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Thread: 28 Film Discussion Threads Later

  1. #76
    Quote Quoting Rowland
    There isn't much of an Argento influence on May IIRC, but there definitely is on The Woods.
    Now, the only Argento I've actually seen is Deep Red, but I felt some influence, largley in dealing with some musical cues and the flashbacks. Also, Sisto's character was off to see an Argento film at some point. That's what really reminded me of my deficiency.

  2. #77
    sleepy soitgoes...'s Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Philosophe_rouge (view post)
    I don't know if anyone's seen No End in Sight, I had missed it that one week it was in theatres here and couldn't wait for the DVD release. It's easily one of the best films of the year, the information is concise and incriminating without being too exploitive. Not being overtly familiar with the Iraq situation, I found it very easy to understand without pandering to the lowest common denominator. I have a few very minor problems that are barely worth mentioning. Namely, the lack of much altering view points (although, it seemed very few people on the "other" side were willing to be interviewed). I also preferred it when we didn't hear Charles Ferguson asking the questions (which thankfully was very little of the film), because his tone and phrasing was leading or condescending. It also felt a bit too much like an Errol Morris film, but there are worse things Still, highly recommended.
    The fact that he was condescending when he was questioning was a pretty big deterrent for me. I hate it when the interviewer passes judgment in a documentary. For one of the many Iraq related docs to come out lately, I prefer My Country My Country more. No End in Sight did have some good tidbits of information, and besides the few patronizing remarks, is well made. But man, your subject and the light you want to shed it in comes off so much better when you let the pictures and the people tell the story.

  3. #78
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    I've been eagerly anticipating No End in Sight after reading a bit about it. It's on top of my queue, so I'll be seeing it shortly.

  4. #79
    Screenwriter Philosophe_rouge's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting soitgoes... (view post)
    The fact that he was condescending when he was questioning was a pretty big deterrent for me. I hate it when the interviewer passes judgment in a documentary. For one of the many Iraq related docs to come out lately, I prefer My Country My Country more. No End in Sight did have some good tidbits of information, and besides the few patronizing remarks, is well made. But man, your subject and the light you want to shed it in comes off so much better when you let the pictures and the people tell the story.
    I definetely agree, which is why I pointed it out. On one hand, they kept this to a minimum and on the other, the bias becomes unavoidable because the only time the "voice" emerges is when discussing the opposite view point. Without that, the film could have been slightly better. I haven't seen My Country, My Country, but will definetely check it out. I love me a good documentary

  5. #80
    sleepy soitgoes...'s Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    I've been eagerly anticipating No End in Sight after reading a bit about it. It's on top of my queue, so I'll be seeing it shortly.
    It really does present a lot of interesting stuff, and in its defense there was only one interview where he acts condescending. It just left a bad taste in my mouth after that point.

  6. #81
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Rowland (view post)
    I have only read one PKD book, I'm ashamed to admit. It was Ubik, which I loved. Come to think of it, why haven't I read more? I should get on that.
    UBIK is amazing. Somewhere out there is an epic 300 page screenplay that PKD wrote for this. He was contracted to adapt his own book but he failed to edit it and relinquish control to the filmmakers. I would love to read it. The book is just so out there, and gonzo.

  7. #82
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting soitgoes... (view post)
    It really does present a lot of interesting stuff, and in its defense there was only one interview where he acts condescending. It just left a bad taste in my mouth after that point.
    Fair enough. I'll keep it in mind while watching. I've never even heard of My Country My Country. I'll have to seek it out.

  8. #83
    The Artist as Monster Eleven's Avatar
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    For my second Hou film after Good Men, Good Women, The Puppetmaster proved to be an engaging look at history, storytelling, and a form of theater I'd never really considered before. It reminds me of the self-reflexive Iranian films of the 90s by Kiarostami and Makhmalbaf, what with the intertwining of real people and historical reenactment, and I couldn't help but make parallels with the personal/public forms of narrative and meaning in Midnight's Children, which I just finished as well (and I'm starting up UBIK next, coincidentally enough). I can begin to see why Hou is so revered in certain circles.

    Still, it doesn't compare to the similarly-titled, absurdly-long series of goofy horror films. Nope.
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  9. #84
    sleepy soitgoes...'s Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    Fair enough. I'll keep it in mind while watching. I've never even heard of My Country My Country. I'll have to seek it out.
    It follows an Iraqi doctor, I believe, as he runs for elections a couple years back. Its more of a personal film, rather than an overview of everything that's gone wrong in Iraq narrated by a random American. There is no narration. Just those in Iraq speaking of the situation in Iraq. Very much apolitical.

