Schoolio's Movie Corner

[mountmccabe]

Great. In other words....

Scott != Spielberg a/o Lucas.


So I just saw The Missing Star (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448131/) at the SIFF. I would consider it an Italian film but most of the film takes place in China. In fact one of the very interesting things about the film was that all you see of Italy is around a closed, gutted factory. For China, however, you see huge fields and the Yangtze river and factories and tenements, cities and rural dwellings.

Segio Castellitto plays a maintenance worker (Vincenzo) that is nearing the end of his job at a Italian factory/steel mill that shut down a few months ago. He has been working on the equipment even after the shutdown to bring it back to good working order. Chinese brokers buy a giant blast furnace. They don't know anything about Italy and don't care when Vincenzo comes in and says that they must take it apart slowly and carefully and allow him to fix a defect in the machine so that it will not cause more accidents. He fabricates the new parts necessary but to no avail, the blast furnace is gone the next day.

He flies to China on a quest to find where the blast furnace went and to fix it. The brokerage firm doesn't care what he has to say and he doesn't trust them to deliver the new part so he sets out looking for the blast furnace himself. He convinces the translator that lost her job after the trip to Italy (which she blames on him) on his quest.

It is a quiet and oftentimes subtle film, gorgeously shot. The interaction between the two leads is quite interesting, very restrained. They briefly laugh and bond (a little) over food ("this is rather bland" "it is plain white rice") and give each other directions but these, like Vincenzo's concerns over the safety of the blast furnace, are largely ignored.

This is a film about the industrialization, the Westernization of China. It is a film about vultures and children, bureaucracy and innocence. It is a film about Vincenzo, the discarded maintenance worker that fixes things everywhere he sees them broken and expresses a childlike excitement when discussing the engineering marvel of a dam on the Yangtze and Liu, a young Chinese woman who hasn't fit the required molds for Chinese society, who took Italian before she left university because she didn't come from a good enough high school to take a more useful second language.

Some may find it somewhat slow and there are no guns and the occasional shots of molten steel and showers of sparks will have to stand-in for explosions but if you can live with that this is highly recommended.

It was directed by Gianni Amelio. And I'm putting his earlier films - it looks like he has around 10 feature length films; none of them sound familiar - on my to watch list.

[wmgaretjax]

anyone excited for Haneke's remake of his own film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ec-70W_K77U

the original was great, albeit flawed, and this one looks even better.

[schoolofruckus]

I'd like to see it. I've never seen any of Heineke's stuff, but that one looks good. Michael Pitt is awesome in just about everything he does.

I'm seeing "Control" in about 3 hours. So fucking jacked up.

[wmgaretjax]

i'm jealous. let me know how it is.

as far as haneke goes, you should check out "Time of the Wolf" and "Cache" first. Basically everything is worth seeing by him.

[menikmati]

I bought The Goonies today, and I got The Jungle Book a few days ago.

[full on idle]

Were you born when the Goonies came out? Love that movie.

I watched Zodiac and it was good. I loved the shots of the city, especially the time lapse shot of the transamerica pyramid going up. Also, the Chronicle building is right by my work so I recognized the street shots there too. They did good. I love Mark Ruffalo. The end.

[kingsblend420]

Were you born when the Goonies came out? Love that movie.

I watched Zodiac and it was good. I loved the shots of the city, especially the time lapse shot of the transamerica pyramid going up. Also, the Chronicle building is right by my work so I recognized the street shots there too. They did good. I love Mark Ruffalo. The end.

Zodiac was very well done.

[roberto73]

I saw The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford today. I don't have much to add to what's already been said here, except to concur that it's really fucking great. Pitt and Affleck are terrific, and I was pretty happy to see Paul Schneider in such a prominent role. I've been a huge fan of his ever since David Gordon Green's All the Real Girls, and I'd love for this movie to catapult him onto the radar of other directors. Deakins' cinematography steals the show, though. Beautiful.

I also saw Into the Wild. I wanted it to knock me on my ass. It was good, but not ass-knockingly good. I thought structurally it was a little clumsy. Kraukauer makes it work in the book to cut back and forth between McCandless' time in Alaska and his journey through the West, but it doesn't always seem too fluid in the film. Like Assassination, there's some beautiful photography on display here, but I also got a little tired of the preponderance of slow-motion shots of Emile Hirsch either a) frolicking in the water all hunk-like, or b) starving. Hirsch is pretty great, though, doing some serious Christian Bale-style deterioration and making McCandless as sympathetic as he needs to be so half the audience doesn't see him as just some asshole kid who had daddy issues. Sean Penn made a strong movie, but I felt like it's haunting where it could have been revelatory.

Oh, and Across the Universe is the biggest mess since Apocalypse Now. That is all.

[menikmati]

Were you born when the Goonies came out? Love that movie.

I'm not THAT young am I? It came out in 1985. I remember watching it all the time growing up.

[kingsblend420]

I also saw Into the Wild. I wanted it to knock me on my ass. It was good, but not ass-knockingly good. I thought structurally it was a little clumsy.

Try Into The Void.

[wmgaretjax]

Try Into Great Silence

[schoolofruckus]

See fucking Control already.

It's a stunning piece of work - a flawlessly acted study of deterioration in its own right. Ian Curtis may not have had as extravagant a backstory as other previously-biopic'ed rockstars like Jim Morrison, but his life as presented here is all the more tragic because the suffering he withstands is so ingrained in his personality as to be inexplicable. The black-and-white photography is every bit as tremendous as you would expect. The music scenes do a tremendous job of presenting Joy Division's music in all its moody glory, and showing the depths of despair that Curtis had to get to in order to perform. The sequence depicting the last 24 hours or so before Curtis kills himself is stunningly powerful - simply, patiently, and absolutely authentically nailing every last inch of the meltdown.

[bug on your lip]

Fruck !

i want to see this movie so bad, & nowhere nears me yet

[schoolofruckus]

If it makes you feel better, it's nowhere near anybody yet; last night's screening was just a sneak preview at the Cinematheque here. It opens in New York this weekend and in Los Angeles on 10/19. It's being distributed by the Weinstein Company though (as opposed to a small distributor), so I bet it hits most major cities across the country.

[bug on your lip]

i just watched the trailer and now feel even worse

it looks stella

[wmgaretjax]

See fucking Control already.


AH! Too much cool stuff is going on in the next couple months!

I'm seeing Brand upon the Brain this thursday. I'm excited, everyone here that worked on it has been waiting a long time for it to be brought here. It's playing at our local Cinerama theater with all the live antics, including Guy Maddin himself as the narrator. I'm pumped.

[RotationSlimWang]

Oh, and Across the Universe is the biggest mess since Apocalypse Now. That is all.

I've seen the documentary so I'm familiar with what a disaster of a shoot Apocalypse was... but I don't think I've ever heard the movie itself referred to as a mess, let alone a mess the size of which one uses as a reference point. You didn't mean it like that, right?

[wmgaretjax]

I read it that way too, I think Apocalypse Now is over-rated, but certainly not a disaster.

Has anyone seen the new Coppola trailer?

http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony/youthwithoutyouth/

who knows... He hasn't done anything good in a LONG time.

[RotationSlimWang]

Apocalypse is easily in the all-time top ten. Jesus, people.

[wmgaretjax]

Apocalypse is easily in the all-time top ten. Jesus, people.

That's what I mean about over-rated. While it might make the bottom end of a top-100 list, there is very little in the film that would allow it to push it's way into the top 10.

It's a great film. No doubt.

[RotationSlimWang]

Charlie don't surf = automatic top ten

[roberto73]

I love Apocaypse Now, Randy. But I also think it's a huge, sprawling, chaotic mess of a movie. That's one of its charms. As I was watching Across the Universe, I was reminded of Apocalypse in the sheer scope of what it tries to do, and how sloppily it does it. In the end, Universe's quality isn't anywhere close to that of Apocalypse's, but I can't think of any recent movies that try to do something this bold.

[wmgaretjax]

I love Apocaypse Now, Randy. But I also think it's a huge, sprawling, chaotic mess of a movie. That's one of its charms. As I was watching Across the Universe, I was reminded of Apocalypse in the sheer scope of what it tries to do, and how sloppily it does it. In the end, Universe's quality isn't anywhere close to that of Apocalypse's, but I can't think of any recent movies that try to do something this bold.

There is nothing "bold" about Across the Universe. It's a traditional musical that pretends to be experimental, but rather, is simply a mess of a movie that relies far too much on it's trite plot. There are some visually interesting moments, but they are far from novel or compelling.

[RotationSlimWang]

Apocalypse only felt sloppy to me at the end. The rest of it is the highest form of a road movie--or if you prefer, a Homer-esque Odyssey through a world that does a brilliant job of building a sense of utter chaos and madness in the viewer like few things else I can call to mind. It almost rivals the written effectiveness of Catch-22 at truly immersing the audience in the insanity of war. Yes, it does rather fall apart at the end--we've all probably seen Heart of Darkness, they didn't know how the fuck to end it, they let crazy-ass Marlon just ramble and ramble, etc.--but it still manages to crescendo into as unnerving an experience as anything else on celluloid.

Look, the motherfucker outdid Full Metal Jacket. He bested KUBRICK. Give the man his due, faults and all.

[wmgaretjax]

Look, the motherfucker outdid Full Metal Jacket. He bested KUBRICK. Give the man his due, faults and all.

Why the hell are you comparing those movies. They share nothing in common besides being about the Vietnam War. That's like trying to compare Paths of Glory with Grand Illusion.

He gets due... Just not a top 10 spot (for Godfather either).

[RotationSlimWang]

Um... actually I think they share some pretty similar themes besides just being set in Nam, although being set in Nam is reason enough for me. But they're about men driven to insanity by the complete absence of any moral compass, and they're executed rather pointedly to try to drag the viewer along with the characters into said insanity.

