxious that I find them hard to get behind. Thor was a mess but had a few redeeming moments. Even the new Hulk had a number of cliches and issues but the acting and set piece design was a cut above most comic book films. I heard Norton was annoyed with the producers for making the film more actiony than he originally intended. It would have been interesting to see his full vision.

[Dukefrukem]

So yeah I watched Avengers Assemble. New Hulk was probably the best of the bunch (had already seen the first Iron Man). Iron Man 2 is well done graphically but both films are just so smug and obnoxious that I find them hard to get behind. Thor was a mess but had a few redeeming moments. Even the new Hulk had a number of cliches and issues but the acting and set piece design was a cut above most comic book films. I heard Norton was annoyed with the producers for making the film more actiony than he originally intended. It would have been interesting to see his full vision.

No.

[Dukefrukem]

What was a mess with Thor??

[Yxklyx]

Am I the only one here who's seen this and liked it? Probably.

It was OK. Doesn't deserve the really bad critiques. I'd call it a slight misfire not a disaster.

[Qrazy]

What was a mess with Thor??

I thought the worlds were quite thinly sketched. The way the ice giants live seems more like an evil lair place than an actual lived in world. I think the central narrative dilemma that comes to the forefront at the end of the film would have benefitted from making their planet seem more like an actual real planet. Then there's just the structure of the thing starting with that wide scope and then focusing on a single town in the US. The fight with the guardian type creature in the town at the end just came off as goofy. Loki's character motivations are also all over the map. The action scenes are also kind of lamely executed I thought (slo-mo fight in the mud with a power kick to end the battle? Meh)

I also find Thor to be an uninteresting character.

[Stay Puft]

Also, Branagh shoots everything in canted angles for no discernable purpose. Annoying.

None of those Marvel movies are terribly good but I'll agree with Qrazy that the Hulk one was the best. The setpieces are good. I liked the "monster movie" Hulk at the beginning. Iron Man 2 and Captain America are by far the worst, just terrible films.

[Grouchy]

Inevitably, I'm very lenient with these Marvel films because they are very accurate representations of characters I grew up reading and watching on TV cartoons.

I'm sure I'd find Thor a worse movie if it wasn't for that. As it is, I've seen it twice and liked it both times.

[Pop Trash]

Iron Man 2 and Captain America are by far the worst, just terrible films.

[/AWHELLNAHmeme]

[Pop Trash]

The Game (Fincher, 1997) ***½

Did you write any thoughts about this?

[MadMan]

The more praise it receives, the more I'm interested in rewatching The Game again. I also need to considering I've seen far more Fincher at this point-at the time I saw The Game, I had only viewed Alien 3. Panic Room, Zodiac and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo are the only Fincher films I have left to see at this point.

Considering that I'm not a huge fan of superheroes and I don't read comic books, I think the reason I like so many superhero movies could have something to do with their high entertainment value. Most of them are action films, too, so that's another reason why. I do have some favorite superheroes, sure, but most of mine are not the ones people often say, normally. Maybe one day The Flash will finally get his due, but I doubt it since he's never been a popular character. What they need is a RDJ type to play him, I suppose.

[B-side]

The Three Musketeers is my first Paul W.S. Anderson film since I began taking film seriously as an artistic medium around 2006. In that sense, it might as well be my first film of his period. Though I'm not about to praise Paul W.S. Anderson as a purveyor of high art, or as accomplished in regards to mise-en-scene as our friend Trip has done, but his wide-scale geometrical photography is a sight to behold, most certainly. Richelieu resides in a palace in which his throne room sits atop a giant map of Europe complete with toy soldiers and battle pieces. Rochefort calls the entire thing a game. The opening shot zooms over and through a small scale tableaux recreation of the events about to take place. This kind of self-awareness and dutiful hand in historical manipulation in favor of bombastic iconography is fun and enticing. Aramis even cribs Batman's symbolic city-watching posturing. The ornate visual sensibilities are incredibly pleasing on an aesthetic level, though the action choreography is hardly anything to write home about. An old-fashioned ball of fun yarn to be toyed with by Anderson, who crafts set pieces like video game levels, complete with implausibly destructible environments. It's nothing if not entertaining.

[EyesWideOpen]

Maybe one day The Flash will finally get his due, but I doubt it since he's never been a popular character. What they need is a RDJ type to play him, I suppose.

