28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Scar]

Because it's awesome. At least, that's what the latest research indicates.

Current research indicates that this post is correct.

And awesome.

[Pop Trash]

lol at using the imdb top list as some indicator of value. it's an average movie.

I knew someone would say this, but I kind of understand why most of the films in the imdb top 50 are popular even if I think some of them are overrated. I'm just at a loss as to why Leon is considered much better by imdb voters than say, Bound or Go or other films of its ilk.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Does anyone want to make a passionate defense of Leon/The Professional? It's an ok movie and certainly Gary Oldman hams it up well, but why the hell is this in the top 50 on imdb? Am I missing something?

yeah its a bland film, but Oldman's intense overacting is the best thing about it.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

I watched a double feature of Samsara and Drawing Restraint 9 last night.

Samsara - Righteous and wonderous filmmaking. So much better than the only other Fricke I have seen (Chronos).

Drawing Restraint 9 - Pretentious crap.

Also, I just watched Ken Jacobs' short THE DOCTOR'S DREAM. My opinion of Jacobs is going up a bit with this one, very similar to Cornell's ROSE HOBART in its lucid reworking of found footage - consisting of various doctor visits from old hollywood films. Cut together they make little sense narratively but the cohesiveness of tone amongst the footage is astounding, as if their was a playbook amongst filmmakers on how to make a sincere doctor visit scene.

[Spinal]

I watched Samsara last night too. Ebert called it uplifting, but I found much of it unsettling. Particularly the scenes of religious fervor.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

I watched Samsara last night too. Ebert called it uplifting, but I found much of it unsettling. Particularly the scenes of religious fervor.

Uplifting is a bit of a stretch seeing that besides a lot of natural beauty and artistic expression it also focuses on human destruction of the planet and those very unsettling religious fervor you alluded to, especially the time-lapse scene in Mecca which really was beautiful but almost claustrophobic because of the swarms of people.

I though it was one of the better time-lapse films, although I still have yet to see any of the qatsi trilogy.

[MadMan]

Just found out Nick is writing for Slant now? That's amazing. Congrats.So that's why he hardly posts here anymore. Lucky guy.


I just saw baby doll's **1/2 rating for Dolls, and I thought, "My God, I can finally talk to him about something and maybe even agree!"

Then I realized the rating was for Takeshi Kitano's interlocking-vignette feature, and not that Stuart Gordon movie where the dollmakers attack unwanted visitors with an army of killer dolls.

I don't belong...here...I forgot about the Gordon Dolls. That movie sounds shittastic.

The Professional is an entertaining action movie with heart and great performances from its main trio of actors. I loved it.




Demme's Stop Making Sense really makes me want to have been able to see the Talking Heads in the mid-80s. A phenomenal piece of tour footage and conceptual storytelling... love the closing song with its immense guitar solo, and "Once in a Lifetime" retains its power so well.One of the best concert movies I've ever seen. I realize that as I go through their discography my main problem with The Talking Heads is that they are truly best live. Still one of the best bands of the 80s, regardless.

Bullitt is one of my favorite cop movies. They don't make them 'em like they used to, that's for sure, and its one of McQueen's best performances. That car chase is excellent, but I prefer the movie's quieter, more suspenseful moments.

[Winston*]

I watched Samsara last night too. Ebert called it uplifting, but I found much of it unsettling. Particularly the scenes of religious fervor.

The chicken sucking machine is horrifying.

[Spinal]

By the way, Samsara and Drawing Restraint 9 back to back? That's an attention span I do not have.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

By the way, Samsara and Drawing Restraint 9 back to back? That's an attention span I do not have.

I'll admit to being on the computer during parts of Drawing Restraint 9. Now that I have seen DR9 and a couple Cremasters I can say Barney's style is way too unemotional and clinical for me. I started watching Doug Aitken's video works from the 90's and I dig those quite a bit more than Barney's work.



The chicken sucking machine is horrifying.

yeah that was wretched, as well as the trash/landfill scenes.


A few new viewings today:

New York, New York (Scorsese): Always had heard this was Scorsese's weakest but I think it has more of his touch than his bland DiCaprio vehicles from the 2000's. Liza and Deniro are very good and there are several very poetic scenes. The ending is a bit tacky. All in all, a pretty average film, Scorsese getting his Vincent Minnelli on.

Pollock (Ed Harris): Pollock was a crabby alcoholic who hated on his artistic peers and influences and cared too much about what critics and friends thought of him. Thats all. It's possible to portray a tortured artist less one dimensionally than this boring film - I think John Maybury's Francis Bacon film Love is the Devil does a tremendous feat of humanizing a misanthrope.

Doug Aitken Compilation: A compilation of his 90's video art I downloaded on KG. "The Fear" and "Eraser" were probably the two best videos as well as the auctioneer one that I can't remember the name of. I also watched a stand-alone Aitken short called Into the Sun which experiments with footage taken from sets and stages in Bollywood, and also images of productions and faces of Bollywood stars from magazines.

[Rowland]

There certainly is a lot that is gorgeous about Samsara, which I enjoyed best at its most eccentric (the office drone sculpting himself a new face, the double-barrel shotgun casket), but too much of the ethnographic portraiture and macrocosmic time-lapse imagery struck me as warmed-over Baraka (some of the locations from that film and Chronos are even revisited), while Fricke's social commentary is even blunter than in those films, but also more ambitious, for better and for worse. I've also grown really weary of those shots in which people stare back into the camera with an expressionless glare that has obviously been coached, it worked sparingly in Koyaanisqatsi but now comes across as kinda smug, and is that factory from Manufactured Landscapes the only one in China that allows access for filmmakers or what?

[Stay Puft]

My thoughts on Samsara are similar to Rowland's.... and now you can all go join the (until now non-existent) discussion!:
http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showthread.php?4314-Samsara-(Ron-Fricke)

[Rowland]

My thoughts on Samsara are similar to Rowland's.... and now you can all go join the (until now non-existent) discussion!:
http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showthread.php?4314-Samsara-(Ron-Fricke)Huh, I could have sworn I'd already voted in your thread. First nay!

[MadMan]

New York, New York (Scorsese): Always had heard this was Scorsese's weakest but I think it has more of his touch than his bland DiCaprio vehicles from the 2000's. Liza and Deniro are very good and there are several very poetic scenes. The ending is a bit tacky. All in all, a pretty average film, Scorsese getting his Vincent Minnelli on.I haven't seen New York, New York but I don't think his collaborations with Leo have been bland. I'll admit though to liking both The Departed and Shutter Island way more than I probably should have, which makes me as guilty as Ebert is-he gave Shutter Island a higher rating than I did.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Paradise: Hope is definitely an experience. Second best of the Trilogy. Paradise: Faith lags way behind the other two.

[dreamdead]

I spent the first hour of William Wellman's The Ox-Bow Incident waiting for the inevitable rescue to the scandalized individuals about to be strung up by the indifferent crowd. When it became apparent that the first had other plans, I sat up and took notice. The film had mutated to something far more interesting and contestatory: it became an indictment of the sort of vigilante justice that 1930s-40s film valorized. As this film undercut the sentiments of those other films, the film closed with the ultimate Henry Fonda monologue, which transcended The Grapes of Wrath's monologue through its even more universal mentality.

Excellent stuff, and the type of anti-Western that succeeds in part because it uses Hollywood conventions against itself.

[Ezee E]

Does anyone want to make a passionate defense of Leon/The Professional? It's an ok movie and certainly Gary Oldman hams it up well, but why the hell is this in the top 50 on imdb? Am I missing something?

I love it. The way they present New York almost makes it seem like a European city to me. It's very romanticized there. The action sequences are different from each other, and incredibly well done. There's a story to the action sequences instead of mindless shooting. That's one of Luc Besson's biggest strengths.

The chemistry between Jean Reno and Natalie Portman also makes it work. Jean Reno's never quite matched that performance since. It's a very Sergio Leone type of role.

[dreamdead]

Barry Jenkins's Medicine for Melancholy is an interesting meet-cute film. Most centrally, it revitalizes the role of race in the "one night together" genre. The film has three or four explicit discussions about race relations, and the San Fran excursions into culture of racial significance resonate as some of the strongest moments, where characters are overwhelmed by the magnitude of what came before.

The late reveal of Wyatt Cynac's former girlfriend, however, similarly reveals a slightly essentialist attitude toward race. Had this couple not felt so schematically situated against former (or currently away) partners, it wouldn't have felt so overt. Nonetheless, I like the tinges of political commentary that the film records both about San Fran community and about how race is often glossed in these genres. As this film suggests, it's a powerful foundation and would benefit from a film willing to have a bit deeper discussion and understanding. This starts the conversation, but no one's erudite enough to get at deeper angles of the conversation.

[MadMan]

I love it. The way they present New York almost makes it seem like a European city to me. It's very romanticized there. The action sequences are different from each other, and incredibly well done. There's a story to the action sequences instead of mindless shooting. That's one of Luc Besson's biggest strengths.

The chemistry between Jean Reno and Natalie Portman also makes it work. Jean Reno's never quite matched that performance since. It's a very Sergio Leone type of role.All of what Ezee said too, heh. And while I was a fan of Jean Reno before I saw this movie (thanks to Godzilla-wasn't his fault that movie sucked-and Ronin) after watching The Professional I fully understood his appeal. I think I also like Natalie Portman as an actress more than most folks do around here.

dreamdead you are viewing some truly quality movies lately. The Ox-Bow Incident barely misses the cut for my Top 20 Westerns, but it is certainly a noteworthy film and very different from the type of films that populated the genre in the 1940s. I'm a tad fascinated at how Henry Fonda's performance in that film is in stark contrast to the villainous role he played decades later in Leone's classic Once Upon A Time In The West.

Oh and going through a director's filmography is enjoyable. I'm working through Cronenberg's at the moment, although there is one 70s film he made that was non-horror that I haven't watched yet, plus M. Butterfly-which I still need to rent from Netflix. I just watched Crash (1996).

[Dead & Messed Up]

I was kinda disappointed with The 'burbs. It felt too broad, with only rare jokes attempted, let alone landing. The best moments involved the trio of "heroes" behaving like children and being admonished by Carrie Fisher. Given Dante's previous and later successes turning the suburbs inside out with unexpected threats, this seems like it's well within his wheelhouse, but it just came off as half-baked, and the double-twist at the end, complete with a tedious Theme Speech, didn't really pay off the satiric goals of the picture. I liked the bit where the two garbagemen (Dick Miller and Robert Picardo) bicker distantly about the right to search a neighbor's garbage. Maybe more sly efforts like that would've improved the story.

[ledfloyd]

The 'burbs was my favorite movie when I was ~13, and I'm not sure I've seen it since I was 17 or so. Now I don't want to revisit it for fear of tarnishing the memory.

[Milky Joe]

I saw John Carpenter's The Thing last night, a beautiful 35mm print. I had somehow never seen it before. Goddamn. What a consummate piece of filmmaking.

[MadMan]

I saw John Carpenter's The Thing last night, a beautiful 35mm print. I had somehow never seen it before. Goddamn. What a consummate piece of filmmaking.I'm jealous.

And boo DaMU. Booo. I enjoyed The 'burbs when I saw it in my younger days, and then I revisited it a couple years back and still found it as funny and entertaining as ever. Plus I love its digs at suburbia, and the fact that once upon a time Tom Hanks did more comedy than drama. Plus Bruce Dern! Corey Feldman! Henry Gibson being creepy! In addition to the rest of the cast. Its my favorite Joe Dante movie, and doesn't get enough love even though Gremlins is the better film.

[transmogrifier]

In addition to the rest of the cast. Its my favorite Joe Dante movie, and doesn't get enough love even though Gremlins is the better film.

http://1.media.todaysbigthing.cvcdn.c om/60/34/ee9073fc50c7b0f472ded37f92b238 07.gif

[Dead & Messed Up]

Joe Dante's suburbia-upended interests are significantly better achieved in Gremlins, and especially in Small Soldiers and Matinee. Those films have more confidence in what they want to depict, and that allows them to play the satire with more subtlety and edge. The 'burbs is just too broad and obvious, and I honestly think that the

reveal that the "villains" were real villains results in the movie collapsing. It's just too easy an out, an unearned, trivial way for the film to have its cake and eat it too. Ninety minutes of self-destructive suburban paranoia capped with the idea that they were right all along. If I were a cynical man, I'd say that was imposed by upper-ups fearful of Tom Hanks "losing" at the end.

[Irish]

Look for advice & thoughts on Eric Rohmer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006445/). This guy might be becoming one of my favorites.

