Schoolio's Movie Corner

[wmgaretjax]

The only films I've seen recently that stole from "Kill Bill" are Guy Ritchies poor excuse for a film "Revolver" (it tried to incorporate animation and failed miserably)

One, "Revolver" is probably Guy Ritchie's best film. You need to watch it again.

Two, there is a rich history of mixing animation with live action (motherfucking "Page Master" anyone?), Tarantino does not have creative rights to it.

[KungFuJoe]

One, "Revolver" is probably Guy Ritchie's best film. You need to watch it again.

Two, there is a rich history of mixing animation with live action (motherfucking "Page Master" anyone?), Tarantino does not have creative rights to it.

Ok. I'll watch "Revolver" again & let you know if my feelings change. For me, the only thing that held the film together was Jason Statham's performance. Other than that, Andre 3000 was fucking atrocious & Ray Liotta's character was down right ridiculous. Even if I find it better upon a second viewing, I highly doubt I would ever rank it above "Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels". I'm really curious to as why people defend this film, but hey I own it & will give it one more chance.

As for the other matter, I never insisted that Tarantino had creative rights to mixing animation with live action in films, but it was the way in which it was incorporated into "Kill Bill" that made it unique. It was in one hand paying homage to Japanese Anime while using the format in a clever & exciting way to show the violent background of O-Ren Ishii. Why the fuck was that animated sequence incorporated in "Revolver"? For one, it was possibly the worst animation I've seen used in a film & two, it hardly made any fucking sense. How can you honestly defend that it did? To me, he was totally just biting off the way "Kill Bill" successfully used the format, but had no real motive for doing so.

[wmgaretjax]

Ok. I'll watch "Revolver" again & let you know if my feelings change. For me, the only thing that held the film together was Jason Statham's performance. Other than that, Andre 3000 was fucking atrocious & Ray Liotta's character was down right ridiculous. Even if I find it better upon a second viewing, I highly doubt I would ever rank it above "Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels". I'm really curious to as why people defend this film, but hey I own it & will give it one more chance.


One thing that you might keep in mind; I believe 90% of the film takes place in a completely psychological space. I need to watch it again, when I do, I'll post my thoughts.

[KungFuJoe]

ok. fair enough. I respect your opinion & agree with a lot that you have to say on here. I was really hoping to like "Revolver" upon my first viewing, especially after hearing the mixed responses to it. I guess one more viewing is in order.

[Somewhat Damaged]

My favorite part of "The Protector" was when Tony Jaa threw that elephant.

[menikmati]

I wanna see Ratatouille.

[Hannahrain]

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/b/a/4/ba400f61293e95f4bb69d3c166c66c3a.gif

[RotationSlimWang]

One, "Revolver" is probably Guy Ritchie's best film. You need to watch it again.


you just jumped about 20 sharks all at once, Jared.

unwatchable

[menikmati]

http://content.ytmnd.com/content/b/a/4/ba400f61293e95f4bb69d3c166c66c3a.gif

+10

[wmgaretjax]

you just jumped about 20 sharks all at once, Jared.

unwatchable

Randy, i'm not speaking to you until I get a full response to Julien Donkey Boy.

but seriously, i WAS exaggerating... I won't pretend to know what I think my favorite Ritchie film is, it changes pretty regularly. But I honestly think Revolver is a serious contender.

[KungFuJoe]

My favorite part of "The Protector" was when Tony Jaa threw that elephant.

Tony Jaa didn't throw the elephant. It was the big bad baddies. I agree it was a very shocking and amusing moment.

[KungFuJoe]

oh yeah ... saw "Live Free or Die Hard" today and it was f-ing great! I wouldn't say it was the best in the series, but if you're a fan you shouldn't be disappointed. It's not nearly as dreadful as you might think. Sure the action is way over the top & unbelievable at times, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. It's relentless from start to finish. The script is pretty good and they do a good job of keeping you on the edge of your seat. The minor problem I had with the pic was that the villains weren't that menacing. Timothy Olyphant lacks the charm and intensity of past villains, but he serves the role well enough. Maggie Q is hardly believable as a bad ass babe, but she's extremely easy on the eyes & I was super happy she was given a lot more to play with than with her role in "Mission Impossible 3". The biggest shocker for me was the inclusion of Cyril Raffaelli (District B13)[Breakjaw, add "District 13 to your list if you've not seen it]. I was so excited when I saw him on screen and that they used him properly for this film. Unfortunately I wish he could've done more. This man should be the next big action star, along side of Tony Jaa. He's of the yamikazi breed, stunts you've seen in the opening in "Casino Royale" & throughout "B13". Of course, what really holds this film together is the charm of Bruce Willis as John Mclane. I entered the film not expecting much energy from him & looking tired in the role, but the man's still got it. And Justin Long was cast perfect as the hacker become sidekick. If you're looking for a good summer action blockbuster, this is it. Popcorn entertainment at it's finest!

[gmoneyak]

oh yeah ... saw "Live Free or Die Hard" today and it was f-ing great! I wouldn't say it was the best in the series, but if you're a fan you shouldn't be disappointed. It's not nearly as dreadful as you might think. Sure the action is way over the top & unbelievable at times, but it's a heck of a lot of fun. It's relentless from start to finish. The script is pretty good and they do a good job of keeping you on the edge of your seat. The minor problem I had with the pic was that the villains weren't that menacing. Timothy Olyphant lacks the charm and intensity of past villains, but he serves the role well enough. Maggie Q is hardly believable as a bad ass babe, but she's extremely easy on the eyes & I was super happy she was given a lot more to play with than with her role in "Mission Impossible 3". The biggest shocker for me was the inclusion of Cyril Raffaelli (District B13)[Breakjaw, add "District 13 to your list if you've not seen it]. I was so excited when I saw him on screen and that they used him properly for this film. Unfortunately I wish he could've done more. This man should be the next big action star, along side of Tony Jaa. He's of the yamikazi breed, stunts you've seen in the opening in "Casino Royale" & throughout "B13". Of course, what really holds this film together is the charm of Bruce Willis as John Mclane. I entered the film not expecting much energy from him & looking tired in the role, but the man's still got it. And Justin Long was cast perfect as the hacker become sidekick. If you're looking for a good summer action blockbuster, this is it. Popcorn entertainment at it's finest!


I have to agree with you on District B13, love that flick..My brother came back from his European trip raving about that one..Awesome stunts..

[bmack86]

Watched Requiem for a Dream today.
Visceral.
That is all

And, I bought The Third Man and L.A. Confidential.

[RotationSlimWang]

Randy, i'm not speaking to you until I get a full response to Julien Donkey Boy.

but seriously, i WAS exaggerating... I won't pretend to know what I think my favorite Ritchie film is, it changes pretty regularly. But I honestly think Revolver is a serious contender.

sir, with all due respect--if you think i'm taking that Julien Donkey recommendation now that you've somehow managed to approve of Revolver...

dude, i dont even know where to begin, so we shall not.

Watched Requiem for a Dream today.
Visceral.
That is all

damn skippy.


on a different note, Rules Of Attraction is on On Demand this week. being an Ellis fan by nature i was extremely pleased with this adaptation--anyone else find it remarkable that it seemed to kill the careers of everyone in it?

[wmgaretjax]

sir, with all due respect--if you think i'm taking that Julien Donkey recommendation now that you've somehow managed to approve of Revolver...

dude, i dont even know where to begin, so we shall not.


Are you a big Ritchie fan outside of his latest two films? Basically, did you like Lock Stock and Snatch?

[KungFuJoe]

on a different note, Rules Of Attraction is on On Demand this week. being an Ellis fan by nature i was extremely pleased with this adaptation--anyone else find it remarkable that it seemed to kill the careers of everyone in it?

Requiem For a Dream > Rules of Attraction

can't compare how they were adapted, but that's what I feel about the films.

[schoolofruckus]

Checking in from San Francisco...

I need to see "Revolver". I'm pissed it's taken this long to reach the US, and after "Swept Away" I don't really want to drop $25 on a UK DVD.

I'm glad you liked "Live Free or Die Hard", Joe, but I can't even fathom the idea of paying to see it. A PG-13 John McClane? Go fuck yourselves, Fox. It's one thing to fuck up the last X-Men movie just so they could beat "Superman Returns" to theatres and (in their minds) stick it to Bryan Singer, but to make a "family-friendly" "Die Hard" film? Who are the ad wizards that came up with this one? Pity, too, because they had me before I heard that the movie was bowlderized.

Pot and I caught "Stephanie Daley" up here the other night. Although Pot caught more of it than I did, because I popped some Benadryl before the movie and I had worked a noon-to-4-am shift the previous night, and I inevitably was loopy and fading throughout the movie. But what I did see of "Stephanie" was great. It's about a 16 year old girl (Amber Tamblyn) who is found to have had a suspicious miscarriage during a school ski trip. The police hire a psychologist (Tilda Swinton), who also happens to be pregnant as well as a recent sufferer of miscarriage, to determine whether or not Stephanie killed the baby, or if it was stillborn as she claims. The acting was top-notch, the story was great....I basically liked everything I saw, but since I would estimate that I missed about 1/3 of it all in my daze, I will have to see it again before giving an official judgement. I definitely saw enough to say that it's one of the better movies I've seen this year, and if it plays near any of you guys, give it a shot.

I also loved "Rules of Attraction". Last I heard, Roger Avary and Kip Pardue were doing "Glitterati", a feature-length spinoff following Victor on the trip through Europe that was so memorably summarized in that classic, hyperactive bit from "Rules". Avary also has the rights to "Glamorama", another Ellis novel that follows a different incarnation of Victor, which itself was supposedly ripped off heavily in "Zoolander".

[Somewhat Damaged]

Walked to the local art house theater tonight to see Day Watch. There was a special event going on, a sing-along to ABBA and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and I guess I happened to arrive during the sing-along's intermission because when I went to buy a ticket, the guy just let me in for free. I'm not really one for effects driven movies but this one seemed innovative and thought-provoking enough. The director is extremely talented but as the story trodded along, I couldn't help but think of how disjointed and incoherent it was. I gave it the benefit of the doubt for a long period because...well, because I guess I'm just that nice of a guy, or maybe I was afraid of not being hip enough to realize what was going on. But after Anton arrived at Yegor's birthday party with his face bloodied by a single punch from some jackass whose sole appearance in the film is to deliver that apparently brutal blow, I gave up. Still an enjoyable film, especially at the price I paid, but it went to demonstrate that Americans don't have the market cornered on big, dumb special effects bonanzas that can't tell a story well.

[bmack86]

That one is Rocky Horror level in its midnight viewing fame.

[CuervoPH]

Walked to the local art house theater tonight to see Day Watch.

I just saw "Night Watch" a couple of nights ago. Sounds like "Day Watch" kept up the trend started by "Night Watch" in that, if one hasn't read the books the movies are based upon, the movies can be a bit confusing. I guess there was quite a bit of detail in the books that didn't make the transition to the movie screen. I would have been extremely lost during parts of the movie except that I had the writer's commentary turned on while I was watching it. Not a bad movie and I enjoyed the effects, but I think I'll track down the books before I watch "Day Watch".

(Oh yeah, and according to the writer's commentary, the opening scene of "Night Watch" was actually in the "Day Watch" book but was added to the first movie to make it more understandable. This should make it interesting when I finally get around to reading the books.)

[KungFuJoe]

Still an enjoyable film, especially at the price I paid, but it went to demonstrate that Americans don't have the market cornered on big, dumb special effects bonanzas that can't tell a story well.


Yes, they do. Where as "Night Watch" was an innovative Russian film. "Day Watch" was picked up by Fox Searchlight & half produced by the company. The dumb American production company rushed them to complete the story instead of making the set trilogy, so that we can make the 3rd one "Dusk Watch" an American film. I loved "Night watch" and it totally sucks that once American hands got on this franchise it completely bombed. "Day Watch" has it's moments, but I could've warned you it was a huge disappointment.

and Gabe, I'm disappointed you'd totally give up on "die Hard" simply because they made it a PG-13 film. It's seriously, just as fun as the other films. Of course it can not match the first one, but it really doesn't feel like a PG-13 film. I guess there is just way less cursing & not a lot of blood & gore, though it is very violent. Sure, I was a bit pissed to hear it wasn't going to be an R rated film, but it really didn't disappoint. What really ticks me off is that films like "Once" & "Kung Fu Hustle" get R ratings. I think you should be more pissed off at the ratings bureau than the production company. I mean I haven't seen "Once" yet, perhap there is a lot of cursing?

[schoolofruckus]

Don't get me wrong - I'm always more pissed at the ratings board than at anyone else in the movie business. But I hate that Fox/Willis decided to play along and make a "Die Hard" that kids can get into. I mean, if the only "fuck" I hear in the movie is in 'Yippie Kay Yay, motherfucker!', that doesn't feel right. It's not "Die Hard" to me. But you have seen it and I have not, so I will concede that it probably works better than I think.

"Once" has a ton of profanity; as far as I can tell, that's just the way Irish people talk. By the rules, it's not that outrageous of an R. But the rules are fucking stupid to begin with.

[bmack86]

Yes, they do. Where as "Night Watch" was an innovative Russian film. "Day Watch" was picked up by Fox Searchlight & half produced by the company. The dumb American production company rushed them to complete the story instead of making the set trilogy, so that we can make the 3rd one "Dusk Watch" an American film. I loved "Night watch" and it totally sucks that once American hands got on this franchise it completely bombed. "Day Watch" has it's moments, but I could've warned you it was a huge disappointment.

He was talking about Priscilla. C'mon now.

[Somewhat Damaged]

I haven't seen "Night Watch" yet so perhaps that would have been helpful in understanding the story in "Day Watch" a bit better. So the third film won't be in Russian? Interesting.

One thing that caught my interest is that the trailers I saw for it declared the director as being a "visionary." I produced a film a few years ago for this director who's big in the Goth community. He's fairly talented and charismatic enough to have garnered a large following of sycophants who think that every little thing he makes is magic. I'm on decent enough terms with the guy -- my biggest problem is with the people he surrounds himself with -- but it just makes me nauseous to hear the word "visionary" and "innovative" bandied about in connection to his films since they owe such an obvious debt to filmmakers like Jeunet and Ridley Scott and don't really push any boundaries or tread any ground that isn't already well worn.
I wanted to see if the "visionary" proclamation about Timur Bekmambetov was justified or just another case of some jackass with a distinctive style (but little substance) having his raving acolytes herald him as the Next Great Director when he was actually no such thing. After watching the film, I think he could actually bear some influence on filmmakers in a way not dissimilar to the Wachowskis. He certainly has some big ideas to go along with his cool shots. Hopefully the next entry in the series will return to the form reportedly possessed by "Night Watch."

And for the record, I generally stay away from the source material films are based on. Time spent reading is time spent not writing, and besides, my attention span seems completely shot. (I don't know if it's due to my drug use from a few years ago or what but I can't commit to reading a novel any longer.) And at the end of the film, I want to judge it on its own merits, not give it leniency or be more critical due to whatever it included or left out of the book.

[KungFuJoe]

One thing that caught my interest is that the trailers I saw for it declared the director as being a "visionary." I produced a film a few years ago for this director who's big in the Goth community. He's fairly talented and charismatic enough to have garnered a large following of sycophants who think that every little thing he makes is magic. I'm on decent enough terms with the guy -- my biggest problem is with the people he surrounds himself with -- but it just makes me nauseous to hear the word "visionary" and "innovative" bandied about in connection to his films since they owe such an obvious debt to filmmakers like Jeunet and Ridley Scott and don't really push any boundaries or tread any ground that isn't already well worn.
I wanted to see if the "visionary" proclamation about Timur Bekmambetov was justified or just another case of some jackass with a distinctive style (but little substance) having his raving acolytes herald him as the Next Great Director when he was actually no such thing. After watching the film, I think he could actually bear some influence on filmmakers in a way not dissimilar to the Wachowskis. He certainly has some big ideas to go along with his cool shots. Hopefully the next entry in the series will return to the form reportedly possessed by "Night Watch."

Well, to be quite honest I would love to see Timur's next film to see if he actually is a filmmaker worth merit. Though I loved "Night Watch" I have to admit his style reminded me very much of Jeunet. Also, the "Night Watch" story has very similar themes to films like "Star Wars", "The Matrix" & "Lord of the Rings". So, I can't say it is entirely original. However, I prefer it to the "Underworld" movies. The thing I like most about "Night Watch" is that it has all these elements of other films, yet still feels fresh & orignal. It was also impressive because the has been the biggest film to ever come out of Russia. That alone makes it very notable, though many may argue not a good film. If you get around to watching "Night Watch" try to find the original Russian version because the American realease cut out a fairly important character.

