The last film I watched what Shanghai Knights, just now, which is amazing.
Although the last new film I saw was in The Wave (Die Welle) - a German film about an experiment done in a high school in California in 1967, in which a lefty teacher to demonstrate the possibility of fascism in US created a mini fascist movement, that got out of hand.
A really excellent film, shockingly quite believable, although some of the transitions seem a bit far-fetched, and obviously the events are a little exaggerated for the purposes of cinema. But a lot of similar experiments around the same time demonstrated similar results about the ease of manipulation, and obedience to authority etc. The soundtrack also has Digitalism in it, which was a particular highlight.
just kinda boring tbh. pretty americans meet disaster with blatant 9-11 heart-strings. meh.
more like japanese nuclear holocaust angst meets the age of the digital camcorder... I quite enjoyed it, but then I am a sci-fi geek.
I recently saw Hellboy 2 which was pretty crap, and Step Brothers, likewise (though a few funny scenes).
In other news the Hatian film-maker Raoul Peck is in the process of making a movie about the life of the young Karl Marx (I vote for the title Lil' Marx). Should be good as I don't really bother with movies anymore, I prefer the short fixes of the TV.
Primer is awesome. Pretty fucking confusing, but awesome.
Steven - I haven't seen that one yet, but the 1981 made for TV movie of the same name was pretty interesting. Some friends of mine at a different school to me actually studied it at age 15 or so...
Last movie I saw was Battle In Seattle, which, as a movie, was ok - politics obviously shit though. Much better than the last movie of its type that I saw, This Revolution.
Film that I'm most looking forward to comes out next year, Watchmen. I'll probably end up being grumpy and disappointed, but the trailer looks pretty good.
I hated Cloverfield. If I wanted to watch a badly made home movie with horrible shadowy monsters and collapsing buildings, I'd just film the student house next door.
Well, we have good films at the Infoshop and the local film festival is on, so I actually saw about a dozen films in the last two weeks. Some words on a few of them:
Military Intelligence and You - A spoof about the American military and, among other things, it's involvement in Iraq.
Another funny one about the mlitary: Full Battle Rattle. Obviously this one needed the approval of the army to get made since they film on a military site where the government set up fake Iraqi villages for military training. So, it doesn't really come from a critical angle, but does provide an interesting insight into what the military believes it's doing.
On Sunday we had a film doubleheader at the Infoshop: Battle in Seattle and Raspberry Reich. I laughed my head off with Raspberry Reich, but you need to have some twisted post-situ humour for that. Any film that exposes how "Cornflakes are Counterrevolutionary" gets a thumbs up from me. Plus you get full penetration and cum shots from masturbating Che Guevara fans who are the political sex toys of a crazy woman.
Battle in Seattle was less fun, although the crowd liked it and apparently thought it was balanced. I thought it was pretentious and politically shallow but didn't think it was tragic. It probably deserves a separate review and the more comments from participants in the events, the better,
We also showed Zanon, Heart of the Factory. It raised questions for me. I was extremely interested in the worker who was not satisfied with the way financial information was not given frequently. Also, there were repeated incidents with the women complaining about sexism but you never got to see what caused the problem or what it was about. Rather interesting stuff, but as I said, watching it raises questions.
At the film festival I saw an interesting documentary called "Be like the Others" about sex change operations in Iran. This was extremely sad - about how in Iran homosexuality is a big no-no, but sex change operations are allowed. So if you are properly diagnosed, you can get changed. Apparently, the do quite a lot of these operations. The documentary showed how the people involved were treated and how, unfortunately, some of them really didn't want these operations but felt there was no other way to have certain relationships.
laurekai - The Zanon film sounds interesting. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
Raspberry Reich is hilarious (and bizarre) indeed. The censored version is pretty funny too - George Bush and Tony Blair's heads get superimposed over the genitalia! Apparently the director had only done porn before he did that...
I thought it was (by quite a way) the worst film i've seen this year. I mean i like low brow comedies like that, but i seriously don't think i laughed once.
Simple Jack a little too close to home was it?
I understand.
Asher - Bruce LaBruce had some contact in his punk days with some anarchist friends in Toronto. So he has a background in the underground let's say.
Weeler, don't worry, when the film festival is not on I occasionally take in some crap - and yes I watch "non-political" films. If people want talk about culture here, OK. My preference, if they are playing, are for documentaries and politically oriented dramas. The week before this festival was a Vietnamese festival where I saw some very interesting documentaries, including one about how the Polish state cooperates with the Vietnamese secret services to deport people.
At the film festival I saw the film "Choke" and had a few laughs with it, if you like that type of sex humour. I don't know how mainstream it is or not - so maybe it is not coming to a theatre near you. I also saw "Able Danger", which is like a spoof of spy thrillers based on a 9/11 conspiracy buff. Also some laughs, but less funny and more amateurish than "Choke".
In terms of more mainstream stuff, the last thing I saw was probably Elegy, basically because I like Roth. It's passable but you're better off reading "the Dying Animal". Still have about 7 or 8 more films before Sunday to see; maybe something will prove interesting.
This Revolution - that's the film with immortal technique in it right? I saw a trailer for that, it looked like one of the worst things ever done.
haha I think I saw that trailer, wasn't he pulled over by the police and start calling them all imperialist racists and went off on a political rant? that ain't gonna help you get out of trouble is it.
The Fall - best eye candy, done without CGI in a couple of dozen locations around the world. Kind of like a bit older, darker, "grown up" Princes Bride. Kind of.
Yep, This Revolution is the one with Immortal Technique playing himself (and on the soundtrack too), and yep Bob, he does exactly that, and is then let go (oh so realistic :roll: )
notch8 - Bad Taste is fucking awesome. I still have a soft-spot for Meet The Feebles too.
and yep Bob, he does exactly that, and is then let go (oh so realistic :roll: )
My mate told me before that he was drunk in town and the police stopped him for some reason or another and wanted to arrest him. and he just went off on a rant about how they protect the status quo, and started talking about the concept of power and shit, and theylet him go. probably because they didn't want to have to deal with a wanker like that.
I've been watching Studio Ghibli anime. I started with Tales of Earthsea, after reading Ursula K. Le Guin's review essay. I agree with her remark that it's not her stories but a good movie nonetheless. After that I've downloaded Castle in The Sky and Howl's Moving Castle, both good stories and beautifully animated.
Also at a friends house we watched the first two Starwars episodes on a big screen projector. Still good cheesy fun after all these years
The last movies I saw were The Battle in Seattle and Lola Montes. The former was a fairly good account of the 1999 WTO shut down, better than any Hollywood version would dare to be (it was financed with Canadian money and has an Irish writer-director.)
Lola Montes is a 1955 Max Ophuls film recently restored. It was spectacular and quite extraordinary. Ophuls is one the great auteur directors, and his portrait of a woman trapped in the system of patriarchal capitalism was very moving.
notch8 - Brain Dead is ok, but it's my least favourite of the early Peter Jackson works. If you haven't seen Meet The Feebles, you should definitely do so ASAP, it really pushes Bad Taste for the top of that list.
David - Studio Ghibli stuff is great. Saw My Neighbour Totoro recently, I think it was the last one I hadn't seen, really enjoyed it. I heard a rumour (dunno if it's true) that the next one (coming out sometime in 2009) will be the last before he retires.
That's an amazing anime, and a real children's movie if I've ever seen one. Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are highly recommended as well, also by Miyazaki.
Princess Mononoke didn't really do that much for me, but Spirited Away is incredible.
Dunno if I'd say My Neighbour Totoro is a kids movie, I watched it with a bunch of other 20 - 25 year olds, and we were all enthralled and talking about it for days afterwards :P
I don't agree with the assessment of "Battle in Seattle".
The positive thing is the film sympathies with the protestors - but this film sympathizes with most of the characters there. It is rather taken from a humanistic point of view than a political one.
Nevertheless, it is a bit soft in its message, gives no real background, has too much time devoted to the character of the pregnant woman and is shallow in terms of plot and dialogue. Not tragic, but nothing great.
The anti-American stereotype about the finance behind it doesn't pan out: there are lots of American-made film that come down much harder on various elements of the system than this one. It was rather fluffy.
Princess Mononoke didn't really do that much for me, but Spirited Away is incredible.
Dunno if I'd say My Neighbour Totoro is a kids movie, I watched it with a bunch of other 20 - 25 year olds, and we were all enthralled and talking about it for days afterwards :P
That's the one that convinced Le Guin to give Studio Ghibli permission to do Earthsea after refusing them for twenty years.
Dunno if I'd say My Neighbour Totoro is a kids movie, I watched it with a bunch of other 20 - 25 year olds, and we were all enthralled and talking about it for days afterwards
I think Totoro was intended as a kids movie (at least kids love it, or rather Totoro, in Japan), but that doesn't mean that grown ups can't enjoy it. What's good about it as a kids movie is that it fantastical and serious.
"Heart of Fire", based on the true story of a girl who was a child solidier in Eritrea. Not too political but very strong, excellent acting and well made.
"East-West Sex Politics" documentary about the attempts to hold a gay parade in Moscow in 2006-2007. Heavy focus on legalistic, NGO activists but includes some others. At the end anarchists make an appearance. NGO political careerists look down on them.
I don't agree with the assessment of "Battle in Seattle"... there are lots of American-made film that come down much harder on various elements of the system than this one. It was rather fluffy.
Fair enough, but the picture got qualified endorsement from some of the organizers of the WTO deomonstrations.
When you say American-made films, are you talking about major studio Hollywood or independent companies like Brave New Films and the like? What movies did you have in mind?
Death Race, a vision of a dystopian future where a collapsed economy leads to the establishment of a prison-centred corporatist society, and which starts off with a factory shut-down leading to confrontation with the police placed as guard-dogs of an unjust industrial settlement.
Death Race, a vision of a dystopian future where a collapsed economy leads to the establishment of a prison-centred corporatist society, and which starts off with a factory shut-down leading to confrontation with the police placed as guard-dogs of an unjust industrial settlement.
Dunno haven't seen it, but I'm guessing the pyrotechnics are better.
The original is awesome, featuring a very young Sly Stallone and not that silly prison stuff. You get points for running over pedestrians (bonus for families and the cripples!) and is just amazing in all its low budget glory.
Mysterious Skin. pedofili, trasigt amerika, UFO-bortförslar, att växa upp
That sounds like a weird movie.
Two boys. One can't remember. The other can't forget.
Plot:
A teenage hustler and a young man obsessed with alien abductions cross paths, together discovering a horrible, liberating truth.
Fantastic example of everything that's wrong with the 'armed struggle' and the 'new left' in general with some great footage of the student struggles in Japan. Afterwards my flatmate asked me if we (the ICC) participated in self criticism. He took some convincing when I said that we didn't ;) .
Anyone know of any English language books on the new left in Japan?
evil dead. know i know what that rapist tree is :|
then watched the video from the ring on the dvd extras, and shit my flatmate up by discretely ringing the landline when it cut to static at the end 8-)
Evil Dead 2 is the superior film. Slapstick comedy with chainsaws, dancing zombies and rapist trees. Medieval Dead is good for a laugh, especially the sex scene and the bit where he builds a robotic hand for himself out of wood after reading a science textbook.
Watched the Shining last night.
*SPOILERS*
Scatman Crothers getting brutally and instantly pwned by Jack Nicholson after spending the entire film travelling across America to help them seemed like misplaced comedy. good film though. Especially liked the weird scene with the man in a dog suit.
I've just watched "The Stolen Children of Franco" on Christie-Brightcove about the kids of anti-fascists who's parents were killed or imprisoned after the war and brought up and indoctrinated by Falange/Nuns.The testimony of the Mothers is heartbreaking and the children also but it's also inspiring in the resistance and fight for justice against such vile oppression displayed by the victims-a must see!
Just rented two duds and a masterpiece last week: one was this fucking miserable, depressing thing Tim Roth made called The War-Zone about a family, and the Dad's secretly nailing his daughter in the ass. Don't care much for dramas to begin with, and I didn't think the subject matter was something I needed my attention drawn to, so thumbs down.
Also rented La Commune, about the Paris Commune, I'd recommend it just because it's a movie about the Paris Commune, but to be honest the way its done (it's shot in a studio, consists almost completely of interviews, and watches like a play.. ) didn't appeal to me at all.. also its almost 6 hours long.. which would've been tolerable with except it was so damn boring. Again, the subject matter alone makes it worth watching.
Finally, got the Battle of Algiers, which I'd been hearing about forever. One of the best movies I've ever seen, no question, it's very a realistic depiction of the Algerian FLN's urban-warfare campaign against the French colonial regime in the late 50s/early 60s.
Tim Roth was only ever really good in Alan Clarke's Made in Britain. A very good film that has working class life as its main subject but that is miles away from the middle-class voyeurism and mannerism of people like Mike Leigh.
I agree that at first La commune looks like its based on weird filming principles, but its a fascinating watch. I dont know if its a good film in the classical sense of the term, but i dont really care because its a brilliant watch, its informative and instructive and the result is in the end much better than what could have been a realistic rendering of the french civil war shot in a war film kind of style. Weird as they sound, the interviews dont come as a disruption but add up to the on going thinking process the actors were involved in during the film and which anyone who watches is also involved in. The filming process, the fact that it was a collective experience (the actors all read about la commune during the shooting, collective political discussions took place before, during and after the filming, etc...) makes it really worth watching. I think you can feel that when you watch the film.
Now the battle of Algiers comes as a complete contrast to that. It is definitely a war film, with realistic and aesthetic claims. Its interesting but i find annoying how the director uses violence and the expectation of the bombings to attract your attention. Its a rather poor hollywood-type device. As most realist films (it is shot as if it was a documentary, a bit of a dodgy premise too) it is voyeuristic and manipulative.
