28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Qrazy]

Friedkin's Cruising is a real piece of garbage.

[wigwam]

Metallica Through the Never | Nimród Antal | 2013 | HATED

Yeah when I saw that Morrissey concert movie a couple weeks ago, I wasnt sure if he or his director had seen Drive, Beastmaster, The Matrix or Bourne Ultimatum or ever played any video games, so that's cool of Metallica to address that affirmatively here. I never really followed these guys, I taped One and Seek & Destory on my buddy's tape deck about a decade before Napster, but didnt they have some big to-do abt cutting their hair and getting a clue and not being meathead monotonyrock? Cuz what happened? And how old are these guys? And isn't Lars in charge of the band? Cuz why's half the movie a bird's-eye of his baldspot? He looks like Karl Pilkington and Hetfield looks like Dog the Bounty Hunter and Kirk Hammet is his own joke, what with his guitars provided by that renowned luthier Forrest J. Ackerman. I guess the other guy is dignified for what he's doing, but he sounds better with the Fenders and not those farty Warwick five-strings. But eveything sounded terrible and looked worse and what a stupid ending. My wife asked what I thought was in the bag. Logic? Aesthetic integrity? It's funnier and more pathetic than Some Kinda Monster I guess, so I give it two china cymbals out of five reverse headstocks out of infinity nylon-tipped graphite drumsiticks.

[dreamdead]

So the hype for Glazer's newest got me to visit Birth. This is a film that's unsure of its intent--impeccably shot and understated in its opening (though the prologue voiceover kills any narrative suspense about the film), and Danny Huston's character would be appropriately sympathetic if he didn't have Huston's grin for half of the film--it's almost a sly subversion of audience loyalty, but not carried through enough to be altogether intentional.

The power of the close-up of Kidman at the symphony is magical, and Glazer's decision to hold that shot for so long rightly makes it the most transformative moment in the film. Unfortunately, it all starts unraveling once Anne Heche's character becomes more central, and the refusal to resolve anything leaves the film stuck in a narrative gap. Sad because the potential was there for something transgressive and haunting.

[PURPLE]

So the hype for Glazer's newest got me to visit Birth. This is a film that's unsure of its intent--impeccably shot and understated in its opening (though the prologue voiceover kills any narrative suspense about the film), and Danny Huston's character would be appropriately sympathetic if he didn't have Huston's grin for half of the film--it's almost a sly subversion of audience loyalty, but not carried through enough to be altogether intentional.

The power of the close-up of Kidman at the symphony is magical, and Glazer's decision to hold that shot for so long rightly makes it the most transformative moment in the film. Unfortunately, it all starts unraveling once Anne Heche's character becomes more central, and the refusal to resolve anything leaves the film stuck in a narrative gap. Sad because the potential was there for something transgressive and haunting.

I think it's a fun little play on suspension of disbelief and a dismantling of the fairy tale. Magical things can't happen - and the extent that Kidman's character strays from reason is the same extent to which she opens herself to being exploited. It's fun to watch it through a second time, as well, as the more caustic undertones are all the more apparent. Kidman's character can't move on, her new relationship is becoming alienated, and her life is on the same naively inevitable path for destruction as the child (only more hopeless). There's something to be said about the clinical deviousness of the kid, but the effect of his character as in instrument is essentially the same as the 'unknown' antagonist in Haneke's Caché, as the damage caused is enabled by a vulnerability born of an unresolved feeling. Where Haneke's film has some clear implications on the greater culture, though, Birth is a bit more difficult to pinpoint for me. It surprises me that you say the kid should be sympathetic, given how I saw the film - nobody gets out unscathed in a Haneke film, and nobody should here. No easy resolutions.

