28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[ledfloyd]

I really like Stalag 17. It's been awhile since I've seen it but I'd give it at least ***. I don't think Wilder made a film between 1950 and 1960 I'd give a negative review. Of course, I've yet to see The Spirit of St. Louis.

As far as Stalag's playful tone. I don't think that hurts it. There are a ton of fun POW movies. The Great Escape probably being the best. Not every POW movie has to be Army of Shadows. Stalag 17 is fun and full of Wilder's trademark wit.

[Marley]

Irma La Douce is the worst Wilder I have seen with its excessive padding and irreverent cynicism. Wilder and cynicism go hand in hand as far as I'm concerned but he seemed to miss the mark on this one. I'll take Stalag 17 over this any day.

Anyone have any brief thoughts concerning Roeg's Bad Timing ? I'm interested in seeking out more work by him and wondering if this is a good place to start.

[Sycophant]

Weekend:

Persepolis
Be Kind Rewind
Jumper
Vantage Point
Step Up 2 the Streets
Why Did I Get Married?
Eastern Promises
5 Centimeters Per Second
Sunshine (repeat)
Pierrot Le Fou (kinda repeat)

I'll be happy if I get half of these in.

[Marley]

Weekend:

Marnie
Needing You
Bill Cosby, Himself

[D_Davis]

5 Centimeters Per Second


I just pre-ordered this. It comes out on R1 DVD in a couple of weeks. I wanted to wait in order to get one with decent subs.

[Sycophant]

I just pre-ordered this. It comes out on R1 DVD in a couple of weeks. I wanted to wait in order to get one with decent subs.Really? Does the Hong Kong disc have reportedly bad subs? That's the copy I have. I actually threw it in my player last weekend for about five minutes before I realized I wasn't in the mood for it, but I didn't encounter any of the bad translation red flags.

[Sycophant]

Weekend:

Needing You
As in the Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai romcom? Awesome! (If memory serves.)

[Marley]

As in the Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai romcom? Awesome! (If memory serves.)

That's the one. I picked it up randomly in China Town along with Election and The Bride with White Hair (3 for $10). Such great deals.

I really have no idea what to expect from Needing You. Hopefully it's decent.

[Sycophant]

That's the one. I picked it up randomly in China Town along with Election and The Bride with White Hair (3 for $10). Such great deals.

I really have no idea what to expect from Needing You. Hopefully it's decent.That's a hell of a trio you picked up there. All good-to-excellent films. Expect Needing You... to be goofy as hell with one of the best tinny Hong Kong soundtracks you've ever heard.

[Ezee E]

Weekend:
OSCARS

Redacted
In the Valley of Elah
Zed & Two Noughts

Be Kind Rewind

[Watashi]

Finally E said it.

The weekend starts and ends with the Oscars.

Hopefully I'll watch Assassination of Jesse James and Be Kind Rewind inbetween.

[Sycophant]

So, Jeff Stockwell (The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, The Bridge to Terabithia) is writing an adaptation of Kiki's Delivery Service for Disney for a planned 2009 release. I liked Bridge and thought its script was pretty strong, so I'm surprisingly willing to give it a shot.

[megladon8]

That's the one. I picked it up randomly in China Town along with Election and The Bride with White Hair (3 for $10). Such great deals.

I really have no idea what to expect from Needing You. Hopefully it's decent.


Awesome!!!! The Bride With White Hair is such a wonderful movie.

[Marley]

That's a hell of a trio you picked up there. All good-to-excellent films. Expect Needing You... to be goofy as hell with one of the best tinny Hong Kong soundtracks you've ever heard.

That sounds inviting. Not to mention the adorable Sammi Cheng whose cuteness overload on the front cover convinced me to purchase this film.

[Marley]

Awesome!!!! The Bride With White Hair is such a wonderful movie.

Is there a lot of good action in this?

[Rowland]

Is there a lot of good action in this?I like the movie, but the action is probably the worst part, at least if you're looking for dense choreography. IIRC, the action sequences are almost all over pretty quickly and shot with unnatural shutter speeds.

[megladon8]

The action isnt really the highlight of the movie - it's a romance set in a magical ancient China.

Think Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, without such a focus on the fight scenes.

[balmakboor]

Weekend:
OSCARS

Redacted
In the Valley of Elah
Zed & Two Noughts

Be Kind Rewind

Holy crap! Are the Oscars this weekend? I haven't been paying any attention at all.

Redacted is the most into a film I've felt in a long time. Probably the most since I decided to ignore the warnings and watch Gummo. Both films fascinate me in ways similar to Sans Soleil, F for Fake, Evens Dwarfs Started Small, Phantom India, and WR: Mysteries of the Organism.

They are all films very much on my wavelength -- scary as that may sound.

[Qrazy]

Holy crap! Are the Oscars this weekend? I haven't been paying any attention at all.

Redacted is the most into a film I've felt in a long time. Probably the most since I decided to ignore the warnings and watch Gummo. Both films fascinate me in ways similar to Sans Soleil, F for Fake, Evens Dwarfs Started Small, Phantom India, and WR: Mysteries of the Organism.

They are all films very much on my wavelength -- scary as that may sound.

Please never again compare the former two films with any of the latter.

[Raiders]

Holy crap! Are the Oscars this weekend? I haven't been paying any attention at all.

Redacted is the most into a film I've felt in a long time. Probably the most since I decided to ignore the warnings and watch Gummo. Both films fascinate me in ways similar to Sans Soleil, F for Fake, Evens Dwarfs Started Small, Phantom India, and WR: Mysteries of the Organism.

They are all films very much on my wavelength -- scary as that may sound.

That's interesting. I'm a big fan of Sans soleil, F for Fake, Redacted and Mysteries of the Organism, but I hate, hate, hated Gummo.

[Qrazy]

I really like Stalag 17. It's been awhile since I've seen it but I'd give it at least ***. I don't think Wilder made a film between 1950 and 1960 I'd give a negative review. Of course, I've yet to see The Spirit of St. Louis.

As far as Stalag's playful tone. I don't think that hurts it. There are a ton of fun POW movies. The Great Escape probably being the best. Not every POW movie has to be Army of Shadows. Stalag 17 is fun and full of Wilder's trademark wit.

I'm with you. Yeah it's middle tier Wilder but I liked it quite a bit too. If you don't have a problem with a light prison movie than the script still sparkles.

[Spinal]

I like Gummo more than F for Fake.

[Benny Profane]

I like Gummo more than F for Fake.

Provocation!

[Raiders]

I like Gummo more than F for Fake.

You fail. Turn in your moderator wings at the front desk, please.

[Spinal]

I don't want to go overboard, because I acknowledge that Gummo is a pretty crude effort, but there's something about the assembled grotesqueries and semi-articulate dialogue that approaches poetry. I felt like Korine was actually grappling with an important question here, although he does like to poke his audience with a stick from time to time.

I've said it before, but I just can't bring myself to care a bit about Welles' premise. He circles and circles around ideas that should be obvious even to novice art appreciators.

[balmakboor]

That's interesting. If I was to rank the films I listed in order of preference, it'd look something like:

Sans Soleil
Phantom India
Redacted
WR
Gummo
Even Dwarfs
F for Fake

So yes, I agree with you in prefering Gummo to Welles' film. F for Fake even feels kind of out of place in the list being the least concerned with politics. I'm mostly taken by F for Fake for its brilliant editing, its interesting commentary on the relation between truth and fakery in the documentary form, and for Welles' engaging presense. It also manages to say as much about Howard Hughes in 15-20 minutes as The Aviator did in 2 1/2 hours.

[Raiders]

I can't think of a film that celebrates the art of entertainment and cinema as much as F for Fake. It is quite positively among the most scrumtrulescent films I have seen.

[MadMan]

I can't think of a film that celebrates the art of entertainment and cinema as much as F for Fake. It is quite positively among the most scrumtrulescent films I have seen.Pretty much. Plus I think Welles should have narrated more movies. His voice is just awesome.

I too forgot that the Oscars were this weekend. I'll be missing a chunk of it due to work but the rest I'll be able to see. I watch for the major awards anyways.

Weekend:

*The Great Escape(1963)
*The Thomas Crown Affair(1968)
*Manhattan(1979)
*Poltergeist(1982)
*Ordinary People(1980)

Maybe Heaven Can Wait(1978) if I feel like it and a second viewing of Raging Bull(1980) if I have time. This weekend may shape up to be an awesome one movie wise. I hope so anyways.

[Melville]

I've said it before, but I just can't bring myself to care a bit about Welles' premise. He circles and circles around ideas that should be obvious even to novice art appreciators.
I don't think that any of Welles' explicit statements about forgery and hoaxes are particularly profound, but the way that he makes his statements using the language of film is both interesting and damned entertaining. The structure, the editing, Welles' charisma, and the intertwining of various narratives and ideas are what make the film great, regardless of whether it works as an essay on fakery.


It also manages to say as much about Howard Hughes in 15-20 minutes as The Aviator did in 2 1/2 hours.
:|

The Aviator is one of the greatest movies ever made, and it has plenty to say about Howard Hughes.

[Spinal]

The structure, the editing, Welles' charisma, and the intertwining of various narratives and ideas are what make the film great, regardless of whether it works as an essay on fakery.

Replace 'great' with 'tolerable' and I agree completely.

[baby doll]

The Aviator is one of the greatest movies ever made, and it has plenty to say about Howard Hughes.Maybe it's because I read Rosenbaum's review before seeing the film, but I was pretty annoyed by the reductiveness of the beginning and closing scenes that make the case that his momma made him crazy. As for everything in between, it's exhuberant and funny in a shallow sort of way, but to return to what I just said, it's all in the service of such a silly idea. I wouldn't even call it one of Scorsese's best films, let alone one of the best ever made.

