28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Pop Trash]

Has anybody figured out what the fuck actually happens at the end of The Conversation?

[megladon8]

Has anybody figured out what the fuck actually happens at the end of The Conversation?

What do you mean? What are you confused about?

[Pop Trash]

What do you mean? What are you confused about?

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Show Spoiler

Well the whole "murder" in the hotel room. Did that actually happen? Caul picks up the newspaper that (I think, my DVD was skipping around this point) says something about Duvall's character dying in a car wreck. I mean, I guess it's always going to be ambiguous, and that's what I like about it. Even Ebert doesn't seem to know if the blood that emerges from the toilet in the couple's hotel room is real or imagined by Caul.

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[Raiders]

[

Show Spoiler

Well the whole "murder" in the hotel room. Did that actually happen? Caul picks up the newspaper that (I think, my DVD was skipping around this point) says something about Duvall's character dying in a car wreck. I mean, I guess it's always going to be ambiguous, and that's what I like about it. Even Ebert doesn't seem to know if the blood that emerges from the toilet in the couple's hotel room is real or imagined by Caul.

]

[

Show Spoiler

Yeah, it is never told to us 100% clearly. It is a rather classic case of the untrustworthy POV. The blood in the toilet is definitely subjective. It is at least played as a first-person POV horror shot (the implication being Harry's own paranoia, and his part in this scheme, is spilling over the edge into a messy and seemingly unstoppable force). The murder seems less subjective and more a fact, but we are never given an outsider's confirmation. It is all part of a brilliant sequence where Harry basically spills over--back to the toilet image--into full on paranoid assault. I still think the obvious implication is that it did happen and that the newspaper article is a cover-up. The changing of intonation in the recording saying "he'd kill us if he had the chance," showing Harry's own misconception (further feeding into the film-long exploration of his selective genius and carelessness) gives us a likely tale that there was a murder and a cover-up. But, we can't be sure, despite any destructive fine-combing. Such is the nature of the melancholic final image.

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[MacGuffin]

Some good theater-going for me in the next few months. Tomorrow it's Creation (Stan Brakhage) and The Secret Garden (Phil Solomon) et al.; then late Feb., Eustache's The Mother and the Whore and then Thom Anderson's latest Get Out of the Car (haven't seen Los Angeles Plays Itself, but it plays around here every quarter or so) with a few other interesting looking geographical a-g docs. Finally, Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives of course in early March.

[Pop Trash]

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Show Spoiler

Yeah, and the whole "he'd kill us if he had chance" thing could simply be a figure of speech. I mean I say "my so-and-so co-worker would kill me if..." often but I don't think they would literally murder me (at least I hope not). I also think what Harrison Ford's character says at the end (something like "we are listening to you"), and what is the catalyst for Caul destroying his apartment looking for a bug, could be interpreted as a bluff. For all we know, there may not be a bug at all anywhere.

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[Skitch]

I think Fearless is a masterpiece. It will definitely be placed on a revised Top 100, and I think it is Jet Li's best film. It might be Ronny Yu's best film, even beating out The Bride With White Hair. It's just so classy and well made - it has substance. I really wish I could see the full cut with the entire Michelle Yeoh sub-plot that was removed. Apparently almost 40 minutes were cut from the HK version.

edit - looks like the director's cut is now available on DVD. I'll need to see this. Scarecrow here I come!

I just checked...I have the directors cut. 2 hours 21 minutes. Hopefully this is the cut you're refering to.

As for classy, well made, and substance...maybe Ip Man just caught me in the right mood, but I felt that way about it. Yeah, not a masterpiece, but man, I really enjoyed it.

This is getting me pumped to watch Fearless.

[EyesWideOpen]

In other news, I just picked up the director's cut of Fearless. Stoked.

I have an HD-Dvd copy of that. I've watched it twice now, so good.

[D_Davis]

Not quite sure how I feel about the Michelle Yeoh subplot, but the rest of the DC of Fearless is amazing. The fight sequence in the restaurant is just stunning; everything from the use of space, props, lighting and choreography is masterful. I'd argue that Jet Li has never looked better; his form is flawless, and he harnesses so much power. The fights in this movie look and sound like they are painful and brutal - the film captures the brutality of wushu combat over and above the elegance of the of movement. And what's more, the film counter-balances the brutality with the middle portion of the film, which is quiet and meditative.

It is definitely somewhere on my top 100 now. Really glad I watched it again.

[D_Davis]

As for classy, well made, and substance...maybe Ip Man just caught me in the right mood, but I felt that way about it. Yeah, not a masterpiece, but man, I really enjoyed it.