The Flash is a hugely popular character, I don't think popularity is the problem. I think they haven't figured out how to make a movie where the guy's power is running fast and not make it look cheesy. He's a hard character to write a movie for. You would need to get inventive and go out there with it and that's not something superhero films are known for.

[Raiders]

The Three Musketeers is my first Paul W.S. Anderson film since I began taking film seriously as an artistic medium around 2006. In that sense, it might as well be my first film of his period. Though I'm not about to praise Paul W.S. Anderson as a purveyor of high art, or as accomplished in regards to mise-en-scene as our friend Trip has done, but his wide-scale geometrical photography is a sight to behold, most certainly. Richelieu resides in a palace in which his throne room sits atop a giant map of Europe complete with toy soldiers and battle pieces. Rochefort calls the entire thing a game. The opening shot zooms over and through a small scale tableaux recreation of the events about to take place. This kind of self-awareness and dutiful hand in historical manipulation in favor of bombastic iconography is fun and enticing. Aramis even cribs Batman's symbolic city-watching posturing. The ornate visual sensibilities are incredibly pleasing on an aesthetic level, though the action choreography is hardly anything to write home about. An old-fashioned ball of fun yarn to be toyed with by Anderson, who crafts set pieces like video game levels, complete with implausibly destructible environments. It's nothing if not entertaining.

Indeed. Now watch Resident Evil: Afterlife.

[Rowland]

Indeed. Now watch Resident Evil: Afterlife.Slow-Motion! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LMLmDZIVs) (after the mewling Asian gets killed for being a quim)

[Dukefrukem]

Indeed. Now watch Resident Evil: Afterlife.

So terrible.

[Bosco B Thug]

Resnais' Stavisky... was rather a bit disappointing... All the ideas are there - and there's really so much ideas, it doesn't disappoint in that regard - but it's just never as ravishing as any of the other Resnais films I've seen.

Happy Together was visually inspired, of course, but I didn't find much else to hold on to. This is the only Wong film I've seen recently enough, but I feel even My Blueberry Nights had more meaty stuff to grab hold of.

[Wryan]

The Three Musketeers is my first Paul W.S. Anderson film since I began taking film seriously as an artistic medium around 2006. In that sense, it might as well be my first film of his period. Though I'm not about to praise Paul W.S. Anderson as a purveyor of high art, or as accomplished in regards to mise-en-scene as our friend Trip has done, but his wide-scale geometrical photography is a sight to behold, most certainly. Richelieu resides in a palace in which his throne room sits atop a giant map of Europe complete with toy soldiers and battle pieces. Rochefort calls the entire thing a game. The opening shot zooms over and through a small scale tableaux recreation of the events about to take place. This kind of self-awareness and dutiful hand in historical manipulation in favor of bombastic iconography is fun and enticing. Aramis even cribs Batman's symbolic city-watching posturing. The ornate visual sensibilities are incredibly pleasing on an aesthetic level, though the action choreography is hardly anything to write home about. An old-fashioned ball of fun yarn to be toyed with by Anderson, who crafts set pieces like video game levels, complete with implausibly destructible environments. It's nothing if not entertaining.

What a Frankenstein's monster of ridiculosity. It's pretty painful in many ways, but everybody's having such fun. I thought the actor who played the young king gave a better performance than the movie even really needed. And one of the genuine pleasures in this grab-bag of curiosities is the old-school swordplay, handled pretty well all things considered, though it's hard to put any money on Logan Lerman going up against Mads, even if the former does acquit himself pretty well.

[Qrazy]

Happy Together was visually inspired, of course, but I didn't find much else to hold on to. This is the only Wong film I've seen recently enough, but I feel even My Blueberry Nights had more meaty stuff to grab hold of.

Nah, it's his best film.

[MadMan]

Slow-Motion! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LMLmDZIVs) (after the mewling Asian gets killed for being a quim)Eh that clip was okay, although insane abuse of slow-mo knocks it down quite a bit. Any interest I had in watching the RE movies was killed off when I saw some of the second one on TV. What I saw was pretty damn awful in a "This is hilariously bad" sort of way.


