28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Melville]

So, something I noticed when I was watching WALL-E this last time - check out the post on the blog, incidentally. It's gotten the most traffic of any post, evar! - is that there's a pretty thick divide in tone between the first and second halves. I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing, but the first half is mostly comedic in tone, while the second half really takes the brunt of all the drama and whatever iconography they were trying to achieve (that is, WALL-E is Jesus, according to Stanton), whereas something like a Happy Feet or a Miyazaki film or even Brad Bird's The Iron Giant - to an extent - keeps both of these things in balance, the entire way through. Drama will segue into comedy, or vicey versey.

Still, interesting film. I'm starting to enjoy bits and pieces of it more and more than I did, initially.

The strong divide was actually one of the things I quite liked about the movie. It made both halves more interesting by having them reflect on one another. And it made the impact of the zaniness and urgency of the second half stronger, due to its contrast with the first half. Also, it made the film more interesting simply by being somewhat unusual.

[BuffaloWilder]

The strong divide was actually one of the things I quite liked about the movie. It made both halves more interesting by having them reflect on one another. And it made the impact of the zaniness and urgency of the second half stronger, due to its contrast with the first half. Also, it made the film more interesting simply by being somewhat unusual.

I think I might agree with you, but I'm not sure just yet.

[MacGuffin]

Once again, I regret getting into that previous argument here, but I don't regret most of the things that I said.

[Derek]

Zero for Conduct was a bit of a disappointment in the wake of the extreme promise of A Propos de Nice. It's still an interesting film, though. It feels compromised, which makes sense given Vigo was forced to cut its running time. What we're left with is a bit of a mess, but fortunately, it has its good moments and ideas.

It's really good with some amusing and beautifully surreal moments, but I prefer A Propos de Nice as well.

I assume you've seen L'Atalante already, because if not, you're missing out on one of the best films evah.

[megladon8]

So, something I noticed when I was watching WALL-E this last time - check out the post on the blog, incidentally. It's gotten the most traffic of any post, evar! - is that there's a pretty thick divide in tone between the first and second halves. I don't necessarily consider that a bad thing, but the first half is mostly comedic in tone, while the second half really takes the brunt of all the drama and whatever iconography they were trying to achieve (that is, WALL-E is Jesus, according to Stanton), whereas something like a Happy Feet or a Miyazaki film or even Brad Bird's The Iron Giant - to an extent - keeps both of these things in balance, the entire way through. Drama will segue into comedy, or vicey versey.

Still, interesting film. I'm starting to enjoy bits and pieces of it more and more than I did, initially.

These are all movies for children.

You should really try watching something more demanding.

[[ETM]]

These are all movies for children.

You should really try watching something more demanding.

Srsly?

[megladon8]

Srsly?

Not really.

[MacGuffin]

What is that from, Amnesiac?

[Winston*]

What is that from, Amnesiac?

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. Probably the best sketch I've seen from it.

[MacGuffin]

Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job. Probably the best sketch I've seen from it.

Do you know which season? I kinda want to rent the DVD out of curiosity because I've heard so many good things about the show.

[[ETM]]

Not really.

Yeah, I read that right afterwards. Madness.

[Melville]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZrvzdPV3Ms

Comedy gold.

[Winston*]

Do you know which season? I kinda want to rent the DVD out of curiosity because I've heard so many good things about the show.

The third I'm pretty sure. Be forewarned, the are a lot of horrible sketches on this show.

[Milky Joe]

There are also a lot of awesome sketches, though.

[BuffaloWilder]

These are all movies for children.

You should really try watching something more demanding.

I know you are in jest, but incidentally, I did just finish watching Neil Marshall's Doomsday. And, I wish I could scrub my eyeballs.

[Skitch]

Nice to see someone else on the positive side for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

I liked it a lot.

...and Silent Hill.

[balmakboor]

I watched Made in USA and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her today. I liked both a lot, but 2 or 3... is simply incredible. Not quite up there with Contempt or Pierrot le fou for me (both of which are more entertaining) but it certainly rivals other personal favorites like La Chinoise and Week End.

