28 Film Discussion Threads Later

[chrisnu]

Watching A Serious Man again this weekend. That and Machete.

[Rowland]

Weekend:

Malice
The Kids Are All Right

[number8]

Can you take a personal day?

I can, but I'm not on salary yet and I don't feel like losing a whole day's pay. Guess I'll see it on demand.

[Spaceman Spiff]

Just saw Brick, and thought it was pretty awesome. One thing though, I would have liked it a lot better if it had more of those 'film noir' clashing with 'high school genre' elements. I guess it would have altered the atmosphere of the film significantly, as it would be difficult to balance the two, yet keep the dark/foreboding line that runs deep, but it would have made for a much more interesting flick, I think. Too often I felt it just played as a straight up Sam Spade flick, which was a little disappointing given how much room Johnston gave himself to work with in terms of genre mixing.

Still, very good. I also didn't know JGL could act, considering I only really remember him from Inception, so that was a nice surprise too.

[Dukefrukem]

Of all the Kubrick films, Spartacus is the only one I find some reasons to dislike. And even with that allowance, it's a very good widescreen epic.

If you haven't seen The Killing, Duke, you should make that your next one.

Go to whatever direction you want then. The Killing is one of my faves from him.

The Killing is.... fantastic. Very Reservoir Dogs'esk almost. My first "Film noir" :|

[soitgoes...]

I have decided that Maurice Chevalier irritates me.

[Boner M]

There's a one hour period (the Vienna scene) in Carlos that is just phenomenal. There is no need to cut into that. It is just about perfect. The problem is that if there aren't any cuts made to it, but then you trim off two and a half hours from the rest of the film, everything becomes uneven. So a sacrifice to a great scene must be made. A sidenote: I do think an entire film could be made around this scene and it would be fantastic, but that would go against what Assayas had set out to do with his film.

My only problem with the film was that it was overlong, but not overlong by a couple hours. A snip here and there and I'd be left with my favorite film of the year. I think at half its length we'd be left with a bullet point version of Carlos's terrorist life.

Good points, all. I was actually wondering if the short version would just be an extended version of the Vienna segment. I think a 2.5 films about the leadup and aftermath would actually be quite manageable.

I think my favorite scene was the apartment/informant bit at the end of P1 - the camera circling the ukelele players, the surveying of faces... sadistic tension at its best.

[soitgoes...]

I think my favorite scene was the apartment/informant bit at the end of P1 - the camera circling the ukelele players, the surveying of faces... sadistic tension at its best.

[

Show Spoiler

That's a good one too. His first assignment is another great one, a nice bit of misdirection which nicely sets up the deconstruction of the iconic figure that is Carlos, as is the aftermath of the OPEC bungle with his PLO boss. Assayas is able to build such great tension throughout.

]

[Rowland]

I have decided that Maurice Chevalier irritates me.

Sacré bleu!

[soitgoes...]

Sacré bleu!

Ha! You have used my own post of Monsieur Chevalier against me!

[Mara]

I have decided that Maurice Chevalier irritates me.

I often feel like he's trying to sell me a used car.

A crappy used French car.

Dammit, the man's trying to sell me a Renault.

[B-side]

You can watch Harmony Korine's new short film here.

Korine fans will be pleased. I certainly was.

[MacGuffin]

You can watch Harmony Korine's new short film here.

Korine fans will be pleased. I certainly was.

It's okay. I consider myself a "Korine fan", but at this late in the game, his approach to filmmaking is reaching a point where each individual film (with the exception of Mister Lonely, which takes a more polished approach to the same idea) seems like a continuation of the basic concept Herzog presents in Even Dwarfs Started Small. Korine's distinction—a retro found-footage approach to documenting fictional lower class citizens—works for me, but beyond that, I can see Korine's films forcibly having to rely solely on character structuring. (At this point, I think he's done a good job mythologizing lower classes and is as respectful to and as interested in them as a sociologist would be a third-world country.)

[MacGuffin]

By the way, recent Criterion newsletter clues indicate Broadcast News and Kes are on the way.

[Watashi]

By the way, recent Criterion newsletter clues indicate Broadcast News and Kes are on the way.

Nice. I've been waiting on Kes. I have it recorded on TCM, but it's impossible to understand without subtitles.

Broadcast News is one of the best films of the 80's.

[MacGuffin]

Is it true that Broadcast News is loosely inspired by the on-air suicide of Christine Chubbuck?

[DavidSeven]

I actually think its formal qualities -- compositional and structural -- are its chief strengths. But, I certainly wouldn't want to short change its amazing gallery of characters, particularly by Sellers, Hayden, and Scott.

Agreed. Kubrick has more and less formally interesting works in the catalog, but as far as comedies go, Strangelove is top shelf. All the elements together make it one of his personal best.

And I do find it laugh out loud funny.

[soitgoes...]

Is it true that Broadcast News is loosely inspired by the on-air suicide of Christine Chubbuck?

I'm not sure how. I don't remember anyone dying in the film let alone killing themselves on-air. Albert Brooks sweats a lot.

[MacGuffin]

I'm not sure how. I don't remember anyone dying in the film let alone killing themselves on-air. Albert Brooks sweats a lot.

I see. Perhaps the connection had something to do with an apparent plethora of character distress throughout the film.

[soitgoes...]

I see. Perhaps the connection had something to do with an apparent plethora of character distress throughout the film.

Where did you hear about this connection? A link perhaps, because I don't see it all.

[MacGuffin]

Where did you hear about this connection? A link perhaps, because I don't see it all.

Sorry, I can't remember. It was at least half a year ago; I think I was reading something about Chubbuck's on-air suicide on AVManiacs and someone mentioned the film.

[soitgoes...]

Reading Chubbuck's wiki entry, I guess there could be some similarities with Brooks' character. Having a love triangle where a person ends up hurt has happened on film hundreds of time. But set it around a television news set...

[soitgoes...]

Sorry, I can't remember. It was at least half a year ago; I think I was reading something about Chubbuck's on-air suicide on AVManiacs and someone mentioned the film.

It's cool. I think any comparisons are purely coincidental.

With the film, see it if you must, but it's far from necessary.

[Boner M]

I have it recorded on TCM, but it's impossible to understand without subtitles.

Fook ya oon abote?

[Qrazy]

It's okay. I consider myself a "Korine fan", but at this late in the game, his approach to filmmaking is reaching a point where each individual film (with the exception of Mister Lonely, which takes a more polished approach to the same idea) seems like a continuation of the basic concept Herzog presents in Even Dwarfs Started Small. Korine's distinction—a retro found-footage approach to documenting fictional lower class citizens—works for me, but beyond that, I can see Korine's films forcibly having to rely solely on character structuring. (At this point, I think he's done a good job mythologizing lower classes and is as respectful to and as interested in them as a sociologist would be a third-world country.)

I don't agree. I grew up in an extremely lower class town and the disgusting filth mongering Korine partakes in is nothing like the reality of the 'lower class' (that which a sociologist would be interested in). Korine's films may have some sense of disturbed and heightened fringe reality, the one percenters of the 'lower class' if you will, but only barely. Even the mentally ill and (separately) violent youth of my childhood were no where near the brand of ugliness Korine generates. Korine is not interested in respecting the lower class as a sociologist would (this entails approaching some degree of care and reality with his characters), nor is he interested in mythologizing them. John Ford mythologizes the lower class. Korine approaches them in a Lynchian manner, exposing what he feels to be their underbelly.