Not for Godfather I might bump to top twenty. You're a wacky cat though, Jared. It's not like Apocalypse is some cookie-cutter formula or anything. It's fucking lunacy.

[schoolofruckus]

I fall somewhere in between Randy and Jared on Apocalypse Now - which is to say that I also love it. I think it's absolutely as good as Randy describes it, but I don't think it's quite top 25 for me (it narrowly missed my list when we all made them back in February or so). Looking now, I had The Godfather 1 & 2 at #22, and I would probably have Apocalypse in the high 20's/low 30's.

[wmgaretjax]

nah, I think I'm being read wrong. I love the film. I simply think it's out-trumped by far too many other films to sit in the top 10. Great film. Not denying that. Love it. </>

[RotationSlimWang]

I think I might be partial to Apocalypse Now because I have this thing in me that wants to experience shit like that. Like I'd risk my life to go through something that absolutely insane just to possibly come back out with the knowledge of what it's like to have seen that deeply into the proverbial "heart of darkness." But I hate humidity and heat, so instead of Nam or Iraq I just went to Newark and Camden and ended up knowing the taste of a gun barrel more than a couple times. In retrospect, I have to wonder what else could have possibly been driving me to that lifestyle. I mean the money and drugs were great, but I was 17, 18 fucking years old, and having my jaw pried open and a Glock shoved almost down my throat by a man I didn't doubt was capable of pulling the trigger... cringing from my teeth scraping against the metal... and for some fucking reason I WENT BACK. I could've bailed on all of that shit so easily, but for some reason that feeling that I'd been completely at the mercy of God's will for me to live or die made me go back. I wanted it more. Some of us want to get back in the jungle. =)

Or maybe I just liked having phallic things forced in my mouth--before one of you wags can get to it.

[schoolofruckus]

No, Jared, I got the impression you thought it was great. I was just saying that everything Randy said about it was right, but I also have other films I would place above it on my all-time list - great though it is.

In other news, I found out when I'm seeing Southland Tales and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days:

AFI Film Fest schedule for all the L.A. cats. (http://filmguide.afifest.com/tixSYS/2007/filmguide/title-detail.php)

[wmgaretjax]

In other news, I found out when I'm seeing Southland Tales and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days:
[/URL]

lucky bastard. not that I have to tell you... but, let us know what you think.

[KungFuJoe]

No, Jared, I got the impression you thought it was great. I was just saying that everything Randy said about it was right, but I also have other films I would place above it on my all-time list - great though it is.

In other news, I found out when I'm seeing Southland Tales and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days:

AFI Film Fest schedule for all the L.A. cats. (http://filmguide.afifest.com/tixSYS/2007/filmguide/title-detail.php)

Thanks for that link gabe. There are plenty of films on this schedule that I can't wait to see. I love the AFI Fest! Juno would be up there on my list, but for the price I can wait for that one to open elsewhere. You know I'm all over Secret Sunshine & Mad Detective. As well as Southland Tales, Margot at the Wedding, and 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days. And possiby the the Diving Bell & the Butterfly, among others. If you want to catch one of these screenings together let me know.

I am sad to see Across the Universe getting so much flack from people here. However I do understand why people would say it's a bit of a mess and the story may be a bit trite, as wmgaretjax puts it. I totally disagree that it's a traditional musical though. Not that I think it's wholly original, but it's certainly something that has not really been done before, although it is kind of a cross between Hair & Moulin Rouge. If you liked either of those films I suspect you can still enjoy this one. For me, I am more of an visual & aural person, so I can forgive a lot when it comes to story. Hence why I am madly in love with Zhang Yimous HERO. I think Across the Universe is more along this type of film, sans the martial arts of course. I really loved the way the Beatles music was incorporated into the film (minus Helter Skelter) & the performances by the actors. I found the visuals to be really stunning as well. I don't know what else to say to support this film. It may not be the greatest thing ever, but if you feeling in the mood for a bit of a feel good romance, while listening to classic Beatles tunes reshape by some beautiful new voices and watching some beautiful visuals then go see this film. It's really not all that bad.

wmgaretjax, enjoy Brand! Upon the Brain. I'm jealous you're getting to see it with Guy Maddin reading the narration! You're in for a treat. A friend of mine met Guy Madden at a screening at the Aero a while back & had nothing but great things to say about the man. Aparrently, he is a very down to earth genuine person, so I suggest trying to meet him after the perfomance if you're a fan. My pal shot the shit with him for well over a half hour & chewed his brain on many things film related. Interesting cat. Lovely filmmaker. Let us know what you think.

oh, and canexplain, thanks for bringing up Bandits. I love this film too. It's very underrated & features one of my favorite Cate Blanchett performances ever.

[wmgaretjax]

yeah joe, he's nice, but neurotic. I met him on the set of the film ;-)

one of the reasons I'm way pumped to see it.

[KungFuJoe]

yeah joe, he's nice, but neurotic. I met him on the set of the film ;-)

one of the reasons I'm way pumped to see it.


If I'm not mistaken that was filmed at a Studio in Seatle right? Do you work/live there? Sounded like an effing great place to make films!

[wmgaretjax]

If I'm not mistaken that was filmed at a Studio in Seatle right? Do you work/live there? Sounded like an effing great place to make films!

yeah it was filmed with The Film Company in Seattle. I'm a student up here finishing up my undergraduate. It's a good film making community here, but it can be a little incestual. That's why BUtB was great, since it was an outside project.

[mountmccabe]

And possiby the the Diving Bell & the Butterfly, among others.

I just got back from this.

Some French journalist and editor for Elle had a stroke and was left paralyzed so he wrote a book about it. The movie is about, his life after waking up from having his stroke. It was extremely well done. I am not sure what I can say without giving stuff away. It's not like there're big spoilers I'm afraid of giving away... it'sn't that kind of movie.

It isn't terribly pretty, partially because much of it is shown from his perspective and he has vision issues. It isn't a particularly happy movie but it is warm and rich and beautiful and strong. It is touching but I don't think it ever gets over sentimental.

It has a lot of humor to it and also a lot of blinking.

[bballarl]

Yeah doesn't he communicate his memoir through blinking?

[schoolofruckus]

Last night, Jennie and I watched "Mutual Appreciation", the second and most recent film from a young American independent filmmaker named Andrew Bujalski.

The film is a unique synergy between the sensibilities of John Cassavetes and Cameron Crowe, with a visual hint of Stranger Than Paradise - a naturalistic look at twentysomething New Yorkers and the romantic confusion between a musician and his friend's girlfriend. It's an honest, deceptively simple film that looks with insight and humor at a situation that it would be extremely easy to find oneself in. This isn't the kind of film where anything happens; it's all about observing these people, as the conversations and character interactions unspool with the rhythms of real life. According to Wikipedia, the main character is the singer of a band called Bishop Allen, and the music he plays in the film are his songs in real life. I've never heard this band before, but the songs in the movie were surprisingly pretty good. This would be a great gateway film if you're trying to get someone into naturalistic cinema.

[mountmccabe]

According to Wikipedia, the main character is the singer of a band called Bishop Allen, and the music he plays in the film are his songs in real life. I've never heard this band before, but the songs in the movie were surprisingly pretty good.

Yablo has talked about them quite a bit.

[Hannahrain]

Shouldn't one of you old-timers go start york707 a birthday thread? I'd do it, but we haven't ever really interacted.

[mountmccabe]

I was slowly working into it with the baiting and such. It's a spektakula of sorts.

[full on idle]

I see what you were doing.

What a clash of destinies! Gabe reviews the Bishop Allen movie on York's birthday! SpekTACULAAAAAAaaa

[bug on your lip]

don't use my words in vain fringe

[full on idle]

Your mom's fringe.

[mountmccabe]

Yeah doesn't he communicate his memoir through blinking?

Yes.


don't use my words in vain fringe

If I weren't committed to the York spektakula this'd be my new sig.

[Jenniehoo]

Hey, why does John get to be Dark Lord?

[mountmccabe]

I was pretty convinced you were knocked up when I first saw your current member title.

[Jenniehoo]

That's something a dark lord would say.

[PotVsKtl]

I watched about half of the shorts on Best of RESFEST Vol. 1. They fucking sucked. END OF FUCKING STORY.

[wmgaretjax]

I watched about half of the shorts on Best of RESFEST Vol. 1. They fucking sucked. END OF FUCKING STORY.

i hate the resfest videos.

[mountmccabe]

One last thing - make sure you do see Hotel Chevalier in conjunction with this movie, preferably right before heading out to the theater. You could get Darjeeling without it, absolutely....but when you see it, and the way it enhances the film, you'll know you would have been missing something to do so. If any of you haven't seen it, go on the iTunes store and search for it. It's free and it should be easy to find.

I just saw Darjeeling and Hotel Chevalier ran just before. Is this not how it was at your screening? They ran the whole thing, complete with credits and then the Fox Searchlights bit came up.

I enjoyed it quite a bit. I'mn't sure what I could say beyond what Gabe said, though. It is the story of three brothers who're carrying around a lot of baggage. At times I was a little concerned that it would go a trite, overly easy route but it pushed on.

And I need to rewatch his other movies to see if they all felt this filmed. I know Gabe was saying that the sets and locations felt more natural but the camera-work was at times almost distractingly artificial. I can't but believe that the slight bumpiness to the long pans, along with the stops and starts, were designed but I'm puzzled as to why.

But yeah, good stuff.

[Stefinitely Maybe]

Went to the cinema in with my girlfriend last night and ended up seeing "The Heartbreak Kid", which was the cinematic equivalent of candy floss; perfectly enjoyable once in a while but certainly not something I'd want to endure too often. Also, bad for your teeth.