The Flash is a hugely popular character, I don't think popularity is the problem. I think they haven't figured out how to make a movie where the guy's power is running fast and not make it look cheesy. He's a hard character to write a movie for. You would need to get inventive and go out there with it and that's not something superhero films are known for.Huh I thought he wasn't popular. I'm still holding out hope for a future Flash film. I dig him because if there was one super power I could ever have, it would be the power of being super speed.

[Stay Puft]

Eh that clip was okay

I'd say it was flat-out bad. Terrible scene construction, and riddled with action movie cliches.

I'm not really convinced by this Anderson cult but I'll give the Musketeers movie a shot some day if I'm bored and it's on Netflix, I suppose.

[MadMan]

I'd say it was flat-out bad. Terrible scene construction, and riddled with action movie cliches.I felt like being nice today. If I was in a bad mood, I'm sure I would have ripped it to pieces.


I'm not really convinced by this Anderson cult but I'll give the Musketeers movie a shot some day if I'm bored and it's on Netflix, I suppose.I'd have to be drunk to watch it. The Anderson cult doesn't make any sense to me.

[Bosco B Thug]

Nah, it's his best film. Eh, sure. I found it kind of episodic and prosaic.

[Boner M]

What's wrong with the film being episodic? It needs to be.

[Winston*]

Slow-Motion! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14LMLmDZIVs) (after the mewling Asian gets killed for being a quim)

Related to this dude?

jL6lkQ5bjcA

[B-side]

Indeed. Now watch Resident Evil: Afterlife.

I had planned on it, but I haven't seen any of the other 58 Resident Evil movies in a long time. I haven't seen Extinction. I don't think I've seen Apocalypse. I watched the first one back when it first came out.

[Bosco B Thug]

What's wrong with the film being episodic? It needs to be. I see your point. Still very meh towards it.

[Boner M]

Did you write any thoughts about this?
Nah, I didn't. I liked it roughly as much this time as I did when I saw it on its release, only this time it resonates purely as a meta-movie that enthralls largely for Fincher's intuitive - and maybe even unconscious - feel for a film as a musical piece built from a series of interlocking spaces, and his ability to make as many commonplace locations and situations pulsate with strangeness, even when it comes at the expense of everything beside (Douglas' performance, easily his best, plays a big role in holding it all together).

My only complaint is how awkward the film feels when it goes for screwball-esque hijinks between Douglas and Unger's characters (falling into twin dumpsters, "I'm not wearing underwear" etc). Boy does Fincher bellyflop when he's supposed to have a light touch.

Also, can't remember if I thought of & mentioned it before: this would make a great double feature with The Box.

[Rowland]

Eh that clip was okay, although insane abuse of slow-mo knocks it down quite a bit.Oh, I think it's awful. I posted the link to mock it.

[Rowland]

Even Steven Seagal can direct a better action sequence.

DKRrQOrvdtY

[Irish]

He's really quite the Jackie Chan there, the way he used that coil of rope.:lol:

[Derek]

Even Steven Seagal can direct a better action sequence.

:lol:

Yikes. Reminds me of this classic:

bFvoxWFKPoI

[MadMan]

Even Steven Seagal can direct a better action sequence.

DKRrQOrvdtYYeah that clip was terrible (from RE). I think I'm getting soft or something.

And hah I've seen some of On Deadly Ground on TV. Its awful :lol:

[Boner M]

Container: Some really stunning, energetic Ken Jacobs/Jack Smith-esque performative imagery here, that intimates the body-as-prison themes way more effectively than the angsty, early-days-of-livejournal-esque voiceover narration from Jena Malone, that drones on to the point that it approximates the ambient soundtrack that Moodyson would've been better off using. I appreciate Moodyson's audacity, but his heart-on-sleeve tendencies have worked against the themes of both Lilya 4-Ever and now this (only ones I've seen of his).

[Irish]

Watched Blade Runner "final cut." (As opposed to the director's cut, the San Diego cut, the work print cut, the international cut, the kung fu cleave cut, the deep dish cut, the very berry cut, or the "no, this is the last time, I swear" cut.)

I don't know why I did that. Scott is such a pigeonhead. The thing with the unicorn still pisses me off, moreso now because he's moved it around.