If you frequent this thread, I want to hear from you (esp. Qrazy, Grouchy, Raiders, Boner, Dead and Messed Up & baby doll).

[Grouchy]

Sorry, I suck at Rohmer. I've only seen The Lady and the Duke and one of his early short films, it was called All the Boys Are Called Patrick.

[dreamdead]

Rohmer was my favorite living filmmaker until he passed. He had perfected the kind of relational, talky engagement with character, morality, and ideas that look simple but are often revealed in lesser hands to be incredibly difficult.

I lean toward My Night at Maud's, Love in the Afternoon, The Green Ray, and A Tale of Winter, which are fairly typically suggested to be his best, I think. In truth, I prefer the Four Seasons thematically (though I've still never located Tale of Autumn) to the Six Moral Tales. And I rather treasure his adaptation of The Marquise of O..., which is so beautifully filmed. I haven't been able to find a copy of Perceval anywhere, which is so sad to me.

[Qrazy]

Look for advice & thoughts on Eric Rohmer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006445/). This guy might be becoming one of my favorites.

If you frequent this thread, I want to hear from you (esp. Qrazy, Grouchy, Raiders, Boner, Dead and Messed Up & baby doll).

He's okay. I've only seen Suzanne's Career, My Night at Maud's, The Bakery Girl of Monceau and I think I've seen Love in the Afternoon. Maud's and Love were alright, Suzanne and Bakery tedious. I don't find him to be a very visual filmmaker and as a result he doesn't interest me as much as he might otherwise. Perhaps I haven't seen his best work.

Keep in mind that aside from the classic crime and comedy genres I don't much care for French art house overall. They have a sensibility which irritates me although Rohmer is better than most (I'm looking at you Godard and Rivette).

[Grouchy]

Keep in mind that aside from the classic crime and comedy genres I don't much care for French art house overall. They have a sensibility which irritates me although Rohmer is better than most (I'm looking at you Godard and Rivette).
I didn't know you felt this way. Same here. My favorite French filmmakers are people like Melville, Resnais, Cocteau... the ones who don't seem so in love with their own assholes.

EDIT: Truffaut is my favorite New Wave guy because he actually enjoys telling you a story.

[Grouchy]

So, people, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. This is one of the best goddamn films I've seen in my entire life. That was just awesome. It should be an unquestioned classic. What the hell?

[Qrazy]

I didn't know you felt this way. Same here. My favorite French filmmakers are people like Melville, Resnais, Cocteau... the ones who don't seem so in love with their own assholes.

EDIT: Truffaut is my favorite New Wave guy because he actually enjoys telling you a story.

Yep, I'm with you on those preferences. I'd also throw in Dassin, Tati, Renoir and some others.

[Qrazy]

So, people, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. This is one of the best goddamn films I've seen in my entire life. That was just awesome. It should be an unquestioned classic. What the hell?

It's a bit uneven I thought, but the rabbit scene alone is worth the price of admission a hundred times over.

[Grouchy]

Yep, I'm with you on those preferences. I'd also throw in Dassin, Tati, Renoir and some others.
I meant to write Renoir instead of Resnais, actually. I love Dassin and Tati too, just to clarify. And Hiroshima Mon Amour.

I thought Thunderbolt and Lightfoot was just pure fucking brilliant. It subverts every genre (heist, road, action) and has a lot of fun doing it. It ends just right, too. I'm just baffled that it's not more highly regarded. One of Bridges's best performances.

[MadMan]

http://1.media.todaysbigthing.cvcdn.c om/60/34/ee9073fc50c7b0f472ded37f92b238 07.gif

P3ALwKeSEYs

Also you used the wrong "No, no, no" for your post. The correct one is Ben Kingsley flipping shit in Sexy Beast. Thanks for playing, however.

Yet I like The 'burbs more than Small Soldiers. Soldiers is funny, but I think that film is more broad and obvious than 'burbs. So I really don't agree with completely with you or DaMU :P

As for Hanks he's still clearly lost his mind at the end of The 'burbs and has shattered any peace and tranquility he once had, completely going crazy despite "winning."

[Qrazy]

I don't care much for The Burbs. Small Soldiers is quite good though. On a side note my roommate's brother was the main child actor in Small Soldiers (Gregory Smith).

[baby doll]

Look for advice & thoughts on Eric Rohmer (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006445/). This guy might be becoming one of my favorites.

If you frequent this thread, I want to hear from you (esp. Qrazy, Grouchy, Raiders, Boner, Dead and Messed Up & baby doll).Personally, I tend to prefer his period films to contemporary tales: Perceval le Gallois is probably his best movie though I've only seen it once; on the other hand, I recently saw Triple Agent again for the fourth time and it's endlessly fascinating. L'Anglaise et le duc and Les Amours d'Astrée et de Céladon are pretty terrific as well, but I haven't seen The Marquise of O... Of his contemporary films, I'd make a point of seeing La Boulangère de Monceau (one of the best narrative shorts I've seen), and his canonical works: Ma nuit chez Maud, Le Genou de Claire, L'amour, l'après midi, and Conte d'automne. That said, there probably isn't a bad Rohmer film.

Regarding Grouchy's insane, ridiculous, silly, and downright perverse comment about Truffaut being the only New Wave director interested in telling stories, apart from being boorish, contemptible, philistine, and pompous, it's factually untrue. Godard's recent features may be episodic, digressive, elliptical, enigmatic, inscrutable, and far from realistic, but they still tell stories.

[Sven]

Dassin is very American, guys.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Rohmer's a blind spot for me, sorry to say. I never followed up on the French New Wave beyond what I saw in college. A couple of Truffauts (I enjoyed The 400 Blows) and a Godard I might've slept through, on account of screenings occurring right after lunch. So full, so cozy, and those soft French voices lulling me so...

[Qrazy]

Dassin is very American, guys.

Ah, didn't know. His best films are in French though.

Also I always forget to mention Clouzot for some reason. Love that guy.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Clouzot isn't New Wave, is he? I love that guy. I've seen Le Corbeau, Diaboliques, and The Wages of Fear, and I thought all three were tremendous, especially Wages. That movie's one of the most suspenseful movies I've ever seen.

[Stay Puft]

I've seen Le Corbeau, Diaboliques, and The Wages of Fear, and I thought all three were tremendous, especially Wages.

Those are the same three I've seen and would agree completely.

Reminds me I've had a copy of Quai des Orfèvres for quite a while now, still need to watch it.

[Qrazy]

Clouzot isn't New Wave, is he? I love that guy. I've seen Le Corbeau, Diaboliques, and The Wages of Fear, and I thought all three were tremendous, especially Wages. That movie's one of the most suspenseful movies I've ever seen.

Thought we were talking about French filmmakers in general, not New Wave. Quai Des Orfevres is pretty good but I would say Les Espions is a top three film from him. I've been pimping that on this site for a while and don't think anyone else has seen it yet.

[Stay Puft]

I would say Les Espions is a top three film from him. I've been pimping that on this site for a while and don't think anyone else has seen it yet.

Yeah I've never heard anybody talk about that one (don't even recall you pimping it before, and I usually read everything on the forum), but will prioritize.

[Qrazy]

Yeah I've never heard anybody talk about that one (don't even recall you pimping it before, and I usually read everything on the forum), but will prioritize.

It's been a couple years since I've mentioned it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Thought we were talking about French filmmakers in general, not New Wave. Quai Des Orfevres is pretty good but I would say Les Espions is a top three film from him. I've been pimping that on this site for a while and don't think anyone else has seen it yet.

Cool. Again, very inexperienced on that front, but I do love me some Jean Cocteau.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Yep, I'm with you on those preferences. I'd also throw in Dassin, Tati, Renoir and some others.

Dassin is American fwiw.

[Derek]

Reminds me I've had a copy of Quai des Orfèvres for quite a while now, still need to watch it.

It's my favorite Clouzot. Brilliant film. It's been a while since I watched it, so I should dust off the DVD and give it another look soon.

Haven't seen Les Espions, but I'll prioritize that as well.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

After Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques I actually prefer La Prisionierre, The Mystery of Picasso, and La Verite as his next best films. Quai des Orfevres and Le Corbeau didnt do it for me. Still need to see Les Espions.

A couple new views:

Spring Breakers: a thoroughly average film. some very inspired scenes (the initial robbery), some saccharine bullshit (the Britney piano ballad), and a lot of Harmony getting his sexist hipster perv on. (3/5)

The Flower of My Secret: Only the fourth Almodovar I have seen. Pretty charming and funny if not ridiculously hyper-plotted with surprises that you can see coming from a mile away. The dance sequence that became the Deerhunter "Agoraphobia" music video was an unexpected delight and probably the most entrancing part of the film. The grandmother was a riot as well. (4/5)

Ken Anger shorts Don't Smoke the Cigarette/Mouse Heaven/Anger Sees Red: Don't Smoke that Cigarette and Mouse Heaven were both solid but pretty unremarkable trudges through archival footage. Anger Sees Red is a half-assed attempt at being surreal. DSTC (4/5) Mouse Heaven (4/5) Anger Sees Red (2/5)

Savage Messiah: Ken Russell's return to a quieter romantic period drama in the vein of Women In Love after the scandal of The Devils the year before. Good acting, good dialogue, but pretty uneven and not many scenes that remain with you after viewing. (3/5)

Romeo Is Bleeding: This movie sucks. (2/5)

N-Zone: Arthur Lipsett's weird long collage film that I think is about Vietnam, who knows (3/5)

Tripping With Caveh: Filmmaker Caveh Zahedi meets Will Oldham and they take mushrooms. Oldham gets stung by bees. (3/5)

Baraka: I kind of dig Samsara better but they are so similar in construction, location and types of performance it doesnt seem like he varied much in the almost 20 year gap between the two productions. (4/5)

[Qrazy]

After Wages of Fear and Les Diaboliques I actually prefer La Prisionierre, The Mystery of Picasso, and La Verite as his next best films. Quai des Orfevres and Le Corbeau didnt do it for me. Still need to see Les Espions.



Picasso is great but I just keep it in a different category because of the subject matter/style. La Verite was pretty good, didn't leave that much of an impression on me really. I still need to see Prisionierre, I'll get on that.

[B-side]

... a lot of Harmony getting his sexist hipster perv on.

An utterly ridiculous marginalization.

[Ezee E]

An utterly ridiculous marginalization.

Well yeah, you cut out the rest of what he said.

[Grouchy]

I freely admit that I have a prejudice against the French New Wave. It stems from being put to sleep by most of the films I've seen by Gordard and Rivette.

I should probably get over it, true.

[Spinal]

Movies are a great place to get your sexist hipster perv on. I'm thankful that there are sexist hipster pervs out there who understand that this is a part of the human experience worth exploring.

[MadMan]

Dassin is very American, guys.I knew that thanks to TCM :cool:

I'm still exploring French New Wave. I just finally saw Breathless and I will get to The 400 Blows. I love Mellville and just watched one of his films last night, and I like Gordard so far as well. Clouzot is awesome based on having viewed both The Wages of Fear and Diaboliques.

This week I'm going to view Spring Breakers and get my sexist hipster perv on. Yeah! Le Cinema or whatever.

Oh and I want to watch the American version of Breathless made in the 80s with Richard Genre. I can't believe a remake actually exists of Breathless. That's just weird.

[MadMan]

Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle (Leiner, 2004) ***That is um, a tad surprising. Great, but surprising.

[Derek]

Richard Genre

This is Davis's favorite actor. He looks a looks a lot like another famous actor, but there are some subtitle differences you'll notice if you look closely.

[B-side]

Well yeah, you cut out the rest of what he said.

The rest of it wasn't baseless slighting and name-calling. I detest this overuse the misogynist label in the film community. It's such a nasty buzzword that people toss around with no real sense of its meaning or context. If a female character isn't presented in the oh-so perfect light they have cornered in their mind somewhere then the filmmaker clearly hates women. If using a voyeuristic perspective -- vis a vis the implicit female sexual connotations tied to the spring break milieu -- is misogynist, then what of the men, who are also "perv"ed on and made out to be background sexual figures? If Spring Breakers makes Korine a misogynist for its voyeuristic qualities, then all of us are misogynists for ever watching porn with women in it. The only difference here is that Korine doesn't insist you objectify the women involved.

[Boner M]

I'm mostly incredulous over the notion that the "Everytime" montage was "saccharine". WTF.

