28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Qrazy]

Sounds better on paper then actually on screen. I still think with them in such a wide open space, all alone, it'd have the effect regardless.

Meh, I think it conveys precisely what she wants it to convey well enough. I have no problem with her aspect ratio. That said I'm not a huge fan of the film either mostly because I find this method of minimalism fairly tedious.

[StanleyK]

Looks like I completely missed the boat on Damnation the first time I watched it. Even moreso than Tarr's later films it's a mood piece, and a very absorbing one at that. You have to be willing to find the beauty in a wallpaper slowly getting soaked by raindrops, followed by a tracking shot showing the silent patrons stranded inside a bar, while a drunk guy dances in the rain; in a slow bar dance briefly punctuated by a woman alone under a lamp, nothing but her and the light in the frame; in a couple making love on a bed, silent and barely moving at all, almost like the shot is capturing a single frozen moment to represent the entirety of the act (when the camera slowly pans away, we move across a reflection of them in the mirror where they seem to be more passionate). If you notice, 'slow' is a pattern here; the film moves at a snail's pace (I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to Tarr), and while it's very demanding, its patience is what makes it so rewarding. A certain reveal towards the end is so mind-blowing because it spent so much time subtly building towards it. I'm glad I gave this another shot on the big screen, it's wonderful to watch a movie you didn't care for much and realize that it's actually great.

The feature was preceded by Prologue, Hranitzky and Tarr's contribution to the anthology Visions of Europe. A long take (duh) tracking a long line of silent men, examining their grim faces with Vig's typically melancholy score until settling on a window where they are handed food. Pretty great stuff. I'm sure I would've been transfixed if I wasn't so distracted by the foul-smelling odors emanating from the two gentlemen sitting in the row in front of me.

[Yxklyx]

Meek's Cutoff was a lot like Refn's Valhalla Rising.

As for TMA's story - reminded me a lot of a Dickensian novel but way inferior in nearly all respects.

Anyway, I'm being overly critical because I was expecting more. It's still a decent film.

[Dead & Messed Up]

I went to a screening of a lost Hitchcock film called The White Shadow tonight. Very cool.

The flick was lost for years, but somebody found a print in New Zealand. Although Hitch didn't technically direct it, he was responsible for the editing, scenario, and look of the picture, and rumor had it that he essentially guest-directed for credited Graham Cutts.

The film's stuck somewhere between melodrama and farce, with twin sisters being continually mistaken for each other - as one tries to remain virtuous, the other descends into debauchery.



Betty Compson does a great job as the two sisters, but the theater pamphlets said that critics called the film "far-fetched," and I have to agree. It's soap opera ridiculousness played with odd earnest feeling. And although there's some Hitch in a few quick suspense sequences, he's just not a good fit for a non-moving camera.

What was really cool, though, was how the theater presented the film. First off, they got a pianist and violinist to play accompaniment live. Secondly, they prefaced the film with two short pictures (the second one, "Oil's Well," is a great bit of Monty Banks slapstick). Thirdly, the film didn't have its final three reels intact (something I knew going in), and to make up for it, the Academy theater got Eva Marie Saint to come in and narrate the production notes for the second half of the film (something I definitely did not know).

A bit of this is probably me humble-bragging, but, seriously, I'm really buzzed right now.

I hope they put this on DVD, now that it's been copied and brought to American shores. Maybe Criterion can do a little Hitchcock set.

[Russ]

Disturbing trailer for the Vienna International Film Festival:


[youtube]DezEGKp5U3M[/youtube]

[B-side]

[Ezee E]

Best movie of the year.

[Boner M]

Awesome. A great companion piece to The Alphabet too.

[Ivan Drago]

I have an opportunity to see Stalker in a 35mm print tomorrow at an art house here in town. I'm really interested in seeing it after looking at a short clip or two online, and there was one still from it posted here that blew me away. However, considering my taste in film, would I enjoy it?

[Qrazy]

Go see it.

[Yxklyx]

Awesome. A great companion piece to The Alphabet too.

It's great to see he's still making films! Didn't Abel Ferrara say he was through? Abel should eat something now.

[B-side]

Go see it.

Ditto.

[MadMan]

Everything Must Go was a really well made movie sporting a great performance from Will Ferrell, who as evidenced previously by Stranger Than Fiction should really try doing more dramatic roles once in a while. I also liked how in some ways it covered dealing with the recession to a degree, in terms of how some have lost everything while their neighbors are still holding on. The ending was incredibly satisfying and sort of bleak all at the same time.

