28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[Wryan]

I predict Doubt will be disliked by the majority of Match Cutters. Posters around here don't seem to tend to like people shouting movies.

Is someone implying that there is something wrong with Glengarry Glen Ross?

[Spinal]

4. Asia Argento – The Last Mistress
8. Mena Suvari – Stuck

Indeed.

[Mysterious Dude]

I predict Doubt will be disliked by the majority of Match Cutters. Posters around here don't seem to tend to like people shouting movies.

They all seem to love Magnolia.

[Winston*]

They all seem to love Magnolia.

Good point. I'm thinking of setting up a stage adaptation of Magnolia, where it's just a dozen people running around in circles crying for three hours.

[megladon8]

Well, I've chosen my Christmas-time avatar.

[Ezee E]

Good point. I'm thinking of setting up a stage adaptation of Magnolia, where it's just a dozen people running around in circles crying for three hours.

With a five minute section of singing Aimee Mann. Don't forget that.

[Rowland]

Role Models (David Wain, 2008) 50

For the most part, I found this to be disappointing. There are praises to be sung here, including a tighter structure than your typical Apatow-related picture, a believable romantic interest whose role is limited (this doesn't qualify as a rom-com for dudes), a spirited turn by the always-amusing Jane Lynch, a sincere kind-heartedness in its concern for understanding its dysfunctional characters, and a surprising degree of respect for the role-playing medieval game through which the film mines most of its highlights. That said, there is a great deal to be acknowledged that doesn't work all that well, my chief complaint relating to the Stifler character and the foul-mouthed child to which he is assigned, neither of whom prove terribly funny or interesting in their character dynamics, so that their scenes comes across as deadweight compared to the Rudd/McLovin plot thread. Likewise, a disconnect exists between the material relating to the Big Brother program and the role-playing game, so that the comedic and dramatic potential in either scenario never feels fully developed. Little can be said from a cinematic standpoint, as Wain's directorial imprint proves to be a point-and-shoot non-entity. Most important of all, this movie simply isn't all that funny. I chuckled a few times, but I was left cold for the most part. If I catch this on cable, I'll tune in for Jane Lynch's scenes and the final role-playing battle, which is in of itself a delightfully charming sequence, ending the movie on enough of a high note so that I'm inspired to edge its score just barely into the positive end of the spectrum. My favorite moment? The evil King's chief henchman, upon being defeated by Rudd, stands up from his death pose and offers an enthusiastic "fun, isn't it? See you next year?"

[Boner M]

Snow Angels - Quite affecting, largely due to Green's skills as an actor's director. Still, the things that have become his schtick - lovers saying awkward things, scenes ending with some arbitary 'poetic' details, bizarre tonal shifts, 70's-ish zooms, a maudlin post-rock score - make his most recent foray into the mainstream more welcome.

[Ezee E]

Snow Angels - Quite affecting, largely due to Green's skills as an actor's director. Still, the things that have become his schtick - lovers saying awkward things, scenes ending with some arbitary 'poetic' details, bizarre tonal shifts, 70's-ish zooms, a maudlin post-rock score - make his most recent foray into the mainstream more welcome.

It's hard to say which movie of his is the best considering three of them are all nearly the same.

Nonetheless, this is still one of the best movies of the year.

[origami_mustache]

I'm finally going to tackle some Fassbinder...starting with the BDR trilogy tonight.

[Sven]

I'm finally going to tackle some Fassbinder...starting with the BDR trilogy tonight.

Lola and Veronica Voss are in my top five 'binder's. Be sure to see Fox and his Friends, Satan's Brew, and Whity (the other three).

[Amnesiac]

I watched Picnic at Hanging Rock for the first time tonight.

This was definitely one of the more eerie films I've ever seen. A group of upper-class female students are sent out to survey Hanging Rock by their austere principal. A simple enough premise that slowly detonates into something much more intriguing, mystifying, perplexing... all those good things.

What happened to the girls? The million-dollar question. But is Weir even concerned with that question? Does it matter? Is it the specifics, the hard answers as to what exactly took place... or is it more a gesture towards the perplexing mysteries still inherent in our world? Perhaps Weir is directing this towards those more pedantic and assured individuals who trust the world to be a colonized, thoroughly excavated and knowable thing.

Well, there is a strong suggestion throughout the film that nature contains myriad intricacies and mysteries. Weir seems very adamant about emphasizing the enigmatic mystique of nature. Ambiguous shot of ants, lizards and birds serve as puzzling pillow-shots that cement an unsettling and ambivalent ambience over Hanging Rock, and by extension, nature itself. The low-angle shot of the peak of the rock in conjunction with the film's buzzing soundtrack recalls the similarly off-putting monolith of 2001 fame. Weir's camera work encourages us to get swept up in the awe, the majesty and the unsettling wonder of these facets of nature.

...Yet, he offers no traditional closure. One character holds a book titled 'Rosebud' - perhaps a playful suggestion from Weir that no such 'answer key' will be distributed to the spectator in this film. An elderly gentlemen who maintains a green-house reveals to one character that some plants move. This notion of secret wonders lying dormant in the crevices of nature is continually emphasized by the film.

