28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Qrazy]

Director's Cut. The 217 minute version.

Yeah I don't quite understand how my cut is 4 and a half hours. I looked on imdb and such a cut doesn't seem to exist... I dunno maybe it's the download's timecodes fucking up. *shrug*

[soitgoes...]

Yeah I don't quite understand how my cut is 4 and a half hours. I looked on imdb and such a cut doesn't seem to exist... I dunno maybe it's the download's timecodes fucking up. *shrug*I guess mine was 219, but yeah I don't know of a longer version that still exists. If so, I don't know if I can take another hour of it, unless it contains more character development for the immigrants which the 3 1/2 hour version completely lacked.

[Sxottlan]

Anyone know a good place to download production stills from movies? I used to do it from Yahoo, but now it looks they're going the way of IMDB i.e. slideshows where you can't save the picture.

Thanks.

[transmogrifier]

You know how sometimes you finally watch for the first time a "classic" film that pretty much everyone loves, and yet you walk away thinking "Meh, everybody must be on crack"?




Well, I didn't experience that at all with Les Diaboliques. Awesome, awesome film.

[Bosco B Thug]

It's one of the very few horror movies that genuinely unnerves me.
I used to claim lukewarm feelings toward The Shining, but the film reaches a level of depravity and an intimation of savagery achieved by very few horror films. The stretch from Jack at the bar to his conversations in that hellish white bathroom makes the film for me. And Shelley Duvall.

Pink Flamingos - The story has a remarkable simplicity and Waters' screenplay is surprising in its expressiveness. The contrast made between the non-territorial, non-intrusive, convivial (to those who understand her way of life) and principled and self-respecting Divine and the imposing, fascistic, materialistic Marbles has an almost brilliant clarity. The sort of defensiveness implicit in Waters' all-in championing of the private agency of the extra-ordinary outsider (and the support of those of exclusive good nature) does have a poignancy and one that comes through in the vivaciousness of the film.

5.5, though, because it's a lot of juvenile antics and stunt repulsiveness to take, and, like, zero effort seems to have been made by Waters toward any formal directorial craft. :lol: That's a con for me. Good set design.

[Bosco B Thug]

BTW, Turner Classic Movie's way of saying goodbye to those who died in 2008. Very classy: http://www.awardsdaily.com/?p=5397
Oh damn, that was beautiful. My heart gave a good wrench with the Suzanne Pleshette clip. Hazel Court coming soon afterwards didn't help, wasn't aware she had passed last year.

[Wryan]

You know how sometimes you finally watch for the first time a "classic" film that pretty much everyone loves, and yet you walk away thinking "Meh, everybody must be on crack"?




Well, I didn't experience that at all with Les Diaboliques. Awesome, awesome film.

Fuckin' A. Love that film beyond reason. Wages of Fear is also great, of course, but Les Diaboliques just gets me every time. Repeated viewings make its flaws more noticeable, but that's fairly common. There are stretches that can get a little glacial, but it's such a well-controlled film. I have the Criterion version that's out of print. Can't recall the extras on it. Great film.

[Wryan]

The stretch from Jack at the bar to his conversations in that hellish white bathroom makes the film for me.

I can never figure out just why the bathroom scene works so goddamn well. So little happens, and in such a quiet, minimal way, and yet I barely breathe during the entirety of that scene, every single time.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The Shining is a great movie that also happens to be totally un-scary.

I'd say it's technically sound but utterly uninvolving.

[Ezee E]

I can never figure out just why the bathroom scene works so goddamn well. So little happens, and in such a quiet, minimal way, and yet I barely breathe during the entirety of that scene, every single time.
I'm amazed at Bosco calling it white.

[Wryan]

I'm amazed at Bosco calling it white.

But it is red and white...thus "hellish white bathroom." :)

[Wryan]

Oh, and for anyone that doesn't like Walter Chaw, don't read FFC's end of 08 lists. He's full steam ahead Walt Chaw on that fucker.

[megladon8]

I'd say it's technically sound but utterly uninvolving.


Precisely.

You get rep for summing it up perfectly.

[Bosco B Thug]

I'm amazed at Bosco calling it white.
Oh shit it's red. I had to YouTube it to recall. I really did imagine it as a blinding, solely white bathroom. It must be the 2001 in my brain.

[Sycophant]

I have only seen 171 of the films on that 1000 list. Kind of ashamed. Obviously, I've been wasting my time on modern Asian cinema.

[Qrazy]

Pink Flamingos - The story has a remarkable simplicity and Waters' screenplay is surprising in its expressiveness. The contrast made between the non-territorial, non-intrusive, convivial (to those who understand her way of life) and principled and self-respecting Divine and the imposing, fascistic, materialistic Marbles has an almost brilliant clarity. The sort of defensiveness implicit in Waters' all-in championing of the private agency of the extra-ordinary outsider (and the support of those of exclusive good nature) does have a poignancy and one that comes through in the vivaciousness of the film.

5.5, though, because it's a lot of juvenile antics and stunt repulsiveness to take, and, like, zero effort seems to have been made by Waters toward any formal directorial craft. :lol: That's a con for me. Good set design.

*slap*

[Wryan]

I had a dream last night that my mom and I were in some big city during the day and a Cloverfield-like monster was trashing the city, chopping big sections out of bridges, and generally making a mess. So we were running away and I swear to God, out of all the people and room in that giant-ass city, it was chasing US. My mom had a knee injury of some kind so she was slowing us down, so I kept yelling at her to work thru the adrenaline. I told my mom about the dream this morning and she said it was just cause she's old, she couldn't move as fast.

The whole thing made me realize that I've never had a passive dream, that is, one in which I'm simply watching something else happening to others and not to me. One in which I am not a participant in any way. Even in the strangest dreams, all the action is happening to me and directed at me, and I can't escape from it. I guess all dreams are this way? Anyone ever had a totally passive dream?

The monster originally looked like a grayer version of that whale creature that was hypothesized to be the Cloverfield monster originally. Later it morphed into a brachiasaurus-type creature, except with massive claw hands. And it could adopt a normal human form at will.

[megladon8]

I don't think I've had passive dreams either, Wryan. I'm always in the action.

I've also never had a dream where I was aware of the fact that I was dreaming. Dreams always seem real to me, and I'm unable to control them in any way.

[Pop Trash]

Recently watched two well regarded films from the 60s/70s.

Badlands wasn't quite as great as I remembered. Don't get me wrong, it's still a very good movie, but I can't help comparing it to the superior and similar Bonnie and Clyde which shocked audiences and helped usher in the "new Hollywood" cinema. Not to mention other "lovers on the run" flicks of previous years like Breathless, Gun Crazy, and They Live By Night. Like I said, it's a very good film, but I think the greatness that is bestowed upon it now has to do with the cult around anything Malick. I'd give it an 8/10.

Bullitt (which I had never seen all the way through, just the famous car chase scene) is a pretty interesting cop film. I can't quite say it's a great cop film since the plot is pretty cliched at this point. Hell even Snakes on a Plane used the "protecting a witness who is being targeted by the mob" plot. But there is something peculiar about it. We never really get to know Frank Bullitt that much and he never really says anything other than "yeah, no, or uh huh." The movie is very stylish in that 60s/70s way. The car chase is, needless to say, pretty amazing -even if it seems out of place in the middle of a moody, by the books police drama. Meaning that, other than the car chase and maybe the final scene at the airport, this is most definitely not an action flick. The most interesting thing is that Robert Vaughn's character as a DA is constantly hinted at as being corrupt and on the take from the shadowy mob characters. In yet by the end of the film nothing is ever really done about it. There's no pat ending where Bullitt turns him in and becomes a hero for taking down corruption. It's a bit like a "forget it Jake, it's Chinatown" type of deal. The final scene has Bullitt staring at himself in the mirror, thinking about who knows what, since he is an unknowable character. Very odd. I'd give it about a 7/10.

[Bosco B Thug]

*slap*
Aw, why do you got to be that way. The film is complete trash filmmaking, so maybe it does deserve a lower score... but the meaning and sensibility behind the film's story is there, no? And it's damn funny sometimes. Divine's proceeding over the Marbles' trial and fielding of the press is expert comedy.

[Boner M]

Badlands... superior and similar Bonnie and Clyde which shocked audiences and helped usher in the "new Hollywood" cinema... Like I said, it's a very good film, but I think the greatness that is bestowed upon it now has to do with the cult around anything Malick. I'd give it an 8/10.
Booo. And what does shocking audiences and ushering in a great new era have to do with a film's quality? Easy Rider is cruddy film.

[Rowland]

Easy Rider is cruddy film.*thumbs up*

[megladon8]

Yeah Easy Rider is awful.

Another movie I got absolutely nothing out of.

[number8]

:confused:

[transmogrifier]

Easy Rider is fantastic.

boner, Rowls and meg, your movie-discussion licences are revoked pending further notice. I expected better. Much better.

[Rowland]

I wouldn't say Easy Rider is awful, and it's certainly fascinating in the context of its zeitgeist, but as a movie I feel it's relatively mediocre. Jack Nicholson's performance and Hopper's sometimes-sketchy employment of avant-garde techniques are the highlights for me. I'm more of an Electra Glide in Blue man.

[transmogrifier]

I wouldn't say Easy Rider is awful, and it's certainly fascinating in the context of its zeitgeist, but as a movie I feel it's relatively mediocre. Jack Nicholson's performance and Hopper's sometimes-sketchy employment of avante-garde techniques are the highlights for me. I'm more of an Electra Glide in Blue man.

What part of "revoked" did you not understand, Rowls!? Keep going like this, you can consider your tuna ass canned!

[Boner M]

Two-Lane Blacktop is where it's at.

Here's my impersonation of Easy Rider!

"FREEDOM" *steppenwolf lol* "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" *trip* "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" *die*

[Melville]

Other than its zeitgeistiness and its soundtrack (and its use of the freedom-of-the-frontier/open-road American ideal, I suppose), what's good about Easy Rider? And what's bad about Badlands, other than its possible excess of awesomeness?

[Melville]

Here's my impersonation of Easy Rider!

"FREEDOM" *steppenwolf lol* "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" *trip* "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" *die*
The only thing this is missing is the redneck-bashing.

[Raiders]

Easy Rider is cruddy film.

Woot.

Guess what you just got!

[Sycophant]

Two-Lane Blacktop is where it's at.

Here's my impersonation of Easy Rider!

"FREEDOM" *steppenwolf lol* "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" *trip* "FREEDOM" "FREEDOM" *die*SPOILERS?!

[Boner M]

Woot.

Guess what you just got!
It actually happened! :eek:


SPOILERS?!
Oh noes! Apologies to you unlucky folks who haven't seen Easy Rider, and wouldn't have expected a cynical downbeat ending.

SARCASM!!!!!1!11!

[Scar]

Looks like I'll knock Easy Rider to the bottom of my queue.

Ass.

[Boner M]

Looks like I'll knock Easy Rider to the bottom of my queue.

Ass.
:pritch:

[transmogrifier]

:pritch:


Perhaps he's referring to the spoiler....

[chrisnu]

When I was in my teens, I happen to catch Easy Rider in a motel room while heading to a family reunion. I honestly thought it was the stupidest movie I'd ever seen. Haven't seen it since.

[Boner M]

Perhaps he's referring to the spoiler....
Two people already quoted it, so all hope is lost.

But seriously, I apologise to everyone for the spoiler. It's really pretty mild though. And shouldn't you all be beyond the whole 'I don't wanna know what happens next' aspect of movie-watching? Get formalist, yo.

[Spinal]

Two people already quoted it, so all hope is lost.


I wouldn't go that far.

[Spinal]

I'm having a hard time picking a side in the Easy Rider argument. I feel like I could go either way and run with it.

[transmogrifier]

Here's my impersonation of boner:

woke up watched a movie ate some toast watched a movie listened to five albums by bands that don't even exist yet while watching two movies at the same time ate a marmite sandwich went to a concert that rocked even though I paid five times as much money as those in the usa did suck! watched a movie during the song breaks it was good went home watched another movie went on match cut and got all my opinions wrong but luckily this blends in with everyone else listened to this great progrockhiphop jazz fusion album from an artist who is still gestating watched another movie in bed and then thought of an amazing picture for the is this acceptable thread but i had turned off my computer so i sketched it and taped it to the monitor and then wrote in some fake replies on the paper underneath it and it was fun and then slept

[Spinal]

watched a movie during the song breaks it was good

:lol:

[Mysterious Dude]

I find Badlands to be the most authentic of the "lovers on the run" films (which the exception of the somewhat fanciful treehouse segment). I'm not that big on Malick, either, but I love that film.

[Scar]

Perhaps he's referring to the spoiler....

A very distinct possibility.