[MacGuffin]

I watched Made in USA and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her today. I liked both a lot, but 2 or 3... is simply incredible. Not quite up there with Contempt or Pierrot le fou for me (both of which are more entertaining) but it certainly rivals other personal favorites like La Chinoise and Week End.

Nice, I bought 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Robocop

Verhoeven's infamous robot revenge tale is a mostly-delightful variant on the Frankenstein story, with Peter Weller giving real poignancy to his clunky, armor-covered hero. The rest of the cast is game, especially Miguel Ferrer as a slimy yuppie and Kurtwood Smith as the ebullient gangster secretly in league with corporate interests. Verhoeven's distaste of the body corporate extends into wearying, if occasionally clever, satirical barbs ("I'd buy that for a dollar!"), but this story has real heart. And, beneath all the gore and action, that's what makes it work.

B+

[Derek]

There are also a lot of awesome sketches, though.

Yeah, it's rare there's a whole episode without at least one nugget of gold. There are plenty that are absolutely abysmal, but that's to be expected with the absolute go-for-broke surrealist comedy sketch shows.

Speaking of which, I miss Wonder Showzen.

[B-side]

It's really good with some amusing and beautifully surreal moments, but I prefer A Propos de Nice as well.

I assume you've seen L'Atalante already, because if not, you're missing out on one of the best films evah.

Nah, I'm saving that for last. Can't wait, though.

[EyesWideOpen]

The third I'm pretty sure. Be forewarned, the are a lot of horrible sketches on this show.

Nonsense.

[Robby P]

Coraline was enjoyable enough but the 3-D gimmick didn't do much for me. Beyond giving me a headache, anyways.

[baby doll]

I watched Made in USA and 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her today. I liked both a lot, but 2 or 3... is simply incredible. Not quite up there with Contempt or Pierrot le fou for me (both of which are more entertaining) but it certainly rivals other personal favorites like La Chinoise and Week End.

I suppose I'll have to give this one another look, but I found that Godard's embrace of the day's theoretical orthodoxy (narrated in hushed tones by the filmmaker himself) not only dates the film (because structuralism is, like, so 1967) but is totally impenetrable as well.

[DrewG]

Re-watched Drugstore Cowboy and The Ruins last night...I'd like to talk about the latter a bit.

I think it went down a notch or two on the 2nd viewing considering the shock value of the sudden gore was not as profound, but I still found the entire experience to be rather unnerving and claustrophobic. A lot of the complaints leveled towards the movie were that it's not really that scary and doesn't have any kind of social metaphor or allegory apart from the "YOUNG AMERICANS! PLACE THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND! BAD SITUATION!" that is being bludgeoned to death in recent years. However, I think it does a lot of things that deserve appreciation in their execution. The aforementioned sudden gore isn't overkill but it isn't too little either; but apart from that the gore is creative...

[

Show Spoiler

The leg amputation still gave me the heebie jeebies and the vines coming out of the legs and skin still made for uncomfortable viewing.

]

Back to those complaints that the movie isn't scary...I never really found it nail biting in terms of terror but rather in terms of watching the group slowly deteriorate mentally and physically specifically with the help of the 4-5 young actors really pulling their weight with the material. I still found Stacy to be haunting and sympathetic as her anxiety gives way to insanity, eventually giving us what may be the best scene of the movie as Jeff is forced into a unenviable decision as the plants howl and scream. Now THAT was still scary to me.

Granted, some of the relationships may be underdeveloped and the whole Mattias angle only lends itself to really be a valuable emotional factor in 1 or 2 scenes but apart from this small gripe I think this was definitely an overlooked little movie. Really an incredibly simple concept with an interesting, almost singular setting (I love "one-room" kind of movies) that has good acting, good gore, an atypical "villain" and some really unnerving scenes.

Also; forget the theatrical ending. Gimmie the Unrated version (which also includes the inexplicable hand job scene...someone wanna help me out there?).