On walking to my seat, there was a sign on the door saying "WARNING: THERE IS A PIGEON IN SCREEN 2". Thing is, the sign was taped ON TO THE DOOR OF SCREEN 2, so you only saw it as you were about to go in to see the film, and you'd already bought your ticket, so it was too late to turn back. What are you supposed to do with that information then? I mean, I empathise with the owners of the cinema - it must be a nightmare trying to get a pigeon out of the room, and I've got no idea how you'd even begin to tackle such a problem - but surely they could give their customers a bit more notice? Are you allowed to go back to the front desk and say "Look, I want a refund, I'm not watching 'The Heartbreak Kid' if there's a fucking pigeon present" or what? Me, I sat there in silence, looking anxiously around for an errant pigeon in the rafters, but I couldn't spot him / her / it at all. I felt relieved I didn't have any popcorn, though. If I was a pigeon trapped in a cinema I'd swoop down and steal people's popcorn, you see. Or shit on their heads. Luckily that didn't happen, though, and I left the cinema without having been the latest victim of a fly-by pigeon attack. Thank God I hadn't gone to see "The Birds", though.

[amyzzz]

I've just gone back 3 or 4 pages. Has anyone seen Eastern Promises? I liked it quite a bit. Had to close my eyes during the steam room scene. Fine acting by Viggo.

[roberto73]

I've just gone back 3 or 4 pages. Has anyone seen Eastern Promises? I liked it quite a bit. Had to close my eyes during the steam room scene. Fine acting by Viggo.

I'm seeing Eastern Promises tomorrow.

The Darjeeling Limited is on the menu today, which I'm seeing just before I take my girlfriend to see the musical Wicked for her birthday. I'm hoping the movie will give me enough to think about so that I'm able to blissfully ignore what's on stage.

[amyzzz]

I read the book Wicked. It was rather horrible.

[mountmccabe]

On walking to my seat, there was a sign on the door saying "WARNING: THERE IS A PIGEON IN SCREEN 2".

I kinda wanna put signs like that in random places. I don't want to put pigeons or whatever listed animal in the listed place but yeah.

[schoolofruckus]

John - I did see Chevalier in the cinema right before Darjeeling, but I thought it was only playing that way because it was an advance, Wes Anderson-attended preview. Did you see it that way at a normal screening? I'd be thrilled if they were playing the short and the feature together at every engagement. And the reason why I remarked on the film's feel of authenticity is precisely because that's in relation to previous Wes Anderson films. I would dare say he makes some of the most carefully-composed films of anyone in the world right now; that's most people's problems with Royal Tennenbaums and especially Life Aquatic is that they feel like museum exhibits, and that the artificiality renders them devoid of emotion. I completely disagree for the record - and found both films as engaging on a character level as they are stylistically - but that's why I think this film will bring back people who haev turned against him recently.

Amy - I haven't seen Eastern Promises yet, but I plan on doing so very, very soon.

[mountmccabe]

John - I did see Chevalier in the cinema right before Darjeeling, but I thought it was only playing that way because it was an advance, Wes Anderson-attended preview. Did you see it that way at a normal screening? I'd be thrilled if they were playing the short and the feature together at every engagement.

I was at an advance, non-Wes Anderson attended preview. At least I don't have any reason to think he was there.

And I agree; it makes a good introduction to the film. So I'm assuming the 91 minute running time for Darjeeling only count Part 2? Because even adding the 13 minutes of Chevalier you've still got just a standard length running time.

[schoolofruckus]

Also, I saw an Antonioni double-header last night at the New Beverly - Il Grido, which I hadn't seen previously, and Zabriskie Point, which I caught on video and wanted to see in the theater and in CinemaScope.

Il Grido was decent....certainly not bad, but probably the least impressive Antonioni film I've ever seen. It's about a guy who, after seven years and one daughter, is dumped by his lover - a married woman who has recently found out that her husband has died abroad - and flees the town with child in tow. They proceed to wander from place to place, with Dad trying to figure out where and how to put their life back together, all the while meeting various different women along the way. Some of these scenes are engaging, but the film's overall progression is extremely conventional by Antonioni standards. I was also pretty tired during this screening, and thus my patience wasn't at its most plentiful. However, the blistering ending redeems everything, and thus, I'm going to need to watch this one again.

Zabriskie Point was, of course, glorious....I loved it on video, but in the cinema it was another world. Marvelous early Pink Floyd score, gorgeous compositions, angry condemnation of the corporatization of America, and one of the most weirdly cathartic endings in film. Can someone please snap up the DVD rights and put this out already? It's an MGM release, so I'm guessing either Sony (new owners of MGM) or Warner Bros. (former owners of MGM home video releases) have it; unfortunately these are the two studios most adverse to selling their titles to Criterion.

[schoolofruckus]

I was at an advance, non-Wes Anderson attended preview. At least I don't have any reason to think he was there.

And I agree; it makes a good introduction to the film. So I'm assuming the 91 minute running time for Darjeeling only count Part 2? Because even adding the 13 minutes of Chevalier you've still got just a standard length running time.

Okay. See, I've been told that they were going to do the double-bill thing at different individual showings around the country (not necessarily ones that Wes will be there for), but not in general release. You're right, though - Darjeeling is short enough that they should be packaging them together always. At least Wes' standing deal with Criterion guarantees that Chevalier will be available on the DVD.

[breakjaw]

Forgive me if this has already been posted,but there was an excellent article in the NY Times about I'm Not There:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2151/1509596764_c75214735b_o.jpg (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/magazine/07Haynes.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin)
I think I want to see this now more than any other film I can think of.

[full on idle]

Me too, Breakjaw. We're going to Darjeeling tonight though. I am excited.

[breakjaw]

If you go to the article,make sure and watch the slideshow.It's narrated by Haynes,with great pictures of Dylan and stills from the movie.The 8 1/2 reference is funny.

[dorkfish]

Um, Greg, we talked about that movie 15 pages ago...

[schoolofruckus]

I've been excited to see Juno when it comes out this winter, but I've also been a little trepedatious. It's got signs of being this year's quirky indie-comedy-with-heart that everyone flocks to in order to feel like their hip with non-studio fare. These films can be good (Little Miss Sunshine), mediocre (Garden State), or terrible (Napoleon Dynamite), but I can't think of one I would actually consider great. Nevertheless, it does have an appealing cast, with Ellen Page (the two-faced, nut-slicing teen fromHard Candy) and Michael Cera (no introduction necessary) as two teenagers who accidentally conceive and must now figure out a course of action. It's also got Jason Bateman and Dwight from "The Office".

Anyway, here's the trailer - judge for yourself.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/juno/trailer/

[Stefinitely Maybe]

+5 for using the word trepidacious.
-5 for saying Napoleon Dynamite was terrible.

[wmgaretjax]

Brand Upon the Brain was mindblowing.

Guy Maddin narrating it himself was fantastic. I have nothing bad to say about this film. It's damn near perfect, and the live presentation is something that will stick with me through future viewings.

See this movie.

[KungFuJoe]

Brand Upon the Brain was mindblowing.

Guy Maddin narrating it himself was fantastic. I have nothing bad to say about this film. It's damn near perfect, and the live presentation is something that will stick with me through future viewings.

See this movie.

I wish the tour would continue & Guy Maddin would return to L.A. with it again. It truly was a wonderful experience. Although i've seen other films by Guy, it was unlike anything I have ever seen before. It's no question to me that he is the most daring & interesting film maker working today. Now I'm jealous. I want to see it again!

[KungFuJoe]

Just got back from Darjelling Limited. It was ok. I enjoyed it for the most part, but it's definately my least favorite of his films. For those that don't know, Hotel Chavelier was not playing before hand, so definately watch it online before you head out to see this flick. They showed a brief advert for the websit before the film started though. That's it.

[Benis23]

I agree - Darjeeling is also my least favorite of Wes Anderson's films so far. It was stylish, artistic and intermittently funny, but I really felt like the plot was thin and the characters were underdeveloped. By the end of the movie, I was getting tired of that quippy, absurd dialogue that has nothing to do with the plot or the characters.

[full on idle]

I would peg the "quippy dialogue" as style, but I didn't go to film school.

[PotVsKtl]

Darjeeling is all style. Good style. The lessons are trite and the emotions are totally surface. This is intentional. I mean seriously, "I still have a lot of healing to do?" You think Anderson doesn't know what a ridiculous line that is? It's a modern screwball comedy, basically. Overlapping dialogue, etc. Try to tell me I'm wrong. Your whole face is a gutter.

[Yablonowitz]

+5 for using the word trepidacious.
-5 for saying Napoleon Dynamite was terrible.

-10 for suggesting Napoleon Dynamite was anything but terrible.

[full on idle]

Darjeeling is all style. Good style. The lessons are trite and the emotions are totally surface. This is intentional. I mean seriously, "I still have a lot of healing to do?" You think Anderson doesn't know what a ridiculous line that is? It's a modern screwball comedy, basically. Overlapping dialogue, etc. Try to tell me I'm wrong. Your whole face is a gutter.

Can we at least say a modern screwball comedy with a heart of gold.?

Because, come on.

[Yablonowitz]

No way Pot would approve "heart of gold" as a descriptor to any movie. Not without sarcasm.

[mountmccabe]

I've been excited to see Juno when it comes out this winter, but I've also been a little trepedatious. It's got signs of being this year's quirky indie-comedy-with-heart that everyone flocks to in order to feel like their hip with non-studio fare. These films can be good (Little Miss Sunshine), mediocre (Garden State), or terrible (Napoleon Dynamite), but I can't think of one I would actually consider great. Nevertheless, it does have an appealing cast, with Ellen Page (the two-faced, nut-slicing teen fromHard Candy) and Michael Cera (no introduction necessary) as two teenagers who accidentally conceive and must now figure out a course of action. It's also got Jason Bateman and Dwight from "The Office".