You're better off with films by Rene Vautier (the only guy on the algerian side to have filmed during the war, he helped algerian people to set up filming co-ops, workshops and a cinematheque after the independence) if you want something on the Algeria War, though i dont know if they're available in any other language than French.
Now the battle of Algiers comes as a complete contrast to that. It is definitely a war film, with realistic and aesthetic claims. Its interesting but i find annoying how the director uses violence and the expectation of the bombings to attract your attention. Its a rather poor hollywood-type device. As most realist films (it is shot as if it was a documentary, a bit of a dodgy premise too) it is voyeuristic and manipulative.
You're better off with films by Rene Vautier (the only guy on the algerian side to have filmed during the war, he helped algerian people to set up filming co-ops, workshops and a cinematheque after the independence) if you want something on the Algeria War, though i dont know if they're available in any other language than French.
Definitely a bit of oldschool hollywood voyeurism in there, but I'm a sucker for Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa too. I actually thought the violence was effective in capturing the uncompromising, morally ambiguous nature of war, a total departure from the typical war epics' mythologizing of historic events, especially in that era. I thought the climate of tension was captured perfectly, the violence wasn't explicit, it was, you know.. subdued in that early 60s style, but at the same it was extremely potent in context. Definitely made with entertainment in mind, but it really drops the colonial struggle right in your lap.
Tim Roth was only ever really good in Alan Clarke's Made in Britain. A very good film that has working class life as its main subject but that is miles away from the middle-class voyeurism and mannerism of people like Mike Leigh.
How the hell is Naked middle-class voyeurism?
Agreed about Tim Roth, with the possible exception of Vincent & Theo.
Aelita: Queen of Mars. Hilarious Soviet science fiction movie from 1922. Silent with nice martian landscapes and costumes done by the Russian constructivists. Of course there's a Union of Martian Socialist Republics by the end :)
Just watched "Omar Mukhtar: The Lion of the Desert" great cast, Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed and Rod Steiger as El Duce, power acting ahoy. Odd/amusing seeing pasty brits playing Bedouin and Italians, no hiding the accents either.
Just watched "Omar Mukhtar: The Lion of the Desert" great cast, Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed and Rod Steiger as El Duce, power acting ahoy. Odd/amusing seeing pasty brits playing Bedouin and Italians, no hiding the accents either.
Was it at least filmed in Libya? Do you know if it's historically accurate? If so I might check it out.
Ah, so it is worth watching? Thats good news. I'd had it for about a year before I lent it to you, kept meaning to get around to watching but never had...can't even remember where I found it - possibly the animal rights op-shop in Welly...
Baader Meinhoff Complex. Stunning in a I felt totally stunned/in shock by the end of the film sorta way. Also depressingly I can actually, very vaguely, remember the 1977 Lufthansa plane hi-jacking :(
Havent seen the baader meinhof complex but seems politically terrible, from reviews ive read, from the poster which boasts about them being 'the most notorious terrorist group of our time', and from the title which reduces a political situation and its social context to a 'complex'. Is it me or is it making silly psychological and emotional-oriented generalisations about political commitment and about the individual stories of a handful of people? Deutschland im Herbst or Blackbox BDR may be better watch on the subject.
Films dealing with the "thrilling experience" of far-left politics and/or guerilla/terrorism are fashionable at the moment... Theres a 2-part film about Jacques Mesrine (public enemy #1 in France in the 70s/80s) being released in France, and the 2-part film about Che Guevara is about to hit the screens.
The question is: which is going to be the worst?
Just went to see Waltz with Bashir. Its an ok watch but its a bad film.
Its sort of the Israeli animated equivalent to Full Metal Jacket (the way the music is used makes that obvious).
Theres actually a lot of similarities with the way the Vietnam war is represented in American films. In the same way as all you get in US films about the vietnam war is the amercian point of view, all you get here is the israeli point of view. This is what Edward Said's literary analysis of Heart of Darkness is mostly about, and funnily, it very much applies to this film.
You could argue that someone should be able to tell their own story, their own side of the story, but why should i bother about some israeli ex soldier being tormented by the traumatic experience he lived through during the war when the point of view of the other side, which went through a carefully planned massacre, is not taken into account?
Im getting tired of people being obsessed with their own selves, thinking the whole world should know about their issues and using art as a catharsis. Dont use me to sort out your ugly past.
Also the israeli invasion of Lebanon is hardly questioned. The film is only saying that the 1982 Sabra and Chatila (two palestinian refugee camps outside Beirut in Lebanon) massacre was pushing it a bit too far.
I would actually argue that the film glorifies war as much as Kubrick's war films do.
Havent seen the baader meinhof complex but seems politically terrible, from reviews ive read, from the poster which boasts about them being 'the most notorious terrorist group of our time', and from the title which reduces a political situation and its social context to a 'complex'. Is it me or is it making silly psychological and emotional-oriented generalisations about political commitment and about the individual stories of a handful of people?
Look, its a film so all sorts of stuff will be reduced, to be fair though it at least attempts to give some some explanation of the "political situation and its social context". Not saying it succeeds but maybe go watch it before deciding that the film reduces things to a 'complex' on the basis of the title alone. Then you'll be in a better position to answer your own question.
And whatever the theoretical, ideological or historic criticisms its still a fucking good movie. Not a manifesto, endorsement, documentary or educational film on revolutioanry organisation - just a movie.
I just finished watching "We Feed the World"; excellent documentary; not a communist critique, but if more people saw it, they would get at least a glimpse into the horror house that is capitalism
from the official website:
Every day in Vienna the amount of unsold bread sent back to be disposed of is enough to supply Austria's second-largest city, Graz. Around 350,000 hectares of agricultural land, above all in Latin America, are dedicated to the cultivation of soybeans to feed Austria's livestock while one quarter of the local population starves. Every European eats ten kilograms a year of artificially irrigated greenhouse vegetables from southern Spain, with water shortages the result.
In WE FEED THE WORLD, Austrian filmmaker Erwin Wagenhofer traces the origins of the food we eat. His journey takes him to France, Spain, Romania, Switzerland, Brazil and back to Austria.
Leading us through the film is an interview with Jean Ziegler, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.
WE FEED THE WORLD is a film about food and globalisation, fishermen and farmers, long-distance lorry drivers and high-powered corporate executives, the flow of goods and cash flow–a film about scarcity amid plenty. With its unforgettable images, the film provides insight into the production of our food and answers the question what world hunger has to do with us .
Interviewed are not only fishermen, farmers, agronomists, biologists and the UN's Jean Ziegler, but also the director of production at Pioneer, the world's largest seed company, as well as Peter Brabeck, Chairman and CEO of Nestlé International, the largest food company in the world.
Mysterious Skin. pedofili, trasigt amerika, UFO-bortförslar, att växa upp
That sounds like a weird movie.
It's about a few queer teens in middle America. One is a hustler, one is obsessed with alien abductions that helps him block out early childhood abuse and so on andso forth...
Both of the main characters were victims of childhood sexual abuse...
Last night i watched "Five Minutes to Live" AKA "Door to Door Maniacs" an otherwise mediocre 1961 gangster film starring Johnny Cash as a guitar playing hired kidnapper. He was great, sadistic, evil and funny all at once. It was streaming on best of the b's but i noticed it's available on archive.org
Mysterious Skin. pedofili, trasigt amerika, UFO-bortförslar, att växa upp
That sounds like a weird movie.
It's about a few queer teens in middle America. One is a hustler, one is obsessed with alien abductions that helps him block out early childhood abuse and so on andso forth...
Both of the main characters were victims of childhood sexual abuse...
Amazing movie and a bit of a headfuck!
I got around to downloading and watching Mysterious Skin last night. It's a beautiful and deeply disturbing film
I watched the biopic of Muhammed Ali a few nights ago on Channel 5 starring Will Smith. I watched with some trepidation because Ali is a sort of hero of mine and I didn't want to him slagged off. But although Smith has little of the physical stature of Ali he managed to cut the mustard regarding the man, a man who stood alone for what he believed in and one of the few worthy heavyweight champions of the world. "No Vietcong ever called me nigger" was one of the gems that Ali came out with in his steadfast refusal to fight in Vietnam. And Ali was very clear and lucid about the nature of the war and American imperialism - even if he didn't express it in those words. He was stripped of his licence and ostracised even by the Muslim Brotherhood which had made money out of him.
His last fight, against Joe Frazier, though credited by some as the greatest fight ever, was a horrible affair where either man could have killed the other.
So I was pleased that the film ended with his against the odds victory over the awesome George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire to re-take the title. Ali fought an unexpected fight, getting such a hiding that some commentators thought the fight was fixed for him to lose but, in one of the greatest comebacks since Lazurus, Ali finished off Foreman decisively and, still thinking in milliseconds, executed a restrained balletic pirouette holding back while Foreman fell to the canvass.
I recommend the documentary film around this fight and all the larger than life characters involved called "When We Were Kings". In my opinion it's one of the best films ever made.
"No Vietcong ever called me nigger" was one of the gems that Ali came out with in his steadfast refusal to fight in Vietnam.
that's a very good one, but...
baboon
He was stripped of his licence and ostracised even by the Muslim Brotherhood which had made money out of him.
that was the Nation of Islam, during membership in which he excused malcolm x's assassination. i saw the film of this last week when i watched a PBS documentary on him. he did later regret it.
John Carpenters The Thing, still gripping and pretty scary after nearly 30 years.
A Prophet, OK but not as good as I thought it would, given all of the praise it got. A straight forwards prison saga, but well made and acting was tremendous , which saved it for me.
Dead and Buried - praised for interesting ending. I have to agree but the rest was like, fuck, no more 80's horror movies:D although, in a way it was really fun to see the actors "acting". it had to be a tough work to make it over 90 minutes:D
The Expendables - good to relax and see Micky Rourke's perfect acting again.
Inception - pretty ok to watch and the fight scene (those who saw, know what i mean) is hillarious.
The Wire - Season 1 and 2 watched in some 10 days, hehe. This is a real addiction. Series 1 had a better flow, though. Looking forward to see the rest of the series.
I watched the biopic of Muhammed Ali a few nights ago on Channel 5 starring Will Smith. I watched with some trepidation because Ali is a sort of hero of mine and I didn't want to him slagged off. But although Smith has little of the physical stature of Ali he managed to cut the mustard regarding the man, a man who stood alone for what he believed in and one of the few worthy heavyweight champions of the world. "No Vietcong ever called me nigger" was one of the gems that Ali came out with in his steadfast refusal to fight in Vietnam. And Ali was very clear and lucid about the nature of the war and American imperialism - even if he didn't express it in those words. He was stripped of his licence and ostracised even by the Muslim Brotherhood which had made money out of him.
Ali is really a larger than life figure, I agree, but I think his time with the Nation was probably the worst episode in his life; he contemptuously applauded the assassination of Malcolm X (his good friend and mentor) by the Nation's thugs and become an obedient tool to Elijah Muhammad.
Have you seen "Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami"? It is a documentary about his early years; I would strongly recommend it.
The day of The Locust, John Schlesinger, 1975. You can check it out on streaming in the net. Scary as fuck and a bit creepy but a must anyway. Good meditation on cinema and fascist mind control techniques.
Thanks for the info mate, I haven't seen it and will look it up.
I agree with the above on the Nation of Islam business (thanks also petey), but considering the decay that most "stars" fall into I don't think that Ali done bad and largely, in the terrible glare of "fame", remained his own man.
Once again, I recommend "When We Were Kings". You couldn't write the script for the fight and you couldn't have provided a script for this documentary right down to the fight's delay and the storm from the north on its way. It shows something of the nature of the Mobutu regime and the general build up for the fight starting in the US. Ali wowed the population when he arrived and Foreman, by contrast, made one of boxing's great PR disasters by getting off the plane with a snarling, barking Alsatian straining on the leash. The very symbol of the oppressing white powers in this part of the world.
The fight itself is not shown extensively but the image of Ali, in the break between the fifth and sixth, looking into his own soul is inspiring. Especially with what he did next.
The music and dancing's good too.
John Carpenters The Thing, still gripping and pretty scary after nearly 30 years.
Were you lucky enough to see it in a cinema?
I got the special edition DVD and it's one of the few where I've bothered to watch all of the extras and listen to the commentaries.
Unfortunately, I didn't but I would like to. I have to say though I do think it is a bit like Alien on ice, if you see what I mean! Saw Alien at the cinema when it came out and it was truly a cinematic experience and something you can only really appreciate at the cinema (and not some poking multi-screen, either).
Last film I watched was the new star trek. Loved every minute of it.
That is a joke right. As the time passes and the sinema tech advances, hollywood is cutting the script and scenario more and adding in boring actions. I think that is why always reshooting old fantastic or sci-fi's again; this is the best way to cut the narrative in the first 5 minutes... In that sense, last star trek was a treason to the universe...
mikali, youd don't watch movies to relax?;) or is startrek a speciality?
anyway, it somehow reminded me Watchmen, which i find to be a brilliant movie which compared to the rest of the the hollywood production at least makes your brain think about things. although i have heard a some very negative comments on that film.
i don't know the comic so it allows me broader imagination. but you ruined it now:Dň
EDIT: oh, by the way, Watchmen was for me very interesting because I really felt that i am watching a comic. Not like Sin City or any other comic-based movie. The Watchen were in some aspects really special.
The taking of Pelham 123 - shockingly the remake wasn't a complete piece of shit. Almost turned it off after two minutes because the intro was crap but it turned out to be an ok bog standard action film. Obviously not even vaguely close to the original.