[Boner M]

Pwned. :sad:

[Scar]

Pwned. :sad:

I'll just go get pissed up drunk, and forget I read the spoiler.

[transmogrifier]

Pwned. :sad:

Easy Rider is not able to defend itself, not being senient and all, so I felt it my duty to childishly mimic your attack by substituting the film Easy Rider with you, Boner M, the poster, and listing some stereotypes that may or may not actually be truly reflective of how you live your life, both on these boards and with real people whose avatars are actually real human faces and whose posts are audible and come out of a moving hole in their heads.

In doing so, I managed to kill 10 minutes while waiting for my squash game. This has been an effective use of my time.

[Pop Trash]

Easy Rider is great. Bonnie and Clyde is great. Two-Lane Blacktop definitely grew on me and now I find it's pretty great. I used to think Badlands was great until I watched it again last night and found it very good, if nothing earth shattering or original, even at that time. Again, I think the cult around Malick elevated its status among film fans. If Malick quit after Badlands, it would be found a pretty good also ran to Bonnie and Clyde or In Cold Blood. Which it kind of is.

[Boner M]

Easy Rider is not able to defend itself, not being senient and all, so I felt it my duty to childishly mimic your attack by substituting the film Easy Rider with you, Boner M, the poster, and listing some stereotypes that may or may not actually be truly reflective of how you live your life, both on these boards and with real people whose avatars are actually real human faces and whose posts are audible and come out of a moving hole in their heads.
Actually, you hit pretty close to home. Now I am forced to bury my head into my pillow while crying to The Cure, only to fall asleep and have nightmares about pink unicorns.

[megladon8]

Easy Rider is just a product of a time and cultural movement that makes no sense to me.

I guess people may lump me into a "hippie" type grouping since I smoke weed and am a non-violent, laid-back kinda guy (and because I hang out with some people who consider themselves hippies). But the hippie philosophy and their political stances in the '60s and '70s made no sense and were based entirely on some of the most naive ideologies of all time.

And that idea of "freedom on the open road" is something else I can't identify with at all. I realize it's symbolic, but again, I have a very different idea of what freedom means. It's not smuggling drugs on a motorcycle trip. :lol:


EDIT: "South Park"'s hippie episode (with Cartman trying to exterminate hippies) was right on the money in a lot of areas.

It reminds me of this thing that several of my fellow pot-smoking friends go to every year. A festival in Quebec called "Blue Ball", where between 20 and 40 people get together in the middle of a forest and protest war by doing drugs and having sex for 2 straight days.

[Wryan]

I had a brain fart and thought everyone was bashin on Five Easy Pieces. Was about to choke a bitch.

[Sycophant]

It reminds me of this thing that several of my fellow pot-smoking friends go to every year. A festival in Quebec called "Blue Ball", where between 20 and 40 people get together in the middle of a forest and protest war by doing drugs and having sex for 2 straight days.

This sounds like a much better way to protest instead of yelling at government buildings and waving hand-drawn signs.

[megladon8]

I had a brain fart and thought everyone was bashin on Five Easy Pieces. Was about to choke a bitch.


No way. Five Easy Pieces is an awesome movie.

[Rowland]

Easy Rider is just a product of a time and cultural movement that makes no sense to me.

I guess people may lump me into a "hippie" type grouping since I smoke weed and am a non-violent, laid-back kinda guy (and because I hang out with some people who consider themselves hippies). But the hippie philosophy and their political stances in the '60s and '70s made no sense and were based entirely on some of the most naive ideologies of all time.

And that idea of "freedom on the open road" is something else I can't identify with at all. I realize it's symbolic, but again, I have a very different idea of what freedom means. It's not smuggling drugs on a motorcycle trip. :lol:You seem to have misinterpreted the movie, since it's all about the inevitable failure of the hippie movement, a sort of rude awakening to the era's smoke-hazed idealism.

[megladon8]

You seem to have misinterpreted the movie, since it's all about the inevitable failure of the hippie movement, a sort of rude awakening to the era's smoke-hazed idealism.


But was it scorning the hippie movement, saying it was naive and would fail? Or was it presenting the characters as noble and right, but the end came due to others being unable to understand the "wisdom" of their hippie ways?

I kind of thought it was the latter, but I could be wrong. It was three years ago I saw it, and just that one time.

[Pop Trash]

But was it scorning the hippie movement, saying it was naive and would fail? Or was it presenting the characters as noble and right, but the end came due to others being unable to understand the "wisdom" of their hippie ways?

I kind of thought it was the latter, but I could be wrong. It was three years ago I saw it, and just that one time.

I don't think it's either. Captain America is sort of mysterious and Billie is well...Dennis Hopper in full on stoner mode. The movie is pretty ambiguous. I guess you could see it as being positive about the hippie movement but predicting its inevitable downfall. On the other hand stinky hippies/beats pretty much helped out with black/gay/women's rights immensely so they did do that.

[Melville]

I had a brain fart and thought everyone was bashin on Five Easy Pieces. Was about to choke a bitch.
I don't like that one either. (http://www.match-cut.org/showpost.php?p=26862&postcount=5580)

[Watashi]

Here's my impersonation of boner:

woke up watched a movie ate some toast watched a movie listened to five albums by bands that don't even exist yet while watching two movies at the same time ate a marmite sandwich went to a concert that rocked even though I paid five times as much money as those in the usa did suck! watched a movie during the song breaks it was good went home watched another movie went on match cut and got all my opinions wrong but luckily this blends in with everyone else listened to this great progrockhiphop jazz fusion album from an artist who is still gestating watched another movie in bed and then thought of an amazing picture for the is this acceptable thread but i had turned off my computer so i sketched it and taped it to the monitor and then wrote in some fake replies on the paper underneath it and it was fun and then slept

This is probably the greatest post I've ever seen.

[transmogrifier]

This is probably the greatest post I've ever seen.


But it makes fun of boner. You're heartless, you are.

[Boner M]

Coincidentally, I watched my first movie in 4 days today. Bet y'all are pretty impressed, huh.

[transmogrifier]

Coincidentally, I watched my first movie in 4 days today. Bet y'all are pretty impressed, huh.

You mean you watched this particular movie and then watched it again 4 days later? Because I can't imagine any other meaning of these words in regards to you.

[number8]

You seem to have misinterpreted the movie, since it's all about the inevitable failure of the hippie movement, a sort of rude awakening to the era's smoke-hazed idealism.

Wut? The end was not about the death of the idealism, it was about prejudice. It was ultimately about two guys who got shot in the goddamn face just because they looked like hippies. It's martyrdom, in a way, to promote the coming of the new era of thinking. It's telling people they shouldn't let violence stifle these thoughts--kind of like how every gay tolerance movie for the mainstream has to have a gay guy being lynched by homophobes. It reels in sympathy for the ideal.

I don't think the movie's any ambiguous at all. It's pretty clear what it is, it's a new age Western. It's taking that wandering cowboy character, substituting the horses for bikes, and exploring the same myths Westerns have of the American pioneers enduring the harsh frontiers to establish communities (which is what the hippies in Easy Rider are shown doing), and going against the traditionalist natives (in this case, it's prejudiced rednecks instead of Indians). The fact that Peter Fonda was the son of a famous Western actor made that statement stronger, the new ushering out the old.

It's easy for us nowadays to say it was stupid because of how many aspects of the culture had been accepted by the mainstream, but Easy Rider came at a time when you're not even allowed to go to fucking Disneyland if you had long hair.

[Boner M]

You mean you watched this particular movie and then watched it again 4 days later? Because I can't imagine any other meaning of these words in regards to you.
Nah. Went 4 days without a movie! Respect my abstinence, yo.

I did watch a few episodes of Homicide on DVD, though. Which is roughly a movie-length's worth of viewing.

[Watashi]

I'm already missing Svenosos.

[MadMan]

Here's my impersonation of boner:

woke up watched a movie ate some toast watched a movie listened to five albums by bands that don't even exist yet while watching two movies at the same time ate a marmite sandwich went to a concert that rocked even though I paid five times as much money as those in the usa did suck! watched a movie during the song breaks it was good went home watched another movie went on match cut and got all my opinions wrong but luckily this blends in with everyone else listened to this great progrockhiphop jazz fusion album from an artist who is still gestating watched another movie in bed and then thought of an amazing picture for the is this acceptable thread but i had turned off my computer so i sketched it and taped it to the monitor and then wrote in some fake replies on the paper underneath it and it was fun and then sleptWhoa. That's like a special kind of awesome. That you only find every once and a while.

To me Easy Rider is a great film, one that left a fairly strong impact upon me. However I've never bothered to write a review for it simply because folks like number8 have done a much better job of covering the movie instead. Its while I probably won't ever attempt to review Taxi Driver, either. Although maybe I will. Perhaps after three more viewings.

[transmogrifier]

Nah. Went 4 days without a movie! Respect my abstinence, yo.

I did watch a few episodes of Homicide on DVD, though. Which is roughly a movie-length's worth of viewing.

I can never support abstinence. My religion wouldn't allow it. And by religion, I mean "one-eyed trouser snake".

[Qrazy]

Wut? The end was not about the death of the idealism, it was about prejudice. It was ultimately about two guys who got shot in the goddamn face just because they looked like hippies. It's martyrdom, in a way, to promote the coming of the new era of thinking. It's telling people they shouldn't let violence stifle these thoughts--kind of like how every gay tolerance movie for the mainstream has to have a gay guy being lynched by homophobes. It reels in sympathy for the ideal.

I don't think the movie's any ambiguous at all. It's pretty clear what it is, it's a new age Western. It's taking that wandering cowboy character, substituting the horses for bikes, and exploring the same myths Westerns have of the American pioneers enduring the harsh frontiers to establish communities (which is what the hippies in Easy Rider are shown doing), and going against the traditionalist natives (in this case, it's prejudiced rednecks instead of Indians). The fact that Peter Fonda was the son of a famous Western actor made that statement stronger, the new ushering out the old.

It's easy for us nowadays to say it was stupid because of how many aspects of the culture had been accepted by the mainstream, but Easy Rider came at a time when you're not even allowed to go to fucking Disneyland if you had long hair.

This.

[Boner M]

Un Flic - Impressive for how Melville endows every scene with an existential weight simply through his austere stylistic prowess (the sound of the beeps of a flatlining monitor echoed in a later scene is a nearly devastating touch), and since that's always been the central attraction of even his best films, the complaints regarding the minimal plot and a few vaguely defined relationships are a little puzzling to me. Granted, the budget-restricted FX for the helicopter/train centrepiece are regrettable, but it hardly sabotages the film or even the set piece itself, which is pretty great once Richard Crenna enters the train and Melville gets to freak his minutia-of-process funk. Just as good as Army of Shadows or Le Samourai on a sheerly cinematic level - the mood lingers.

The Last Days of Disco - Kinda puzzling movie, this one... why set it in such a specific era when everyone might as well have walked in off the set of Metropolitan, and the disco scenes have exactly the same level of energy and same overall feel as the quiet cafe ones? The titular era/milieu doesn't exactly strike me as a potent metaphor for any of the characters' predicaments either. Maybe this disengagement emphasises the characters' narcissism, or something. Regardless, all the high points of Metropolitan remain intact; this also lays claim to having a pop culture discussion that isn't a glib bid for quotability but rather a pretty brilliant way of mirroring (and eventually shifting) the characters' romantic geometry. Can't ever remember liking Kate Beckinsale this much, she really comes alive when playing a vacuous bitch, it seems. Chris Eigeman I will watch in anything, someone gets this man another good comedic role, stat plz.

[Ivan Drago]

This is probably the greatest post I've ever seen.

I'll second that.

And I want to see both Easy Rider and Five Easy Pieces.

[transmogrifier]

Un Flic (Melville, 1972) - 73.



Un Flic - 74.

We're not so different, you and I.

[Rowland]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is going to be on MSNBC tonight at 11 ET, for those interested... my DVR is set.

[Watashi]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is going to be on MSNBC tonight at 11 ET, for those interested... my DVR is set.
It's one of the most devestating films I've ever seen.

I could never sit down and watch it again.

[Qrazy]

Un Flic - Impressive for how Melville endows every scene with an existential weight simply through his austere stylistic prowess (the sound of the beeps of a flatlining monitor echoed in a later scene is a nearly devastating touch), and since that's always been the central attraction of even his best films, the complaints regarding the minimal plot and a few vaguely defined relationships are a little puzzling to me. Granted, the budget-restricted FX for the helicopter/train centrepiece are regrettable, but it hardly sabotages the film or even the set piece itself, which is pretty great once Richard Crenna enters the train and Melville gets to freak his minutia-of-process funk. Just as good as Army of Shadows or Le Samourai on a sheerly cinematic level - the mood lingers.


