Watched A Touch of Zen. Loved it for 2h15min. Then the story basically ended and the last 45 minutes was a series of fights between a secondary character and one who hadn't even showed up before. Disappointing ending to an otherwise great movie. Was most impressed by how gorgeous the cinematography looked, especially in comparison to Come Drink with Me and Dragon Gate Inn.
No it doesn't I just watched it yesterday. It's not even ever fully onscreen.Quoting Isaac (view post)
I really like the Lee/Cushing one.
But Bubba Ho Tep May be the best mummy movie of all time.
I'm watching them all right now in order. Here's my ranking so far.
1.The Mummy 1999 ★★★★½
2.The Mummy Returns 2001 ★★★★
3.Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy 1955 ★★★
4.The Mummy’s Hand 1940 ★★★
5.The Mummy 2017 ★★★
6.The Mummy 1932 ★★½
7.The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor 2008 ★★
8.The Mummy’s Tomb 1942 ★½
9.The Mummy’s Ghost 1944 ★
10.The Mummy’s Curse 1944 ★
I love Bubba Ho-Tep.
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I just watched Lilo and Stitch for the first time last night.
Wow what an odd film. THere's no music and there's barely any comic relief. It's like a straight story about a broken home and invading aliens.
Quentin Tarantino:
Reservoir Dogs - 8.5
Pulp Fiction - 8.5
The Man from Hollywood (Four Rooms) - 7
Jackie Brown - 8.5
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 - 10
Kill Bill: Vol. 2 - 10
Death Proof - 8.5
Inglourious Basterds - 10
Django Unchained - 8.5
The Hateful Eight - 7
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood - 7
His movies haven't quite been the same since Sally Menke's death. Perhaps it will be for the best if he does really make his next movie the last one.
Chang-Dong Lee:
Green Fish - 4
Peppermint Candy - 5.5
Oasis - 7
Secret Sunshine - 8.5
Poetry - 5.5
Burning - 5.5
Safe to say I don't get the appeal. Outside of one wonderfully executed movie, his films seem to have a good central idea that doesn't justify their length and extremely slow pace.
For better or for worse, he's basically a novelist who makes films, and I think the length and pacing of his films derives from this. Of the four that I've seen, however, only Poetry seems to me a bit sluggish, but maybe that's because I miss the balls-to-the-walls melodrama of Peppermint Candy, Oasis, and Milyang.
Just because...
The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021) mild
The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild
The last book I read was...
The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain
The (New) World
I have to agree with Stanley that the slow pacing in Burning wore me out big time. Also like him, I remember Secret Sunshine as a great experience and I think the lenght was more justified there, or maybe the plot was just thicker. Those are the only ones I've seen, though.
For me, Lee’s later films always seem extremely fast. That’s not to say that they seem fast-paced like a blockbuster, but I recall the distinct feeling of being like, “Wow, there is so much distinctive character detail thus far and we’re only halfway through.” It’s like a full season of TV in a film, because no time is wasted on banal or cliche that makes the characters indistinguishable from every other character, and yet they are also simple characters, not big and loud and obvious. A true master of detail - a novelist, in short. I feel lucky to have him!
Incidentally, have any of Lee's novels been translated into English yet? All I've been able to find is one short story, "The Dreaming Beast," that was published in the Journal of Korean Literature and Culture.
Just because...
The Fabelmans (Steven Spielberg, 2022) mild
Petite maman (Céline Sciamma, 2021) mild
The Banshees of Inisherin (Martin McDonagh, 2022) mild
The last book I read was...
The Complete Short Stories by Mark Twain
The (New) World
That actually makes a lot of sense. I had no idea he was also a novelist.
Oasis was pretty good overall as well. I can recommend that one.
There's a meandering quality to Lee's work that, to me, helps his films feel lived-in. So an offering of tofu to a recently released convict in Oasis gets no narrative explanation, but audiences are asked to assess what that working-class man's act of kindness means against the lead's family that remains complicit in judging his (substitutionary) punishment. Those are small moments that slowly accumulate in power. There's an embrace of melodrama in his works that is appealing to me--so the grand gestures of Korean culture and history in Peppermint Candy and aggrieved personal suffering in Secret Sunshine remain devastating.