[Dukefrukem]

So I think my friend is on verge of "making it". His first major role. He's the guy married to the wife.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=h61AhN4z5GU

[Ezee E]

The rest of it wasn't baseless slighting and name-calling. I detest this overuse the misogynist label in the film community. It's such a nasty buzzword that people toss around with no real sense of its meaning or context. If a female character isn't presented in the oh-so perfect light they have cornered in their mind somewhere then the filmmaker clearly hates women. If using a voyeuristic perspective -- vis a vis the implicit female sexual connotations tied to the spring break milieu -- is misogynist, then what of the men, who are also "perv"ed on and made out to be background sexual figures? If Spring Breakers makes Korine a misogynist for its voyeuristic qualities, then all of us are misogynists for ever watching porn with women in it. The only difference here is that Korine doesn't insist you objectify the women involved.

Yeah, but the whole movie misogynist, and pointed out to be. That includes the men. The women are just the forefront.

[Pop Trash]

Yeah, but the whole movie misogynist, and pointed out to be. That includes the men. The women are just the forefront.

I mostly thought everyone was just an airhead. I don't really see how the men were misogynistic. Plus the hypercolored expressive tone of the whole thing isn't particularly erotic. Arguably the most erotic scene in the movie is Franco giving a handgun a BJ.

[Qrazy]

If Spring Breakers makes Korine a misogynist for its voyeuristic qualities, then all of us are misogynists for ever watching porn with women in it.

We are.

[Spinal]

The moral implications of this conversation are well beyond my grasp. So I am going to play it safe and stand on the side of bare breasts.

[B-side]

Yeah, but the whole movie misogynist, and pointed out to be. That includes the men. The women are just the forefront.

No, it's not, actually. If you wanna count, then why not point out that the only fully redeemable character in the entire film is Faith, Selena Gomez's character, who rejects the excess and retains a quaint spirituality?

[B-side]

We are.

Nope.


mi·sog·y·ny
[mi-soj-uh-nee, mahy-]
noun
hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women

Sorry, but watching porn doesn't mean I hate, dislike or don't trust women.

[Winston*]

No, it's not, actually. If you wanna count, then why not point out that the only fully redeemable character in the entire film is Faith, Selena Gomez's character, who rejects the excess and retains a quaint spirituality?

That makes the movie sound more misogynist. (I haven't seen it).

[B-side]

That makes the movie sound more misogynist. (I haven't seen it).

Quaint is my term. It's not portrayed as such. She retains her individuality -- read: spirituality and somewhat straight-edge lifestyle -- in spite of the odds against her.

[Yxklyx]

Life can be weird. I had never heard of Phil Ramone (Music Producer/Engineer/Composer) until today when I read that he died. I decided to rewatch Walkabout tonight and there he was in the credits!

[Winston*]

Quaint is my term. It's not portrayed as such. She retains her individuality -- read: spirituality and somewhat straight-edge lifestyle -- in spite of the odds against her.

So you're saying she's able to be a madonna rather than a whore?

[Boner M]

So I am going to play it safe and stand on the side of bare breasts.
That's what life is uh-bout.

[B-side]

So you're saying she's able to be a madonna rather than a whore?

No. I'm saying she remains an individual. The other girls aren't meant to be the opposite (whore) and she's not meant to be perfect (madonna), but she's the only one who comes out of the experience relatively unscathed.

[Grouchy]

"Gender issues" conversations bore me to no end.

[MadMan]

This is Davis's favorite actor. He looks a looks a lot like another famous actor, but there are some subtitle differences you'll notice if you look closely.Do you want to be my spellchecker and or editor? As I told ETM a while back, the position is still open.

I will be quite annoyed if this entire conversation ends up being more entertaining than Spring Breakers.

[Ezee E]

No. I'm saying she remains an individual. The other girls aren't meant to be the opposite (whore) and she's not meant to be perfect (madonna), but she's the only one who comes out of the experience relatively unscathed.

Was it just me or did they all come out unscathed? Selena's character just leaves a few scenes earlier and doesn't have sex with Alien.

[Qrazy]

Nope.

Sorry, but watching porn doesn't mean I hate, dislike or don't trust women.

It doesn't mean everyone does, just that you do.

[Boner M]

Late Autumn was good, although it's already dissolved into the amorphous ether that is my Ozu memory (ie, for the most part - Tokyo Twilight being the main exception). It has the musical-like spring-in-its-step of Good Morning, only this time that surface jauntiness only underscores the stifling yet indifferent patriarchy, who Ozu pointedly bookends it with.

The screening I was at had a row of teenage girls sit in front of me, stay pleasing quiet for the entire screening, and then exclaim "so much reading!" and "no more foreign films!" by the end. Sadly this will be the thing I'll likely remember the film by.

[Derek]

The screening I was at had a row of teenage girls sit in front of me, stay pleasing quiet for the entire screening, and then exclaim "so much reading!" and "no more foreign films!" by the end. Sadly this will be the thing I'll likely remember the film by.

In the future, subtitles will be capped at 140 characters.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Anybody seen/dig the works of Jay Rosenblatt? I went through a dvd of his work. Human Remains and Short of Breath are amaazing.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

mi·sog·y·ny
[mi-soj-uh-nee, mahy-]
noun
hatred, dislike, or mistrust of women


I never said Korine or the film is misogynist, because I don't feel that he hates women. I think the film is sexist due to the complete lack of dynamics in any of the female characters, but then again everyone in the film is a cartoon. James Franco makes his character fun at least and the gun-bj sequence was definitely one of the bright moments in that it is classic Korine subversieness of celebrity seeing that Franco's own sexuality is a question mark. I can't really put too much emotional stock in a character tritely named Faith, who is a religious nut who then absurdly throws all of her morals out the window to go on a drug and crime spree and then has a moment of realization and finds the light. That is such poor writing. The other girls had absolutely no dynamics to them and I can't even remember their names. I think Amy Smart's character in Road Trip had more dynamics than these characters.

I think even in his most shocking portrayals of women (the mentally challenged girl who is being forced into prostitution by her brother in Gummo) he adds a beautiful touch to those characters and there really is no air of cruelty in the perverse nature of the scenario. I feel that even though the sexual nature in Spring Breakers is more in line with mainstream ideas of beauty (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens) its empty void of character dynamics and focusing on their submissiveness to violence or criminality as erotic pushbuttons is banal and incredibly cruel and sexist in its banality.

I think Korine was catering to a certain regurgitation of a lot of trends in our culture that are getting quite stale, such as the Britney Spears is a cultural beacon nonsense. I am actually surprised at the lack of twerking in this film. Korine not the only one catering to this baseless fad, check out the trailer for Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring.


Was it just me or did they all come out unscathed? Selena's character just leaves a few scenes earlier and doesn't have sex with Alien.

I think he's alluding to Rachel Korine getting shot.

[Ezee E]

y seeing that Franco's own sexuality is a question mark.

Don't know about that. He has sex with two of them in that pool.




I can't really put too much emotional stock in a character tritely named Faith, who is a religious nut who then absurdly throws all of her morals out the window to go on a drug and crime spree and then has a moment of realization and finds the light. That is such poor writing. The other girls had absolutely no dynamics to them and I can't even remember their names. I think Amy Smart's character in Road Trip had more dynamics than these characters.

Agreed. Faith is an attempt at making some emotional depth, but it's barely touched on, with little to no actual substance there, just the fact that it exists. Two scenes, one of her participating in a youth group, and another of her going back. That's it.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Don't know about that. He has sex with two of them in that pool.

I meant Franco in real life, the questions about his sexuality, and the advertiser backlash over his recent filmmaking which has explored homosexuality. http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/76093239.html I took that gun scene as Franco not giving a fuck about playing career suicide for his embracing of homosexual themes whether he's actually gay or not.

You could say he similarly attempts to subvert the celebrity images of Hudgens, Gomez, Benson, Gucci, but all those felt incredibly slight and mailed-in compared to his past work. Many of the celebrity impersonators in Mister Lonely felt more crafted than the characters in Spring Breakers even though many characterizations in ML didn't go beyond riffs on the most publicly known aspects of any given celebrity in the film.

[B-side]

Was it just me or did they all come out unscathed? Selena's character just leaves a few scenes earlier and doesn't have sex with Alien.

Rachel Korine's character gets shot, and the other two commit murder.

Selena's character is the only one who doesn't submit to the excess.

[B-side]

I never said Korine or the film is misogynist

Sexist is pretty much a synonym for misogynist in this context.


because I don't feel that he hates women.

He just doesn't respect them?


I think the film is sexist due to the complete lack of dynamics in any of the female characters, but then again everyone in the film is a cartoon.

So you acknowledge that the film isn't attempting to be a deep and nuanced character study, but lament the lack of such? Each character does have their own arc and personalities, but this is a mood piece above all else.


James Franco makes his character fun at least

I thought the girls ere plenty of fun.


and the gun-bj sequence was definitely one of the bright moments in that it is classic Korine subversieness of celebrity seeing that Franco's own sexuality is a question mark.

Agreed.


I can't really put too much emotional stock in a character tritely named Faith, who is a religious nut who then absurdly throws all of her morals out the window to go on a drug and crime spree and then has a moment of realization and finds the light. That is such poor writing.

But that's not at all what happens. She's not portrayed as a religious zealot, and she certainly doesn't forfeit her spirituality at any point. Her spirituality is framed in an ambivalent way early on during the church group when she lacks the same enthusiasm for the songs that her fellow church-goers have, and defends her friendship with the three girls as she's smoking a cigarette outside the church. It's a subtle gesture that plays on people's super-straight-edge image of the faithful.


I think even in his most shocking portrayals of women (the mentally challenged girl who is being forced into prostitution by her brother in Gummo)

He wasn't portraying "women" in that film or Spring Breakers. They are specific women and in no way meant as a broader commentary on the gender, the same way the two boys who kill cats for money aren't meant as indicative of every male teenager.


he adds a beautiful touch to those characters and there really is no air of cruelty in the perverse nature of the scenario.

Absolutely.

I feel that even though the sexual nature in Spring Breakers is more in line with mainstream ideas of beauty (Selena Gomez, Vanessa Hudgens) its empty void of character dynamics and focusing on their submissiveness to violence or criminality as erotic pushbuttons is banal and incredibly cruel and sexist in its banality.

Cruel, really? Reducing their escapades to women merely submitting to criminality and violence as eroticism says more about you than the film. I saw a lot more in their behavior and interactions with Alien. The film is an oversexed, neon-lit fever dream that positions itself right alongside the standard image of the spring break milieu. The girls hype themselves into a trance early on by repeating that this is all a video game and that they can't let themselves hold back.


I think Korine was catering to a certain regurgitation of a lot of trends in our culture that are getting quite stale, such as the Britney Spears is a cultural beacon nonsense. I am actually surprised at the lack of twerking in this film. Korine not the only one catering to this baseless fad, check out the trailer for Sofia Coppola's The Bling Ring.

Britney Spears as a cultural beacon is a cultural trend now? You must run in some very different circles than I do. Korine wasn't being ironic or disingenuous. He was tapping into the zeitgeist, but not in a condescending manner. That's never been how he's operated. Just because you find these things annoying in your life doesn't make them any less effective a tool for capturing a cultural mindset.

[Winston*]

Saw Forbidden Planet for the first time, at the cinema. A suprisingly sophisticated science fiction film, considering it opens with 'Introducing Robbie the Robot' (who is awesome). The big 'Krell' reveal and two action sequences are killer. Can't imagine how awesome this must have been to see in 1956.

[Qrazy]

Saw Forbidden Planet for the first time, at the cinema. A suprisingly sophisticated science fiction film, considering it opens with 'Introducing Robbie the Robot' (who is awesome). The big 'Krell' reveal and two action sequences are killer. Can't imagine how awesome this must have been to see in 1956.

I really liked this on a first viewing but a bit less so on a second, still good though.

[Winston*]

I really liked this on a first viewing but a bit less so on a second, still good though.

A big part of why I enjoyed it was the surprise of the two reveals, so i could see it playing worse a second time.

[Qrazy]

A big part of why I enjoyed it was the surprise of the two reveals, so i could see it playing worse a second time.

Have you seen Robinson Crusoe on Mars? In terms of sci fi from that era I have a soft spot for that one also.

[Winston*]

Have you seen Robinson Crusoe on Mars? In terms of sci fi from that era I have a soft spot for that one also.

I haven't. I have read the non-Mars original. It was boring.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Sexist is pretty much a synonym for misogynist in this context.

Sexism to me deals more with enforcing gender stereotypes and I feel like far more people engage in sexist attitudes than misogynist attitudes or behaviors, which seem more deep rooted. Men don't watch porn because they hate or mistrust women but they exhibit the attitude that those women and that idea of sex is what gets them off because that is what permeates in society. In fact it would be really hard to label anybody as a misogynist based on their art because art implies there is a freedom of vision, but that doesn't mean a viewer can't find something sexist in that artist's work.