Anyway, here's the trailer - judge for yourself.

http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/juno/trailer/

Since Yabs is resurrecting old business I figured I'd follow suit. That trailer has a song by Kimya Dawson in it! Also I'mn't sure I'm expecting much out of this. Ellen seems mostly tried throughout the trailer... though maybe that's because of the pregnancy.

Also I saw Little Miss Sunshine last week for the first time. It was OK. It had some decent parts but it only once rose above what it was and actually had me excited.

Dwayne was a mostly ridiculous set up of a character; Nietzsche had nothing to do with anything; it was never worked in. Same with Frank and Proust. Nietzsche just stood for angst and Proust for weirdness. That sort of thing bugs me; there's nothing organic about it.

[PotVsKtl]

http://thewallofsound.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/heartofgold-tm.jpg

[Benis23]

Your whole face is a gutter.

What does that mean?

[KungFuJoe]

Darjeeling is all style. Good style. The lessons are trite and the emotions are totally surface. This is intentional. I mean seriously, "I still have a lot of healing to do?" You think Anderson doesn't know what a ridiculous line that is? It's a modern screwball comedy, basically. Overlapping dialogue, etc. Try to tell me I'm wrong. Your whole face is a gutter.


I agree with you Pot, but that was somewhat of my problem with the film. It was focused a little too much on the style & less on the characters. Sure, it's a modern day screwball comedy, but it tries to be much more than that. It succeeds for the most part, but falls flat a lot along the way. It's not that I didn't like it, but at times it seemed as if I was simply watching cardboard cutouts of these characters dancing across a painted background and that is why I liked it less than his previous works. Granted, I will probably grow more fond of this film upon additional viewings because Anderson's style is so unique and charming. However, all this talk of screwball comedies kind of makes me want to just go and watch silly films like this one.

ZeovwuGknkw

[RotationSlimWang]

Wow Joe, I haven't seen or thought about Brain Donors in a coon's age, but it's the only instance of Three Stooges-esque humor that I actually enjoyed.

[full on idle]

http://thewallofsound.files.wordpress.com/2007/05/heartofgold-tm.jpg

Dig it, Yablo. I'm pretty sure this means I win.

[KungFuJoe]

Wow Joe, I haven't seen or thought about Brain Donors in a coon's age, but it's the only instance of Three Stooges-esque humor that I actually enjoyed.


Neither have I, but for some reason it came to mind today. my friends & I use to quote the shit out of this flick when we were youngens. John Tuttoro cracked my shit up.

[J~$$$]

Im going to see a movie about a Font tonight.

[Courtney]

Helvetica hells yes.

[J~$$$]

Its hosted by the director.

[Courtney]

Awesome.

Also if anyone has a lot a lot of free time, please tell me which of these 193 films (http://hawaii.bside.com/?_view=_films) to go see.

[J~$$$]

emo.
Flight of the Red Balloon.

I would like to see these.
I Love Hip Hop in Morocco
DMZ

That film fest looks cool.

[Courtney]

Hey cool thanks. I kinda want to see everything, which might pose a problem.

[J~$$$]

The Kite Runner

Sweet I heard those kite fights are insane.i5S47aSlezs&mode

[Courtney]

I pretty much hated that book and I'm holding my grudge when it comes to the movie. The book was a piece of emotionally manipulative, cloying sap.

[TomAz]

I pretty much hated that book and I'm holding my grudge when it comes to the movie. The book was a piece of emotionally manipulative, cloying sap.

The first 3/4ths of the book are good, I thought. but the last bit.. one plot twist after another, one convenient coincidence after another.. I hear ya.

[J~$$$]

This one sounds really interesting too...

Wonders Are Many: The Making of Doctor Atomic

[wmgaretjax]

See The Man From London, I cannot stress this enough.

Others: Control (Joy Division biopic) and Nomad Tx (nomadic music documentary I saw, that was quite good)

But please, see The Man From London... Relay what you think here if you do. Bela Tarr is one of the greatest living film makers.

[mountmccabe]

I vote for Control.

And also The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It was directed by Julian Schnabel! It's the only film at the fest that I've actually seen. This festival is much, much bigger than the SIFF. So basically you win.

And Eraserhead. It has John Goodman in it.

They've got Helvetica which does look interesting.

Also Invisible City. It is a documentary about people making documentaries about Singapore.

[Jenniehoo]

And Eraserhead. It has John Goodman in it.

Is this funny?

[schoolofruckus]

"Control" is, I can guarantee you, one of the best movies you'll see this year. Especially if you like Joy Division.

"The Man From London" has to be awesome. I wish a US distributor would buy it already.

"Eraserhead" for nostalgic fun.

I heard "Jellyfish" was good.

Skip "DMZ" and just watch "JSA", which is about the same shit and is almost certainly better.


I watched Kubrick's "Lolita" last night. I liked it, but it was definitely second-tier by his standards. Still somewhat twisted considering the censorial constraints under which it was made. Peter Sellers is awesome.

[roberto73]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v475/insomniacmonty/JohnRamboPoster-thumb.jpg

Shame it's being released too late for Oscar consideration ...

[TomAz]

I watched Kubrick's "Lolita" last night. I liked it, but it was definitely second-tier by his standards. Still somewhat twisted considering the censorial constraints under which it was made. Peter Sellers is awesome.

I watched that a few weeks ago. you really can feel the censor's presence. but both Sellers and Mason are brilliant in it, I thought.

[Down Rodeo]

I watched Bergman's Wild Strawberries last night. It's an excellent, contemplative movie. For those who haven't seen it or heard of it, it's about an old professor who travels to receive an honorary degree and along the way, he encounters people that bring back memories and hallucinations from his past. He realizes that he's made choices that have given his life very little meaning, and he's afraid he may have squandered his opportunities to make things right. At the end, he makes peace with his past and seems to redeem himself. Overall, it was very insightful and serious in typical Bergman fashion. The man was a genius.

[KungFuJoe]

Awesome.

Also if anyone has a lot a lot of free time, please tell me which of these 193 films (http://hawaii.bside.com/?_view=_films) to go see.


Asian Cinema is my forte and I'm sad to admit I have not heard of any of the films listed in the Extreme Asia section. I can offer my thoughts though if you are interested in Asian Cinema.

I would definately go see EPITAPH! imo, South Korea is the most exciting region producing films these days. This film looks to keep that tradition going. Apparently one of the directors was AD for Park Chan-Wook on Oldboy & Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, two films that would make my top ten list for films made in the past decade. It certainly looks like he has learned from one of cinemas masters and being that we are approaching Halloween this appears to be a film you do not want to miss. Especially if you are a horror fan. G2bvDeG8ojI

2. Invisible Target, on the other hand, will probably be cheesy as hell since it's directed by Benny Chan and one of it's stars is Nicolas Tse (consider him the Freddy Prince Jr. of China w/ slightly more talent and a lot more charisma). However, if your in the mood for a mindless adrennaline pumping action film this should be the one since it stars one of the greatest young martial artists working today, Wu Jing. I would go see this for sure, but that's me. It could be fun with the right crowd.

the other films in this series sound fairly interesting to me as well, but I have no comments to offer on them. One thing is for certain though. Now that I've learned about Epitaph I am actively seeking it out and will hopefully find myself a copy before the end of the month.

[PotVsKtl]

Fucking nice. Thanks Joe.

[KungFuJoe]

no prob. As I'm reading more into this fest I see it very heavily features Asian cinema. One of it's Gala's is the John Woo produced remake of his film "Bullet in the Head" entitled "Blood Brothers". As much as I fear the worst for this film I would be very interested in seeing it.

[chrislasf]

Oh Richard Kelly thinks he can take on Mr Magoriums Wonder Emporium, does he? WE'LL SHOW HIM!!!



Southland Tales Delayed Again
Rafe Telch
Cinemablend
October 17, 2007

Richard Kelly fans have been waiting for the next film from the Donnie Darko director for a while now. It’s been over a year since his next picture, Southland Tales was screened at Cannes to mixed reviews, sending it back to the editing room for another pass. It appears we’re going to have to wait a little bit longer… thankfully only one more week though.

Kelly announced on his MySpace blog that Southland Tales has been pushed back another week, from November 9th to November 16th (actually the 14th in New York and L.A. with a wide expansion on Friday). The reason given is that this is a strategic move that would help the film. Basically they’re saying, it can’t take on Vince Vaughn in Fred Claus but they hope it can beat an animated Beowulf and Dustin Hoffman in Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.

Hopefully this one week move will be the last one for Southland Tales. I’ve been waiting for quite a while to see Kelly’s next picture and I’m tired of waiting. Frankly, a lot of us are. Thankfully, some advance screenings are being set up in select cities and universities, with a schedule promised by Kelly soon.

[full on idle]

fucking Fred Claus.

[chrislasf]

PG and shit. Fuck a PG movie.

[PotVsKtl]

PG and shit. Fuck a PG movie.

I'd like to see you say that to Gremlins' face.

[Tylerdurden31]

Days of Being Wild...never seen it...have wanted to. Worth seeing?

[chrislasf]

I aint scared....

XACDNcj50Zk

[KungFuJoe]

Days of Being Wild...never seen it...have wanted to. Worth seeing?

It's worth seeing if you're a fan of Wong Kar Wai's, but more importantly his films In The Mood For Love & 2046. If you haven't seen either of those films I would reccomend watching In The Mood For Love first, then going back to Days of Being Wild & finishing off with 2046. I say this because I think it took me like 4 tries to actually make it through the whole Days of Being Wild film. It bored me to tears. It's not bad per se, but very slow. Not that the others move fast, but this one is also less visually stimulating than the others. Drink enough coffee.