I don't agree with the bolded. I find the other two substantially stronger films but otherwise I agree with your thoughts and the grade.

I currently have Le Silence de Mer and Leon Morin to view and then When You Read This Letter and Magnet of Doom to wrap his filmography. I started Le Silence de Mer and was pretty bored, will return to it later, but I have higher hopes for Leon Morin.

[Scar]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is going to be on MSNBC tonight at 11 ET, for those interested... my DVR is set.

DVR is set.

[Ezee E]

I didn't think there would be a movie worse than The Happening, but there is.

[Pop Trash]

I didn't think there would be a movie worse than The Happening, but there is.
Is it that bad? I might rent it this week.

I'm assuming you are talking about Towelhead with your "zero star" rating.

[Ezee E]

Is it that bad? I might rent it this week.

I'm assuming you are talking about Towelhead with your "zero star" rating.
You assume correctly, and yes, it is horrible. At least The Happening is funny to laugh at because of how bad it is. This... something else. Watch Youth Without Youth instead.

[Pop Trash]

You assume correctly, and yes, it is horrible. At least The Happening is funny to laugh at because of how bad it is. This... something else. Watch Youth Without Youth instead.
I smell a double feature!

[Dead & Messed Up]

I didn't think there would be a movie worse than The Happening, but there is.

I feel so weird for not hating that movie.

:lol:

Oh yeah. I saw Bug. Judd was great, Shannon was great, but I stopped watching the screen when a certain person tore out teeth with pliers. I can't handle that shit.

[SirNewt]

What was the fucking point of Seven? Cause, I really don't get it.

[Rowland]

Good god, I wish I'd had the opportunity to see Flight of the Red Balloon in the theater. I can't wait to watch it again.

[Dead & Messed Up]

What was the fucking point of Seven? Cause, I really don't get it.

What's to get? It's about a guy who turns sin on the sinner. It's sintastic.

[SirNewt]

What's to get? It's about a guy who turns sin on the sinner. It's sintastic.

Yeah, I know. It's kind of banal to ask what the point of a movie is but I don't know. I think I hated it or something.

[transmogrifier]

Yeah, I know. It's kind of banal to ask what the point of a movie is but I don't know. I think I hated it or something.

I see someone is auditioning to be the new iosos.

[soitgoes...]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is going to be on MSNBC tonight at 11 ET, for those interested... my DVR is set.
Good jesus, that was one of the saddest experiences of film watching I can ever remember having. I probably cried more during this film than all films I have seen the past 5 years combined. Thanks for the heads up?

[Boner M]

Saw Detour with Winston* tonight. Not as awesome as I remember, but still plenty neat in its blend of the inept and inspired. Terrible sound quality on the print made Ann Savage's performance even more shrill, and thus more effective. Winston* opined that the film was 'pretty good' if my memory serves me right, though guess I really should wait for his post before I make that call.

Also we talked shit about all you guys for a while. Happy new year!

[Scar]

Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father is going to be on MSNBC tonight at 11 ET, for those interested... my DVR is set.

It's 0810, and I'm watching it.

Ooof. This suckers bringing back memories from '02.

[Scar]

That was fun....

Highly recommended.

[Ezee E]

What's it about?

[Scar]

What's it about?

www.dearzachary.com

[balmakboor]

I have only seen 171 of the films on that 1000 list. Kind of ashamed. Obviously, I've been wasting my time on modern Asian cinema.

I've always resisted basing my viewing on lists. I'd much rather just wander aimlessly and see a lot of stuff that would never turn up on any list. I would like to eventually see all the Criterion movies though.

[Rowland]

Sex and the City (Michael Patrick King, 2008) 49

Surprisingly pleasant, when my expectations were set for no more than tolerable. The girls are older and wiser than I remember from the early days of the television series (last I watched), their lives infused with a comparatively more mature sort of middle-aged angst, steeped in nostalgia, heart-ache, and an understanding of love as being more than a mere buzz-word to be tossed around like their fashionable designer labels. It's just a shame that this thing is so fucking long! I was primed to give this a minor but respectable positive score until I realized there was still an hour left. Mind you, a lot of material is covered and various arcs are given satisfactory attention and closure, so I was never outright bored, but if the filmmakers had cut 45 minutes out of this and maybe stripped away some of the shrill tendencies from the show that unfortunately survived the big-screen jump, this could have really been something.

Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, 2008) 67

A portrait of a narcissistic recovering addict whose presence at a lavish family wedding exposes old scars, this is sometimes-overly melodramatic material imbued with palpable pathos through Demme's light touch and humanist bent. It begins as a caustic black comedy not unlike the superficially similar Margot at the Wedding only to wind up into a joyous celebration of all-inclusiveness that, for all its eccentric beauty and multi-cultural/generational unity, is perhaps too self-consciously bohemian for its own good, so that I found myself as alienated as I was elated. Was this the point, as Slant's Ed Gonzalez suggests in his Top Ten of 2008 blurb for the film? Whatever the case, it's a sight to behold, and one of the year's most curiously engrossing extended setpieces. Many grace notes are scattered throughout, and despite the occasional contrivance (I'd have excised the histrionic mother-subplot), the piece as a whole thrums with life.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah, I know. It's kind of banal to ask what the point of a movie is but I don't know. I think I hated it or something.

I think the goal of the movie is to come to a conclusion about how to approach all the cruelty and sin in the world. You're given three distinct viewpoints that overlap in regard to passion (Mills, Doe), pessimism (Somerset, Doe), and judgment (Mills, Somerset).

But I also think it's a lovely-looking film, technically perfect in its execution (except for maybe the last line, which is superfluous), and its serial killer structure has a real resonance, thanks to the Dante-inspired justice. And the acting is fantastic. It's great to see John Doe emerge as a true personality. That conversation in the cop car, towards the end, is beautifully done.

It's one of my favorites.

[SirNewt]

I think the goal of the movie is to come to a conclusion about how to approach all the cruelty and sin in the world. You're given three distinct viewpoints that overlap in regard to passion (Mills, Doe), pessimism (Somerset, Doe), and judgment (Mills, Somerset).

But I also think it's a lovely-looking film, technically perfect in its execution (except for maybe the last line, which is superfluous), and its serial killer structure has a real resonance, thanks to the Dante-inspired justice. And the acting is fantastic. It's great to see John Doe emerge as a true personality. That conversation in the cop car, towards the end, is beautifully done.

It's one of my favorites.

It looks amazing, though, the adjective lovely never came to my mind. I definitely got caught up in the film. It's just so, nasty, though. It was an endurance test for me. Seriously, you've got to be kinda sick just to write this kinda stuff.

[transmogrifier]

Seriously, you've got to be kinda sick just to write this kinda stuff.

You're a sensitive soul, obviously, but this is just plain incorrect. And a horrible line of reasoning to boot.

[MadMan]

After rewatching the delightful, wonderful and quite funny Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang last night I think I have a new favorite.

Oh and Beavis and Butt-head Do America might be one of the most underrated comedies of the 90s. Some of its commentary is actually surprisingly sharp, and its a good road trip movie as well.

[Qrazy]

I think the goal of the movie is to come to a conclusion about how to approach all the cruelty and sin in the world. You're given three distinct viewpoints that overlap in regard to passion (Mills, Doe), pessimism (Somerset, Doe), and judgment (Mills, Somerset).

But I also think it's a lovely-looking film, technically perfect in its execution (except for maybe the last line, which is superfluous), and its serial killer structure has a real resonance, thanks to the Dante-inspired justice. And the acting is fantastic. It's great to see John Doe emerge as a true personality. That conversation in the cop car, towards the end, is beautifully done.

It's one of my favorites.

The last line is essential and in my book much more effective than the similar final spiel in No Country for Old Men.

[Raiders]

The last line is essential and in my book much more effective than the similar final spiel in No Country for Old Men.

Huh? They're not very similar at all.

[SirNewt]

Yeah, I actually liked the last line. It was "I'll be around" right? It's actually a pretty classic hollywood style last line.

[SirNewt]

You're a sensitive soul, obviously, but this is just plain incorrect. And a horrible line of reasoning to boot.

Yeah, I was mostly kidding. Over the last few years I've been turning into a big wus, though.

[Watashi]

Yeah, I actually liked the last line. It was "I'll be around" right? It's actually a pretty classic hollywood style last line.
What are you talking about?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Yeah, I actually liked the last line. It was "I'll be around" right? It's actually a pretty classic hollywood style last line.

I was referring to the voice-over that quoted Hemingway. I think it's redundant.

[Wryan]

Bought NCFOM and watched it last night. The last scene, with the dreams, caught me by surprise since I had forgotten it was in and had read the book between viewings. Jones in the final scene made me tear up.

[SirNewt]

I was referring to the voice-over that quoted Hemingway. I think it's redundant.

That's right. I already forgot the Hemingway quote. So yeah, I guess I agree it's a bit redundant. I got the message that he's not happy about it but that he's willing to fight from the line I mentioned.

Hell, I've forgotten the last lines of NCfOM too.

[Ivan Drago]

Towelhead (Alan Ball, 2008) / 0 Stars

Oof. Why'd you hate it so much?

[Raiders]

Oof. Why'd you hate it so much?

Probably because it is an awful movie.

[Scar]

Probably because it is an awful movie.

Sounds logical to me.

[Ivan Drago]

Probably because it is an awful movie.

:shrug:

I ask because I've been interested in it...but that's mainly because of the Alan Ball factor.

[Raiders]

:shrug:

I ask because I've been interested in it...but that's mainly because of the Alan Ball factor.

It really is quite bad though. I wrote some brief thoughts in its GD thread a while back.

[Qrazy]

Huh? They're not very similar at all.

They share a similar cynicism, although No Country much more so.

[Qrazy]

I was referring to the voice-over that quoted Hemingway. I think it's redundant.

It's not redundant, it's the perfect encapsulation of everything the movie is about. It's also a great line.

[megladon8]

L.A. Confidential was pretty great.

Hadn't seen it since it first came to VHS, and I was certainly way too young to appreciate it then.

Loved it. Some wonderful character work.

[Qrazy]

L.A. Confidential was pretty great.

Hadn't seen it since it first came to VHS, and I was certainly way too young to appreciate it then.

Loved it. Some wonderful character work.

It's pretty good but I wasn't as enthusiastic on my second viewing as I was on my first. My biggest complaint is the ending. I wish it had ended when he held up his badge towards the on coming police cars.

[Ezee E]

Oof. Why'd you hate it so much?
I've seen that it got horrible reviews, but I tried it out anyway since I've generally liked what I've seen from Ball.

As a film director, he fails horribly his firsttime around, many of it because of his directorial decisions on handling actors, what he shows, how the scenes progress. Do we need two or three repeated scenes of the teenage girl having her period? How about the decision to have Aaron Eckhart have the worst accent ever?

The list goes on. And as I watch it, it's a disturbed feeling I get. Just horrible.

[Dead & Messed Up]

It's not redundant, it's the perfect encapsulation of everything the movie is about. It's also a great line.

I disagree. It's the perfect encapsulation of who Somerset is. The movie, from my view, seems on Doe's side of things. The villain has won, the heroes have lost, and the gyre widens. Speaking of Somerset's nobility is a bit too polite of an ending. The enormous emotional whallop of that final reel deserves genuine contemplation, not a line that tidies up an emotional arc.

It should be noted that there were a couple other endings considered. One ended right after Mills shoots, with the guy in the chopper shouting "Somebody call somebody." The other kept the epilogue, but omitted the final line.

[Qrazy]

I disagree. It's the perfect encapsulation of who Somerset is. The movie, from my view, seems on Doe's side of things. The villain has won, the heroes have lost, and the gyre widens. Speaking of Somerset's nobility is a bit too polite of an ending. The enormous emotional whallop of that final reel deserves genuine contemplation, not a line that tidies up an emotional arc.

It should be noted that there were a couple other endings considered. One ended right after Mills shoots, with the guy in the chopper shouting "Somebody call somebody." The other kept the epilogue, but omitted the final line.

The chopper ending would have been a let down. It's also a pretty uninteresting line to end a film on. The other ending would have been OK but lacking punch in my opinion.

On another note Doe hasn't really won the way he thought he has won. If you count out the number of murders he enacts versus the number of sins it doesn't add up. So regarding the conversation in the car, Somerset was right. Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Envy are all killed. Mills however is Wrath and is not killed, perhaps he'll get the chair but who knows. More importantly however Doe killed Mills wife and unborn child neither of which had sinned, so his master plan is essentially revealed as the sham excuse to kill innocents that it is.