He just doesn't respect them?

It's entirely possible for a person to fall into sexist attitudes in a given situation even if they wouldn't consider themselves sexist. I don't believe Sam Mendes is sexist judging by his whole body of work, but Skyfall is an incredibly sexist film for the same reasons I see Spring Breakers as sexist. I attribute Skyfall's rampant sexism to the Bond vehicle which has always been that way, it's part of the audience's expectation that there will be a cute throwaway bond girl in every installment and Mendes didn't change that. Here Korine tackles a certain type of film, the teen- spring break film - which has its roots in the beach blanket films of the 50's/60's. Korine, like Mendes just simply toes the line of what you expect from the vehicle, which happens to include a healthy dose of sexism because that is what has always existed in this vehicle. Korine had a chance to subvert that like Mendes did with Bond but kept with stereotypes of women that existed in commercial cinema. Thats what I meant by Harmony getting his sexist perv on.


So you acknowledge that the film isn't attempting to be a deep and nuanced character study, but lament the lack of such? Each character does have their own arc and personalities, but this is a mood piece above all else.

Mister Lonely wasn't exactly a deep and nuanced character study but it worked because he was extremely deft at creating relationships between the impersonators so when the climax came about it was truly gutting. As good as Franco was here his performance worked solely because of his sheer charisma and goofiness - the Alien character was also pretty static. When his climax comes in a similarly shocking and abrupt way compared to the climax in ML there wasn't enough emotional stock built up to render any reaction. It felt contrived. The relationship between him and Gucci is referenced in exposition but there is no real dramatic tension brought about by this sub-plot. Everything seems to be built around ambient-dubstep montages and tit and ass shots.



But that's not at all what happens. She's not portrayed as a religious zealot, and she certainly doesn't forfeit her spirituality at any point. Her spirituality is framed in an ambivalent way early on during the church group when she lacks the same enthusiasm for the songs that her fellow church-goers have, and defends her friendship with the three girls as she's smoking a cigarette outside the church. It's a subtle gesture that plays on people's super-straight-edge image of the faithful.

Yes she isn't exactly a zealot but she is far from a dynamic character and she is more of a cheap attempt at symbolism than a rooted character. I saw Seidl's Paradise:Hope the night before and it dealt with similar themes, young girls behaving badly and dealing with sex and drugs and perverse relations while on a sort of vacation from home. Unlike Spring Breakers, Paradise:Hope showed Seidl is a master at crafting dynamism within characters he has no affinity with. Korine seems to be losing that touch as he strives for commercial appeal (Mister Lonely, although not very successful, was also an attempt at commercial crossover).



Cruel, really? Reducing their escapades to women merely submitting to criminality and violence as eroticism says more about you than the film. I saw a lot more in their behavior and interactions with Alien. The film is an oversexed, neon-lit fever dream that positions itself right alongside the standard image of the spring break milieu. The girls hype themselves into a trance early on by repeating that this is all a video game and that they can't let themselves hold back.

Yes, its cruel in its banality. Name some differences that separate the characters of Ashley Benson and Vanessa Hudgens, or even Rachel Korine. Selena Gomez only differentiates herself through the scenes showcasing that she subscribes to a certain amount of religious moralism, but she really doesn't have much else going for her besides her prudeness compared to the other girls. There is a ham-fisted correlation between sex and violence in the film where the girls that end up being the most promiscuous commit the acts of violence. If I wasn't so sure that Korine solely is interested in religion for the cultural absurdity of it, I would classify this as a dubstep christian scare film.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

whhhhhyyyy did I just watch Transsiberian?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Saw Forbidden Planet for the first time, at the cinema. A suprisingly sophisticated science fiction film, considering it opens with 'Introducing Robbie the Robot' (who is awesome). The big 'Krell' reveal and two action sequences are killer. Can't imagine how awesome this must have been to see in 1956.

So jealous. I'd love to see those Krell effects on the big screen.

[Qrazy]

I haven't. I have read the non-Mars original. It was boring.

I believe it. That's probably why they set this one on Mars.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

"No salutes, no stiffness, no standing on ceremony. Informality, that is the password on your new social orbit." - incredibly poetic dialogue from the english-greek shitstorm that is "The Day the Fish Came Out"

"Its those damn faggots" - incredibly unpoetic dialogue from the english-greek shitstorm that is "The Day the Fish Came Out"

[Spinal]

Spring Breakers, to me, is a film about the allure of oblivion. And I think it's highly successful on those terms. I've always considered Korine to be essentially a nihilist filmmaker and this film does nothing to sway my opinion. You have a group of four bored young girls who want to escape their tedious lives. Spring Break is not just a good time. It's not just a party. It's the ultimate detachment from reality and responsibility. Deaden your senses with alcohol. Discard your inhibitions.

Spring Break forever. There's a reason why those words are repeated. There's a reason why they are so ominous. Some stand at the precipice and are able to resist the temptation. Some fling themselves in, never to return.

It seems odd to criticize Korine for vacuousness and stereotypes when the clear intentions of the central characters are to disappear into a world of superficiality in pursuit of the shallow dreams promised by pop culture.

[B-side]

Spring Breakers, to me, is a film about the allure of oblivion. And I think it's highly successful on those terms. I've always considered Korine to be essentially a nihilist filmmaker and this film does nothing to sway my opinion. You have a group of four bored young girls who want to escape their tedious lives. Spring Break is not just a good time. It's not just a party. It's the ultimate detachment from reality and responsibility. Deaden your senses with alcohol. Discard your inhibitions.

Spring Break forever. There's a reason why those words are repeated. There's a reason why they are so ominous. Some stand at the precipice and are able to resist the temptation. Some fling themselves in, never to return.

It seems odd to criticize Korine for vacuousness and stereotypes when the clear intentions of the central characters are to disappear into a world of superficiality in pursuit of the shallow dreams promised by pop culture.

Yes, thank you for putting this more eloquently and succinctly than I seem to be capable of doing.

[Izzy Black]

Can't wait to see Spring Breakers. I'll weigh in soon.

[B-side]

Yeah, but you're a woman and women are inferior at movie-watching. You'll just bleed all over the theater and cry about stuff.

izzy inadvertently reveals his/her actual gender in 3... 2...

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

prolific day in movie-watching:

Jay Rosenblatt shorts (Restricted/Short of Breath/King of the Jews/Smell of Burning Ants/Brain in the Desert)
Patty Hearst (Paul Schrader)
Krypton Is Doomed (Ken Jacobs)
Transsiberian (Brad Anderson)
Walter Ruttman shorts (Opus I-IV, some commercials)
The Day the Fish Came Out (Mihalis Kakogiannis)
Kate Bush - The Whole Story (a compilation of her music vids)

a lot of good shit, a lot of bad shit, but I learned some things

[Dukefrukem]

whhhhhyyyy did I just watch Transsiberian?

Because it's awesome.

[Ezee E]

Rachel Korine's character gets shot, and the other two commit murder.

Selena's character is the only one who doesn't submit to the excess.

She's part of the group when they go into the diner and rob the place isn't she?

[Spinal]

Nope. They tell her about it later.

[Ezee E]

Nope. They tell her about it later.


Ah perfect. That clarifies some for me.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Some insomnia-driven overnight viewings:

Cracked Actor (Alan Yentob): An surprisingly underwhelming Bowie doc that is too brief, but the fascinating thing is seeing a (drugged up) Bowie struggling to wax on the subject of fame without being masqued in one of his stage characters. Also very interesting to hear variations and short insights into the creation of songs we know and love from Hunky Dory, Ziggy Stardust, and Aladdin Sane. 4/5

Hubert Bals Handshake (Greenaway/short): Greenaway shows us the precise location where he shook hands with Hubert Bals. Like most Greenaway it is direct and hyper-informative. There's not much to it but I loved the look of the beat-up transfer that is the only way you can see it. 4/5

The Coastline (Greenaway/short): Less Greenaway than most his work, we get very clever and quirky observations about England's coastal communities and more of that sort. Very similar in tone to his Terence Conran short. 3/5

Hermes Bird (James Broughton/short): A lovingly framed static shot of a penis as it gains an erection with Broughton's trademark poetic narrative guiding through the stiffness. A masterpiece of cinema. 5/5

Song of Godbody (James Broughton + Joel Singer/short): A close encounter with the plane of a hairy male body with poetic narration. 4/5

The Gardener of Eden (James Broughton/short): Very cool optical work and a trance-inducing soundtrack that splits its images between a Indian man (maybe the gardener of the title?) and beautiful color footage of a garden. We get a little poem at the end. 4/5

2 Arthur Russell films (Phil Niblock/short): Well, technically 1 fully-edited short film and 1 30 minute set of rushes from the recording of his World of Echo album. A nice experience to watch the master musician tinker and record a song but the rushes get a bit dull as Russell continues repeating the same line over and over it becomes full-on drone cinema. 3/5

[Winston*]

Watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi last night. Somewhat interesting in subject matter, but repetitive and mostly hagiographic. I don't need 800 people to tell me how driven and disciplined this man is. Would have been interesting to position Jiro's obsessive work ethic more in relation to the surrounding Japanese culture.

Errol Morris, most aped filmmaker of all time?

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Errol Morris, most aped filmmaker of all time?

nope. Hitchcock by far. De Palma spent an entire part of his career aping him.

[Boner M]

Well, he's the easily the most aped documentarian.

[Winston*]

nope. Hitchcock by far. De Palma spent an entire part of his career aping him.

Yeah, but there are way more Morris-esque documentaries than there are De Palma films.

With Tabloid, it feels like even Errol Morris is aping Errol Morris these days.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Yeah, but there are way more Morris-esque documentaries than there are De Palma films.

With Tabloid, it feels like even Errol Morris is aping Errol Morris these days.

De Palma isn't the only one aping Hitchcock though, just one example.

[Ezee E]

Heck, even fiction films ape (when did this term start?) Morris.

[Winston*]

Project Nim doubly aped Morris.

[Rowland]

The Imposter does Morris better than Morris has in years.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

James Broughton's later work is so much better than his earlier, more well known work. Devotions is a flat-out masterpiece of bizzaro sexual cinema. The best early work of his is probably Mother's Day, however it just seems like there is too much running around a frolicking in gardens in every early film of his. I definitely think the later super-poem sexual freedom Broughton is incredible.

[Pop Trash]

Heck, even fiction films ape (when did this term start?) Morris.

Bernie?

[B-side]

Project Nim doubly aped Morris.

Ha.

[Boner M]

Man, Tabloid was crap.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Man, Tabloid was crap.

I thought it was pretty great although my misgiving is the firm stance the filmmaker takes on the side of the story of the people interviewed when the fact that the mormon dude didn't even want to be interviewed means that Morris' dictum in the film that "the truth lies somewhere in between" kind of applies to his film since he doesn't have the other side of the story.

But I thought it was pretty funny.

I actually saw this North American premiere sitting next to Werner Herzog in Telluride (while blown on hash chocolates) so maybe I am a bit sentimental.

[Dukefrukem]

Awesome.


http://vimeo.com/60845952

[Raiders]

Man, Tabloid was crap.

Haven't seen it, but I didn't much care for Standard Operating Procedure either.

[Yxklyx]

...

I actually saw this North American premiere sitting next to Werner Herzog in Telluride (while blown on hash chocolates) so maybe I am a bit sentimental.

I'd probably enjoy a Uwe Boll film if I were sitting next to Herzog

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Just watched the Beatles doc LET IT BE. Meh. However, McCartney's performance of the title song is an amazing scene amidst a lot of mundane scenes/songs.

[Derek]

Every Woody Allen stammer ever (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0E34d7NXqPQ). If you make it through all 45 minutes, you either reach nirvana or go insane.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

The Theo Van Gogh and Peter Greenaway segments of the omnibus film Visions of Europe were brilliant. The Bela Tarr segment was up there as well, but Mihaly Vig's score in the Tarr segment makes it what it is.

A Day at the Beach, the 70's Brit film that Roman Polanski was supposed to direct until Sharon Tate was tragically murdered, was a so-so portrait of an alcoholic uncle who is looked up to by his crippled niece. A nice portrait but nothing truly remarkable. Peter Sellers plays a gay beach hut owner.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Warner Brothers is now offering a streaming service for their classic films at

Warner Instant Archive (http://instant.warnerarchive.com/)

The selection doesn't look like it's enough to justify another streaming service, but this could be a fantastic buy-for-a-couple-of-months purchase for those of you looking for more unexpected films.