[Raiders]

Replace 'great' with 'tolerable' and I agree completely.

But that's the entire point of the film. The structure and playfulness are directly linked to Welles' use of the "respectable" art of cinema as a counterpoint and brethren of the disreputable act of forgery. He isn't merely saying "hey look, cinema is fake!" but rather equating cinema as an act of falsity and lying and that anybody who can create a great work of art, no matter how false, is worthy of praise.

I really don't see why the film has to be some eye-opening experience to be considered a remarkable cinematic achievement. That the form so seamlessly intertwines with the content is to me pure cinema, and should be respected and praised as such.

[Spinal]

But that's the entire point of the film. The structure and playfulness are directly linked to Welles' use of the "respectable" art of cinema as a counterpoint and brethren of the disreputable act of forgery. He isn't merely saying "hey look, cinema is fake!" but rather equating cinema as an act of falsity and lying and that anybody who can create a great work of art, no matter how false, is worthy of praise.

I really don't see why the film has to be some eye-opening experience to be considered a remarkable cinematic achievement. That the form so seamlessly intertwines with the content is to me pure cinema, and should be respected and praised as such.

If that gets your motor revving, more power to you. It struck me as mostly a waste of time. An empty exercise that leads us nowhere.

[Melville]

Maybe it's because I read Rosenbaum's review before seeing the film, but I was pretty annoyed by the reductiveness of the beginning and closing scenes that make the case that his momma made him crazy. As for everything in between, it's exhuberant and funny in a shallow sort of way, but to return to what I just said, it's all in the service of such a silly idea. I wouldn't even call it one of Scorsese's best films, let alone one of the best ever made.
The opening and closing scenes do not make that case. They create a focal point for Hughes' obsessions, but they are never presented as the source of his obsessive-compulsive disorder. And everything in between is not just exuberant and funny (although a lot of it is that): it's a brilliantly constructed examination of Hughes' relationship with the world and with himself, executed with flair and creativity.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Saying Death Takes a Holiday (1934) is much better than it's overinflated and uninteresting remake, Meet Joe Black... is probably not saying much. It's not a bad film, but it isn't a good one either. The advantage it has over it's remake is a much more keen sense of humour, although it is generally too talkie... even visually though, it has a leg up on the 90s version. A great dream-like atmosphere is created, although I did hope they pushed it a little further. March makes death far more interesting than Pitt, although he does push things a little too far at times. Overall, I mildly recommend it... it's decent.

[Bosco B Thug]

Weekend: The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford definitely, maybe Citizen Kane, The Killing of a Chinese Bookie, and Kids

[Qrazy]

I don't think that any of Welles' explicit statements about forgery and hoaxes are particularly profound, but the way that he makes his statements using the language of film is both interesting and damned entertaining. The structure, the editing, Welles' charisma, and the intertwining of various narratives and ideas are what make the film great, regardless of whether it works as an essay on fakery.


"Now this has been standing here for centuries. The premier work of man perhaps in the whole western world and it's without a signature. Chartres. A celebration to God’s glory and to the dignity of man. All that’s left, most artists seem to feel these days, is man. Naked, poor, forked radish. There aren’t any celebrations. Ours, the scientists keep telling us, is a universe which is disposable. You know it might be just this one anonymous glory of all things, this rich stone forest, this epic chant, this gaiety, this grand choiring shout of affirmation, which we choose when all our cities are dust; to stand intact, to mark where we have been, to testify to what we had it in us to accomplish. Our works in stone, in paint, in print are spared, some of them for a few decades, or a millennium or two, but everything must fall in war or wear away into the ultimate and universal ash: the triumphs and the frauds, the treasures and the fakes. A fact of life... we're going to die. 'Be of good heart,' cry the dead artists out of the living past. Our songs will all be silenced - but what of it? Go on singing. Maybe a man's name doesn't matter all that much."

That is profoundly expressed. Whether or not it is transparent or has been said before is irrelevant. The manner and beauty of this monologue, particularly when coupled with the onscreen imagery (as you've noted) at this moment, is powerfully and poignantly expressed. This is a life and artistry affirming moment in cinema for me.

Note: Above meant more for Spinal than for you.



The Aviator is one of the greatest movies ever made.

Nah.


It has plenty to say about Howard Hughes.

Yah.

[Qrazy]

Maybe it's because I read Rosenbaum's review before seeing the film, but I was pretty annoyed by the reductiveness of the beginning and closing scenes that make the case that his momma made him crazy. As for everything in between, it's exhuberant and funny in a shallow sort of way, but to return to what I just said, it's all in the service of such a silly idea. I wouldn't even call it one of Scorsese's best films, let alone one of the best ever made.

Honestly no offense meant, but I often feel like you often reductively interpret elements of a film and then claim that it's the film which is being reductive.

[balmakboor]

Maybe I'm slow, but I just noticed that Eclipse has announced an Ozu Silent Family Comedies box. I'm happy today.

[Yxklyx]

Anyone have any brief thoughts concerning Roeg's [B]Bad Timing ? I'm interested in seeking out more work by him and wondering if this is a good place to start.

I thought Bad Timing was very forgettable. You should see Walkabout, Performance, and Don't Look Now in that order.

[Melville]

Kudos to Philosophe Rouge for praising The Set-Up a few pages back. It was great. The photography in the arena was terrific, and I loved the grotesqueness of the audience.

[BirdsAteMyFace]

Weekend:

The Taste of Tea
There Will Be Blood
5 Centimeters per Second
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

And maybe something else.

[megladon8]

Hope you enjoy The Taste of Tea as much as D_Davis and I did, Birds. :)

[Philosophe_rouge]

Kudos to Philosophe Rouge for praising The Set-Up a few pages back. It was great. The photography in the arena was terrific, and I loved the grotesqueness of the audience.
I'm happy you liked, a great film :pritch:

Weekend
Peeping Tom
The Name of the Rose
Out of Sight
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid
Martin

[origami_mustache]

Weekend:
Assassination of Jesse Jame By the Coward Robert Ford
Gone Baby Gone
Semi-Pro

[Spinal]

Reefer Madness: The Musical is not a very good movie either, but damn, Kristen Bell is extraordinary in this. I'm tempted to recommend it just for her alone.

[Velocipedist]

Weekend:
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis

I saw this two days ago. Interesting cinematography and all; the colors seemed very shiny and glossy at times, but it definitely served the story well.

[MadMan]

The Thomas Crown Affair(1968)
Certainly I enjoyed this film, however I like the remake more and I think the original is really only a hair better than the 1999 version. It seems that the original, which sports a better cast in Steve McQueen and Faye Duneaway, is more psychological in nature, more tense and suspenseful than the remake. Even though to me the remake features far cooler and more entertaining heists, although I imagine that the original wasn't really all about the heist at all. I also thought the famous chess scene between the two leads was a mixture of erotic behavior, a couple of camera movements to heighten the tension, and a bit of silliness as well. I also have to note that McQueen has kind of a strange laugh, and it popped up numerous times in the film. Oh and Faye looked absolutely gorgous throughout. 80

[Qrazy]

I saw this two days ago. Interesting cinematography and all; the colors seemed very shiny and glossy at times, but it definitely served the story well.

Just finished it. It was fairly bad.

[Velocipedist]

Pretty much. That's what I was implying. The cinematography is the only interesting thing about it. And even that I don't know why I like that much.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Kristen Bell is extraordinary.

Fixed.

[balmakboor]

Weekend:

The Lives of Others
The Black Dahlia (2nd time)
The Host

[Duncan]

Weekend:

The Duchess of Langeais
Punishment Park

Both theater viewings.

[Yxklyx]

Have run into a streak of poor viewings of high profile directors. Bergman's Passion of Anna was very very poor, Pontecorvo's Burn! was awful, and Anger's 50s work (except for his first movie) was pretty bad stuff.

Back to some more dependable movies...

Weekend:

Act of Violence
Mystery Street
The Driver

[Morris Schæffer]

Potential weekend viewings:

Atonement (again, but in a theater this time)
No Country for Old Men (2nd)
The Queen

[Spinal]

Fixed.

I reserved Veronica Mars from the library. Is there anything else she's done that's worth watching?

[Spinal]

Bergman's Passion of Anna was very very poor ...

It's a fairly generic Bergman film, not one of his best. But it does have a rather extraordinary monologue that Ullman performs.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I reserved Veronica Mars from the library. Is there anything else she's done that's worth watching?

Nope. She's in Heroes, but that show has turned into absolute garbage. I'm essentially in love with Kristen Bell, but I can't handle watching that show just for her. I hope you like Veronica Mars. It has its faults, but it's a very solid show (third season excluded) and she's like a drug.

[Marley]

I thought Bad Timing was very forgettable. You should see Walkabout, Performance, and Don't Look Now in that order.

I'll take that into consideration. Much appreciated.

[baby doll]

Maybe I'm slow, but I just noticed that Eclipse has announced an Ozu Silent Family Comedies box. I'm happy today.It's about time, dammit!

[balmakboor]

I thought Bad Timing was very forgettable. You should see Walkabout, Performance, and Don't Look Now in that order.

I've never been a big fan of Roeg. I do like Performance and The Man Who Fell to Earth quite a bit, but I found Bad Timing almost insufferable to sit through.

I would like to take a fresh look at Castaway some time. I saw it back in 1986 at the Seattle Film Festival and it has really stayed with me. It's the best film about anorexia ever made.

The Witches and Track 29 are also worthwhile and seldom mentioned.

[Duncan]

I thought Bad Timing was pretty great, Garfunkel's performance aside. Loved Walkabout. Didn't finish The Man Who Fell to Earth, but it seemed interesting.

[Melville]

Walkabout and Don't Look Now are both great.