[Courtney]

emo.
Flight of the Red Balloon.

I would like to see these.
I Love Hip Hop in Morocco
DMZ

That film fest looks cool.

See The Man From London, I cannot stress this enough.

Others: Control (Joy Division biopic) and Nomad Tx (nomadic music documentary I saw, that was quite good)

But please, see The Man From London... Relay what you think here if you do. Bela Tarr is one of the greatest living film makers.

I vote for Control.

And also The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. It was directed by Julian Schnabel! It's the only film at the fest that I've actually seen. This festival is much, much bigger than the SIFF. So basically you win.

And Eraserhead. It has John Goodman in it.

They've got Helvetica which does look interesting.

Also Invisible City. It is a documentary about people making documentaries about Singapore.

"Control" is, I can guarantee you, one of the best movies you'll see this year. Especially if you like Joy Division.

"The Man From London" has to be awesome. I wish a US distributor would buy it already.

"Eraserhead" for nostalgic fun.

I heard "Jellyfish" was good.

Skip "DMZ" and just watch "JSA", which is about the same shit and is almost certainly better.

Asian Cinema is my forte and I'm sad to admit I have not heard of any of the films listed in the Extreme Asia section. I can offer my thoughts though if you are interested in Asian Cinema.

I would definately go see EPITAPH! imo, South Korea is the most exciting region producing films these days. This film looks to keep that tradition going. Apparently one of the directors was AD for Park Chan-Wook on Oldboy & Sympathy for Mr Vengeance, two films that would make my top ten list for films made in the past decade. It certainly looks like he has learned from one of cinemas masters and being that we are approaching Halloween this appears to be a film you do not want to miss. Especially if you are a horror fan. G2bvDeG8ojI

2. Invisible Target, on the other hand, will probably be cheesy as hell since it's directed by Benny Chan and one of it's stars is Nicolas Tse (consider him the Freddy Prince Jr. of China w/ slightly more talent and a lot more charisma). However, if your in the mood for a mindless adrennaline pumping action film this should be the one since it stars one of the greatest young martial artists working today, Wu Jing. I would go see this for sure, but that's me. It could be fun with the right crowd.

the other films in this series sound fairly interesting to me as well, but I have no comments to offer on them. One thing is for certain though. Now that I've learned about Epitaph I am actively seeking it out and will hopefully find myself a copy before the end of the month.

Hey thank you for the recommendations Justin, Jared, John, Gabe and Joe. Sadly Flight of the Red Balloon, Control, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Helvetica all conflict with prior commitments. And Eraserhead I've already seen and is excellent. But I got tickets to The Man From London and Epitaph, so yay! Also a few others. Will report back.

[KungFuJoe]

No problem Courtney. I hope Epitaph is good. I haven't found a copy of it yet for myself to watch, but did snag one of Invisible Target and am about to watch that. I was going through the list of films playing at your fest, it's got a great lineup. Definately report back.

One film that's playing there that opens in L.A. next week is "Finishing the Game", Justin Lin's new film about the search for the new Bruce Lee in order to finish Game of Death. I think this film looks hilarious and am very happy to actually be excited to see another film by Lin. After the success of "Better Luck Tomorrow" (which i loved) Hollywood kind of gobbled him up and had him churn out less interesting films in "Annapolis" & "Fast & the Furious Tokyo Drift". I don't blame him for taking those paychecks, but it's really nice to see that he might be returning to form.

[schoolofruckus]

I do blame him. I may never watch another film he does.

At least he seems to have abandoned the horribly ill-advised idea of remaking "OldBoy" in English.

[bballarl]

Gabe:

Name five movies I should see that are considered classics. Let's say, one from each decade from the 60s till the current one. I have seen very few of the so-called classics, though I have seen "The Godfather" and its sequels.

[schoolofruckus]

I'm going to keep this to English-language films. Let me know if you want foreign entries.

60's: Blow-Up

(Note: I think you would really love this movie. It's based in mod London and it's got a score by Herbie Hancock).

70's: Taxi Driver

(This one was the hardest of all. "A Clockwork Orange" is my favorite movie, and I could have easily gone with "Straw Dogs", "Killing of a Chinese Bookie", "A Woman Under the Influence", "Network", "Annie Hall", "Apocalypse Now", or a hundred others. But I'm giving you "Taxi Driver" because it was one of the first 70's films I saw.)

80's: Do the Right Thing

90's: Buffalo '66

(Obviously.)

00's: Mysterious Skin

(I'm trying to pick one I doubt you've seen. This isn't the best movie of the decade, but it's a fantastic film that I think you should see.)

[mountmccabe]

I have only seen two of those.

[bballarl]

Maybe you should watch some too. Then we can have a panel discussion.

[KungFuJoe]

I do blame him. I may never watch another film he does.

At least he seems to have abandoned the horribly ill-advised idea of remaking "OldBoy" in English.

Fair enough. I usually would feel the same way, but as much as I liked "Better Luck Tommorrow" I never thought of him as being the next Coen Brothers or Jarmusch. Sure he sold out where as he could have kept it real like David Gorden Green, but I'm not actually trying to defend him here. I'm just saying I respect the way he broke into the biz and can forgive a nigga for making some cash. His new film looks fun and I'm looking foward to seeing it.


ps: Good nod to "Straw Dogs" Gabe. That is an incredible film! did you hear there wer talks about a remake of that as well? That would be far worse than an Oldboy remake.

[PotVsKtl]

I am inserting myself into this game as the coordinator of round two action. In round two we include a backup "If You Haven't Seen This Already I Ought To Slap You But I Guess Just Watch It Instead You Pusillanimous Jerkoff" title. There is also an unlockable hidden bonus in each stage.

Sixties: Bonnie and Clyde
Backup: Night of the Living Dead
Bonus: True Grit

Seventies: Chinatown
Backup: Saturday Night Fever
Bonus: Bad News Bears

Eighties: Elephant Man
Backup: Sid and Nancy
Bonus: The Last Dragon

Nineties: Short Cuts
Backup: Ed Wood
Bonus: Gummo

Oughts: (disqualified)
Backup: Secretary
Bonus: Hedwig & the Angry Inch

[mountmccabe]

Here I have already made it to the backup everywhen but the 80s. And the 90s I'm up to the bonus round.


Also I agree Andrew. Also I feel we need to audition more for our panel.

[full on idle]

I want to watch movies.

[menikmati]

Thirties: Our Daily Bread, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, King Kong

Forties: Citizen Kane, The Grapes of Wrath, My Darling Clementine

[schoolofruckus]

Fair enough. I usually would feel the same way, but as much as I liked "Better Luck Tommorrow" I never thought of him as being the next Coen Brothers or Jarmusch. Sure he sold out where as he could have kept it real like David Gorden Green, but I'm not actually trying to defend him here. I'm just saying I respect the way he broke into the biz and can forgive a nigga for making some cash. His new film looks fun and I'm looking foward to seeing it.


ps: Good nod to "Straw Dogs" Gabe. That is an incredible film! did you hear there wer talks about a remake of that as well? That would be far worse than an Oldboy remake.

I know some people who think David Gordon Green sold out by doing "Undertow". Fucking ridiculous. All of the stuff I've seen by him so far is terrific. His new one - "Snow Angels" - got picked up by Warner Independent and according to their website, it will be out in March. And have you heard about the one he just finished shooting? "The Pineapple Express", a stoner action-comedy written by and starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. I can't WAIT to see what that will be like.

And yes, I have heard (with great displeasure) about the "Straw Dogs" remake. Actual quote from Rod Lurie, the fool who is going to attempt to write and direct it:

"It's an interesting film, isn't it? But it was pretty much killed by a two-second moment on screen where his wife is being raped and she smiles. That was the end of that movie. You can be certain that she's not going to be smiling in the rape in my film. I was a critic for years, and very often our reviews will say, 'Well, if he had done this, it would have been a better film.' I look at 'Straw Dogs' as a very imperfect movie. It's a little bit slow and it's themes are a little bit murky. There are some amazing moments and it's a very satisfying movie, but you sort of look at what can be improved upon now. It may seem very arrogant to say, 'We can improve upon Peckinpah.' I can never improve upon the best of Peckinpah. I would never remake 'The Wild Bunch' but this is a film that I think he was a little lazy on, and it's a fascinating story. What I really want to do is make a movie about what it means to be a bully, how easy it is to become a bully, and how decency is defined I think by not being a bully when you have the opportunity to be one."

Translation: This is going to be an unqualified disaster.

[Courtney]

So basically Rod Lurie wants to make a Straw Dogs without misogyny or sadism? That seems to negate a whole hell of a lot of what the original film hinges on. And will most likely make for a less effective film.

That said, Straw Dogs is the only film that I actually physically could not sit and watch all the way through in one go because I found it so disturbing. I'm not sure I would want to see it again in any form.

[Yablonowitz]

Sorry to interrupt this foreign film, art house masturbation discussion thread - but Michael Clayton may well be the best big studio movie out this year. I just saw it and I don't see any mention in the last five pages, so I'm mentioning it now. Some very fine acting and interesting storytelling with a heart of fucking gold, you cocksuckers. Tom Wilkinson is so fucking good in this. And I've slowly grown to really love George Clooney. I don't think he has a great deal of range, but he plays his usual character type expertly. Anyway, I'd like to end this with a fuck you to anyone who says anything bad about it.

Fuck you.

PS - Rented Zodiac and thought it was nearly as good of a major studio production as Michael Clayton.

PPS - Fuck you again.