Some of the films that caught my eye were the Johnny Weissmuller Tarzan pictures, Until the End of the World, Mad Love, Dark Passage, and Doctor X.

Also, it's kinda wonderful to see a streaming service with a category called "Pre-Code."

[number8]

Wow.

http://www.highexistence.com/25-spectacular-movies-you-probably-havent-seen/

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Wow.

http://www.highexistence.com/25-spectacular-movies-you-probably-havent-seen/

You found the one writer still bearing a torch for Garden State.

[Lucky]

Apparently in that kid's world no one watches PT Anderson movies.

[Rowland]

Yes, there's entirely too much of that sort of crap film blogging on the internet, but to cast it in a more optimistic light, most of that is read by casual movie watchers who will hopefully be inspired to watch some stuff they may have otherwise ignored, which may broaden their horizons and develop their tastes towards eventual cinephilia. Also, death of film journalism and all that.

[Dukefrukem]

Wow.

http://www.highexistence.com/25-spectacular-movies-you-probably-havent-seen/

I've literally seen every move on that list.

[number8]

I think it just gets funnier the more you scroll down. At first you're like, "Pretty sure Let the Right One In and Garden State are pretty well-known already, but okay..." and then you get to 12 Angry Men and The Big Lebowski and it just becomes hilarious that this guy sincerely thinks those are obscure movies.

The comments are more depressing, though. Someone suggested Spaceballs.

Spaceballs.

[Dukefrukem]

The only two movies that probably qualify for this list for the general population are Rubber and Enter the Void. And even Enter the Void was seen by a lot of MC and RT folks.

At some point in the comments, people just start listing their favorite movies.

[Grouchy]

Wow.

http://www.highexistence.com/25-spectacular-movies-you-probably-havent-seen/
Well, he did manage to name at least one movie I hadn't heard of - Cash Back.

But eh, I'm not surprised anymore that people post wrong things on the internet.

[Spinal]

The Big Lebowski sounds all right. But I'm not really into Polish movies.

[Ezee E]

At least they're all good movies.

[Winston*]

Better than his other article

http://www.highexistence.com/how-to-become-a-social-badass/

[Dukefrukem]

THis guy does look like a badass.

http://static.highexistence.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/badass_prof.jpeg

[Boner M]

That whole site is amazingly earnest.

[transmogrifier]

His favourite film of all time is Garden State. "Amazingly earnest" must be coded into his DNA.

[baby doll]

The only two movies that probably qualify for this list for the general population are Rubber and Enter the Void. And even Enter the Void was seen by a lot of MC and RT folks.I haven't seen a bunch of movies on that list, not because they're so obscure but because they look bloody awful.

[Rowland]

Anybody familiar with the avante-garde filmmaker Hollis Frampton? After spending some time exploring the works of Brakhage and Anger these past few days, I decided to branch out with Frampton, who I discovered was a professor at my University a few decades back. In any case, I started with Critical Mass, which avante-garde super-critic Michael Sicinski ranks as the fourth best film of the entire '70s. I'm reminded of a quote from the Ebert thread, which I'll reiterate with minor italicized tweaks:

"A case can be made for the movie, but it would involve transforming the experience of viewing the film (which is excruciatingly irritating) into something more interesting, an avante-garde study concerning structural temporality. Just as a bad novel can be made into a good movie, so can an intolerable movie be made into a fascinating movie review."

I forced myself to finish it, and I really mean forced, because I had developed a headache before it was halfway over, and by the end I felt like I was listening to nails scrape against a chalkboard until they were stubs of bloodied pulp. I read up on some of the critical theory surrounding the film, which was all well and good (if not terribly enlightening to these unenlightened eyes), but I hate it. Brakhage on the other hand insists that "it is a magic film in that you can enjoy it, with greater appreciation, each time you look at it. Most aesthetic experiences are not enjoyable on the surface. You have to look at them a number of times before you are able to fully enjoy them, but this one stands up at once, and again and again." :frustrated:

[B-side]

I've only seen (nostalgia), which is great. Most of his work is super intellectual, so it seems destined to alienate most people. Not that you're not bright, Rowland. You certainly are. They just seem very heady and require significant contextual knowledge to really enjoy.

[B-side]

BTW, I wouldn't consider (nostalgia) to be one of those super intellectual works. It proved rather easy to enjoy for me.

[MadMan]

Well I can cross off from my movie bucket list "Seeing Jurassic Park" on the big screen. I had to keep my extreme glee in check although I'll admit there were first pumps. I love that damn movie.

[Rowland]

I've only seen (nostalgia), which is great. Most of his work is super intellectual, so it seems destined to alienate most people. Not that you're not bright, Rowland. You certainly are. They just seem very heady and require significant contextual knowledge to really enjoy.Well, that's exactly what I'm responding to, this notion that a deeper meaning would somehow alleviate the intensely visceral discomfort I experienced while enduring it. Besides, I did some research afterward in an attempt to learn what I was missing, and most of the analytical pieces I discovered either restated the obvious in more flowery language, or they delved into academic speak concerning structuralism and cinematic temporality, concepts that I'm familiar with and had in mind before I started the film, but in no way did any of it justify my reaction, hence the quote.

[B-side]

Well, that's exactly what I'm responding to, this notion that a deeper meaning would somehow alleviate the intensely visceral discomfort I experienced while enduring it. Besides, I did some research afterward in an attempt to learn what I was missing, and most of the analytical pieces I discovered either restated the obvious in more flowery language, or they delved into academic speak concerning structuralism and cinematic temporality, concepts that I'm familiar with and had in mind before I started the film, but in no way did any of it justify my reaction, hence the quote.

Right. That's kinda what I was trying to get at, but seem to lack the communication skills to do so. I can't speak to that specific film, but they almost seem like math problems rather than films, and I rarely hear anyone talk about how much they enjoy math.

[Rowland]

Right. That's kinda what I was trying to get at, but seem to lack the communication skills to do so. I can't speak to that specific film, but they almost seem like math problems rather than films, and I rarely hear anyone talk about how much they enjoy math.Your communication skills are perfectly fine, I'm merely voicing my frustration concerning how little of interest I found in the film on an intellectual level in proportion to how utterly I loathed the experience of viewing it. And then there's that quote from Brakhage, who seemed to legitimately enjoy the film, which is especially puzzling given that from what I've read, he had little interest in structuralism.

[B-side]

Your communication skills are perfectly fine, I'm merely voicing my frustration concerning how little of interest I found in the film on an intellectual level in proportion to how utterly I loathed the experience of viewing it. And then there's that quote from Brakhage, who seemed to legitimately enjoy the film, which is especially puzzling given that from what I've read, he had little interest in structuralism.

Yeah, I get what you're saying. I'll refrain from saying more since I haven't seen the film in question and don't wanna walk too far out on this particular limb of mine.

[B-side]

The Burning Body is my first in what what will assuredly be a long line of viewings of the work of Walter Hugo Khouri. Though he began working a few years before Cinema Novo really kicked into gear and worked right through it, he doesn't seem to be considered among its catalogue of participating filmmakers. The film might be described as a Douglas Sirk film as directed by Michelangelo Antonioni had he joined the French New Wave. Whatever random label you wanna apply, it's clear to me that Khouri is an important filmmaker. The Burning Body concerns a youngish housewife bored by her upper class life yearning for fulfillment, both sexual and emotional. The title can be explained by the scene in which an unnamed man seeking a loose black mare in the hills near the woman's cabin brings a white horse in heat to attract the unpredictable mare so he might be brought back to the man's ranch. The woman develops a borderline sexual obsession with horses as she seeks out her individual freedom and sexual happiness, focusing mostly on the aforementioned black mare that seems to represent a sort of unrestrained and carefree world she wishes to join. In one particularly great scene the camera cuts back and forth between her eager face as she projects her emotional state onto the unfeeling act of strictly procreational mating of the black and white horses. You can see her struggling to apply an anthropomorphic sense of love between them as she squints, smiles and looks on in curiosity and contemplation. This would be well worth watching strictly as a very impressive formal exercise, but thankfully the narrative is alluring in all of its sexual energy.


http://i.imgur.com/qP4Umy0.png

http://i.imgur.com/6OSZNZX.png

[Boner M]

Anybody familiar with the avante-garde filmmaker Hollis Frampton? After spending some time exploring the works of Brakhage and Anger these past few days, I decided to branch out with Frampton, who I discovered was a professor at my University a few decades back. In any case, I started with Critical Mass, which avante-garde super-critic Michael Sicinski ranks as the fourth best film of the entire '70s. I'm reminded of a quote from the Ebert thread, which I'll reiterate with minor italicized tweaks:

"A case can be made for the movie, but it would involve transforming the experience of viewing the film (which is excruciatingly irritating) into something more interesting, an avante-garde study concerning structural temporality. Just as a bad novel can be made into a good movie, so can an intolerable movie be made into a fascinating movie review."

I forced myself to finish it, and I really mean forced, because I had developed a headache before it was halfway over, and by the end I felt like I was listening to nails scrape against a chalkboard until they were stubs of bloodied pulp. I read up on some of the critical theory surrounding the film, which was all well and good (if not terribly enlightening to these unenlightened eyes), but I hate it. Brakhage on the other hand insists that "it is a magic film in that you can enjoy it, with greater appreciation, each time you look at it. Most aesthetic experiences are not enjoyable on the surface. You have to look at them a number of times before you are able to fully enjoy them, but this one stands up at once, and again and again." :frustrated:
I liked Critical Mass. It was funny. For me, Poetic Justice was the one that was a bit of a chore to get through. As B-Side says, (nostalgia) is the best of the three (I think they form a triptych).

You should watch Lemon if you're after a sensual experience from avant-garde cinema. It's beauteous.

[Izzy Black]

avant-garde cinema needn't be enjoyable. I thought that was common knowledge.

[Boner M]

avant-garde cinema needn't be enjoyable. I thought that was common knowledge.
There're different shades of unenjoyable, though. I think Rowland's talking about stuff that warrants being read about rather than watched.

[Izzy Black]

Not unless you need to experience the film in order to really grasp and/or appreciate its conceptual content. This media experience may be akin to reading insofar as the experience is more of (or even entirely) an academic endeavor, but that doesn't mean that its ideas can be neatly transferred into written form, or that it's not a film, or not art, even if it doesn't result in the emotional pleasures that satisfy a certain kind of cinematic experience.

[Boner M]

Not unless you need to experience the film in order to really grasp and/or appreciate its conceptual content.
True, and that's the category I place much of Frampton's stuff (among others) in. I'm just playing devil's advocate for Rowland here.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

a few viewings:

Images From the Playground (Stig Bjorkman/short): Some beautiful color and B+W private footage from Ingmar Bergman's constant filming of his life away from the set. Some anecdotes from his collaborators and friends. Too brief of a film to really be fulfilling, played more like a dvd extra but it does have some great things in it including the some color footage from the set of Wild Strawberries. 3/5

Berberian Sound Studio (Peter Strickland): Really surprised about this one. A very clinical, anti-climactic psychological horror film with a perfectly used score by Broadcast. 4/5

La Cabina/The Phone Booth (Antonio Mercero/short): An amazing film. I don't know what to say about without spoiling it. 5/5

Scenes from the Life of Andy Warhol: Friendships and Intersections (Jonas Mekas/short): Don't be fooled by the title, nobody will speak or tell stories in this one. It's basically your typical Mekas film, fly-on-the-wall frenetic camerawork observing private moments in Warhol's life. 4/5

Something Wicked This Way Comes (Jack Clayton): My impenetrable respect for Jack Clayton based on his Bespoke Overcoat and The Innocents was slightly diminished by this disaster. Jonathan Pryce looks the part of Mr. Dark but is utterly flaccid in every scene. The special effects look more suited for the Peanut Butter Solution than an adaptation of a Ray Bradbury novel. 2/5

Visions of Europe (Greenaway, Tarr, Van Gogh, etc.): For a 25 director omnibus film it holds its own and only seldom does it feel bloated. Tarr, Greenaway, Van Gogh, and whatever director made the "Euroflot" segment were probably the strongest.It also gave me insight into the cinema of countries like Malta, Luxembourg, and others that typically don't get representation in films like these. 4/5

John Cale: Fragments of a Rainy Season: A very strong concert and understated (no stage desing, no pyrotechnics) film that sees Cale play some songs of his own, some collaborations, and some covers. His performance of "Fear is a Man's Best Friend" is batshit crazy, his cover of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" is quite beautiful, and seldom does the concert disappoint. 4/5

Silver Flotations (Willard Mass/short): A document of Warhol's seminal exhibition which featured floating silver balloons moving aimlessly around a ceiling, shot by Marie Menken's husband who also got the blow job in Andy Warhol's Blow Job, and is the basis of Richard Burton's character in Who's Afraid of Virgina Wolf?, and an avant garde filmmaker in his own right. The reason I contextualize Maas is maybe it will make this document less boring but probably not. I think you would have to be present at the exhibition and tripping balls to actually get thrilled by balloons on a celiling 3/5

Andy Warhol (Marie Menken/short): Menken is one of my favorite experimental filmmakers, very similar in style to Jonas Mekas, and she is credited with introducing Warhol to filmmaking. Unfortunately this is my least favorite work of hers, frenetic camera movement documenting Warhol at the Factory. It loses momentum fast. 3/5

[Rowland]

avant-garde cinema needn't be enjoyable. I thought that was common knowledge.
I said nothing to contradict this statement.


or that it's not a film, or not art, even if it doesn't result in the emotional pleasures that satisfy a certain kind of cinematic experience.
It's a film, it's art. I didn't expect emotional pleasure, although that's an inexplicably common response, e.g. Brakhage, Boner, and many responses I've read citing the film as a funny performance piece, or as a witty example of form commenting on content.