[Raiders]

Container: Some really stunning, energetic Ken Jacobs/Jack Smith-esque performative imagery here, that intimates the body-as-prison themes way more effectively than the angsty, early-days-of-livejournal-esque voiceover narration from Jena Malone, that drones on to the point that it approximates the ambient soundtrack that Moodyson would've been better off using. I appreciate Moodyson's audacity, but his heart-on-sleeve tendencies have worked against the themes of both Lilya 4-Ever and now this (only ones I've seen of his).

Haven't seen this one, but the part of Hole in My Heart I could stomach and Lilya 4-ever are much inferior to his first two, Fucking Amal and Together, both wonderful films.

I think I might like Container more than his third and fourth films, so I may seek it out.

[Boner M]

Oops, yeah I have seen Amal and liked it plenty. Been a while though. Should watch Together finally.

[Spinal]

Together is my favorite. Mammoth is pretty good, too.

[Pop Trash]

Together is my favorite. Mammoth is pretty good, too.

LOVE Together. Just watched it again a few months ago and it's even better than I remembered. I remember loving Lilja 4-Ever but I need to watch it again. Mammoth isn't bad. I certainly thought there was more going on, ideas wise, than Babel which it is often unfavorably compared to.

[Grouchy]

Nah, it's his best film.
I didn't use to, but now I agree with this.

Saw The Story of O yesterday. Not surprisingly, it's directed by the guy who did Emannuelle. Both films look more or less the same, although this one is more erotic. Not much to add here. The film's softcore porn style works against the story, which is actually quite good in its investigation of BSDM. I wonder if Kubrick saw a particular scene of this before staging the masked orgy of Eyes Wide Shut.

[Pop Trash]

Watched Blade Runner "final cut." (As opposed to the director's cut, the San Diego cut, the work print cut, the international cut, the kung fu cleave cut, the deep dish cut, the very berry cut, or the "no, this is the last time, I swear" cut.)

I don't know why I did that. Scott is such a pigeonhead. The thing with the unicorn still pisses me off, moreso now because he's moved it around.

I get all these confused. Truthfully, I still haven't seen BR all the way through since I was a kid. I think it was the original cut. This sounds like an instance of a director not knowing or not fully understanding what was good about the original film (ala Richard Kelly with Donnie Darko).

[Yum-Yum]

Yor, the Hunter From the Future (Margheriti, 1983)

Even though I was already acutely aware of this film's existence, thanks to you, I'm even more acutely aware than I was before; which I didn't think was physically possible. *hugs*


Roller Boogie (Lester, 1979)

Yeah, baby! "It's love on wheels!"

Oh, and if you like Roller Boogie, you should check out Skatetown, U.S.A.; word on the street is that Maureen McCormick was high on cocaine during the filming, and would disappear from the set for days on end.

[Pop Trash]

It's a good day when the elusive Yum-Yum posts.

[Pop Trash]

Oh, and if you like Roller Boogie, you should check out Skatetown, U.S.A.; word on the street is that Maureen McCormick was high on cocaine during the filming, and would disappear from the set for days on end.

I second this. It also features a young Patrick Swayze in a full on leather daddy outfit. Plus skates.

[Spinal]

the very berry cut

:lol:

[Ivan Drago]

Between The Cabin in the Woods and now Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, I am in love with genre subversion more than ever.

[Dukefrukem]

Between The Cabin in the Woods and now Tucker and Dale vs. Evil, I am in love with genre subversion more than ever.

*Puts Tucker and Dale vs. Evil on top of queue.* This is the second praise this movie got in the same weekend.

[Irish]

TIL both of Thora Birch's parents were porn actors and appeared in Deep Throat.

She was also named after the Norse god and has a brother named "Bolt."

[Russ]

Ni Liv / Nine Lives (Arne Skouen, 1957) PRO

One of the all-time classics of Norwegian cinema, chronicling the incredible true story of WWII resistance fighter, Jan Baalsrud (Jack Fjeldstad is quite good in this role), whose shipmates are ambushed off the northern coast of Norway, and he is forced to trek through the harshest of conditions as he makes his way through occupied villages toward the sanctity of the Swedish border. As with many Norwegian features, nature and the scenic cinematrography play a prominent role, and that's especially true here. But, the real stars in this film are the various villagers who provide help along the way, and always at great risk to themselves, to see that Jan completes his journey to safety. Over the course of the journey, the German occupation steps up efforts to find him and news of his unlikely escapades quickly spread through the countryside. As he battles fatigue, hallucinations, snow-blindness, frostbite, gangrene, self-amputation -- and he still has an imposing mountain to cross -- the sympthetic countrymen become even more important in the amazing cross-country journey. I loved this movie: wonderful story, great characterizations, excellent direction.

