28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[transmogrifier]

Rank them.

1. Harakiri
2. The rest

[Dukefrukem]

Rank them.

All of them are great, but if I had to go with a favorite, it would go to Yokimbo.

First, never knew a Fist Full of Dollars was a remake of this. I immediately saw similarities from Bruce Willis's film, Last Man Standing. And so much inspiration from Stephen Chow with Kung Fu Hustle.
It's the fastest paced out of the bunch which made it the most enjoyable viewing for me.

Harakiri was great. Very slow paced. Excellent payoff.


1. Yokimbo ★★★★★ (Tatsuya Nakadai wins as most cocky somabitch ever?)
2. Harakiri ★★★★½ (Tatsuya Nakadai wins as most badass performance ever?)
3. Ran ★★★★(Tatsuya Nakadai wins as most powerful performance ever?)
4. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance ★★★★ (Jimmy Stewart being Jimmy Stewart)
5. White Heat ★★★½ (Would have been better without the )
6. Sherlock, Jr. ★★★½(Hilarious at times. Finally got to see those famous perspective special effects shots)

[Idioteque Stalker]

1. Harakiri
2. Sherlock, Jr.
3. Ran
4. Yojimbo

I'll put Liberty Valance on my list. Side note, Norm McDonald said it was his favorite movie. And I've never Cagney in anything...

[Dead & Messed Up]

Continuing the fantasy kick,

Beowulf and Grendel - B-

Not really defensible if you want a good time, but I found its visuals of Daneland evocative and earthy, Gerard Butler plays with some sense of subtlety, and the theme of recurrent cyclical violence gives it an element of texture and novelty. Also liked how the Christian religion starts at the edge of the story and slowly creeps in; similar to Zemeckis' film. In a way, all three Beowulf adaptations I've seen have to survive by offering post-modern deconstructionist takes on the original legend, with Beowulf as a sort of screed on hypermasculinity, The 13th Warrior as real-world revisionism, and now this film that makes Beowulf pity Grendel and regret having to take part in his demise. The accents are at times impenetrable (which makes Sarah Polley's mid-American accent doubly absurd), and I wasn't sure...

[

Show Spoiler

the film requires Polley's witch to get raped by Grendel and pop out his boy. It could've been another sea hag or something; the point of there being a child is that Beowulf risks perpetuating the cycle of blind violence in a way that recalls how it all started. Either way, the scene where Grendel rapes Selma is sort of silly. There's little sense of terror or dread. He walks in, sniffs her womanhood, pumps three times, and leaves. I couldn't stop myself saying, "Uh, was it good for you?" and "I'm just really busy lately."

]

Broadly, the final act compresses a lot of story into too short of a space. I think Zemeckis' film made the wiser move of making the three-act structure out of three monsters. This film limits its story to Beowulf for three-quarters of the film and then chucks in Grendel's mother like some sort of late-entry WWE wrestler. The editing at the end feels pretty loose too, like they cut around her because they didn't trust her as an on-screen monster or a story element - "Let's get through this as quickly as possible."

Even then, I think the flick is worth checking out if you like these kinds of movies, although its tone is more suggestive of the looking-backward gloom of Black Death than the more rambunctious adaptations I mentioned above.

Regardless, here's an excuse once again to post my favorite Beowulfy thing, "Lo There."

[Skitch]

I really like Beowulf & Grendel. Deep core take on the mythological tale. Earthy is a great word to describe its feel.

[Yxklyx]

Been deeeeeeeeeeestroying my backlog lately.

In the last week, watched Harakiri (Kobayashi), Sherlock, Jr., White Heat (Raoul Walsh), Yokimbo and Ran (Kurosawa) and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford).

OK, so why do you guys like this Ford film? I love/like all the above except for that one. The entire film seems like it's shot in a one-room set. Not a huge Ford fan though I love The Searchers, Stagecoach and Grapes of Wrath.

[Dukefrukem]

OK, so why do you guys like this Ford film? I love/like all the above except for that one. The entire film seems like it's shot in a one-room set. Not a huge Ford fan though I love The Searchers, Stagecoach and Grapes of Wrath.

Jimmy Stewart, the twist, and bookeends are all great. Not a big Wayne fan. In fact, I don't think I've seen many films outside of this one in it's entirety.