The film establishes thoroughly that the world is not a nice place, and if the final line summed this up by saying that alone, that would indeed be redundant. But the antagonist did not win the way he thought he did. The two detectives spend the entire film doing everything they can to locate this guy to stop him from murdering and although Mills had his happiness snatched away from him, the scenes at the dinner table further demonstrate that having a family is something else worth fighting for. Somerset stating 'I'll be around' suggests that he is no longer going to retire, but the Hemingway reference clarifies why. Sure we already know the world is not a nice place and we know that Somerset has decided that he probably won't retire but the connection between those two elements still needs elaboration and the final line provides this. The line clarifies that Somerset probably won't retire precisely because the world is not a nice place. Someone must fight to make it a better one. Without the line it is unclear why Somerset after witnessing what he's witnessed wouldn't feel even more strongly that things weren't worth fighting for.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS SPOILERS BELOW

Furthermore the Hemingway reference comes from For Whom the Bell Tolls. The line comes at the end of the book when the protagonist Jordan is on the brink of death in the midst of battle and contemplating suicide. Just as he is about to commit suicide he hears the enemy approaching and then decides that instead of killing himself he can continue fighting. This is an excellent literary allusion to convey the spirit of the film. Somerset may have by and large lost the battle against John Doe but he hasn't lost the war. He can still fight. There will be other John Doe's, hence the name John Doe.

[Dead & Messed Up]

The chopper ending would have been a let down. It's also a pretty uninteresting line to end a film on. The other ending would have been OK but lacking punch in my opinion.

I suppose my issue is that the final line seems intent on providing some emotional closure to the story, but the events leading up to it seem so goddamn bleak and shattering that any notion of closure seems not only impossible, but somewhat inappropriate.


On another note Doe hasn't really won the way he thought he has won. If you count out the number of murders he enacts versus the number of sins it doesn't add up. So regarding the conversation in the car, Somerset was right. Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, Pride, Envy are all killed. Mills however is Wrath and is not killed, perhaps he'll get the chair but who knows. More importantly however Doe killed Mills wife and unborn child neither of which had sinned, so his master plan is essentially revealed as the sham excuse to kill innocents that it is.

You're minimizing the weight of Doe killing Tracy by saying he wants to kill innocents. He felt deep envy for Mills, and he then saw an opportunity to take his message further by implicating the detectives trying to deny his morality. Yes, Doe had sinned, but was that because he was simply a nut, or was that because he found that nobody is above corruption? I align with the latter. As Somerset puts it, "Don't dismiss him."

And as for the murders, I always figured Doe ended on a poetic note, with Wrath being dead inside.


The film establishes thoroughly that the world is not a nice place, and if the final line summed this up by saying that alone, that would indeed be redundant. But the antagonist did not win the way he thought he did. The two detectives spend the entire film doing everything they can to locate this guy to stop him from murdering and although Mills had his happiness snatched away from him, the scenes at the dinner table further demonstrate that having a family is something else worth fighting for.

Remember that Somerset advocated that Tracy abort the child, supporting the opposite of your idea - that having a family is not worth fighting for. And the only genuine happiness in the film is carefully exploited and destroyed by John Doe.


Somerset stating 'I'll be around' suggests that he is no longer going to retire, but the Hemingway reference clarifies why. Sure we already know the world is not a nice place and we know that Somerset has decided that he probably won't retire but the connection between those two elements still needs elaboration and the final line provides this. The line clarifies that Somerset probably won't retire precisely because the world is not a nice place. Someone must fight to make it a better one. Without the line it is unclear why Somerset after witnessing what he's witnessed wouldn't feel even more strongly that things weren't worth fighting for.

I honestly don't think the film requires that line for viewers to make the connection. Him walking in tandem with his friend after saying he'll be around guarantees his involvement in some capacity.


FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS SPOILERS BELOW

Furthermore the Hemingway reference comes from For Whom the Bell Tolls. The line comes at the end of the book when the protagonist Jordan is on the brink of death in the midst of battle and contemplating suicide. Just as he is about to commit suicide he hears the enemy approaching and then decides that instead of killing himself he can continue fighting. This is an excellent literary allusion to convey the spirit of the film. Somerset may have by and large lost the battle against John Doe but he hasn't lost the war. He can still fight. There will be other John Doe's, hence the name John Doe.

Thanks for the info. But I have to ask, does the novel intend for you to leave the protagonist with a sense of moral victory or triumph? Because Seven ends in utter defeat for the protagonist, and his final line is not read with passion, but resignation.

And there is no war for Somerset. There's simply one battle after the other, until he dies or leaves. This isn't the Brits versus the Germans. There is no larger goal. It's the banal cruelty of human nature.

[Winston*]

Saw Detour with Winston* tonight. Not as awesome as I remember, but still plenty neat in its blend of the inept and inspired. Terrible sound quality on the print made Ann Savage's performance even more shrill, and thus more effective. Winston* opined that the film was 'pretty good' if my memory serves me right, though guess I really should wait for his post before I make that call.


I believe I said that it was pretty good and that the lead looks a lot like Kurt Russell.

[Melville]

Thanks for the info. But I have to ask, does the novel intend for you to leave the protagonist with a sense of moral victory or triumph? Because Seven ends in utter defeat for the protagonist, and his final line is not read with passion, but resignation.

And there is no war for Somerset. There's simply one battle after the other, until he dies or leaves. This isn't the Brits versus the Germans. There is no larger goal. It's the banal cruelty of human nature.
In Hemingway, the quoted line is an expression of both resignation and moral victory: the protagonist is resigned to death, he knows he will not accomplish anything of significance with his final struggle, but he decides to struggle anyway. When you say "There's simply one battle after the other, until he dies or leaves. There is no larger goal," you've pretty much encapsulated Hemingway's whole stance on life. His view of life was Sysiphean: an endless struggle with no definite or achievable goal, but a struggle that is in itself ennobling. But he viewed it through a weary and sad lens, rather than Camus' absurd lens, and he wavered from book to book (and within each book) on whether or not the struggle was worthwhile (and note that, in the end, he killed himself). Here's a good (very short) story that represents his stance pretty well:

http://www.mrbauld.com/hemclean.html

I think Somerset's opinions throughout the movie match Hemingway's pretty well, and the final line adds nuance to what might have otherwise been a simplistically bleak finale.

(Also, the war in question was the Spanish Civil War, not the Brits versus the Germans.)

[thefourthwall]

:eek:

I watched Picnic at Hanging Rock last night. I know I'm a little late for the major discussion that was had a few weeks ago, but still--yikes! I cannot remember the last time a movie so completely freaked me out. I literally had trouble sleeping afterward.

[Melville]

:eek:

I watched Picnic at Hanging Rock last night. I know I'm a little late for the major discussion that was had a few weeks ago, but still--yikes! I cannot remember the last time a movie so completely freaked me out. I literally had trouble sleeping afterward.
I didn't even realize it was supposed to be freaky.

[Wryan]

I didn't even realize it was supposed to be freaky.

Really? Not the least bit tense or unnerving?

[megladon8]

Bug was...okay...

The dialogue was absolutely brilliant, I loved the script from that standpoint. The flow was wonderful. But I thought Judd's character fell for Shannon's insanity much too easily.

I really have no desire to ever see it again.

[Melville]

Really? Not the least bit tense or unnerving?
The least bit, sure, but just enough to go with the dreamlike atmosphere; not enough to make it freaky.

[Wryan]

The least bit, sure, but just enough to go with the dreamlike atmosphere; not enough to make it freaky.

Fine, a state of dreamlike anxiety then. I love the film regardless.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of the most unnerving films I've ever seen, the atmosphere, the music, even the mise-en-scene leads to a very disturbed kind of feeling of unbalance and wrong.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Bug was...okay...

The dialogue was absolutely brilliant, I loved the script from that standpoint. The flow was wonderful. But I thought Judd's character fell for Shannon's insanity much too easily.

I really have no desire to ever see it again.

She's the super mother bug, dude. She was destined to fall for him.

[megladon8]

She's the super mother bug, dude. She was destined to fall for him.


:lol:

Seriously, she fell for his crazy-man routine a little too hard, and a little too quickly.

Perhaps that in itself is a statement on the fragility of a woman's (or person's) psyche after a rough break-up from an emotionally and physically abusive spouse...but still, I can't imagine someone not thinking "wow...you're fucking nuts" when the guy they love rips his teeth out in an effort to get rid of the bugs implanted in him by the government.

[megladon8]

So, to go back to The Shining if people don't mind...

How do people interpret the film, regarding Jack Nicholson's possible history with the place?

He says near the beginning that the hotel seems familiar to him, like he "knew what would be around every corner". Then at the end, he is in that photograph.

So as far as I can find, there are two possible scenarios that divide fans/critics of the film...

a) He was there before, in some "past life", and the hotel took him back

b) The hotel used its power of influence to give him a false sense of security and belonging, so as to make it easier to take control of him; he appeared in the photograph after dying there, because the hotel "collects" souls (ie, the photograph shows everyone who died there)

Personally, I'm more inclined towards the second interpretation.

[Ezee E]

I haven't even figured it out myself meg. There's so many interpretations out as well, some are interesting, even if they're outlandish, such as the Native American influence.

Your B answer sounds the most likely to me.

[Amnesiac]

Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of the most unnerving films I've ever seen, the atmosphere, the music, even the mise-en-scene leads to a very disturbed kind of feeling of unbalance and wrong.

Indeed.

[Dead & Messed Up]

:lol:

Seriously, she fell for his crazy-man routine a little too hard, and a little too quickly.

Perhaps that in itself is a statement on the fragility of a woman's (or person's) psyche after a rough break-up from an emotionally and physically abusive spouse...but still, I can't imagine someone not thinking "wow...you're fucking nuts" when the guy they love rips his teeth out in an effort to get rid of the bugs implanted in him by the government.

I shuddered when she look in the microscope and said, "...millions!" Heartbreaking, how she made the decision to dive in.

[megladon8]

I haven't even figured it out myself meg. There's so many interpretations out as well, some are interesting, even if they're outlandish, such as the Native American influence.

Your B answer sounds the most likely to me.


Well the Native American influence is definitely there, and I'd say it contributes to part of the reason why the hotel is so evil and has so much power.

One of the characters even outright says in the film that the hotel is "rumored to have been built on an old Indian burial ground".

Couple that with all the Native American art and decor around the hotel, and I'd say it certainly is part of the story.

But yeah, there are many ways things in the film could be interpreted, and I'm sure that number doubles when one has both seen the film and read the book.

[Qrazy]

I suppose my issue is that the final line seems intent on providing some emotional closure to the story, but the events leading up to it seem so goddamn bleak and shattering that any notion of closure seems not only impossible, but somewhat inappropriate.

I don't see it as closure but as a necessary statement of resolve in the face of evil (evil in a non-biblical sense, the evil in hatred and cruelty).


You're minimizing the weight of Doe killing Tracy by saying he wants to kill innocents. He felt deep envy for Mills, and he then saw an opportunity to take his message further by implicating the detectives trying to deny his morality. Yes, Doe had sinned, but was that because he was simply a nut, or was that because he found that nobody is above corruption? I align with the latter. As Somerset puts it, "Don't dismiss him."

And as for the murders, I always figured Doe ended on a poetic note, with Wrath being dead inside.

I am certainly not dismissing Doe's actions nor am I dismissing his motives. I am however claiming and rightly so I believe, that his rationale behind the killings has been defeated by the end of the film. He directly justifies his murders by claiming the people he killed were not innocent. However, the wife and unborn daughter were just that. They do not fit into the logic he uses to justify the murders of the others. He therefore exposes himself as the disturbed killer that he is. He can not justify the murder of innocents if he is doing God's work. The claim that he killed innocents to demonstrate that nobody is above corruption does not fit with the rationale behind his murders either. He claimed that he is killing these 'sinners' because these sins should not be tolerated. That does not mesh with the notion that no one is above sin. If that were his message then his time would have been better spent killing as many people as possible versus finding individuals that fit the profile for each sin. Also Wrath being dead inside is all well and good in a poetic sense but it doesn't really fit the logic of the murders either. Most of those 'sinners' were already dead inside anyway, so then why kill them?


Remember that Somerset advocated that Tracy abort the child, supporting the opposite of your idea - that having a family is not worth fighting for. And the only genuine happiness in the film is carefully exploited and destroyed by John Doe.

I honestly don't think the film requires that line for viewers to make the connection. Him walking in tandem with his friend after saying he'll be around guarantees his involvement in some capacity.

"I can tell you, I know... I'm positive I
made the right decision. I'm positive
it was the right thing to do. But,
there's never a day that goes by that I
don't wish I had decided differently."

That to me doesn't sound like someone convincing someone to get an abortion.

His being around isn't the point though. The question is why after facing down this evil and after Doe has roughly completed his seven that Somerset has changed his mind to stick around. The Hemingway quote provides the connection there.