[Yablonowitz]

I'd like to further add that I will watch any movie with Sydney Fucking Pollack in it no matter how shitty it is. God damn. Sydney Pollack. Talk about fucking presence. Why he wasted so much of his years directing is beyond me.

[roberto73]

You're not alone, Yablo. I loved Michael Clayton. For me, it'll be up there at the end of the year with The Assassination of Jesse James and (I'm assuming) No Country for Old Men.

I'd also like to recommend Gone Baby Gone. I didn't have many expectations going in, so maybe that's why I was so pleasantly surprised. Along with Jesse James, this movie should firmly extablish Casey Affleck as a first-class actor, and it's also an extremely promising directorial debut from brother Ben. What really sets it apart is that it's one of the only major Hollywood movies I can think of that presents a serious and unsolvable moral dilemma, and actually depicts both sides of the issue so that they seem equally plausible, equally "right." If there's a fault, it's that the acting veers at times toward the melodramatic and over-the-top, especially from Ed Harris. I'd chalk that up to Ben's own acting experience, and wanting to give the actors room to move, but not yet having the directorial experience to know when (or how) to rein them in. It's a small problem, though, in an otherwise first-rate film.

[Yablonowitz]

You're not alone, Yablo. I loved Michael Clayton. For me, it'll be up there at the end of the year with The Assassination of Jesse James and (I'm assuming) No Country for Old Men.

I'd also like to recommend Gone Baby Gone. I didn't have many expectations going in, so maybe that's why I was so pleasantly surprised. Along with Jesse James, this movie should firmly extablish Casey Affleck as a first-class actor, and it's also an extremely promising directorial debut from brother Ben. What really sets it apart is that it's one of the only major Hollywood movies I can think of that presents a serious and unsolvable moral dilemma, and actually depicts both sides of the issue so that they seem equally plausible, equally "right." If there's a fault, it's that the acting veers at times toward the melodramatic and over-the-top, especially from Ed Harris. I'd chalk that up to Ben's own acting experience, and wanting to give the actors room to move, but not yet having the directorial experience to know when (or how) to rein them in. It's a small problem, though, in an otherwise first-rate film.

Yesterday I was trying to decide between Michael Clayton and Gone Baby Gone. Sounds like there wasn't a "right" decision. Hopefully, next week, I'll catch Gone, Baby, Gone. Speaking of Ben Affleck, I've sort of come to a realization that he's more talented then I've given him credit for. God knows why he choose so many shit movies to be in and got involved in a stupid media circus, but he's underappreciated. The wife and I caught the fairly blase Hollywoodland and I was surprised how good of a performance Affleck gave in that. Adrian Brody was rather forgetful, as was the main story itself but Affleck really kept it from totally sucking. Anyway, if you're stuck watching that movie, at least try to appreciate Benny Boy's performance.

[RotationSlimWang]

I retained faith in Affleck through all his shitty movies. The guy is a fuckload smarter than his body of work gives him credit for. I would also support a presidential bid from him--like the dude's style.

[roberto73]

It's good to hear the two of you say that. I've been a fan since Chasing Amy, and always felt like people were judging his choices and not his talent. And that extends to all the shit he got during the J.Lo. years, which seemed to be completely disproportionate to the things he was actually doing.

[wmgaretjax]

Sorry to interrupt this foreign film, art house masturbation discussion thread - but Michael Clayton may well be the best big studio movie out this year.

Cool. That makes my decision for what to see tonight. Thanks for the recommend mom.

[RotationSlimWang]

He was great in all of Smith's movies, Chasing Amy will always have a special place in my mind for some reason though. Gotta give him a lot of credit for however large of a part he had in writing Good Will Hunting though--although it's a feel-good whatever flick, it's fucking well done and particularly well written. Writing counts for everything.

[bmack86]

Andrew, if you want to borrow Gabe's recs from 60s, 70s and 80s, lemme know.

[bballarl]

Sounds good. I will probably borrow a couple at a time.

[schoolofruckus]

Count me as a member of the "In Affleck We Trust" club. I was thisclose to making "Changing Lanes" my 00's choice because it's criminally underrated.

In somewhat-Affleck-related news - I just watched "To Die For" as one of the final pieces in my bid to see the entire Van Sant catalog. Nicole Kidman was good. The movie as a whole was interesting and entertaining, and not without teeth in its portrayal of the desperate-for-attention syndrome. It wasn't great, and it wasn't anywhere near as good as the best stuff Gus has done (including "Good Will Hunting"), but it was solid for what it was.

I may watch "Deliverance" this afternoon if I feel like it.

[bmack86]

Deliverance is a good flick.

[wmgaretjax]

50s: Pickpocket by Robert Bresson

60s: Weekend by Jean luc Godard

70s: Mirror by Andrey Tarkovsky

80s: Paris, Texas by Wim Wenders

90s: Eyes Wide Shut - Kubrick

00s: Werckmeister Harmonies by Bela Tarr

good sampling, stuff other people left out.

[PotVsKtl]

Foreigner.

[RotationSlimWang]

Eyes Wide Shut? What the fuck? Goddammit Jared, why do you have to do shit like this to me? Kubrick fucking hated how that turned out.

[PotVsKtl]

Kubrick was dead before it was finished jackass.

[RotationSlimWang]

R. Lee Ermey would never lie. http://film.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1888077,00.html

Stanley Kubrick regarded Eyes Wide Shut as a "piece of shit" that had been ruined by the interference of its A-list stars, a friend of the director claimed this week. The character actor R Lee Ermey starred in Kubrick's 1987 film Full Metal Jacket and remained in close contact with the director until his death in March 1999. He described the film-maker as a "shy, timid" man who was effectively bullied by his stars, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

Cruise and Kidman wrecked Eyes Wide Shut, Kubrick claimed


Staff and agencies
Thursday October 5, 2006
Guardian Unlimited


Kubrick was apparently disgusted with Eyes Wide Shut

Stanley Kubrick regarded Eyes Wide Shut as a "piece of shit" that had been ruined by the interference of its A-list stars, a friend of the director claimed this week. The character actor R Lee Ermey starred in Kubrick's 1987 film Full Metal Jacket and remained in close contact with the director until his death in March 1999. He described the film-maker as a "shy, timid" man who was effectively bullied by his stars, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

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"Stanley called me about two weeks before he died," Ermey told Radar Online. "We had a long conversation about Eyes Wide Shut. He told me it was a piece of shit and that he was disgusted with it and that the critics were going to have him for lunch. He said Cruise and Kidman had their way with him - exactly the words he used."
Eyes Wide Shut marked Kubrick's return to film-making after a 12-year hiatus. The film was in the final stages of post-production when he died at his home in Hertfordshire. It was finally released to mixed reviews and middling box office.

Asked why Kubrick had allowed himself to be strong-armed by his stars, Ermey said, "He was kind of a shy little timid guy. He wasn't real forceful. That's why he didn't appreciate working with big, high-powered actors. They would have their way with him, he would lose control and his movie would turn to shit."

During the film's production, Cruise and Kidman were full of praise for the director's methods and claimed that the finished film was exactly as he would have wanted. Discussing the experience of working with Kubrick, Kidman insisted that "it was incredibly rewarding, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

[Deviate_420]

Dead Man is by far one of the best movies to come out in the last 20 years. I think that is is Johnny Depp's best film and it is absolutely brilliant, check it out. Randy, you would appreciate it,

[wmgaretjax]

hahahahaha. Sorry Randy, but ermey is full of shit. Kubrick was anything but timid on his film sets, he regularly had singular visions that he wouldn't budge for anyone. talk to anyone else who worked with him. He was dead before the film was finished editing.

I almost put Dead Man in for the 90s slot.

Oh, and I believe Eyes Wide Shut to be one of the most underappreciated films of all time.

[Yablonowitz]

I'd love to see the 4' 8" Tom Cruise pussy whipping Kubrick. "Don't fucking tell ME what to do. I've seen your e-meter and I WILL tell xenu if you don't let me go to that orgy!"

[RotationSlimWang]

Eyes Wide Shut was fucking unwatchable. Also, Jim Jarmusch is godawful. I watched about 30 minutes of Dead Man before bailing on it. Watch Arizona Dream instead.

[wmgaretjax]

Eyes Wide Shut was fucking unwatchable. Also, Jim Jarmusch is godawful. I watched about 30 minutes of Dead Man before bailing on it.

that's it. you are a fool.

[RotationSlimWang]

I am a fool much as you are an art fag. Not that there's anything wrong with that--wanting to have sex with other art is just fine.

[schoolofruckus]

I don't like Dead Man, either. It's beautiful to look at, but it's got one of those annoying Johnny Depp performances that I just can't roll with.

Eyes Wide Shut is hot shit, though. I can't wait to see the uncut DVD that comes out this Tuesday.

[wmgaretjax]

I don't like Dead Man, either. It's beautiful to look at, but it's got one of those annoying Johnny Depp performances that I just can't roll with.

Eyes Wide Shut is hot shit, though. I can't wait to see the uncut DVD that comes out this Tuesday.

i didn't know about this. nice surprise.

[PotVsKtl]

The only difference is more orgy in the orgy scene.

[RotationSlimWang]

Mmm... more orgy.

Just not the guys who covered Blue Monday, please.

[schoolofruckus]

The only difference is more orgy in the orgy scene.

That is true. It would have been more proper to call it "free of strategically-placed digital guys in capes" rather than "uncut", as I believe it won't actually be longer than the original version. Either way, I'm happy that it's finally being done.

[Stefinitely Maybe]

I've never seen Eyes Wide Shut.

I really like Jim Jarmusch. Night On Earth, Broken Flowers and Mystery Train are my personal favourites, but Down By Law and Coffee and Cigarettes are nice, too.

I watched The Fountain on Saturday. Really really liked it. Don't understand why it got such a bad rap.