Not unless you need to experience the film in order to really grasp and/or appreciate its conceptual content. This media experience may be akin to reading insofar as the experience is more of (or even entirely) an academic endeavor, but that doesn't mean that its ideas can be neatly transferred into written form
Quite right, you really need to watch the film to grasp how rigorous it is at embodying and expressing its abrasive subject matter through its manipulation of form. That doesn't help me find it any more engaging on an intellectual level, or watchable as an experiential one.

[dreamdead]

Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz is a more adventurous film than I went into it expecting. It has a warmth and vision all its own, and at least three bravura scenes (the first Video Killed the Radio Star, all fleeting indecisions; the shower scene; the sex montage). Those moments really elevate the material. I think Slant's right in identifying that this is essentially a fairy tale in terms of dialogue, as it's otherwise far too stark and arch to work. That said, there's something about Williams here that's just a bit off--principally, she seems to be forced into playing a character just a tad too dumb for her talents. That speaks well of the general richness of her performance elsewhere, but she seems far too childish here, baiting and then fleeing from those instincts.

We'll see how this one ages--I love several of the scenes, but Margot just seems off.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Paul Mazursky's Alex in Wonderland is a fun little Fellini-aping flick and pretty damn funny. 4/5

[Watashi]

Saw Jurassic Park in the theaters today. Probably the first time in probably 15 years. Seeing it on the big screen immediately invoked memories of me as a kid seeing in 1993. The film has flaws alright, but goddamn, can Spielberg direct a scene. The T-Rex scene is still one of the best scene in all cinema and one of the best displays of fear. Also forgot how amazing the sound design is.

[MadMan]

Saw Jurassic Park in the theaters today. Probably the first time in probably 15 years. Seeing it on the big screen immediately invoked memories of me as a kid seeing in 1993. The film has flaws alright, but goddamn, can Spielberg direct a scene. The T-Rex scene is still one of the best scene in all cinema and one of the best displays of fear. Also forgot how amazing the sound design is.Yes, yes, and yes. Oh and I actually caught some dialogue that I had either forgotten about or had not noticed among endless viewings over the years.

This is the Spielberg I miss, by the way, and I noted on Thursday night that even when he was tackling more serious subject matter such as Saving Private Ryan or a half serious half comedic movie such as Catch Me If You Can that he made them still worth watching. Which is why I refuse to view Lincoln: it looks like an incredibly boring movie with good acting, tailor made for him to try and win more Oscars. Fuck that. War Horse still looks like the greatest comedy of the last 10 years, too.

Oh and I realized even the limits of Netflix tonight when I noticed that they lacked a few of WKW's films even via mail. Sure most of them are short films, but I still would like to see them regardless. I viewed his first movie tonight and liked it a lot-its only the third movie I've seen from him, however.

[dreamdead]

So Sexy Beast. That was muscular, tense, unnerving, and exciting. Great stuff from Kingsley, McShane, and Winstone. Love the circular nature of the confrontation. Great stuff, and now I'm quite excited to see Glazer's Birth.

[transmogrifier]

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.

Boner = wrong

[Izzy Black]

Saw Jurassic Park in the theaters today. Probably the first time in probably 15 years. Seeing it on the big screen immediately invoked memories of me as a kid seeing in 1993. The film has flaws alright, but goddamn, can Spielberg direct a scene. The T-Rex scene is still one of the best scene in all cinema and one of the best displays of fear. Also forgot how amazing the sound design is.

Did you see it in 3d? I'm trying to decide between the 3d and 2d. Early reviews of the 3d are mixed. I'm not a fan of 3d and have never watched a whole film in 3d before, so I'm leaning 2d, but I'm also kind of curious about certain scenes in 3d.

[B-side]

Young Adult definitely sucks. Big time. Reitman is goddamn awful.

[Raiders]

Glazer's Birth.

I still remember feeling in the vast minority on the message boards when I trashed this film back in the day as portentous bullshit and failing to really live up to any of its interesting ideas, stranding Kidman's strong performance in a vacuum of chilly filmmaking. Strange because it was generally not well-liked outside the Internets. I still haven't seen Sexy Beast because of it.

[Watashi]

Did you see it in 3d? I'm trying to decide between the 3d and 2d. Early reviews of the 3d are mixed. I'm not a fan of 3d and have never watched a whole film in 3d before, so I'm leaning 2d, but I'm also kind of curious about certain scenes in 3d.

Yeah, I saw it in 3D. It was okay... I guess. If I had to pay I would have seen it in 2D. Only the T-Rex scene and the Raptor scene in the Kitchen were heightened because of the extra dimension.

[Watashi]

Birth rules. Still need to see Sexy Beast.

[Boner M]

I was pretty whatevs on Birth when it came out (beyond Kidman & the opening shot), but man did it improve exponentially upon second viewing last year. Savides' best work to date. Sexy Beast is great too. But this is Glazer's best work (Lavant!):


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNWFHpPu1qs

[Pop Trash]

I still remember feeling in the vast minority on the message boards when I trashed this film back in the day as portentous bullshit and failing to really live up to any of its interesting ideas, stranding Kidman's strong performance in a vacuum of chilly filmmaking. Strange because it was generally not well-liked outside the Internets. I still haven't seen Sexy Beast because of it.

I felt this way too. I can't even remember if I made it through the thing. Sexy Beast is pretty great though.

[Robby P]

I finally caught Argo at the theatre and while I enjoyed the movie for what it was there were a couple of things that bothered me. First, I thought the movie unintentionally reinforced a lot of negative stereotypes about Muslims. Nearly ever Iranian in the movie is depicted as a gun wielding, scary beard wearing psychopath. Even their diplomatic representatives are cartoonishly evil. That's not to say the region at that time wasn't plagued by hostility and relentless violence and oppression but the movie doesn't really look into the reasons for why this was the case, it just sort of matter of factly presents everyone as a rabid demagogue devoid of context. Second, the movie plays up its tension building moments to an almost comical extent. There is a scene where John Goodman and Alan Arkin are being held up on a movie set that is just embarrassingly contrived. The entire third act seems to be an endless series of unfortunate obstacles that are overdramatized to the point of absurdity. The movie uses every Hollywood trick in the book to build up tension and perhaps this was done intentionally on some sort of meta-irony level but I don't think that was actually the case. I think it was just lazy writing.

I appreciated the message of the movie as Jimmy Carter so eloquently describes it during the end credits and I love the final shot (Ben Affleck really knows how to end his movies) - even though the final reunion sequence itself was cringeworthy - but I would have enjoyed the movie a great deal more if it would have spent more time focusing on the characters it was so invested in saving and less time throwing up an endless parade of Angry Muslims as proverbial roadblocks.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

I was pretty whatevs on Birth when it came out (beyond Kidman & the opening shot), but man did it improve exponentially upon second viewing last year. Savides' best work to date. Sexy Beast is great too. But this is Glazer's best work (Lavant!)

Once I got into Carriere's writing and recognized his absolute genius Birth then became a whole different beast. It seems in part to be just a re-tinekring of Carriere's scenario for Max, Mon Amour with the woman falling in love with a boy instead of a chimp. It was like the scenario he was born to write.

[Grouchy]

I still remember feeling in the vast minority on the message boards when I trashed this film back in the day as portentous bullshit and failing to really live up to any of its interesting ideas, stranding Kidman's strong performance in a vacuum of chilly filmmaking. Strange because it was generally not well-liked outside the Internets. I still haven't seen Sexy Beast because of it.
I love both, bur not liking Birth shouldn't stop you from seeking out Sexy Beast. They're completely different.

[Izzy Black]

I still remember feeling in the vast minority on the message boards when I trashed this film back in the day as portentous bullshit and failing to really live up to any of its interesting ideas, stranding Kidman's strong performance in a vacuum of chilly filmmaking. Strange because it was generally not well-liked outside the Internets. I still haven't seen Sexy Beast because of it.

I think Birth is a great film.

[Izzy Black]

Yeah, I saw it in 3D. It was okay... I guess. If I had to pay I would have seen it in 2D. Only the T-Rex scene and the Raptor scene in the Kitchen were heightened because of the extra dimension.

Thanks. I'll be seeing the 2d version.

[Milky Joe]

Given that those are the two most thrilling scenes in the whole film and that this will be the only chance I have to see it in 3D, I'd go see that one to get the full experience. I mean, I thought seeing T-Rex and Raptors in 3D was the whole point of this re-release!

[Izzy Black]

For me the whole point is seeing it on the big screen. Nothing beats the theatrical experience of a classic flick. My only gripe with going to see it for just those two set pieces is that it's not worth it if the 3d is annoying and compromises the film experience elsewhere. Those two scenes would have to be pretty damned impressive for me to want to spend that much money for two scenes as opposed to a great feature-length 2d experience.

[Izzy Black]

What would be nice is if I could sneak out during those scenes and watch the 3d movie, lols

[B-side]

You fiendish lawbreaker, you.

[Wryan]

What would be nice is if I could sneak out during those scenes and watch the 3d movie, lols

Whoa whoa whoa.......it's playing in 2D in some places for y'all? I thought it was strictly 3D? Christ, this changes everything. If I can find it somewhere locally that's just 2D, I will be seeing it tomorrow. I'm not even positive I saw it in theaters originally.....just checked, nope I would have been 10, so I doubt my parents took me to see it. Even though I've seen it so many times on DVD, I can't pass up the chance to see it in a theater. It's just such an amazing experience and a great thrill-ride.

[EyesWideOpen]

Whoa whoa whoa.......it's playing in 2D in some places for y'all? I thought it was strictly 3D? Christ, this changes everything. If I can find it somewhere locally that's just 2D, I will be seeing it tomorrow. I'm not even positive I saw it in theaters originally.....just checked, nope I would have been 10, so I doubt my parents took me to see it. Even though I've seen it so many times on DVD, I can't pass up the chance to see it in a theater. It's just such an amazing experience and a great thrill-ride.

I'd say probably 90% of the time a movie is playing in 3D near me it's also playing in 2D.

[Ezee E]

A significant less show times in 2D though.

[EyesWideOpen]

A significant less show times in 2D though.

Not here in Arizona. At my five closest theaters there are 4 3D movies playing and only 1 has more 3D screenings then 2D.

[dreamdead]

Well now, Mizoguchi's The Story of Oharu was just soul-crushing. Incredibly exhaustive in how female agency is forcibly undercut time and again by hierarchical pressures. From Oharu's father denying her any choice because her lover is not from a high enough clan, to institutional critiques of her life after every form of financial support has abdicated any responsibility to her... just overwhelming in its assessment of how women were treated like cattle in earlier eras.

Does Mizoguchi have films that extend that kind of critique to his contemporary era?

[B-side]

Well now, Mizoguchi's The Story of Oharu was just soul-crushing. Incredibly exhaustive in how female agency is forcibly undercut time and again by hierarchical pressures. From Oharu's father denying her any choice because her lover is not from a high enough clan, to institutional critiques of her life after every form of financial support has abdicated any responsibility to her... just overwhelming in its assessment of how women were treated like cattle in earlier eras.

Does Mizoguchi have films that extend that kind of critique to his contemporary era?