The taking of Pelham 123 - shockingly the remake wasn't a complete piece of shit. Almost turned it off after two minutes because the intro was crap but it turned out to be an ok bog standard action film. Obviously not even vaguely close to the original.
saw The Other Guys in this in the other week, was really good, very funny. Also, if you watch the music sequence at the end it means you don't have to watch Michael Moores capitalism: a Love story. Which I also watched a couple of weeks ago. It has a couple of okay bits, but no narrative at all and the politics are very confused - he says clearly that capitalism is evil and should be replaced, however throughout it he supports capitalism of the FDR/social democratic kind. not very surprising, but still...
Really not necessary to understand Russian to follow, I just watched it for some of the unique footage. Later half has an interview with his widow who was still alive when the film was made (1989).
The last film I watched was
A politcal film, fortunately
It was made by Schnews
I always pronounced sknews
It had crusties, sabs and the edl
What combintion...
800 Balas. Spaghetti western stuntmen wage class war against their boss and riot police when the land they work on is sold to a development firm. Mint.
Also saw a more serious film about class, Blue Collar. It's a fairly scathing critique on unions and how they keep workers under the thumb of management and divided, inspired by the Lordstown strikes. The ICC would be proud. Richard Pryor's actually in this and is very good. I saw this recommended in an old thread on here years ago so cheers Libcom!
800 Balas. Spaghetti western stuntmen wage class war against their boss and riot police when the land they work on is sold to a development firm. Mint.
Also saw a more serious film about class, Blue Collar. It's a fairly scathing critique on unions and how they keep workers under the thumb of management and divided, inspired by the Lordstown strikes. The ICC would be proud. Richard Pryor's actually in this and is very good. I saw this recommended in an old thread on here years ago so cheers Libcom!
I just got hold of 800 balas, haven't watched it yet. Blue Collar is good.
Just watched Terminator: Salvation. Dull and stupid.
I just watched Howl, which i thought was very well done. Some didn't like Eric Drooker's animation sequences but I thought they were lovely. I did see a review by someone who seemed to have firsthand knowledge of the trial who said the film didn't do justice to the defense attorney's flamboyance or the prosecutor's stupidity There are a couple of minor historical flaws. Ginsberg wasn't in New York during the trial, he was in Tangers helping Burroughs put Naked Lunch into publishable form and the Footnote to Howl wasn't finished at the time of the famous first reading depicted in the film.
A couple of nights ago I watched ‘Notorious’ with Cary Gant & Ingrid Bergman. Bergman was never better - very ‘believable’.
I’ve watched it before and it always makes me very uncomfortable. It’s the way people’s emotions are manipulated cynically by those in authority. It hit me that I’d the same reaction watching ‘The Spy Who Came In From The Cold’. Each movie is terrific at offering you the spectacle of people, on ‘both sides’ of the drama, being ruthlessly used, the ends supposedly justifying the means.
I’d recommend them both if you enjoy good acting; there is lots of suspense though not much ‘physical’ action.
Valhalla Rising which was utter poo. Calvaire which shows why you should never holiday in rural Belgium. And Synedoche, New York which suggests Charlie Kaufman is an interesting man.
I saw 'Red Hill' the other night. From the opening scene I thought another B grader, commercialized to the Hollywood formula.... Bad man explodes out of prison hellbent on wreaking havoc on the small town cops that put him there. Thoughts of Billy Jack and First Blood, Kill Bill come to mind, the tranquility of wild open places shattered by the ultraviolence of people. In the most recently Westernised culture there are still the forces of a system of an alternate ancient law, but this is the theme of the movie, ancient sovereignty vs capitalism. Beneath the comedy and pathos that the script entertains one with lies the menacing truth that a great injustice has been perpetrated. I wont spoil it, but at the end I was actually supporting the one honest cop there was in that filthy little town.
Boxcar Bertha by Scorcese. quite good. a story (based on a true story and on the novel about it) of a girl during the depression, running with a unionist, and with some friends they are sort of forced into gangsterism by state repression.
didn't know that Scorcese made a film clearly against bourgeois order...that's cool...
Les Diaboliques - pretty good film with Simone Signoret as the lead. The suspense bit at the end dragged a little and I felt the private detective at the end wasn't quite necessary and the extra twist was silly.
A good film though, just not as good as the source novel.
I found this on wikipedia. I haven't seen it for ages. Mum had 'O' levels then. The local school was barraged by the planes throughout her exams. Dunno about the connection with Pinewood Studios! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Duxford
'In 1968 Duxford was used as one of the locations for the filming of Battle of Britain. On June 21 and June 22, one of the original World War I hangars was blown up in stages for the filming (without the concurrence of the Ministry of Defence) and the airfield was spectacularly filmed from the air in a realistic bombing sequence. Ironically this was the nearest Duxford came to being destroyed as no significant wartime German raids were carried out on the aerodrome. The French château, seen at the beginning of the film, was constructed on the south-west corner of the airfield.'
Into the West
It has some great anti-authoritarian themes, and a look at how the Traveler community in Ireland are treated (don't know how 'real' that part is). This is an awesome movie to watch with kids.
Have you seen Moon by the dude who did Source Code? Liked that movie very much.
Sure did. One of my favorite sci-fi movies ever. He's making another sci-fi movie now; the one he really wants to make. Considering that Moon was amazing, Source Code a nice lil' action flick I can't wait to see what he will do now. And he's the son of fucking David Bowie.
Watched the Adjustmen Bureau yesterday. Based on a Philip K. DIck story (which I haven't read) and that is sometimes promising, but that movie was just too boring. Nothing happened and it turned out to be a crap love story.
Sure did. One of my favorite sci-fi movies ever. He's making another sci-fi movie now; the one he really wants to make. Considering that Moon was amazing, Source Code a nice lil' action flick I can't wait to see what he will do now. And he's the son of fucking David Bowie.
Yeah, in Source Code you could sort of guess what was happening early which ruined it a bit, but still liked it.
Also they're already making an american version of TrollHunter...
Munich was hard to watch - who do you root for? I just sat there grimacing and getting angry at the stupidity.
I took a day off this past Tuesday and watched Satantango. It's 7.5 hours long but is broken down in 3 segments so it's not as hard a slog as I thought. Tarr and his writer Krasznahorkai have an incredibly bleak view of humanity and by extension of social organization and politics. This film is a perfect illustration of this quote Anyone who says they love the working class is either an idiot, a tyrant or a tyrant in waiting. The working class, if we are to talk about it as a unit, if it has 'strength' only has the strength of a lumbering blind beast, this is what our bosses are aware of and this is why they control us in particular ways (carrots and sticks).
It's got some silly parts in it that don't work, but also some majestic moments and a total refutation of metaphysical solutions (which is a clear difference between Tarr and another slow-mover like Tarkovsky). It's also got humour, lots of it, but very dark.
If you can't be arsed to watch a 7.5 hour long movie then Werkmeister Harmonies does the same thing in a 2 hour package.
[youtube]ZJkd5X2aG34[/youtube] Dead Snow - one of the best zombie films I've seen along with the original Dawn of the Dead. My friend enjoyed it a little too much though- come to think of it, I think he's a closet fash. Anywho, does anyone know where this obsession with zombie films and 'the apocalypse' came from?
[youtube]cd-go0oBF4Y[/youtube] The Big Lebowski - a great (stoner?) film and almost as good as Freddy got Fingered.
[youtube]IaoYTgbUmdc[/youtube] Angel-A - so beautiful it made me cry, mainly cos I saw myself in the short French/Arab guy. The scene where they're both standing in front of the mirror is amazing!
Watched A Single Man the other night with Colin Firth. Good film. He's a professor who's partner of 16 years dies suddenly in a car accident, and so he decides he is going to kill himself. Everything he experiences that day he chooses to commit suicide becomes even more poignant and his experiences more vivid. Some of the shots are beautiful.
I went to see "I Think we should talk about Kevin", then came out the cinema to find the City Council had nicked out car. I am now in litigation, with a little help from a whisteblower.
The last film I watched worth mentioning, was ‘Born Yesterday’ (1950, dir. George Cukor) with the marvellous Judy Holliday playing the dumb blond, ‘Billie Dawn’.
She died young of cancer her movie career blighted by the McCarthy witch hunts. She was the only witness I’ve heard of, who was not blacklisted or made to ‘name names’, as she gave her evidence playing the part of ‘Billie Dawn’. (She was in fact extremely intelligent.) In her last years she co-wrote songs and music with her boyfriend the jazz musician Gerry Mulligan.
Also worth watching is ‘Adam’s Rib’ (1949, dir. George Cukor) where she skilfully upstages Katharine Hepburn (who appears to have aided her career in the movies).
Margin Call (2011)
I really liked it for its openness to think what you want about the whole topic (meaning it opened a lot of thoughts for everyone to think about). And the acting is a total blow! I wish there are more movies done with so much sensitiveness.
Out of the Past where Robert Mitchum tries to commit suicide by chain smoking. Blue Velvet, the only film to have both Roy Orbison and S&M. And Roger & Me, Michael Moore's documentary about the closing of a GM plant.
over two nights watched tinker, tailor, soldier, spy, the TV version. ahhhhhhhhhh.
jef costello
Les Diaboliques - pretty good film with Simone Signoret as the lead. The suspense bit at the end dragged a little and I felt the private detective at the end wasn't quite necessary and the extra twist was silly.
A good film though, just not as good as the source novel.
i know it as 'Diabolique'? anyway the detective is surely the model for colombo. (it's on my libcom profile under 'favorite films'.)
I saw Hugo a few days ago. The better parts of it are a homage to early french cinema, the remainder was a muddled overlong story about an orphan boy. It picked up towards the end but Sacha Baron Cohen was wholly miscast and it wasn't quite the family film I was expecting.
Over crimbo watched:
Warrior not as shite I expected but fairly forgetable
The first of the recent Sherlock Holmes films - good laugh
Unknown - forgetable
Route Irish - decent enough but I'm not sure I'd watch again unlike most of Loach's other films
i saw contagion b4 - it was like big authoritarian public health announcement that went on for about 1 half hours. brief mild peverse satisfaction to see gywthnth paltrow on autopsy table.
uh just watched dolly partons smoky mountain christmas - well the lady can do no wrong (ok the vid on the bridge doesn't pass even my special slack quality control for dolly) & the sound of music as i was instructed that it is critical christmas viewing - and yet i had never seen it
it reminded me of the chalet school books. i thought musicals were supposed to have lots of songs in them but there they sang the same 4 songs like 20 times.
now i am steeling myself to watch the hunger by steve mqueen - supposed to be beautifully shot but harrowing.
Machete - ok B-movie, Jessica Alba's cop to revolutionary turn was unconvincing.
The Road - was rather unmoved by its renowned blackness, does that make me heartless? I suppose it's a nice change from all the zombie films which make the apocalypse seem kind of fun. Sort of happy ending was lame. So was the human farm, why not just eat the food yourselves?
TT3D - this is great even if, like me, you're not into motorbikes.
Rise of the planet of the apes - awesome, best Hollywood movie I've seen in years.
'Charlie Brown' the closet anarchist does his 'taking of the law into his autonomous hands' very nicely in his neighbourhood. A truly inspiring movie which has one realising that the police are mere 'cleaners uppers', that true justice must come from those enduring the injustice, (or their friends), and that social equilibrium only comes about through direct face to face discussion and not through organised institutional process.
Another reason I disliked 'The Girl w/..." was that the punky girl getting it on w/ the middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual reminded me of some topics here about SWP and other 'rev parties' cadre taking advantage of newbies to the cause. That book must obviously have been written by a middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual male...
Another reason I disliked 'The Girl w/..." was that the punky girl getting it on w/ the middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual reminded me of some topics here about SWP and other 'rev parties' cadre taking advantage of newbies to the cause. That book must obviously have been written by a middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual male...
The author was as you might know a trot. He gave military training to some guerilla in africa when he was younger.
'Charlie Brown' the closet anarchist does his 'taking of the law into his autonomous hands' very nicely in his neighbourhood. A truly inspiring movie which has one realising that the police are mere 'cleaners uppers', that true justice must come from those enduring the injustice, (or their friends), and that social equilibrium only comes about through direct face to face discussion and not through organised institutional process.
Charlie Brown?
Watched these recently; Tyrannosaur which defintely touched a nerve with me - pretty powerful stuff. Very much in the vein of My Name is Joe, although slightly darker/heavier subject matter. We need to talk about Kevin, which I thought was nonsense and probably reflects undertones in m/c sensebilities rather than anything else. And finally, Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy which was a decent stylish thriller, though it was not as good as I was led to believe.
someone sent this article to my g/f's facebook about stieg larsson....haven't seen the film or read the book myself
Fuckin hell they've relied on someone from Axess for the Swedish insights.... thats like asking someone from the Rand Corporation to review Chomsky. Totally absurd.
comment is free
He includes every variety of male violence against women, except the violence inspired by religious and cultural misogyny.
Wtf! I mean the guy was a trot with dubious politics but making it out as if him omitting islamic violence is somehow a sign of him supporting it is extraordinary. Quite a win for Axess to get this rubbish published.
It is comment is free though but they guy works for the Observer.
The first of the recent Sherlock Holmes films - good laugh
NOOOOOOO!!!!11!! Speaking as a Conan-Doyle fan, that film is a fucking travesty - Sherlock Holmes Lite for thick twats who can't watch a flick without explosions and special effects.
wojtek
[youtube]cd-go0oBF4Y[/youtube] The Big Lebowski - a great (stoner?) film and almost as good as Freddy got Fingered.
