Holy Motors (Leos Carax) [Archive]

Winston*

08-24-2012, 02:55 AM

It's an odd way to market the film as being some sort of art-house endurance test. It's a strange film, but not in a particularly alienating way. It's full of jokes.

Would like to think that poster comes from the perspective of the photographer in the film.

"Weeeeeird. Weeeeeird. So weeeeeird."

KK2.0

10-09-2012, 05:50 AM

i don't think that's a good marketing, film buffs will expect much more and mainstream crowd will probably agree and stay away.

Like Winston said, the film is actually more watchable than you expect.

and yes, those endings. I loved it.

Boner M

10-09-2012, 03:42 PM

This is a much better poster:

http://www.thehollywoodnews.com/wp-content/uploads/63739.jpg

Boner M

10-09-2012, 03:43 PM

Also, I wrote some lengthy notes (http://sydneyfilmhappenings.blogspot. ca/2012/07/review-holy-motors-dir-leos-carax.html) on my blog a few months ago, for anyone interested.

Russ

10-09-2012, 06:11 PM

And here's (http://holymotorsfilm.com/theaters/) the US schedule for theater dates.

NickGlass

10-22-2012, 04:49 PM

Well, that was fun. It's a pretty gleeful film--an elegy to, and the celebration of, cinema past and present; the performance angle and cheeky genre-hopping work like gangbusters.

number8

10-22-2012, 04:52 PM

Oh yeah, here are my thoughts (http://www.artboiled.com/2012/holy-motors-is-only-as-weird-as-our-world/).

Qrazy

10-22-2012, 07:23 PM

If I really disliked Mauvais Sang will I like this?

ledfloyd

10-22-2012, 07:52 PM

good to know if i miss the 11/17 film fest screening (i have psych class that night) it'll be getting a legitimate release on the 30th.

Boner M

10-22-2012, 10:33 PM

Melville, thoughts plz.

MadMan

10-23-2012, 12:10 PM

I want to see this movie based on a few reviews I've read recently. However I'll just have to wait and hope it comes to Netflix Instant Viewing like some other foreign offerings over the past couple of years.

Acapelli

10-24-2012, 04:46 PM

i believe i accidentally voted 200* times after i was buzzed and kept mashing the vote now button on my phone when it seemingly didn't work.

*an approximation

Melville

10-31-2012, 11:10 AM

If I really disliked Mauvais Sang will I like this?
I predict you'll hate it.

Melville, thoughts plz.
I liked the enacted sex scene in glimmering suits on the black void of the motion-capture stage. I laughed at the hunchbacked freak biting off the girl's fingers. I groaned at the talking cars. In general, I didn't think there was anything to get me involved in the individual vignettes; the theme of performance in life doesn't really grab me, and I didn't get much other than that to bring me into any of the scenes.

Boner M

10-31-2012, 01:34 PM

But is it art or lunacy

Melville

10-31-2012, 04:10 PM

art or lunacy?
French.

ciaoelor

10-31-2012, 08:34 PM

This hits Miami November 16. Can't wait.

TGM

11-06-2012, 06:58 PM

Wait, how the hell did Acapelli vote so many times in this thread? :lol:

Acapelli

11-07-2012, 05:02 PM

i have no idea

Boner M

11-08-2012, 12:54 AM

i have no idea
So apropos, though.

ledfloyd

11-15-2012, 04:12 PM

mind blown. the parallels between this film and cosmopolis are downright eerie. the theme, setting, and structure are almost identical.

Henry Gale

11-15-2012, 04:38 PM

Oh, guess I didn't say anything about this yet.

Probably my new favourite of the year. One viewing is enough to feel that strongly about it but not enough to properly take in all that I eventually hope to with it.

I'm just realizing now that my absolute top three for the year (this, Cloud Atlas, Cabin in the Woods) all find their own ways of broadly dealing with the nature of mortality through storytelling and perceived legacy, and in many places how those relate to the nature of film and even how it can be its own way of playing God, though arriving at decidedly dissimilar theses in their own specific genre-bending exercises. Carax's film seems to take the most kitchen sink approach to all of what he seems inclined to put in the viewer's head, but that comes more from not being sure if I can even bind half of its strands into one cohesive thought in my head, and maybe I'm not even supposed to considering how deliberately fragmented it makes so much of itself, but it all amounts to such a glorious thing to experience that I wouldn't have it any other way.

**** / A

ciaoelor

11-17-2012, 05:07 AM

This hits Miami November 16. Can't wait.