[Irish]

OK, so why do you guys like this Ford film? I love/like all the above except for that one.

I like it because it has a good story, with a little bit of moral ambiguity, and a sorta unhappy ending (the traditional hero doesn't get the girl). It's a treat to see Lee Marvin in all his early cruelty playing against Stewart with his aw-shucks charm.

My only problem is that the ending is a bore. The movie grinds to a halt to talk about century-old midwestern politics for close to a half an hour. The only part of it that's interesting is the way the script bends over backwards to keep Stewart's character virtuous. Until the deal is done and his political career is absolutely set, he remains ignorant of who really shot Liberty. (If he had known, and run for office anyway, it would have made the movie much more cynical.) But all this makes the structure of the film interesting too. Glance at a few other big examples from the genre, or most of Ford's other films, and they end on big action beats. "Valance" doesn't. Liberty's death is the second act climax. The end of the movie is simple people talking and arguing. There is no violence or action in the film once Lee Marvin leaves the scene.

Anyway, I think "Valance" is notable beyond its runtime, too. There's a real arc to the Western genre--and Ford's career--if we start with "Stagecoach" (1939), which was about the opening of the West, and end with "Liberty Valance" (1961), which is about civilizing the frontier. These films roughly bookend both Ford and Wayne's career over a 20 year period, with their Calvary trilogy smack dab in the middle (1948-50). (Both of them made Westerns beforehand and afterwards but I always thought "Valance" was a nice capper to their association.)

Today, it feels like "Valance" was one of the last major films in the genre before it changed permanently. There were more classic Westerns to come, but mostly on TV (eg: "Bonanza"). At the movies, we started to see stuff like Leone's anti-hero Man with No Name, George Siegel's pop-art Butch and Sundance, and Peckinpah's nihilist Wild Bunch. Looking past that, everything is more or less dominated by Eastwood and all of his Westerns quietly subvert the genre. (This is also why I think a lot of fans prefer Leone and Eastwood to Ford and Wayne. Gritty antiheroes and hard violence feel more modern, while a lot of Ford's stuff can feel hoaky in its earnestness. Also, it's important to note that Eastwood intentionally upended the genre's implicit racism every time he sat in the director's chair, which could be interpreted as a direct answer to a lot of Ford's choices.)

The entire film seems like it's shot in a one-room set.

That's because it was! The entire movie was shot on a soundstage.

Bear in mind that by the early 60s, there was already a ton of popular Westerns on television that audiences could see every week and for free (eg Gunsmoke; Wagon Train; Have Gun, Will Travel; The Lone Ranger). Paramount didn't want to pump a ton of money into "Liberty Valance," which is also why the film is in black and white. (Total aside, but I expect that the same thing that happened to Westerns and pure action films will also happen to superhero movies: Oversaturation at the box office bleeds into TV, which ends up with less people going to the theater to see these stories.)

ETA another total aside: American International Pictures got its start in the late 50s and early 60s by churning out cheapy drive-in fare. Originally, the execs thought that they'd make Westerns--until one of them pointed out that it would cost too much money to make theatrical Westerns that could compete with the stuff on television. So instead, they made road movies, biker movies, horror films, and monster stuff aimed at teenagers and young adults. In other words, pure trash. They were one of the first production companies to use focus groups, audience reaction cards, and marketing tailored to specific demographic. A lot of what they pioneered during this period -- about the time "Valance" was released -- is business as usual today.

Bits of trivia, for fun:

- Woody Strode, who played Pompey, Tom Doniphon's man-Friday and all around helper, also appeared in "Stagecoach." A few years after "Valance," he'd reunite with Lee Marvin for "The Professionals" (1966), another Western but one that's much darker and more cynical.

- Jimmy Stewart was in a half-dozenish Westerns throughout his career and he always wore the same hat and rode the same horse (this is most noticeable in the movies he made with Anthony Mann in the 1950s). Ford refused to let him wear his traditional hat, and if you watch "Valance" closely you'll notice that Stewart's character doesn't wear a hat at all. Meanwhile, John Wayne's character wears the biggest, most ostentatious 10 gallon hat imaginable. (I would think this wasn't an accident because, yes, John Ford was that petty.)