I'm going to give Ip Man a rewatch when I'm able to get part two on DVD.

[Skitch]

[drunk]

I believe that every one of us film freaks has at least a handful of films we grew up with that we will always love, reguardless of maturity, or how poorly some films age. Last week my mom was going through her vhs', and asked me if there was any I wanted before she took em to the thrift store. I took one.

1959's Last Days Of Pompeii with Steve Reeves is so fucking awesome.

[/drunk]

[megladon8]

I so wish that Bruce Lee had gotten to work with people like Ronny Yu, Woo-ping Yuen and Jet Li.

As it is, he was one of the greatest martial artists who ever lived, and only really had one incredible movie under his belt, one good one, and a whole bunch of mediocrity.

[D_Davis]

I so wish that Bruce Lee had gotten to work with people like Ronny Yu, Woo-ping Yuen and Jet Li.

As it is, he was one of the greatest martial artists who ever lived, and only really had one incredible movie under his belt, one good one, and a whole bunch of mediocrity.

I often imagine how much different the martial arts film would be had Lee chosen to sign on with the Shaw Brothers rather than Golden Harvest. Just imagine Bruce Lee in a Chang Cheh or Lau Kar Leung film? His persona and style would have worked perfect with LKL. But the Shaws only wanted him to be another wheel in their machine.

So yeah, who knows. And I agree - he should have been in better films.

[number8]

He was amusing in MARLOWE.

[megladon8]

You know, upon rewatching all of the Alien films, I actually think I just cannot rank them outside of the first one being my favorite.

I love all three sequels, and all three have an equal number of "problems" that keep me from loving one more than the other(s).

Overall, one of my favorite film series' of all time.

[Bosco B Thug]

The King's Speech - I was surprisingly taken by much of Hooper's style, but conjointly it's a very manipulative picture with a very formulaic flim-flam of a screenplay, that tries to convince you it's looking historically at British ministry but instead is heaping the oddest sort of flattery and face-value evaluations of this episode in history. Is this is how the film is coming off to you guys, too? Anyway, Colin Firth is magnificent, though.

Lost in Translation - Um babydoll? Yoo-hoo? You may have gained an ally.

[Spinal]

I still can't bring myself to want to see The King's Speech.

[Skitch]

Lost in Translation - Um babydoll? Yoo-hoo? You may have gained an ally.

I missed baby doll's take. Which side are you guys on?

[Kurosawa Fan]

I still can't bring myself to want to see The King's Speech.

Neither can I. I was really surprised when I read in EW that it's the front-runner for Best Picture. It just seems so bland and paint-by-numbers.

[Bosco B Thug]

I still can't bring myself to want to see The King's Speech.

Colin Firth's performance is clearly the only real reason to see it.

I missed baby doll's take. Which side are you guys on?

Ah, baby doll doesn't like it very much, and always mentions that it's condescending to Japanese people. I kinda see it now, and while I don't think it characterizes the whole film, it does stink up a bit what came off as a very slight, kinda bubble-headed picture this time around.

[Ezee E]

The King's Speech is heralded wherever it goes. But the reason I don't want to see it is not because it appears to be by the numbers, but because I simply don't care what it's about. A studdering king? Meh.

[Dead & Messed Up]

Wow, Haxan was the bees knees.

[Bosco B Thug]

The King's Speech is heralded wherever it goes. But the reason I don't want to see it is not because it appears to be by the numbers, but because I simply don't care what it's about. A studdering king? Meh.

I hate to pull Social Network-hater reasoning, but yeah, the story itself is a problem of the film. It's not that speech impediment isn't something to take seriously, but its being placed as the hinge upon which its historical story finds its meaning is contrived to the point of uselessness, as is the story ending up mostly about the perseverance of royal tradition.

[baby doll]

Neither can I. I was really surprised when I read in EW that it's the front-runner for Best Picture. It just seems so bland and paint-by-numbers.

I haven't seen it either, despite having a total man-crush on Colin Firth, but I'm not in the least surprised at it being the Oscar front-runner precisely because it looks bland and plaint-by-numbers. Also, why are you reading Entertainment Weekly in the first place?

I also can't bring myself to see The Fighter (even though I've liked or loved all of David O. Russell's previous films), 127 Hours (although it can't be worse than Slumdog Millionaire), or Toy Story 3 (I haven't seen Toy Story 2, so I'd be lost).

[StanleyK]

Black God White Devil (Rocha, 1964) **½

I'm interested in hearing your thoughts on this. I saw it a long time ago and was similarly ambivalent, but I don't really remember much from it.