Thanks for the info. But I have to ask, does the novel intend for you to leave the protagonist with a sense of moral victory or triumph? Because Seven ends in utter defeat for the protagonist, and his final line is not read with passion, but resignation.

And there is no war for Somerset. There's simply one battle after the other, until he dies or leaves. This isn't the Brits versus the Germans. There is no larger goal. It's the banal cruelty of human nature.[/QUOTE]

Melville fielded this one well enough but I will just say on top of his comments that I think one of the themes of the film and a tangential goal of the allusion is to claim that life in this city and life in general is like a war. There is great violence and ugliness in the world and it's an on going fight to keep your head above water. The larger goal then is to continue to fight in the face of despair, by being a teacher, by being a detective, by trying to make the world a better place. You say the banal cruelty of human nature but you say that as someone who feels that Doe has won completely. I don't think he has. He's caused a great deal of pain to many people but his ideology, the rationale behind his actions, has been exposed and broken.

[Scar]

I've always been in favor of the b) interpretation. And I find The Shining rather scary these days. I used to think it was a boring pile back in the day.

Just finished watching The Hitcher remake. That was better that it had any right to be. Certainly no classic, but it was definately more entertaining then I expected, and I enjoyed it more then the original. The original annoyed me more often then not.

[Dead & Messed Up]

SPOILERS FOR SEVEN.


I don't see it as closure but as a necessary statement of resolve in the face of evil (evil in a non-biblical sense, the evil in hatred and cruelty).

Here then is the fundamental problem: I simply cannot imagine someone saying that "the world is worth fighting for" so quickly, and after something so completely devastating.


I am certainly not dismissing Doe's actions nor am I dismissing his motives. I am however claiming and rightly so I believe, that his rationale behind the killings has been defeated by the end of the film. He directly justifies his murders by claiming the people he killed were not innocent. However, the wife and unborn daughter were just that. They do not fit into the logic he uses to justify the murders of the others.

But he does not consider them to be part of his scheme, except as a realization of his own sin. They are not meant to be of the "seven." They're more in line with the children assaulted by Sloth or the guy who fucked the girl to death for Lust. Victims of the sin. Symptoms of the disease.


He therefore exposes himself as the disturbed killer that he is. He can not justify the murder of innocents if he is doing God's work. The claim that he killed innocents to demonstrate that nobody is above corruption does not fit with the rationale behind his murders either. He claimed that he is killing these 'sinners' because these sins should not be tolerated. That does not mesh with the notion that no one is above sin. If that were his message then his time would have been better spent killing as many people as possible versus finding individuals that fit the profile for each sin.

His connection to God is uncertain. His clearest inspiration is Dante's Inferno, and after that, medieval literature. Which fits nicely into the second point you make, because such impossibilities are actually the foundation of many religions, especially the stricter types of Christianity which gained their power during the Dark Ages, and found room for both merciful Gods and inquisitions, self-sacrifice and iron maidens, unforgiving judgments and plenary indulgences.

In fact, you could have reminded me of the scene where Doe rants about the "disease-spreading whore" and the "drug-dealing pederast" and the "man so fat you would stop to jeer at him." That's the closest we ever get to his real feelings, which are absent of God and message - they come from a deep, deep reservoir of loathing. Had you mentioned that, I'd reconsider my judgment of him as a man who's self-righteous and unerring in his pursuit of poetic justice.

But you didn't make that point, so I'm still right.


Also Wrath being dead inside is all well and good in a poetic sense but it doesn't really fit the logic of the murders either. Most of those 'sinners' were already dead inside anyway, so then why kill them?

The film says nothing on this subject.




"I can tell you, I know... I'm positive I
made the right decision. I'm positive
it was the right thing to do. But,
there's never a day that goes by that I
don't wish I had decided differently."

That to me doesn't sound like someone convincing someone to get an abortion.

I remembered this incorrectly - he was certain of his decision, but not quite as certain for hers.


His being around isn't the point though. The question is why after facing down this evil and after Doe has roughly completed his seven that Somerset has changed his mind to stick around. The Hemingway quote provides the connection there.

Then I refer to the earlier point I made, which is that I simply cannot buy someone witness such an enormous, unbelievable cruelty and say immediately afterward, "I'm gonna fight." If we're gonna get the moral from Somerset, give him some time to digest the events.

It's like ending Requiem for a Dream with Marlon Wayans offering the voice-over, "And I haven't done drugs since." It's communicating the message of the movie, but it's pat and unworthy of the enormous emotion generated right before.


Melville fielded this one well enough but I will just say on top of his comments that I think one of the themes of the film and a tangential goal of the allusion is to claim that life in this city and life in general is like a war. There is great violence and ugliness in the world and it's an on going fight to keep your head above water. The larger goal then is to continue to fight in the face of despair, by being a teacher, by being a detective, by trying to make the world a better place. You say the banal cruelty of human nature but you say that as someone who feels that Doe has won completely. I don't think he has. He's caused a great deal of pain to many people but his ideology, the rationale behind his actions, has been exposed and broken.

The rationale has hardly been exposed and broken. In fact, he manages to take one of the protagonists down to his level, and Somerset does nothing to stop it. One thing that's always surprised me is that Somerset doesn't put himself between the two. Why doesn't he? Instead, he stands to the side and offers the warning that if Mills shoots, "he wins." Which might as well be a foreign language if the person he's speaking to just learned that his wife's head is in a fucking box.

His actions suggest to me that Somerset knows that the battle's already lost.

[Ezee E]

The book is so much different than the movie, that it's actually hard to make comparisons.

There's no maze in the book.

But some of the ghosts you see are a little more cleared up.

[megladon8]

I've always been in favor of the b) interpretation. And I find The Shining rather scary these days. I used to think it was a boring pile back in the day.

Just finished watching The Hitcher remake. That was better that it had any right to be. Certainly no classic, but it was definately more entertaining then I expected, and I enjoyed it more then the original. The original annoyed me more often then not.


How was Sean Bean?

He's such a great actor, but he seems like one of those guys who might lose his edge when he tries to pull off an American accent.

[Scar]

How was Sean Bean?

He's such a great actor, but he seems like one of those guys who might lose his edge when he tries to pull off an American accent.

He was definately the best part. I don't know how hard he tried to pull off an American accent, he sounded like Sean Bean.

[megladon8]

He was definately the best part. I don't know how hard he tried to pull off an American accent, he sounded like Sean Bean.


Oh okay, I thought that he changed the accent for the film.

I'm probably thinking of Silent Hill. I think he was an American in that one, and it didn't sound too great.

[Melville]

Picnic at Hanging Rock is one of the most unnerving films I've ever seen, the atmosphere, the music, even the mise-en-scene leads to a very disturbed kind of feeling of unbalance and wrong.
Evidently my experience of the film is quite different from other people's. I rewatched the central scene (leading up to the girls' disappearance) today, and I still don't see anything disturbing about it. The music, the editing (particularly the heavy use of dissolves), and the hypnotized-sounding dialogue all create an otherworldly, dreamlike atmosphere (or at least I can see that they are trying to do so--frankly, it comes off seeming kind of silly to me). But what makes it disturbed or unnerving? The only thing that might seem to add to such a feeling is the cinematography's emphasis on looming rock formations; but to me that only adds an ominous tone, and reinforces the sense of otherworldliness by creating a sense of separation and isolation from the outside world, rather than leading to anything freaky.

I'm honestly interested in what led to people's unnerved reactions, since I was expected to like the film a lot more than I did.

[thefourthwall]

But what makes it disturbed or unnerving? The only thing that might seem to add to such a feeling is the cinematography's emphasis on looming rock formations; but to me that only adds an ominous tone, and reinforces the sense of otherworldliness by creating a sense of separation and isolation from the outside world, rather than leading to anything freaky.

I'm honestly interested in what led to people's unnerved reactions, since I was expected to like the film a lot more than I did.

My visceral I-watched-this-at-one-in-the-morning reaction (potentially not entirely objectively critical) was the otherworldliness that was created by the looming rocks and sound effects. Hanging Rock itself seemed alive, potentially with some ancient native force ( "a million years just for us") that was not to be understood or used as entertainment by prim and proper Victorian colonizers.

Whenever anyone, though especially the initial four girls, wandered (were drawn) through the upper rocks, the camera very often shot them from within a crack or crevice between larger rocks. I couldn't shake the feeling that this was a first person/thing p.o.v., that they were being watched, but that was never confirmed nor denied, just suggested.

And that is ultimately what was creepiest for me...

the fact that their disappearance was never explained. When I tried to turn the lights off and go to sleep, I felt that same eerie lurking _potential_ presence, which freaked me out. That coupled with the minimal online information I found about the film, the book it's based on, and its author, who seemed to have weird obsession with time and out of timeness that was also unnerving.

And while it may have been fairly basic Victorian sexual hysteria and repression, the fact that Irma's corset was missing and that Miss McGraw was seen in only her undergarments made the lurking, dare I say evil?, presence especially threatening to me as a female.

[MadMan]

I regret that on Halloween 2008 I failed to finish a rewatch of The Shining. I made the mistake of viewing it at around 3 or 4 am in the morning. I'll try again some other time, although unfortunately I made it to the part with the freaky ass scary old lady. That part is just creepy.

Overall I think its a damn good movie for now, and honestly meg the second possibility is more than likely. I now want to read the book, but I have no desire to watch the remake, which I heard was quite bad.

For some strange reason I have not watched Seven yet. I should change that.

[megladon8]

Watched Creepshow last night, and it was great fun. Favorite segments were "Something to Tide You Over" and "They're Creeping Up On You".

The latter was especially great after having seen Bug just the night before. Talk about a coincidence.

Anyways, Creepshow. Good '80s horror fun with a great morbid sense of humor. Check it out.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Watched Creepshow last night, and it was great fun. Favorite segments were "Something to Tide You Over" and "They're Creeping Up On You".

The latter was especially great after having seen Bug just the night before. Talk about a coincidence.

Anyways, Creepshow. Good '80s horror fun with a great morbid sense of humor. Check it out.

My favorite segment is "The Crate." Adrienne Barbeau's so obnoxious. "Just call me Billy, everyone does!"

[megladon8]

My favorite segment is "The Crate." Adrienne Barbeau's so obnoxious. "Just call me Billy, everyone does!"


I loved the monster design in "The Crate". Looked nasty and brutal, but was also kind of funny in a Muppets way.

[Bosco B Thug]

Watched Creepshow last night, and it was great fun. Favorite segments were "Something to Tide You Over" and "They're Creeping Up On You".

The latter was especially great after having seen Bug just the night before. Talk about a coincidence.

Anyways, Creepshow. Good '80s horror fun with a great morbid sense of humor. Check it out.
I always forget Romero directing Creepshow. Same with Monkey Shines. Any non-"of the Dead" film that isn't 70s and poor-looking. Has anyone seen The Crazies? I'm probably gonna rent that this week.

The Saddest Music in the World was my first Guy Maddin flick, and I really liked it. Maddin uncannily recreates the "silent film" look - are all his films like this? (No answer needed, I'll assume "maybe"). And it's not just for cute aesthetic experimentation. The use of the silent movie look mixed with his non-sanitized characters, sensibility, and really wacky and inspired story really works with its theme on the irresponsible mixing-and-matching of emotionality (sadness and nostalgia and sociological representations) with the petty, insensitive, bawdy drama and business the main characters take part in.

But I also found Maddin's filmmaking generally a bit ostentatious and indelicate, thus the low score. While his images are nice and delicate, his editing and conceptualization is rather flashy and frenetic.

[Amnesiac]

The Saddest Music In The World is alright.

I really disliked Chester. But I suppose that was the point.

[Bosco B Thug]

All the characters were pretty unlikeable, so it all "evened out" for me, so to speak.

Oh, another CON is the film should have milked the competition and musical sequences more. The film was surprisingly jokey and too plot-driven.

[Amnesiac]

The film was surprisingly jokey

I've only seen two Maddin films, but I think he usually goes for jokey.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I always forget Romero directing Creepshow. Same with Monkey Shines. Any non-"of the Dead" film that isn't 70s and poor-looking. Has anyone seen The Crazies? I'm probably gonna rent that this week.

I really disliked it. I thought the editing made much of the film nigh-incomprehensible.

[balmakboor]

Watched Creepshow last night, and it was great fun. Favorite segments were "Something to Tide You Over" and "They're Creeping Up On You".

The latter was especially great after having seen Bug just the night before. Talk about a coincidence.

Anyways, Creepshow. Good '80s horror fun with a great morbid sense of humor. Check it out.

I consider Romero's five "of the [Living] Dead" films to be one of American cinema's greatest achievements. (Though admittedly not as much fun as Return of the Living Dead, Dead Alive, Shaun of the Dead, or Fido.)