[Raiders]

Isn't almost every film produced in Norway a classic of Norwegian cinema?

[Russ]

Isn't almost every film produced in Norway a classic of Norwegian cinema?
Well, Ni Liv was nominated for the Palme d'Or and an Academy Award (it lost to Nights of Cabiria).

But, hey! That ignorance on your sleeve. You wear it well.

[Raiders]

Well, Ni Liv was nominated for the Palme d'Or and an Academy Award (it lost to Nights of Cabiria).

But, hey! That ignorance on your sleeve. You wear it well.

I was just being facetious about how few films they have historically put out (recent years this has gone way up). Didn't mean to make light of this film you loved so much.

[Russ]

Well, I mean, you really expected me to discern your saracastic facetiousness without an accompanying frowny-face?

puhh..

[B-side]

You please me, Russ. It seems I have a competitor in the obscure film-watching race.

[Boner M]

Blind Chance (1981) **
Yeah, this film embodies why I can't really get behind Kieslowski (though I generally like his films).

[Derek]

Yeah, this film embodies why I can't really get behind Kieslowski (though I generally like his films).

Really? Huh, I would've pegged you for a big fan at least of Dekalog, Blue and Red.

[Boner M]

Really? Huh, I would've pegged you for a big fan at least of Dekalog, Blue and Red.
I like those ones, but even then they all feel very schematic and thesis-driven.

[Raiders]

This was the first one that really felt like that to me (schematic is a great word for it). It really made me think about just where the line between a great thesis and great cinema can be drawn. One of the imdb reviews calls it a "film for intelligent people" and I think that is true and I will concede that I wanted something less brilliantly philosophized and more stupidly cinematic.

[B-side]

Possession (1981) ****

:)

[B-side]

Also, why haven't you changed my name yet, Raiders? Is this payback for not giving Rapt AKA The Kidnapping a perfect score?

[MadMan]

:)So who hasn't seen Possession yet on Match-cut? Because we should all tell them to watch it. Now.

[Pop Trash]

So who hasn't seen Possession yet on Match-cut? Because we should all tell them to watch it. Now.

There was a poster with Isabelle Adjani looking up at the crucifix at a bus stop I was at recently. I should have taken a photo.

[MadMan]

Heh, you should have.

[Qrazy]

Possession isn't that great. It seems like a bizarre film for Match-cut to jizz themselves over. Get on the aleksei german bandwagon people.

[B-side]

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

Poetic reverie that brings to mind Tarkovsky and Parajanov in equal measure, Pomegranate and Cane concerns the attempted saving of an elderly man by a photographer. Pacing about his apartment, the photographer then decides to leave and stumbles across an older man lying in the street, unconscious and barely breathing. He takes him to a hospital and tries to piece together the man's identity while he waits for news from the doctors or nurses regarding his condition. In so doing, he begins to read the man's book of writings -- presumably poetry considering the nature of the voice-over and that the film is based on the work of a poet -- and we're taken back several decades to witness the older man's life from early childhood to present. A more precise comparison would be to a mixture of The Mirror and The Color of Pomegranates. The titular fruit of the latter also holding a special symbolic significance in this; the fruit the older man so closely associates with his mother. We find the man spent a great majority of his time utilizing the skill of writing his father had taught him. He sits with a small table, crafting poetry as veritable pools of light dance around him. His parents and his wife pass away, imbuing the film with stronger melancholic tones as the man's story progresses. Meaningful match cuts and fantastic imagery make this a primarily sensorial experience. My racing, distracted mind didn't allow me to involve myself as deeply as I know I could have, and some campy music and a woefully misguided ending involving footage of babies set to Strauss' "Also Sprach Zarathustra" don't do the films any real favors, but I can hardly be bothered to heartily reinforce these qualms or anecdotal happenings as criticisms. It's really a great film.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-15-04h55m16s98_400x300.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-15-05h14m34s145_400x300.jpg

[B-side]

And here's a nice tracking shot from it:

JE4qtVfhoWk

[Boner M]

Get on the aleksei german bandwagon people.
Think I'll just stick to watching the films you un-recommend instead. It's quite a treasure trove already.