[Spinal]

Nope. She's in Heroes, but that show has turned into absolute garbage. I'm essentially in love with Kristen Bell, but I can't handle watching that show just for her. I hope you like Veronica Mars. It has its faults, but it's a very solid show (third season excluded) and she's like a drug.

I didn't really know about her before seeing this (had heard the name), but I was completely won over. Great combination of looks, humor and precision. It looks like many of the musical numbers from Reefer Madness have been Youtubed if you don't want to bother with the film. There's probably going to be some scantily clad people in a few of them, in case you're at work.

[Kurosawa Fan]

I didn't really know about her before seeing this (had heard the name), but I was completely won over. Great combination of looks, humor and precision. It looks like many of the musical numbers from Reefer Madness have been Youtubed if you don't want to bother with the film. There's probably going to be some scantily clad people in a few of them, in case you're at work.

Checking them out now. Thanks.

[DavidSeven]

Kristen Bell plays the title character in the upcoming Judd Apatow produced Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Trailer - Red Band Version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RzbuIE4LZM)

For those who are into Bell in, uh, that way, there's some interesting shots about a minute and a half into the trailer.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Kristen Bell plays the title character in the upcoming Judd Apatow produced Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Trailer - Red Band Version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RzbuIE4LZM)

For those who are into Bell in, uh, that way, there's some interesting shots about a minute and a half into the trailer.

Yeah, I read about this. Unfortunately, that's as good as it gets. Still, I'll see it.

[Qrazy]

Didn't finish The Man Who Fell to Earth, but it seemed interesting.

It's not. It's abysmal.

[MadMan]

Kristen Bell plays the title character in the upcoming Judd Apatow produced Forgetting Sarah Marshall.

Trailer - Red Band Version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RzbuIE4LZM)

For those who are into Bell in, uh, that way, there's some interesting shots about a minute and a half into the trailer.I thought the film looks somewhat funny. Its currently standing at "rental" status.

[Spinal]

Library finally delivered on Black Snake Moan. I'll try to watch it before submitting my final ballot. Would also like to get out to see I'm Not There this weekend, but I don't know if it'll happen.

[dreamdead]

Diary of a Lost Girl (Pabst, 1929) ***½


Hellz yeah. Truly a wonderful film, even if it doesn't have the legacy of Pandora's Box. Brooks is wonderful in these roles where she slowly usurps conventional authority.

[Derek]

Hellz yeah. Truly a wonderful film, even if it doesn't have the legacy of Pandora's Box. Brooks is wonderful in these roles where she slowly usurps conventional authority.

Yeah, I didn't like it quite as much as Pandora's Box, but it's still great. Brooks is wonderful and Pabst is unafraid to fill the film with overtly sexual images (the explicitness of the rape scene, the lesbian flirting, the man handing out hot dogs to the room full of dancing prostitutes!) and relate them to the various struggles for and with power. Thymiane's journey takes us through several patriarchal systems of control where power is enacted through a weird combination of discipline and sexual perversion. Her, as you say, usurping conventional authority is an incredible feminist statement in 1929 and I'd wager there are few sequences in silent film as delightfully anarchic and anti-establishment as the diary keep-away and the girls holding back and beating the big bald guy as Thymiane and her friend escape. That scene in particular reminded me of Vigo's Zero for Conduct.

[Qrazy]

Weekend, some of:

Gospel According to St. Matthew (Pasolini)
Quince Tree Sun (Erice)
Three Songs about Lenin (Vertov)
Merchant of Four Seasons (Fassbinder)
City of Women (Fellini)

[Duncan]

Weekend, some of:

Quince Tree Sun (Erice) Torrent?

[Stay Puft]

The Falls is incredible. Unbelievably epic. Undeniably overwhelming. Irresistibly and inexplicably compelling.

I'll get to Belly of an Architect this weekend but that's probably all I'll have time for.

[Velocipedist]

The Falls is incredible. Unbelievably epic. Undeniably overwhelming. Irresistibly and inexplicably compelling.

And how! Rep! Rep! REP, I say!

[Qrazy]

Torrent?

Yessir.

Oddly enough I'll probably watched Belly of an Architect this weekend as well.

[Derek]

The Falls is incredible. Unbelievably epic. Undeniably overwhelming. Irresistibly and inexplicably compelling.

And really, really funny too.

[Rowland]

Fuck physical media. I don't want to put up with scratched DVDs anymore.

And right in the middle of Gerry too. Fuck you, rental DVD. Anyway, the first hour of Gerry that I managed to watch before it began skipping was wonderful, so I can't wait to see the rest.

[EyesWideOpen]

I just ran into the same problem today. I like to listen to audiobooks to pass the time on my commute back and forth from work so currently I'm listening to Cell which I checked out from the library. I'm on disc 7 of 12 and all of a sudden it starts skipping really bad so I pull out the disc and look at the bottom and it looks like someone literally took a knife too it and deeply carved into the bottom of the disc. I look at the other 11 discs and they had some minor scratches but their is no way this could have been caused by anything other than someone wanting to fuck up the disc.

I was really getting into it too so now I have to go try to check out the actual book read the chapters contained on that disc and then continue.

[D_Davis]

I am going to watch my first HD movie this weekend:

The Core

:lol:

I just can't fathom how awesome this is going to be. The inverse Armageddon, in HD.

[Wryan]

Fuck physical media. I don't want to put up with scratched DVDs anymore.

And right in the middle of Gerry too. Fuck you, rental DVD. Anyway, the first hour of Gerry that I managed to watch before it began skipping was wonderful, so I can't wait to see the rest.

I . . . "liked" Gerry, though the ending kinda irritated me a bit. It's a curious movie: energizing and enervating at the same time, hypnotizing.

[Wryan]

And yeah disc scratches are a bitch. My roommate and I were watching Black Christmas (the right one, obv), and the disc fucked up RIGHT before the last 5 minutes.

[Rowland]

And yeah disc scratches are a bitch. My roommate and I were watching Black Christmas (the right one, obv), and the disc fucked up RIGHT before the last 5 minutes.Did you ever finish it? The last shots are creepy as hell.

[Yxklyx]

The Falls is incredible. Unbelievably epic. Undeniably overwhelming. Irresistibly and inexplicably compelling.



I watched it twice in a row actually. I wish they had a better copy of it. The sound and picture quality is pretty awful.

[Yxklyx]

It's a fairly generic Bergman film, not one of his best. But it does have a rather extraordinary monologue that Ullman performs.

I didn't think it was generic Bergman. His movies usually have a spiritual side to them - that was not present here. It was a very generic film period - like Made for TV generic.

[Yxklyx]

And yeah disc scratches are a bitch. My roommate and I were watching Black Christmas (the right one, obv), and the disc fucked up RIGHT before the last 5 minutes.

Those last 5 minutes are like the best part!

[Yxklyx]

It's not. It's abysmal.

I didn't care for The Man Who Fell to Earth either but having seen some more of his films now I might be willing to give it another shot ... someday.

[MacGuffin]

2 Days in Paris is funny, but has no real base. Well, maybe there is some base, but it's completely worthless other than to spew out admittedly quite funny jokes. Delpy writes a pretty good script, but that doesn't make up for her surprisingly disappointing performance. In fact, it came as a bit of a shock to me to find that Adam Goldberg actually stole the show, and his delivery of the line "Crack those codes" had me laughing harder than anything else this year aside from maybe something out of Superbad (the scene where the father was keying the cars was funny too).

In short, I was worried Delpy was merely cashing in on the success of the Before movies, and while the trailer gave me hope that maybe she wasn't, I'm not entirely convinced unfortunately. Sure, the situation isn't as bad as it seemed, but Goldberg's American is Paris is no better than Hawke's. In fact, it's worse, and I don't think I could've sat for another half hour of the unbelievably obnoxious Marion, and I'm happy I didn't have to. There's not much going on here, and not much Delpy had to say, I don't think. She's humorous, and I look forward to some more scripts from her, but maybe she should stick to acting, and not directing. Because I think that's where the major fault of this unfocused film lay.

[monolith94]

I am going to watch my first HD movie this weekend:

The Core

:lol:

I just can't fathom how awesome this is going to be. The inverse Armageddon, in HD.

Sweet. "You want me to hack the planet"

[Wryan]

Did you ever finish it? The last shots are creepy as hell.

We did. From the part where she goes into basement and boyfriend breaks window to get in ... onward. That's where we had lost it. But we finally got to watch the end.


Those last 5 minutes are like the best part!

The final moments are cool and freaky, but I always bout piss myself when she sees his red eyes through the crack in the door and he's babbling something about Billy. Lose my shit.

[Melville]

Dear Lord, Carnival of Souls was amazing. Incredible use of editing and cinematography to create an atmosphere of mental disintegration and spooky uncertainty—probably the best I've seen this side of Polanski.

[Wryan]

Dear Lord, Carnival of Souls was amazing. Incredible use of editing and cinematography to create an atmosphere of mental disintegration and spooky uncertainty—probably the best I've seen this side of Polanski.

Definitely brilliant. Used it in our Halloween marathon. Ending is obvious but it's still a remarkable achievement.

[origami_mustache]

Thoughts on Be Kind Rewind (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=37968&postcount=70)

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford had a great score, great performances, and some of the most dazzling cinematography I can recall in recent years. Casey Affleck was very good and deserving of his Oscar nomination, but I most enjoyed Paul Schneider's performance as Dick Liddil.

[Stay Puft]

And really, really funny too.

Indeed! I haven't seen any of his later work, but most of his early films are riotous. I particularly enjoyed the entry about the man who believed the VUE was a hoax perpetuated by the Hitchcock Foundation to make the ridiculous ending of The Birds seem more plausible.