Tomorrow... Tomorrow... (I hope) I'll love you, tomorrow... It's only a day away...

Pop Trash

11-17-2012, 06:06 AM

Not to toe the party line, but this is a near masterpiece. I just wish it ended with the

shot of the ape house

rather than the

talking limos. That was a bit too cute and thematically on the nose for me. Plus are gas guzzling limos really analogous to Panavision 35mm. movie cameras? I think not. but that's a minor complaint.

I feel like a lot of the movies I've seen lately have been thematically working in the same territory as this, but this one is just much better executed. Movies like Cabin in the Woods, Alps, and Cloud Atlas (I haven't seen Cosmopolis yet). Even last year's Hugo (although I really liked Hugo as well).

It's hilarious when it's trying to be funny. It's sincerely moving when it's trying to be sad. All the notes hit.

Eva Mendes is a really good sport for agreeing to do that scene.

Pop Trash

11-17-2012, 06:16 AM

Nobody calls me mainstream and gets away with it. I'll show you Australian hipster intern!

You need to see this. So Spinal-esque.

Irish

11-17-2012, 07:53 AM

There are not many poets left in the cinema. Perhaps the poet is always something of a throwback, a reminder of former glories. 'Now I feel I make films for the dead and you show them to people who are alive' says director Leos Carax, whose new film Holy Motors (2012) in part laments the passing of the mechanical age. It also evokes the Island of Cinema of which Carax speaks, a place where life is seen through the prism of cinema, but a prism that allows for all possible viewpoints, less to do with filmic reference and harking back, than to do with finding new ways to look at the world and the human condition.

http://blog.frieze.com/holy-motors/

number8

11-17-2012, 01:45 PM

Boner M

11-18-2012, 07:59 AM

Tomorrow... Tomorrow... (I hope) I'll love you, tomorrow... It's only a day away...
*checks ratings*

Oof.

Bosco B Thug

11-22-2012, 03:32 AM

This idea has been on my mind recently, and so it is naturally what resonated most in the picture with me:

A recurring image from the opening credits to the closing ones is a clip from a zoetrope, the once-novel trinket now a dated missing link in film's development. Presented without comment, the clip's meaning is clear: movies will never die, though they will not look as they did once upon a time.

My favorite idea within the film, but also the film's downfall: it's never quite as good as that which it mimics. It's post-modern to the point it's hardly a film anymore, and it just seems inadequate whilst smirking about "Death of Cinema!!"... So the film's actually a lot like Cabin in the Woods...

Yes, I know, it's not about the Death of Cinema... The film's a clear rejoicing of its survival, and it promotes the values of the artist, like our fake world being as accomplished as the real world. A very competent actor goes home to an unconventional family, and we realize nothing like the status quo slows him down.

Hit and miss, though. Goofy (by design). I sensed lots of restlessness in my theater.

Ezee E

12-13-2012, 04:16 AM

Bah. The version I downloaded didn't have subtitles.

Derek

12-13-2012, 04:25 AM

Bah. The version I downloaded didn't have subtitles.

Here ya go (http://www.sendspace.com/file/ulea5j). Just make sure it's named the same as the file you already have, just with the .srt at the end and play with VLC Player.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 04:58 AM

Didn't connect with this film at all. No stakes because everything's a put-on. Mostly tedious except for the end which is comically bad. I liked Kylie Minogue.

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 05:00 AM

Didn't connect with this film at all. No stakes because everything's a put-on. Mostly tedious except for the end which is comically bad. I liked Kylie Minogue.

I'll say this next time I see one of your plays.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 05:02 AM

You need to see this. So Spinal-esque.

:evil:

Boner M

01-03-2013, 05:04 AM

No stakes because everything's a put-on.
So un-Spinal-esque. :sad:

Spinal

01-03-2013, 05:07 AM

You guys should know by now that I don't tend to like movies about the artifice of the movies.

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 05:07 AM

:evil:

6xG4oFny2Pk

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 05:09 AM

You guys should know by now that I don't tend to like movies about the artifice of the movies.

Oh that's right. I forgot you hate Dogville. Good for you.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 05:09 AM

I think that's why the Minogue scene worked best for me. It was a rare moment that felt honest, heartfelt and sincere.

Boner M

01-03-2013, 05:09 AM

You guys should know by now that I don't tend to like movies about the artifice of the movies.
You like the ending of The Holy Mountain, right?

Spinal

01-03-2013, 05:10 AM

Oh that's right. I forgot you hate Dogville. Good for you.

