28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Pop Trash]

Hmm, I didn't expect to like Carnage and Shame more than Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. This last month or so that I've spent catching up with the remaining 2011 releases I was really excited for has proved underwhelming, nothing has been anywhere near breaking the list I finalized for our award stuff. Oh well, there are still a few more I'm firmly intent on seeing, after which I think I'll move on for now.

This reminds me that I rented A Dangerous Method, kept it for a few days, and never could get up the enthusiasm to watch it. Weird since I'm a pretty huge Cronenberg fan.

[Rowland]

This reminds me that I rented A Dangerous Method, kept it for a few days, and never could get up the enthusiasm to watch it. Weird since I'm a pretty huge Cronenberg fan.

I'm sure some around here, and certainly many critics, would disagree, but I found it to be a distinctly minor effort by Cronenberg standards. Isn't Scanners widely considered to be one of his weakest? I'd watch that again over A Dangerous Method almost any day. It was perfectly fine mind you, and far more illustrative of his thematic preoccupations than I anticipated, but in the end it left me pretty indifferent.

[MadMan]

I prefer High Noon over Rio Bravo, actually (irrelevant since both are great movies). Which reminds me that I need to bump my westerns thread again-I believe I last left it on #10.

God help me I enjoyed Immortals (2011) a lot. I can agree with what some of DaMU said although my rating is a bit higher (no surprise there) and I actually would view a sequel if they ever made one. Also this movie just makes me a bit depressed that we are getting Wraith of the Titans this year, a film that looks as joyless and soulless as its predecessor.

Heh I've seen Piranha 2: The Spawning. It is indeed godawful in a rather hilarious way, and poor James Cameron was brought in to try and fix the picture. Not even he could do it.

[B-side]

When Kenji Mizoguchi and Satyajit Ray dolly, they make magic.

[Morris Schæffer]

45 minutes into 2010's Skyline, and I'm surprised it's pretty non-awful. Perhaps it's going to derail spectacularly in the final stretch, but so far it's got my attention...somewhat.

[Russ]

The Sound of Insects: Record of a Mummy (Peter Liechti, 2009) pro +

A description of Swiss filmmaker Liechti's adaptation of Masahiko Shimada's novel (based on true events) would seem like a hard sell: the film is a collection of images, over which an unseen narrator chronicles the final sixty-plus days of the protaganist's life, as recorded in a diary, from the time he first decides to build an encampment in a remote forest to begin a quest to commit suicide by starvation. Although the film won the 2009 European Film Awards for best documentary, many critics questioned that praise, saying that the film provided no context, and hence the viewer learned nothing about the subject (who he was, why he wanted to die, etc).

That is all true. We don't really learn anything. The film is comprised of the reading of journal entries, sometmes wistful, sometimes philosophical, sometimes matter-of-fact (Day 32: "Today I had a bowel movement"), but nearly always compelling as the viewer gains insight into the mind of a man who has resigned himself to (and is at peace with) his decision.

Sound and visuals are crucial in portraying the man's painfully slow journey towards death. The constant sounds of insects and the images of remote woodlands eventually give way to increasingly hallucinogenic imaginings of abstractions and visions of possible past memories, along with mininmalist ambient electronics that waver between comfort and creepiness. And it's all grounded by the man's gradual acclimation to the inevitable.

You may come away learning nothing, but that's ok. It's not really a film that teaches. It's a film that shares. If you are on its wavelength (and that's probably a big if), you will come away enriched. That's all I got.

[Dukefrukem]

Love these;

[Qrazy]

There's probably a good movie to be made with that script, but High Noon wasn't it, mostly for he reasons Raiders notes.

Not sure what you could find obnoxious about Rio Bravo. Maybe the slightly forced romance or Ricky Martin's presence but .. Other than that?

Raiders only complaint above (aside from the political subtext which I pushed aside as only of tangential significance) is that Cooper's performance is not interesting. I don't agree. High Noon is a very well constructed film and I think setting it in real time for much of it's run time really works in it's favor. You feel the passage of time ticking by and it's significance.