[dreamdead]

I think my main issue with Birth's kid is that the film is elsewhere progressive in allowing that he is Kidman's son. However, once the Anne Heche material shifts the focus, the film becomes conservative and never posits any narrative logic about why he might have known as much as he did if he's not Kidman's reborn husband. That juxtaposition between progress and delimitation impedes any purpose in the film's final act. Doubt is across the board for the characters, but the film never plays fair with how they're able to know so much. And without the film playing fair, the characters are left as vague ciphers that convey nothing. All that to say, I found the film engaging and fascinating for the first two acts and hoped it would land the final; instead, it retreated and took with it any ability to fathom its purpose.

I like the intellectual approach you take here, and commend the link between it and Haneke's films, but fear that Glazer's film is too trepidatious to warrant that angle for me.

[Bosco B Thug]

I've always interpreted Birth as

[

Show Spoiler

the boy being almost certainly supernaturally born of something of the husband's consciousness, no way to rationalize around it.

]

[Mysterious Dude]

I've always interpreted Birth as a weird-ass movie.

[dreamdead]

Rewatched Argento's Suspiria since Sarah hadn't seen it before. Man, that film suffers from some subpar continuity editing. Half of the opening loses its suspense because of Argento's weak sequencing of shots. We're able to connect sequences, but the film stretches to justify each bit. Likewise, the script is just uneven at best, weak at worst. It's a shame since I remember Deep End being so intriguing, but the script undercuts all of this film's marvelous and impressionistic colors.

[Yxklyx]

UHF - was kind of fun - better than I expected but comedy rarely ages well and this one followed that rule.

Baxter - another one that was better than expected. A minor French film from 1989 exploring similarities between a sociopathic dog and human. Much of the film is from the dog's perspective using narration - which worked well in this case.

Monster - very by-the-numbers vehicle - at one point I told myself I hoped there would be no court room scene - hope dashed.

[PURPLE]

I think my main issue with Birth's kid is that the film is elsewhere progressive in allowing that he is Kidman's son. However, once the Anne Heche material shifts the focus, the film becomes conservative and never posits any narrative logic about why he might have known as much as he did if he's not Kidman's reborn husband. That juxtaposition between progress and delimitation impedes any purpose in the film's final act. Doubt is across the board for the characters, but the film never plays fair with how they're able to know so much. And without the film playing fair, the characters are left as vague ciphers that convey nothing. All that to say, I found the film engaging and fascinating for the first two acts and hoped it would land the final; instead, it retreated and took with it any ability to fathom its purpose.

I like the intellectual approach you take here, and commend the link between it and Haneke's films, but fear that Glazer's film is too trepidatious to warrant that angle for me.

[

Show Spoiler

If I recall correctly, Kidman's character ditches a backpack before going to the party at the beginning of the film, and at the end of the film Heche's character outs him and specifically talks about the notebook/backpack containing the dead man's diary. Far more than Haneke gives, for sure!

]

[Qrazy]

Rewatched Argento's Suspiria since Sarah hadn't seen it before. Man, that film suffers from some subpar continuity editing. Half of the opening loses its suspense because of Argento's weak sequencing of shots. We're able to connect sequences, but the film stretches to justify each bit. Likewise, the script is just uneven at best, weak at worst. It's a shame since I remember Deep End being so intriguing, but the script undercuts all of this film's marvelous and impressionistic colors.

Deep Red?

[Dukefrukem]

I'm sure that's what he meant.

[wigwam]

The Lifeguard | Liz W. Garcia | 2013 | USA | 98 min | 2013-10-08 | DVD | Home, Junius Heights | LOVED

This was great. Excellent cast - Kristin Bell, Martin Starr, Mamie Gummer from Twelve Thirty and Alex Shaffer from Win Win - wonderful wide angle lens use, great tone of smalltown partying and both teen and quarter-life crisis angsty ennui. Maybe some of the plotting and resolutions get pat, but oh well, I bought it.

[Dead & Messed Up]

UHF - was kind of fun - better than I expected but comedy rarely ages well and this one followed that rule.

Much of its humor is too dependent on understanding the context, but it's a spoof feature, so that's probably inevitable. Chucking poodles out of windows, though, should be timeless.