2 Days in Paris is funny, but has no real base. Well, maybe there is some base, but it's completely worthless other than to spew out admittedly quite funny jokes. Delpy writes a pretty good script, but that doesn't make up for her surprisingly disappointing performance. In fact, it came as a bit of a shock to me to find that Adam Goldberg actually stole the show, and his delivery of the line "Crack those codes" had me laughing harder than anything else this year aside from maybe something out of Superbad (the scene where the father was keying the cars was funny too).

My favorite was Goldberg in the subway and the random guy who keeps watching him. Otherwise, yeah, middling film. I didn't like the ending or the narration, which struck me as pointless.

[Sycophant]

I rather liked Eastern Promises. I wish I could come up with more to say about it right now, but I'm kind of out of it.

[MacGuffin]

My favorite was Goldberg in the subway and the random guy who keeps watching him. Otherwise, yeah, middling film. I didn't like the ending or the narration, which struck me as pointless.

Which reminds me: I especially didn't like the narration during the final rendezvous in the apartment. It struck me as a cheap directoral shortcut, like Delpy knew where she wanted to go, but didn't know how to get there.

[Spinal]

Casey Affleck was very good and deserving of his Oscar nomination...

What if he was in the Best Actor category like he should be? Would he still be deserving?

[Boner M]

Dear Lord, Carnival of Souls was amazing. Incredible use of editing and cinematography to create an atmosphere of mental disintegration and spooky uncertainty—probably the best I've seen this side of Polanski.
Wheee! This is one of my 'litmus test' films... there's so much obviously wrong with it, but gosh darn does it's atmosphere do wonders for me. The shots of inside the church with the organ playing are my favorite part.

Also, no energy for longer thoughts, but Seven Men From Now kicked ass and I will now see Rise Lonesome as per Raiders' suggestion, and Quiet City was every bit the little slice of no-budget magic it's fans made it out to be.

[Qrazy]

Wow, surprised at the love for Carnival of Souls. I found it to be tremendously mediocre.

Litmus test? What happened to like Citizen Kane as a litmus test? Who's drawing up all these crazy No Country for Old Carnivals litmus tests these days?

[Qrazy]

It's still a remarkable achievement.

How?

[balmakboor]

The Falls is incredible. Unbelievably epic. Undeniably overwhelming. Irresistibly and inexplicably compelling.

I agree with all of that. It did kinda wear me down though. I caught myself wishing there weren't quite so damn many people named Falls. Still, a great movie.

[Melville]

Wow, surprised at the love for Carnival of Souls. I found it to be tremendously mediocre.

Litmus test? What happened to like Citizen Kane as a litmus test? Who's drawing up all these crazy No Country for Old Carnivals litmus tests these days?
I didn't see anything mediocre in Carnival of Souls except the acting. The scene that Boner mentioned is a tour de force of frantic creepiness.

But I also like Citizen Kane, so I've got my bases covered.

[ledfloyd]

What if he was in the Best Actor category like he should be? Would he still be deserving?
yes. his performance is better than tommy lee's.

[Watashi]

Note to Self: Don't watch They Shoot Horses, Don't They? when really tired. It makes the experience much more excruciating and feels like you're right there with them at the dance.

It's a such bizarre, politically correct film that is like a Nazi Death Camp for couples. The track scenes were almost unbearable to watch.

[Melville]

Note to Self: Don't watch They Shoot Horses, Don't They? when really tired. It makes the experience much more excruciating and feels like you're right there with them at the dance.

It's a such bizarre, politically correct film that is like a Nazi Death Camp for couples. The track scenes were almost unbearable to watch.
Amazing film. Those track scenes are frenzy at its best.

[D_Davis]

Dear Lord, Carnival of Souls was amazing. Incredible use of editing and cinematography to create an atmosphere of mental disintegration and spooky uncertainty—probably the best I've seen this side of Polanski.

Yes it is. This is a brilliant film.

[Lucky]

Just watched Gone Baby Gone and it was the first movie I've seen from 2007 that really enraptured me throughout. Except...I don't know if I can understand what propelled Casey Affleck's character to make the decision he did at the end. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough into his character, but it seemed completely odd that he would do that.

[Ezee E]

In The Valley Of Elah could have very well been a great movie, but it's so boringly paced together and directed, that it feels grueling to get through.

[Rowland]

Just watched Gone Baby Gone and it was the first movie I've seen from 2007 that really enraptured me throughout. Except...I don't know if I can understand what propelled Casey Affleck's character to make the decision he did at the end. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough into his character, but it seemed completely odd that he would do that.I'm sure that if you watch it again, you'll see the groundwork.

[lovejuice]

Just watched Gone Baby Gone and it was the first movie I've seen from 2007 that really enraptured me throughout. Except...I don't know if I can understand what propelled Casey Affleck's character to make the decision he did at the end. Maybe I'm not looking hard enough into his character, but it seemed completely odd that he would do that.

haven't watched the movie, but that highlighted phrase just stunned me. :eek:

[Qrazy]

I didn't see anything mediocre in Carnival of Souls except the acting. The scene that Boner mentioned is a tour de force of frantic creepiness.

The entire production felt too B-movie to creep me out. I don't really have any specific complaints. The overall film and production just didn't do much for me. Tonally I didn't find it all that creepy.

[Wryan]

How?

Because it achieved what it set out to do, and did it remarkably?

:)

[Wryan]

The entire production felt too B-movie to creep me out. I don't really have any specific complaints. The overall film and production just didn't do much for me.

Interesting that I have the same complaints about Time Bandits but I'm aware that many love that film.

[Melville]

The entire production felt too B-movie to creep me out. I don't really have any specific complaints. The overall film and production just didn't do much for me. Tonally I didn't find it all that creepy.
Zombies ballroom-dancing in the distance: creepy.
Zombie slowly rising from the water, looking creepily similar to the guy who's made creepy sexual advances toward the protagonist: creepy.
Hands dancing wildly over the keys of an organ: creepy.
Frenzied close-ups of the organist lost in trance: creepy.
Godless organ music: creepy.
All of the above edited together with a perfect frantic rhythm: frantically creepy.

Generally, I thought the gradual disintegration of the protagonist's psyche was very effective, and the whole thing actually seemed surprisingly non-B movie. Compared to something like Night of the Living Dead, it was pretty damn slick.

[Duncan]

Saw Punishment Park today. Freakishly relevant to the present. The cinematographer, Joan Churchill, did a quick Q&A afterwards. Apparently the cast was not just non-actors, but actual Black Panther members and Nation Guardsmen. No wonder the tension looks so real. She had some funny stories to say about the lunch breaks.

Anyway, the film is didactic, obviously. But sometimes when a film so extremely makes its point I can't help but respect it. It's got the kind of anger I'm not really convinced gets people anywhere, but I'm glad at least some people are this angry. I'm more of the cynical/bemused/frightened type. It was very good.

[MacGuffin]

Saw Punishment Park today. Freakishly relevant to the present. The cinematographer, Joan Churchill, did a quick Q&A afterwards. Apparently the cast was not just non-actors, but actual Black Panther members and Nation Guardsmen. No wonder the tension looks so real. She had some funny stories to say about the lunch breaks.

Anyway, the film is didactic, obviously. But sometimes when a film so extremely makes its point I can't help but respect it. It's got the kind of anger I'm not really convinced gets people anywhere, but I'm glad at least some people are this angry. I'm more of the cynical/bemused/frightened type. It was very good.

This is something I've been meaning to check out. It looks really creative and interesting.

[dreamdead]

Saw Punishment Park It's got the kind of anger I'm not really convinced gets people anywhere, but I'm glad at least some people are this angry. I'm more of the cynical/bemused/frightened type. It was very good.

This (http://match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=267) might be of interest to you. I try to tackle a few ways in which the film goes beyond empty rhetoric from both sides...

[MacGuffin]

This (http://match-cut.org/showthread.php?t=267) might be of interest to you. I try to tackle a few ways in which the film goes beyond empty rhetoric from both sides...

Wow! I'll try to watch this next weekend.

[Rowland]

Damn, Undisputed rocked.

I have a good streak going here. I imagine it'd be ever better if I'd managed to see the second half of Gerry. :frustrated:

[Benny Profane]

I can now say I have seen THE most boring, dull, repetitive film, for today I have seen The Duchess of Langeais. Two hours and seventeen minutes of stale mind-numbing torture.

[origami_mustache]

Damn, Undisputed rocked.



It's been about six years since I saw Undisputed, but if I recall correctly it basically combines every prison film cliché with every boxing movie cliché, and stretches a 15 minute short into a 90 minute waste of time.

[Rowland]

It's been about six years since I saw Undisputed, but if I recall correctly it basically combines every prison film cliché with every boxing movie cliché, and stretches a 15 minute short into a 90 minute waste of time.Yeah, it's easy to dismiss.

[Duncan]

I can now say I have seen THE most boring, dull, repetitive film, for today I have seen The Duchess of Langeais. Two hours and seventeen minutes of stale mind-numbing torture.

Ha, I'm seeing this tomorrow. Still looking forward to it.

[Qrazy]

Zombies ballroom-dancing in the distance: creepy.
Zombie slowly rising from the water, looking creepily similar to the guy who's made creepy sexual advances toward the protagonist: creepy.
Hands dancing wildly over the keys of an organ: creepy.
Frenzied close-ups of the organist lost in trance: creepy.
Godless organ music: creepy.
All of the above edited together with a perfect frantic rhythm: frantically creepy.

Generally, I thought the gradual disintegration of the protagonist's psyche was very effective, and the whole thing actually seemed surprisingly non-B movie. Compared to something like Night of the Living Dead, it was pretty damn slick.

Crappy crappy crap crap.