Dogville is not about cinema.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 05:11 AM

You like the ending of The Holy Mountain, right?

That's about 10 seconds in a much larger, more meaningful experience. This film is no Holy Mountain.

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 05:12 AM

Dogville is not about cinema.

It's most certainly (in part) about the artifice of cinema.

Boner M

01-03-2013, 05:18 AM

That's about 10 seconds in a much larger, more meaningful experience. This film is no Holy Mountain.
Well, I think Motors is better. But anyway, I don't see the latter as being about 'the artifice of cinema' so much as the desire to record & preserve ourselves (hence the variety of media across its vignettes). If you're interested enough, I wrote a blog post on it on the first page.

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 05:26 AM

It's also about the art of acting (I mean Lavant is a beast in this) and the emotional toll that can take. After the Kylie scene and the 'homage du cinema triste' with the woman in the bed, there is a reason why he says "we have to laugh before midnight." Hence the ending. Surprised an actor wouldn't connect with this.

I'm going to assume Spinal dislikes Mulholland Dr. now as well.

Watashi

01-03-2013, 05:31 AM

That accordion scene is pretty bitchin', no?

Spinal

01-03-2013, 06:16 AM

I'm going to assume Spinal dislikes Mulholland Dr. now as well.

Your tendency to jump to wild conclusions is getting the better of you.

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 06:23 AM

You guys should know by now that I don't tend to like movies about the artifice of the movies.

Your tendency to jump to wild conclusions is getting the better of you.

6DZ7DfrTDds

Spinal

01-03-2013, 07:14 AM

If you're interested enough, I wrote a blog post on it on the first page.

Well written. Nice work.

Bosco B Thug

01-03-2013, 07:32 AM

I just want to drop in and poo-poo on the Accordion entr'acte and the musical number.

The best scenes were the Drive with Daughter, the Death Bed, and

The Monkey Clan. Thought that was brill, oh yeah.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 07:39 AM

Why do people think that was clever? I thought it was such a huge eye-roller.

Bosco B Thug

01-03-2013, 07:51 AM

Why do people think that was clever? I thought it was such a huge eye-roller. Well, let's put it this way, it's the big moment, where he

finishes his work, hangs up his coat, enters his "regular life" - and that is how I choose to see it - and it really needed to deliver on something crazy, with an air of finality. And at most it did that.

I'm going to assume Spinal dislikes Mulholland Dr. now as well. Sorry Spinal, gonna annoy you some more, but how about Inland Empire? I think that film works even better for your retort.

Boner M

01-03-2013, 10:48 AM

I think this board's collective New Year's Resolution should be to ditch the term Spinal-esque and its variants.

Ezee E

01-03-2013, 03:42 PM

I like that people counteract Spinal's own opinion with other movies to prove he actually likes this movie.

Derek

01-03-2013, 04:24 PM

I like that people counteract Spinal's own opinion with other movies to prove he actually likes this movie.

As the new mod, can you go ahead and add another star to the score in his sig?

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 04:57 PM

Why do people think that was clever? I thought it was such a huge eye-roller.

Didn't you have Chim Chim from Speed Racer as your av for awhile?

Spinal

01-03-2013, 08:34 PM

I should probably get in the habit of waiting longer before posting my thoughts on films like this. Hopefully, I can return to the conversation later with more to say.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 08:36 PM

Didn't you have Chim Chim from Speed Racer as your av for awhile?

The logic here being ...

... that if I like the use of a monkey in one film, I must necessarily like the use of monkeys in all films?

number8

01-03-2013, 08:43 PM

SPINAL WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT DUNSTON CHECKS IN.

Winston*

01-03-2013, 08:45 PM

The logic here being ...

... that if I like the use of a monkey in one film, I must necessarily like the use of monkeys in all films?

Chimps aren't monkeys! I think you need to re-watch/reevaluate your opinions on both movies.

Watashi

01-03-2013, 08:52 PM

http://nomorepopcorn.files.wordpress. com/2011/02/monkey-trouble-movie-poster-1020210837.jpg

Rate plz.

DavidSeven

01-03-2013, 09:04 PM

Most butthurt-ness over Spinal disliking a movie since Up.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 09:15 PM

Most butthurt-ness over Spinal disliking a movie since Up.

Don't forget Dogtooth. Although I eventually turned around on that one.

Raiders

01-03-2013, 09:18 PM

Don't forget Dogtooth. Although I eventually turned around on that one.

I take credit for that.

By the way, I do think there is something to be said for the benefits of having Pop Trash determine your opinions for you. You get the enjoyment of watching the film without having to think or form an opinion.