Also, I just heard that they're doing a remake of Hitchcock's "The Birds". What for!?

[tessalasset]

I just watched The United States of Leland last night. It was good. Ryan Gosling really is a great actor. So I moved Murder by Numbers to number 1 in my queue. after that - Goosebumps feat. Gosling.

Also I watched The Interpreter on Saturday night and I realized I really really like Sean Penn. Mystic River is up on my queue now.

[Yablonowitz]

I just watched The United States of Leland last night. It was good. Ryan Gosling really is a great actor. So I moved Murder by Numbers to number 1 in my queue. after that - Goosebumps feat. Gosling.

Also I watched The Interpreter on Saturday night and I realized I really really like Sean Penn. Mystic River is up on my queue now.

Any bets on when Tessa's Ryan Gosling obsession will end?

2 more years?

Might Casey Affleck kick Gosling out of the golden ring?

These questions haunt me.

[full on idle]

Mystic River is really good. I didn't like the Interpreter. I haven't heard of Goosebumps.

Broken Flowers was frustrating.

[Mr.Nipples]

I'd love to see the 4' 8" Tom Cruise pussy whipping Kubrick. "Don't fucking tell ME what to do. I've seen your e-meter and I WILL tell xenu if you don't let me go to that orgy!"

this makes me want to break my policy on quoting people on the board...

[full on idle]

Why is that your policy?

Why did you ask PF to make your title "beef supreme"?

[Mr.Nipples]

Why is that your policy?
because I love you all the same and dont want to pick favorites...
Why did you ask PF to make your title "beef supreme"?
thats a question ill answer once the BMOTW thread gets revived in december or whatever...

[breakjaw]

The most entertaining thing about Eyes Wide Shut is that for a minute I thought that it was Pee Wee Herman playing the hotel desk clerk.I saw the movie in the theater,and considered contacting Kubrick's estate for a refund...

[full on idle]

because I love you all the same and dont want to pick favorites...

thats a question ill answer once the BMOTW thread gets revived in december or whatever...


1. Don't be ridiculous, Cousin Larry, the correct answer for proper board assimilation is: Yablo is your favorite.

2. There will be no BMOTW revival. And even if there is, it will suck, so just answer now.

[Down Rodeo]

I finally saw Rushmore last night and really liked it. I think it's probably the best Wes Anderson movie I've seen, which doesn't include Bottle Rocket or Life Aquatic. His style gets a little annoying at times and things don't always come together, but I thought Rushmore was tied together coherently at the end. Good stuff.

[tessalasset]

I haven't heard of Goosebumps.

blasphemy



Yabs, I liked him alright in Jesse James but he was such a pipsqueak. Do you have any Casey movie recommendations that might sway me away from Goslingland? Cause right now....god damn.

[RotationSlimWang]

Gosling's the man, Tessa. Rock on with it.

[Mr.Nipples]

1. Don't be ridiculous, Cousin Larry, the correct answer for proper board assimilation is: Yablo is your favorite.
You're putting me on the spot...
2. There will be no BMOTW revival. And even if there is, it will suck, so just answer now.
I like eating at yoshinoya beef bowl...its cheap and filling and delicious...

[downingthief]

Oh, and I believe Eyes Wide Shut to be one of the most underappreciated films of all time.

Completely agree. I cannot wait to see the special release of this.

[wmgaretjax]

blasphemy



Yabs, I liked him alright in Jesse James but he was such a pipsqueak. Do you have any Casey movie recommendations that might sway me away from Goslingland? Cause right now....god damn.

his performance in Jesse James has been the best of the year so far (the only contender I see in sight is Daniel Day Lewis).

Check out "Gerry."

[tessalasset]

Oh he was definitely great in the movie, but in terms of making a Land named after him, he's not even close to Mr. Gosling.

[schoolofruckus]

Ryan Gosling apparently quit the Peter Jackson movie of "Lovely Bones" yesterday.

I dislike "Mystic River" more and more every time I see it, but I did like Sean Penn in it. Nowhere near as good as his work in "21 Grams" though.

Michael Bay is producing a remake of "The Birds" in much the same way that he produced remakes of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and other horror films I can't be bothered to look up. Why? I don't know. Why does Michael Bay do most of the shit he does? I liked the "South Park" parody of him last week though.

[RotationSlimWang]

Speaking of Mystic River, apparently Ben Affleck must have liked it a lot, 'cause Gone Baby Gone starts out as a very funny movie about child abduction for about an hour and a half, then fucking unravels in the last half hour into an overblown and annoying moral quagmire that felt like it needed Sean Penn overacting all up in its ass. Still probably worth seeing if you find Bostonians cursing as hilarious as I do, but God did that ending ever get on my fucking nerves.

[PotVsKtl]

Well Hitchcock did want a final scene in The Birds with them escaping, driving away from the town and straight into the Golden Gate Bridge covered in birds. So at least there's some semblance of a reaon to make it bigger.

[schoolofruckus]

And then the birds go "CROSH!" and the Golden Gate bridge is like "ROSH!!" "CROSH!!!!" And then a semi crashes into it like "BROSH!!!! CROSH!!!!! BU-BROSH!!!!!"

[chrislasf]

And then the crow with marbles in its mouth tells Jessica Tandy to get her hat.

[Courtney]

Epitaph was enjoyable. It was a straightforward gothic horror film, centering around the supernatural events of Asaeng Hospital in WWII-era Korea. The plot weaves together the concurrent stories of three couples. While the stories do not ever converge, the multiple flash-backs and flash-forwards never seemed overly-convoluted. The first story involves Masao, a young medical intern stationed in the morgue, who in the midst an impending arranged marriage finds himself strangely drawn to the stunning corpse of a young woman killed in a double suicide. The second story revolves around a husband and wife pair of doctors at the hospital who find themselves faced with a disturbing series of murders of Japanese soldiers. The third story involves a young girl, Asako, who arrives at the hospital miraculous untouched save for nightmares and aphasia, after a bloody car-wreck that left everyone else killed.

This is a film at its heart about human connection. About how the lives of people, sometimes strangers, become inextricably linked through unexpected occurrences. But it is also about the immense sadness that comes from being denied such a connection. And the extreme lengths that people go to obtain it. At times it did get a bit formulaic with horror genre conventions -- making use of bad bloody makeup, or borrowing from the very distinctive score of Fellini's Psycho, for example -- which resulted in laughter from a good segment of the audience. But overall it was still scary enough to make me wish that I didn't have to walk back to my car in the dark alone, so it wasn't entirely laughable. There was also some nice cinematography throughout with carefully constructed mis-en-scene. The acting was also excellent, with subtle performances that grounded what could have otherwise been an over-the-top storyline.

[KungFuJoe]

Glad you at least enjoyed Epitaph somewhat. I look foward to seeing it.

I watched Invisble Target the other night. what a waste of time. I can't believe I almost made that sound like it could be good. There was a lot of action and Wu Jing is a bad ass, but it's a generic action movie, way to ridiculous, overdramtic and long. Double dose of crap.

Also, saw 30 Days of Night over the weekend. Big dissappointment. I had fairly high hopes for this one. Thought it could be as scary as The Descent and possibly the best vampie movie since Near Dark. I was wrong. It was enjoyable at parts and the acting was good. Even some of the concepts were great, but they could have done it soooo much better. It almost redeemed itself in the end, but fell very flat. I wish it had gone in a different direction and that the vampires had more personality. I'd say wait for the rental or go to a matinee at an AMC theater and pay 6 bucks like moi.

[schoolofruckus]

"No Country For Old Men" is playing the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica on Wednesday 11/7. I bought my ticket already.

[full on idle]

You should just drive over to Austin and see it tonight.

[Courtney]

Glad you at least enjoyed Epitaph somewhat. I look foward to seeing it.

Yeah I did enjoy it. Thank you for recommending it to me! Also I get the sense from other people that this is the sort of film that you might enjoy more if you are more fluent in horror film convention and especially in relation to asian cinema. It definitely seemed like the director could have been referencing things that I might not have picked up on.

[Courtney]

I am seeing at least six films this week because of the Honolulu International Film Festival. And I'm already three behind on writing up any sort of commentary, so this might not happen, but we'll see. In any case, I am pleasantly surprised with the quality of the films I have seen so far, and especially at the relative lack of red tape at the festival. It's a pleasant change from Los Angeles, where they sometimes put up the velvet ropes for as little as a Sunday matinee.

On Monday I saw Irina Palm, a drama by the German director Sam Garbarski. The film features Marianne Faithfull as Maggie, a middle-aged London widow whose grandson, Ollie, is dying of cancer. Maggie, having been turned down from every bank for loans and faced with the direst of circumstances for her deteriorating grandson, sees a sign on a Soho boutique window stating "hostess wanted" and enters to once more test her quickly running out luck.

The boutique turns out to be "Sexy World," and the shop-owner Miki (played by Miki Manojlovic) who is impressed by Maggie's soft hands, offers her a job. Maggie quickly becomes much in demand, acquiring a stage name (Irina Palm) and a long line of customers to her booth for hand jobs through a hole in the wall. The film deftly walks the line between comedy and tragedy, and while at times the premise of a 50 year-old suburban housewife wanking away in a London strip club seems ridiculous, the pervading sadness of the story coupled with Marianne Faithfull's skilled performance creates a poignant and satisfying film. Irina Palm seems at surface to follow in the footsteps of other british indies like The Full Monty and Calendar Girls with a plot that has the unlikeliest of characters in financial strains and comically sexually exploiting themselves as a solution. But unlike these earlier films, Irina Palm never gets too silly about the horrible circumstances at hand. The realism is further emphasized by a somber score and a general graying of the color scheme of the film (although honestly, this could in part just be London weather).