Street of Shame is contemporary. It addresses the then ongoing battle to ban prostitution. Generational hierarchies play a role in all the Mizoguchi I've seen.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Watched two bland Brit-flicks with high reputations, That Hamilton Woman and Room At the Top. Room was the better of the two, but each were way too maudlin or wooden to really be invested in. Simone Signoret's performance in Room is strong but I don't know how she won the Oscar for it.

Also watched were Bronco Bullfrog, Broadway Danny Rose, Jonas Mekas' short tribute to Lennon Happy Birthday to John, Eric Marquis' short Seven Green Bottles, and Barney Platts-Mills short Everybody's an Actor Shakespeare Said. All extremely average as well.

I hit the 400 mark in films watched this year. Many shorts included that number of course. I think I am starting to suffer from anhedonia due to this high volume of films watched. EVERYTHING gets 3 of 5 stars.

Someone recommend me an obscure amazing flick.

[Watashi]

Someone recommend me an obscure amazing flick.

The Avengers.

Though it might be too obscure.

[D_Davis]

Wow.

http://www.highexistence.com/25-spectacular-movies-you-probably-havent-seen/

That Big Lowbowsky (spelling?) sounds high-larious!

[Sven]

Someone recommend me an obscure amazing flick.

Thousand Clowns

[Grouchy]

Someone recommend me an obscure amazing flick.
Magic

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Thousand Clowns

downloading it


Magic

seen it, didn't care for it. 3/5

[Boner M]

Pedro Costa's O Sangue

[Derek]

Thousand Clowns

Strongly seconded. Might contain my favorite Robards performance.


Pedro Costa's O Sangue

Even stonger seconding. Such an amazing film and has my favorite use of song in film history.

[B-side]

Someone recommend me an obscure amazing flick.

Seagulls Die in the Harbor (1955)
The Current (1964)
The 19th Century Georgian Chronicle (1979)

Hedging my bets with three in case you've seen some of them.:P

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Seagulls Die in the Harbor (1955)
The Current (1964)
The 19th Century Georgian Chronicle (1979)

Hedging my bets with three in case you've seen some of them.:P

I've seen Seagulls Die in the Harbour, which a stylistic and tonal mess but pretty fascinating, with great camerawork and beautiful opening credit scene.

I will check out other two.

[B-side]

Yeah, it's a bit scattered, but I loved it.

[Fezzik]

Yeah, I saw it in 3D. It was okay... I guess. If I had to pay I would have seen it in 2D. Only the T-Rex scene and the Raptor scene in the Kitchen were heightened because of the extra dimension.

I took a date to see this on Friday night - she had never seen it on the big screen and I really wanted to see it that way again. The only version available during the time frame was 3D, so we did that.

Mixed results, sure, but Watashi is right on about the T-Rex and Kitchen scenes being the most affected (as well as the jump scare shot of the raptor jumping toward the ceiling).

Also, when I saw it the first time, I was a 20 year old who just wanted to see the book adapted into a fun movie.

Looking at it now, I'm even more impressed with the construction of it. As Wats noted, the T-Rex scene is brilliant, and I'm somewhat blown away by just how effective it is. I don't think his claim that its one of the great scenes in all of cinema is a hyperbole at all. I have to agree.

The kitchen scene is so wonderfully shot and constructed that the tension is just ridiculous and the effects! Even now, they're fantastic - yes, there are a couple of animatronic moments that look outdated, but jeebus that T-Rex is still as scary as hell.

[Raiders]

Someone recommend me an obscure amazing flick.

Mekas: Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania

[D_Davis]

Finally watched The Hobbit. It was...OK? Man, talk about prolonged action sequences. By the time the party escaped the goblin caves and then were attacked - only seconds later - by the pale orc, I was done. What's more, they could have easily told the entire story in one movie had they not extended the action sequences so much. I recently re-watched Fellowship, and in comparison The Hobbit lacks a lot of the magic; Fellowship feels like a big journey, where as The Hobbit feels like a bunch of set-pieces strung together.

[D_Davis]

Someone recommend me an obscure amazing flick.

Don't Play With Fire aka Dangerous Encounters of the First Kind

[baby doll]

Mekas: Reminiscences of a Journey to LithuaniaIsn't that one pretty well known as far as avant-garde cinema goes?

[Raiders]

Isn't that one pretty well known as far as avant-garde cinema goes?

Well, people were throwing out films like A Thousand Clowns and Pedro Costa, so it seems to be in-line with those. Based on its availability and the # of times I have seen it mentioned around here (like, none apart from me), I think it counts as "obscure."

I guess I could have reiterated my huge support last year for Kirsanoff's Rapt (The Kidnapping), or one I still love (Boner hated it), Kyle Henry's Room. My review here (http://matchcut.artboiled.com/showthread.php?1935-Room-(Kyle-Henry-2005)).

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Mekas: Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania

watched it last week! I am in a Mekas kick right now, funneling through that awesome boxset a french company put out with many of his films and shorts.

[Izzy Black]

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania is obviously Mekas' most famous film, so I suppose one of his other lesser known works would've been an option, but I still think it's a bit obscure to the extent that's often a film avant-garde inclined cinephilies might know about, but not a lot have seen, or at least, not a lot of people seem to really talk about it or write about it. Like you're much more likely to find a theoretical analysis of a classic Snow, Brakhage, Viola, or Tscherkassky film than a Mekas, I feel. I could be wrong about that, though. This is all purely anecdotal.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania is obviously Mekas' most famous film, so I suppose one of his other lesser known works would've been an option, but I still think it's a bit obscure to the extent that's often a film avant-garde inclined cinephilies might know about, but not a lot have seen, or at least, not a lot of people seem to really talk about it or write about it. Like you're much more likely to find a theoretical analysis of a classic Snow, Brakhage, Viola, or Tscherkassky film than a Mekas, I feel. I could be wrong about that, though. This is all purely anecdotal.

Bill Viola's early video work sucks (save for Reflecting Pool). Thats my theoretical analysis. His more recent installations, like Five Angels of the Millenium or all that triply slow-mo water stuff, are the only exciting stuff of his. Even the videos he made that are longer (Hatsu-yume, I Do Not Know What I am Like, etc.) aren't really that amazing, at least not enough to warrant a standing as one of the most visible names in video art or the avant garde.

[Izzy Black]

:/

[Raiders]

Reminiscences of a Journey to Lithuania is obviously Mekas' most famous film, so I suppose one of his other lesser known works would've been an option, but I still think it's a bit obscure to the extent that's often a film avant-garde inclined cinephilies might know about, but not a lot have seen, or at least, not a lot of people seem to really talk about it or write about it. Like you're much more likely to find a theoretical analysis of a classic Snow, Brakhage, Viola, or Tscherkassky film than a Mekas, I feel. I could be wrong about that, though. This is all purely anecdotal.

Well, other than As I Was Moving Ahead... (which I feel like has more recently become his most known and discussed film), it is the only one I have seen and is among my favorite films, as well as having a whopping 180 votes on imdb, so that's really the extent of my reason for naming it.

[Izzy Black]

Right, I was just saying I think it's still relatively obscure in terms of who has seen it and how much it's talked about, even given that it's one of his more well-known works.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

The 3 star viewing funk continues: Ron Mann's Twist (Ron Mann probably being the most average documentarist, always delivering a 3 star film every time out), Patrick Keiler's Robinson in Ruins which was way too dense in its social commentary of Britain to be accessible to non-Brits (at least on the first viewing) and way too sleepy in its narration given by Vanessa Redgrave. Her narraration was about as tone deaf as Shelly Duvalle's english narration for Un Homme Qui Dort. Also, Michael Powell's Thief of Baghdad was a 3 star effort.

Watching Stephen Frears' Bloody Kids now, there is much hope it will attain a rating above total mediocrity.

[Rowland]

As B-Side says, (nostalgia) is the best of the three (I think they form a triptych).

You should watch Lemon if you're after a sensual experience from avant-garde cinema. It's beauteous.Lemon was alright, the silhouette shot towards the end redeemed it for me. As you and B-Side both correctly advised me however, (nostalgia) was brilliant, much better than I was prepared for after Critical Mass. After that pleasant surprise, I was excited to give more of Hampton's work a look, of which Maxwell's Demon and Surface Tension left me shrugging my shoulders, whereas the lesser known Gloria! is very good.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

just watched Destricted hmmmmm.....

The Marco Brambilla segment was pretty awesome, as was the Richard Prince one. The Gaspar Noe segment was egregious psycho-macho bullshit. Nice touch with the subtle crying baby sound effect mixed in the nausea-inducing sound design during the doll-sex scenes, you are a provocative auteur Mr. Noe. The Larry Clark segment was good. The rest I was pretty indifferent to. 4/5

[Raiders]

Watching Stephen Frears' Bloody Kids now, there is much hope it will attain a rating above total mediocrity.

What the fuck has happened to Frears? I loved The Queen, but man has he been in a funk since. His most recent, Lay the Favorite, which basically went DTV, looks dreadful.

[EyesWideOpen]

What the fuck has happened to Frears? I loved The Queen, but man has he been in a funk since. His most recent, Lay the Favorite, which basically went DTV, looks dreadful.

If you have a movie starring Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta Jones, Rebecca Hall, Joshua Jackson & Vince Vaughn and you can't even get a theater release the movie must be especially awful.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

What the fuck has happened to Frears? I loved The Queen, but man has he been in a funk since. His most recent, Lay the Favorite, which basically went DTV, looks dreadful.

I dunno. Never been the hugest fan of his work. He has made a number of competent films but really has no crown jewel in his filmography. The Snapper, Bloody Kids, High Fidelity, The Hit are all good. The Queen and Dirty Pretty Things not that great. Thats all I have seen.

[Winston*]

I recommend My Beautiful Laundrette and Prick Up Your Ears.

[Izzy Black]

Rebecca Hall is terrific in Lay the Favorite.

[Russ]

I recommend My Beautiful Laundrette and Prick Up Your Ears.

Seconded. Those are two great films.

[Raiders]

Dangerous Liaisons is pretty stellar as well, and I love the style of The Grifters.. I also quite like Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. Frears in the 80's was top-notch.

[Winston*]

Was off work sick today so I watched The Ides of March. Looking at Gosling and Clooney's sharp grooming I realised I needed a haircut. So I went and got one. Probably the most important thing I got out of the film, along with the startling revelation of the presence of unscrupulousness in American political campaigning.

Also, I saw Beau Travail the other night at the cinema. I watched this years ago as part of a film swap with Boner. I didn't get it then, and I am glad that my review has been lost to the sands of time. A hypnotic take on isolation: through personal insecurity; geographically; culturally. Interesting to view after seeing White Material, which extrapolates on this film's postcolonial themes. Holy Motors might be the best showcase for Denis Lavant's virtuosity, but this has got to be the best employment of his unique appearance.

Going to further theatrical screenings of Trouble Every Day, which I've seen before, and 35 Shots of Rum, which I haven't seen, over the next month or so, interspersed with a couple of Leos Carax films and Badlands. Fun.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

Also, I saw Beau Travail the other night at the cinema. I watched this years ago as part of a film swap with Boner. I didn't get it then, and I am glad that my review has been lost to the sands of time. A hypnotic take on isolation: through personal insecurity; geographically; culturally.

When I initially saw it I had the same confusion. A month or so after seeing it I recognized its utter brilliance. I cherish those types of films because they only come about so often.

[dreamdead]

Influenced wholly by Karina Longworth's Grantland piece (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9123782/the-strange-case-super-mario-bros-movie)on the film, this weekend we'll be revisiting Super Mario Bros. I like to believe it'll be crazy weird and fascinating, but memories from 11-year-old dd suggest that the film will simply be the suck again.

[Qrazy]

When I initially saw it I had the same confusion. A month or so after seeing it I recognized its utter brilliance. I cherish those types of films because they only come about so often.

I saw it and still feel it's quite average.

[B-side]

Qrazy's no stranger to being wrong.

It bored me when I watched it, which is surprising given a lot of the films I cherish. I owe it a rewatch.

[baby doll]

Influenced wholly by Karina Longworth's Grantland piece (http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9123782/the-strange-case-super-mario-bros-movie)on the film, this weekend we'll be revisiting Super Mario Bros. I like to believe it'll be crazy weird and fascinating, but 11-year dd suggests that the film will simply be the suck again.Thanks for the link.

The major take away for me after reading that whole thing is that you can still get an NES system that works. How the fuck is that possible? Even in 1993, I had blow into the cartridge till my face was blue before I could get it to work.