[Fezzik]

Hick is a strange movie.

I mean, its horrible, sure. The writing is atrocious. It's poorly edited and has terrible pacing. There are long stretches where nothing at all happens, but even then, there is an intensity to the "nothing" I just can't wrap my head around.

It's pretty dreadful, but I couldn't look away. Moretz was as good as you'd expect and Eddie Redmayne was sufficiently realistic-creepy, but the entire movie had me saying "why?!"

[B-side]

Think I'll just stick to watching the films you un-recommend instead. It's quite a treasure trove already.

:lol:

[Qrazy]

Think I'll just stick to watching the films you un-recommend instead. It's quite a treasure trove already.

Cool, have fun watching Captain America.

[Derek]

U.S. Go Home (Denis, 1994) ***½

Nice. I didn't like it as much as you, but your rating is justified by the awesomeness of this scene alone:

zIIzc_DluY4

[MadMan]

Possession isn't that great. It seems like a bizarre film for Match-cut to jizz themselves over. Get on the aleksei german bandwagon people.Maybe if one of his films gets shown on TCM sometime, or is available on Netflix Instant Viewing. I don't download...

[Boner M]

Nice. I didn't like it as much as you, but your rating is justified by the awesomeness of this scene alone:
Its Denis doing a gender-reversed Superbad with wall-to-wall 60's bangers. Also, Vincent Gallo getting angry at French teenagers. I only wish it'd been longer (and not watched on youtube).

And yes, that scene is awesomesauce; a dry-run for Beau travail's ending.

[soitgoes...]

Lonesome gets the Criterion treatment. This should be exciting news for all cinephiles, especially the good ones who share similar tastes to mine.

[Ezee E]

So disappointed that there isn't a Young Adult thread. Charlize Theron is terrific in it, and I wouldn't have even thought that Diablo Cody/Reitman were behind it. N

[Irish]

So disappointed that there isn't a Young Adult thread. Charlize Theron is terrific in it, and I wouldn't have even thought that Diablo Cody/Reitman were behind it. N

Likewise. I was surprised there wasn't one, although I think I remember a few people hating it.

I thought it was a great movie, although the ending (big speeches on the front lawn) is a little too Hollywood easy.

Gotta say the marketing was absolutely terrible. The trailer on iTunes makes it look like some kind of kooky Will Farrell or Judd Apatow comedy, which is all kinds of wrong.

[Ezee E]

Likewise. I was surprised there wasn't one, although I think I remember a few people hating it.

I thought it was a great movie, although the ending (big speeches on the front lawn) is a little too Hollywood easy.

Gotta say the marketing was absolutely terrible. The trailer on iTunes makes it look like some kind of kooky Will Farrell or Judd Apatow comedy, which is all kinds of wrong.
The big speech wasn't too out of line to me. She had been holding in years of anger, frustration, and jealousy. Her whole trip failed. So she did Something that everyone would remember her by. It was a difficult scene and Charlize pulled it off. The ending itself leaves a little to be desired, but I don't see any happy endings in her future. It's only going to get worse in the city where she won't have any support whatsoever.

[Boner M]

Young Adult sucked. Had to revisit my print review (http://sydneyfilmhappenings.blogspot. com.au/2012/03/drum-media-reviews-january-shame-martha.html) (bottom of the post) to remember why; had instantly forgotten it otherwise.

[B-side]

Young Adult sucked.

Yeah.

[Pop Trash]

Young Adult is pretty sour but I appreciate it for having such a well rounded cunty protagonist.

I still think some of the crap Diablo Cody catches is sexist. In the sense that lots of men don't like watching women be bitchy and/or funny.

[B-side]

Diablo Cody is hot. I kinda wish she were a better writer. She's the kind of person I hope succeeds, if only to contradict the image so many people have of strippers being unintelligent whores with daddy issues.

[Boner M]

well rounded cunty protagonist.

I still think some of the crap Diablo Cody catches is sexist.
Hmm.

