28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Sycophant]

Also tried to watch Ishii's Party 7, but 20 minutes left me annoyed and cold. So I ejected that shit. Amazing he would a few years later make The Taste of Tea. (Even Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl is a marked improvement over what I saw tonight.)

[MacGuffin]

Daisy Kenyon is a lovely film. I didn't think that I would get as into it as I did, but the depth that Preminger and friends put into the characters made it really difficult not to. Watching Hell House directly after probably limited the amount of reactionary hyperbole you're about to read, but I feel completely comfortable saying that between Laura (which was my favorite Preminger, but this may now rival that, and that's saying a lot considering Laura's quality), Angel Face, Bonjour tristesse and now this, Otto Preminger is as talented as any other director working in Hollywood at the time. I want to write more elaborate thoughts to further express my appreciation and admiration for the film, but I'm going to hold off for now until I see it again for a proper review.

[B-side]

Hm. I actually wasn't thrilled with Laura. Some nice camera work, but otherwise felt pretty routine. I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for it. I'll see more Preminger soon, though.

[MacGuffin]

Hm. I actually wasn't thrilled with Laura. Some nice camera work, but otherwise felt pretty routine. I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for it. I'll see more Preminger soon, though.

I don't know, man. It's been a while since last I saw it, but I just thought that it was a really effective meditation on obsession and the nature of intrigue. I think it's also worth pointing out how memorable Preminger's female characters are. Michael Atkinson was spot on when he called Daisy Kenyon a "proto-feminist film". Plus, Laura has Vincent Price in it, so bonus points there.

[Sven]

Taking of Pelham 123 is two parts stellar to one part face-palmingly groany. Because thankfully it is quite excellent, unfortunately one must abide a bit of a soar face, mostly thanks to Brian Helgeland's poor sense of genre. My favorite thing was Travolta's performance, which was compelling while still satisfying the somewhat misguided instruction of his on-paper character. I'm loving this Cage-like resurgence in energy that he's having. I also think that Scott's style fits the material very nicely. New York feels like New York. The city and the tunnels are expressively shot. The action is fantastic. The emphasis placed on modern technology's penetration into the underground is well-developed, extending past superficial moments like the girl stripping on the laptop to developing a sense of the increasing potential of technology stripped of physical form. The block-like structures of the buildings, streets, and train cars, and even the pre-destined, linear nature of train travel are belittled by the formless, blanketing power of wireless digital electronic telecommunications. Scott's obfuscating approach to the visual medium drives this feeling home quite strongly.

The ratio of bad to good could've been much smaller with a few editing decisions: excise offensive stock characters with undeveloped theme-scenes (most of the hostage scenes are excruciating, actually), tone Washington's muttering down (not because it was unfitting, but because it wasn't very believable), cut out the bland piano parts in the score...

[Winston*]

Have you seen the original Pelham, iosos?

[Yxklyx]

Hm. I actually wasn't thrilled with Laura. Some nice camera work, but otherwise felt pretty routine. I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for it. I'll see more Preminger soon, though.

I also don't think Laura is all that great - seen it twice too I think, don't understand the love. I prefer other films of his like The Man with the Golden Arm or Where the Sidewalk Ends.

[Fezzik]

I was just looking over the Top 100 list I posted in the thread and realized with some amazement how much it's changed even over the past few months.

You guys really have had a positive influence on my movie watching...I've seen a lot of movies I'd probably still not have heard of if not for this place.

You guys rock.

ritch:

[Dukefrukem]

You guys really have had a positive influence on my movie watching...I've seen a lot of movies I'd probably still not have heard of if not for this place.

You guys rock.

ritch:

I can absolutely get behind this. Movies I would never have considered have ended up being some of my favorite movies EVER. And not just movies, TV series too. I would have never watched Firefly if it wasn't for the folks here.

I still have not seen enough movies in my lifetime to even begin to make a top 100 list. As my list stands right now my #100 would be Casino Royale. :-/

[B-side]

As a friend so graciously pointed out right before I dived into Ulysses' Gaze, Angelopoulos really likes the color blue. Not that I can blame him, of course, as blue is a great color. Angelopoulos' blues are on the lighter side, reflecting the serenity and stillness of his films' moods, this one included. Keitel is a nameless film producer seeking 3 undeveloped prints of film created by the Manakis brothers -- the first filmmakers from the Balkans. Having researched it fairly recently, what kept coming to mind watching this was Ray Carney's seemingly endless journey to find the original negative of Cassavetes' Shadows. There were dead ends, but both of these guys' love of cinema kept them going despite the overwhelming odds against them.