[Mr.Nipples]

the ultra-secret trailer for the new jj abrams produced godzilla movie is attached to transformers...word is its the greatest trailer ever made...if it is godzilla, im going to be a very happy nerd...

[thinnerair]

i heard Transformers was awful.

Die Hard was excellent!

[bug on your lip]

Some Kind of Monster was off the chain !

[thinnerair]

Some Kind of Monster was off the chain !

this isn't gonna end, is it?

[bug on your lip]

This is the end that will never end
This is the voice of silence no more

We the people
Are we the people?

Some kind of monster
This monster lives

[J~$$$]

cpgStUl7o30&mode

[marooko]

i heard Transformers was awful.

Die Hard was excellent!

yeah, die hard was dope. we went to see it twice. i havent done that since i was like 15. fuck that was a long time ago.

[mob roulette]

And for the record, I generally stay away from the source material films are based on. Time spent reading is time spent not writing, and besides, my attention span seems completely shot. (I don't know if it's due to my drug use from a few years ago or what but I can't commit to reading a novel any longer.) And at the end of the film, I want to judge it on its own merits, not give it leniency or be more critical due to whatever it included or left out of the book.

Randy?

Oh wait, I'm sorry. I meant Ricky. Ricky. So hey bro, you want to go see Zoo with me? No pesky source material to worry about there. Unless of course you want to count "Donkey Facials Monthly". I hear you can get a subscription.

[J~$$$]

ewww really zoo?

Im sure the movie is great....Im just going off the backstory with the ewwww

[mob roulette]

It's opening here next week, I think. Let's see if young Ricky's up for it, since he clearly doesn't care for reading.

Rick? Whaddya say?

[schoolofruckus]

the ultra-secret trailer for the new jj abrams produced godzilla movie is attached to transformers...word is its the greatest trailer ever made...if it is godzilla, im going to be a very happy nerd...

This movie shoots a couple nights on my backlot in a couple weeks. It's not Godzilla, per se, but it's an alien monster of some sort....the name of which I can't recall. The movie's working title is either "Cloverfield" or "Slusho".

According to AICN, the whole thing is being shot with a consumer video camera, so as to appear like someone's home movie of the attack; I think that's the most kick-ass idea for a sci-fi action film that I've heard in a while. Kind of like "Blair Witch" on a HUGE budget.

[breakjaw]

This movie shoots a couple nights on my backlot in a couple weeks. It's not Godzilla, per se, but it's an alien monster of some sort....the name of which I can't recall. The movie's working title is either "Cloverfield" or "Slusho".

According to AICN, the whole thing is being shot with a consumer video camera, so as to appear like someone's home movie of the attack; I think that's the most kick-ass idea for a sci-fi action film that I've heard in a while. Kind of like "Blair Witch" on a HUGE budget.

Well,I took my son and his friends to see "Transformers" and the new JJ Abrams trailer had everyone whispering excitedly afterwards.It does look like it's filmed with a very nice handheld video camera.It starts off at the farewell party in some swanky NY restaurant,for some young guy I didn't recognize,who we learn is going to Japan for some reason.Well there's all sorts of rumbling and noise from outside,and everyone runs out where stuff is blowing up and glass shattering and people screaming,and then there's some sort of unearthly roar from the tops of the buildings and then the head of the Statue Of Liberty crashes down near the camera.
I told my son that it was Godzilla because I read here that it was.He wouldn't have been as impressed by "Slusho".

[atom heart]

"Slusho" sounds like it would be the name of the monster in The Host.

[roberto73]

Perhaps it's a remake of ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/insomniacmonty/208930Slithis-Posters.jpg

[J~$$$]

Maybe....

[Somewhat Damaged]

It's opening here next week, I think. Let's see if young Ricky's up for it, since he clearly doesn't care for reading.

Rick? Whaddya say?

Do I know you?

For someone apparently so big on reading, your reading comprehension seems to be lacking. While I said that I have difficulty committing to a novel and don't read the source material for film adaptations, that doesn't mean I don't go in on short story compilations or books that haven't been turned into films. I didn't say that I don't care for reading.
I watched Children of Men on DVD this morning and was again stunned by the cinematography. I enjoyed being able to rewind and watch particular shots (like the attack on the car, the birth of the child, and Theo's journey from the battle ravaged streets to the apartment building) repeatedly. And after it was finished, I remembered David Poland's negative review of the film. He had read the book and came up with what he thought was a more powerful story. His experience with P.D. James' book impacted his enjoyment of Alfonso Cuaron's film. That's happened to me more than a few times in the past. Being that film is the medium I enjoy most, I'd rather not risk having my reaction to a film be tainted by my perception of the book it was based on. How is that grounds for derision, exactly?

[schoolofruckus]

I found out this week that "The Darjeeling Limited" comes out in late September, as opposed to on Christmas. Fucking awesome.

[bmack86]

Just watched Die Hard. For the first time, because, yes, I am a failure at life. It was damn good. Yippe Ki Yaye Mothafucka.

[schoolofruckus]

I just finished watching "Juliet of the Spirits", and I'm fucking speechless. I feel like I just saw my first film in color. The movie was a sensory overload in every imaginable way. Needless to say, I loved the holy living shit out of it.

I watched "Barton Fink" this morning...I liked it as well. Not my favorite Coen Bros. film, but a stellar entry in their catalog, no doubt.

[suprefan]

i heard Transformers was awful.




Go see it then let us know. Saw it and I enjoyed it very much. And yeah the JJ Abrams trailer was cool to watch, I had found a youtube clip but you needed to see it in the theater to hear everyones reaction. "What was that? "is it godzilla?" some alien?" "huh?" I was stoked.

[mob roulette]

For someone apparently so big on reading, your reading comprehension seems to be lacking. While I said that I have difficulty committing to a novel and don't read the source material for film adaptations, that doesn't mean I don't go in on short story compilations or books that haven't been turned into films. I didn't say that I don't care for reading.
I watched Children of Men on DVD this morning and was again stunned by the cinematography. I enjoyed being able to rewind and watch particular shots (like the attack on the car, the birth of the child, and Theo's journey from the battle ravaged streets to the apartment building) repeatedly. And after it was finished, I remembered David Poland's negative review of the film. He had read the book and came up with what he thought was a more powerful story. His experience with P.D. James' book impacted his enjoyment of Alfonso Cuaron's film. That's happened to me more than a few times in the past. Being that film is the medium I enjoy most, I'd rather not risk having my reaction to a film be tainted by my perception of the book it was based on. How is that grounds for derision, exactly?

I'm sorry that we misunderstood each other. I wasn't suggesting that you were illiterate or even unintelligent. I just found your comment to be a bit disingenuous in some ways. When Michael Bay (or whomever) gets around to pillaging "Atlas Shruuged" and casting Scarlett Johansson as a gum chomping, fleet foot business executive by day and a Power Ranger by night, how will you know if he has stayed true to the author's original artistic vision? When James Franco or Josh Hartnett stars as the disaffected protagonist who kidnaps little kids and teaches them how to blow shit up in James Cameron's lavish adaptation of "The Catcher In The Rye", how will you knew when or how to call bullshit if you haven't read the souce material first? How, I ask you?

Also, I know that I'm likely in the minority here, but I really don't care. I still believe in storytelling.

[schoolofruckus]

I'm sorry that we misunderstood each other. I wasn't suggesting that you were illiterate or even unintelligent. I just found your comment to be a bit disingenuous in some ways. When Michael Bay (or whomever) gets around to pillaging "Atlas Shruuged" and casting Scarlett Johansson as a gum chomping, fleet foot business executive by day and a Power Ranger by night, how will you know if he has stayed true to the author's original artistic vision? When James Franco or Josh Hartnett stars as the disaffected protagonist who kidnaps little kids and teaches them how to blow shit up in James Cameron's lavish adaptation of "The Catcher In The Rye", how will you knew when or how to call bullshit if you haven't read the souce material first? How, I ask you?

Also, I know that I'm likely in the minority here, but I really don't care. I still believe in storytelling.

I don't know who's directing "Atlas Shrugged", but Angelina Jolie is developing it with the idea that she will play the role of Dagny Taggart.

[KungFuJoe]

I found out this week that "The Darjeeling Limited" comes out in late September, as opposed to on Christmas. Fucking awesome.

Are you sure it's getting a theatrical release then or is it just its premiere at the New York Film Festival you're thinking of? When I heard it was opening the Fest I was very upset it was going to be a week after I leave NY. I'd be very excited if you are right.

[schoolofruckus]

From what I heard, they're opening it in major cities the day after its NYFF premiere on Friday 9/28. This has been done before (I think I read that "The Ice Storm" did the same thing in '97). It should be wide by mid-October.

EDIT: It'll at least play in New York on 9/29. I can't imagine LA won't follow shortly thereafter.

More info on this, plus some light shed on "4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days" and "No Country For Old Men"!!! (http://content.foxsearchlight.com/inside/node/1968)

[Somewhat Damaged]

I'm sorry that we misunderstood each other. I wasn't suggesting that you were illiterate or even unintelligent. I just found your comment to be a bit disingenuous in some ways. When Michael Bay (or whomever) gets around to pillaging "Atlas Shruuged" and casting Scarlett Johansson as a gum chomping, fleet foot business executive by day and a Power Ranger by night, how will you know if he has stayed true to the author's original artistic vision? When James Franco or Josh Hartnett stars as the disaffected protagonist who kidnaps little kids and teaches them how to blow shit up in James Cameron's lavish adaptation of "The Catcher In The Rye", how will you knew when or how to call bullshit if you haven't read the souce material first? How, I ask you?

Also, I know that I'm likely in the minority here, but I really don't care. I still believe in storytelling.

That's the thing about communicating on the internet, it's hard to know exactly what someone's intentions may be just based on the words written. And I was also meaning to be concise in the post that "started" this misunderstanding. If Michael Bay were to adapt "Atlas Shrugged" and turn it into a bona fide Michael Bay film, I would stay away from it and opt for the book. (I've avoided the last couple Michael Bay films anyway and may only watch Transformers because I remember playing with the toys when I was a kid. If not for that slight nostalgia, his involvement would keep me away.) It really depends on the book and the film. I've heard good things about Cormac McCarthy's The Road and hope to read that soon. If a director I respect and admire ends up helming a film adaptation, I would probably give it a look. If Joel Schumacher directed it, I would pass. It's not so cut and dry that I'd always pick a film over the book, but in general that's what I've found to suit me best. (Best example being the novels Kubrick based his movies on. Stephen King may hate what Kubrick did with The Shining but I think the film is more effectively creepy than the novel. The performances venture into hamminess but I'll still take Kubrick's vision over King's.)

[bmack86]

I watched Naked City today. It was a bit dated, but a cool cinematic work. The story was fairly straightforward, basically a whodunit, but it was cool to see all the on location shots of old New York in the 1940s. The acting wasn't spectacular, but wasn't bad by any means. It was an enjoyable hour and a half.

[bmack86]

I just watched The Naked Kiss (Criterion #18) and let me just say, any victims of Child Molestation, stay away. This movie is the prototype for modern social commentary. It features a prostitute as the protagonist, a cop as the "bad guy" and the story prominently addresses abortion, child rape and corruption. It's not easy to digest, but damn if it isn't affecting. The acting is a bit dated (the picture was made in 1964) but if you ever were the victim of any sort of sexual misconduct, this picture will hit you very deeply. I don't recommend watching it for purely pleasure, but this piece made me think about my role in society, and it's deeply affecting, and extremely well made, as well as acting as a prototype for the post-noir films that came out in the 70s and 80s, and beyond.

[wmgaretjax]

I just finished watching "Juliet of the Spirits", and I'm fucking speechless. I feel like I just saw my first film in color. The movie was a sensory overload in every imaginable way. Needless to say, I loved the holy living shit out of it.


yes! you have finally lived gabe! that film is mind blowing.

also, I saw "Sunshine" as a part of the Roskilde festival. I loved it, a visual masterpiece. I won't say more, because I was far too trashed to give a real critical evaluation of the film.

[schoolofruckus]

I'm glad to hear "Sunshine" has at least some merit. I will be seeing it in the theater.

Has anyone heard about the supposed Hugh Hefner biopic that's going to be helmed by Brett Ratner? The latest rumor - based on some typical hemming and hawing by Ratner the other night to a TMZ camera in Beverly Hills - is that he's "in talks" with none other than Paris Hilton to play a roll in the film. This is exactly like when I heard "The Fountain" would be scored by Mogwai, only the extreme fucking opposite. This movie cannot possibly go higher than "entertaining multiple train collision", and it could go so far as to be the worst movie of all time.

[suprefan]

Ouch, that will be horrible if Paris is on board. And yeah Ratner is directing, who knows how it will come out. Did you ever watch the one Hefner movie that was made and aired on USA like a couple years ago? That one was decent.

[bmack86]

I just watched Amores Perros. Fantastic. I can't say much more than that, but it was great.

[CuervoPH]

I just watched Amores Perros. Fantastic. I can't say much more than that, but it was great.


I have that in my Netflix queue. It's the only one of the Inarritu/Arriaga "trilogy" I haven't seen.

I finally saw "La Strada" for the first time tonight. Up until now, "8 1/2" had been my favorite Fellini film, but now I'm definitely torn. The ending was very emotional, and I loved Giuletta Masina's performance as Gelsomina. Anthony Quinn was good as always, but Masina was captivating.

[schoolofruckus]

And yeah Ratner is directing, who knows how it will come out.

I do. It'll be awful, as per his usual output.

I just watched Amores Perros. Fantastic. I can't say much more than that, but it was great.

Yeah, that movie is amazing; one of my all-time favorites.

I finally saw "La Strada" for the first time tonight. Up until now, "8 1/2" had been my favorite Fellini film, but now I'm definitely torn. The ending was very emotional, and I loved Giuletta Masina's performance as Gelsomina. Anthony Quinn was good as always, but Masina was captivating.

I'm with you all the way there (except on "8 1/2", but only because I haven't seen it yet). "La Strada" is fucking heartbreaking, Giulietta in particular. I think I prefer "Juliet of the Spirits" overall - I want to eat the fucking print of that film - but her performance in "La Strada" is one of the all-time greats.

I just bought "If...", "Bottle Rocket", "Pleasantville", and Antonioni's "The Passenger" off of eBay for about $64 total. Fucking score. I got sick of waiting around for "If..." to become available by Netflix, I'm dying to watch "The Passenger" again (especially to see that classic final shot over and over), and I've always wanted to own the other two.

[Somewhat Damaged]

I watched Breathless the other day and could see why Quentin Tarantino is such a Godard fan. I've been more of a Truffaut man myself and kind of figured one was either a fan of Godard or Truffaut, but not both. I don't know where the notion of a rivalry between the two developed (at least in my mind), but it did and as such, I stayed away from Godard for years. Now I feel almost as revitalized by him as I did when I first saw The 400 Blows and Jules and Jim. The video store I used to work at has sections devoted to both directors right next to one another so I've taken to renting a film of each indefinitely until I'm familiar with both oeuvres. This weekend I got Band of Outsiders and The Soft Skin. The most exciting thing about these films is how they've altered the course of events in the new script I'm currently writing. I don't feel as obligated to adhere to conventional screenwriting formulas as I have been before. The only drawback is that few people I've worked on films with previously are into the French New Wave and draw most of their influence from more contemporary filmmakers, which isn't inherently bad, it's just they don't have any frame of reference for the sort of ideas that the films of Truffaut and Godard have inspired in me.

[vogina]

saw transformers earlier today.. pretty cool. graphics were chill, plot was eh, but whatever. overall, "cant wait for number 2, 3, hope 4, and probably number 5 movies when they come out

[rage patton]

Anyone think they will makes a Transformers movie based of Beast Wars? (Or Beasties... whatever you wanna call it.)

[tessalasset]

I was supposed to see Transformers tonight but I didn't go through with it. I just can't get myself to watch that movie.

[bballarl]

I can't either.


I saw Pretty Woman tonight with my gf. It was good. I enjoyed it. I was proud I could recognize areas where it was filmed too. Like 3 of them, but still.

[thinnerair]

I tried to go on Friday, but it was sold out like woah!
Anyone get to see this yet?

