28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Spinal]

The Dead Zone ***1/2
The Fly ***
Dead Ringers **1/2
M Butterfly **
Videodrome *1/2
Crash *1/2
Existenz *1/2
A History of Violence *

[MacGuffin]

I was going to watch A History of Violence again on Blu-ray, but maybe I'll check out Dead Ringers and/or Eastern Promises. Kinda waiting for Videodrome to be released on Blu-ray so I'll put that one off til later.

[megladon8]

I was going to watch A History of Violence again on Blu-ray, but maybe I'll check out Dead Ringers and/or Eastern Promises. Kinda waiting for Videodrome to be released on Blu-ray so I'll put that one off til later.

Just get the Criterion DVD of Videodrome. It's fantastic.

[MacGuffin]

Just get the Criterion DVD of Videodrome. It's fantastic.

Criterion has already announced a Blu-ray; I'll just rent it when it comes out. No rush for me.

[megladon8]

Criterion has already announced a Blu-ray; I'll just rent it when it comes out. No rush for me.

Ah OK.

On a sidenote, seeing Videodrome on the big screen is one of my crowning achievements as a cinema buff.

[number8]

So A Prophet was just okay.

[MacGuffin]

So A Prophet was just okay.

Nah, it's the best movie of 2009.

[soitgoes...]

Nah, it's the best movie of 2009.

Nah, it was "just" good.

[Ivan Drago]

Videodrome - 7
Dead Ringers - 8
The Fly - 9.5
A History of Violence - 8

I really want to see Naked Lunch, Crash and Scanners.

[baby doll]

Considering how ambitious it is, and how accomplished it is in terms of storytelling and style, if Un prophète is just okay, then nearly every other movie released this year is a steaming pile of crap. (Shameless blog plug.)

[megladon8]

If I'd been in NYC earlier this year I totally would have gone to see A Prophet in the theatre. I'm really eager to see it.

I hope that when October rolls around there's some good stuff showing. Particularly some good IFC midnight showings.

We may just have to organize some NYC-matchcutter evenings. Anyone else interested in this?

[MadMan]

The Brood-88
Scannners-80
Videodrome-95
A History of Violence-99

So I'm a casual fan. Dead Ringers and Naked Lunch are the ones I want to check out next.

[Raiders]

Rabid (1977) 5.5
The Brood (1979) 7.5
Scanners (1981) 7.5
Videodrome (1983) 8.5
The Dead Zone (1983) 7.0
The Fly (1986) 9.0
Dead Ringers (1988) 10.0
Naked Lunch (1991) 4.0
Crash (1996) 7.5
eXistenZ (1999) 7.0
Spider (2002) 9.0
A History of Violence (2005) 9.0
Eastern Promises (2007) 8.0

Yeah, I'm a fan.

[megladon8]

I like you, Raiders.

More than these others.

[chrisnu]

Videodrome - 8.5
Naked Lunch - 7
Crash - 8
eXistenZ - 5
Spider - 9
A History of Violence - 9
Eastern Promises - 7

I'm glayed you enjoyed The Kids Are All Right, Raiders. I saw it today and enjoyed it quite a lot as well.

[Winston*]

My little brother's taking second year university Japanese and he's the only one in his entire class that's seen a Kurosawa movie. That makes me a little bit sad.

[Qrazy]

It makes me die inside.

[Fezzik]

The Men Who Stare at Goats was just...weird. I can't really explain it deeper than that. It started good then went crazily off the rails. Best laugh: McGregor deadpanning "The Silence of the Goats" after Cassady explains how the army debleated the goats they brought in. The line itself isnt that funny. The matter of fact nature of how it was delivered certainly was.

Julie and Julia was harmless, but Streep was her usual awesome and Adams was cute as hell, and it inspired me to cook something the moment it was over. Plus, Adams character parallels who I am in so many ways, I find it hard to hate it.

Brick was pretty intense. I was glad to see JGL stretch himself a bit, and I really liked the somewhat unique dialect the characters employed when dealing with each other. Its probably a movie I wouldn't seek out again soon, but it was a damn good watch.

[baby doll]

My little brother's taking second year university Japanese and he's the only one in his entire class that's seen a Kurosawa movie. That makes me a little bit sad.

I assume that's because they're all Oshima fans who scorn Kurosawa for his liberal humanism.

[Skitch]

On a sidenote, seeing Videodrome on the big screen is one of my crowning achievements as a cinema buff.

*jealous*

[Bosco B Thug]

Not sure what's up with the mostly positive reviews for Despicable Me, which is slight and unexceptional. The best thing that you can say about it is that it is palatable and not openly irritating.

Pretty much. An occasionally funny, occasionally visually interesting film, but way slight, so simplistic, and ultimately incredibly hollow. What Punch-Drunk Love does for love, this does for parenthood, except for this film, that isn't a compliment.

[RoadtoPerdition]

Cronenberg for me:

The Brood (1979) - 6.5
Scanners (1981) - 7.5
The Dead Zone (1983) - 8.5
Videodrome (1983) - 7.0
The Fly (1986) - 8.0
Dead Ringers (1988) - 10.0
Naked Lunch (1991) - 5.0
eXistenZ (1999) - 3.5
Spider (2002) - 7.0
A History of Violence (2005) - 9.0
Eastern Promises (2007) - 8.5

Funnily enough, I saw many of these when Match Cut did the Director's Consensus for him on the old forum yeeears ago.

[StanleyK]

Kubrick gets accused frequently of being cold and pessimistic, but you just have to go back to Paths of Glory to see what he was up to; this is the first instance in which he introduces the concept of dehumanization through General Mireau, who talks about numbers of acceptable casualties and percentages to be executed to set an example- essentially, he sees the soldiers as figures, not individuals. This idea would come up several times later in Kubrick's work, with the protagonist usually falling victim to it. In this case, Colonel Dax is actively against it, and so we have his most transparently humane work, a great indictment of higher-ups breaking down and using 'lesser' men for their own indulgent purposes (not an exclusively anti-war film, Paths of Glory also asks some tough questions about religion and government), all this in a very concise running time that packs more than one emotionally draining moments.

Also, best ending to a movie ever? Possibly.

[MacGuffin]

It's the only one of his I've seen so far, unfortunately. It's not bad or anything, and you may very well love it for all I know, I just wasn't exactly thrilled with it.

My thoughts on Frontier of Dawn.

[EyesWideOpen]

Kubrick gets accused frequently of being cold and pessimistic, but you just have to go back to Paths of Glory to see what he was up to; this is the first instance in which he introduces the concept of dehumanization through General Mireau, who talks about numbers of acceptable casualties and percentages to be executed to set an example- essentially, he sees the soldiers as figures, not individuals. This idea would come up several times later in Kubrick's work, with the protagonist usually falling victim to it. In this case, Colonel Dax is actively against it, and so we have his most transparently humane work, a great indictment of higher-ups breaking down and using 'lesser' men for their own indulgent purposes (not an exclusively anti-war film, Paths of Glory also asks some tough questions about religion and government), all this in a very concise running time that packs more than one emotionally draining moments.

Also, best ending to a movie ever? Possibly.

I really need to rewatch this.