---

Rio Bravo... the song, the buddy/buddy friendship, the general attitude of the film. I find it's insistence that I buy into it's charms obnoxious in and of itself. Overall I'm not much of a fan of Hawks. I like a couple of his films but I am often underwhelmed by the overall attitude of his films. I won't even say it's the dramatic direction exactly because they're well acted but I am not enthusiastic about his aesthetic (beyond the visual, the way he looks at the world). His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby and Red River (minus the shit ending) are probably my favorites from him. I also like The Big Sleep, Man's Favorite Sport and Only Angels Have Wings. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Big Sky, Scarface and Sergeant York I find extremely problematic.

[B-side]

Raiders only complaint above (aside from the political subtext which I pushed aside as only of tangential significance) is that Cooper's performance is not interesting. I don't agree. High Noon is a very well constructed film and I think setting it in real time for much of it's run time really works in it's favor. You feel the passage of time ticking by and it's significance.

Agreed, which is why, even if it was a product of silly McCarthyist paranoia, it's still a good film. Even a great one, possibly.

[Irish]

Rio Bravo... the song, the buddy/buddy friendship, the general attitude of the film. I find it's insistence that I buy into it's charms obnoxious in and of itself. Overall I'm not much of a fan of Hawks. I like a couple of his films but I am often underwhelmed by the overall attitude of his films. I won't even say it's the dramatic direction exactly because they're well acted but I am not enthusiastic about his aesthetic (beyond the visual, the way he looks at the world). His Girl Friday, Bringing Up Baby and Red River (minus the shit ending) are probably my favorites from him. I also like The Big Sleep, Man's Favorite Sport and Only Angels Have Wings. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Big Sky, Scarface and Sergeant York I find extremely problematic.

If you're bored & inclined, expand more on the bolded part. (Doesn't every movie require a certain amount of buy-in?). As it stands, it sounds like you just hate Dean Martin. :P

Agreed on your list. But I think that's enough. I mean, most people would give their right arm to make a half dozen movies as good as the ones you named here.

[B-side]

Diary of a Country Priest might be my new favorite Bresson. Kierkegaardian faith vis-?*-vis existential crisis and illness. The sequence involving the countess and the priest is brilliant.

[Wryan]

Not sure why, but I acquired Transformers 3 and watched it last night. It's a shame Michael Bay sucks in so many other ways, because sometimes he can really put a starkly beautiful shot or moment together. And his action scenes can be pretty bold and fun. The visuals and effects and action are so crisp and eye-popping, you can practically see Bay furiously beating off while he yells at his editors to speed up the dialogue scenes. Movie was funnier than I thought it would be, though.

[Raiders]

Brightside: "acquire" Kirsanoff's Rapt (The Kidnapping) immediately. One of the best films ever made, I'm already convinced. Can't imagine you not loving this one. Heck, everyone should see it, but you sprung to mind first.

[Russ]

Brightside: "acquire" Kirsanoff's Rapt (The Kidnapping) immediately. One of the best films ever made, I'm already convinced. Can't imagine you not loving this one. Heck, everyone should see it, but you sprung to mind first.

I'm not Brightside, but I am currently "acquiring" it. Sounds fascinating.

[StanleyK]

I finally got off my ass and watched Claire Denis' L'Intrus. Someone on this site told me it wasn't any less accessible than her more well-known work; well, they were wrong. The only honest assessment I can give is 'I don't get it'. At least it's not boring like Friday Night (plenty of wacky things happen here; hearts get cut out, people are dragged through the snow by horses, there's trips to exotic lands, colorful christenings of ships- I didn't understand the significance of any of it, but there's quite a bit of variety), but where I feel that with Beau Travail and Trouble Every Day she strikes a perfect balance between elliptical, fascinating storytelling and giving the audience enough to work with, here she tipped too heavily towards the first, to the point where it isn't even that fascinating, just mostly confusing. Maybe it's a film that can improve with a later viewing after I've read about and know what happens at least on a surface level; as it is, it continued the trend with Denis where I only like every other film I watch from her. I guess this means the next one I see should be pretty good.

[Scar]

Okay, so like, I don't get how Universal Soldier: Regeneration was as good as it was.