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION
1982-1989, 100 minutes, video. Produced by Chris Strompolos; camera/special effects by Jayson Lamb. Starring Zala, Strompolos, and Angela Rodriguez.
An extremely rare presentation of the semi-legendary shot-for-shot remake of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK made by three 12-year-olds in Mississippi. Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, and Jayson Lamb started shooting in 1982 – and didn't have a clue what they were getting themselves into. Their production wrapped in 1989, and was shelved and forgotten until 2003 when Eli Roth (CABIN FEVER) screened a bootleg copy in the middle of the night at Austin's legendary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. The rest is history.
[A feature film based on the filmmakers' story is now in production with Dan (GHOST WORLD) Clowes penning the script, which resulted in producer Scott Rudin and Paramount Pictures buying the intellectual property rights to their childhood. How weird is that?]
"Nothing short of stunning. Everything is here – the rolling boulder, the live snakes, the heart-thudding truck sequence, and everywhere flames, flames, flames. The boys have made a few inventive substitutions – a puppy dog stands in for a monkey, a boat for a plane. But even more impressive are the things they don't substitute – a submarine, a truck on fire, a melting face, the same copy of a 1936 Life magazine used in the original. This is not 'cute' or 'impressive considering their age' – it is a genuine virtuoso work.
The film is a crowd-pleaser, turning all the RAIDERS action – clichéd after 20 years of imitation – into a new and genuinely startling viewing experience. How will they do this next scene? How can they pull that stunt off? And don't forget that these kids are literally growing up in front of the camera. Voices deepen, hairstyles change, the hero grows stubble, the heroine grows breasts. Though writers abuse this phrase…it's like nothing you've seen before." –Sarah Hepola, AUSTIN CHRONICLE

[chrislasf]

My boss has this on DVD - I have watched about 10 minutes of it. It is pretty awesome.

[tessalasset]

Chris how did you get a personalized title?!?!

[chrislasf]

skillz...

[tessalasset]

dayum

[downingthief]

I tried to go on Friday, but it was sold out like woah!
Anyone get to see this yet?

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: THE ADAPTATION
1982-1989, 100 minutes, video. Produced by Chris Strompolos; camera/special effects by Jayson Lamb. Starring Zala, Strompolos, and Angela Rodriguez.
An extremely rare presentation of the semi-legendary shot-for-shot remake of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK made by three 12-year-olds in Mississippi. Chris Strompolos, Eric Zala, and Jayson Lamb started shooting in 1982 – and didn't have a clue what they were getting themselves into. Their production wrapped in 1989, and was shelved and forgotten until 2003 when Eli Roth (CABIN FEVER) screened a bootleg copy in the middle of the night at Austin's legendary Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. The rest is history.
[A feature film based on the filmmakers' story is now in production with Dan (GHOST WORLD) Clowes penning the script, which resulted in producer Scott Rudin and Paramount Pictures buying the intellectual property rights to their childhood. How weird is that?]
"Nothing short of stunning. Everything is here – the rolling boulder, the live snakes, the heart-thudding truck sequence, and everywhere flames, flames, flames. The boys have made a few inventive substitutions – a puppy dog stands in for a monkey, a boat for a plane. But even more impressive are the things they don't substitute – a submarine, a truck on fire, a melting face, the same copy of a 1936 Life magazine used in the original. This is not 'cute' or 'impressive considering their age' – it is a genuine virtuoso work.
The film is a crowd-pleaser, turning all the RAIDERS action – clichéd after 20 years of imitation – into a new and genuinely startling viewing experience. How will they do this next scene? How can they pull that stunt off? And don't forget that these kids are literally growing up in front of the camera. Voices deepen, hairstyles change, the hero grows stubble, the heroine grows breasts. Though writers abuse this phrase…it's like nothing you've seen before." –Sarah Hepola, AUSTIN CHRONICLE

This sounds awesome...can't wait to get home, and check out the trailer. Damn work; can't view anything in Quicktime.

[J~$$$]

its on the youtubes

[downingthief]

its on the youtubes

God bless the youtubes...

thanks!

[breakjaw]

I have seen about half an hour of this.It is fun and certainly very inventive but you start wishing you were seeing the real movie about 15 minutes in.Chris Columbus is directing the movie about this from what I understand.It's strange that while I was reading about this,I've been listening to Howard Stern's interview with Eli Roth from about a month ago.

[breakjaw]

OK Eli Roth fucking RULES.On the interview w/Stern:
(talking about working w/director Martin Brest on Meet Joe Black)
ELI:Martin Brest would turn to me and say this is the shot that's going to get me the Oscar
ROBIN QUIVERS:On Meet Joe Black?!!
ELI:On Meet Joe Black.And he was doing 18 takes of Brad Pitt.And Anthony Hopkins was like,"I'm not a heavyweight,I can't do 18 takes.I'm one of the best actors in the world,you get 5 takes,sorry."
HOWARD:18 takes?
ELI:Martin Brest thought he was Stanley Kubrick
HOWARD:What is he doing now?
ELI:Now he's Stanley Roper,I think he's a landlord.

[PotVsKtl]

Eli Roth is a piece of shit.

[breakjaw]

O yeah,you're right.I forgot.He was funny in the interview with Howard Stern.Just trying to mask how much of a piece of shit he is,I guess.

[schoolofruckus]

I think Eli Roth is a piece of shit also, but he's a pretty gifted entertainer. As a public speaker/storyteller, I mean. His stories about running the first Hustler chatroom back in '94 when he was at NYU are hilarious. I don't respect him, but he's pretty fucking funny.

His movies are complete garbage unless you're high. They can be called guilty pleasures on his birthday, I guess.

[thinnerair]

I think Eli Roth is a piece of shit also, but he's a pretty gifted entertainer. As a public speaker/storyteller, I mean. His stories about running the first Hustler chatroom back in '94 when he was at NYU are hilarious. I don't respect him, but he's pretty fucking funny.

His movies are complete garbage unless you're high. They can be called guilty pleasures on his birthday, I guess.

how about Thanksgiving? I'd watch that.

[breakjaw]

"Dark meat,white meat,it's all getting CARVED."

[atom heart]

Saw Once yesterday, the Irish indie musical.
There isn't much to say about it other than it's really sweet, from the scruffy busker protagonist with the huge emotive eyes to the thieving gutter punk. There isn't much dialogue and when there is not much is said. Instead, the entire story (and it's a simple but sweet one) is fleshed out by song (it is a musical after all, but not in the way one would expect). The production is rough, the music is crowd pleasing (read: like Coldplay but more sincere and lo-fi) and strangely catchy. It had the audience whistling softly down the street.

edit: The scruffy busker is the lead singer of The Frames, Glen Hansard.

[CuervoPH]

I finally saw "The Grand Illusion". Yes, I'm slow. However, I'm enjoying the Criterion Collection DVD's so much I decided to start from the beginning. It's amazing how well the film has aged. It hardly seems dated at all (except for the fact of how well the prisoners of war were treated, but as the director puts it, World War I was still very much a "gentleman's war".) I can only imagine how many subsequent movies were influenced by this one, and the last line of the movie is brilliant. Anyway, excellent prison escape/antiwar/study of human relationships movie.

[schoolofruckus]

The next Chuck Palahniuk adaptation is on its way. (http://www.aintitcool.com/node/33298)

I agree with Ain't It Cool - I love the casting choices so far.

[marooko]

http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/2632/filekc3.gif

[Mr.Nipples]

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t39/RetardoTronFiveThousand/BigShow02.jpg

[Stefinitely Maybe]

http://www.cites.org/gallery/speciespics/mammal/large/dugong.jpg

[J~$$$]

http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k7/msteakley/bulljpg.jpg

[PotVsKtl]

Dugong.

[schoolofruckus]

If the majority of "Cloverfield" is anywhere near as cool as the stuff that's filming right now, it's going to be one of the best sci-fi action films of all time.

[PotVsKtl]

Are you atempting to imply you've been on the set?

[bballarl]

Is it officially called Cloverfield or is that just the temporary title?

[schoolofruckus]

Are you atempting to imply you've been on the set?

Been on the set? Shoot, black, I own this beyotch.

Is it officially called Cloverfield or is that just the temporary title?

Temporary. Make that former temporary. They change the title of it every week, it seems. It's currently called "Chocolate Outrage".

[PotVsKtl]

IS IT ABOUT A SEA MONSTER

[bballarl]

Fanboy.

[PotVsKtl]

It's the harrowing tale of an enraged dugong hell-bent on revenge on the peoples of New York City and her neighboring burroughs.

[rage patton]

http://xs217.xs.to/xs217/07286/dewgong.jpg (http://xs.to)

[garrett222]

I love Super Size Me...I hated Fast Food Nation. Neither took away my constant desire for those delicious hamburgers

[SojuGorae]

Saw the GM robot movie. It sucked. The end.

[full on idle]

I clicked the youtuble link then pasted in the fucking letters that are at the end after the question mark and it's not fucking working.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyWgzUGOliw

[SojuGorae]

I love Super Size Me...I hated Fast Food Nation. Neither took away my constant desire for those delicious hamburgers

I actually went out and had a super-sized combo from McD's after watching that movie. So not joking. It was good.

[CuervoPH]

I just watched "La Vie En Rose". I liked the way Dahan sequenced the movie, with events happening in a non-linear fashion (resembling the way memories can come flooding back in a random order), and Marion Cotillard was freaking amazing in the lead role. I just wish I had an Edith Piaf CD here to listen to.

[menikmati]

I clicked the youtuble link then pasted in the fucking letters that are at the end after the question mark and it's not fucking working.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VyWgzUGOliw

Paste the letters after the equal sign...

[Mr.Nipples]

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t39/RetardoTronFiveThousand/11808postergh6.jpg
anyone know if this is real?

cate blanchett as bob dylan...and david cross as ginsberg...
VyWgzUGOliw

[Somewhat Damaged]

[IMG]cate blanchett as bob dylan...and david cross as ginsberg...
VyWgzUGOliw

I'm not much of a Todd Haynes fan but I'm really looking forward to this. I wonder how long this clip will be up for. Good find.

[Mr.Nipples]

it should be up for awhile, its on aintitcool...

[mountmccabe]

I just watched A Prairie Home Companion. It was very much Altman. It was very much dying Altman. It was very much GK, though, too. It was also very much short. Then again maybe with another say 40 minutes tacked on it would be too much GK. I don't like his show, really.

It was a lovely movie. It was a nice movie. I liked it but I'm not sure I need to see it again, eh.

[RotationSlimWang]

I was really disappointed in A Prairie Home Companion the second that I realized it was about the show, and not about Lake Wobegone. I'm a huge admirer of Keillor's storytelling ability (my parents used to buy me compilations of APHC both as education and because Keillor's voice is wonderful for lulling you to sleep), and I think that a movie that just took five of the best tales of Lake Wobegone would be amazing with very little effort.

[schoolofruckus]

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t39/RetardoTronFiveThousand/11808postergh6.jpg
anyone know if this is real?

It's real, alright.

cate blanchett as bob dylan...and david cross as ginsberg...
VyWgzUGOliw

Isn't this movie a re-telling of Bob Dylan's life with several different actors playing him during various important events? Kind of like how "Palindromes" was cast. It seems like it could be interesting; the only one of Haynes' films that I've seen is "Safe", and I admired it, but I can't say I was all that crazy about it.

[schoolofruckus]

Also, the legendary teaser is now on the Quicktime page. (http://www.apple.com/trailers/paramount/11808/)

[full on idle]

It's real, alright.



Isn't this movie a re-telling of Bob Dylan's life with several different actors playing him during various important events? Kind of like how "Palindromes" was cast. It seems like it could be interesting; the only one of Haynes' films that I've seen is "Safe", and I admired it, but I can't say I was all that crazy about it.

That's what I fucking posted was a link to that.

I give up.

[suprefan]

Voltron is in production, yessssssssssssss


http://www.latinoreview.com/scriptreview.php?id=65



VOLTRON
Screenplay by Justin Marks
Adapted from the animated series “Voltron: Defender of the Universe”
Draft date: 05/23/07, 110 pages


WOW! WOW! WOW! ANOTHER GIANT FUCKING ROBOT MOVIE! WOOHOO!

I’m still geeking out after reading my favorite fucking script of the year so far!

Justin Marks just became one of my favorite writers in Hollywood. We have been hearing a lot of hype about this new kid recently who scored the writing jobs of STREETFIGHTER, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, SUPERMAX and of course VOLTRON.

FOLKS! BELIEVE THE HYPE! JUSTIN MARKS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING DELIVERS!

Ok, enough cock stroking and let’s get down to business.

After the massive disappointment that was the recent G.I. JOE draft, I was literally heartbroken for a second there. I was so disheartened, that when the call came in for VOLTRON, I was in no mood to read another terrible adaptation of a cherished 1980’s property. I told my guy, the wounds from G.I. JOE are still raw, if VOLTRON sucks I’m taking a baseball bat to this fucking writer’s head!

That simply won’t be the case because Marks made me a believer again!

I had a little hope because David Goyer is a dope writer and isn’t going to work with someone whack on SUPERMAX. I never read any of Mark’s specs but heard great things about his BLACK OPS. I just never got around to reading it.

You see, folks being a kid of the 1980’s who rushed home from school to watch the solid lineup of New York’s channel 11 WPIX in the afternoon, on September 10th, 1984 – Voltron debuted and would go on to become a legend. I was a sixth grader back then and the talk of that week wasn’t G.I. JOE or TRANSFORMERS but how fucking awesome and different the new Voltron cartoon was. Voltron was my entry into the world of Japanimation.

Right here on my very desk looking at me is the Die Cast metal Voltron that I got in Chinatown. Because I was good student, my father spent like $80 bucks back in 1984 to get me my Voltron which was known as Lionbot. A few of the die cast metal lionbots are still available on ebay. I’ve had my lionbot/voltron now for 23 years. That is the advantage of having a toy made out of metal.

Media Blasters recently remastered and put out the Voltron series in special tins on DVD. I only have the first tin with the first 15 episodes – the blue tin. When GOLION (The Japanese version of Voltron) hits dvd this year, you bet your ass I’m gonna get it. The blue tin has some good documentaries on it too.

On the eve of the release of TRANSFORMERS - a movie that is going to make some serious Colombian Cocaine Cartel cold hard cash – we now have ANOTHER GIANT FUCKING ROBOT MOVIE on the horizon!

THE SCRIPT ROCKS! I give it THE STRONGEST CONSIDERATION POSSIBLE THAT A SCREENPLAY CAN RECEIVE if I was the story editor at the studio considering Voltron. Mark Gordon is going to have a bidding war on his hands with Voltron after TRANSFORMERS opens. Anyone who passes on Voltron has got to be a fucking idiot.
So let’s get down to it! What’s the setup?

What is so damn cool about the script is that it pays homage to both incarnations of the Voltron cartoon – the American and Japanese versions. GOLION came out back in 1981 in Japan, three years later in America. GOLION was considered too hardcore for American audiences so it was edited down into what would be VOLTRON. Wikpedia nailed down the differences of Voltron and Golion in an awesome article and expose of the Voltron phenomenon, check it out.

The script has the tone, edge and dark elements of GOLION.

VOLTRON is a post apocalyptic movie and a fucking awesome one at that too. Just the way it should be because that was the setup of both cartoons. A little bit of ROAD WARRIOR, a little bit INDEPENDENCE DAY, a little bit WAR OF THE WORLDS, a little bit of ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK, a little bit of THE TERMINATOR, and a little bit of THE MATRIX with some STARGATE thrown in for good measure!

Also, none of the elements that made Voltron corny are in the script – no Nanny, no Hagar, and especially no fucking space mice! In fact, no corniness at all!

Here is the setup: The Drules have invaded Earth and kicked our ass in the ONE DAY WAR. Humanity has gone underground. New York has been decimated and our story opens on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Drule invasion. Think about it, Earth was conquered by an Alien race in 24 hours.

We meet our main hero KEITH KOGAN (30s) – tattoos all over his chest and arms, various icons from a life long since past. Tough. A reluctant leader. This is not a guy who plays well with others. He’d rather run through fire than do what you told him to. Keith is sleeping in some crawl space and is awoken by…

LANCE MCCLAIN (black, 20s) – Like Keith, he’s in tattered clothing. But Lance is more light-weight, jovial, less intense. He even wears a smile. I vote for Tyrese Gibson in this role.

Lance gives word that a fancy military style helicopter went down over midtown. Lance wants to loot the copter for warm supplies. Keith reluctantly goes. They get into a converted M2A3 BRADLEY TANK – no ordinary military vehicle, this has been souped-up and customized to the nines. Painted a deeper shade of black, floodlights all around, weapons re-fashioned and sealed up.

Keith and Lance go to the streets of New York which is now a dark, empty, desolate, rainy urban wasteland. Keith’s Bradley tank moves through the debris, they make it to the downed tomahawk helicopter and run into –
DUKANE (30s) – Japanese American, powerful and arrogant. The leader of a rag tag group of soldiers/survivors. One of his eyes is missing. Scars run down his cheek. Like everyone in this world, he’s stood the test of time.