[Philosophe_rouge]

The NAme of the Rose was pretty damn good, I think it does a good job capturing the ideas in the novel on faith and politics fairly well (I didn't exactly finish the novel though.. so don't hold me on this one..). Connery is great, and it may be my favourite performance of his. His character's arrogance is charming and ironic. I find the mystery itself a little lackluster, although the value it ends up injecting into writing and knowledge is something I am always willing to put myself behind. At the very least, it's quite entertaining.

[Yxklyx]

Note to Self: Don't watch They Shoot Horses, Don't They? when really tired. It makes the experience much more excruciating and feels like you're right there with them at the dance.

It's a such bizarre, politically correct film that is like a Nazi Death Camp for couples. The track scenes were almost unbearable to watch.

This is the most exhausting film ever made so yeah - you need to be awake when you start watching it.

...and that lead actor looks a lot like Peter Fonda - don't know if they were going for some incest angle - always at the back of your mind.

[Qrazy]

You know how imdb and other places have lists of the goofs made in films and their filming? Are there any or many films out there that have no discernible mistakes?

[Boner M]

I can now say I have seen THE most boring, dull, repetitive film, for today I have seen The Duchess of Langeais. Two hours and seventeen minutes of stale mind-numbing torture.
I walked out of it at the Sydney Film Fest last year with no regrets, although all the praise for it from people I trust has made me feel like giving it a second chance. Then again, I've never been able to fully warm to Rivette.

[Wryan]

You know how imdb and other places have lists of the goofs made in films and their filming? Are there any or many films out there that have no discernible mistakes?

The Edison Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze

[Bosco B Thug]

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford was really good, I thought. Thoroughly involving and formally astute. There were some moments throughout where you start to wonder how forcefully the film's examinations will come through in the end, but ultimately its many great moments pull through. Dominik has a striking way of paying attention to his characters. They linger on screen even when they're not doing anything in particular. A minor character like James' wife is given a strange sort of clout: she's peripheral and obedient, but in a patronizing, knowing way. Then there's Jesse James and Robert Ford, strange and fascinating characters. James is unstable mentally, but he's as dashing and charismatic a bipolar as one can get. Ford's relationship with the man is tinged with evocative shades of everything: hero-worship, infatuation, Oedipal anxiety, love-hate relationships, psychological sadism, C. Thomas Howell and Rutger Haur in The Hitcher, etc.

Also, I'm devastated. I love The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 'TCM2,' The Funhouse, and Poltergeist. I bask in the guilty pleasures of The Mangler, Toolbox Murders, and Mortuary. Even though the film was scattershot and thin, after watching Eaten Alive I pronounced him the horror genre's [modest] answer to Robert Altman. Heck, I even saw a lot of merit in his thoroughly obnoxious Season 1 'Masters of Horror' episode Dance of the Dead. All I've mentioned is all the work I've seen of his. So why now has Tobe Hooper finally decided to fail me with his Season 2 'Masters of Horror' episode The Damned Thing? It had all the advantages to please me: I've enjoyed the gratuitous ribaldry of many Season 1 MoH episodes, the story is an evocative horror allegory, it has Ted Raimi in it as a priest, and Hooper was at the helm. But alas, it was shoddy and forgettable and, most disappointingly, utterly graceless, a virtue I always seem to find in Hooper's work.

[Grouchy]

eXistenZ (capital X, capital Z) is a weird-ass movie from start to finish, and perfectly paced. Its concepts of creative community gaming, the living pods, the body ports, are awesome, like something out of Philip Dick on a really high day. Other ideas, like the flesh-and-blood gun or the series of "Death to..." lines are so clearly out of Videodrome that sometimes it feels like an unofficial remake or technological update of that movie. I wonder if Cronenberg sees it that way, actually, considering that gaming has taken over VHS as the main media hobby. I prefer Videodrome, of course, but as similar as the two movies are, they're equally different in structure and purpose. I could foresee a couple of the twists near the end, unfortunately. Long story short, another Cronenberg movie that's better at deconstructing reality than Matrix. Heh.

By the way, this is yet another movie where the twist ending has been shamelessly spoiled by Roger Ebert on his so-called "review", so if you haven't watched it and plan to, stay away from that one.

[Grouchy]

Crappy crappy crap crap.
I think you have to do the explaining here, instead of writing "crap" over and over, seeing as Carnival of Souls is a fucking classic, and even if it has a "B-movie" feel (which certainly doesn't show where it matters, like the acting or the production values), that doesn't make it less disturbing or brilliant.

[Sycophant]

Blue Velvet was everything I could have hoped it would be. Nightmarish, harrowing, funny, with that Lynch cornball touch that's just so special. Loved it.

[Melville]

I think you have to do the explaining here, instead of writing "crap" over and over, seeing as Carnival of Souls is a fucking classic, and even if it has a "B-movie" feel (which certainly doesn't show where it matters, like the acting or the production values), that doesn't make it less disturbing or brilliant.
He already said that he had no specific complaints. I'm assuming his string of 'craps' was just a joking reference to that lack of specificity (and maybe also a reference to lovejuice's incomprehensible string of craps in the book thread, and maybe even to my tendency to drag out an argument well after the point that it appears to be finished.)

[Melville]

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford was really good
Yes. There's some good discussion in the thread devoted to it.


Blue Velvet was everything I could have hoped it would be. Nightmarish, harrowing, funny, with that Lynch cornball touch that's just so special. Loved it.
Yes. One of my favorites.

[Qrazy]

I think you have to do the explaining here, instead of writing "crap" over and over, seeing as Carnival of Souls is a fucking classic, and even if it has a "B-movie" feel (which certainly doesn't show where it matters, like the acting or the production values), that doesn't make it less disturbing or brilliant.

Nah, I'm good as is.

[Qrazy]

Although I did just watch Chabrol's Le Boucheur (Ack, I'm gonna eat my own words here for writing it in french) and although it took me a while to warm to it, when I finally did, it certainly got my creepy drive revving.

[Melville]

Has anybody seen the 4-hour "restored" version of Greed? The short version kind of devolves into silliness, and I'm wondering if the longer version smooths out some of the narrative and character transitions (e.g. by providing some explanation as to why the main character doesn't just go to dentist school to avoid ruin, or by making the friend's growing resentment a bit more natural). Everything works pretty well even in the shortened version, but there seems to be obvious room for improvement.

[MacGuffin]

I posted this on Rotten Tomatoes under my sic transit gloria username, so I figured I'd share it here. It's my top ten of the decade so far, in alphabetical order.

Dogville
Femme Fatale
I'm Not There
Miami Vice
Millennium Mambo
Mulholland Drive
No Country For Old Men
Tropical Malady
Reflections of Evil
Twentynine Palms

[Benny Profane]

Daniel Johnston: people think this guy is a genius?

I think agreeing with this would have helped me appreciate the documentary more. Still, it was pretty good examination of mental illness of an artist.

[dreamdead]

posted this on Rotten Tomatoes under my sic transit gloria username, so I figured I'd share it here. It's my top ten of the decade so far, in alphabetical order.

Dogville -- sure
Femme Fatale -- I loved the hell out of it back in '03; needs another viewing to be sure
I'm Not There -- h/s
Miami Vice -- ooh, rebellious, but sure
Millennium Mambo -- not Hou's best work this decade (Cafe Lumiere for me); great opening shot, though I will be revisiting this one over the summer
Mulholland Drive -- sure
No Country For Old Men -- a bit early, but hey, why not, right?
Tropical Malady -- sure
Reflections of Evil -- h/s
Twentynine Palms -- h/s

thoughts above

[lovejuice]

I posted this on Rotten Tomatoes under my sic transit gloria username, so I figured I'd share it here. It's my top ten of the decade so far, in alphabetical order.

Tropical Malady

after much reluctant, i'll say my heart's belong more to S&C. TM by itself is a masterpiece.

[MacGuffin]

It's weird, my love for No Country for Old Men literally appeared over night. I mean, I always liked it...

[D_Davis]

Daniel Johnston: people think this guy is a genius?

I think agreeing with this would have helped me appreciate the documentary more. Still, it was pretty good examination of mental illness of an artist.

I agree, but I love the film. This is what I said a while ago:

I have never seen the “genius” in Daniel Johnston's art and music. In The Devil and Daniel Johnston, there are people who declare Johnston a better lyricist than Dylan, more creative than Brian Wilson, and as influential as The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. There is even a segment where they lump Johnston together with Van Gogh and Sylvia Plath. I think this is utter nonsense, and perhaps a sad reflection on the times we are living in. I do think that Johnston is creative though, and he has written some very good songs, and drawn some amazing pictures. All of his art, whether it is music or illustration, contains a child-like innocence, and enough heart and raw emotion to choke an elephant. It is just too bad that he will never get to develop his art past the stages of childhood – I would love to see and hear what a truly adult-minded Daniel Johnston would create.

[Melville]

Dogville - good stuff
Femme Fatale - N/A
I'm Not There - meh
Miami Vice - interesting cinematography, but otherwise...
Millennium Mambo - N/A
Mulholland Drive - hell, yes
No Country For Old Men - I still think the ending was bungled, but I'll watch it again sometime
Tropical Malady - great
Reflections of Evil - N/A
Twentynine Palms - N/A

[Grouchy]

Dogville - damn straight
Femme Fatale - damn straight
Miami Vice - what? why in the confounding hell?
Mulholland Drive - damn straight

[Stay Puft]

Daniel Johnston: people think this guy is a genius?

I think agreeing with this would have helped me appreciate the documentary more. Still, it was pretty good examination of mental illness of an artist.

I don't think it matters that much. I always felt the most interesting part of the documentary was the various people who surrounded Daniel througout his life. I may not think Daniel a genius, but plenty of people do. Stories like that one guy who devotes his whole life to promoting Daniel, even after they have a falling out - that's fascinating stuff. Although I recognize I find that aspect compelling precisely because I don't think Daniel is a genius. If someone watching the movie did think that, they probably wouldn't think twice about the fact that so many people worship him.