\Hesher/ was a raw, savage and emotional look at how a guardian demon, not an angel, aids a broken family dealing with loss. JGL turns in a hilarious, profanity laced performance that powers the movie and distracts from some of its shortcomings. My favorite scene is probably Hesher standing in a church, spewing curse words while drinking a PBR tallboy. Classic.

[Qrazy]

It is baffling to me how Coppola went from The Outsiders and Rumble Fish to Captain EO. I guess I"ll have to watch The Cotton Club and find out. EO was one of the most half-assed, ill conceived knock offs I have ever had the displeasure of witnessing. It also further cements my general underwhelmedness with everything Michael Jackson.

Thirst was pretty good but the tonal shifts did bother me at times. Jaws meets vampires for instance was a bit much. It also didn't really seem to me like Park knew exactly how to follow his initial ideas through to their logical conclusions. We start off with a thoughtful film about faith and morality and devolve into yet another one of his revenge fantasy's peppered with self-indulgent moments. The whale sunset? What the hell?

Enter the Void almost, almost coasts on it's style alone but this one is even more self-indulgent. Most of the time I love long abstract works but at some point along the way I found myself getting increasingly bored and underwhelmed by the general idea/emotional content/narrative fall out Noe was driving towards in the second half of his film. A worthwhile effort but needlessly long and drawn out. Those shots which transition from a standard shot to a wide angle image are truly something else though. I'm looking forward to the day Noe gets a truly great script to sink his teeth into, because he's a great visual director but a mediocre writer.

[B-side]

It also further cements my general underwhelmedness with everything Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson was amazing. Stop being wrong.

[MadMan]

Michael Jackson was amazing. Stop being wrong.

This. Although I have no idea if Captain EO is any good. When it comes to Coppola I've only seen his 70s movies and The Outsiders. I own Youth Without Youth on DVD, but I haven't gotten back to watching it-I'll have to start over. What I saw was unimpressive, but it was only 20 minutes in.

[Spinal]

Captain EO isn't really a film. It's an amusement park attraction.

[MadMan]

Bummer, because that would be a nifty title for a movie.

[Ezee E]

Wonder how long it'll take for a new Noe movie. I am indifferent towards Enter the Void, but he's a director that I'll see without any knowledge of what his movie is about.

[Ezee E]

Wonder how long it'll take for a new Noe movie. I am indifferent towards Enter the Void, but he's a director that I'll see without any knowledge of what his movie is about.

...so this is what I was able to find.

I want to make a movie that will be very sentimental and sexual. I have a long treatment now. It’s a love story. I want to film sex as I’ve experienced it, which I haven’t seen accurately represented in erotic or pornographic films.

Discuss.

[Boner M]

Of all the things I'd like to see given cinematic representation, 'sex as Gaspar Noe has experienced it' is not high on the list.

[Rowland]

Speaking of which, an amusing tidbit I discovered in the latest Film Comment, which I'll just copy verbatim:

One of FC's editorial staffers recently ran into Larry Cohen during one of the legendary writer/diretor's stopovers in New York. The 70-year-old Cohen mentioned that he had just come from a meeting with an interesting young Frenchman who was seeking the rights to remake God Told Me To. "What's his name?" inquired the staffer. "I don't remember, but he game me some DVDs of his films." The director rummaged in a bag and produced copies of Irreversible and Enter the Void.

[Ivan Drago]

Just got back from Stalker. I'm gonna need to watch that again.

[Derek]

Speaking of which, an amusing tidbit I discovered in the latest Film Comment, which I'll just copy verbatim:

One of FC's editorial staffers recently ran into Larry Cohen during one of the legendary writer/diretor's stopovers in New York. The 70-year-old Cohen mentioned that he had just come from a meeting with an interesting young Frenchman who was seeking the rights to remake God Told Me To. "What's his name?" inquired the staffer. "I don't remember, but he game me some DVDs of his films." The director rummaged in a bag and produced copies of Irreversible and Enter the Void.

Of all the things I'd like to see given cinematic representation, 'sex as Gaspar Noe has experienced it' is not high on the list.

[Yxklyx]

I just finished the entire Up series up through 49. It really is a great series of films. The only qualm I have is the extensive reusing of previously aired footage - it might be better to watch one film per week (except for the first two which are short). Up 56 (coming next year I would hope) is easily the film I most look forward to.