Fans of the cartoon will know that Dukane was the leader of the vehicle Voltron. Nice touch! Here Dukane is like the Duke of New York. Dukane stakes his claim to the helicopter. Keith is not having it. Mexican standoff. In the middle of their negotiation, AN ENORMOUSE METTALIC FOOT comes crashing down out of nowhere, crushing one of Dukane’s soldiers in it’s wake. Where there was once a man, there’s now some kind of enormous robotic leg, stretching up higher and higher to reveal a colossal robotic form.

Fifty-feet tall, a horrible hybrid of metal parts, complete with some kind of awful face and glowing red eyes, staring down at them. We’re not sure if this is alien or man-made, but it’s terrifying.
Folks, this is a ROBEAST. The Robeasts in this script are like the sentinels in The Matrix – they patrol the earth in search of a signal which we will get to later.

The Robeast emits a high-pitched industrial roar and swings its head low over the street. It swipes at the soldiers with its enormous talons as if they were in the way of what it’s really looking for…

I won’t spoil what happens but Keith and Lance escape. Back at the equipment tunnel they run into two figures both cloaked in heavy winter clothing. Nomads, travelers, backpack on their shoulders. One of them carries a sawed off shotgun, which he raises towards Keith.

One of them pulls back her hood to reveal a BEAUTIFUL FEMALE FACE, blonde hair tied up in a bun. Piercing blue eyes. This is ALLURA (20s). Enough to stop traffic.

Behind her, the gunmen lowers his shotgun and removes his hood. Strong, enormous Arab features. Mechanic’s hands on a soldier’s body. This is HUNK (40s).

Hunk is Allura’s personal bodyguard.

Allura and Hunk need safe passage to the south to Mexico. A capable guide who can get them where they need to go. You see, Allura and Hunk are survivors of that helicopter crash that Lance and Keith were gonna loot. Like THE ROAD WARRIROR, Allura promises Keith enough propane reserves to power an entire city. If Keith gets Allura and Hunk back safely, they’ll give them as much as they can carry back.

Keith is the character with the arc in this story just like Mel Gibson in Road Warrior.

Keith reluctantly accepts, steals Dukane’s monster truck off the west side highway and escape out of New York through the Lincoln tunnel.

As the gang barely escapes more Robeasts and make a stop at a Quickstop in Jersey (Kevin Smith’s shop in Clerks perhaps?!) or some decimated suburb, they pick up along the way – A LITTLE BOY who emerges, undernourished and exhausted, clutching his small hands a CARVING KNIFE! His name is SUZUISHI HIROSHI which means “tin stone, ” but we will come to know him by his affectionate nickname…PIDGE (11).

Think of Pidge as the FERAL KID from THE ROAD WARRIOR but a tad bit different. Pidge is good with electronics.

By the end of the first act, the gang makes it to Mexico and run into looters and it is here that Allura’s bag gets knocked out of her hands and out spill FIVE KEYS. Small, ancient-looking but with some kind of modern edge to them, almost like alien artifacts. Each of them has a different color: black, red, blue, green, and yellow. The five keys are drawn together and form some kind of energy core. The looters scatter.

Just like THE ROAD WARRIOR, our gang makes it to the desert outskirts of a military compound after being chased by a Robeast.

Allura disappears into the compound with one of the blue keys, and when she remerges on page 36, she does so in a giant fucking machine in the shape of a colossal, 50 foot tall Lion, assembled entirely out of Earth bound parts. A C-130H tailgate has been used for the mouth, complete with traffic spikes for the teeth. The glass dome of an A6E Intruder cockpit has been soldered onto the head. All of this stands on top of four legs, refashioned from four construction excavator claws.

It’s called a LIONBOT. A hack-assembled masterpiece. A mech you can build in your backyard.
It’s safe to say that the lionbot tears the Robeast’s fucking head off and whups it’s ass.

Keith and Lance are dumbfounded. Moments later the mouth opens and out steps Allura.

Dozens of families are cheering behind them. I was too after I read the battle between the Lionbot and Robeast. Old, young, male, and female. Coming from a variety of different ethnicities. Some are Hispanic, some Arab, some Armenian, still others are dark-shaded Africans. They’re like intercontinental Bedouins.
In the Bedouin compound, we meet Hunk’s wife and children and – SVEN HOLGERSSON (40s). Well-groomed, intelligent European with impeccable taste, a cigarette dangling from long, thin fingers. He wears a thick industrial turtleneck. An air of superiority.

Emerging from behind Holgersson is the embattled frame of CORAN (60s). Unkempt grey hair hangs over his face. He was once a great warrior, but time and tragedy have humbled him.

These are basically all the main characters of Voltron that are in the script. Another nod to Marks because I love the multi ethnicity of the characters. I think it so cool that Voltron is multi cultural. It works for this story.

Pidge runs into a tool shed of some kind and see hundreds of sketches in varying languages, some schematic, some artistic, some downright incomprehensible. Hieroglyphic annotations. Translations from some ancient source. Heavy schematics. All of them depicting five lionbots. One series depicts five lions merging together, re-configuring into a different from altogether. Like a step by step diagram of how they build a HUMANOID FIGURE. What’s more, the figure carries a sword.

By page 43, Keith finds out just what the fuck is going on. Here is where we get a little STARGATE.

The construction of the Mayan Pyramids, hundreds of years ago. And the Egyptian pyramids in Giza. Thousands of years ago. Five points connecting to the heavens. Notice a pattern? Five interlocking sequences completing a single unit. Five keys. We find out is that the histories of Planet Earth and Planet Arus have been linked for thousands of years. Arus is a planet in the Domus system.

The machines belong to an alien race called the Drule Empire. A civilization that grows by consumption. Namely, the consumption of technologies that a planet builds for itself.

On Arus, the five keys were their life source. An energy so complex and so powerful that the Drules would do anything to possess it. That is why the Drules attacked Arus. But the keys exert their own free will. They travel on their own accord. When Arus fell, they traveled across the known universe in search of a safe home. That brought them to Earth twelve thousand years ago. All that was built here on Earth, was built for the keys. Coran, Sven and Allura through high density freezing, didn’t age and are the last survivors of Arus.

That is all I am going to spoil folks. We have to leave some things for surprise. There is a hell of a lot more but what I will say is that the 2nd half is just downright awesome. We get a lot more interesting backstory on Voltron. We get to see all the Lions in action and it is obvious we get to see VOLTRON and yes the famous transformation sequence is in there when they finally do form Voltron. Activate Interlock. Dynatherms connected. Infracells up. Megathrusthers are go…

...VOLTRON!

Yes that dialogue is in there too as a nice touch and trust me folks, VOLTRON ain’t no pussy either. He can probably give Optimus Prime a run for his money. The 3rd act is wall to wall robot on robot action –especially in the main battle with VOLTRON vs the UBER ROBEAST that not only takes place in New York, but around the world! Trust me folks, I rather you see the Uber Robeast in action instead of me spoiling you.
I am going to say that the 3rd act of Voltron is just as good as the 3rd act of TRANSFORMERS.

Voltron also leaves room for a sequel or trilogy! Awesome! The script is definitely solid enough to launch a trilogy. The Drules are solid villains you love to hate and I would just love to see the battle taken to their home planet like they did in the final episodes of the cartoon.

And don’t worry folks, Voltron is in NO WAY CORNY or juvenile. Its edgy, entertaining and respectful of the fans and the source material.

Man, what a fucking privilege and honor it was to read this script. Justin Marks took some of the best elements of sci fi movies and post apocalyptic movies, and created one hell of a giant fucking robot origin movie. VOLTRON on its own stands as one of the best post apocalyptic scripts ever written.

The characters and characterization absolutely work, the action works, the beats work, the backstory works. I have not a single note. Not one. Mark Gordon, don’t touch this script! A mega congratulations and tip of the hat to Justin Marks on a job well motherfucking done. Welcome to the big time kid, you got our seal of approval. I am one happy geek.

Voltron is a fucking masterpiece, a complete miracle and I hope, a movie that will rock you when it rolls out into theaters in due time. TRANSFORMERS will definitely open the door for VOLTRON to be made and I can’t wait. Like TRANSFORMERS, VOLTRON can be a massive fucking hit at the box office.

UNTIL THE NEXT EPISODE…

[schoolofruckus]

That's what I fucking posted was a link to that.

I give up.

I know. I was just asking the room in general.

A Voltron movie? Raise your hand if you didn't see that one coming.

[suprefan]

I know. I was just asking the room in general.

A Voltron movie? Raise your hand if you didn't see that one coming.

It is the year of the Robot, so ya know. GI Joe and Thundercats are being worked on too.(odds are its been mention in here though) I am excited for Evangelion though.

[bmack86]

so, the 11808 trailer rules.

[mountmccabe]

Voltron is in production, yessssssssssssss


http://www.latinoreview.com/scriptreview.php?id=65

I could only read half of that. That half sounded fucking terrible and in such a way that it couldn't possibly be redeemed. Maybe it was just the reviewer eating it up but shit.

Damn I loved that show, though.

[Hannahrain]

My favorite video store closed this week. They started selling all of their videos on friday, so there wasn't much left when I got there today, but I bought Secretary, A Christmas Story, and The Great Mouse Detective. I'm pretty sure I should invite people over and then make them watch all three in a row.

[roberto73]

My favorite video store closed this week. They started selling all of their videos on friday, so there wasn't much left when I got there today, but I bought Secretary, A Christmas Story, and The Great Mouse Detective. I'm pretty sure I should invite people over and then make them watch all three in a row.

Hannah, watch all three, but be sure to impose a theme on the evening that ties all three together. My roommates and I used to do this all the time in college. For instance, we once watched Wrestlemania I ...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/insomniacmonty/512TS0DB48L._AA280_.jpg

... followed by Wrestling Ernest Hemingway.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/insomniacmonty/105832Wrestling-Ernest-Hemingway-Po.jpg

It was a mammoth evening.

[PotVsKtl]

I watched The Saddest Music in the World yesterday while I brushed my cat and drank spritzers in a tanning bed. Guy Maddin is an "experimental" Canadian filmmaker with a penchant for making his films into moving daguerreotypes. This particular movie is about a beer baroness who holds a contest to discover the saddest music in the world. Musicians come from all over the world to compete for the $25,000 Depression-era dollar reward and square off gladiator style in one-on-one weepfests. There's also something about beer filled glass prosthetic legs, Serbia, and sleeping in the snow. It could have been shorter but I wouldn't call it bad.

Also, when you win a round you get to take a bath in beer. This angers and intrigues the American radio-listening audience crushed under the fascist bootheel of prohibition. As it turns out, the Africans enjoy the beer bath the most.

[bug on your lip]

What in the bleep is this

http://imdb.com/title/tt0467110/

[breakjaw]

What in the bleep is this

http://imdb.com/title/tt0467110/
Branding appears to be king now.It's only a matter of time before films pick up on the whole ABC-TV "Cavemen" thing and start making movies out of commercials.I personally can't wait for the Budweiser Frogs in Space movie.

[canexplain]

Branding appears to be king now.It's only a matter of time before films pick up on the whole ABC-TV "Cavemen" thing and start making movies out of commercials.I personally can't wait for the Budweiser Frogs in Space movie.

you are soooo right ... you would think , us as a civilazation sp, could be a little more creative in our thoughts and actions ..... bet the caveman thing lasts about 4 episodes ... i was reading an article about those kind of things, and i totally forgot the "baby bob" show ... that didnt last very long eh ..cr****

[J~$$$]

x-files 2

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2007/07/16/x-files-second-movie-script-is-completed/

[rage patton]

Wait, wait wait.... Cate Blanchette as Bob Dylan?
Am I the only who is confused by this?
Why would they cast a chick... as Bob Dylan?

[PotVsKtl]

Pay more attention.

[Mr.Nipples]

i watched road house this morning...

[breakjaw]

x-files 2

http://www.sliceofscifi.com/2007/07/16/x-files-second-movie-script-is-completed/
This is excellent news.I just recently finished watching all the mythology episodes from Gethsemane(4th season) to Closure(where Mulder finds out what happened to his sister) and realized that as dumb as some of the Monster of the Week episodes were,the rest of the series had fine writing and acting,and compelling plot twists overall.

[Jenniehoo]

Sunday, Gabe and I watched "I am a Sex Addict" - which is kind of a documentary of Caveh Zahedi (I think that's his name). Anyway, he's a dude that's addicted to prostitutes and it's a true story of how it's affected his life and the women he's dated.

It wasn't great. We made it half of the way through and decided, "we don't like this," and turned it off. But then, a couple hours later, Gabe left to do something and I finished the damn thing. Because I had A) wanted to see it for like two years ever since I saw a funny preview and B) I was bored and it was there.

It got better. Not monumentally better - but better. It went beyond each simulated scene of him with a prostitute and then him going home to his girlfriend or wife only to tell them. His whole tenet through the movie was "I have to be honest with them" - he seemed to think this made him a better guy. Like he was absolved for any wrongdoings because it was their fault that they couldn't handle the honesty of what he was presenting. "It's just me, man, I can't change" - that self-indulgent mentality. Here's the deal - the movie doesn't work because you don't like the dude. And it's not because he's a "pervert" or "woman hater" or any of that - because some of it's quite understandable...everyone has their perversions and vices whether they deal with sex or not. Basically, he's just not a likeable dude. He's vain and egomaniacal and, even in retrospect when he does the whole, "I didn't know what I was doing and I was wrong," thing - you still don't really believe he feels that way. Or, maybe he does, but by saying it he thinks he deserves some sort of respect for saying it. Some sort of pat on the back. The man just thinks he's a genius, basically - and his effeminate presentation is also just bizarre to behold.

This might have worked if he were more likeable. The filmmaking was extrovertedly simple - using visuals and writing on chalkboards, that sort of thing. But (and this will be hard to explain) - it's more like he used that theme so that he could cover up any genuine simple or underdeveloped presentation with the guise of it being deliberate. In that sense, I guess it was masterful and honest - but in the end, I didn't root for him (as is the film's intent) - I pretty much just felt sorry for the woman he was ending up with.

Not horrible - but not good. Two interesting facts to note:

I was telling asshat (Chris) that we watched this movie, and it turns out Caveh was one of his professors in film school. Crazy, right? Apparently their final was to review one of his documentaries. I like that it supports the whole egomania we were sensing in the film, but at the same time it's like, "Jesus, fuck. Teach a theory, not your asshole."

Whenever Caveh would simulate an orgasm by a woman giving him head in the movie - he would scream the entire time. Like this high pitched, disturbing scream. It would have been funny if it hadn't seemed so - genuine. Like this was the way he came so that's how he was acting it out. Gabe and I were perplexed at this one. Between us, all the men that we've slept with and the porn that we've watched (not necessarily respectively), we've never seen anyone come like that. It would cause laughter. It would have made him funny if it didn't just attach itself to his entire creepy demeanor.

Anyway - it was interesting. Not good, but I feel like it could have been. Parts of it were funny and most of it was original. I'd still give it about a C-.

[schoolofruckus]

Jennie said it all. I bailed at around the 40 minute mark because, well....when you're enjoying your first day off in over a week, it's hard to accept that watching some lisping chihuahua walk around asking hookers to suck him is the best way to spend your precious free time. Plus, his elliptical way of narrating his story - a never-ending series of flashbacks-within-a-flashback-within-a-flashback got old at about the 4th time he said "Oh wait, I didn't explain. Let me go back to the beginning".

After hearing that Chris had to endure a semester under Caveh's tutelage and review one of his movies, I basically just want to piss in the guy's face.

[schoolofruckus]

Also, did anyone else hear that "Days of Heaven" is coming out on Criterion in October? For some reason, it's the only Malick film I haven't yet seen, and I had it next up on my Netflix queue. But now that there's a definitive disc coming out soon, I'm going to hold off for that.

[PotVsKtl]

Factory Girl is inexcusably terrible.

[full on idle]

NOOOoooooOOOOOOoooooOOOOOooOOOOOoooooOOO!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!

Don't say that, I've been waiting for EVER for that to come out at bbuster.

I hate you and all that you stand for.

[schoolofruckus]

I watched "La Notte" last night. God damn, Antonioni is one of the best of all time. I don't even know why I review his stuff anymore, because I end up saying the same thing every time: brilliant film, a visual marvel and a terrific look into the poetry of loneliness and isolation, etc. My comments may not be anything special, but the movies all are.

I have "Vertigo" coming next from Netflix.

[thinnerair]

I know.
A Voltron movie? Raise your hand if you didn't see that one coming.

This Voltron flick has been in the works forever.
In fact, Pharell from the Neptunes even confirmed that he would be doing the music for this movie:

Jul 27 2005 7:31 AM EDT

Pharrell Williams Revisits The '80s With 'Voltron' Movie
Neptunes member will write music for the feature and produce its soundtrack.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1506467/20050727/williams__pharrell.jhtml

Who knows?