[MadMan]

UHF is hilarious and good old fashioned goofy fun. Suspiria is gorgeous and all but I much prefer Tenebre and Deep Red from Argento.

[Russ]

Unter den Brücken / Under the Bridges (Helmet Käutner, 1946) PRO

Two career boatsmen, who own and run a barge, form part of a romantic triangle with a woman they encounter one night on a bridge in Potsdam. Thinking she plans to jump, they intervene and offer her passage back to her home in Berlin. Both men fall in love with her, and each is willing to leave their career – and the barge – behind for good, in the event of marriage, with the odd man out retaining sole ownership of the business.





Under the Bridges resides in the TSPDT 1000 for good reason, with frequent comparisons to Vigo, Carné, and Ophüls. It’s a timeless work of art, not least for the fact that the time in which it was created was at complete odds with the time in which events are set (which is never made clear) – more on that in a bit. The acting is top-notch; especially wonderful is Hannelore Schroth as the object of both men’s affections. She has a great screen presence and comes across so natural, with Gustav Knuth and Carl Raddatz (Opfergang) very capable complements.

Perhaps the most amazing part was the filming regimen. As one of the final films made under the control of the Third Reich (mere weeks before Hitler’s demise), shooting frequently had to be scrapped and rescheduled due to bombing raids. It’s a miracle the film has the look and sound that it does. And best of all, this was definitely NOT a propaganda film by any stretch. Director Käutner was a crafty and apolitical filmmaker who managed to make exactly the film he set out to make, even though it wasn’t released until the early 1950’s.

Under the Bridges is a deceptively simple film, centered on the friendship and camaraderie of the three leads. One superlative scene has Carl Raddatz attempting to calm the woman’s fears, once she has agreed to spend the night on a barge with two “strangers”, by teaching her all of the night sounds associated with a life on the water. The culmination of her gradual acceptance and enjoyment of her surroundings is a terrific moment, from a filmmaker with an obviously keen eye for both character development AND fancy camera angles.

[Grouchy]

Wow, The Long Good Friday is fucking excellent. I wish it had ended about thirty-eight seconds earlier, though...

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Show Spoiler

I pin-pointed the exact moment of that Bob Hoskins close-up where it should have cut to black.

]

[MadMan]

Wow, The Long Good Friday is fucking excellent. I wish it had ended about thirty-eight seconds earlier, though...

[

Show Spoiler

I pin-pointed the exact moment of that Bob Hoskins close-up where it should have cut to black.

]

I love how the film ends though. That final moment is perfect.

Russ that movie looks great. Love those shots-I'll have to check it out.

[megladon8]

In case anyone had any doubts about it, the Criterion release of I Married a Witch is stunning.

Great booklet, too. A little essay by Guy Maddin.

[wigwam]

Escape from Tomorrow | Randy Moore | 2013 | USA | 90 min | 2013-10-10 | 2K | Texas Theater, Oak Cliff | WALKED OUT


Inside Disney Cloverfiend of the Dead. In that there's this shit-in-your-eye unwatchability to its no contrast black and white and then it's just a series of these asshole kids and their boring parents who are supposed to be funny riding rides and reminding us how boring Disneyland is. Plus they didn't shell out for It's A Small World so there's jsut this zany headache music going on. It's sense-torture and narrative tedium, and whatever bad thing is supposed to be getting set up - psychosis, vampires, disease outbreak/zombies, whatever trite genre trope they're gonna graft onto the Disnelyland gimmick - isn't going to save anything. The Venn diagram of shitheads too stupid for Computer Chess and impressed with Memento will spazz over this as great though. Assholes.

[Watashi]

You forgot to mention what the forecast was. Also what you ate for breakfast that day.

This clearly matters.

[Rowland]

The Venn diagram of shitheads too stupid for Computer Chess and impressed with Memento will spazz over this as great though. Assholes.

Yikes.

[Dukefrukem]

Ouch!

[Sven]

I watched Glitter last night. It's pretty much the most boring movie I've ever seen.

[Pop Trash]

I like Memento. Guess I'm an asshole.