At times, the film seems very reverential of nature. Wary of treading too deep into dark and unknown caverns, hesitant to take more than a fleeting glance at the peculiarities of Hanging Rock. Weir is definitely determined to maintain the mystique of nature. He imbues his film with an overwhelming, and at times startling, sense of ambivalence. Thanks to Weir's decidedly teasing and cursory glance of Hanging Rock, he ends up doing a great job of emphasizing the intrigue of nature. And thereby compels us to investigate our own world with the same wonder and preoccupation... to take that second glance.

And then there is that intriguing plot-line involving the principal and Sarah. What did that rapid montage of the portraits hanging on the principal's wall imply? Was it suggesting the artificiality of the principal's austere deportment? Did she too 'suffer' from inappropriate feelings for another woman? She suggests that Sarah, whose admiration for Miranda is evident, seek institutional help for her so-called 'problem'. Yet, she curiously notes the 'rouge' on another young lady's face. She also indicates warm feelings for one of the teachers who goes missing on Hanging Rock. Similar to how there might be endless wonders and secrets lying within the depths of nature — if only we had the courage and the perception to inspect beyond its deceptively mundane surfaces — perhaps Weir is asking us to inspect past the surfaces of his characters. And past surfaces in general.

And that's what happens in this film isn't it? For all its stubborn mystery, hidden depths are unearthed. Characters are enlightened by the long-silent suffering of other students. Connections between disparate characters are revealed with little to no anticipation. Intricacies and fascinating truths run as an undercurrent to the more obviously perceptive surface realities. Weir also suggests that there are anomalies... characters whose perception might privilege them with a telling look past the surface, and into the wonder and possibility of nature. Miranda's clairvoyance - that is, the fact that she knew she was going to disappear - is very interesting. Beyond being quite baffling and unsettling, it seems to imply that that there are unmined opportunities and untapped mysteries lying dormant in the tangled web of nature. And that some of us might have the right eyes to see into that web, and perhaps also navigate it, and find those elusive wonders just waiting around the corner...

Just my cursory thoughts. Fascinating film.

[Watashi]

Loved The Brother from Another Planet so much. Sayles said more about black culture and classism without ever going Spike Lee on us.

Love the arcade game orgasm, the subway card trick, the Indiana boys, Sayles and Strathairn's goofy men in black, and of course Morton's Keatonesque performance.

[soitgoes...]

Loved The Brother from Another Planet so much. Sayles said more about black culture and classism without ever going Spike Lee on us.

Love the arcade game orgasm, the subway card trick, the Indiana boys, Sayles and Strathairn's goofy men in black, and of course Morton's Keatonesque performance.

Next up Men with Guns? Or did you see that one already?

[Watashi]

Next up Men with Guns? Or did you see that one already?

Not yet. No idea where I'll go next. I have pretty much his entire filmography in my hands via Netflix and various downloads.

[Watashi]

Weekend:

Milk
Slumdog Millionaire
Hunger
More John Sayles stuff

[B-side]

I'm finally going to tackle some Fassbinder...starting with the BDR trilogy tonight.

Nice. Veronika Voss is greatness. I wasn't a huge fan of Lola, but it wasn't bad. In A Year With 13 Moons is far and away the best Fassbinder I've seen thus far.

[soitgoes...]

Weekend possibilities:

The Makioka Sisters
Divorce, Italian Style
Happy-Go-Lucky

My folks are going to be coming to town for ten days starting this weekend, so maybe we'll see Australia.

[MadMan]

Weekend:

*The Pink Panther(1964)
*20,000 Leagues Under the Sea(1954)-Maybe
*The Right Stuff(1983)

[Qrazy]

I didn't like Veronika Voss much at all. Fox and his Friends, Ali, and in a In a Year with 13 Moons are my favorites. I've also seen Satan's Brew, Beware of a Holy Whore, and The Merchant of Four Seasons which all had there fair share of flaws and redeeming facets.

[Boner M]

Warrendale (King, 1967)
Welcome to LA (Rudolph, 1976)
Violence at Noon (Oshima, 1966)
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Kazan, 1945)
Who'll Stop The Rain (Reisz, 1978)
Faust (Svankmajer, 1994)

[Boner M]

I don't get what people see in John Sayles. Lone Star and Limbo are fine films, but generally his films make me want to have a Russ Meyer marathon afterwards to wash the taste of dull worthiness out of my mouth. I demand MADNESS.

[Wryan]

They all seem to love Magnolia.

Cause it's awesome.

[Wryan]

And I love Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Watched Eastern Promises last night. I dug it. Seems like the kind of film that would reward another viewing or two, but not many more after that. Of the unavoidable Godfather twinges, the final shot seemed the best considering the circumstances. And I did not expect Viggo's twist at all. Nicely set up. Goddamn that eye gouge. Fucking hell. Awesome relationship between Kirill and Nikolai though. Lots of juiciness simmering underneath that one.

[Yxklyx]

After reading that review I think I'll be watching the Weir film again this weekend.

Other weekend films:

Cotton Comes to Harlem
Hell in the Pacific