The Big Lebowski is the best film ever... but... um... that's like just my opinion... man. Freddy got fingered is utter shite - though my kids seem to like it.
Cooked
Melancholy of Resistance
Another reason I disliked 'The Girl w/..." was that the punky girl getting it on w/ the middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual reminded me of some topics here about SWP and other 'rev parties' cadre taking advantage of newbies to the cause. That book must obviously have been written by a middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual male...
The author was as you might know a trot. He gave military training to some guerilla in africa when he was younger.
Haven't seen the films yet but I quite liked the books. But as I'm a bespectacled middle-aged half arsed intellectual, then I would say that. Anyway, I noticed they were flogging all three films in HMV or WH Smiffs - would these be the Swedish TV versions or the American flick? Should I bother either way or just stick with the books?
This is the second movie from "The New French Extremity" (after Haute Tension) that I have now watched and loved instantly. Looks like I have to get more of this stuff.
The movie itself blew my mind. Several times. I think the professional term for that is "mind fuck".
There are twists, and I really mean twists, not some half-assed predictable stuff, that will make you go "what the hell just happened" and "no fucking way" left, right and center. In the end, the whole plot falls into place but at the very beginning you're only fed tiny shreds that will leave you wondering whether what's happening is real or just some kind of nightmare flashbacks.
All the while, the movie is unbearably hard to watch, and I say that as a horror nut. The whole thing just makes you uneasy, and the sheer incredibility (in the most literal sense) of the physical and psychological torture coupled with the great acting and outstanding make-up really made an impression on me, though I am sure there are "worse" movies in that regard (I've yet to see one of those though)
Recommended to all fans of horror that love plot twists. 9/10
Weekend (1967) Godard's transitional film from nouvelle vague to Maoism. The satire/critique of consumer capitalism is a trenchant and funny as ever, and it was a treat to see it on the big screen.
It's about a bloke aboard a space craft that, after earth has been irradiated by nuclear war, contains the last living forest. Then he receives the order from US command to destroy the forest so the ship can be reused for commercial purposes, and goes all eco-vigilante.
The lead comes across a bit like the unabomber, but despite that it's still a good concept and film. Sort of like Moon (2009), but not quite as good. Moon (which took a lot of cues from Silent Running) is more relevant to wage labour, profit and alienation, while Silent Running is about eco stuff.
I think I'll try to get hold of a copy of Silent Running. I loved Moon so would be interesting to watch one of the infleuces. Sort of how like La Jetee influences 12 Monkeys, though in this case La Jetee is better.
Meh (aka bland) movie, the star actors were totally superfluous. Not fatalist enough for my taste. Have seen few films as banal as this one.
Paranormal Activity 3
First two were definitely better, this one mainly recycled the tried-and-true shock formulas like banging doors, footsteps and moving stuff. Didn't really tie into the other two as much as I hoped. Did not live up to the hype.
-----
Considering those two scored pretty high with critics, I think I'm just not mainstream enough to get them.
@ Harrison considering that was directed by the special effect fella on 2001, it's not a bad film. It does look like a product of its time which makes it novel. Moon is miles better though, yeah.
I'm looking forward to whatever Duncan Jones is directing next... Source Code was pretty good, although i preferred Moon. Also Silent Running is one of the best film names ever.
He said it's going to be like Blade Runner but set in Berlin. So that'll be AMAZING then. I haven't seen that yet actually but the remake looks like it'll be good. Refn directing and Gosling to swoon at.
I just saw 400 Blows by Truffant which was charming.
i know it as 'Diabolique'? anyway the detective is surely the model for colombo. (it's on my libcom profile under 'favorite films'.)
Might be the release name in the US also the file name on KG ;)
Inbetweeners - not bad but not as good as the TV show
Limitless - a bit anti-climactic and silly but generally fun
Midnight in Paris - absolutely shit, if Woody Allen was ever funny he certainly isn't now.I actually started this sentence with 'Absolute shit' before realising I was repeating myself but I still think it stands.
So i did watch Hunger by steve mqueen. i think its one of the most amazing films i've seen. i had reservations because he was a war artist for the british state but for whatever, doubtless complex, reasons this hasn't limited his ability to make an indictment of its violence during the 'troubles'.
the bobby sands tribute site has it up as a recommended watch.
a few thoughts
*clear your evening because the violence is depicted in a very visceral and upsetting way. the film remains in my mind even a few days after watching
*some of his shot composition/cinematography/placement of sound is so fucking amazing & he really uses it and the layout of the film to show the relentless routine of prison life
* i feared a descent into sentimentality at one or two points later in the film but it just remains really poignant
could write more, but i definetly recommnd it.
(btw source code, sorry but dat was cheesily boring, you were guessing what was gonna happen nxt before it happened cos its happened a million times before)
re silent running - dark star is a classic losing it/not losing it on board a spaceship movie i'd also recommnd
He said it's going to be like Blade Runner but set in Berlin. So that'll be AMAZING then. I haven't seen that yet actually but the remake looks like it'll be good. Refn directing and Gosling to swoon at.
I just saw 400 Blows by Truffant which was charming.
sounds fantastic
400 Blows is also good from what i've heard
dohball
(btw source code, sorry but dat was cheesily boring, you were guessing what was gonna happen nxt before it happened cos its happened a million times before)
re silent running - dark star is a classic losing it/not losing it on board a spaceship movie i'd also recommnd
Still quite liked Source Code! Also Dark Star is great - hippies in space. Especially the bit where he teaches the bomb phenomenology.
Thanks Railyon for recommending Hobo with a Shotgun. That was much, much better than I expected!
Same here! I thought it was gonna be another throw-away trash movie but it really raises the bar for b-movies (and turned out to be a minor milestone of the genre in my opinion). Really loved the enthusiasm of the crew, actors and film makers alike (clips of behind-the-scenes stuff is only on the blu-ray I think).
Yesterday I watched Captain America.
Politically a pretty appalling film, makes for good vegging out material though...
If you liked Hobo w/ a Shotgun then you will likely appreciate the latest batch of Japanese exploitation flicks. Out of these I recommend Helldriver as it's wildly imaginative like Hobo. Machine Girl is okay too as well as Tokyo Gore Police.
If you liked Hobo w/ a Shotgun then you will likely appreciate the latest batch of Japanese exploitation flicks. Out of these I recommend Helldriver as it's wildly imaginative like Hobo. Machine Girl is okay too as well as Tokyo Gore Police.
I heard of them before but I never had the chance to watch em.
Incidentally, I have Tokyo Gore Police on my HDD. Will watch it this weekend.
Interesting movie from an anti-capitalist perspective; the movie itself was your average worn-out drama set in a pop dystopia (way too clean, too neat).
Gotta love the FULL COMMUNISM ending though.
Same pet peeve as with The Road however, not enough background information. Makes the movies feel ripped out of context.
Brilliant move - until the end. Which kinda sucked, too abrupt and without a feeling of closure. In short, ending felt rushed.
Everything before that was high class stuff though... I liked that there were no ubermenschen in this one, just a bunch of kids doing their thing. For kid actors, I found the acting of the main cast to be exceptional, looking forward to what their future holds.
I just watched all seven seasons recently, including the movies and christmas special (which was tight). Quite a good show, the first 5 seasons are so goddamn funny, seasons 6 and 7 are take or leave imo.
Yesterday I saw Strangers in Paradise. Jam Jarmusch is quite good.
Yeah, I've seen Countdown to Liquor Day which was brilliant (I was so made up for Bubbles at the end :)), The Big Dirty which was a'ight and also the Christmas Special. Have you seen the pilot movie? I can't bring myself to watch it since it's in black and white...
Yesterday I saw Strangers in Paradise. Jam Jarmusch is quite good.
I saw that last week as well. He hasnae made a bad film I don't think. The lass playing Screaming Jay Hawkins whilst walking down the street is cool as fuck.
Yesterday I saw Strangers in Paradise. Jam Jarmusch is quite good.
I saw that last week as well. He hasnae made a bad film I don't think. The lass playing Screaming Jay Hawkins whilst walking down the street is cool as fuck.
Today I watched Shane and Neds.
I often wonder about his movies though. Isn't there something individualistic in a bad way about the idea of loving a character because they look "cool" as fuck in a movie? This seems to be a common theme in his movies particularly, although this obviously applies to most movies. Jim Jarmusch is especially above all else good at making his characters look cool, the female leads sexy as hell. Isn't there something wrong with that?
Well my point is that you like the characters not for who they are but how they look. What actions they do engage in in these movies is only intended to add to their image. Image is everything. The spectacle etc.
Why isn't that enough? Cinema is first and foremost a thing of visuals. It can be more than that as it often is, but it doesn't have to be. Debord can do one. But I do think Jarmusch is capable of more than that, Down by Law is probably a good example.
Well yeah and that's why I like Jarmusch and think he's a great director. I was just saying that I was made uncomfortable by the idea of liking a movie because its characters acted cool as hell. Down by Law does not have this same issue come up in quite the same way. In Down by Law the movie is not defined by the image of its characters. In Down by Law Jarmusch still puts a lot of effort into making certain characters look cool as hell, but unlike Stranger than Paradise the coolness of the characters is not the most defining element of the film.
Well he was a bit more experienced when Down by Law was made. Tom DiCillo, who did cinematography on his early films, is a mint director too. He's all about things not being cool, you might like him.
Yeah, I've seen Countdown to Liquor Day which was brilliant (I was so made up for Bubbles at the end :)), The Big Dirty which was a'ight and also the Christmas Special. Have you seen the pilot movie? I can't bring myself to watch it since it's in black and white...
The pilot movie is quite funny iirc, haven't seen it for ages though, it's a bit of a different mood than the series but it's worth a watch. There's a short film 'The Cart Boy' which is an early version of the bubbles charcters which is not great. Did you see 'Say goodnight to the bad guys'? that's the TV special that leads into Countdown to liquor day.
I know some people hated the last two seasons and some reckoned it went to shit after the third, but for the most part I liked the whole thing.
Soapy
flaneur
Soapy
Yesterday I saw Strangers in Paradise. Jam Jarmusch is quite good.
I saw that last week as well. He hasnae made a bad film I don't think. The lass playing Screaming Jay Hawkins whilst walking down the street is cool as fuck.
Today I watched Shane and Neds.
I often wonder about his movies though. Isn't there something individualistic in a bad way about the idea of loving a character because they look "cool" as fuck in a movie? This seems to be a common theme in his movies particularly, although this obviously applies to most movies. Jim Jarmusch is especially above all else good at making his characters look cool, the female leads sexy as hell. Isn't there something wrong with that?
The problem with Jim Jarmusch is that he is obsessed with cool but as far as I can tell he doesn't understand it. He did a loose remake of Le Samourai and managed to show that he had completely failed to understand why the film was good and the single good idea he added in (the friendship with the ice cream guy) was done completely wrong.
I watched smoke and blue, one wa sa film one is a mishmash shot with leftover film after the first one was done. Both were shit.
I would still quite like to watch Dead Man but I really doubt any of his films could ever be good.
the artist - thought it was really good. can't imagine anyone disliking it, but i know some people who were a bit disappointed it wasn't the masterpiece they expected after all the hype. didn't bother me.
Planet of the Apes (60s)
Classic movie, nuff said.
Cloverfield
Not a bad movie if you like Godzilla gone shaky cam. I loved the idea behind it but felt the monster wasn't really explained well in-movie.
Cloverfield
Not a bad movie if you like Godzilla gone shaky cam. I loved the idea behind it but felt the monster wasn't really explained well in-movie.
I think that was the point, you were seeing what the camera guy was seeing, he had no idea what was going on either.
Cloverfield
Not a bad movie if you like Godzilla gone shaky cam. I loved the idea behind it but felt the monster wasn't really explained well in-movie.
I think that was the point, you were seeing what the camera guy was seeing, he had no idea what was going on either.
Yeah I understand that but it's just a pet peeve of mine... :|
I need stuff explained to me or I just can't enjoy it! :P
At Christmas I received a set of Theo Angelopoulos DVDs.
So far I’ve watched ‘The Hunters’ shot in 1977. It is described on the box as ‘Highly symbolic and at times surreal’. It is a great movie though you have to be patient and in the mood for 143 minutes of Greek history passing back and forth between 1949 and 1976.
There are many beautiful ‘sequence shots’. To quote David Thompson’s New Biographical Dictionary of Film:
‘This is engrossing cinema, not fast or fluent, yet compelling once its rhythm has been yielded to. Not that Angelopoulos is determined on naturalism. His movies are theatrical, and nearly Brechtian: they are lessons in which “real life” is imposed upon by schema, clearly labelled points of view, and the nearly abstract emphasis on wintry space, desolation, and time spent waiting.’
So it is defiantly not Hollywood, the politics I thought a little wooden (capitalists and their lackeys murderous - communists noble), but it is a feast for the senses.
That was one of the first French new wave films so there wasn't anything to parody at that point. Cue what your Grandad says about them not making films like that anymore, sigh.
That was one of the first French new wave films so there wasn't anything to parody at that point. Cue what your Grandad says about them not making films like that anymore, sigh.
If the whole thing wasn't a subtle parody than I'm pretty disappointed. I guess some of the camera work was pretty good.
Sick movie, story is not as twisted as those of other French Extremity films like Haute Tension or Martyrs, pretty straightforward and gory as fuck though.
In hindsight not as good a movie as I hoped, but if you like buckets of blood and people getting stabbed in the face with scissors, go for it.
tinker pinker sailor whatsit. i have to admit i didn't quite realise everything had been wrapped up by the time the film ended. in other words i didn't get it. one i'll have to watch again.
also, i'd just like to note that i find this thread's placement in the history category amusing.