As I spoke of in my write-up on The Suspended Step of the Stork, Angelopoulos has a way of crafting a scene in which these extraordinary events -- however simple they may seem from a distance -- arise organically throughout the narrative, permeating through the stillness and eliciting a variety of emotions with a subtle, yet resonant force. His camera is constantly tracking, often from a distance, emphasizing environment and alienation in a world of arbitrary borders, fragmented history and crushed hopes and dreams. Though my frenzied and anxious mind was not always fully engaged with the material, I could still recognize the formal sublimity Angelopoulos has pretty much perfected, and I knew I was watching at the very least a great film.

[Qrazy]

Hm. I actually wasn't thrilled with Laura. Some nice camera work, but otherwise felt pretty routine. I couldn't muster any enthusiasm for it. I'll see more Preminger soon, though.

That's because it is a thoroughly mediocre film. Angel Face and Anatomy of a Murder are a bit better, more so the latter, as long as you don't mind courtroom dramas.

[D_Davis]

Also tried to watch Ishii's Party 7, but 20 minutes left me annoyed and cold. So I ejected that shit. Amazing he would a few years later make The Taste of Tea. (Even Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl is a marked improvement over what I saw tonight.)

Same here. Party 7 is kind of lame.

Different director, but have you seen Survive Style 5+, yet?

[number8]

For some reason, I always confuse Survive Style 5+ with Tokyo 10+1.

[D_Davis]

For some reason, I always confuse Survive Style 5+ with Tokyo 10+1.

I shelve these next to each other.

[number8]

I shelve these next to each other.

If you ever invite me over and mischievously switch the discs in the cases, I might have an aneurysm.

[Philosophe_rouge]

i think Anatomy of a Murder is pretty mediocre. Laura is tops. You guys are nuts.

[Raiders]

i think Anatomy of a Murder is pretty mediocre.

Just so... wrong.

[MacGuffin]

I didn't think there would be so much Preminger backlash. You all suck, etc.

[Raiders]

I didn't think there would be so much Preminger backlash. You all suck, etc.

Nada from me!

[Philosophe_rouge]

Just so... wrong.

Mediocre is maybe a strong word. I like it, but if we are comparing it to Laura, it just doesn't hold up.

[Bosco B Thug]

I didn't think there would be so much Preminger backlash. You all suck, etc.

Oh, it's just the tide effect from a fresh, negative opinion on Laura, it brings out the drags.

Chalk me up as lukewarm on Laura! I thought the mystery story was juicy and compelling, but otherwise it wasn't extraordinary. It's still my only Preminger, though.

[DavidSeven]

Just watched Kurosawa's High and Low; it was incredible. It seems to me it's a favorite of a few around around (including Kurosawa Fan? or am I thinking The Lower Depths?). Anyone written anything of any length about it at this site or on their blog? I could only find a few small mentions in the FDT and such.

My favorite Kurosawa, by far. I used to pimp it a lot in the day, and it has deservedly reached a certain iconic status here at MC. I wrote a review for it back in '04 that was full of hyperbole and totally amateur, so I won't bother to re-post. Film holds up incredibly well even compared to today's cinema. Standout moments for me: blocking of the apartment scenes, atmosphere of the dance club/chase scene, and the entire staging of the train sequence. Technically masterful, engrossing narrative, and perhaps Mifune's best performance under Kurosawa.

[Sycophant]

I was incredibly impressed especially by the blocking in the scenes in Gondo's house. Every shot was gorgeous, expressive, and simultaneously static and dynamic.

Also, is it just me, or does Toshiro Mifune look sexy as fuck in a suit with a neat mustache?

[number8]

Also, is it just me, or does Toshiro Mifune look sexy as fuck in a suit with a neat mustache?

Fixed.

[Sycophant]

Yeah, I can't disagree with that. But I think he looks especially sexy in this movie.

I once (bizarrely) was told I reminded someone of Mifune in Yojimbo. Best compliment I could ever hope for?