- Fifteen years after "Valance," Wayne and Stewart appeared opposite one another in "The Shootist," which was to be Wayne's final film. Stewart had long since retired from acting due to hearing problems, and only took a role because Wayne asked him to. In one scene early in the film they have a dialogue scene together and both of them kept flubbing their lines. Director Don Siegel complained that they weren't trying hard enough. Wayne looked at him and quipped, "If you wanted the scene done better, you should have hired better actors."

[Yxklyx]

Thanks for responses!

Now, I'm still doing DVDs from Netflix because I thought it had a bigger library than streaming but now I'm not so sure. I"m re-watching a lot of films and I find that a lot of them are no longer available from Netflix DVD. So, is there a web site where I can see what Netflix streaming has? Just some random titles that they don't offer on DVD anymore:

Exorcist 3
Beware of the Holy Whore
The Man Who Changed His Mind
The Ballad of Narayama

Seems like older movies are getting harder and harder to find today - and I find that to be very disheartening.

[Ivan Drago]

I'm really thinking about seeing this when it comes to my arthouse theater near me soon as a repertory film. However, I saw the trailer for it before Battle Royale, and my friends who saw it with me chuckled over how cheesy it looked. Is this not the case?

It's amazing. In my top 10 (see my av). It's so unhinged and portentous that you might find it cheesy, but it seems like something you'd like.

EDIT: also, it seems like something you could enjoy for its ridiculousness even if you didn't think it was great.

Lots of people were laughing at my screening, but some of it may have been uncomfortable nervous laughter. There's a karate chopping metrosexual German guy in the movie who is hilarious though.

Also, you're clearly a fan of outre cult movies, so Possession would be right up your alley Ivan.

Five years after all this, I finally saw Possession in a theater, and I'm still trying to process what I just saw. It starts out so grounded in reality and then progresses into gonzo horror WTFery so well that my feelings for the characters went from sad to intrusive to unsettled to weirded out to horrified to having no idea what I was watching, in that order. There's something surreal about the art direction of Mark's apartment; it's so sparse and framed to the point where it looks like a doll's house. The cinematography made the film look like a haunted home movie and Isabelle Adjani's performance as Anna might be one of my all-time favorite performances. It's nightmare cinema to a T.

[Irish]

To coincide with the republication by Anthology Film Archives and Light Industry of Stan Brakhage’s Metaphors on Vision, out of print for nearly forty years, BOMB Daily presents the following excerpt—a letter from Brakhage to the poet Robert Kelly describing his work on the groundbreaking film Mothlight, which Brakhage made without a camera, instead affixing bits of material directly to film strips. The notes at the end are provided by avant-garde film scholar P. Adams Sitney as part of this new, definitive edition of Metaphors on Vision.

http://bombmagazine.org/article/9841...hors-on-vision

[Dukefrukem]

I still have a DVD sub with my netflix for that reason alone. If I want to watch a bunch of old westerns, there's not many places to go where those are available. There's also a lot of movies from the 20s and 30s I still need to see.

[Skitch]

So, is there a web site where I can see what Netflix streaming has?

www.instantwatcher.com

[baby doll]

Five years after all this, I finally saw Possession in a theater, and I'm still trying to process what I just saw. It starts out so grounded in reality and then progresses into gonzo horror WTFery so well that my feelings for the characters went from sad to intrusive to unsettled to weirded out to horrified to having no idea what I was watching, in that order.

Maybe the film looks different on the big screen, but watching it on TCM, it seemed to me that it started out batshit crazy and then got progressively more over-the-top from there with gradually diminishing results.

[Grouchy]

Maybe the film looks different on the big screen, but watching it on TCM, it seemed to me that it started out batshit crazy and then got progressively more over-the-top from there with gradually diminishing results.

It starts up with drama and acting pumped up to eleven, but no hint that it's going to turn to the supernatural - at least I think that was what Drago was trying to express.

Love that film. Adjani's performance should be studied by every actress.

[Ivan Drago]

It starts up with drama and acting pumped up to eleven, but no hint that it's going to turn to the supernatural - at least I think that was what Drago was trying to express.

Precisely.