[schoolofruckus]

How much fucking ass does this kick?

http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/images/column/72507/darjeeling.jpg

[schoolofruckus]

I have to admit that I wish the color scheme were a bit different; it looks too much like the "Life Aquatic" posters. But mostly I'm just excited that there's a new Wes Anderson film that's being released soon. The trailer is allegedly playing in front of "Once" and "Sunshine" starting this weekend.

[J~$$$]

That movie looks like it will be fun.....What is Wes Andersons connection to the coppola family?

PS relating to the colors it gives it a good feel/tie to India, and the Anderson collection of films.

[schoolofruckus]

That movie looks like it will be fun.....What is Wes Andersons connection to the coppola family?

PS relating to the colors it gives it a good feel/tie to India, and the Anderson collection of films.

From what I know, Schwartzman is the connection. His first role was in "Rushmore" - apparently the casting director was friends with Sofia - and that's how Wes became involved with them.

[tessalasset]

I just saw that trailer tonight because I just saw Once tonight at the fucking AMAZING new landmark theater at the westside pavilion mall. holy shit that place is swanky. The bathrooms were like hotel room bathrooms, and the stalls had neon lights in them. the concession stands had vegan and kosher food along with gourmet pizza and coffee drinks and british candy and HARIBO GUMMI BEARS. we got inside, and Once was playing in "the living room" which was basically a tiny room with big overstuffed black leather couches. it seats 40 people. alex and i went up to the front to sit in these chairs. i felt like i was just watching Once in my living room, pretty much. coolest movie experience ever. beats arclight out of the water.

the trailer for that movie made it look pretty fucking annoying. i am really not a big fan of any of those three, i decided. i like pianist dude but not in comedy roles. i will not be seeing that movie.

[schoolofruckus]

I just saw that trailer tonight because I just saw Once tonight at the fucking AMAZING new landmark theater at the westside pavilion mall. holy shit that place is swanky. The bathrooms were like hotel room bathrooms, and the stalls had neon lights in them. the concession stands had vegan and kosher food along with gourmet pizza and coffee drinks and british candy and HARIBO GUMMI BEARS. we got inside, and Once was playing in "the living room" which was basically a tiny room with big overstuffed black leather couches. it seats 40 people. alex and i went up to the front to sit in these chairs. i felt like i was just watching Once in my living room, pretty much. coolest movie experience ever. beats arclight out of the water.

Awesome. I've been meaning to hit up the Landmark for quite some time; I hear it's amazing. Between that one and the new Arclight Theater at the Sherman Oaks Galleria, it seems like all corners of the city are being blessed with top-shelf theaters.


the trailer for that movie made it look pretty fucking annoying. i am really not a big fan of any of those three, i decided. i like pianist dude but not in comedy roles. i will not be seeing that movie.


H888888888888888888888888888


On the one-sheet front, try this motherfucker on for size:

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b126/schoolofruckus/NCFOM.jpg

[Mr.Nipples]

fuck yes...

[atom heart]

Is there a schoolioreview of Once?

And that sounds like the swankiest movie theatre ever! The Landmarks in SD are pretty run down. The one my friend works at is just about to get it's first fresh coat of paint since its opening (which looks to be about the early nineties but what do I know?), and the Ken's (Kensington Landmark) AC was broken for at least two months. But timtams and good flicks make up for the lack of sheen.

[schoolofruckus]

Yes, there is.


We saw Once tonight with Tessa. I have to preface this by saying that I AM a fan of The Frames and Glen Hansard to start with - so I can hardly comment on the quality of the music used in this modern musical. But, I can comment on the way it was used. And the way it was used was inspiring and beautiful. You don't have to be a fan of THEIR (Glen/Marketa) music to like this movie. I'm sure it HELPS, but honestly, the way that the collaboration was filmed and captured...you basically just have to be a fan of music on its own to enjoy what you're watching.

It's filmed like a low budget documentary with cameras invisible to the characters. There's a love story here between the two main characters - which in the end is what you're kind of desiring a resolution to, but not even. I can safely say that this isn't even the strongest love you feel through the movie. You feel both of their love for the music they're creating together. For what the other DOES for the music. They fall in love with their musical counterpart first - their character comes second. And there's something really beautiful and genuine about that. From the scope of genuine creation coming from the bottom of your intimate heart - what you can put out in that realm is so much more raw and personal than anything you can say or how you behave with someone else. You get the feeling that watching eachother create is the most intimate thing in the world for each of them - and it's represented well.

I'm not as good as Gabe in summing up the plot and then telling you what I think. I'm not a critic. The plot: two non-professional musicians (an Eastern European street peddler and a street musician) collaborate and then fall in love. There's slight humor and sadness and a lot of beautiful music. That's about it. But it's the first movie I've ever seen that tackled that beauty from this angle - and they did it well. As a result, I'm a total fanboy and I think that any musician should see this movie. There's a simple truth to it and honesty that comes in creating a song. Good music is singular, intimate, and sometimes based on pain, loneliness, and longing. Singer/songwriter at least. That's what makes the fact that they can pair that so special - it's a singular journey and if you can experience it with someone that GETS you in that sense - it must be life-changing.

Tessa and I get to see their Q and A tomorrow with them playing songs from the movie. I can't wait.

OH - and halfway through the movie, I realized that I didn't know the characters names. I kept listening to catch them, thinking I'd missed them somehow - and by the end when the credits were rolling, they were just listed as "guy" and "girl". There's something in the beauty of their musical and personal vulnerability and open beauty without even knowing their names that just hammered that in for me. I think it's a nice touch.

Excellent review, J.Hooey. I couldn't have said it better. I will only add that anyone who likes Linklater's "Before Sunrise/Sunset" films will be all over this one.

[breakjaw]

And that sounds like the swankiest movie theatre ever!

Forgive me if this does not apply,but my single greatest moviewatching experience was in a run-down theater in Brixton,watching "Mystery Train" in a theater where you could purchase alcoholic cider while enjoying the film...

[SojuGorae]

i watched road house this morning...

That's an 80's classic.

[roberto73]

Any fans of the New Beverly Cinema and/or interesting double features out there? If so, you might want to check out their calendar:

The Man Who Wasn't There and Fargo: July 25-26
The Virgin Spring and Wild Strawberries: August 1-2
The Big Lebowski and The Hudsucker Proxy: August 3-4
Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead: August 12-14
Dr. Strangelove and Being There: August 17-18
Rolling Thunder and Taxi Driver: August 19-20

Many more at the New Beverly's website. (http://www.newbevcinema.com/calendar.cfm)

[schoolofruckus]

Actually....

The owner of the New Beverly died suddenly this past week. His family has closed the theater for the time being while they mourn. And also, apparently they need to decide what to do with it.

[KungFuJoe]

I saw the Darjeeling Limited trailer in front of "Sunshine" yesterday. As excited as I am about a new Wes Anderson film, the trailer didn't do much for me. It doesn't look like his best work, but I hope to be pleasently suprised.

So, back to "Sunshine". I loved it! Danny Boyle has made yet another amazing film. What worked most about the film was it's pacing & mood. Executed to near perfection, it is a film that truly resonates. I urge everyone to go out and see this as soon as you can. After taking in all of the summer blockbusters, it was nice to finally watch a film of some substance. Well, I shouldn't say that because I also saw "Rescue Dawn" last week. Needless to say these were the two best films I saw this summer & throughout the year. I might even want to say "sunshine" was the best film I've seen this year. I mean, I had some litte problems with it, but nothing major. If I had to form a top 5 or top 10 list for the first 6+ months this year it would look something like this.

1. Brand Upon the Brain!
2. Across the Universe
3. the Host
4. Sunshine
5. Rescue Dawn.

other notables are Grindhouse, Knocked Up, Hot Fuzz, 300 & I'm a Cyborg but That's Ok.

my favorite Summer film was "Live Free or Die Hard". Harry Potter was ok, but possibly my least favorite & i did not like Transformers much. I actually enjoyed Spiderman though. kill me.

I think I will finally go see "Once" this week since Tessa did a good job promoting that new Landmark theater. Sounds like a great place to check it out. I think "Sunshine" is also playing at that Landmark, which if I knew how nice it was before hand I may have chosen that theater over the Archlight. Whatever, I would gladly see "Sunshine" again.

Well, if there is a Sunday matinee you're looking to catch or decent film you'd like to see this week I highly reccomend Sunshine & Rescue Dawn. I would elaborate more on these films, but don't want to spoil anything. All I'll say is see Rescue Dawn for the amazing performances by Christian Bale, Steve Zahn & Jeremy Davies. See Sunshine for the beautiful direction by Danny Boyle & amazing score by Underworld.

[roberto73]

Actually....

The owner of the New Beverly died suddenly this past week. His family has closed the theater for the time being while they mourn. And also, apparently they need to decide what to do with it.

I saw that, too, but the only showings the website listed as canceled were the ones through today. It's definitely understandable if they keep it closed a while longer, though. It's a real shame to hear about his death.

[KungFuJoe]

Finally watched "Factory Girl" the other night. It's bumped its way into my list for the top 5 films I've seen so far this year. I loved it. Sienna Miller's performance was truly heart breaking and Guy Pearce was as fabulous as ever. I even enjoyed Hayden. Great flick!

[garrett222]

I need to see Die Hard and Sunshine...I hope sunshine is out wide this weekend

[mountmccabe]

I am glad to hear you liked Sunshine, Joe. I was caught off-guard a little opening the review in the weekly today. I had forgotten about it. I like Boyle quite a bit and I love Garland and the set-up sounds good.

Also Besson has a movie coming out (in Phoenix) this weekend, Angela-A or something. I have largely enjoyed his stuff despite their flaws. And, in fact, I've noticed that a Besson script is a horrible sign for a movie unless he himself is directing it. His scripts are so overdone that you have to hit them just right to pull it off. For my tastes, at any rate.

[PotVsKtl]

Angel-A bombed hard on Besson's own turf, it's apparently horrible. Too bad it's his swan song.

KungFuJoe is a failure at liking things properly.

[tessalasset]

awwwww

[C DUB YA]

DARJEELING LIMITED trailer is up - looks great!
http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/thedarjeelinglimited/trailerb/

[C DUB YA]

Finally watched "Factory Girl" the other night. It's bumped its way into my list for the top 5 films I've seen so far this year. I loved it. Sienna Miller's performance was truly heart breaking and Guy Pearce was as fabulous as ever. I even enjoyed Hayden. Great flick!

sweet - that just arrived last night via netflix!

[mountmccabe]

Angel-A bombed hard on Besson's own turf, it's apparently horrible. Too bad it's his swan song.

Besson's haven't been very French for a long time. Nikita? The separate versions of Leon/The Professional shows he knew that he was doing this, though.

Also I'm not going to claim any of his movies are "great films" (at least since Nikita) but I can say I enjoy the hell out of them.

Also I had not heard anything about any swans. WTF? This saddens me.

[CuervoPH]

"Sunshine" still hasn't opened here that I can tell. I just ordered my tix for "Once" tomorrow night and will probably catch "Rescue Dawn" on Sunday.

[PotVsKtl]

Yeah Besson said he's done directing. Fifth Element is a great film goddamnit.

[KungFuJoe]

Angel-A bombed hard on Besson's own turf, it's apparently horrible. Too bad it's his swan song.

KungFuJoe is a failure at liking things properly.

what the fuck is that supposed to mean pot??

Like there is a proper way to fucking like something?? I mean seriously, where did this come from and why? I understand you enjoy being a douchebag, but fuck off.

[KungFuJoe]

Yeah Besson said he's done directing. Fifth Element is a great film goddamnit.

Isn't Besson directing the next two "Arthur & the Invisibles" installments? Who would believe that anyways. Didn't Anthony Hopkins once say he would never act again?

also ... Angel-A was far from horrible. Maybe not his best movie, but there was a lot to enjoy about it. Same goes for Arthur & the Invisibles. Stupid, yes, but a very enjoyable kids film. Luc Besson may not make the most thought provoking films, but he certainly makes some of the most entertaining and at the end of the day if that's all I want he is the man I go to.

There have been plenty of successful films that he's written and not directed. The Transporter, Wasabi, Yamakazi, Taxi 1,2,3 & 4 (french films), District 13 etc .... Like I said, not the greatest films ever made, but certainly some of the most enjoyable films I've seen.

one more edit --- The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita & The Professional are all great films.

[PotVsKtl]

what the fuck is that supposed to mean pot??

Like there is a proper way to fucking like something?? I mean seriously, where did this come from and why? I understand you enjoy being a douchebag, but fuck off.

I feel like I know her - but sometimes my arms bend back.

[schoolofruckus]

what the fuck is that supposed to mean pot??

Like there is a proper way to fucking like something?? I mean seriously, where did this come from and why? I understand you enjoy being a douchebag, but fuck off.

I have a feeling this came from your rave of "Factory Girl". Anyone who expresses liking for it gets put in Potgatory. You can go ahead and throw me in there, too. I thought "Factory Girl" had some problems, but I liked it quite a bit overall because I thought the acting was extremely solid all around.

Didn't Anthony Hopkins once say he would never act again?

I believe he has. And it's a fucking shame he hasn't actually stuck to his word. I'd say it's a neck-and-neck tie between Hopkins and Sean Connery in the "most overrated actor" sweepstakes - which I can't help but think is rooted in the fact that they're both from the UK - and I say they should settle the race by having a suicide contest.

[PotVsKtl]

I thought "Factory Girl" had some problems, but I liked it quite a bit overall because I thought the acting was extremely solid all around.


Honestly, Hayden Christetc's Bob Dylan as James Dean on whippets performance did it for you?

[KungFuJoe]

ok. perhaps i was being a bit extreme with my reaction to "Factoy Girl". I honestly would not put it ahead of any of the top five films of the year I've listed previously. However, it would make it in the ten somewhere. Mainly for Sienna Miller's performance. She was truly fascinating. It is really the performances that ultimately carry the film. However, I thought it was directed very well too. It may not be as amazing as I made it seem, but I was very moved by it.

I can understand if people don't love it, but why such hate? It's certainly not a terrible film.

[KungFuJoe]

Honestly, Hayden Christetc's Bob Dylan as James Dean on whippets performance did it for you?

it didn't bother me, but I see where your coming from. For me, Jimmy Fallon was the most out of place person in the film. Sure, Hayden's performance could be annoying, but I found it to be suiting. And I am not a fan of his at all. It is the relationship between & performances by Sienna & Guy that engrossed me.

[schoolofruckus]

Honestly, Hayden Christetc's Bob Dylan as James Dean on whippets performance did it for you?

Somehow, it did. I will not argue in favor of the performance, as I could see a dozen things that could piss someone off about it. But I rolled with it. Maybe I had my critic meter tuned to "easy lay" on that particular day.

However, I will not stand for bashing of Sienna Miller's performance. As much as the "flash-forwards to rehab in Santa Barbara" stuff rankled me, and as much as the film's visual style seemed kind of haphazard in the way that documentary filmmakers often have difficulties switching to narrative....there was just no denying that Sienna just got Edie Sedgwick, or at least some extremely authentic-feeling facsimile of her, inside and out. I didn't think there was a false note in that performance. And as much as Guy Pierce may not have been a correct representation of Andy Warhol, his performance worked wonders on its own terms. I loved how Hayden's character - ridiculous mannerisms or not - played against Pierce in that one photo shoot scene at the factory.

[PotVsKtl]

Sienna Miller was fantastic. It's a shame there was a whole movie going on.

[tessalasset]

just fuck her and get it over with

[schoolofruckus]

This is just not fucking funny....

So, over the last year or so, I've been trying to track down one of the 9-disc, out of print Stanley Kubrick Collection boxed sets that has everything from "Lolita" to the bowlderized version of "Eyes Wide Shut", plus the documentary "A Life In Pictures". Last week, I FINALLY find one on half.com for under $100, and I received it over the weekend.

Then today, I read this (http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2007/07/kubrick_collect.php).

New supplemental material and (more importantly) correct frame ratios for all of Kubrick's WB films. I want to fucking scream.

The only mitigating factor is that, if it's only $80 on the market, I'll probably be able to get it for around $50.

[downingthief]

This is just not fucking funny....

So, over the last year or so, I've been trying to track down one of the 9-disc, out of print Stanley Kubrick Collection boxed sets that has everything from "Lolita" to the bowlderized version of "Eyes Wide Shut", plus the documentary "A Life In Pictures". Last week, I FINALLY find one on half.com for under $100, and I received it over the weekend.

Then today, I read this (http://hollywood-elsewhere.com/archives/2007/07/kubrick_collect.php).