I don't know, it's certainly a strange phenomenon. From where I'm sitting.

[Mysterious Dude]

Top ten of the decade

1. City of God
2. Waking Life
3. Requiem for a Dream
4. Children of Men
5. Bully
6. Traffic
7. Lilja 4-Ever
8. Shaun of the Dead
9. Kings and Queen
10. Mysterious Skin

[Melville]

Charulata -- ??
I've been wondering what this means.

[dreamdead]

I've been wondering what this means.

It means that I owe Raiders a review of it, but haven't had the time to generate any thoughts on it since viewing it. Still have to grade 15 good to horrific 5-page college freshmen papers by tomorrow morning. :cry: I'm hoping to get thoughts posted on Tuesday or Thursday, so the sig sits in silence until then.

[D_Davis]

I just watched 15 minutes of Crash. I will never watch another minute of this film as long as I live.

These 15 minutes contained some of the most amateurish dialog I've ever heard in a highly praised, major motion picture.

Dreadful. It sounds like a first year creative writing student's attempt at social commentary.

[Sycophant]

I'll bite. Top ten of the decade.

1. The Royal Tenenbaums
2. Mind Game
3. Doppelganger
4. Funky Forest: The First Contact
5. Citizen Dog
6. Millennium Actress
7. Dead or Alive 2: Birds
8. No Country for Old Men
9. Kill Bill
10. Election 1 & 2 (To)

[Rowland]

3. Doppelganger:|

[D_Davis]

I'll bite. Top ten of the decade.
2. Mind Game
4. Funky Forest: The First Contact
7. Dead or Alive 2: Birds
9. Kill Bill
10. Election 1 & 2 (To)

Cool choices here!

I don't know if these would be on my list, but I don't disagree with any of them.

[dreamdead]

:|

Hey, you're the one tired of praises lavished on Pulse. Syco's just spreading the love. :)

To Kurosawa's worst.

Logs off for the day before Syco can get in a word edge-wise.

[Sycophant]

I always forget that I (and iosos) are in the minority in regards to Doppelganger's stature in Kurosawa's canon. The film just sings to me from frame one, blending the best of Kurosawa's thematic obsessions and sensibilities, horror panache, and his dark comic streak. Also, I'd be remiss not to mention the asset of two Kojis.

[Qrazy]

5. Bully
7. Lilja 4-Ever

Ehh...

[Qrazy]

:|

Agreed.

[lovejuice]

i really don't understand how people do top ten of decades or top ten from any other time period except now. i'm perhaps the worst archivist. :confused:

[lovejuice]

5. Citizen Dog


:) hell yes! it hurts me immensely everytime i realize how overlooked this gem is.

[Grouchy]

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Oldboy
3. In the Mood for Love
4. Children of Men
5. The Incredibles
6. The Pianist
7. Caché
8. Femme Fatale
9. The Devil's Backbone
10. Moulin Rouge!

[Wryan]

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Oldboy
3. In the Mood for Love
4. Children of Men
5. The Incredibles
6. The Pianist
7. Femme Fatale
8. The Devil's Backbone
9. Moulin Rouge!
10. The Triplets of Belleville

So much rep. So little time. Great fucking list for the most part. Lots of surprises.

[D_Davis]

1. Mulholland Dr.
2. Oldboy


I totally agree with these two, as my top 100 will verify.

[Kurosawa Fan]

So. No End in Sight. Wow.

[Rowland]

So. No End in Sight. Wow.I know. Damn Al-Qaeda and Iran, right? We'd be winning otherwise... ;)

[megladon8]

I'm doing this totally off the top of my head so surely there'd be some changes if I took time to think about it, but my top 10 of the 2000s would probably look something like this...

Batman Begins
Oldboy
American Psycho
The Fountain
Memories of Murder
Solaris
Mulholland Dr.
Mind Game
Unbreakable
The Mist

[Melville]

I think I posted a list of my favorites of the decade just a couple months ago... but lists are fun, so here's a revised version:

The Aviator
Capturing the Friedmans
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Good Girl
In the Mood for Love
Mulhullond Dr.
Punch-Drunk Love
Requiem for a Dream
The Royal Tenenbaums
The Son

[Kurosawa Fan]

I know. Damn Al-Qaeda and Iran, right? We'd be winning otherwise... ;)

:P

Seriously though, that was pretty powerful. I'm not well-versed in a lot of this because I don't watch the news, so much of the content was new to me.

[Winston*]

The Good Girl

Don't think I've seen this one mentioned around here before. Good film.

[Stay Puft]

Best of the decade so far? Off the top of my head, sure.

Tropical Malady (maybe Syndromes and a Century?)
Millennium Actress (maybe Paprika?)
The Piano Teacher
Talk to Her
Drifters
The Wild Blue Yonder
Demonlover
Mulholland Dr.
The Vertical Ray of the Sun
In the Mood for Love (maybe 2046?)
Springtime in a Small Town

Maybe. I don't know.

[Duncan]

The Wild Blue Yonder Nice.

[dreamdead]

Springtime in a Small Town

Maybe. I don't know.

:eek: Woah. The remake is that good? I thought I'd try to locate the original before ever seeing the remake...

[Duncan]

I'm like lovejuice. I'm a terrible archivist. I have no idea what films I've seen from the past 10 years. Maybe last year.

[Stay Puft]

:eek: Woah. The remake is that good? I thought I'd try to locate the original before ever seeing the remake...

I have the original, too, but I haven't watched it yet. I was going to make a thread about it (the remake), if only to discuss in detail a couple key scenes, which are far and away some of the best examples of dramatic filmmaking I've seen, sure, but I'll probably wait until I have time to see the original so I can write from a more advantageous context, perhaps turn it into a larger comparative project...

One of these days I'll make a thread about it.

[Rowland]

:P

Seriously though, that was pretty powerful. I'm not well-versed in a lot of this because I don't watch the news, so much of the content was new to me.Even if you did watch the news, you wouldn't be well-versed in most of it.

But yeah, its greatest success as a documentary is how it illustrates the staggeringly pervasive failure of our leaders at the onset of this war in such an accessible and devastating single chronicle. The director Charles Ferguson wrings so much pathos out of his interviewee's crestfallen demeanors, without any Moore-esque flourishes.

[Melville]

Don't think I've seen this one mentioned around here before. Good film.
Most people seem to think it's middlin', but I love pretty much every aspect of it. It has some of my favorite dialogue ever.


I'm like lovejuice. I'm a terrible archivist. I have no idea what films I've seen from the past 10 years. Maybe last year.
Shouldn't you have your top 100 roughly in order by now? Or do you not have any films from the '00s on there?

[chrisnu]

I'll bite. Lists I can do. :) I think I'll go with movies that I may not have rated the most highly at the time, but movies that I enjoyed and have stayed with me.

Requiem For a Dream
Mulholland Dr.
The Man Who Wasn't There
Solaris
The Shape of Things
Before Sunset
Collateral
Tropical Malady
Pan's Labyrinth
Old Joy

[Mysterious Dude]

No End in Sight seemed like a lot of stuff I already knew. I think most of the information was already covered by an episode of Frontline (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/).

But honestly, I find most documentaries to be a waste of time, unless they're especially artistic (Baraka, Olympia). If I want to learn something, I'd sooner read a book.

[Sycophant]

My memories of The Good Girl are actually very, very positive. Due to general the lack of discussion here and elsewhere though, I haven't thought about it much since I saw it.

[Qrazy]

But honestly, I find most documentaries to be a waste of time, unless they're especially artistic (Baraka, Olympia). If I want to learn something, I'd sooner read a book.

Watch more Moris, Errol that is.

[D_Davis]

I guess my top 10 for the decade looks something like this:

1. Mind Game
2. Oldboy
3. Hero
4. Mulholland Dr.
5. Death Trance
6. Versus
7. Matrix Reloaded
8. The Descent
9. Ping Pong
10. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill

I don't really feel strong enough about numbers 5,6, and 7 on a top 10 list, although I am perfectly okay with putting them on a top 100. Strange. So, to modify:

1. Mind Game
2. Oldboy
3. Hero
4. Mulholland Dr.
5. The Descent
6. Ping Pong
7. The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
8. Exiled
9. Smile/Beautiful Dreamer
10. Signs

[Mysterious Dude]

Watch more Moris, Errol that is.
I've seen Gates of Heaven and The Fog of War. I'm not in a hurry to check out the rest. The former was especially tedious. Fog had its moments.

I do like some documentaries that follow people around, without commentary or narration, like Salesman and Iraq in Fragments.

[D_Davis]

I don't watch documentaries to learn something, as in factual information, or knowledge in general. I enjoy them for their insight into humanity and what makes their particular subjects tick. For instance, Morris's Mr. Death is a fascinating character study, as is American Movie and The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.

[Duncan]

Shouldn't you have your top 100 roughly in order by now? Or do you not have any films from the '00s on there? Oh. Right. Good call. I just went back and added years to all the entries. Turns out I have more films from 1967 than all of the 30's and 40's combined...I don't really know what that says, but it must say something.

Anyway, top 10 of the last decade:

Beau Travail
Eyes Wide Shut
In the Mood for Love
Werckmeister Harmonies
Code Unknown
Mulholland Drive
Spirited Away
The Son
Catch Me If You Can
Cowards Bend the Knee

In no particular order. Subject to changes.

[Philosophe_rouge]

I like docs, but I agree with Antoine on No End in Sight. What I didn't know was fascinating enough, but doesn't offer much new information and not in a particularly interesting way.

Morris though, I loves. Especially The Fog of War... incredible.

[D_Davis]

Turns out I have more films from 1967 than all of the 30's and 40's combined...I don't really know what that says, but it must say something.