[B-side]

Another from my "Why Do I Bother Posting These?" collection:

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

Kukuli, like Blood of the Condor, uses non-actor natives of the region for characters. Though Blood of the Condor was a full-fledged fictional narrative, its use of non-actors lent it an authenticity typically reserved for documentaries. Kukuli feels more like a fictionalized ethnographic documentary than narrative, though the seedlings of a narrative are certainly what drives the film forward. The foreword speaks of the film as an honest documentation of a society before it is disassembled by time. Kukuli is a beautiful young woman who leaves her straw hut in the mountains living with her grandparents to see a festival. In this village, while washing herself, the camera zooms in to capture her shiny legs as she hikes up her skirt to bathe in a stream. While she washes, a man approaches silently and mounts her like an animal -- this likening to an animal could be extended to her having placed daisies in her hat to attract a mate -- her face contorted with concern but we soon find them "dating." It's difficult to see what occurred as consensual, but she's nothing if not happy for a great majority of the rest of their time together. During the festival, as all manner of masks and dances and celebrations are shown, a "bear" dons a costume and murders her soon-to-be husband as he's ringing a church bell for a procession. The creature then kidnaps Kukuli, taking her to a nearby mountain where he rapes and kills her. Similar to her previous sexual encounter, the act is not explicitly shown, but rather largely peripheral body parts; in the latter act her one hand grasps a small clod of dirt as she struggles and quickly perishes. The filmmaking is mostly fairly standard, but the editing and images begin to flourish near the end as the danger and emotion ramp up. My rather limited experience with Jean Rouch came to mind a number of times, though the montage here is much closer to that of the early Soviets.


http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-17-05h50m06s188_400x283.jpg

http://i814.photobucket.com/albums/zz70/SalvadorDali_2010/Movie%20Caps%20Pt%202/vlcsnap-2012-05-17-06h02m07s234_400x283.jpg

[Boner M]

All the Vermeers in New York has a really weird disjunct between form and content; on the one hand, it feels like Jost made concessions to an indie producer to make a blatantly pandering Woody Allen/Eric Rohmer-esque talkfest (with a Rohmer actress as an 'authentically European' selling point) set in upper-crust NYC with lots of fancy interior deco, but then decided to sneak some of his uber-formalism and lefty leanings into the film, via an awkwardly shoehorned 'art as commodity' critique; an artist argues with his dealer about the price of his work, meanwhile, the main character goes about his brokering job as a thuddingly obvious parallel. More incisively, when modern art is discussed by characters, it's only lauded for its technique rather than for being conducive to individuals' lives and experiences like the Vermeers, which lead to some Dressed to Kill-esque museum flirting and then a long-term relationship. That aspect jibes well with Jost's contemplation of everyday aesthetic splendor (the lengthy section featuring steadicam weaving through gallery's lobby pillars is easily the film's highpoint) and valorisation of renaissance art, but the actual relationship at the film's core is handled elliptically in a way that doesn't feel productive or inspired (Ebert's review vaguely praises it for being arbitary - like life! ughhh). Still... enough good here that I want to see Jost put his skills to better use elsewhere (Slow Moves and the other films he did w/ Tom Blair aside from Last Chants... are up next).

[Boner M]

Also, Jost shamelessly cribs from Godard's Passion in shooting a skywriter do a diagonal streak across the frame, which would be fine if he didn't use it to roughly the same ends as JLG.

[B-side]

All the Vermeers in New York is really good, but Slow Moves is better.

[MadMan]

I like your reviews, B-Side. They have style and awesome pictures. Mine are rather lazy-I just slap on some text and throw up a picture and say "Done."

[soitgoes...]

Another from my "Why Do I Bother Posting These?" collection:
You post them because you do them for another site, and copy/paste to here takes a second. I always read your reviews, so keep it up.

[Pop Trash]

Hmm.

The word 'cunt' has been reappropriated Boner. Get with the times.

[Qrazy]

Another from my "I Like to Fish for Compliments" collection:

Fixed.

[Spinal]

Young Adult is pretty sour but I appreciate it for having such a well rounded cunty protagonist.

I still think some of the crap Diablo Cody catches is sexist. In the sense that lots of men don't like watching women be bitchy and/or funny.

Juno would be just as irritating and obnoxious a character if she were male. In fact, being female is one of the only things she has going for her.

[Grouchy]

Juno would be just as irritating and obnoxious a character if she were male. In fact, being female is one of the only things she has going for her.
Hahah agreed.