I loved Town Called Panic. 5 year old stream of consciousness for Grown Ups.
This is what the misanthropist in me is looking forward to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul4CZrnEFxU
"Loveless, jobless and possibly terminally ill, Frank has had enough of the downward spiral of America. With nothing left to lose, Frank takes his gun and decides to off the stupidest, cruelest and most repellent members of society with an unusual accomplice: 16-year-old Roxy, who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement. From stand-up comedian and director Bobcat Goldthwait comes a scathing and hilarious attack on all that is sacred in the United States of America."
Looking forward to me too fnbrill. Looks pretty cool.
Just watched Tokyo Gore Police.
A rollercoaster of absurdity and what the fuck... bad actors, worse dubs (never heard more atrocious ones...), cheap effects, metric shit tons of fake blood, topped with subtle and not so subtle social commentary (I say all this in a laudatory way because I love trash movies).
The Resurrection of Broncho BIlly.
It didn't seem that great but the absolutely shit awful quality of the video might have had something to do with that.
Watched Melancholia. Pretty good, especially if you like watching bourgeois being as decadent as we imagine them to be (or indeed are). Oh, and there's the end of the world, too.
Martha Marcey May Marlene - the young Olsen sister's acting debut. Really great; about a girl who has recently left a cult.
Tower Heist - class war comedy with Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller about a group of workers getting back at their boss who stole their pensions. Good fun.
Beautiful Lies - Audrey Tautou and Jeunet reunite after Amelie to make a film that is a bit like Amelie but shit.
Incendies - Gave up after ten minutes due to fucked up subs and quebecois accent. Will have another go sooner or later.
Kill the Pig - weird pointless cuban short film.
L'armee du crime - bought from the 99p shop (they have some surprisingly good films at times). A very good film that portrayed the resistance very well although it took a few liberties it was still well shot and managed to portray a lot of it. Some of the exposition for people who didn't know the history might have been a touch clunky according to the native french speaker I watched it with but I didn't pick up on it too much. It really brought the people to life and although a couple of points stretched belief and a few details were omitted and changed it was good. The fact that most of the parents were card-carrying PCF members wa ignored or removed, as was the stalinist nature of the communists at this point (one even says he won't obey 'stalinists'), although Stalinism at this point didn't really exist as we know it now. It made us both want to learn more about the group.
I didn't know what the fuck was going on. There's a middle class abusive father, oedipal sentiments from one of the kids, dinosaurs, planets colliding, red suns and Sean Penn.
It was only after reading the synopsis on wiki that I understood what I'd just seen.
IN TIME - revol made me and Partybucket watch it, actually really good
I had to explain the metaphor to Revol cos he was really struggling to work out what the film was about 'Why do they keep running around and swapping time and everything?', he said.
I've just watched Βουdυ Saνed frοm Drοwning (1932). There's been a couple of modern remakes of the film. It's about an aimless tramp called Boudu who jumps into a river only to be 'rescued' by a bourgeois bookseller. The latter's constant attempts to 'civilise' Boudu fail as he has no interest in 'bettering himself', rather he just lies around the house poking fun at middle-class sensibilities. I can't say I liked it even though there are some fantastic moments in it and it rejects the working-class = victim narrative. I just found Boudu so odd and annoying, I couldn't relate to him at all and how the hell is Emma all smiles after Boudu rapes her?? There's a great write up and discussion of the film here if anyone's interested.
Lol. As a PS, there seems to be a consensus on the first page of the discussion I linked to that Boudu has schizophrenia/ a mental illness. Now this may well be an accurate depiction, but I've met some pretty friendly hobos, whilst drunk I hasten to add. And I'm not at all comfortable with automatically medicalising behaviour which happens to differ from the norm...
Rampart. Woody Harrelson as a corrupt cop in late 90s LA. Generally pretty good, he was excellent, as were most of the actors. A bit over directed in places; a couple of scenes were a bit gimicky and could have been toned down, but otherwise well shot. Another film with a non-ending (see also Martha Marcy May Marlene), but it kind of worked for me, and I prefer that to films that drag out forever and feel the need to wrap up and explain everything.
Film Socialisme, I enjoy Godard, but I just couldn't get through that one.
Did you see the ffwd trailers? I only found out about them after seeing the film. But it made more sense at superspeed, the rythm and imagery as well as the film as a sort of collection of references made more sense this way.
Film Socialisme, I enjoy Godard, but I just couldn't get through that one.
Did you see the ffwd trailers? I only found out about them after seeing the film. But it made more sense at superspeed, the rythm and imagery as well as the film as a sort of collection of references made more sense this way.
Watched Days of Heaven (1978) last week. Really good. One of the first scenes is (young) Richard Gere offing his boss at the steel factory, and then it takes off from there. Terrence Malick is awesome, and I thought Tree of Life was beautiful. Didn't see any problem with it trying to be deep, because it was.
The Acountant - A bit silly in a rather serious way. A little surreal with a few bits about debt and money but not developed too far, still quite enjoyable.
"If a man builds a machine and that machine conspires with a machine built by another man, are those men conspiring?"
Mainly watched it because it had Walt Goggins in it.
Rampart. Woody Harrelson as a corrupt cop in late 90s LA. Generally pretty good, he was excellent, as were most of the actors. A bit over directed in places; a couple of scenes were a bit gimicky and could have been toned down, but otherwise well shot. Another film with a non-ending (see also Martha Marcy May Marlene), but it kind of worked for me, and I prefer that to films that drag out forever and feel the need to wrap up and explain everything.
Woody was amazing, but Jesus fuck, the same fucking ending in every Hollywood film that reckons itself a bit arty. Needs to be a new rule that only Hanneke can do that, and if in doubt, all other films must end with an explosion.
In any case. I watched Animal Kingdom. Not a bad film really, but the lead role only ever pulls 2 facial expressions. Yu only see one of them for about 2 minutes when he cries loads. But i would say it is worth watching (if you can;t watch Attack The Block, which is great).
Oh man, Animal Kingdom is amazing! I told myself the main character was in fact an amazing actor by managing to capture the passive, disconnected and bewildered reality of his hideous situation where everyone else was a different version of highly strung, reality denying mental. But it may just have been bad acting. How amazing is the raid scene?
Follow it up with Down Terrace,similar in ways and fucking awesome
edited to remove something that seemed like a spoiler but wasn't
Animal Kingdom is right on, and aye, I thought the same about the main fella, Ramona. I think Chopper would be more of a similar mood though, plus it's not half as shite as Down Terrace is.
I saw The Longest Summer, HK film about ex British soldiers committing a bank robbery during the handover and nearly all of Bonnie and Clyde. Beatty and Dunaway, :groucho:
Durch die nacht mit: a tv programme. John Carpenter and Franka Potente hang out for an evening. A bit surreal but enjoyable, might look for some other episodes.
Durch die nacht mit: a tv programme. John Carpenter and Franka Potente hang out for an evening. A bit surreal but enjoyable, might look for some other episodes.
I loved Franka Potente in Lola rennt. One of the best German films I've seen...
Durch die nacht mit: a tv programme. John Carpenter and Franka Potente hang out for an evening. A bit surreal but enjoyable, might look for some other episodes.
I loved Franka Potente in Lola rennt. One of the best German films I've seen...
I stil haven't watched her, but I've seen her in other stuff, she's a good actress. She also seemed really nice in the programme.
Just watched a film called Chromophobia, about public school upper middle class types tearing themselves to bits whilst also closing ranks. Sort of. Best film I've seen for a while. Also Beautiful Kate, Aussie film about incest and its consequences.
They've the same director so you should dig it. It's one remake I can think of that's better than the original, Fingers. Think he was just having argie bargie in a club there. Lads eh?
Poultrygeist - gets a straight 10/10 from me, recommended to all fans of actually good trash movies.
Atlas Shrugged Part 1 - Could only bear 30 minutes of it, then I had to quit. Boring as fuck,and if I ever wanted to see bourgies wanking into each other's face, I'd watch the news.
^ That film would probably be up there somewhere in my favorites.
Leaves of Grass with Ed Norton, pretty decent stuff. Before that it was Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl, which just made me angry due to the bourgeois-as-hell nature of the plot and its characters.
Before that it was Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl, which just made me angry due to the bourgeois-as-hell nature of the plot and its characters.
Makes sense considering the director is part of the rich, landed bourgeoisie of Northern Portugal and is old enough to have lived through all of fascist period in Portugal while benefiting from it.
Saw The Aristocrats last night. Very funny. It's basically a joke about a man, his wife, their two young children and the unspeakable sexual and violent activity that they get up to while covered in piss, shit, blood, vomit and other bodily fluids. A dog, cat and a donkey are optional extras as is the Grandfather and a Grandmother who is sometimes dead. The punchline is not particularly funny but it's the telling of the joke. There's a mime artist that mines the joke in public which is hilarious. There's some great scenes in it including one that takes place in a New York comedy club reconstituted three weeks after 9/11. No-one wanted to hear a joke about "sorry I'm late, my plane was diverted to the Empire State" so the guy told the aristocrats joke. Filmed at the time it hit such a spot that one guy said the audience were "coughing up lungs". It's a great exploration of humour which goes beyond the sexual aspects, into race and politics and at one stage from a joke comes up with the punchline "nigger cunts".
Now you're starting to sound like Jackie Mason, whose show I saw last week. Politically correct? Not me! Fearless I am!
As for films, I would certainly recommend Troll Hunter, although my lurking nordic nationalism is outraged that Hollywood and co. are about to do an English language version. I've heard that the American version of The Killing was truly bad, but Trolls are pretty much native to the North of Europe, so it would be far worse.
The Rum Diaries. A film where absolutely nothing happens.
The Last Temptation of Christ. The last 40 or so minutes are the best part of this movie. Not that anything prior to that was bad per se, just mundane Christianity (bits not found in the bible aside). Also, William Dafoe is probably the smuggest Jesus to ever appear in a movie.
Night of the Living Dead and Hour of the Wolf. Romero can do creepy better than Bergman, though in some parts it looks awfully tired like Barbara the classic damsel in catatonia. Funnily enough both 1968 films. I've always wondered if Night was influenced by the defeat of May 68, the sense of doom that followed (and carries on?).
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Amazing. 24 hours later and it's still very vivid in my head. Warning: has some somewhat likeable cops and authority figures!
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Amazing. 24 hours later and it's still very vivid in my head. Warning: has some somewhat likeable cops and authority figures!
Saw this last night - beautifully shot and softly spoken, the antithesis of hollywood films where, most nearly, everything has to spelt out for the audience and explained. Relations, secrets, feelings and emotions slowly surface and hint at the difficulties and sadness underpinning most peoples lives. The only downside was that I could only get a seat in the front row and so had to constantly crane my head to take in the stunning cinematography. Definitely a film better seen on the big screen.
The last film I watched what
The last film I watched what Shanghai Knights, just now, which is amazing.
Although the last new film I saw was in The Wave (Die Welle) - a German film about an experiment done in a high school in California in 1967, in which a lefty teacher to demonstrate the possibility of fascism in US created a mini fascist movement, that got out of hand.
A really excellent film, shockingly quite believable, although some of the transitions seem a bit far-fetched, and obviously the events are a little exaggerated for the purposes of cinema. But a lot of similar experiments around the same time demonstrated similar results about the ease of manipulation, and obedience to authority etc. The soundtrack also has Digitalism in it, which was a particular highlight.
i saw half of Iron Man the
i saw half of Iron Man the other night, he'd just built his suit and killed some ragheads, then i went out.
Tropic Thunder
Tropic Thunder
weeler wrote: Iron Man didnt
weeler
eminently plausible.
weeler
fuck off.
watching mike bassett, football manager now. lol, england aren't very good at football :roll:
just kinda boring tbh.
just kinda boring tbh. pretty americans meet disaster with blatant 9-11 heart-strings. meh.
Quote: just kinda boring
more like japanese nuclear holocaust angst meets the age of the digital camcorder... I quite enjoyed it, but then I am a sci-fi geek.
I recently saw Hellboy 2 which was pretty crap, and Step Brothers, likewise (though a few funny scenes).
In other news the Hatian film-maker Raoul Peck is in the process of making a movie about the life of the young Karl Marx (I vote for the title Lil' Marx). Should be good as I don't really bother with movies anymore, I prefer the short fixes of the TV.
Primer is awesome. Pretty
Primer is awesome. Pretty fucking confusing, but awesome.
Steven - I haven't seen that one yet, but the 1981 made for TV movie of the same name was pretty interesting. Some friends of mine at a different school to me actually studied it at age 15 or so...
Last movie I saw was Battle In Seattle, which, as a movie, was ok - politics obviously shit though. Much better than the last movie of its type that I saw, This Revolution.
Film that I'm most looking forward to comes out next year, Watchmen. I'll probably end up being grumpy and disappointed, but the trailer looks pretty good.
I hated Cloverfield. If I
I hated Cloverfield. If I wanted to watch a badly made home movie with horrible shadowy monsters and collapsing buildings, I'd just film the student house next door.
Well, we have good films at
Well, we have good films at the Infoshop and the local film festival is on, so I actually saw about a dozen films in the last two weeks. Some words on a few of them:
Military Intelligence and You - A spoof about the American military and, among other things, it's involvement in Iraq.
Another funny one about the mlitary: Full Battle Rattle. Obviously this one needed the approval of the army to get made since they film on a military site where the government set up fake Iraqi villages for military training. So, it doesn't really come from a critical angle, but does provide an interesting insight into what the military believes it's doing.