I have no thoughts on Green Fish anymore, which is in fact a movie, but a beginner's one, without the layers of interest. I do, however, think Poetry is precise, but in very minute ways that his earlier films didn't always prepare us for; Burning is phenomenal, even if its ending meanders and meanders (until it doesn't). I spent more time trying to unpack that film than any other last year.
The Boat People - 9
The Power of the Dog - 7.5
The King of Pigs - 7
I generally shy away from "slow cinema", but I don't find any of Lee's films slow at all. They are all packed with interesting things on several different levels.
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
Finally saw Tim Burton's most popular film (going by both imdb and letterboxd) for the first time today.M y next two most popular unseen of his are Sweeney Todd and Sleepy Hollow.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) - Being Burton's most personal may have him stack the deck a bit too much, so that anyone outsides of Depp and Ryder ultimately end up irritatingly and/or obliviously one-note, even accounting for it being a fairy tale told to a kid (Dianne West starting out so wonderful and then greatly reduced by the end saddens me the most). Might not be a problem if this is one of his manic comedies, but here those kind of characters kill his somber whimsy mood a bit for me. Still, being his most personal also means that this feels projected straight from Burton's brain unfiltered. His memory of childhood suburbia exaggerated to a uniquely gorgeous yet oppressive pastel vision, along with its intimidatingly maintained rhythms and social mores, ranks as one of the director's best creations. 7.5/10
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
Ed Wood would surely be his most critically popular film? It's certainly his best, anyway.
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
Yeah if sort by rating letterboxd has Ed Wood top, while IMDB has Big Fish. I myself love his first feature (Pee-wee’s Big Adventure) best.
Midnight Run (1988) - 9
The Smiling Lieutenant (1931) - 8.5
The Adventures of Robinhood (1938) - 8
Sisters (1973) - 6.5
Shin Godzilla (2016) - 7.5
Ed Wood is pretty good, but I've also always had a soft spot for the incredibly kooky, all-out Burtony stylings of Batman Returns, as you can see here.
Ed Wood is a masterpiece.
Absolutely. I think Edward Scissorhands and Sweeney Todd plus most of Beetlejuice (I have seen parts of it on TV) are the last major Burton flicks I have not viewed yet.
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And everybody wants to be special here
They call your name out loud and clear
Here comes a regular
Call out your name
Here comes a regular
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I would like to discuss an area of film criticism I hate. In breezing over the Joker reviews that are coming in, I came across this:
Now I haven't seen this Joker film. The film isn't the point. I don't care if you're talking about 2001: A Space Odyssey or Uwe Boll's House of the Dead. FUCK YOU for that underlined bit. It is so condescending and insulting. What it really says is "if you can't afford really expensive sunglasses, or you make your own tee shirt of a band you like instead of ponying up for the expensive retail one, you're opinion is of no value."
I don't know who David Jenkins is, but he is on my list of critics who's opinion means fuck all. Its lazy writing, taking shots at easy targets, because he can't come up with better words to describe a thing without stepping on someone else's throat. That school dropout in fake Oakleys and home made Linkin Park tee could be Quentin Tarantino, you fucker. Imagine if your words discouraged that kid from trying. What an absolute loss that could be.
Hate the movie all you want, I have no stake in it, I don't care a lick. But shit like that really really...really pisses me off.
Last edited by Skitch; 08-31-2019 at 07:33 PM.
It's an oddly specific description. I can't quite figure out what "molly coddled teen dropout" is supposed to mean, or why he invokes that image in reference to "Joker."
But the rest of it is just as poorly written, 900 words of this dude saying the same thing over and over again, that the movie's full of shit and fronts and attitude it won't back up. Well, okay, but you coulda said that in 150 words and not wasted anybody's time.
Yep! Its word diarrhea trying to sound intelligent.
I’m still a bit worried about it coming across like a rallying cry for incels.
It doesn’t help that I’ve read several negative reviews by female critics, and very few by males.
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