Incidentally, I love this paragraph:


Mario and Luigi themselves — probably due to the limitations of technology, but maybe also in keeping with deeply ingrained Japanese cultural attitudes — proceed through every adventure and ordeal with a blank smile on their faces. (This is never more frustrating than when you've reached an advanced level and you make some misstep that returns supersize, fireball-enabled Mario to his natural state as a functionally useless but imperturbably spunky runt; if this game sends a tangible message to kids, it's that a cheerful disposition is worth fuck-all if you're small.)

[Qrazy]

Qrazy's no stranger to being wrong.

It bored me when I watched it, which is surprising given a lot of the films I cherish. I owe it a rewatch.

So you agree with me but I'm somehow wrong? You = Herpaderp.

[B-side]

So you agree with me but I'm somehow wrong? You = Herpaderp.

Just teasing, of course.

[Qrazy]

Just teasing, of course.

I bet the government put you up to it.

[B-side]

I bet the government put you up to it.

I'm not allowed to divulge that information. Barty already knows too much.

[B-side]

Westbound is the best Boetticher I've seen so far, easily. I've previously felt his pursuit of no-frills B movie filmmakng was pretty uninspired, but Westbound makes up for a lack of formal inventiveness with an impactful exploration of masculine identity. As usual with Boetticher, it's lean, efficient and gets right to the point. It swoops in quickly and leaves long before it can overstay its welcome.

[Raiders]

Westbound is the best Boetticher I've seen so far, easily. I've previously felt his pursuit of no-frills B movie filmmakng was pretty uninspired, but Westbound makes up for a lack of formal inventiveness with an impactful exploration of masculine identity. As usual with Boetticher, it's lean, efficient and gets right to the point. It swoops in quickly and leaves long before it can overstay its welcome.

Hm, interesting. I had read about that one before, but it always came across as a passable film made simply so Boetticher could work with Scott again.

You've seen Ride Lonesome? "Uninspired" and "lack of formal inventiveness" don't really make much sense to me. As I am sure you would agree, "formal inventiveness" doesn't mean excess. That film is so efficient and hard boiled that I can't think of a single moment that isn't fully utilized.

[B-side]

Hm, interesting. I had read about that one before, but it always came across as a passable film made simply so Boetticher could work with Scott again.

I don't think so, and I think it's the only Boetticher I've seen that actively engages with the contemporary historical revisionism of the time.


You've seen Ride Lonesome? "Uninspired" and "lack of formal inventiveness" don't really make much sense to me. As I am sure you would agree, "formal inventiveness" doesn't mean excess. That film is so efficient and hard boiled that I can't think of a single moment that isn't fully utilized.

I believe I've seen. His films are a bit hard to distinguish in my mind. I know I've seen Seven Men from Now, The Tall T, A Time for Dying and Westbound. I'm certain Ride Lonesome is among them. The worst of those was A Time for Dying, but it was arguably a more interesting film from a conceptual standpoint. And no, "formal inventiveness" does not mean excess since I think that phrase befits the work of Bresson as well as anyone. Boetticher simply suffers from doing little of interest with his camera or staging. His films are lean and rarely boring, but there's generally not much to engage with beyond that. Westbound is different.

[Sxottlan]

Just watched Walter Hill's The Warriors for the first time ever. Thought it was a blast!

[Yxklyx]

Just watched Walter Hill's The Warriors for the first time ever. Thought it was a blast!

Yeah, it's a fun well crafted film.

[Ezee E]

Just watched Walter Hill's The Warriors for the first time ever. Thought it was a blast!

Yeah, I can get behind the pop culture respect for that movie for sure. Scarface, I still wonder if the fans have actually seen it all the way through.

[transmogrifier]

I thought The Warriors was cheesy and kinda annoying.

[Qrazy]

I thought The Warriors was cheesy and kinda annoying.

Yeah, I'm not a big fan. I probably like The Long Riders most from Hill.

[Pop Trash]

Movies playing near me this weekend:

Jurassic Park 3D
The Place Beyond the Pines
To the Wonder
Touch of Evil
Upstream Color
Z

...aaand I'm broke naturally : (

[MadMan]

Yeah, I can get behind the pop culture respect for that movie for sure. Scarface, I still wonder if the fans have actually seen it all the way through.I've seen Scarface twice and I still love it even though De Palma has clearly made far superior movies. I'm looking forward to viewing the original 1930s movie sooner or later, too. And The Warriors is all kinds of awesome.

PS: I actually find it amusing (and likable) that De Palma borrows/steals/homages the mansion invasion scene from Hell Up In Harlem for the final bloody and violent bullets flying act of Scarface (1983).

[Russ]

Carnet de bal, Un / Dance Program (Julien Duvivier, 1937) PRO

"Julien Duvivier is an early 20th century French film director whose work spans 67 films over a 30 year career; prolific is too small of a word for this man. Although unquestionably one of the greatest filmmakers to come from France, his work remains largely under appreciated by film scholars and still remains unknown to those outside of his native country. One of the reasons why Duvivier received the lashings of French critics was his staunch unwillingness to conform to a specific style where he could be easily pigeonholed. This kind of aesthetic arrogance made him an easy target for fickle journalists and academics."

Well, all I know is that I've now seen four of Duvivier's films (not including his most famous work, Pepe le Moko), and I can honestly say that the small group Ive seen comprises three masterpieces (Poil de carotte/ The Red Head (1932), La belle équipe/They Were Five, and now, Un carnet de bal/Dance Program -- and the 4th one isn't that far off the mark).

Was it his prolific nature in churning out films that caused latter-day critics (ie, Cahiers) to give him short shrift in acknowledging his contribution to cinema (in comparison to contemporaries such as Renoir and Clair)? Or, as I've read, is it the uneven quality of his work? Even so, the cinematic heights that Duvivier did hit were breathtakingly magnificent. He's a often-times neglected name in classic French cinema, and I'd like to change the perception of him being a "lesser" talent. Part of the problem is that it's so difficult to see much of his pre-war work.

Dance Program was one of the earliest, successful attempts at an episodic narrative -- in this instance, just-widowed (and wondering if her 20 year marriage wasn't a huge mistake), Marie Bell (as Christine), finds one of her old dance cards (kids, ask your grandparents), and decides to look up all seven of the once-youthful, potential suitors whose names were recorded, in an attempt to revisit her past so that she can determine what might lie in her future. What she discovers is a succession of damaged souls whose lives were impacted by their brief meeting with Christine and not always for the best.

This collection of loosely-linked vignettes featured what was, at the time, a who's who of renowned French actors: Harry Baur, Pierre Blanchar, Louis Jovet, Raimu, Fernandel, and as it unfolded, if the whole seemed less than the sum of its parts, it all comes together in a shattering and poignant conclusion featuring Bell's reunion with Fernandel in a recreation of the dance ball from her past memories as a 16 year old. There's an all-too-brief epilogue that attempts to wrap things up a bit too neatly, but I see that the original cut was 144 minutes (my viewing was about 20 minutes shy of that), so I suspect that epilogue may have been cut

[MadMan]

Shame at times felt like a porno. An engrossing and fascinating porno, too, heh. It slowly drew me in, something I didn't expect with the film's opening scene. Also I now want to see Hunger, also from McQueen. He has a stylish and captivating sense of film making, and I hope he creates more movies in the future.

[dreamdead]

Minus some sexy stockinged-leg pre-Code action, Hitchcock's Blackmail isn't especially exciting. The initial reversal that the boyfriend makes to save his beloved, despite her leaving him behind to date another, is a surprise, but the film rather lags after that. TCM aired a version that jumps between being a silent film and a sound film, so elements in the beginning were a little broad; that said, it's really the ending that thwarts any real expectation. Some of the decisions, in that our couple escapes prosecution despite several wrong-doing is thematically interesting. But the female actress pitches everything at such a high register that it just becomes irritating rather than truly challenging. But hey, we'll always have those legs.

[number8]

Hey, folks, you can all rest easy. 20th Century Fox today officially changed their name to 21st Century Fox.

[Grouchy]

Hey, folks, you can all rest easy. 20th Century Fox today officially changed their name to 21st Century Fox.
About damn time they realized.

[Grouchy]

I wonder how many of you have seen Historias Extraordinarias, a 2008 independent film - in the best sense of the adjective - by Argentine director Mariano Llinás. I've seen it yesterday and I was blown out of my fucking mind.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-H-ryWsfAzvs/TwI07ZYkgjI/AAAAAAAAAUA/rDdwwsIX1x8/s1600/historias_extraordinarias.jpg

This is a film that's 4 hours long and yet I swear it never felt like it. I've seen very few films that long (Once Upon a Time in America comes just shy) and rarely in one single sitting. Llinás had a truly incredible, original idea for this film and he knows it perfectly well. He uses a constant voice-over that unfolds three paralell stories, getting inside the thoughts and feelings of the characters as if he was a novelist. He cuts back and forth between the stories and eventually new tales spin off from side details to evolve into the spotlight. The effect is like watching a dramatized form of a map or an enormous tome of history. The filmmaking is truly remarkable, the actors all perfectly suited for their roles and the production values kept to a minimum. This film laughs in the face of any and all aspiring filmmakers who have trouble with funding.

The best part of it is that the narrative form that Llinás has chosen makes it possible for him to introduce all kinds of genres and tones. Most of the stories are in the shape of a thriller and yet the characters are rarely in any inmediate risk, more like drawn into complicated, almost metaphysical mysteries. That the movie is as compulsively watching as it is is only due to great writing and directing and strong ideas. This shit even turns into a documentary for a stretch.

The part that irks me is that Historias Extraordinarias doesn't seem to be famous or in the road to fame at all. I know some of the actors who are in it and I have good memories of the director from when I went to film school - he was one of the few teachers who loved all of cinema and didn't frown at genre movies. I'd heard very good things about the movie. I just found it hard to actually watch it, what with the four hours and all. Big mistake. This should be watched by anyone with any honest interest in the medium of cinema. It's not just good Argentine/local cinema - it's something that hasn't been done before to the best of my knowledge. Some parts haven't left my head since last night and probably never will.

Extraordinary indeed.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnp9CsY_Ufc

[ledfloyd]

How did I make it this long without Pierre Etaix?

[Dead & Messed Up]

How did I make it this long without Pierre Etaix?

...with other movies?

[Rowland]

How did I make it this long without Pierre Etaix?Nice to hear. I DVR'ed the whole lot.

[Rowland]

I rewatched Taxi Driver today for a class, and not only did it look amazing projected on Blu-ray, I finally feel comfortable concluding that it's probably an all-time top ten-er for me, as generic a choice as it may be. Scorsese captures and crystallizes something so quintessentially American, with such terrifying and beautiful clarity, that it leave me awe stricken.

[ledfloyd]

Nice to hear. I DVR'ed the whole lot.
I watched Yo Yo, Happy Anniversary and Le Grand Amour and they were all great. Particularly Yo Yo which initially befuddled me, but quickly turned into one of the more ecstatic movie-viewing experiences I've had in a long while.

[dreamdead]

My, but the first 30 minutes of Red River show a complete disregard for Indian "ownership" of land. Equally beautiful is the way in which John Wayne guns down the cowboy sent to get him off of another's land because Wayne believes that the man is capitalizing on an excess of land. Just logical reasons, I say. That sense of disregard has already shaped my impressions, and though I'm finding Montgomery Clift's character (and differentiation of acting style) interesting, I doubt I'll be able to come around on the film's treatment of land and capital.

[Kurious Jorge v3.1]

I watched Yo Yo, Happy Anniversary and Le Grand Amour and they were all great. Particularly Yo Yo which initially befuddled me, but quickly turned into one of the more ecstatic movie-viewing experiences I've had in a long while.

The Suitor is the one you need to see. Yo Yo and Le Grand Amour are also pretty great. Love the bed sequence in Le Grand Amour.

[dreamdead]

About halfway through Red River it becomes apparent that the film isn't condoning John Wayne's actions; however, that movement seems to occur after the initial land-grab, which seems to be presented as an honorable action to me. That said, the film does begin suggesting the callousness of Dunson's actions later. But the whole escalation of masculinity and refusal to back down seems overly contrived in this context. Beyond losing face, what damage did Matthew Garth cause Dunson by stepping in and revoking his license to terrorize the rest of the cattle crew?

I do rather enjoy everything about Clift's performance here, but everything regarding Tess is equally bad. Her final monologue exposes how trite Dunson's disagreement was, and his contrition is countered by the fact that Matthew's homosocial friend is totally sitting offscreen clutching at some bullet wound that everyone's conveniently forgotten as the closing music swells. Further, Tess's character deviations in her first exchange with Dunson runs through so many contrary viewpoints that it's difficult to think of her as anything less than an uninteresting deus ex machina.