On Sunday we had a film doubleheader at the Infoshop: Battle in Seattle and Raspberry Reich. I laughed my head off with Raspberry Reich, but you need to have some twisted post-situ humour for that. Any film that exposes how "Cornflakes are Counterrevolutionary" gets a thumbs up from me. Plus you get full penetration and cum shots from masturbating Che Guevara fans who are the political sex toys of a crazy woman.
Battle in Seattle was less fun, although the crowd liked it and apparently thought it was balanced. I thought it was pretentious and politically shallow but didn't think it was tragic. It probably deserves a separate review and the more comments from participants in the events, the better,
We also showed Zanon, Heart of the Factory. It raised questions for me. I was extremely interested in the worker who was not satisfied with the way financial information was not given frequently. Also, there were repeated incidents with the women complaining about sexism but you never got to see what caused the problem or what it was about. Rather interesting stuff, but as I said, watching it raises questions.
At the film festival I saw an interesting documentary called "Be like the Others" about sex change operations in Iran. This was extremely sad - about how in Iran homosexuality is a big no-no, but sex change operations are allowed. So if you are properly diagnosed, you can get changed. Apparently, the do quite a lot of these operations. The documentary showed how the people involved were treated and how, unfortunately, some of them really didn't want these operations but felt there was no other way to have certain relationships.
Jack wrote: xConorx
Jack
Na it was a good laugh.
laurekai - The Zanon film
laurekai - The Zanon film sounds interesting. I'll have to keep an eye out for it.
Raspberry Reich is hilarious (and bizarre) indeed. The censored version is pretty funny too - George Bush and Tony Blair's heads get superimposed over the genitalia! Apparently the director had only done porn before he did that...
Jack wrote: I thought it was
Jack
Simple Jack a little too close to home was it?
I understand.
burn after reading. much
burn after reading. much better than i'd been led to believe.
Asher - Bruce LaBruce had
Asher - Bruce LaBruce had some contact in his punk days with some anarchist friends in Toronto. So he has a background in the underground let's say.
Weeler, don't worry, when the film festival is not on I occasionally take in some crap - and yes I watch "non-political" films. If people want talk about culture here, OK. My preference, if they are playing, are for documentaries and politically oriented dramas. The week before this festival was a Vietnamese festival where I saw some very interesting documentaries, including one about how the Polish state cooperates with the Vietnamese secret services to deport people.
At the film festival I saw the film "Choke" and had a few laughs with it, if you like that type of sex humour. I don't know how mainstream it is or not - so maybe it is not coming to a theatre near you. I also saw "Able Danger", which is like a spoof of spy thrillers based on a 9/11 conspiracy buff. Also some laughs, but less funny and more amateurish than "Choke".
In terms of more mainstream stuff, the last thing I saw was probably Elegy, basically because I like Roth. It's passable but you're better off reading "the Dying Animal". Still have about 7 or 8 more films before Sunday to see; maybe something will prove interesting.
uncle buck
uncle buck
Uncle Buck is a good film
Uncle Buck is a good film
I've Loved You So Long -
I've Loved You So Long - frenchies, very good.
Gomorra - Mafioso story with a twist. Also good.
I really want to watch
I really want to watch Gomorrah...
This Revolution - that's the film with immortal technique in it right? I saw a trailer for that, it looked like one of the worst things ever done.
Cloverfield was alright, a monster movie but without excessive CGI and totally one-dimensional semi-superhero characters
Bad Taste (Again).
Bad Taste (Again).
Steven. wrote: This
Steven.
haha I think I saw that trailer, wasn't he pulled over by the police and start calling them all imperialist racists and went off on a political rant? that ain't gonna help you get out of trouble is it.
The Fall - best eye candy,
The Fall - best eye candy, done without CGI in a couple of dozen locations around the world. Kind of like a bit older, darker, "grown up" Princes Bride. Kind of.
Yep, This Revolution is the
Yep, This Revolution is the one with Immortal Technique playing himself (and on the soundtrack too), and yep Bob, he does exactly that, and is then let go (oh so realistic :roll: )
notch8 - Bad Taste is fucking awesome. I still have a soft-spot for Meet The Feebles too.
Asher wrote: and yep Bob, he
Asher
My mate told me before that he was drunk in town and the police stopped him for some reason or another and wanted to arrest him. and he just went off on a rant about how they protect the status quo, and started talking about the concept of power and shit, and theylet him go. probably because they didn't want to have to deal with a wanker like that.
not even an anarchist, just a drunk.
Asher wrote: Bad Taste is
Asher
I also enjoyed Brain Dead
I've been watching Studio
I've been watching Studio Ghibli anime. I started with Tales of Earthsea, after reading Ursula K. Le Guin's review essay. I agree with her remark that it's not her stories but a good movie nonetheless. After that I've downloaded Castle in The Sky and Howl's Moving Castle, both good stories and beautifully animated.
Also at a friends house we watched the first two Starwars episodes on a big screen projector. Still good cheesy fun after all these years
The last movies I saw were
The last movies I saw were The Battle in Seattle and Lola Montes. The former was a fairly good account of the 1999 WTO shut down, better than any Hollywood version would dare to be (it was financed with Canadian money and has an Irish writer-director.)
Lola Montes is a 1955 Max Ophuls film recently restored. It was spectacular and quite extraordinary. Ophuls is one the great auteur directors, and his portrait of a woman trapped in the system of patriarchal capitalism was very moving.
notch8 - Brain Dead is ok,
notch8 - Brain Dead is ok, but it's my least favourite of the early Peter Jackson works. If you haven't seen Meet The Feebles, you should definitely do so ASAP, it really pushes Bad Taste for the top of that list.
David - Studio Ghibli stuff is great. Saw My Neighbour Totoro recently, I think it was the last one I hadn't seen, really enjoyed it. I heard a rumour (dunno if it's true) that the next one (coming out sometime in 2009) will be the last before he retires.
Quote: My Neighbour
That's an amazing anime, and a real children's movie if I've ever seen one. Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are highly recommended as well, also by Miyazaki.
Princess Mononoke didn't
Princess Mononoke didn't really do that much for me, but Spirited Away is incredible.
Dunno if I'd say My Neighbour Totoro is a kids movie, I watched it with a bunch of other 20 - 25 year olds, and we were all enthralled and talking about it for days afterwards :P
I don't agree with the
I don't agree with the assessment of "Battle in Seattle".
The positive thing is the film sympathies with the protestors - but this film sympathizes with most of the characters there. It is rather taken from a humanistic point of view than a political one.
Nevertheless, it is a bit soft in its message, gives no real background, has too much time devoted to the character of the pregnant woman and is shallow in terms of plot and dialogue. Not tragic, but nothing great.
The anti-American stereotype about the finance behind it doesn't pan out: there are lots of American-made film that come down much harder on various elements of the system than this one. It was rather fluffy.
Asher wrote: Princess
Asher
That's the one that convinced Le Guin to give Studio Ghibli permission to do Earthsea after refusing them for twenty years.
Quote: Dunno if I'd say My
I think Totoro was intended as a kids movie (at least kids love it, or rather Totoro, in Japan), but that doesn't mean that grown ups can't enjoy it. What's good about it as a kids movie is that it fantastical and serious.
A couple of good
A couple of good ones:
"Heart of Fire", based on the true story of a girl who was a child solidier in Eritrea. Not too political but very strong, excellent acting and well made.
"East-West Sex Politics" documentary about the attempts to hold a gay parade in Moscow in 2006-2007. Heavy focus on legalistic, NGO activists but includes some others. At the end anarchists make an appearance. NGO political careerists look down on them.
laureakai wrote: I don't
laureakai
Fair enough, but the picture got qualified endorsement from some of the organizers of the WTO deomonstrations.
When you say American-made films, are you talking about major studio Hollywood or independent companies like Brave New Films and the like? What movies did you have in mind?
La Haine. Words cannot
La Haine. Words cannot describe that movie.
Oh yes they can. I'll start
Oh yes they can. I'll start with one : rubbish.
More suddenly come rushing
More suddenly come rushing to my mind:
Moralizing pretentious mannered middle-class in-your-face voyeurism
I find it patronizing too.
Mysterious Skin. pedofili,
Mysterious Skin. pedofili, trasigt amerika, UFO-bortförslar, att växa upp
Quote: Mysterious Skin.
That sounds like a weird movie.
Death Race, a vision of a
Death Race, a vision of a dystopian future where a collapsed economy leads to the establishment of a prison-centred corporatist society, and which starts off with a factory shut-down leading to confrontation with the police placed as guard-dogs of an unjust industrial settlement.
Also, big guns on fast cars :cool:
Trans America. Great acting,
Trans America.
Great acting, enjoyable enough, but with shit gender-essentialist politics.
Quote: Death Race, a vision
Is it as good as the original?
Dunno haven't seen it, but
Dunno haven't seen it, but I'm guessing the pyrotechnics are better.
Quote: Dunno haven't seen
The original is awesome, featuring a very young Sly Stallone and not that silly prison stuff. You get points for running over pedestrians (bonus for families and the cripples!) and is just amazing in all its low budget glory.
Khawaga
Khawaga
Sounds interesting.
La Zona - neighbourhood
La Zona - neighbourhood watch gets out of hand in a gated community in Mexico City - trailer
I watched Vanishing Point
I watched Vanishing Point again...every time I watch it I think 'Maybe it will end differently this time', but I always end up gutted.
The last film I saw was:
The last film I saw was:
http://www.bfi.org.uk/lff/united_red_army
Fantastic example of everything that's wrong with the 'armed struggle' and the 'new left' in general with some great footage of the student struggles in Japan. Afterwards my flatmate asked me if we (the ICC) participated in self criticism. He took some convincing when I said that we didn't ;) .
Anyone know of any English language books on the new left in Japan?
FC! Morven
The last film i wtched was
The last film i wtched was Thunderbolt and Lightfoot with Clint Eastwood,Jeff Bridges and George Kennedy. A 70's classic and an often overlooked film!
Battle in Seattle. It
Battle in Seattle. It sucked.
evil dead. know i know what
evil dead. know i know what that rapist tree is :|
then watched the video from the ring on the dvd extras, and shit my flatmate up by discretely ringing the landline when it cut to static at the end 8-)
Evil Dead 2 is the superior
Evil Dead 2 is the superior film. Slapstick comedy with chainsaws, dancing zombies and rapist trees. Medieval Dead is good for a laugh, especially the sex scene and the bit where he builds a robotic hand for himself out of wood after reading a science textbook.
Watched the Shining last night.
*SPOILERS*
Scatman Crothers getting brutally and instantly pwned by Jack Nicholson after spending the entire film travelling across America to help them seemed like misplaced comedy. good film though. Especially liked the weird scene with the man in a dog suit.
Has anyone seen Tokyo Gore
Has anyone seen Tokyo Gore Police yet?
Hunger Not really sure what
Hunger
Not really sure what I was expecting from it.I learnt nothing new anyway. It was alright.
I have suggested that
I have suggested that Organise! host a showing of Dead Mans Shoes as part of a debate on policing and justice.
I've just watched "The
I've just watched "The Stolen Children of Franco" on Christie-Brightcove about the kids of anti-fascists who's parents were killed or imprisoned after the war and brought up and indoctrinated by Falange/Nuns.The testimony of the Mothers is heartbreaking and the children also but it's also inspiring in the resistance and fight for justice against such vile oppression displayed by the victims-a must see!
Just rented two duds and a
Just rented two duds and a masterpiece last week: one was this fucking miserable, depressing thing Tim Roth made called The War-Zone about a family, and the Dad's secretly nailing his daughter in the ass. Don't care much for dramas to begin with, and I didn't think the subject matter was something I needed my attention drawn to, so thumbs down.
Also rented La Commune, about the Paris Commune, I'd recommend it just because it's a movie about the Paris Commune, but to be honest the way its done (it's shot in a studio, consists almost completely of interviews, and watches like a play.. ) didn't appeal to me at all.. also its almost 6 hours long.. which would've been tolerable with except it was so damn boring. Again, the subject matter alone makes it worth watching.
Finally, got the Battle of Algiers, which I'd been hearing about forever. One of the best movies I've ever seen, no question, it's very a realistic depiction of the Algerian FLN's urban-warfare campaign against the French colonial regime in the late 50s/early 60s.
All of these are on Netflix, by the way.
Tim Roth was only ever
Tim Roth was only ever really good in Alan Clarke's Made in Britain. A very good film that has working class life as its main subject but that is miles away from the middle-class voyeurism and mannerism of people like Mike Leigh.
I agree that at first La commune looks like its based on weird filming principles, but its a fascinating watch. I dont know if its a good film in the classical sense of the term, but i dont really care because its a brilliant watch, its informative and instructive and the result is in the end much better than what could have been a realistic rendering of the french civil war shot in a war film kind of style. Weird as they sound, the interviews dont come as a disruption but add up to the on going thinking process the actors were involved in during the film and which anyone who watches is also involved in. The filming process, the fact that it was a collective experience (the actors all read about la commune during the shooting, collective political discussions took place before, during and after the filming, etc...) makes it really worth watching. I think you can feel that when you watch the film.
Now the battle of Algiers comes as a complete contrast to that. It is definitely a war film, with realistic and aesthetic claims. Its interesting but i find annoying how the director uses violence and the expectation of the bombings to attract your attention. Its a rather poor hollywood-type device. As most realist films (it is shot as if it was a documentary, a bit of a dodgy premise too) it is voyeuristic and manipulative.
You're better off with films by Rene Vautier (the only guy on the algerian side to have filmed during the war, he helped algerian people to set up filming co-ops, workshops and a cinematheque after the independence) if you want something on the Algeria War, though i dont know if they're available in any other language than French.