I've seen a few of his non-"of the Dead" films:

The Crazies - Been a while but remember hating it.
Knightriders - Been a while but remember liking it.
Martin - Been a while but remember loving it.
Creepshow - Have always loved it.
Bruiser - Couldn't stand it.

Decidedly mixed bag. But he sure gives great zombie.

[balmakboor]

Anyone think a Top Films First Watched During 2009 sticky thread would be a good idea? You know, go in and create a post and update it whenever you see something great and new. It would help me by giving me a place to keep such a list plus it would be fun to watch people's lists evolve during the year.

I suppose it would get to be a mess if people started posting comments to lists though -- that would probably need to be outlawed.

[Ivan Drago]

Anyone think a Top Films First Watched During 2009 sticky thread would be a good idea?

I support this. The sister board (Icine) does it, so why not Match Cut?

[Dead & Messed Up]

I've seen a few of his non-"of the Dead" films:

The Crazies - Been a while but remember hating it.
Knightriders - Been a while but remember liking it.
Martin - Been a while but remember loving it.
Creepshow - Have always loved it.
Bruiser - Couldn't stand it.

Yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes.

[MadMan]

I do have Bruiser and Land of the Dead down at my local video store. I may rent both of those. Not sure if I'll be able to get my hands on Knightriders or The Crazies. And of course I'll keep my eyes peeled for Creepshow. I loved Martin though, and its one of the best horror films I've ever seen. Right up there with the first three Living Dead films.

[transmogrifier]

I have decided that I really dislike films that have emotionally repressed, psychologically unstable protagonists and then merely spend their time charting the depths of their mental illness - it has to be the most boring way to spend 120 minutes, following an mentally ill person as they do random, inexplicable things and pretend that it is a comment on the human experience.

The reason I bring it up is that Code Unknown is so good, it reminded me of how pointless and shallow The Piano Teacher was.

[Qrazy]

I have decided that I really dislike films that have emotionally repressed, psychologically unstable protagonists and then merely spend their time charting the depths of their mental illness - it has to be the most boring way to spend 120 minutes, following an mentally ill person as they do random, inexplicable things and pretend that it is a comment on the human experience.

The reason I bring it up is that Code Unknown is so good, it reminded me of how pointless and shallow The Piano Teacher was.

Aside from The Piano Teacher what else do you have in mind? I can think of a few but just curious what would make your list.

[Boner M]

Prozac Nation is a good example of what trans is talking about, I'd say. Borderline unwatchable.

Not The Piano Teacher, though.

[Boner M]

Weekend certainties:

The Wrestler
None Shall Escape
While the City Sleeps (Lang)

[Ezee E]

Weekend:
Revolutionary Road
The Wrestler

To Live and Die in L.A.
Homecoming
Charley Varrick

[Pop Trash]

Weekend: GRAN FUCKIN' TORINO!!!

[Raiders]

Weekend:

Voices of a Distant Star
Gran Torino

[Ezee E]

Weekend: GRAN FUCKIN' TORINO!!!
Oh yeah, that too.

[soitgoes...]

Weekend possibilities:

Wendy and Lucy
City of Ember
Wife
Hallelujah!
Standard Operating Procedure

[Bosco B Thug]

I consider Romero's five "of the [Living] Dead" films to be one of American cinema's greatest achievements. (Though admittedly not as much fun as Return of the Living Dead, Dead Alive, Shaun of the Dead, or Fido.)

I've seen a few of his non-"of the Dead" films:

The Crazies - Been a while but remember hating it.
Knightriders - Been a while but remember liking it.
Martin - Been a while but remember loving it.
Creepshow - Have always loved it.
Bruiser - Couldn't stand it.

Decidedly mixed bag. But he sure gives great zombie. It's all about Martin and Season of the Witch for me, I think I just may prefer them both to all other Romero films.

[transmogrifier]

Aside from The Piano Teacher what else do you have in mind? I can think of a few but just curious what would make your list.

It's not a huge list - in fact, the only one I can think off the top of my head right now is Bug (2 for the price of 1); I tend to avoid films that promise little but jumping into the life of a mentally ill character, as I find that there is nothing to grab hold to; by its very nature, all character actions and reactions are random and extreme, meaning that for me as an audience member its just watching a grab-bag of jumbled, far-off actorly stunts, rather than a real film with themes and a plot and atmosphere.

[Watashi]

Weekend:

Still Life
Return of the Secaucus 7
Flight of the Red Balloon
Lost Season 4

[Ezee E]

Weekend:

Still Life
Return of the Secaucus 7
Flight of the Red Balloon
Lost Season 4

Talk about the last two Sayles movies dude.

[Raiders]

Yeah, I really think you need to create a thread for each of these director completist series and at least give a small blurb each time you see one of the movies.

It'd be a lot cooler if you did.

[Watashi]

Yeah, I really think you need to create a thread for each of these director completist series and at least give a small blurb each time you see one of the movies.

It'd be a lot cooler if you did.
Ok. I'll do it once I finish up Sayles real quick.

[megladon8]

Watched James Felix McKenney's The Off Season today.

It is produced by Larry Fessenden and his Glass Eye Pix production company, and also features Fessenden in a small supporting role.

Let me start by saying that, while it's not a particularly great movie, it is in NO WAY deserving of its score of 1.6 on IMDb.

Very amateur production. I counted two moments when mic's were visible in the shot.

But they really had something. There were a few moments which were quite creepy, and the script (aside from a few blunders, mostly the attempts at humor) was competent.

Again, it doesn't live up to the cover quote that says it's "The most terrifying film since The Shining", but it's certainly no 1.6 dredge of cinema. Not at all.

[BirdsAteMyFace]

Rita Hayworth = :eek:

How have I overlooked this magnificent creature all these years?

Weekend (options):
Au Hasard Balthazar
I'm Not Scared
Body Double (rewatch)
Diary of a Country Priest
Eyes Without a Face

[The Mike]

Rita Hayworth = :eek:

How have I overlooked this magnificent creature all these years?


Just wait till you see her with her natural hair color/normal style. :eek:

[BirdsAteMyFace]

Just wait till you see her with her natural hair color/normal style. :eek:*googles*

YOWZA! :eek:

[Spinal]

Weekend probabilities:

The Strangers
The Call of Cthulhu

[Ezee E]

Spinal is going to hate The Strangers so much, it's not even funny.

Anyways, Dial M For Murder is a nice change to things I've seen lately. Sure, the movie may get caught up too much in how a plan will work out, and then it gets caught up too much in figuring out the crime, but it remains enjoyable throughout. Amazing that it all is nearly in one setting, minus a few cutaway shots, and a small scene at a restaurant.
The cast is all very good, although I can't help but think the main actor as a poor man's James Stewart. Grace Kelly, I definitely need to check out more of her films as she's just amazing to watchi in each scene.

And the Hitchcock cameo. Hilarious.

[Spinal]

Spinal is going to hate The Strangers so much, it's not even funny.

I can see why you would say that, but I just watched it and found it surprisingly engaging. It's a difficult film to pinpoint because its strengths and weaknesses are essentially the same. It derives a great deal of tension and terror because so little information is given to us about the intruders. The senseless nature of the crime is what makes it so sickening. But it is also a dead end. As the film mostly takes place in 'real time', the filmmakers effectively create an extended visceral situation; however, as the film comes to a close it becomes clear that there is nothing to do but turn out the lights and go home, so to speak. No insight is gained. Nothing of lasting value has been absorbed. The film sets its terms and you either accept them or you don't. So, my experience was that I was captivated throughout and yet, even as I write this paragraph, I can feel the film's effects drifting away rapidly and a certain amount of indignation setting in as I consider how I was manipulated for 80 minutes. And for what?

I could likely justify a rating anywhere from *1/2 to ***1/2. So I'll make it **1/2 for now.

[Philosophe_rouge]

Spinal is going to hate The Strangers so much, it's not even funny.

Anyways, Dial M For Murder is a nice change to things I've seen lately. Sure, the movie may get caught up too much in how a plan will work out, and then it gets caught up too much in figuring out the crime, but it remains enjoyable throughout. Amazing that it all is nearly in one setting, minus a few cutaway shots, and a small scene at a restaurant.
The cast is all very good, although I can't help but think the main actor as a poor man's James Stewart. Grace Kelly, I definitely need to check out more of her films as she's just amazing to watchi in each scene.

And the Hitchcock cameo. Hilarious.
I agree Ray Milland, he's too bland to be annoying or offensive, but he's not particularly appealing beyond not being threatening... if that makes sense. I enjoy the film, though it's hardly one of Hitchcock's best. The setting is limited, but how it transforms through light, and even how people move through it is quite fascinating. The sumptuous reds always stay with me, and of course, Grace Kelly is beautiful. I haven't seen much of her work beyond Hitchcock, and what I have is mostly dissapointing.

[jesse]

and of course, Grace Kelly is beautiful. I haven't seen much of her work beyond Hitchcock, and what I have is mostly dissapointing. Really? Well, her best work is indisputably the Hitchcock films, but in some ways I prefer High Society to The Philadelphia Story (which is something--Kate is like my favorite actress ever), and she's one of the two palatable things about Mogambo (the other: Ava Gardner). And I don't even dislike The Country Girl as much as most, though it does make Grace dowdy and unlikable, which is pretty much unforgivable.

[jesse]

Rita Hayworth = :eek:

How have I overlooked this magnificent creature all these years? Does that mean you haven't seen Gilda? It's like the sexiest thing. Ever. (And I'm not even into girls.)

[Rowland]

Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008) 54

I'm having a difficult time writing about this, since it didn't leave much of an impression. I liked its free-wheeling nature, with only the driving instructor plot (and its attendant metaphor) applying structure to the piece, itself a deft reflection of Poppy's approach to life, and in addition to the building suspense during the driving instructor scenario (paid off in an explosive climax that proves as distractingly contrived as it is moving), Leigh maintains interest through glimpses of genuine humanity (including the year's most tender love scene), hints of life's ugliness (Poppy's student, a subplot left dangling in a most unsatisfactory manner), and punctuations of fanciful whimsy. These all serve to offset the sometimes-overbearing qualities of Poppy and Hawkins' performance, never explored so much as thrown into a variety of scenarios, some more convincing than others (what's the deal with the homeless man?), in order to explore the practicality of Poppy's take on life and how it contrasts with the determinedly fixed natures of others. More admirable in theory than it is effective in practice, I still found it an interesting, reasonably engaging effort that didn't strike the transcendent chord in me that it has for so many others.

[Rowland]

Oh, and I feel like quickly noting that J.K. Simmons is easily the higlight of Burn After Reading. And he leaves that impression with a mere two scenes! Amazing.

[Boner M]

Hey Rowls, d'ya have any thoughts on the Hou? I loved it, but what prevented me from loving it more was the Taiwanese student's entire character; a clunky meta-device that didn't jibe with the film's grace and delicacy, I thought. I'm surprised that no one else I've read - supporters and detractors alike - has taken issue with it.

[Bosco B Thug]

Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, 2008) 54

the year's most tender love scene

Poppy's student, a subplot left dangling in a most unsatisfactory manner

(what's the deal with the homeless man?) Yes, yes, and yes.

A very reasonable review. I found that the most convincing parts are the ones where Poppy is interacting with a minor character who is "normal" (meaning not the hobo or the salsa instructor) and seeing how her overbearing qualities are ultimately accepted and greeted by them. I'm thinking the minor characters that seem to accompany her whenever she goes to the pub.

[Watashi]

Poppy's encounter with the homeless man is awesome. One of my favorite scenes of the year.

[Rowland]

Hey Rowls, d'ya have any thoughts on the Hou? I loved it, but what prevented me from loving it more was the Taiwanese student's entire character; a clunky meta-device that didn't jibe with the film's grace and delicacy, I thought. I'm surprised that no one else I've read - supporters and detractors alike - has taken issue with it.I plan on watching it again before I write any extended thoughts, but in regards to the Taiwanese student, I agree with you that she's a blatantly transparent device, at least at first. As the film progressed, I felt that her presence was justified, enough so that any initial concerns I had were quelled.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I just watched Wes Craven's Shocker. I'm not sure what just happened.

It's either a spectacular failure or a hilarious comedy, and I think I'm going to go with the latter judgment. The last twenty minutes had me laughing almost non-stop. It's a rare treat to see an electric sociopath punch John Tesh, and have the protag control him by waving a remote around wildly (you know, the way we use remotes in real life).

[Rowland]

I'm thinking the minor characters that seem to accompany her whenever she goes to the pub.Hmm. The scenes with her roommate ring true, but the only pub scene I can recall involved a discussion over the negative influence of video games on their students that struck me as hilariously unconvincing.