I was very surprised with this one today. Overall, I quite enjoyed it, and The Pit Bull was impressive. Of course, being an MMA vet makes his fights scenes all that much better.

The one part that didn't sit well with me was when:

[

Show Spoiler

JC mows through a ton of people in the open area. Felt kind of, lame. I did thoroughly enjoy once he got in to the building, though.

]

EDIT: Also, it needed more Dolph.

[B-side]

Brightside: "acquire" Kirsanoff's Rapt (The Kidnapping) immediately. One of the best films ever made, I'm already convinced. Can't imagine you not loving this one. Heck, everyone should see it, but you sprung to mind first.

I actually have that on my hard drive already. I might try and give it a watch tonight. I'm glad you thought of me. If only you thought of me half as often as I think of you... while I'm alone... in my bed... and my hands are wandering down my torso... I'll stop.

[Derek]

Raiders/Russ/B-side - You all seen Kirsanoff's Menilemontant? If not, do so post haste. Best axe murder in cinema history this side of L'Argent.

I'm all over Rapt - sounds great.

[B-side]

Raiders/Russ/B-side - You all seen Kirsanoff's Menilemontant? If not, do so post haste. Best axe murder in cinema history this side of L'Argent.

I watched it a while ago under less than ideal circumstances, so I need to rewatch it.

Speaking of L'Argent, I've been wanting to rewatch that. Was my favorite Bresson when I watched it, then I watched The Devil, Probably, which then became my favorite, then I watched Mouchette, which was then my favorite until I watched Diary of a Country Priest.:P

[soitgoes...]

Raiders/Russ/B-side - You all seen Kirsanoff's Menilemontant? If not, do so post haste. Best axe murder in cinema history this side of L'Argent.

I'm all over Rapt - sounds great.

I know Raiders has seen it as well. One of the best silent films.

[Ezee E]

Rewatched Do The Right Thing... I'm impressed that it remains completely relevant to today, despite the pop culture differences and changes in fashion (man, it was bad).

[Russ]

Brightside: "acquire" Kirsanoff's Rapt (The Kidnapping) immediately. One of the best films ever made, I'm already convinced. Can't imagine you not loving this one. Heck, everyone should see it, but you sprung to mind first.

Raiders, I gotta hand it to you. I'm in 100% agreement with you on this. Absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen anything quite like it, certainly not of its era. The second half is riveting stuff: I wanted to rewatch it almost immediately. Astonishing use of non-diegetic sound used for wind, lightning, bells -- the thunderstorm sequence after the festival was brilliant. And when you add the masterful direction and cinematography, this really is an unforgettable film that needs to be rewatched, absorbed, studied and dissected.

In other words, this is a major discovery that has my highest praise. Now, I got to get my hands on Menilemontant.

[Yxklyx]

Raiders, I gotta hand it to you. I'm in 100% agreement with you on this. Absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen anything quite like it, certainly not of its era. The second half is riveting stuff: I wanted to rewatch it almost immediately. Astonishing use of non-diegetic sound used for wind, lightning, bells -- the thunderstorm sequence after the festival was brilliant. And when you add the masterful direction and cinematography, this really is an unforgettable film that needs to be rewatched, absorbed, studied and dissected.

In other words, this is a major discovery that has my highest praise. Now, I got to get my hands on Menilemontant.

That one's easy to find - where did you find Rapt at?

[Raiders]

If between work, family and 2am feedings I can find time I really want to write something in-depth on the experience of watching Kirsanoff's film. Suffice to say though, that even if I have seen a mere fraction of a fraction of cinema there is to see, I really had begun to feel like I had sampled what it had to offer. After Deren, Anger, Conner, Man Ray, Kirsanoff himself, modern guys like Arnold and Tscherkassky, not to mention every non avant-garde filmmaker who paved cinema streets, I didn't really expect to find something that felt "new." Yet, Kirsanoff's film felt like a discovery, like something that even 80 years later was unique unto itself and gave me an appreciation for cinema techniques and possibilities I hadn't seen before. Such a phenomenal achievement.

[Russ]

That one's easy to find - where did you find Rapt at?

HE GOT IT FROM A DVD HE BOUGHT WITH CURRENCY

(check yr pms for rs links)