[B-side]

Fixed.

Heh, no, I just sometimes have trouble justifying my own whoring of such obscure films. It's fun in theory, but is it practical?:P

[Qrazy]

Heh, no, I just sometimes have trouble justifying my own whoring of such obscure films. It's fun in theory, but is it practical?:P

Shut the hell up, watching obscure films gives you a raging hard-on and you know it.

[B-side]

Shut the hell up, watching obscure films gives you a raging hard-on and you know it.

Sure, it gives me a hard on, but what does it do for the American people? Jobs and regulation and so forth.

[Pop Trash]

Juno would be just as irritating and obnoxious a character if she were male. In fact, being female is one of the only things she has going for her.

Perhaps, but Jonah Hill's character in Superbad (released the same year) was just as obnoxious and I don't remember that film getting quite the backlash that Juno did. Some of that might have to do with its Oscar noms, but still...

[Boner M]

Perhaps, but Jonah Hill's character in Superbad (released the same year) was just as obnoxious and I don't remember that film getting quite the backlash that Juno did. Some of that might have to do with it's Oscar nods, but still...
Jonah Hill in Superbad wasn't supposed to be adorable and/or cool.

[Bosco B Thug]

Loved the first hour of On a Silver Globe where it was an origin story of civilization, but then the 2nd astronaut came and then the bat creatures and then it started being about sex and romantic relationships like all his other films I've seen (Zulawski really must have had a tough love life...), and it lost me in too much plot and personal character narratives that I couldn't follow. Way too long to handle, too, I'll admit to pulling out my laptop halfway through. Sue me. (And I deserve it. Still a rather disappointing and deflating view.)

I really wish his less genre-y stuff was available, I feel like they may be his best stuff. The Blue Note, which isn't genre, was pretty good, but no one calls it his best. Possession remains #1.

[Pop Trash]

Jonah Hill in Superbad wasn't supposed to be adorable and/or cool.

Is Juno? I never found her adorable and I found her "cool" snark to be both symptomatic of high school know-it-all-isms and a defensive shield. Which is I think the point of the movie.

I'll concede that it often plays like a poor man's version of Ghost World or "Freaks and Geeks" (which randomly my dad compared it to...way to be 'in the know' dad) but I don't think it deserved the vicious backlash it received in a lot of critical circles.

[Spinal]

Perhaps, but Jonah Hill's character in Superbad (released the same year) was just as obnoxious and I don't remember that film getting quite the backlash that Juno did. Some of that might have to do with its Oscar noms, but still...

Talking to the wrong guy. Here's my bottom films for 2007:

57. Juno (Reitman) **
58. Resident Evil: Extinction (Mulcahy) **
59. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Helm) **
60. The Tracey Fragments (McDonald) **
61. Surf's Up (Brannon/Buck) *1/2
62. Diary of the Dead (Romero) *1/2
63. I'm Not There (Haynes) *1/2
64. Zoo (Devor) *1/2
65. 1408 (Håfström) *1/2
66. Bee Movie (Hickner/Smith) *
67. Superbad (Mottola) *

[Qrazy]

63. I'm Not There (Haynes) *1/2

I remember this conversation... and I am still not pleased about it.

[Watashi]

Talking to the wrong guy. Here's my bottom films for 2007:

57. Juno (Reitman) **
58. Resident Evil: Extinction (Mulcahy) **
59. Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium (Helm) **
60. The Tracey Fragments (McDonald) **
61. Surf's Up (Brannon/Buck) *1/2
62. Diary of the Dead (Romero) *1/2
63. I'm Not There (Haynes) *1/2
64. Zoo (Devor) *1/2
65. 1408 (Håfström) *1/2
66. Bee Movie (Hickner/Smith) *
67. Superbad (Mottola) *

There's some great films in that list.

[Spinal]

There's some great films in that list.

Big fan of Bee Movie?

[Boner M]

The Tracey Fragments and Superbad are two of the standout films about adolescence from recent years. Silly Spinal.

[Watashi]

Big fan of Bee Movie?
Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, Surf's Up, I'm Not There, and Superbad are all quality films.

[soitgoes...]

So... Jiang Wen. You guys need to check him out if you haven't yet. Two for two so far.