New supplemental material and (more importantly) correct frame ratios for all of Kubrick's WB films. I want to fucking scream.

The only mitigating factor is that, if it's only $80 on the market, I'll probably be able to get it for around $50.


Oh, Hell yeah! Gabe, thanks for posting the link. Can't wait for that one. Going immediately to the top of my xmas list.

And, I finally (emphasis on the FINALLY) saw both Children of Men and Pan's Labyrinth over the last few weeks.
Both exceptional films. Won't go into detail since both have been dissected on this board more than a highschool biology frog, but they both were worth the wait.

[PotVsKtl]

What I don't understand is why Lolita and Barry Lyndon aren't in the new boxset.

[downingthief]

What I don't understand is why Lolita and Barry Lyndon aren't in the new boxset.

Looks like they are not getting "special editions", according to a post on the page.
Sucks, but I guess I can understand why, from a strict "sales" perspective. The other films are more widley known, and will sell more.

[breakjaw]

This is just not fucking funny....

So, over the last year or so, I've been trying to track down one of the 9-disc, out of print Stanley Kubrick Collection boxed sets that has everything from "Lolita" to the bowlderized version of "Eyes Wide Shut", plus the documentary "A Life In Pictures". Last week, I FINALLY find one on half.com for under $100, and I received it over the weekend.


Have you watched Barry Lyndon yet?What did you think?

[schoolofruckus]

Have you watched Barry Lyndon yet?What did you think?

I had already seen it. I think it's awesome. It's not in my top-tier of Kubrick films - because, well, that's lofty fucking company - but it's better than 90% of the movies I have seen. The only movie in the boxed set that I hadn't seen before buying was "Lolita", and that will be changing very shortly.

I guess the boxed-set I linked to isn't the same line-up as the Kubrick Collection I bought. The one I bought (which came out in 2001) includes "Lolita", "Strangelove", "2001", "Clockwork", "Lyndon", "Shining", "Jacket", and "Eyes", plus "A Life In Pictures". The new one, as Pot pointed out, doesn't include "Lolita", "Strangelove" (a Columbia release that was only included in the 9-film set as a special arrangement), or "Lyndon". I'm guessing that either the clean-ups of "Lolita" and "Lyndon" weren't a big enough improvement to put them on the market, or they were deemed less notable/marketable than the others, which is stupid. "Lolita" may be something of a stiff; I was less than impressed with "Killer's Kiss", so I know that in his older days, Kubrick wasn't infallible (although "Paths of Glory" was earlier than "Lolita" and it's one of his best). But "Lyndon" is definitely an important piece of cinema history and deserves to be honored as such.

[PotVsKtl]

The Killing is good as well. The annoying thing is that I have that 9 disc set set too and will have to sell it to get this new boxset and then pick up the 3 individual releases.

[schoolofruckus]

I read something that said that "Lolita" and "Lyndon" are actually getting re-released as separate discs on that same day, with matching restorations and artwork. They're just not in the boxed set. That means you have to get "Strangelove" on your own; I've heard that the 35th Anniversary was a better set than the 40th Anniversary.

[dorkfish]

boIhrBtsj-Y

[schoolofruckus]

I've kind of gone on a tear in the last 24 hours...

Last night, I watched "A Clockwork Orange". What more is there to say? I ranked it #1 on my "Top 25 movies of all time" list a while ago.

This morning, I watched "Gerry", the film that launched the latest phase in Gus Van Sant's career - the one where his movies primarily consist of long tracking shots that follow people whose days/hours are numbered. While not being as good as "Elephant" or "Last Days", this one was still pretty goddamn good. It's about two guys - Matt Damon and Casey Affleck - who drive out to Death Valley to go see "the thing", hike for a little while before deciding it's not worth going to see, and then get lost on their way back to their vehicle. They mumble occasionally, mostly telling in-jokes or speaking in a jargon exclusive to themselves (they use the word "gerry" in a variety of different fashions, be it verb or proper noun), but mostly they just wander aimlessly amongst a never-ending cascade of gorgeous landscape shots. A small amount of people will love this film; most will not be able to last the 103 minutes of runtime without at least half-heartedly considering suicide. But this one's excellent in my book.

This afternoon, Jennie and I went to go see "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" in IMAX/3-D. This started out mostly being for her - as I am not a Potter fan, having only seen the weak last installment in the series and never reading so much as the jacket of any of the books - but I have to admit, I was definitely feeling this one. Harry's path seems to be getting rougher and darker all the time, with the evil megaman wizard played by Ralph Fiennes starting to close in on him, and the difficulty is only heightened when the Ministry of Magic (seriously, does England have a fucking ministry for all facets of life?) imposes some Big Brother-esque legislation over Hogwart's. Again, I'm like a redneck in a Harlem barbershop when it comes to the Harry Potter universe, but I thought the story here was incalculably better than in the previous one. There are less scenes of wizardry in action - and many of the earlier ones here are of the training variety - but they're fare more skillfully crafted, with less Michael Bay-style editing and more imaginative design as far as the sets and the choreography of the showdowns are concerned. The last 20 minutes or so are in 3-D if you watch it in IMAX, which is obviously the way to go for a movie like this. The only problem was that, after dropping $30 to go see this movie and sitting in the theater for 2 1/4 hours, the fucking sound goes out in the middle of the climax. As fates are being divvied out and tragedy starts to escalate, the soundtrack on this particular occasion became a low whirring sound with an odd violin stroke, over and over and over and over again. Meaning that we had to angrily get up and go about getting a refund (we did, plus an extra admission ticket apiece) instead of finishing the fucking movie and actually figuring out what happened. There are few things in life more frustrating than this.

Last but not least - well, actually it was the least - we just got finished watching "Vertigo". Well.....it just didn't do it for me, and in the course of discussing why, I'm going to be liberally mentioning things about this 49 year old film that could be considered spoilers. This is your only warning.

I will admit - I had a lot of problems with the way the plot was unfolding that were slowly but steadily alleviated once certain revelations were made. So I remember it now more fondly than I felt about it for pretty much the entire duration of watching it. But there are still some things about this one that rankle me; in particular, I think that the dialogue is atrocious on average, and in certain scenes (specifically, the ones involving the useless character of Midge), they approach a level of appalling ineptitude that I can't believe this film is regarded as highly as it is. I knew I was in for trouble when the second scene (after the prologue in which Jimmy Stewart develops his fear of heights) was a 10 minute conversation in which two people - Scottie (Stewart) and the aforementioned Midge - talk aimlessly and uninterestingly about the state of their lives (Scottie's retired due to his...."condition"), and the fact that they used to be engaged back when they were in college. First of all, the bitch that played Midge looks to be about 30 years younger than Stewart in this movie (apparently the real-life difference was 14, but Stewart looks god damn prehistoric in this movie); second, and more importantly, is that I see no reason why these two who have known each other since college would need to remind each other that they used to date, other than to lazily and distractingly tell us that. I fucking HATE when movies pull this shit. Anyway, then Scottie gets commissioned by an old friend to tail the latter's wife, Madeleine, as he fears that his bride has been possessed by the spirit of a woman who committed suicide 100 years earlier. He eventually saves this mystery woman from suicide and brings her to his house (undressing her while she was unconscious and placing her in his bed to recover, which felt extremely suspect to say the least), and in doing so triggers a strange romantic affair between the two of them. The bliss - which triggers feelings of creepy jealousy in Midge, and is the only discernible reason for having her in the film - is nevertheless fated to be short-lived, as Madeleine's identity crisis leads Scottie to bring her to a mission town where she abruptly commits suicide by jumping out of the church tower. The fact that he gets vertigo when he encounters heights makes its first real contribution to the story at about the halfway mark, as it prohibits him from being able to chase her to the top of the stairs before she can take the plunge.

About a year passes, with Scottie in various states of despondency and guilt. Eventually, he sees a woman on the street named Judy who bears an uncanny resemblance to Madeleine; he's so taken with this dopelganger that he barges into her hotel room for an impromptu interview that begins with her defiantly threatening to scream and ends with her accepting when he asks her on a date. After he leaves, we find out - in the film's first truly impressive stroke - that Judy actually was Madeleine, or rather, she was an impersonator hired to play the real Madeleine so that her husband (Scottie's old pal) could kill her off. At this point I'm thinking, "Whew....this movie's been kind of a drag so far, but now it's starting to add up. I could probably overlook the revolting dialogue exchanges earlier as long as we run with this". And as if Hitchcock had been there to grant my wish, the next five scenes have no talking whatsoever, as they are short vignettes depicting a budding romance between Judy and Scottie. This would be fantastic except for one thing - these are crucial scenes in which a supposed "new" romance is budding, in which we should be shown the differences between who Judy is, and the character she'd been playing up until now. Granted, we've already been watching these two fall in love for a while now, so I'm guessing Hitch or his screenwriters figured this would feel superfluous. But then, when interaction between Judy and Scottie is eventually verbalized, Judy suddenly takes exception to the fact that Scottie's attraction to her basically begins and ends with her physical similarities to the dead woman. My question is - why fucking introduce this conflict if you're not going to do any kind of justice to her point of view? Basically, we've seen one scene where she introduces herself, and then for most of the remainder of the movie, the only noticeable discrepancies between herself and her alter ego are purely cosmetic, as Scottie (still supposedly in the dark about the fact that this is the same woman) keeps imploring Judy to change her appearance to resemble Madeleine. It feels shallow and lazy - not to mention making Stewart's character look like an increasingly creepy old fuck. I must admit that a substantial portion of this beef is alleviated when it's revealed - during a Scottie-forced excursion back to the mission - that Scottie is actually on to her shit, and wants to bring her back up to the church tower where she faked her death previously in order to conquer his acrophobia. She pleads with him that she was really in love with him all along and only doing as she was hired, etc., but he's not having it because he feels screwed over that he and his phobia were taken advantage of in order to have the real Madeleine's husband murder her. However, his cycle of misery is sure to start all over again when a dark figure approaches them both, and Judy accidentally steps out of a window and plummets to her own death. The dark figure is (hilariously, I might add) revealed to be a nun coming to ring the bell, and Stewart peers after his twice-lost love in the film's classic final shot.

Again, a great deal of my complaints with the movie no longer exist after having made it to the finish line. But I feel like there's too much phoniness in the way the people interact here for me to retroactively give this one a thumb's up. I'm sure I will watch more Hitchcock in the future (this is only my second one, after the far-more-underwhelming "Psycho"), but I'm far less excited to check him out than I am to delve into some of his European peers of the era.

[menikmati]

watch The Trouble With Harry

[CuervoPH]

I watched "Breaking The Waves" again for my first time in ages, and the ending still made me tear up, even though I knew what was coming. That makes me appreciate the movie even more.

I have "The Lady Vanishes" coming to me next week from Netflix. It will be the first Hitchcock I've seen other than "Psycho". I can only hope I like it better than Gabe liked "Vertigo".

[schoolofruckus]

Jennie has pointed out to me - in discussing "Vertigo" further - that the mannerisms and behaviors of Judy, in the unspoken scenes I was bitching about where she and Scottie start developing their "new" romance, are very clearly less refined and alluring than they were when she was playing Madeleine. I was either too dense, or too checked out of the movie by that point (or both), to notice the point that was being made with that. I have to admit that's a solid move on Hitchcock's part, even though I didn't get it.

[roberto73]

I wouldn't recommend that anyone just getting started with Hitchcock begin their journey with Psycho and Vertigo, even though they're probably his most well-known. Purge your memory of those two and go with Rear Window and North by Northwest next. I think they're infinitely better.

[PotVsKtl]

North By Northwest. Don't fuck around, they climb on faces.

[clarky123]

^One of mine also^.
One I watched recently was "Wedding Belles" by Irvine Welsh and Dean Cavanagh. Black humour, very entertaining and a bit grim. You might find the scottish accents difficult but it has subtitles.

[breakjaw]

My favorite Hitchcock film is his first American one,and only Oscar winner.Rebecca.The British 39 Steps is good also.And Strangers On A Train.

[roberto73]

My favorite Hitchcock film is his first American one,and only Oscar winner.Rebecca.The British 39 Steps is good also.And Strangers On A Train.

Yeah, I was going to write a lengthy post about my prescribed order for going through Hitchcock's filmography. Long story short: After Rear Window and North by Northwest, I think a good way to go is to sample some of his stuff from the 40's, which I don't think is as well known as his later work. I love Lifeboat and I think Suspicion and Notorious are two of Cary Grant's best movies. And you definitely can't go wrong with any of the movies you recommended, Breakjaw.

[Courtney]

Gabe, sorry that you found Vertigo disappointing. I quite like it, but to each his own.

My favorite Hitchcock film is his first American one,and only Oscar winner.Rebecca.The British 39 Steps is good also.And Strangers On A Train.

Oh really? I think Rebecca is probably one of his weakest. Or maybe it's just that I tend to be harsh when it comes to filmic adaptations of novels. But I really do think that Rebecca is much less stylistically interesting than many of Hitchcock's other films, however engrossing the plot may be.

I do like Strangers On A Train, and I'm not sure if I have seen 39 Steps.

I wouldn't recommend that anyone just getting started with Hitchcock begin their journey with Psycho and Vertigo, even though they're probably his most well-known. Purge your memory of those two and go with Rear Window and North by Northwest next. I think they're infinitely better.

Rear Window and North by Northwest are both great. I tend to favor Hitchcock's Jimmy Stewart films just because they work so well together, and Rear Window is particularly interesting because of all the themes of looking/spying that really serve to bring to the fore the voyeuristic nature of movie-watching itself. But North by Northwest's iconic, visually-arresting scenes such as the crop duster sequence are more immediate in my memory than probably any other Hitchcock moments.

[schoolofruckus]

Not to ignore you guys - your recommendations are all being noted - but here's a change of subject:

HELL. FUCKING. YES>

http://www.aintitcool.com/images2007/southlandteasersm1.jpg

[bballarl]

Gabe, what are your thoughts on Citizen Kane?

[schoolofruckus]

I love "Citizen Kane" without reservation, and I consider it to be a nearly-perfect film. The difference in cinematography - lighting, framing, and camera movement - in the films before made before it and after it is truly stunning. And the story is a magnificent tapestry as well. I'm surprised that some people watching it today find it to be a stiff, in no small part due to the expectations created by all the #1 slots the movie keeps earning on "best of all time" lists; I saw it for that very reason (to see what the hype was all about) and found it entirely deserving of the praise it continues to receive.

What are your thoughts on "Citizen Kane", Andrew?

[HowToDisappear]

Pardon the interruption, but try Shadow of a Doubt. Very low key, but also one of my favorite Hitchcock films.

[roberto73]

I love "Citizen Kane" without reservation, and I consider it to be a nearly-perfect film. The difference in cinematography - lighting, framing, and camera movement - in the films before made before it and after it is truly stunning. And the story is a magnificent tapestry as well. I'm surprised that some people watching it today find it to be a stiff, in no small part due to the expectations created by all the #1 slots the movie keeps earning on "best of all time" lists; I saw it for that very reason (to see what the hype was all about) and found it entirely deserving of the praise it continues to receive.

When I taught high school I used Citizen Kane in my AP classes. While the kids generally liked it, I think some of their comments help to make sense of why some people are underwhelmed by it today. Basically, without much knowledge of the history of cinema, they couldn't see how much of a landmark Kane was when it was first released. Because today's movies use many of the techniques revolutionized by Kane, it doesn't look all that special to them. It just looks like every other movie they see (and in black and white, which, to them, is two strikes against it to begin with). I think you can absolutely enjoy the movie without any other knowledge, but to really appreciate what it represents in the history of cinema, you have to have some idea of what movies looked like before Kane.

[bballarl]

I love "Citizen Kane" without reservation, and I consider it to be a nearly-perfect film. The difference in cinematography - lighting, framing, and camera movement - in the films before made before it and after it is truly stunning. And the story is a magnificent tapestry as well. I'm surprised that some people watching it today find it to be a stiff, in no small part due to the expectations created by all the #1 slots the movie keeps earning on "best of all time" lists; I saw it for that very reason (to see what the hype was all about) and found it entirely deserving of the praise it continues to receive.

What are your thoughts on "Citizen Kane", Andrew?

Well, I'm not much of a cinemaphile or a critic, but I enjoyed it. Granted, I watched it when I was in 8th grade, so I'm sure I didn't grasp it as well as I could now. I also could probably gauge it better now, as I have a bit more perspective with films. But what really impressed me was how it functioned and was filmed compared to others of its time. I wasn't understanding of the "best film of all time" praise until I really noticed when it was made. I haven't seen enough classics to brand it the best ever or not, but it was certainly high quality.