I really liked Irina Palm, and hope it gets wider distribution. It seems like this is a film that could do quite well with wider audiences.

[mountmccabe]

(although honestly, this could in part just be London weather)

Ahaahahaha

[schoolofruckus]

If there's a moment where Irina rips off her face and reveals herself to actually be David Bowie, I see a $200 million domestic haul. If not, it will probably be this year's "Waking Ned Devine" at best.

Chris and I just watched "Eastern Promises". It was a classy rendering of a most sordid tale, in which a midwife (Naomi Watts) investigates the past of a 14 year old prostitute who has just died while giving birth. She goes in looking to find the baby's family, and instead finds herself involved in the inner workings of a Russian crime family. The narrative takes all its pleasure in unspooling things very gradually, until a convoluted plot suddenly adds up to something more simple than it maybe should have been. I do like the suggestion of more story to come as the movie is winding down - it lends a sense of substance to material that is otherwise pretty straightforward. But really, I don't give a fuck about any of this, and neither will anyone who sees the movie, because it's basically just an excuse to pit a fully nude Viggo Mortensen against two hulking Russian thugs in a steam room knife fight. Every review I've read mentions this scene, and for good reason; if David Cronenberg were to confess on his deathbed someday that he basically thought up the knife fight and then hired the writer to script the rest of the movie around it, I wouldn't register so much as a batted eye. The movie as a whole is good, but this scene is definitely the best reason to watch it.

[Yablonowitz]

Did you guys sit next to each other or did you have the homophobic buffer seat between you?

[schoolofruckus]

Homophobic buffer seat. Although seriously, when you're in a movie theater and there's room to spread out, why the fuck not sit a seat apart so you don't have to share armrests and leg room? I'm a tall drink of water here.

[full on idle]

I saw that movie like a month ago.

[roberto73]

I completely forgot to report on the Q&A with Cronenberg following the screening of Eastern Promises I saw. One of the most interesting things he said is that in Steve Knight's original screenplay, Viggo's character shares his secret with Naomi Watts' character halfway through the movie, and the rest of the film would have been a big, Bourne-style chase.

Also revealed: Viggo has no genitalia, and it had to be CGI'ed for the steam room scene.

[Courtney]

If there's a moment where Irina rips off her face and reveals herself to actually be David Bowie, I see a $200 million domestic haul. If not, it will probably be this year's "Waking Ned Devine" at best.

Haha yes. I guess by wider distribution, I meant any distribution at all.

[Courtney]

Also Lars And The Real Girl and The Darjeeling Limited both open here this weekend. I need to go back and read this thread to see if they are worth seeing.

[PotVsKtl]

Phantasm is such a piece of shit.

[RotationSlimWang]

Homophobic buffer seat. Although seriously, when you're in a movie theater and there's room to spread out, why the fuck not sit a seat apart so you don't have to share armrests and leg room? I'm a tall drink of water here.

We like to call the empty seats inbetween each other "hetero seats." Not that much different, but brevity is wit.

[Courtney]

It starts rolling out this Friday in Los Angeles and maybe some other cities. It'll be in most major cities by the end of the month.

And for those who may be growing tired of Wes-world - in spite of respect for his previous films as well as his overall skill set - The Darjeeling Limited should be right in your wheelhouse. Don't get me wrong, the film still has its fair share of slow motion dollies and 60's pop songs and immaculately-composed static shots that are production-designed within an inch of life. But Wes has also shed some of his more superfluous idiosyncrasies this time out, and the result is maybe his strongest visual narrative, as well as his most earnestly emotional film since Rushmore. Now, I grant that maybe some people don't go to Wes Anderson films for emotional substance, particularly when it stands in for distant, dryly-rendered comedy, but I've always felt that there was far more heart and humanity to his films than he gets credit for - which is part of what I love about them. And this one is more than worthy of that canon.

After the sweeping ensembles of The Royal Tennenbaums and The Life Aquatic, Darjeeling is a welcome return to the more intimate style of storytelling that Wes used earlier in his career - the scope is small, the running time is quick (a brief-but-not-criminally-so 91 minutes), the funny bits are more knowingly amusing than laugh-out-loud raucous. The film focuses exclusively on the three brothers - Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrian Brody), and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) - who are brought together somewhat against their wills to take the purposeful journey across India on the film's titular locomotive. They've drifted apart over the course of the previous year due to family tragedy and the circumstances of their own lives, the causes of which are sometimes explored, sometimes left mysterious, and - in Jack's case, with the "Hotel Chevalier" short - sometimes dramatized elsewhere. Francis, being the older brother and ringleader, has pre-organized the trip to an almost suffocating degree, and it's clear right away that it's being performed by the other two brothers out of a sense of obligation rather than any real desire to be there. The way the film establishes the characters and their dynamics is a model of efficiency, and each actor brings a distinct voice and a diversity of personality to his character; love them or hate them, you can't always say that about all of Wes Anderson's films.

Anyway - I'm going to cut the plot synopsis off before it gets going. The point is - this may be familiar Wes territory as far as subject and many of the usual style elements, but it's also a strong new direction for him in other ways. I mentioned earlier the production design, always the #1 harbinger of Wes' authorship in his films. It's still as heavily orchestrated as ever here, but for the first time since Bottle Rocket, it doesn't feel the slightest bit like a movie set. I've never been to India, couldn't tell you shit about it, but as presented here - it feels authentic. I also loved the multitude of passages with no dialogue. Again, I feel like this film terrifically does away with expository dialogue in as many situations as possible, preferring instead to let the exotic surroundings and the actions of the characters peel away the emotional layers.

I've compared the film to every one of Wes' other films in the course of this review, but the truth is, I don't know where it stands in relation to his erstwhile output. It could be, by default, my least favorite of his five films due to my love for the other four; it could be as high as #2 (I can't imagine he'll ever top Rushmore). Only years of further viewings - the benefit of which all his other stuff has - will tell. But I do know that this is both a satisfyingly recognizable member of his familial filmography, and a unique child in its own right.

One last thing - make sure you do see Hotel Chevalier in conjunction with this movie, preferably right before heading out to the theater. You could get Darjeeling without it, absolutely....but when you see it, and the way it enhances the film, you'll know you would have been missing something to do so. If any of you haven't seen it, go on the iTunes store and search for it. It's free and it should be easy to find.

This sounds awesome. I'm still a little unclear on whether Hotel Chevalier is automatically part of all the screenings or whether I need to see it separately.

[schoolofruckus]

Actually, I heard that Fox finally decided that Wes Anderson fans are as intelligent as the average family of children who see Pixar films in theaters, and are thus capable of processing both a short film and a feature film in one sitting. "Hotel Chevalier" should be rolling out in general release with "Darjeeling", starting sometime soon.

Still watch it online beforehand, just in case.

[CuervoPH]

The theater near me finally got Darjeeling Limited, but the running time is listed as 1 hr 31 mins. I'm assuming this means the version here will not have Hotel Chevalier running beforehand.

[corbo]

i finally got around to see darjeeling limited tuesday.
i was dissapointed. it was an ok movie and ranks at the bottom
of the other anderson films. his directing style is getting repetitive
and boring.

[Courtney]

On Tuesday I saw the documentary All In This Tea, as part of the Honolulu International Film Festival. I left the theater thinking it was somewhat interesting but not the most well put-together of films. However the more I think about it, the more I think that my initial reaction may have been too kind and really it was just pretty crappy.

The documentary, directed by Les Blank and Gina Leibrecht, has an interesting premise: the dying art of hand-crafted Chinese tea manufacture, and the attempt to introduce American markets to these high-end teas before they become extinct. However, the film's glorification of tea "adventurer" David Lee Hoffman as he treks through rural Chinese highlands in search of the perfect cup comes off as more of an infomercial for his import business than as an exploration of the current climate for tea production and consumption.

Towards the end of the film, one of the featured tea experts stands in front of a class and says something like, "what we want from tea is a drink to write poetry and make love to." Sadly, the film did not live up to the hyperbole.

[Stefinitely Maybe]

I have a question: is Ken Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Park) available on general release in the USA yet? That Wiki article would suggest not, but that would surprise me. I downloaded it a few years ago and burned it to DVD, and it's probably my favourite Larry Clark film. I think it's really good, although obviously an acquired taste, and very graphic.

[schoolofruckus]

I don't think it is. I bought a Russian-distributed DVD off of eBay 4 years ago because I was convinced that it would never be released here, and I thought that would be my only way to see it. It's actually my least favorite Larry Clark film - and the one most interested in navel-gazing over actually trying to be insightful about the characters - but I remember thinking I wanted to watch it again because I felt like it maybe had more complexity than it seemed. But I have yet to do that.

[wmgaretjax]

My favorite Larry Clark film is the docu-short in Destricted.

I saw "Control" tonight. If anything, it's a fucking gorgeous film. I'm always skeptical of films shot on black and white nowadays, it always seems like a trope. But Anton Corbijn new what he was up to. The acting is also superb, very few complaints. Particularly from the two leads. Ian Clark was personified perfectly in the film, the live performance sections are unbelievable. As far as the film as a whole goes... I really don't like biopics, but I enjoyed this film. I didn't love it, but it is probably my favorite recent film of the genre. I'm not a huge Joy Division fan, and I can imagine being one would make this film a lot better. Definitely worth checking out on the big screen as a result of the cinematography.

[schoolofruckus]

I just watched "Deliverance". I have to say, it was really not that good. The premise was cool, I liked the photography....but the performances and the dialogue were pretty poor. It never really occurred to me before, but Jon Voight is a pretty bad actor. It shouldn't be surprising, given the exhibited talent of his offspring, but I just never really realized it before.

[mountmccabe]

I finally watched The Wild Bunch last night. I got it on VHS for $0.95. It