Spinal

01-03-2013, 09:28 PM

I take credit for that.

By the way, I do think there is something to be said for the benefits of having Pop Trash determine your opinions for you. You get the enjoyment of watching the film without having to think or form an opinion.

I was definitely wrong on Dogtooth. Totally misunderstood it. I confess that.

I will have to watch this one again on Netflix or something. I thought it was a pretty dull, unenlightening experience, but I'd be willing to give it another shot.

Mysterious Dude

01-03-2013, 10:22 PM

I liked the movie, but I did not like the ending(s). Just too silly.

Pop Trash

01-03-2013, 11:03 PM

The logic here being ...

... that if I like the use of a monkey in one film, I must necessarily like the use of monkeys in all films?

The logic being you don't like a movie with chimps, musical sequences, surrealism, a great central performance, and shades of Jordorowsky and Lynch. It's like Leos Carax made this movie specifically from a list of shit Spinal likes and gave it to you.

Carax will now retire from filmmaking for life and play golf with Steven Soderbergh because Spinal didn't like his movie.

In fairness, I did not like Cabin in the Woods, Alps, or Cloud Atlas very much which on paper all sounded pretty awesome.

StanleyK

01-13-2013, 01:29 AM

I didn't get it.

elixir

01-13-2013, 03:13 PM

I didn't get it.
but it's fun and shit! (seriously though, look at the dialogue with piccoli for one!)

and post more (even when u anger me with the things you say, man!)

StanleyK

01-14-2013, 07:49 PM

but it's fun and shit! (seriously though, look at the dialogue with piccoli for one!)

and post more (even when u anger me with the things you say, man!)

Well, I can't really post when I don't watch movies, and lately I've been busy with a bunch of TV shows and a couple books (and working, finally). But I'll try my best.

As for your other point, I must disagree. This movie was pretty boring I thought. The musical interlude was cool, though.

Spinal

01-14-2013, 08:48 PM

I didn't get it.

This is probably the post I should have made. Although I felt like I understood the basic scenario, the overall purpose of the film was unclear to me. I found most of the scenes tedious rather 'fun and shit' because I had no investment in the outcome. This all comes down to a gut feeling, I suppose, but I didn't believe in the film's sincerity.

Rowland

01-25-2013, 08:48 AM

To quote Ed Gonzalez quoting Rosenbaum, it's "dangerously close to being all notations and no text," or rephrased, it's a jumble of thematically related signifiers with the thinnest of strings tying them together. Enough of what Carax is saying, and the means through which he is saying it, worked for me however so that I generally liked the film just fine. Was anybody else reminded of Alps while watching this?

Pop Trash

01-25-2013, 05:45 PM

Was anybody else reminded of Alps while watching this?

Yes. Alps, Cloud Atlas, and Cabin in the Woods. Like I said before, I felt like I kept seeing films that were in the same ballpark but didn't totally work for me. Holy Motors was the only one that hit all the sweet spots.

Boner M

01-26-2013, 08:32 PM

Carax's not-in-attendance speech for his 'best foreign language film' LAFCC award:

"Hello, I’m Leos Carax, director of foreign-language films. I’ve been making foreign-language films my whole life. Foreign-language films are made all over the world, of course, except in America. In America, they only make non-foreign-language films. Foreign-language films are very hard to make, obviously, because you have to invent a foreign language instead of using the usual language. But the truth is, cinema is a foreign language, a language created for those who need to travel to the other side of life. Good night."

number8

01-26-2013, 09:21 PM

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxels9BoVU1qff8too1_r1_ 400.gif

Derek

01-26-2013, 09:31 PM

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m6lr0rPq5E1qireq9.gif

Want to hug Leos.

Watashi

01-26-2013, 09:38 PM

I just want to hug Ryan Gosling now.

Derek

01-26-2013, 09:42 PM

I just want to hug Ryan Gosling now.

Well, that's a constant for all of us.

The Bad Guy

02-03-2013, 05:16 AM

That's one of the best acceptance speeches I've ever heard

Grouchy

02-14-2013, 04:38 PM

I didn't think I was going to love any movie this year more than Django Unchained, but this was incredible. The more I think about it or read about the various connections to other films the more I'm convinced about its brilliance.

EyesWideOpen

02-28-2013, 05:53 AM

This was the 2012 film I hadn't seen that I was most excited for and man what a letdown. The previous posts using the word "tedious" sums up my feelings pretty well. The Eva Mendes/sewer man stuff was the only thing I cared for.