[schoolofruckus]

That's the whole point. Even minor scenes - like where the camera rises up over the roof, moves through the neon sign lettering, and then peers in through the skylight - reveal a command of camera that had never been seen prior. I'm not an expert on pre-WWII cinema by any means, but I've seen some and none of them were visualized like that.

[Yablonowitz]

I wouldn't recommend that anyone just getting started with Hitchcock begin their journey with Psycho and Vertigo, even though they're probably his most well-known. Purge your memory of those two and go with Rear Window and North by Northwest next. I think they're infinitely better.

Why do you say that? "Rear Window" is fantastic, but "North By Northwest" is somewhat lighter fare than Hitchcock's finest movies. There are problems with "Psycho", but it is, at least from my point of view, on a higher level than either "Rear Window" or "North By Northwest." If only for the fact that he kills off the first-person perspective protagonist half way through the movie. I don't know the history of the movie, so I hope it was the film industry's decision to insert the asinine "psychological exposition" at the end with that stupid psychiatrist, but that did a pretty solid disservice to the movie. Nevertheless, the scenes with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh were fucking amazing and creepy and about as intriguing as any exchange I've ever seen.

But for me "Vertigo" is his best movie and, in my opinion, the most expertly crafted movie made. I'll also concede that I came to those opinions after reading some very thorough essays on the movie. I think a lot of the complexity and symbols and themes running throughout are easily overlooked (they certainly were for me).

[roberto73]

Why do you say that? "Rear Window" is fantastic, but "North By Northwest" is somewhat lighter fare than Hitchcock's finest movies. There are problems with "Psycho", but it is, at least from my point of view, on a higher level than either "Rear Window" or "North By Northwest." If only for the fact that he kills off the first-person perspective protagonist half way through the movie. I don't know the history of the movie, so I hope it was the film industry's decision to insert the asinine "psychological exposition" at the end with that stupid psychiatrist, but that did a pretty solid disservice to the movie. Nevertheless, the scenes with Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh were fucking amazing and creepy and about as intriguing as any exchange I've ever seen.

But for me "Vertigo" is his best movie and, in my opinion, the most expertly crafted movie made. I'll also concede that I came to those opinions after reading some very thorough essays on the movie. I think a lot of the complexity and symbols and themes running throughout are easily overlooked (they certainly were for me).

I admittedly need to re-watch Psycho; it's been a few years. I remember some parts that were genuinely creepy, but I also remember thinking it dragged in more than a few places. And of course, the explanation of the psychology behind Norman Bates is, as you mention, a detriment to the whole film. On the whole, though, I could be wrong and probably shouldn't spout off about it without a more recent viewing.

I suppose I could say much the same about Vertigo, even though I've seen it more recently. I just remember that when I first saw it I was on a huge Hitchcock binge and was being routinely blown away by everything I saw. This one, for whatever reason, left me cold. It's obviously an expertly made film, but I've never been able to muster much interest in Stewart's character or his subsequent conflicts with Kim Novak. I know that's weak-ass criticism on my part. I should watch them both again so I can express myself more coherently.

I think Rear Window, incidentally, is the most suspenseful, most well-written of Hitchcock's films, and I also feel like North by Northwest is, shot for shot, his most visually impressive. I also think these two are the most accessible, which is why I always recommend them as a good place to start.

[downingthief]

I saw the prview for Stardust over the weekend. It is currently at the top of my "can't wait to see list". I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan, and I am glad to see his work finally getting some serious movie looks.

Also rented the Good Shepherd. Was a bit disappointed, frankly, Thought it dragged at times. Nice acting performances overall, though. Worth renting for those who haven't seen it, and like a decent cloack & dagger/spy flick. Glad I did not see it in the theaters.

[J~$$$]

hi movie thread. Im going to see sunshine and the simpsons this weekend. woo-hoo.

[downingthief]

I watched Schindler's List again for the first time in probably 8 years, or so last night. I had forgotten what a cinematic wonder this movie was. If you are not moved by this movie, then I question your ability to breathe.
I remember tearing up when I first saw it, and I still did last night.

One shot that I forgot about...at the end, when Schindler is driving away. The camera is focused on him, looking out the window of the car at all the people, then the camera switches the focus to those outside the car looking in. Great, moving effect. Simple, yet powerful.

[mob roulette]

Not to ignore you guys - your recommendations are all being noted - but here's a change of subject:

HELL. FUCKING. YES>

http://www.aintitcool.com/images2007/southlandteasersm1.jpg

Just when I was getting ready to throw in the towel with you re: your dislike of "Vertigo", you redeem yourself in spades. Way to go tiger. Way. To. Go.

Do "Rear Window" next, Gabe. It's practically a template for about a million other movies that you've seen. Then do "North by Northwest". It's great for the exact same reason and also contains one of the most famous gaffes (sp?) in film history. "Vertigo" is his masterpiece, of course, but if you don't get that it's supposed to be a fantasy of sorts, you might not like it as much. I think it's suppoed to be a bit of a meditation on desire and identity, hence the eye-popping colors and oversaturation of some scenes. Imagine if Lynch was making movies in the fifties and you might be getting close to what I think Hitchcock was going for here.

I bet "Southland" is a train wreck, right? I cannot fucking wait.

OH, also, I just finished re-reading "No Country for Old Men" from a cinematic viewpoint and Holy Hannah, I just gotta say, if they even get it HALF right (which they will, it's the Coens after all), this movie is going to be a monster. And one helluva ride to boot. When does it open, anyone know?

[PotVsKtl]

I watched two Luc Moullet films the other day. Moullet was a late entry in the French New Wave thing, with enough hindsight to openly acknowledge his place in the movement and the farce the majority of it had become. As a result Brigitte et Brigitte was paradoxically both

1. a series of long static shots with little or no art direction, stilted self-referential dialogue, and wooden acting
2. one of the more consistently amusing French New Wave films I've seen.

Shit was mesmerizing.

Then I watched a relatively recent Moullet film (on the same DVD), Parpaillon. This is a made for TV movie that takes place in the middle of a bicycle rally. All the characters are riding bicycles up a mountain pass for the majority of the film. Slowly. Uphill. Shit was also mesmerizing.

[Yablonowitz]

[QUOTE=mob roulette;263737]Vertigo" is his masterpiece, of course, but if you don't get that it's supposed to be a fantasy of sorts, you might not like it as much. I think it's suppoed to be a bit of a meditation on desire and identity, hence the eye-popping colors and oversaturation of some scenes. Imagine if Lynch was making movies in the fifties and you might be getting close to what I think Hitchcock was going for here.
QUOTE]

Very well said. I think it also deftly explores gender roles and patriarchy.

[atom heart]

I saw the prview for Stardust over the weekend. It is currently at the top of my "can't wait to see list". I'm a huge Neil Gaiman fan, and I am glad to see his work finally getting some serious movie looks.

What, if anything, does Gaiman have to do with Beowulf? I remember that Fragile Things had either a prologue or epilogue in which he explains the origins of each of the pieces and that in the paragraph about the final story (I can't remember the name now) he mentions something about Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother. Frankly, I find this utterly horrifying on top of everything I already hate about Beowulf. Please, please tell me that Gaiman has almost nothing to do with this train wreck.

[roberto73]

What, if anything, does Gaiman have to do with Beowulf? I remember that Fragile Things had either a prologue or epilogue in which he explains the origins of each of the pieces and that in the paragraph about the final story (I can't remember the name now) he mentions something about Angelina Jolie as Grendel's mother. Frankly, I find this utterly horrifying on top of everything I already hate about Beowulf. Please, please tell me that Gaiman has almost nothing to do with this train wreck.

Gaiman's got the screenplay credit, along with Roger Avery (who got a "Stories By" credit on Pulp Fiction, and who directed, among other things, Rules of Attraction). As a fan of Gaiman, I'm holding out hope that Beowulf won't completely suck.

[schoolofruckus]

As a fan of Roger Avary, I'm very confident that "Beowulf" won't suck. I also think that Robert Zemeckis has the capacity to do great work (once again, I fucking love "Contact"), so this one's going to have my best wishes. Although I once vowed never to see another film with Angelina Jolie after the dubious doubleheader of "Alexander" and "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"; I even skipped this summer's "A Mighty Heart" even though I'd heard it was excellent.

[atom heart]

I just wish someone would have the courage to make a movie more like Gaiman's novella rather than some UBEREPICZOMGBLOODGORESEXMONSTERS a la The 13th Warrior.

[Mr.Nipples]

roman polanski is in Rush Hour 3...

[thefunkylama]

A Brett Ratner Film.

[thinnerair]

I went to go see "The Ten" over the weekend. I found it to be quite entertaining, though i was expecting more. It features the cast from 'The State' and a few other actors, mainly people that were in 'Wet Hot American Summer' and Jessica Alba. Funny stuff, but I wasn't floored.


Oh...Gabe. 'Mr & Mrs. Smith' wasn't nearly as bad as 'Taking Lives'
Taking Lives was doo...dooo!
Just sayin'
oh...and hi.

[schoolofruckus]

A Brett Ratner Film.

This (http://advocate.com/exclusive_detail_ektid47827.asp) is too fucking great not to share.

[schoolofruckus]

Oh...Gabe. 'Mr & Mrs. Smith' wasn't nearly as bad as 'Taking Lives'
Taking Lives was doo...dooo!
Just sayin'
oh...and hi.

Assuming that's true (and I don't doubt "Taking Lives" sucks, but it'd have to be the worst movie ever to be worse than "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"), then Angelina Jolie is clearly kryptonite as an actress. I mean, in a two year span, she worked on absolute SHIT films with talented directors such as D.J. Caruso (who's done some shit such as "Lives", but also made the terrific "The Salton Sea" with Val Kilmer), Oliver Stone (who you all know I love), and Doug Liman (of "Swingers", "Go", and the first "Bourne" movie). Either she just has a nose for guys who are slumming it, or she's fucking toxic. Probably both.

[atom heart]

I laughed when I saw that trailer on the TV.
As if Brett Ratner would be a draw...

[schoolofruckus]

I laughed when I saw that trailer on the TV.
As if Brett Ratner would be a draw...

That's the thing - Brett Ratner's life mission is to MAKE himself a draw. He puts more work into building his image with journalists and anyone who will listen than he does making movies. He has it in his contract that all trailers or TV ads for his movies include the spoken words: "Directed by Brett Ratner!". A real filmmaker's work speaks for itself; watch five minutes of a movie from other filmmakers in Ratner's generation like Paul Thomas Anderson, or Wes Anderson, or Darren Aronofsky, or M. Night Shyamalan, and you can tell immediately whose it is. Hell, even blatantly commercial filmmakers like Spielberg and Michael Bay have a highly developed sense of style and a personality to their work, regardless of how empty it might otherwise be. Ratner wants so badly to be in that league of all-time great directors, whose work is its own signature, yet he hasn't put any of the work in that's necessary to achieve it.

I hate when he gets brought up because I can't help but waste my time ripping him.

[roberto73]

Assuming that's true (and I don't doubt "Taking Lives" sucks, but it'd have to be the worst movie ever to be worse than "Mr. and Mrs. Smith"), then Angelina Jolie is clearly kryptonite as an actress. I mean, in a two year span, she worked on absolute SHIT films with talented directors such as D.J. Caruso (who's done some shit such as "Lives", but also made the terrific "The Salton Sea" with Val Kilmer), Oliver Stone (who you all know I love), and Doug Liman (of "Swingers", "Go", and the first "Bourne" movie). Either she just has a nose for guys who are slumming it, or she's fucking toxic. Probably both.

I'm not a huge Jolie fan, Gabe, but if you look at her filmography, it seems to me that the problem is her selection of material, not the work she brings to it. Taking Lives, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and Alexander would still suck, even with different actresses.

The sheer amount of crap on her résumé– movies that would be crap regardless of the cast – is pretty impressive: Tomb Raider? Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow? Beyond Borders? Original Sin? Gone in Sixty Seconds? Recast all of them and they're still shitty movies. That indicates to me that she doesn't know how to pick promising screenplays to work on.

In movies that turn out well – A Mighty Heart or The Good Shepherd – she's pretty impressive, and she can even turn in a good performance in a shitty movie like Girl, Interrupted. I just think she needs a better radar for what's going to make a good film.

I know this makes me sound like a drooling fanboy, but I promise I'm not. I've just got too much time on my hands on a Sunday morning.

[Courtney]

I saw Adam's Rib the other day as part of LAMCA's Katharine Hepburn retrospective. The film, released in 1949 and starring Hepburn and Spencer Tracy, is a great sitcom dealing with issues of marital fidelity and women's rights. The story turns on a married couple of two lawyers played by Hepburn and Tracy, pitted against each other in a trial over a woman who has shot her adulterous husband.

What a great movie. The comedic timing was right on, and the issues addressed seemed surprisingly ahead of their day, both in the case of all the feminist bravado from Hepburn's character, and also in some very wacky gender-bending special effects in which three of the characters (two female, one male) are morphed on screen into drag during the final arguments of the trial. It was also amusing to see how the Hays Code is being bent even by 1949 -- while the characters still sleep in separate beds and there is nothing racier than a small peck on the cheek shown on-screen, the characters frequently step behind a curtain or doorway and we hear amorous sounds that suggest some serious action is going down off-screen.

Despite whatever gender equality messages propagated by Hepburn's character, in the end the plot tells of how she will stop at nothing, even unscrupulous litigation tactics, to get her client off the hook, while Tracy's character remains unflinching in his respect for the law and unwavering in his moral uprightness. In the end, it seems that the meta-story of the film undermines whatever messages conveyed within instances of feminist dialogue. So maybe it wasn't really so forward-thinking after all.

Nevertheless it is a terribly funny film. And the LACMA film screenings are great because most of the audience is 60+ and they all spontaneously clap at various high-points in the story, which is awesome.

[thefunkylama]

I watched Hot Fuzz last night because of the suggestions made in this thread. I am ever so glad that I did.

[bballarl]

I watched the Criterion version of Dazed and Confused recently. I am so glad I bought it. The extras are awesome. I love that movie in general.

[CuervoPH]

I watched Hot Fuzz last night because of the suggestions made in this thread. I am ever so glad that I did.


I actually saw this twice in the theater. Excellent. I'm sure you've seen "Shaun Of The Dead" but if you haven't, you must.

[thefunkylama]

I have seen Shaun Of The Dead. Another good one, but I liked Hot Fuzz better.

[ghettojournalist]

good deal on watching "hot fuzz" lama.

bball- i'm glad i'm not the only one that has the criterion "dazed" collection.

[TomAz]

I watched 'Lolita' for the first time recently. that movie is about 1/2 hr too long but James Mason is brilliant. Peter Sellers, though, was not at all brilliant, which surprised me, cuz usually he is. was. whatever. one thing Kubrick does that I really like is he knows just how to hold a scene. I mean that movie is full of stuff that is simultaneously hilarious and excrutiatingly embarassing (more than once I found myself cringing at Humbert) and Kubrick holds it perfectly. neither overplayed or understated, just right.

[ghettojournalist]

ghostface will be in the "Iron Man" film.
thought someone would like to know.
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/page/3/

the bit is beneath the andre 3000 picture.

[J~$$$]

"Rumor has it that the rapper will play a Sheikh living in Dubai in the film, which is set to hit theaters next summer."

awesome.

[bmack86]

I just watched Leon the Professional. I didn't expect it to be a love story of sorts, and it was pleasantly surprising. A fantastic film. I liked the way he portrays the characters, making them obviously characters rather than people, yet giving them depth and intrigue. The dialogue reminded me of old Noir films, with its borderline between cool and cheesy.

[J~$$$]

ummm Im sure this has been discussed....but

http://www.slashfilm.com/2007/08/08/must-watch-michel-gondrys-be-kind-rewind-movie-trailer/

Jack black and mos def? I like the premise, but c'mon.

[schoolofruckus]

Yeah, we were celebrating this a few pages back because it's coming out this winter instead of next Spring. I think it has the potential to be fucking great. I wasn't a fan of Gondry's last movie, but "Eternal Sunshine" and "Human Nature" were both excellent, and this seems like a great project for his sensibilities.

[HowToDisappear]

I loved the "Science of Sleep". But I've been avoiding "Eternal Sunshine" for years because I absolutely can't stand Jim Carrey. The one exception (one of my guilty pleasures... there I said it) is "Dumb and Dumber" and I think that's because Jeff Daniels seems to mitigate the Carrey Effect. Friends keep telling me I'll love "Eternal Sunshine" because he's not at all Carreyish in it, but I'm skeptical.

[ghettojournalist]

"Eternal Sunshine" has great performances all around.
carrey, kirsten dunst, brad renfro, elijah wood and, most of all, kate winslet.
good love story with a sci-fi undercurrent.