Quote: Now the battle of
Definitely a bit of oldschool hollywood voyeurism in there, but I'm a sucker for Sergio Leone and Akira Kurosawa too. I actually thought the violence was effective in capturing the uncompromising, morally ambiguous nature of war, a total departure from the typical war epics' mythologizing of historic events, especially in that era. I thought the climate of tension was captured perfectly, the violence wasn't explicit, it was, you know.. subdued in that early 60s style, but at the same it was extremely potent in context. Definitely made with entertainment in mind, but it really drops the colonial struggle right in your lap.
nico wrote: Tim Roth was
nico
How the hell is Naked middle-class voyeurism?
Agreed about Tim Roth, with the possible exception of Vincent & Theo.
Aelita: Queen of Mars.
Aelita: Queen of Mars. Hilarious Soviet science fiction movie from 1922. Silent with nice martian landscapes and costumes done by the Russian constructivists. Of course there's a Union of Martian Socialist Republics by the end :)
Just watched "Omar Mukhtar:
Just watched "Omar Mukhtar: The Lion of the Desert" great cast, Anthony Quinn, Oliver Reed and Rod Steiger as El Duce, power acting ahoy. Odd/amusing seeing pasty brits playing Bedouin and Italians, no hiding the accents either.
Would trade again ++++
Quote: Just watched "Omar
Was it at least filmed in Libya? Do you know if it's historically accurate? If so I might check it out.
Not sure how historically
Not sure how historically accurate it is, it's a decent enough movie, long by today's standard at around 2 1/2 hours
here's a link to the imdb entry: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081059/
Ah, so it is worth watching?
Ah, so it is worth watching? Thats good news. I'd had it for about a year before I lent it to you, kept meaning to get around to watching but never had...can't even remember where I found it - possibly the animal rights op-shop in Welly...
Quint Where did you see or
Quint
Where did you see or get a copy of Aelita: Queen of Mars?
Baader Meinhoff Complex.
Baader Meinhoff Complex. Stunning in a I felt totally stunned/in shock by the end of the film sorta way. Also depressingly I can actually, very vaguely, remember the 1977 Lufthansa plane hi-jacking :(
Spent most of the last two
Spent most of the last two days rewatching the first season of The Wire.
Fuck films.
Watched el orfanato, which
Watched el orfanato, which was meh.
Fuck tv series. Havent seen
Fuck tv series.
Havent seen the baader meinhof complex but seems politically terrible, from reviews ive read, from the poster which boasts about them being 'the most notorious terrorist group of our time', and from the title which reduces a political situation and its social context to a 'complex'. Is it me or is it making silly psychological and emotional-oriented generalisations about political commitment and about the individual stories of a handful of people?
Deutschland im Herbst or Blackbox BDR may be better watch on the subject.
Films dealing with the "thrilling experience" of far-left politics and/or guerilla/terrorism are fashionable at the moment... Theres a 2-part film about Jacques Mesrine (public enemy #1 in France in the 70s/80s) being released in France, and the 2-part film about Che Guevara is about to hit the screens.
The question is: which is going to be the worst?
Just went to see Waltz with Bashir. Its an ok watch but its a bad film.
Its sort of the Israeli animated equivalent to Full Metal Jacket (the way the music is used makes that obvious).
Theres actually a lot of similarities with the way the Vietnam war is represented in American films. In the same way as all you get in US films about the vietnam war is the amercian point of view, all you get here is the israeli point of view. This is what Edward Said's literary analysis of Heart of Darkness is mostly about, and funnily, it very much applies to this film.
You could argue that someone should be able to tell their own story, their own side of the story, but why should i bother about some israeli ex soldier being tormented by the traumatic experience he lived through during the war when the point of view of the other side, which went through a carefully planned massacre, is not taken into account?
Im getting tired of people being obsessed with their own selves, thinking the whole world should know about their issues and using art as a catharsis. Dont use me to sort out your ugly past.
Also the israeli invasion of Lebanon is hardly questioned. The film is only saying that the 1982 Sabra and Chatila (two palestinian refugee camps outside Beirut in Lebanon) massacre was pushing it a bit too far.
I would actually argue that the film glorifies war as much as Kubrick's war films do.
Mh. Fuck films too actually, you're right.
Quote: Havent seen the baader
Look, its a film so all sorts of stuff will be reduced, to be fair though it at least attempts to give some some explanation of the "political situation and its social context". Not saying it succeeds but maybe go watch it before deciding that the film reduces things to a 'complex' on the basis of the title alone. Then you'll be in a better position to answer your own question.
And whatever the theoretical, ideological or historic criticisms its still a fucking good movie. Not a manifesto, endorsement, documentary or educational film on revolutioanry organisation - just a movie.
I just finished watching "We
I just finished watching "We Feed the World"; excellent documentary; not a communist critique, but if more people saw it, they would get at least a glimpse into the horror house that is capitalism
from the official website:
http://www.we-feed-the-world.at/en/film.htm
a look at bourgeois family
a look at bourgeois family life during the final days of Franco's Spain and at childhood in general.
really fucking good.
ernie wrote: Quint Where did
ernie
If you've a dual layer DVD-R, download this, otherwise this will fit on a single layer DVD-R
Terminator: Salvation. Utter
Terminator: Salvation. Utter fucking shite.
Asher wrote: I still have a
Asher
Saw it ages ago and fucking loved it...they need to re-release it with a line saying from the man who brought you LOTR...hahaha
Khawaga
Khawaga
It's about a few queer teens in middle America. One is a hustler, one is obsessed with alien abductions that helps him block out early childhood abuse and so on andso forth...
Both of the main characters were victims of childhood sexual abuse...
Amazing movie and a bit of a headfuck!
Sorry dave I didn't see your
Sorry dave I didn't see your post there...
Fight Club Shortbus I Shot
Fight Club
Shortbus
I Shot Andy Warhol
Itty Bitty Titty Committee
Last night i watched "Five
Last night i watched "Five Minutes to Live" AKA "Door to Door Maniacs" an otherwise mediocre 1961 gangster film starring Johnny Cash as a guitar playing hired kidnapper. He was great, sadistic, evil and funny all at once. It was streaming on best of the b's but i noticed it's available on archive.org
Last film I watched was the
Last film I watched was the new star trek. Loved every minute of it. :p
Riot_Queer wrote: Khawaga
Riot_Queer
I got around to downloading and watching Mysterious Skin last night. It's a beautiful and deeply disturbing film
I watched the biopic of
I watched the biopic of Muhammed Ali a few nights ago on Channel 5 starring Will Smith. I watched with some trepidation because Ali is a sort of hero of mine and I didn't want to him slagged off. But although Smith has little of the physical stature of Ali he managed to cut the mustard regarding the man, a man who stood alone for what he believed in and one of the few worthy heavyweight champions of the world. "No Vietcong ever called me nigger" was one of the gems that Ali came out with in his steadfast refusal to fight in Vietnam. And Ali was very clear and lucid about the nature of the war and American imperialism - even if he didn't express it in those words. He was stripped of his licence and ostracised even by the Muslim Brotherhood which had made money out of him.
His last fight, against Joe Frazier, though credited by some as the greatest fight ever, was a horrible affair where either man could have killed the other.
So I was pleased that the film ended with his against the odds victory over the awesome George Foreman in the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire to re-take the title. Ali fought an unexpected fight, getting such a hiding that some commentators thought the fight was fixed for him to lose but, in one of the greatest comebacks since Lazurus, Ali finished off Foreman decisively and, still thinking in milliseconds, executed a restrained balletic pirouette holding back while Foreman fell to the canvass.
I recommend the documentary film around this fight and all the larger than life characters involved called "When We Were Kings". In my opinion it's one of the best films ever made.
baboon wrote: "No Vietcong
baboon
that's a very good one, but...
baboon
that was the Nation of Islam, during membership in which he excused malcolm x's assassination. i saw the film of this last week when i watched a PBS documentary on him. he did later regret it.
Watched Cool Hand Luke last
Watched Cool Hand Luke last night. Nobody can accuse me of being out of touch with modern cinema, eh? ;)
Piranha 3D. Not as good as
Piranha 3D.
Not as good as the originals. Which were genuinely good.
John Carpenters The Thing,
John Carpenters The Thing, still gripping and pretty scary after nearly 30 years.
A Prophet, OK but not as good as I thought it would, given all of the praise it got. A straight forwards prison saga, but well made and acting was tremendous , which saved it for me.
The Pianist, what a film, what else can you say!
Dead and Buried - praised for
Dead and Buried - praised for interesting ending. I have to agree but the rest was like, fuck, no more 80's horror movies:D although, in a way it was really fun to see the actors "acting". it had to be a tough work to make it over 90 minutes:D
The Expendables - good to relax and see Micky Rourke's perfect acting again.
Inception - pretty ok to watch and the fight scene (those who saw, know what i mean) is hillarious.
The Wire - Season 1 and 2 watched in some 10 days, hehe. This is a real addiction. Series 1 had a better flow, though. Looking forward to see the rest of the series.
baboon wrote: I watched the
baboon
Ali is really a larger than life figure, I agree, but I think his time with the Nation was probably the worst episode in his life; he contemptuously applauded the assassination of Malcolm X (his good friend and mentor) by the Nation's thugs and become an obedient tool to Elijah Muhammad.
Have you seen "Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami"? It is a documentary about his early years; I would strongly recommend it.
The day of The Locust, John
The day of The Locust, John Schlesinger, 1975. You can check it out on streaming in the net. Scary as fuck and a bit creepy but a must anyway. Good meditation on cinema and fascist mind control techniques.
Thanks for the info mate, I
Thanks for the info mate, I haven't seen it and will look it up.
I agree with the above on the Nation of Islam business (thanks also petey), but considering the decay that most "stars" fall into I don't think that Ali done bad and largely, in the terrible glare of "fame", remained his own man.
Once again, I recommend "When We Were Kings". You couldn't write the script for the fight and you couldn't have provided a script for this documentary right down to the fight's delay and the storm from the north on its way. It shows something of the nature of the Mobutu regime and the general build up for the fight starting in the US. Ali wowed the population when he arrived and Foreman, by contrast, made one of boxing's great PR disasters by getting off the plane with a snarling, barking Alsatian straining on the leash. The very symbol of the oppressing white powers in this part of the world.
The fight itself is not shown extensively but the image of Ali, in the break between the fifth and sixth, looking into his own soul is inspiring. Especially with what he did next.
The music and dancing's good too.
ernie wrote: John Carpenters
ernie
Were you lucky enough to see it in a cinema?
I got the special edition DVD and it's one of the few where I've bothered to watch all of the extras and listen to the commentaries.
Unfortunately, I didn't but I
Unfortunately, I didn't but I would like to. I have to say though I do think it is a bit like Alien on ice, if you see what I mean! Saw Alien at the cinema when it came out and it was truly a cinematic experience and something you can only really appreciate at the cinema (and not some poking multi-screen, either).
Quote: John Carpenters The
A superb movie... I really love that film. In fact I love a lot of carpenter's movies.
Unfortunately I did not watch any move since 2 months :( But when I can I will watch this;
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1017460/
it looks great...
Quote: Last film I watched
That is a joke right. As the time passes and the sinema tech advances, hollywood is cutting the script and scenario more and adding in boring actions. I think that is why always reshooting old fantastic or sci-fi's again; this is the best way to cut the narrative in the first 5 minutes... In that sense, last star trek was a treason to the universe...
mikali, youd don't watch
mikali, youd don't watch movies to relax?;) or is startrek a speciality?
anyway, it somehow reminded me Watchmen, which i find to be a brilliant movie which compared to the rest of the the hollywood production at least makes your brain think about things. although i have heard a some very negative comments on that film.
I agree watchmen was good.
I agree watchmen was good. But the comic version was better. After all it is all about 80's and nuclear warfare fear...
i don't know the comic so it
i don't know the comic so it allows me broader imagination. but you ruined it now:Dň
EDIT: oh, by the way, Watchmen was for me very interesting because I really felt that i am watching a comic. Not like Sin City or any other comic-based movie. The Watchen were in some aspects really special.
Krimskrams wrote: Watched
Krimskrams
quality film that
Quote: you ruined it
sorry :eek:
uh just to sidestep the above
uh just to sidestep the above discussion, has anybody ever seen Jon Jost's Angel City? Just watched that tonight, mindblowingly good.
The taking of Pelham 123 -
The taking of Pelham 123 - shockingly the remake wasn't a complete piece of shit. Almost turned it off after two minutes because the intro was crap but it turned out to be an ok bog standard action film. Obviously not even vaguely close to the original.
I just finished watching SALT
I just finished watching SALT of Angelina Jollie...She's really good and i love the twist of the story...
jef costello wrote: The
jef costello
seen this, as you say an ok action film.
The Hangover: not too bad,
The Hangover: not too bad, was expecting it to be awful and the set-up was a bit clunky but it turned out to be a fun film.
Machete; a great movie.
Machete; a great movie.
saw The Other Guys in this in
saw The Other Guys in this in the other week, was really good, very funny. Also, if you watch the music sequence at the end it means you don't have to watch Michael Moores capitalism: a Love story. Which I also watched a couple of weeks ago. It has a couple of okay bits, but no narrative at all and the politics are very confused - he says clearly that capitalism is evil and should be replaced, however throughout it he supports capitalism of the FDR/social democratic kind. not very surprising, but still...
Cloudy with a chance of
Cloudy with a chance of Meatballs. A bit clunky at times and I don't see why they even bothered with the Dad, but quite a fun movie.
Documentary on Bukharin
Documentary on Bukharin
Really not necessary to understand Russian to follow, I just watched it for some of the unique footage. Later half has an interview with his widow who was still alive when the film was made (1989).
best to download the parts
The last film I watched was A
The last film I watched was
A politcal film, fortunately
It was made by Schnews
I always pronounced sknews
It had crusties, sabs and the edl
What combintion...