[Bosco B Thug]

Hmm. The scenes with her roommate ring true, but the only pub scene I can recall involved a discussion over the negative influence of video games on their students that struck me as hilariously unconvincing. I only had in mind two - one towards the beginning where her or her roommate brings along an anonymous black friend, and the 2nd being the one with her fellow teacher where they have the exchange about her love life. Don't remember the video game talk.


Poppy's encounter with the homeless man is awesome. One of my favorite scenes of the year. It comes out of no where and it feels a bit too congratulatory of Poppy. The dialogue scene between Poppy and her roommate immediately after that scene might've helped contextualize it, but I don't remember what that dialogue was anymore.

Very realistic portrayal of a cracked out homeless man, though, I'll give it that.

[soitgoes...]

Grace Kelly, I definitely need to check out more of her films as she's just amazing to watchi in each scene.
Have you seen To Catch a Thief yet? To me there isn't a more beautiful person on screen in the history of cinema than Grace Kelly in that one.

[Ezee E]

Have you seen To Catch a Thief yet? To me there isn't a more beautiful person on screen in the history of cinema than Grace Kelly in that one.
I should watch it again. Haven't seen it since I was 18 or so.

[dreamdead]

Hey Rowls, d'ya have any thoughts on the Hou? I loved it, but what prevented me from loving it more was the Taiwanese student's entire character; a clunky meta-device that didn't jibe with the film's grace and delicacy, I thought. I'm surprised that no one else I've read - supporters and detractors alike - has taken issue with it.

:P

From my November post about the film. "Hou's Flight of the Red Balloon is a quiet, understated reverie. Not too much "happens," but it is calming and a leisure to view throughout. My worry, though, is that Hou is getting a bit too meta in his narratives, as the Asian sitter for Binoche's son has just a few too many on-the-nose statements about cinema and its purpose. That will be decided with his next film, though; this was largely enchanting."

So I too felt the device clunky and tipping his card. Whenever the film shifted back to Binoche or her son, though, it was magic.

[Boner M]

:P

From my November post about the film. "Hou's Flight of the Red Balloon is a quiet, understated reverie. Not too much "happens," but it is calming and a leisure to view throughout. My worry, though, is that Hou is getting a bit too meta in his narratives, as the Asian sitter for Binoche's son has just a few too many on-the-nose statements about cinema and its purpose. That will be decided with his next film, though; this was largely enchanting."

So I too felt the device clunky and tipping his card. Whenever the film shifted back to Binoche or her son, though, it was magic.
Bah, I need to read this thread closer. :) I pretty much wrote the same thing in my original review. I think it's mainly the part when Binoche congratulates her for 'capturing childhood' in her student film that really landed with a thud; otherwise her purpose in the narrative isn't too problematic.

[Duncan]

I also took issue with the student character for the same reasons.

[balmakboor]

The list for our next film series is finalized:

An American in Paris
Happy-Go-Lucky
Trouble the Water
My Winnipeg
The Sea Hawk-1940
The Counterfeiters
Taxi to the Dark Side
Man on Wire
Frozen River
The Red Shoes
The Snow Walker

The series begins on Jan. 29. Lots of give and take went into it with lots of differing tastes. My main contributions were the pairing of An American in Paris and The Red Shoes and the inclusion of My Winnipeg.

One guy is a big swashbuckler fan and we finally tossed him a bone and let him have The Sea Hawk. (I'm actually looking forward to it. I've never seen it. I've never even seen a pirate movie, unless Pirates of the Caribbean counts.)

P.S. - I hope he appreciates The Sea Hawk. Its one-day, two-screening rental price is $350. All of the others are either $250 or $200.

[Pop Trash]

I can see why you would say that, but I just watched it and found it surprisingly engaging. It's a difficult film to pinpoint because its strengths and weaknesses are essentially the same. It derives a great deal of tension and terror because so little information is given to us about the intruders. The senseless nature of the crime is what makes it so sickening. But it is also a dead end. As the film mostly takes place in 'real time', the filmmakers effectively create an extended visceral situation; however, as the film comes to a close it becomes clear that there is nothing to do but turn out the lights and go home, so to speak. No insight is gained. Nothing of lasting value has been absorbed. The film sets its terms and you either accept them or you don't. So, my experience was that I was captivated throughout and yet, even as I write this paragraph, I can feel the film's effects drifting away rapidly and a certain amount of indignation setting in as I consider how I was manipulated for 80 minutes. And for what?

I could likely justify a rating anywhere from *1/2 to ***1/2. So I'll make it **1/2 for now.

I more or less agree with what you said but I think you could say the same dang thing about the original Halloween and TCM and both of those are considered horror classics at this point. I guess it's how you feel about a film existing for no other than to be formally well constructed (sound design, cinematography) in order to be simply scary. And I thought The Strangers did that quite well.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I more or less agree with what you said but I think you could say the same dang thing about the original Halloween and TCM and both of those are considered horror classics at this point. I guess it's how you feel about a film existing for no other than to be formally well constructed (sound design, cinematography) in order to be simply scary. And I thought The Strangers did that quite well.

I think both of those films cited had more going on, formally and narratively. The Strangers is technically superb, but he had an opportunity to make the next great slasher movie, and he squandered it with a banal story that became less and less plausible as it continued.

[Spinal]

I think both of those films cited had more going on, formally and narratively. The Strangers is technically superb, but he had an opportunity to make the next great slasher movie, and he squandered it with a banal story that became less and less plausible as it continued.

I want to learn the trick where you tap somebody on the shoulder and they turn around in a fright and suddenly you're not there.

[megladon8]

Weekend probabilities:

The Strangers
The Call of Cthulhu


Is this the 2005 silent short film The Call of Cthulhu?

If so, enjoy! I loved it.

[Spinal]

Is this the 2005 silent short film The Call of Cthulhu?

If so, enjoy! I loved it.

It is. Just read the Lovecraft story for the first time, so I am greatly anticipating it.

[megladon8]

It is. Just read the Lovecraft story for the first time, so I am greatly anticipating it.


I honestly think it captures the spirit of Lovecraft on film better than any other film adapted from his work that I've seen so far.

I'm really looking forward to seeing Cthulhu, though. Especially after DaMU praised it to the heavens. I hope it gets some sort of DVD release soon.

[lovejuice]

hi, so yeah.....i'm back. since we don't seem to have that many newcomers, i don't think i need to reintroduce myself. basically i just had this oral defend which was an ultimate exam every pdh student has to go through to get their degree, so during the last six months, i had been off-matchcut to avoid getting myself too distracted.

anyway, it's all done now. woo! hoo! i will start posting stuffs soon. and thank you, kf, for your kind words in my mailbox.

[megladon8]

Glad to see you back, lovejuice!

[Dead & Messed Up]

It is. Just read the Lovecraft story for the first time, so I am greatly anticipating it.

Ooh! If you dug that, you have to read Arthur Machen's The Great God Pan. A big inspiration for Cthulhu, and equally creepy.


I'm really looking forward to seeing Cthulhu, though. Especially after DaMU praised it to the heavens. I hope it gets some sort of DVD release soon.

I must warn you, it's low on iconography and big on character relationships, and it's much more of a pastiche than a direct adaptation of the story. For that, Call of Cthulhu is the winner, easy.

And if you haven't, Meg, check out The Resurrected. It's available on Netflix, and, forgiving the shitty transfer, it's a fantastic adaptation of "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Much better adaptation than The Haunted Palace.

[megladon8]

I must warn you, it's low on iconography and big on character relationships, and it's much more of a pastiche than a direct adaptation of the story. For that, Call of Cthulhu is the winner, easy.

Yeah, from what I've read it seems like something that's very different, but I'm very interested nonetheless.

Do you know anything about a DVD release?



And if you haven't, Meg, check out The Resurrected. It's available on Netflix, and, forgiving the shitty transfer, it's a fantastic adaptation of "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Much better adaptation than The Haunted Palace.

Cool, I shall look it up.

[Boner M]

Platform was pretty great, probably my favorite Jia so far. Maybe it would have a little more resonance if I knew more about recent Chinese history, but the wry sense humor, the keen attention to romantic fumblings, and mostly his way of uncannily evoking the melancholy of time passing all combine for a lingering experience. The final shot is just perfect.

[B-side]

Anyone seen any Borowczyk?

[Boner M]

Anyone seen any Borowczyk?
Saw Blanche a few weeks ago, already it's disappearing from memory. Had some funny moments and its tone reminded me of Fassbinder, but it never felt like there was any motivation behind the extremely detached style.

I kinda wanna see La Bete.

[Spinal]

I kinda wanna see La Bete.

One of the worst films I have ever seen.

[NickGlass]

Oh my, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is unbearable. I can't believe there's a film out there that makes me wish the filmmakers had soft-pedaled its issues. When it's not playing its crass game of guess-the-racist, its wagging its finger at the audience. This is a comedy?

[number8]

I am 100% correct in saying that Shanghai Noon is the only--the ONLY--good English-language Jackie Chan film.

[BirdsAteMyFace]

Does that mean you haven't seen Gilda? It's like the sexiest thing. Ever. (And I'm not even into girls.)I haven't. Implied recommendation noted.

[lovejuice]

I am 100% correct in saying that Shanghai Noon is the only--the ONLY--good English-language Jackie Chan film.

didn't you like the forbidden kingdom? in fact, i do actually prefer shanghai knight to the prequel.

[MadMan]

Pinapple Express was actually fairly hilarious, although just like Aptow's other comedies (I know he didn't direct this but he did have a hand in it) there are elements that drag. Mainly as the film started to wind down, kind of beginning somewhere in the middle. Still a highly entertaining film, and James Franco's stoner drug dealer kept me in stitches. Not the best comedy of the year, but still one of the strongest ones.

The Wackness is a pretty solid, well made "Coming of Age" story, and in some ways it overcomes many of its rather obvious cliches. I really liked much of the acting in this one (Mary Kate-Olson was a hippie felt out of place, and Method Man's character didn't seem to be a stretch for him). But Ben Kingsley really stole the show, and I liked the two main young leads as well. I'm not sure why it had to be set in early 90s New York, but that didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

Grace Kelly is absolutely gorgeous. Dial M For Murder is so far the only bad Hitchcock film I have seen. Is it well made? Sure. Did I find it really interesting, engaging, or thrilling? No. As a suspense/mystery movie it failed seriously in that regard, but not hard enough to warrent giving it a lower scare than a 50.

Before I forget:

Marely and Me is as adorable as the title dog. Suceeds as a family film but fails as an actual movie, if that makes any sense. Too much cliched manupulative emotional content that made me want to gag, I guess.

Blown Away is kind of hilarious in the "Its really bad" sort of way. Tommy Lee Jones has a piss poor Irish accent, and Jeff Bridges and Forrest Whitaker are completely wasted in this. Unlike another bad action film from the 90s, Striking Distance, this one mostly fails to be entertaining aside from some rather solid set pieces.

[Rowland]

Exte: Hair Extensions confirms it - Sion Sono is the fucking man.

[The Mike]

Unlike another bad action film from the 90s, Striking Distance, this one mostly fails to be entertaining aside from some rather solid set pieces.Correction: There are no bad action films from the 90s. :cool:

[MadMan]

Correction: There are no bad action films from the 90s. :cool:No. In fact, I kind of blame the 90s for helping to hurt the genre (although there are some really good 90s actions films as well) The 2000s has made it more revelant, and improved it greatly.

That said, give me the 80s action films man. The earlier ones from the 70s are pretty cool as well, although most of those can more so be considered thrillers.

[Spinal]

Correction: There are no bad action films from the 90s. :cool:

Armageddon fan?

[megladon8]

Glad you enjoyed The Call of Cthulhu, Spinal!

Will you be writing about it at all?

[Dead & Messed Up]

Species. First viewing. Last viewing. Enjoyable in the moment, with a quick pace and the occasional wink at human mating habits, but it's also crushingly dumb, with a climax that's shocking in its banality. Certainly watchable, thanks to Henstridge's bosoms, but, like her character, the film lacks enough personality for more than one violent little quickie.

[B-side]

Saw Blanche a few weeks ago, already it's disappearing from memory. Had some funny moments and its tone reminded me of Fassbinder, but it never felt like there was any motivation behind the extremely detached style.

I kinda wanna see La Bete.

I'm gonna assume he's got better films in his canon than the ones you and I have seen. I like that he wants to do his part in displaying sexuality in all its various forms as natural, though.

[Spinal]

Glad you enjoyed The Call of Cthulhu, Spinal!