That you watch and appreciate more newer films than older ones?

I know I sure do. I don't have any films from the 30s or 40s on my list.

[Melville]

Catch Me If You Can
Wow. I never would have guessed that one.

[Rowland]

I don't watch documentaries to learn something, as in factual information, or knowledge in general. I enjoy them for their insight into humanity and what makes their particular subjects tick. For instance, Morris's Mr. Death is a fascinating character study, as is American Movie and The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill.Absolutely. My favorite documentaries from last year, Deep Water and Operation Homecoming, were all about insights into humanity. Dismissing most documentaries as the equivalent of reading for the sake of "learning" (as if most books can be equivocally trusted for perspective-free factual basis) is rather reductive, I think.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Oh. Right. Good call. I just went back and added years to all the entries. Turns out I have more films from 1967 than all of the 30's and 40's combined...I don't really know what that says, but it must say something.

Anyway, top 10 of the last decade:

Beau Travail
Eyes Wide Shut
In the Mood for Love
Werckmeister Harmonies
Code Unknown
Mulholland Drive
Spirited Away
The Son
Catch Me If You Can
Cowards Bend the Knee

In no particular order. Subject to changes.
My list is balanced the other way around, so there is a sense of order in the universe :p

I haven't seen your whole list, but In the Mood for Love and Spirited Away would be own my own.

[D_Davis]

Absolutely. My favorite documentaries from last year, Deep Water and Operation Homecoming, were all about insights into humanity. Dismissing most documentaries as the equivalent of reading for the sake of "learning" (as if most books can be equivocally trusted for perspective-free factual basis) is rather reductive, I think.

I can't wait to see Deep Water.

I have not heard of Operation Homecoming, good stuff?

This is the same reason why I enjoyed King of Kong so much. I didn't watch it to learn about playing Donkey Kong, or to learn about competitive gaming.

[Ezee E]

No End in Sight seemed like a lot of stuff I already knew. I think most of the information was already covered by an episode of Frontline (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/yeariniraq/).

But honestly, I find most documentaries to be a waste of time, unless they're especially artistic (Baraka, Olympia). If I want to learn something, I'd sooner read a book.
I just get tired of seeing documentaries where it seems I could've just read the narrator's transcript, and learned everything from that. Documentaries like Bus 174 and Hoop Dreams rely more on what's on screen. You couldn't read the narrator and get it all.

[Duncan]

Wow. I never would have guessed that one.
I think it's Spielberg's most direct and interesting examination of the one theme he's been obsessing over his whole career, ie. childhood.

[D_Davis]

I think it's Spielberg's most direct and interesting examination of the one theme he's been obsessing over his whole career, ie. childhood.

Catch Me if You Can is awesome. At one point, it was on my top 100. It could end up there again in the future.

[Rowland]

I have not heard of Operation Homecoming, good stuff?It's nominated for an Oscar, and yet nobody has seen it and not many more have heard of it. It's a beautiful documentary about the various facets of the Iraq war experience from the perspective of our soldiers, told through their own vivid prose and poetry, which the director then interprets and complements through varying cinematic means, everything from graphic novel-ish artwork to still photography montage and highly stylized expressionism.

[D_Davis]

It's nominated for an Oscar, and yet nobody has seen it and not many more have heard of it. It's a beautiful documentary about the various facets of the Iraq war experience from the perspective of our soldiers, told through their own vivid prose and poetry, which the director then interprets and complements through varying cinematic means, everything from graphic novel-ish artwork to still photography montage and highly stylized expressionism.

Sounds awesome. I'll definitely check this out, thanks for the heads up.

[Duncan]

My list is balanced the other way around, so there is a sense of order in the universe :p

I haven't seen your whole list, but In the Mood for Love and Spirited Away would be own my own.

My whole list will be revealed in time. What's going on with yours? I haven't seen an update in awhile.

[Rowland]

Sounds awesome. I'll definitely check this out, thanks for the heads up.Here's a trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsglD_S1iiY). They overemphasize the graphic-novel section, which is only about five minutes of the movie amidst many segments, but this trailer still gets the general idea across, though it is edited to make the movie look like more of an "expose" than it really is.

[Philosophe_rouge]

My whole list will be revealed in time. What's going on with yours? I haven't seen an update in awhile.
I should update ! I have a few write-ups done actually, but have been tremendously lazy.

[D_Davis]

Here's a trailer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsglD_S1iiY). They overemphasize the graphic-novel section, which is only about five minutes of the movie amidst many segments, but this still gets the general idea across.

I just added it to my queue.

[origami_mustache]

top ten of decade (excluding this year):

In the Mood For Love
Tropical Malady
Eureka
Nobody Knows
Yiyi
What Time Is It There?
A Snake of June
Werckmeister Harmonies
Time of the Wolf
The Saddest Music in the World


Has anybody seen the 4-hour "restored" version of Greed? The short version kind of devolves into silliness, and I'm wondering if the longer version smooths out some of the narrative and character transitions (e.g. by providing some explanation as to why the main character doesn't just go to dentist school to avoid ruin, or by making the friend's growing resentment a bit more natural). Everything works pretty well even in the shortened version, but there seems to be obvious room for improvement.

I caught the 4 hour version on TCM a while back and I don't think those holes you mentioned were addressed...Apparently the original cut was about 9 hours.

[Boner M]

My decade faves list hasn't changed since last time I posted it, in September last year... hopefully it will soon!

1. The Son
2. Punch-Drunk Love
3. Blissfully Yours
4. Talk to Her
5. Lost in Translation
6. All or Nothing
7. Last Days
8. Cache
9. The New World
10. Tropical Malady

W/ There Will Be Blood bubbling under.

[Bosco B Thug]

Did anybody here watch Masters of Horror Season 2? I was wondering what episodes are worth renting for $2.

[Melville]

I think it's Spielberg's most direct and interesting examination of the one theme he's been obsessing over his whole career, ie. childhood.
I quite like it myself, but it didn't strike me as your kind of movie. I look forward to your review.

[megladon8]

I must very strongly suggest that no one waste any time, money or life on Automaton Transfusion.

The praise it has been getting totally boggles my mind.

The DVD cover says it's "one of the best zombie movies in years". Bloody Disgusting says "Even with its low budget flaws, AUTOMATON TRANSFUSION is the Holy Grail of “true” independent horror films. After sifting through buckets and buckets of pure sh-t, it’s such a relief to finally get that slice of pie I’ve been longing for." How about this wonderful quote? “Every Generation Has a Horror Film That Defines Its Culture…This Is That Film,”

I actually think it's one of the worst movies I have ever seen.

It's utter shit. Don't ever bother, even if you think zombies are cooler than a ninja Jesus.

[MadMan]

I think you have to do the explaining here, instead of writing "crap" over and over, seeing as Carnival of Souls is a fucking classic, and even if it has a "B-movie" feel (which certainly doesn't show where it matters, like the acting or the production values), that doesn't make it less disturbing or brilliant.Pretty much. But hey its Qrazy :P


Crappy crappy crap crap.Bah. And bah. And more bah. Carnival of Souls is pretty damn creepy, and covers well the fears of conformanity sucking the live out of the individual and destroying individuality. That's what I mostly got out of it although I'm sure the film covers other terrority (more obvious is death) as well.

I'll eventually post my Top 10 of the 2000s (I'm sure you'll all tear it to pieces) in a thread that will eventually be created once I'm finally finished with writting commentary. Its taking too damn long although I'm halfway done.

[Ivan Drago]

My top 10 of the decade so far:

1. AI: Artificial Intelligence
2. Superbad
3. There Will Be Blood
4. Unbreakable
5. Punch-Drunk Love
6. No Country For Old Men
7. Donnie Darko
8. Pan's Labyrinth
9. Match Point
10. Batman Begins

[MadMan]

Heh I only got to one planned viewing this weekend. Oh well.

[MacGuffin]

I think I'm going to rewatch La Haine next weekend.

[Duncan]

I think I'm going to rewatch La Haine next weekend.

A weekend viewing announcement 34 minutes into the new week Eastern Standard Time. Beat that people.

[origami_mustache]

A weekend viewing announcement 34 minutes into the new week Eastern Standard Time. Beat that people.

This made me laugh really hard actually.

[MacGuffin]

A weekend viewing announcement 34 minutes into the new week Eastern Standard Time. Beat that people.

I'm sorry, I don't think I'll have my computer Monday through Friday, and I just thought I'd share. Sorry if it was out of line.

[Qrazy]

Pretty much. But hey its Qrazy :P


Representing good taste is a full time job.

[Qrazy]

Sorry if it was out of line.

I'll let you off this time boy. Just make sure it don't happen again.

[Duncan]

I'm sorry, I don't think I'll have my computer Monday through Friday, and I just thought I'd share. Sorry if it was out of line.
No need to apologize. It wasn't out of line at all. I just thought it was a little funny because these weekend announcements seem to keep getting earlier.

[MacGuffin]

No need to apologize. It wasn't out of line at all. I just thought it was a little funny because these weekend announcements seem to keep getting earlier.

Oh yeah. Heh, well what do you think of the movie?

[Duncan]

Oh yeah. Heh, well what do you think of the movie?

Haven't seen it. It's in the queue.

[MadMan]

Representing good taste is a full time job.Your a funny guy Qrazy :P

[origami_mustache]

Weekend: TBA ;)

[Philosophe_rouge]

There is little more satisfying than finishing up an essay on Romero's zombie films for your English class... I guess it could be more satisfying if I finished it a few hours ago, or like yesterday. But yes. Uhh... nothing more.

[D_Davis]

Representing good taste is a full time job.

You haven't even filled out the application yet.

[Qrazy]

You haven't even filled out the application yet.