[Yxklyx]

www.instantwatcher.com

I found this one as well:

https://www.justwatch.com

Wow, didn't know the situation was so dire. Hitchcock's The 39 Steps is only on Netflix DVD and Filmstruck streaming. Does anyone have experience with Filmstruck?

[transmogrifier]

. Does anyone have experience with Filmstruck?

Buffering was way too slow using a VPN out of Korea, so I ditched it after the free trial. Shame, because the library was decent.

[Irish]

Does anyone have experience with Filmstruck?

I tried it twice, once at launch and once ~6 months later. Long story short: Movies buffered even during off-peak hours. Subtitles are hardcoded and their display cannot be customized. Search/discovery is mediocre. Both times I cancelled there were issues with the website and I had to go through some customer service hoops.

I love the catalog, but I wouldn't recommend this service.

[Mysterious Dude]

I got Filmstruck in July. I had some lag issues in the beginning, but I haven't had any lately. It's not a huge collection, but so many of the movies they have are unrivaled classics. I got a year-long subscription, so I'm stuck with it until next July, but I think I'm getting my money's worth. The movies I've watched so far:

Breathless
Yojimbo
A Day's Pleasure
The Phantom Carriage
Pandora's Box
An Inn in Tokyo
Things to Come
Caesar and Cleopatra
Hans Christian Anderson
Tokyo Story
La Strada
L'Avventura
Wild Strawberries
The Seventh Seal
A Taste of Honey
Kill!
Jules and Jim
Double Suicide
Dancer in the Dark
Shoeshine
Silence (1971)
Princess from the Moon
Au Revoir Les Enfants

Some of them (Dancer in the Dark, Shoeshine) aren't available anymore. Like Netflix, they lose a few movies every month.

I have to admit, I liked it better when the Criterion movies were on Hulu, because Hulu also had TV shows (Filmstruck doesn't), so there was something to keep me using the service almost every day, but having access to the Criterion collection is more important to me.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I want to see some movies at the New York Film Festival (Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, The Square, Wonder Wheel, The Florida Project) but all the screenings are sold out. I know some of you have experience with film festivals. They say more tickets should become available, stand-by or otherwise: should I just stick to my phone and snatch them up if they become available, or would it be worthwhile to just go there and hop from venue to venue hoping to get lucky? There's a ticket to Call Me By Your Name on stubhub for $325--yeesh.

Any tips would be appreciated. Never been to a fest before.

[baby doll]

I want to see some movies at the New York Film Festival (Lady Bird, Call Me By Your Name, The Square, Wonder Wheel, The Florida Project) but all the screenings are sold out. I know some of you have experience with film festivals. They say more tickets should become available, stand-by or otherwise: should I just stick to my phone and snatch them up if they become available, or would it be worthwhile to just go there and hop from venue to venue hoping to get lucky? There's a ticket to Call Me By Your Name on stubhub for $325--yeesh.

Any tips would be appreciated. Never been to a fest before.

I've never been to NYFF, but if its anything like TIFF, you're never going to get into any those screenings no matter how long you wait in line (and most of them will be in regular release in a couple of weeks anyway). Your best bet is to find some obscure avant-garde from Kazakhstan that no one has heard of and try to get tickets for that.

[D_Davis]

I quit going to SIFF a few years ago when I started having to wait in line for ~4 hours per movie, just to get a ticket and a good seat. Just not worth it.

[Idioteque Stalker]

I've never been to NYFF, but if its anything like TIFF, you're never going to get into any those screenings no matter how long you wait in line (and most of them will be in regular release in a couple of weeks anyway). Your best bet is to find some obscure avant-garde from Kazakhstan that no one has heard of and try to get tickets for that.

This is not what I wanted to hear, but it was very helpful to know what to expect.

That being said, today they announced additional screenings for Lady Bird and Call Me By Your Name and I was super quick on the draw. Scored two tickets to both on the 15th for a total of $60. So pumped.

[Yxklyx]

Don't know how many of you can see this but I just re-watched Pepe le Moko (1937) [Netflix DVD]. Awesome film! Jean Gabin is like the French Bogart. Very affecting film. How many films were done in Algiers? I just love these films shot on location.

Edit: NOT the first film noir - that still goes to Asphalt (May, 1929) unless someone can prove otherwise.