[amyzzz]

I finally saw Zodiac last night. Loved it. I also saw 300 last week. Hated it. Gabe was dead on for that debate when the movies came out in theatres.

[breakjaw]

Do "Rear Window" next, Gabe. It's practically a template for about a million other movies that you've seen.
It is THE template for Disturbia.I just rented it,and they better be sending residuals to the Hitchcock estate.

[KungFuJoe]

"Eternal Sunshine" has great performances all around.
carrey, kirsten dunst, brad renfro, elijah wood and, most of all, kate winslet.
good love story with a sci-fi undercurrent.


Brad Renfro? I think you mean Mark Ruffalo, but yes it is a fantastic film filled with excellent performances. I also loved Science of Sleep. Michel Gondry is wonderful. I think "Be Kind Rewind" will be great.

But now for the review Schoolio has waited all year for. I'll keep it short and sweet. "Rush Hour 3" was a fun film. I went in with extremely low expectations & was extremely entertained. There was a lot to love about the film (Em ... i mean movie). Yet plenty reasons to hate it. The number one reason to love it would be Hiroyuki Sanada. Between this & "Sunshine" he gets my vote for best actor of the summer. He single handedly makes Rush Hour 3 much better than it should be. There were a couple of other good supporting roles by Max Von Sydow, the French cabbie & woman who played the nun (her name escapes me). Polanski was silly. It was great to see the Soo Yung character return, but it was also my biggest complaint. I hated the fact that they introduced her as a Kung Fu instructor, yet she never got to kick that much ass & became the victim again. The story is also completely ridiculous. Who really cares about the story though? There were enough orignal stunts by Jackie Chan & plenty of laughs by Chris Tucker that made this a thouroughly enjoyable mindless pic.

Next on my list is Superbad & then WAR. I can't wait to see Statham & Li kick some ass! After that I will be eagerly awaiting all the films with some meaning.

[schoolofruckus]

On Friday night, Jennie, Tessa and I saw "The Simpsons Movie". And it was GLORIOUS. I've always enjoyed "The Simpsons", but I've also been a much bigger fan of "South Park" throughout the course of my life, and thus, "The Simpsons" has been a wee bit devalued in my mind. Recently, though, I've gotten back into it, and I went into the movie with high hopes, but a little bit unsure if the years and years of development for this movie (which are usually bad news for any movie) would leave it a little weak. But I'm happy to report that all that time spent - I mean, I've been hearing about a Simpsons movie since the early 90's - was definitely in the service of crafting the perfect big-screen excursion for America's first family. The story was excellent - not like it's something you could really spoil, but I'm not going to discuss it because I truly didn't know what the movie was going to be about when I went in, and I kind of enjoyed that. Just know that it's a perfect framework on which to hang the Simpsons' wholesome, time-tested values, and also to mine bigger laughs than much of the more recent episodes of the show. Nobody will mistake this for "Bigger, Longer & Uncut", but they definitely flirt with the PG-13 rating in a few instances that deliver some pretty great moments. I've been sleeping on almost all of the big summer movies this year (and yes Joe, I'm going to be sitting out "Rush Hour 3"), but this is easily one of the more satisfying movies of the summer.

Then last night, I finally got around to watching "L'Eclisse", which I've had at home since the day Michelangelo Antonioni died a couple weeks ago. Like I declared the last time I watched one of his films:

I watched "La Notte" last night. God damn, Antonioni is one of the best of all time. I don't even know why I review his stuff anymore, because I end up saying the same thing every time: brilliant film, a visual marvel and a terrific look into the poetry of loneliness and isolation, etc. My comments may not be anything special, but the movies all are.

And those very comments apply this time around also.

I feel like the premise for "L'Eclisse" is maybe the weakest of the Antonioni films I've seen thus far - a woman (played by Antonioni's stunning muse, Monica Vitti) breaks off her engagement, then reluctantly takes up with her mother's handsome, young stockbroker. But we all know that it's the singer, not the song, and this exceptionally composed film is yet another example of that. This is also the most challenging, most defiantly unconventional film I've seen yet from Antonioni - or almost anyone else, for that matter - and it's pretty hard to explain its appeal. You either bathe in the alienated imagery, the haunting silences, and the willfully inconclusive ending - which, for the record, is a tremendous piece of abstract filmmaking - or you're immediately bored with it and you're disengaged by the 10 minute mark. I can't quite fault anyone for either approach; unlike with "Blow-up" or "L' Avventura" (either of which should be the starting point if you're getting into Antonioni's work for the first time), I can definitely understand the draw-backs to a film like this. But all I know is that this kind of movie makes sense to me in a way that I can't describe. If you're a seasoned Antonioni fan, or if you're into slow, meditative films along the lines of "Last Days", "The Brown Bunny", or "L' Enfant", you need to see this immediately.

Tonight, we're seeing "The Ten" - a Biblical comedy from the guys/girls behind "The State" and "Wet Hot American Summer". I'm also committed to seeing "Sunshine", "The Bourne Ultimatum", and hopefully "Rescue Dawn" before they leave theaters.

[CuervoPH]

I gave up on any theater around here adding "Sunshine". Only one theater in the area has even put up a 'Coming Soon' poster for it, but every week I think it might be a possibility they go and do something like give 3 screens to "Rush Hour 3" and another 3 to "Daddy Day Care". (Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I really wanted to see "Sunshine").

So now it's in my Netflix queue for whenever the DVD releases.

[roberto73]

It's okay, Cuervo. You can admit there's something wrong with giving three screens to Rush Hour 3 or Daddy Day Camp. I grew up in Southwestern Ohio – I know how tough it is to find smaller movies when the chains give all their screens to whatever disposable "blockbuster" is released that week.

[ghettojournalist]

"The Simpsons Movie" is okay at best.
i caught my self giggling a few times throughout the flick punctuated with a couple laughs for comic book guy scenes, but on the whole it's a failure in my mind.

[schoolofruckus]

Very persuasive argument.

[mountmccabe]

I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on Monday. It wasn't anything special, really. Consider the transition from Identity (which actually had things to say about the concept of identity) to Supremacy (which offered nothing new on supremacy) and follow that linear path. It was all confusingly choreographed chase sequences and even more confusingly choreographed fights. And dumb, repeated quick hazy flashbacks. Hell if there was anything I could ban from movies forever it'd be quick flashbacks. I'mn't talking about extended sections or achronology in general I'm talking the short bits to make sure even the most wasted and distracted of audience members know what's going on. But all in all though I feel no more enlightened on the concept of ultimatum it wasn't entirely unwatchable.

Also I saw Broken Flowers last night. Bill Murray was strong. My friend had to pause it to contain his laughter (and for me to confirm that it was indeed her) when a bunny (that was at least partially brown; we didn't rewind to check how much) preceded Chloe Sevigny's appearance in the film. I liked the mood and the ending but the artificiality of it all left me a little cold. We saw a cast of eccentrics but they were Movie-versions of eccentrics; not naturalistic ones. They were all bright and eager to succinctly explain their eccentricity and then that was it.

[ghettojournalist]

really? i never really have a persuasive argument to make. i just put my opinion out there.

[ghettojournalist]

I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on Monday. It wasn't anything special, really. Consider the transition from Identity (which actually had things to say about the concept of identity) to Supremacy (which offered nothing new on supremacy) and follow that linear path. It was all confusingly choreographed chase sequences and even more confusingly choreographed fights. And dumb, repeated quick hazy flashbacks. Hell if there was anything I could ban from movies forever it'd be quick flashbacks. I'mn't talking about extended sections or achronology in general I'm talking the short bits to make sure even the most wasted and distracted of audience members know what's going on. But all in all though I feel no more enlightened on the concept of ultimatum it wasn't entirely unwatchable.

wow. really?
i really dug "The Bourne Ultimatum". Paul Greengrass' direction is so beautifully kinetic. Hilarious, winking music cues.
Afterwards, i felt i had an inkling of what it felt like to watch the first bond or indiana jones films when they rolled out in theatres.

[mountmccabe]

wow. really?
i really dug "The Bourne Ultimatum". Paul Greengrass' direction is so beautifully kinetic. Hilarious, winking music cues.
Afterwards, i felt i had an inkling of what it felt like to watch the first bond or indiana jones films when they rolled out in theatres.

I'm counting myself out on any Bond conversation but on Raiders of the Lost Ark I'm trying to wrap my head around that. My instinct was to respond "wow, really?" but then again Raiders was a bad action film made wonderful by a strong character. Ultimatum is much the same way except without the strong character.

[mountmccabe]

Bourne was a strong character in Indentity but by this point to me it all felt forced and rehashed and revised.

[ghettojournalist]

this one did give me the feeling a more pronounced action/thriller film form. i think you hit the nail in that you have to dig the character to really like the film.

[schoolofruckus]

really? i never really have a persuasive argument to make. i just put my opinion out there.

If all you're going to do is say whatever random notion jumps into your mind, then it ceases to be an "opinion" and it's basically just bullshit. Don't follow a positive review of a movie with a snide dismissal of it as being "a failure" unless you're going to give a reason for thinking that. This is conversation 101.

I saw The Bourne Ultimatum on Monday. It wasn't anything special, really. Consider the transition from Identity (which actually had things to say about the concept of identity) to Supremacy (which offered nothing new on supremacy) and follow that linear path. It was all confusingly choreographed chase sequences and even more confusingly choreographed fights. And dumb, repeated quick hazy flashbacks. Hell if there was anything I could ban from movies forever it'd be quick flashbacks. I'mn't talking about extended sections or achronology in general I'm talking the short bits to make sure even the most wasted and distracted of audience members know what's going on. But all in all though I feel no more enlightened on the concept of ultimatum it wasn't entirely unwatchable.

Also I saw Broken Flowers last night. Bill Murray was strong. My friend had to pause it to contain his laughter (and for me to confirm that it was indeed her) when a bunny (that was at least partially brown; we didn't rewind to check how much) preceded Chloe Sevigny's appearance in the film. I liked the mood and the ending but the artificiality of it all left me a little cold. We saw a cast of eccentrics but they were Movie-versions of eccentrics; not naturalistic ones. They were all bright and eager to succinctly explain their eccentricity and then that was it.

Interesting...I've heard that the editing/choreography in "Ultimatum" is actually an improvement from the fight scenes in "Supremacy". Anyway, I enjoy the Bourne films quite a bit - the moodiness coupled with what I consider to be top-notch excitement appeals to me in a way that few recent action films have.

Are you a Jarmusch fan in general? "Broken Flowers" definitely has some of his hallmark quirkiness-for-its-own-sake - which I agree can be a bit irritating - but I think it's one of his best films because it's probably the most heartfelt. And I, too, giggled at the reference to "The Brown Bunny".

[ghettojournalist]

If all you're going to do is say whatever random notion jumps into your mind, then it ceases to be an "opinion" and it's basically just bullshit. Don't follow a positive review of a movie with a snide dismissal of it as being "a failure" unless you're going to give a reason for thinking that. This is conversation 101.

if you go back to my post i do mention why i consider it a failure.
go ahead, i'll wait.

now that you've completed reading comprenshion 101, let me elaborate.

i didn't find it very humorous which means, for me, it didn't complete what it set out to do.
i am a fan on the show, but the film just felt forced.
i mean did it really have to have a topical plot?
it's not even like some films where the topical-ness of the film is a byproduct of the story(The Bourne Ultimatum) or films that specifically set out to have a topical message(Sicko), but it felt like a film that had things tacked on, including its plot.

that is why i consider "The Simpsons Movie" a failure.

[schoolofruckus]

Just for clarification:

"The Simpsons Movie" is okay at best.
i caught my self giggling a few times throughout the flick punctuated with a couple laughs for comic book guy scenes, but on the whole it's a failure in my mind.

You say it's okay. You mention that you laughed a few times. Then you say it's a failure.

There's absolutely no mention of anything negative in that review. You move from it being okay, to being occasionally giggle-worthy, to a failure without any explanation, or without even pointing out a single flaw, until your follow-up.

Fucking moron.

[Tylerdurden31]

Saw SiCKO on Saturday night. Wow. I know I gotta take what's fed to me with a grain of salt, but if all that's true, what the fuck. I was very tempted to move to a different country at one point in the movie. So many people in the theater were crying. A pregnant woman down the row was completely bawling. Once again, Michael Moore accomplishes his mission.

Side note: I believe Matthew Modine was sitting a few rows in front of me at the theater.

[thinnerair]

Saw SiCKO on Saturday night. Wow. I know I gotta take what's fed to me with a grain of salt, but if all that's true, what the fuck. I was very tempted to move to a different country at one point in the movie. So many people in the theater were crying. A pregnant woman down the row was completely bawling. Once again, Michael Moore accomplishes his mission.

Side note: I believe Matthew Modine was sitting a few rows in front of me at the theater.

The movie had some good laughs, which I think distract you from really thinking about some of the scenarios that he sets up. I think I am getting sick of Michael Moore.


The Ten was quite funny. I will probably go see it again.
I am debating which has been my favorite summer flick and its a toss up between DIE HARD and THE SIMPSONS.

[schoolofruckus]

I watched a couple good ones yesterday.

First up was "If....", a recent Criterion release. This 1968 British gem is set in an uptight private school, and features then-newcomer Malcolm McDowell as the leader of a group of rebellious students who resort to drastic measures to thwart authority. It's a stellar film, alternating between reality and fantasy (as well as color and black & white), and a searing "fuck you" to societal hierarchy. If you're looking for a bloodthirsty revenge fantasy, this one isn't for you; rather, it's a challenging, complicated film that does far more asking than telling.

Next up was supposed to be "The Ten" - at the new Landmark "living room" that Tessa described earlier (with couches and shit) - but the screening was sold out. So Jennie, Keriann and I retreated to Chris' house and watched "The Triplets of Belleville" instead. Holy shit - this one's been on my radar for a few years, but I've never managed to catch it. Thus, I've been missing one of the most original films of recent times - an animated, mostly-musical fantasy/adventure that is wholly unlike anything else I've ever seen. The story involves an elderly woman whose grandson - a training Tour de France cyclist - is kidnapped and taken to America; along with his faithful (and train-hating) dog, she makes the voyage to save him, eventually enlisting the titular trio (who exist in a perpetual state of song and dance) for help. This movie has everything you could possibly want, up to and including a hysterical chase scene and several bizzare dream sequences in the mind of the dog. It's a unique treasure that I would recommend to just about anyone.

[HowToDisappear]

Next up was supposed to be "The Ten" - at the new Landmark "living room" that Tessa described earlier (with couches and shit) - but the screening was sold out. So Jennie, Keriann and I retreated to Chris' house and watched "The Triplets of Belleville" instead. Holy shit - this one's been on my radar for a few years, but I've never managed to catch it. Thus, I've been missing one of the most original films of recent times - an animated, mostly-musical fantasy/adventure that is wholly unlike anything else I've ever seen. The story involves an elderly woman whose grandson - a training Tour de France cyclist - is kidnapped and taken to America; along with his faithful (and train-hating) dog, she makes the voyage to save him, eventually enlisting the titular trio (who exist in a perpetual state of song and dance) for help. This movie has everything you could possibly want, up to and including a hysterical chase scene and several bizzare dream sequences in the mind of the dog. It's a unique treasure that I would recommend to just about anyone.

Oooohhhh...love that film! My girls and I went to see that when it first came out. Absolutely charming and funny and sweet and endearing and bizarrely original. Such a treat to see non-CG animation, too.

I especially loved all the training sequences - grandma on the tricycle keeping up his cadences, the lawnmower "massage". His calves!

Then when she's in Belleville and meets the Triplets and gets to experience their hospitality...mmm..."soup de grenouille"..."glace de grenouille"...how many ways can you enjoy grenouille? A lot, apparently.

Great film.

[ghettojournalist]

Just for clarification:



You say it's okay. You mention that you laughed a few times. Then you say it's a failure.

There's absolutely no mention of anything negative in that review. You move from it being okay, to being occasionally giggle-worthy, to a failure without any explanation, or without even pointing out a single flaw, until your follow-up.

Fucking moron.

i'm sorry.
i thought that everyone knew that "The Simpsons" is considered a comedy.
i subtly described the film as slightly humorous.
if a "comedy" does not result in laughter, then is it not a failure?
i think so.
now, i don't expect you to be a mind-reader, but my conclusion isn't far-fetched.

[amyzzz]

i'm sorry.
i thought that everyone knew that "The Simpsons" is considered a comedy.
i subtly described the film as slightly humorous.
if a "comedy" does not result in laughter, then is it not a failure?
i think so.
now, i don't expect you to be a mind-reader, but my conclusion isn't far-fetched.
I wasn't too impressed with The Simpsons movie either.