Don't need to, I process the applications.

[D_Davis]

Don't need to, I process the applications.

Dammit, it's an inside job...

[Grouchy]

I saw Lord of War, which is like Goodfellas (very obvious homage near the end, when the protagonist is being tailed by a helicopter) meets Blow meets a lot of guns meeting Nicolas Cage, only in a very shallow level. Lots of flashy visuals and clever voice-over make a very amusing movie. I was kind of tired when I watched it, but it managed to wake me up. Technically, director Niccol does an awesome job of telling his rise-and-fall story through surprising and virtuoso means. Thematically, I find it is a bit too much on the flashy, exploitative style to be taken seriously, like that sequence where the wheel of the airplane stops one inch short of crushing an African baby. Still, it's a good movie, just one I wouldn't recommend taking too seriously.

[MadMan]

There is little more satisfying than finishing up an essay on Romero's zombie films for your English class... I guess it could be more satisfying if I finished it a few hours ago, or like yesterday. But yes. Uhh... nothing more.Awesome. Did you see Martin? If you did I hoped you enjoyed it. If not, well see it! And stuff of that nature.

Now that you mention it Grouchy Lord of War does have many similarities to Goodfellas. Huh. I really like that film alot, even if I do agree that it in some ways it shouldn't be taken seriously. I'm very mixed about the ending. On the one hand I'm cynical and thus it fits the film's cynical viepoint thus it works really well. On the other hand though I found it a bit too much of an easy way out. In all honesty I don't care how well connected Cage's character was-he should have gone to jail. That entire scene with Hawke's character does result in my favorite line from the film: "I'd tell you to go hell. But your already there."

[balmakboor]

There is little more satisfying than finishing up an essay on Romero's zombie films for your English class... I guess it could be more satisfying if I finished it a few hours ago, or like yesterday. But yes. Uhh... nothing more.

Just as an aside, I'd love to read your essay. I'm a huge fan of Romero's zombie films and zombie films in general.

[lovejuice]

Just as an aside, I'd love to read your essay. I'm a huge fan of Romero's zombie films and zombie films in general.

and i'm curious for your mysterious object at noon reaction. i don't think i like it as much as joe's other work. in fact i don't think i ever finished it.

[Grouchy]

Now that you mention it Grouchy Lord of War does have many similarities to Goodfellas. Huh. I really like that film alot, even if I do agree that it in some ways it shouldn't be taken seriously. I'm very mixed about the ending. On the one hand I'm cynical and thus it fits the film's cynical viepoint thus it works really well. On the other hand though I found it a bit too much of an easy way out. In all honesty I don't care how well connected Cage's character was-he should have gone to jail. That entire scene with Hawke's character does result in my favorite line from the film: "I'd tell you to go hell. But your already there."

Well, one of the points of the film is that gun merchants are tolerated by the governments and that presidents are the biggest weaponry dealers in the world. So the ending fits logically with that theme. Now, I don't have enough knowledge to say if, in real life, he would've managed to duck under the law. Probably yeah, but that's just my cynical guess. Heh. Besides, he does mention that he'll probably be made a scapegoat by the higher powers that just saved him anytime soon.

[MadMan]

Well, one of the points of the film is that gun merchants are tolerated by the governments and that presidents are the biggest weaponry dealers in the world. So the ending fits logically with that theme. Now, I don't have enough knowledge to say if, in real life, he would've managed to duck under the law. Probably yeah, but that's just my cynical guess. Heh. Besides, he does mention that he'll probably be made a scapegoat by the higher powers that just saved him anytime soon.Well you are right that the ending does empthesize the point that world governments lead the way in arms dealing. The ending and what happens does make me wonder how many arms dealers like him are really out there, and when and if some get busted the governments are indeed using them as scapegoats to pretend they're cracking down on the problem.

Anyways the film gets a strong 85 from me and is one of my favorites from 2005.


Just as an aside, I'd love to read your essay. I'm a huge fan of Romero's zombie films and zombie films in general.Come to think of it I would like to read it as well. You should consider posting it on the site. But only if you feel like it of course.

[number8]

I watched Knock Off again for the first time since I saw it in theaters last night.

Yeah.

[Rowland]

I watched Knock Off again for the first time since I saw it in theaters last night.

Yeah.Knock Off? Tsui Hark's Knock Off? Watched in theaters?

[number8]

Knock Off? Tsui Hark's Knock Off? Watched in theaters?

Yes. Years ago.

[Rowland]

Yes. Years ago.Oooh. My brain malfunctioned for a moment and I read that as you seeing it in theaters last night.

Yeah, that movie is... something, huh?

[number8]

I'm mostly amazed by how much of it I distinctly remember, seeing how it's been almost 10 years. I explained the plot of the movie the best that I can remember to my friends as I turned it on, and my recap turned out to be more coherent than the actual movie.

[Rowland]

I'm mostly amazed by how much of it I distinctly remember, seeing how it's been almost 10 years. I explained the plot of the movie the best that I can remember to my friends as I turned it on, and my recap turned out to be more coherent than the actual movie.Yeah, it is rather memorable in its terrible way. I remember dozens of WTF moments, most related to Hark's stylistic quirks and the terrible performances. And that entire rickshaw race, of course.

[number8]

It's quite notable that this is probably the worst directing job Hark has ever done. The camera angles he chose in that movie are just bizarre. Remember that one shot where an assassin is pointing a long pistol at JCVD, and the camera, in fish-eye lens zooms in not on the barrel, but under it, focusing on the trigger finger. And then there's the straight down crane shot of Rob Schneider peeing on a urinal. It's batshit crazy cinematography.

[Rowland]

It's quite notable that this is probably the worst directing job Hark has ever done. The camera angles he chose in that movie are just bizarre. Remember that one shot where an assassin is pointing a long pistol at JCVD, and the camera, in fish-eye lens zooms in not on the barrel, but under it, focusing on the trigger finger. And then there's the straight down crane shot of Rob Schneider peeing on a urinal. It's batshit crazy cinematography.
It really is. My favorite shot is when they first meet Paul Sorvino on the roof, and while they're talking about whatever, he yells "what?!". Before he does this, Hark cuts to a shot of the building from a distance, and as Sorvino yells it, the camera performs a sudden zoom-out, as if it was intimidated by his screech, made doubly funny by Sorvino's line reading.

I also love this wtf moment during the action sequence on the truck roof where JCVD knocks some dude off the roof who is then impaled down the length of a pipe or something. The camera then flies down the length of the pipe at super-speed directly into the guys face. It's like a one-second shot, and so awesome.

[D_Davis]

And the shoe cam!

Some critics view this as a parody of action cinema in general and of modern HK action cinema more specifically. Even the title points to this. Tsui had been commenting that HK cinema was growing stale, it was becoming a parody of itself, and with the west starting to use more HK techniques, it was losing its identity.

But man, what a mess. I still can't believe it took Tsui and Sammo Hung to create it!

:lol:

[Philosophe_rouge]

Awesome. Did you see Martin? If you did I hoped you enjoyed it. If not, well see it! And stuff of that nature.

I did see it, and I'm sorry to say I didn't like it all that much. I thought it was interesting, but I never really found myself invested or all that curious about the situation. Martin himself didn't capture my attention enough. I did like the black and white "fantasy/flashback" sequences though.

[lovejuice]

And the shoe cam!


is this the one with machine gun in a case? damn! before the glory of desperado/once upon a time in mexico, 'tis the coolest weapon ever used in cinema. and it has van dam having sex in a toilet while the bad guys have enough courtesy to wait outside if i remember correctly.

[Rowland]

I did see it, and I'm sorry to say I didn't like it all that much. I thought it was interesting, but I never really found myself invested or all that curious about the situation. Martin himself didn't capture my attention enough. I did like the black and white "fantasy/flashback" sequences though.The house siege sequence was tautly executed, the b&w fantasy sequences were cool (mostly because of the baroque score), and I recognize that lots of meaning can be read into the movie, but yeah, it didn't do much for me either.

[number8]

And the shoe cam!

Which one are you referring to? Is it the bizarre POV shot of the shoes when the chick has her legs on the desk? Or the scene where they're talking in the office and the camera bizarrely cuts back and forth between their faces and their feet?

And why haven't we talked about the green flames yet?

[number8]

is this the one with machine gun in a case? damn! before the glory of desperado/once upon a time in mexico, 'tis the coolest weapon ever used in cinema. and it has van dam having sex in a toilet while the bad guys have enough courtesy to wait outside if i remember correctly.

That's Maximum Risk.

[Rowland]

I thought Davis was talking about the shot from inside the shoe while JCVD is slipping his foot into it.

[Qrazy]

The Merchant of Four Seasons wasn't all that interesting. The craft was fine but the story didn't compel me.

[D_Davis]

I thought Davis was talking about the shot from inside the shoe while JCVD is slipping his foot into it.

That's the one.

[D_Davis]

And why haven't we talked about the green flames yet?

With a film as memorable as Knock Off, there's almost too much to talk about.


What about those crazy one-knee slides JCVD does at the end?

[lovejuice]

That's Maximum Risk.

:eek: indeed. you, sir, know your JCVD.

there is quite a few JCVD's that i kinda like. sudden death which is a die hard in a hockey ring. hard target for obvious reason. and weirdly enough, no matter how much i try, i just can't look at the quest critically. and timecop has good bits.

[number8]

:eek: indeed. you, sir, know your JCVD.

You're the second person to say that in two days. The first when I correctly described the awesome "No, I'm alive!" one-liner that JCVD dealt out before kicking Dolph Lundgren into a wood chipper.

[Sycophant]

Okay, Derek, you were more than absolutely right about Tyler Perry. I could only made it through 28 minutes of Why Did I Get Married? Yeeouch. Well, at least I'll know I gave it a shake.