  10. #85
    Quote Quoting Derek (view post)
    I really like the dialogue even though all the character's sound more like Tarantino talking than actual girls sitting around in a bar. I guess my favorite aspect of the film is how it slowly sheds its 70s grindhouse roots and opens up to the modern world. The cell phone at first seems like an amusing anachronism, but we eventually see what an outsider Stuntman Mike is. He's comfortable only within the film's aesthetic, which beginning with the final chase scene loses the skips, jumps and grimy feel begins to go away. By the time we're in the clean world of mini-van's, he's left castrated and completely inept.
    I hadn't considered that gradual 'opening up'... to me the entire film felt equally mired in past & present pop culture. The one point of interest to me is how the bisection of the narrative allows us to view the second half with the benefit of hindsight; in turn representing how he's appropriated the cinema he loves, where things like the reel playing in b&w are no longer (calculatedly) spontaneous but deliberate formal experiments. It should be more interesting than it is, but it all felt like one big hangover to me, from the anachronistic pop culture references to the clever dialogue... that it's dialogue is pure male fantasy-speak isn't bothersome on its own, but all the women seemed stifled by having to wrap their tongues around QT-speak, which made most of it fairly dead-in-the-water.

  11. #86
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    I have to ask, what exactly does "gonzo" mean?

    I am totally oblivious to its usage.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  12. #87
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting megladon8 (view post)
    I have to ask, what exactly does "gonzo" mean?

    I am totally oblivious to its usage.
    Wikipedia helps in situations like this:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gonzo

  13. #88
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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  14. #89
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Google - define:gonzo -

    bizarre: conspicuously or grossly unconventional or unusual; "restaurants of bizarre design--one like a hat, another like a rabbit"; "famed for his eccentric spelling"; "a freakish combination of styles"; "his off-the-wall antics"; "the outlandish clothes of teenagers"; "outre and affected stage ...

    Gonzo is a style of reportage, filmmaking, or any form of multimedia production in which the reporter, filmmaker or author is intrinsically enmeshed with the subject action (rather than being a passive observer). The style was popularized by Hunter S. Thompson.

    An adult genre where the performers acknowledge the presence of the camera or there is the use of a "talking camera". ...



    Sometimes used to mean something that is balls-out bonkers, no holds barred, stark raving mad...and so on.

  15. #90
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Ah, thank you

    I thought it had something to do with Hunter S. Thompson, but wasn't sure.
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  16. #91
    pushing too many pencils Rowland's Avatar
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    Letterboxd rating scale:
    The Long Riders (Hill) ***
    Furious 7 (Wan) **½
    Hard Times (Hill) ****½
    Another 48 Hrs. (Hill) ***
    /48 Hrs./ (Hill) ***½
    The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (Besson) ***
    /Unknown/ (Collet-Serra) ***½
    Animal (Simmons) **

  17. #92

  18. #93
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Gonzo is pretty much the coolest character ever. I think that's indisputable.

  19. #94
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    Gonzo is pretty much the coolest character ever. I think that's indisputable.
    I'm more partial to Grover, but Gonzo does rule.


  20. #95
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    I love that book!

  21. #96
    Too much responsibility Kurosawa Fan's Avatar
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    Grover's my favorite as well.

  22. #97
    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    Gonzo is pretty much the coolest character ever. I think that's indisputable.
    Columbia Pictures launched a counterargument to this in 1999 called Muppets from Space. That Gonzo was able to weather that storm and still be pretty much the coolest character ever is a testament to his status as such.

  23. #98
    The Pan megladon8's Avatar
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    Oh my god!!

    I love that book, D!

    I remember reading it as a kid and actually being freaking terrified of what monster was going to be at the end of the book
    "All right, that's too hot. Anything we can do about that heat?"

    "Rick...it's a flamethrower."

  24. #99
    The Pan Spinal's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Kurosawa Fan (view post)
    Grover's my favorite as well.
    All right, all right, you guys are right. NEAR! .............. FAR! Hard to top that.

  25. #100
    What is best in life? D_Davis's Avatar
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    Quote Quoting Spinal (view post)
    All right, all right, you guys are right. NEAR! .............. FAR! Hard to top that.

    Exactly. Near.....Far.....

    Rules.

    And that book! Among my favorites, that and Hooper Humperdink? Not Him!

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