Yes, a very worthy effort. The silent film aesthetic was well suited to the paranoiac nature of the writing. I think they were very successful at capturing the mad fever dream that Lovecraft outlines. I also liked that they didn't try to extend it to feature-length. They left it at the length which best suited the adaptation. Clearly a project fueled by remarkable creativity and love for the material. I appreciated it even more when I watched the behind-the-scenes featurette. The work they put into this given their resources is amazing. Where I feel that they fell short is in articulating the underlying purpose of the cult, how the members are connected to Cthulhu and how/why the creature communicates with them. Consequently, the story loses some of the cosmic implications of the original text and becomes more of a standard monster movie. Still, well worth seeing, to be sure.

[The Mike]

Armageddon fan?
Sorry, that movie does not exist in my reality. I know not what you speak of.

[Ezee E]

I always thought the Amelie soundtrack was good, but never paid full attention to it.

The other day, a friend of mine called, and said that the greatest composer is coming to town.

Ennio Morricone?
He's still alive?
Yes.
The second greatest composer is coming.
Who's that?

Yann Tiersen he tells me. He also did the soundtrack for Goodbye, Lenin which I hardly remember a thing about, except that it was a damn good movie. He sends me the Amelie soundtrack, and I listen to it on its own.

It is a great freakin' piece of work. I wonder if many are the same way.

Don't know if I'll go to the concert.

Long post, and I'm sorry for that.

[megladon8]

I hadn't seen Poltergeist since I was a kid, so re-watching it last night I was surprised by how smartly written it is.

It has Spielberg's prints all over it - much moreso than Hooper, to the point where I'd say it's practically a Spielberg film.

JoBeth Williams was incredible. Really loved her performance.

A great little ghost story.

[megladon8]

I think Darren Lynn Bousman and J.J. Abrams might be the same person.

[origami_mustache]

Apparently a lot of critics enjoyed Old Joy, as I saw it on a lot of best of the year lists in 2007. To me it looks like they took a ten page script and forced it into becoming a 75 minute film, barely meeting the criteria to be considered a feature. Although I like Will Oldman, the acting is disappointing, and I especially disliked the other actor. The director seems to be going for a serene and meditative kind of film, where the soundscapes and scenery creates a mood, but the dialogue makes it play more like a terrible mumblecore film and the forest imagery just seems like forced filler due to lazy writing. Furthermore the camera work is pitiful. Pretty scenery isn’t an excuse for poor compositions, lack of proper coverage, and varying exposures. It looked like they were just pointing and shooting with the camera on auto focus at times. I feel too many low budget filmmakers try to be Terrence Malick or Werner Herzog and think they can get away with capturing nature, and distract the viewer with montages of pretty images to hide a poorly developed story. I often like these sort of montages, when they aren't done in such an amateur fashion, but it didn't work for me here. The idea of an aging friendship is just fine, I just didn't like the execution.

[Pop Trash]

Apparently a lot of critics enjoyed Old Joy, as I saw it on a lot of best of the year lists in 2007. To me it looks like they took a ten page script and forced it into becoming a 75 minute film, barely meeting the criteria to be considered a feature. Although I like Will Oldman, the acting is disappointing, and I especially disliked the other actor. The director seems to be going for a serene and meditative kind of film, where the soundscapes and scenery creates a mood, but the dialogue makes it play more like a terrible mumblecore film and the forest imagery just seems like forced filler due to lazy writing. Furthermore the camera work is pitiful. Pretty scenery isn’t an excuse for poor compositions, lack of proper coverage, and varying exposures. It looked like they were just pointing and shooting with the camera on auto focus at times. I feel too many low budget filmmakers try to be Terrence Malick or Werner Herzog and think they can get away with capturing nature, and distract the viewer with montages of pretty images to hide a poorly developed story. I often like these sort of montages, when they aren't done in such an amateur fashion, but it didn't work for me here. The idea of an aging friendship is just fine, I just didn't like the execution.
:|

Honestly I didn't like it that much either the first time I watched it but it lingered in my mind and I watched it again and kind of loved it. I realize it's "not for everyone" and it feels a bit like trying to convince someone of why something like say Last Days is actually a very good film when they just hate it. Oh well.

[Ivan Drago]

I think Darren Lynn Bousman and J.J. Abrams might be the same person.

:confused: What makes you say that?

[megladon8]

:confused: What makes you say that?


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/sawiv.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/383190.jpg

[Ivan Drago]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/sawiv.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v496/megladon8/383190.jpg

:eek:

[transmogrifier]

Apparently a lot of critics enjoyed Old Joy, as I saw it on a lot of best of the year lists in 2007. To me it looks like they took a ten page script and forced it into becoming a 75 minute film, barely meeting the criteria to be considered a feature. Although I like Will Oldman, the acting is disappointing, and I especially disliked the other actor. The director seems to be going for a serene and meditative kind of film, where the soundscapes and scenery creates a mood, but the dialogue makes it play more like a terrible mumblecore film and the forest imagery just seems like forced filler due to lazy writing. Furthermore the camera work is pitiful. Pretty scenery isn’t an excuse for poor compositions, lack of proper coverage, and varying exposures. It looked like they were just pointing and shooting with the camera on auto focus at times. I feel too many low budget filmmakers try to be Terrence Malick or Werner Herzog and think they can get away with capturing nature, and distract the viewer with montages of pretty images to hide a poorly developed story. I often like these sort of montages, when they aren't done in such an amateur fashion, but it didn't work for me here. The idea of an aging friendship is just fine, I just didn't like the execution.

Yay! Old Joy is dull in the extreme and brings me THIS close to throwing my hat in the Armond-White-No-Good-Hipster-Pretentiousness Ring. The last film to do that to me was Me You and Everyone We Know (ugh, I even hate typing out that title)

[NickGlass]

Yay! Old Joy is dull in the extreme and brings me THIS close to throwing my hat in the Armond-White-No-Good-Hipster-Pretentiousness Ring. The last film to do that to me was Me You and Everyone We Know (ugh, I even hate typing out that title)

Those are two of my favorite films over the past few years.

::sniffle::

Now, if you want me to say something negative about Wendy and Lucy, I have a comment or two.

[transmogrifier]

Those are two of my favorite films over the past few years.

::sniffle::

Now, if you want me to say something negative about Wendy and Lucy, I have a comment or two.

I'll let you have the floor, though bear in mind that I have no real intention of watching W&L to see if I agree with you.

[origami_mustache]

I intend on seeing Wendy and Lucy, mostly based on it being #1 on the Film Comment consensus, but I don't anticipate liking it that much.

[Boner M]

While the City Sleeps was somehow quite enjoyable in spite of numerous flaws. Lang's clearly trying to eschew noir/thriller conventions, but the emotional entanglements of the reporters aren't interesting enough as a substitute, and his visual prowess isn't as present as usual. Also had trouble telling Sally Forrest and Rhonda Fleming apart. Otherwise, a pretty decent procedural.

[lovejuice]

count me in among old joy non-believer. i don't have a particularly good reason except the director doesn't seem to expand or do anything much out of the Apichartpong's formula. compared to blissfully yours or tropical malady, OJ seems irrelevant. (my disliking's partly patriotic, i guess.)

i am curious about wendy and lucy.

[B-side]

Wendy and Lucy is good. Nothing exceptional, but a good little film with a better lead performance.

[Boner M]

I liked Old Joy a bit more than Wendy and Lucy, but both are really great. The latter along with The Wrestler is the second film I've seen in the span of two days to remind me of Rosetta, oddly enough. All fine performance-powered films.

[ledfloyd]

count me in among old joy non-believer. i don't have a particularly good reason except the director doesn't seem to expand or do anything much out of the Apichartpong's formula. compared to blissfully yours or tropical malady, OJ seems irrelevant. (my disliking's partly patriotic, i guess.)

i am curious about wendy and lucy.
hmm. oddly enough i love reichardt's films yet didn't care too much for syndromes and a century.

[Boner M]

hmm. oddly enough i love reichardt's films yet didn't care too much for syndromes and a century.
Not too odd considering they're nothing alike.

[Watashi]

Dude, Derek. 'Splain those low Panda and Zachary ratings.

[NickGlass]

I liked Old Joy a bit more than Wendy and Lucy, but both are really great. The latter along with The Wrestler is the second film I've seen in the span of two days to remind me of Rosetta, oddly enough. All fine performance-powered films.

Too true about the Dardenne aesthetic. Aronofsky even spends a decent amount of the first 15 minutes following the back of Mickey Rourke's head! And, yeah, it's definitely my favorite Aronofsky; why don't more filmmakers realize that their filmmaking could benefit from a little Dardenne Bros. influence?

Wendy and Lucy isn't bad, but it does contain two absolutely unbearable (and naturalism-shattering) supporting characters. That damn kid in the grocery store who catches Wendy and is completely relentless in his punishment is a false note to hit (I cringed when I saw he was wearing a crucifix on his neck--c'mon Kelly, give the audience some credit; you don't need to demonize a person for liberal audiences just by making them an unforgiving Jesus freak). Also, the car repairer played by Will Patton seems like he walked out of some goofball Will Ferrell film. Annoying to the extreme. I'm not being persnickety, either, since these character--despite their very limited screentime--are vital catalysts for the impoverished protagonist. All that said, I did enjoy its rhythm (you know I'm a sucker for this form of naturalistic filmmaking, though), the security guard handing Wendy six dollars as if it was a fortune, and Michelle Williams' performance (which is, as always, totally immersed and convincing). She dominates close-ups; she can make a blank stare meaningful.

Old Joy is so much more successful because the conflict comes from within the two main characters and Reichardt doesn't need to rely so much on her caricatured constructions. The unfolding of their relationship and their closely observed ideals of masculinity is rich enough material. Oh, and it's sublime.

[Duncan]

Agree about the Jesus kid (his mom even drives a Volvo), disagree about the mechanic (or car repairer, if you prefer). He just seemed like your standard mechanic to me. I didn't get any Will Ferrell-film vibe.

[Derek]

Agree about the Jesus kid (his mom even drives a Volvo), disagree about the mechanic (or car repairer, if you prefer). He just seemed like your standard mechanic to me. I didn't get any Will Ferrell-film vibe.

Ditto, except I think the kid and his behavior in itself work, but the effect is lessened by the clumsy stressing of irony. The mechanic was perfectly fine. I think Nick may not have had much experience with car repairers yet, since that type of behavior isn't that uncommon.


Dude, Derek. 'Splain those low Panda and Zachary ratings.

Liked both. Kung Fu Panda had a pretty weak story and not enough Ian McShane, but the action/fighting scenes are great. Fluid animation, beautifully choreographed, loved the chopstick and final battles. Don't have much to say about Zachary, except it's an incredibly tragic story that felt like an extended episode of a news magazine show.

Speaking of which, what's up with your low Hunger rating?

[Derek]

Before I Forget (Jacques Nolot, 2008)

Introspective but inert, personal but full of self-pity, Nolot's drama about an elderly gay man coping with the passing of his lover, his deteriorating body and his general detachment from society outside of gigolos and a few select friends is as dry as burnt toast and mistakes its various distressing conversations for enlightment of his central character. As it's both visually and narratively flat, there's really not much of interest here outside of a peek into the lives of bourgeouis, homosexual Parisians.

Boarding Gate (Olivier Assayas, 2008)

Elusive and enigmatic, Assayas stripped-down espionage tale too often feels like a futile exercise in style than a piece reflecting Argento's inability to escape her past and start over. As usual, Assayas sets a distinct mood, deftly handling the jarring tonal shift halfway through, but aside from that, the films minimalist approach allows only small glimpses of something deeper that it never flushed out. Its greatest feat is using the multinational cast and setting in a way that makes the characters seem small and lost. There is always the sense that as much as any of them think they are in control, there are invariably other more powerful forces at work.

[megladon8]

I really liked your thoughts on Boarding Gate, Derek.

It was one of the most puzzling films I saw last year. I watched it three times and I still wasn't sure how I felt about it. I think I resorted to about a 6 or 6.5 rating.

Wonderful performance from Argento, I thought. She really can be great, but she is awful in so many things. And I can't help but find her work with her father a little creepy and incestually voyeuristic...but that's a whole other can of worms.


What are peoples' thoughts on Mike Nichols' Wolf?

I watched it over the holidays and was surprised by how much I liked it. Its message was a little too in-your-face, but I thought Nicholson's performance was wonderful. And the bathroom scene with James Spader was great :lol:

"I'm just marking my territory"

[Ivan Drago]

What I'll be watching in my Film Theory class this semester:

The Rules of the Game
The Searchers
Fight Club (seen it tho)
Last Tango In Paris
Blade Runner (seen it tho)
Orlando
Lone Star

[megladon8]

The Rules of the Game - great film, great Agatha Christie-ish mystery

The Searchers - one of the great westerns, and a beautifully photographed film

Fight Club - don't think it's as brilliant as others do

Last Tango In Paris - crap

Blade Runner - obviously I endorse this choice

Orlando - never seen it

Lone Star - wonderful film, incredible script