I've watched a ton but
I've watched a ton but Dellamorte Dellamore on Halloween was a good choice.
Harlan County, USA
Harlan County, USA
800 Balas. Spaghetti western
800 Balas. Spaghetti western stuntmen wage class war against their boss and riot police when the land they work on is sold to a development firm. Mint.
Also saw a more serious film about class, Blue Collar. It's a fairly scathing critique on unions and how they keep workers under the thumb of management and divided, inspired by the Lordstown strikes. The ICC would be proud. Richard Pryor's actually in this and is very good. I saw this recommended in an old thread on here years ago so cheers Libcom!
Made in Dagenham
Made in Dagenham
flaneur wrote: 800 Balas.
flaneur
I just got hold of 800 balas, haven't watched it yet. Blue Collar is good.
Just watched Terminator: Salvation. Dull and stupid.
I just watched Howl, which i
I just watched Howl, which i thought was very well done. Some didn't like Eric Drooker's animation sequences but I thought they were lovely. I did see a review by someone who seemed to have firsthand knowledge of the trial who said the film didn't do justice to the defense attorney's flamboyance or the prosecutor's stupidity There are a couple of minor historical flaws. Ginsberg wasn't in New York during the trial, he was in Tangers helping Burroughs put Naked Lunch into publishable form and the Footnote to Howl wasn't finished at the time of the famous first reading depicted in the film.
Blame it on Fidel
Blame it on Fidel
The making of C'etait un
The making of C'etait un rendez-vous - Not a film but a very nice little DVD extra. Well worth a watch if you liked C'etait un rendez-vous.
Tillsammans by hippy
Tillsammans by hippy socialist Lukas Moodysson - "Washing up is bourgeois" and The Robber about 80's Austrian marathon runner cum bank robber.
C'etait un rendez-vous is a good film, that making of sounds good too.
Planet Terror and Machete.
Planet Terror and Machete. Both were surprisingly good, especially PT.
Beginning of the great
Beginning of the great revival
[youtube]2HEndg0VsQk[/youtube]
It plays Smetana's Moldau motif at the scenes of the International's conference (64 min) and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles (83:40).
you have to see this, on a
[youtube]FplWxtPzWY8[/youtube]
you have to see this, on a par with pineapple express!
Trollhunter and Source Code.
Trollhunter and Source Code. Both decent.
Modern Times, Clockwork
Modern Times, Clockwork Orange, Goodfellas, The Producers, Blue Velvet, The Great Dictator, Labyrinth
A couple of nights ago I
A couple of nights ago I watched ‘Notorious’ with Cary Gant & Ingrid Bergman. Bergman was never better - very ‘believable’.
I’ve watched it before and it always makes me very uncomfortable. It’s the way people’s emotions are manipulated cynically by those in authority. It hit me that I’d the same reaction watching ‘The Spy Who Came In From The Cold’. Each movie is terrific at offering you the spectacle of people, on ‘both sides’ of the drama, being ruthlessly used, the ends supposedly justifying the means.
I’d recommend them both if you enjoy good acting; there is lots of suspense though not much ‘physical’ action.
Airplane! It is old but still
Airplane! It is old but still one of the funniest movies ever made. "S" is gonna hit the fan. And it did! Never seen it in any other movie.
Valhalla Rising which was
Valhalla Rising which was utter poo. Calvaire which shows why you should never holiday in rural Belgium. And Synedoche, New York which suggests Charlie Kaufman is an interesting man.
I saw 'Red Hill' the other
I saw 'Red Hill' the other night. From the opening scene I thought another B grader, commercialized to the Hollywood formula.... Bad man explodes out of prison hellbent on wreaking havoc on the small town cops that put him there. Thoughts of Billy Jack and First Blood, Kill Bill come to mind, the tranquility of wild open places shattered by the ultraviolence of people. In the most recently Westernised culture there are still the forces of a system of an alternate ancient law, but this is the theme of the movie, ancient sovereignty vs capitalism. Beneath the comedy and pathos that the script entertains one with lies the menacing truth that a great injustice has been perpetrated. I wont spoil it, but at the end I was actually supporting the one honest cop there was in that filthy little town.
Boxcar Bertha by Scorcese.
Boxcar Bertha by Scorcese. quite good. a story (based on a true story and on the novel about it) of a girl during the depression, running with a unionist, and with some friends they are sort of forced into gangsterism by state repression.
didn't know that Scorcese made a film clearly against bourgeois order...that's cool...
Les Diaboliques - pretty good
Les Diaboliques - pretty good film with Simone Signoret as the lead. The suspense bit at the end dragged a little and I felt the private detective at the end wasn't quite necessary and the extra twist was silly.
A good film though, just not as good as the source novel.
I found this on wikipedia. I
I found this on wikipedia. I haven't seen it for ages. Mum had 'O' levels then. The local school was barraged by the planes throughout her exams. Dunno about the connection with Pinewood Studios!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Duxford
'In 1968 Duxford was used as one of the locations for the filming of Battle of Britain. On June 21 and June 22, one of the original World War I hangars was blown up in stages for the filming (without the concurrence of the Ministry of Defence) and the airfield was spectacularly filmed from the air in a realistic bombing sequence. Ironically this was the nearest Duxford came to being destroyed as no significant wartime German raids were carried out on the aerodrome. The French château, seen at the beginning of the film, was constructed on the south-west corner of the airfield.'
Khawaga wrote: Trollhunter
Khawaga
Have you seen Moon by the dude who did Source Code? Liked that movie very much.
Into the West It has some
Into the West
It has some great anti-authoritarian themes, and a look at how the Traveler community in Ireland are treated (don't know how 'real' that part is). This is an awesome movie to watch with kids.
Toms wrote: Have you seen
Toms
Sure did. One of my favorite sci-fi movies ever. He's making another sci-fi movie now; the one he really wants to make. Considering that Moon was amazing, Source Code a nice lil' action flick I can't wait to see what he will do now. And he's the son of fucking David Bowie.
Watched the Adjustmen Bureau yesterday. Based on a Philip K. DIck story (which I haven't read) and that is sometimes promising, but that movie was just too boring. Nothing happened and it turned out to be a crap love story.
Khawaga wrote: Sure did. One
Khawaga
Yeah, in Source Code you could sort of guess what was happening early which ruined it a bit, but still liked it.
Also they're already making an american version of TrollHunter...
Munich, probably the best
Munich, probably the best film Spielberg's done? Plus Eric Bana's sex face ;)
Munich was hard to watch -
Munich was hard to watch - who do you root for? I just sat there grimacing and getting angry at the stupidity.
I took a day off this past Tuesday and watched Satantango. It's 7.5 hours long but is broken down in 3 segments so it's not as hard a slog as I thought. Tarr and his writer Krasznahorkai have an incredibly bleak view of humanity and by extension of social organization and politics. This film is a perfect illustration of this quote Anyone who says they love the working class is either an idiot, a tyrant or a tyrant in waiting. The working class, if we are to talk about it as a unit, if it has 'strength' only has the strength of a lumbering blind beast, this is what our bosses are aware of and this is why they control us in particular ways (carrots and sticks).
It's got some silly parts in it that don't work, but also some majestic moments and a total refutation of metaphysical solutions (which is a clear difference between Tarr and another slow-mover like Tarkovsky). It's also got humour, lots of it, but very dark.
If you can't be arsed to watch a 7.5 hour long movie then Werkmeister Harmonies does the same thing in a 2 hour package.
Dead Snow - one of the best
[youtube]ZJkd5X2aG34[/youtube] Dead Snow - one of the best zombie films I've seen along with the original Dawn of the Dead. My friend enjoyed it a little too much though- come to think of it, I think he's a closet fash. Anywho, does anyone know where this obsession with zombie films and 'the apocalypse' came from?
[youtube]cd-go0oBF4Y[/youtube] The Big Lebowski - a great (stoner?) film and almost as good as Freddy got Fingered.
[youtube]IaoYTgbUmdc[/youtube] Angel-A - so beautiful it made me cry, mainly cos I saw myself in the short French/Arab guy. The scene where they're both standing in front of the mirror is amazing!
Angel-A is a great
Angel-A is a great film.
Watched A Single Man the other night with Colin Firth. Good film. He's a professor who's partner of 16 years dies suddenly in a car accident, and so he decides he is going to kill himself. Everything he experiences that day he chooses to commit suicide becomes even more poignant and his experiences more vivid. Some of the shots are beautiful.
I went to see "I Think we
I went to see "I Think we should talk about Kevin", then came out the cinema to find the City Council had nicked out car. I am now in litigation, with a little help from a whisteblower.
Tintin - absolute belter!
Tintin - absolute belter!
Troll Hunter
Troll Hunter
[youtube]TLEo7H9tqSM[/youtube]
The last film I watched worth
The last film I watched worth mentioning, was ‘Born Yesterday’ (1950, dir. George Cukor) with the marvellous Judy Holliday playing the dumb blond, ‘Billie Dawn’.
She died young of cancer her movie career blighted by the McCarthy witch hunts. She was the only witness I’ve heard of, who was not blacklisted or made to ‘name names’, as she gave her evidence playing the part of ‘Billie Dawn’. (She was in fact extremely intelligent.) In her last years she co-wrote songs and music with her boyfriend the jazz musician Gerry Mulligan.
Also worth watching is ‘Adam’s Rib’ (1949, dir. George Cukor) where she skilfully upstages Katharine Hepburn (who appears to have aided her career in the movies).
The Thin Red Line (i
The Thin Red Line
(i cried....)
Harrison wrote: The Thin Red
Harrison
terrence malick, who directed 'the thin red line', also directed 'days of heaven'. I think that one's worth a watch too.
Margin Call (2011) I really
Margin Call (2011)
I really liked it for its openness to think what you want about the whole topic (meaning it opened a lot of thoughts for everyone to think about). And the acting is a total blow! I wish there are more movies done with so much sensitiveness.
Out of the Past where Robert
Out of the Past where Robert Mitchum tries to commit suicide by chain smoking. Blue Velvet, the only film to have both Roy Orbison and S&M. And Roger & Me, Michael Moore's documentary about the closing of a GM plant.
over two nights watched
over two nights watched tinker, tailor, soldier, spy, the TV version. ahhhhhhhhhh.
jef costello
i know it as 'Diabolique'? anyway the detective is surely the model for colombo. (it's on my libcom profile under 'favorite films'.)
I saw Hugo a few days ago.
I saw Hugo a few days ago. The better parts of it are a homage to early french cinema, the remainder was a muddled overlong story about an orphan boy. It picked up towards the end but Sacha Baron Cohen was wholly miscast and it wasn't quite the family film I was expecting.
Over crimbo watched: Warrior
Over crimbo watched:
Warrior not as shite I expected but fairly forgetable
The first of the recent Sherlock Holmes films - good laugh
Unknown - forgetable
Route Irish - decent enough but I'm not sure I'd watch again unlike most of Loach's other films
Hobo With a Shotgun
Hobo With a Shotgun (great)
Contagion (also great)
The Hangover Pt. 2 (horribly shite)
Then a few I can't even remember because they were that forgettable.
i saw contagion b4 - it was
i saw contagion b4 - it was like big authoritarian public health announcement that went on for about 1 half hours. brief mild peverse satisfaction to see gywthnth paltrow on autopsy table.
uh just watched dolly partons smoky mountain christmas - well the lady can do no wrong (ok the vid on the bridge doesn't pass even my special slack quality control for dolly) & the sound of music as i was instructed that it is critical christmas viewing - and yet i had never seen it
it reminded me of the chalet school books. i thought musicals were supposed to have lots of songs in them but there they sang the same 4 songs like 20 times.
now i am steeling myself to watch the hunger by steve mqueen - supposed to be beautifully shot but harrowing.
I watched The Day The World
I watched The Day The World Stood Still recently. Fucking shite. utter trite.
Machete - ok B-movie, Jessica
Machete - ok B-movie, Jessica Alba's cop to revolutionary turn was unconvincing.
The Road - was rather unmoved by its renowned blackness, does that make me heartless? I suppose it's a nice change from all the zombie films which make the apocalypse seem kind of fun. Sort of happy ending was lame. So was the human farm, why not just eat the food yourselves?
TT3D - this is great even if, like me, you're not into motorbikes.
Rise of the planet of the apes - awesome, best Hollywood movie I've seen in years.
A suposedly comic
A suposedly comic cod-medieval-sword and sorcery crap-fest called 'Your Highness'. It was utterly utterly shit (looked OK, but the script was awful).
The Adventures of Tintin:
The Adventures of Tintin: Speilberg hasn't made anything good since Saving Private Ryan. That's right, you hear me. U-S-A !! U-S-A!!
Real Steel. Robot boxing is a
Real Steel. Robot boxing is a pretty sweet concept, but it was a shite movie and your typcail feel-good father gets to know son he abandoned crap.
Girl with Dragon tattoo the
Girl with Dragon tattoo the us version. Don't care for thrillers and this was no exception. Quite nasty.
I really liked Another Earth.
I really liked Another Earth.
'Charlie Brown' the closet
'Charlie Brown' the closet anarchist does his 'taking of the law into his autonomous hands' very nicely in his neighbourhood. A truly inspiring movie which has one realising that the police are mere 'cleaners uppers', that true justice must come from those enduring the injustice, (or their friends), and that social equilibrium only comes about through direct face to face discussion and not through organised institutional process.
This is England, and all of
This is England, and all of the 86 series. I love Shane Meadows 4eva.
Watched Drive last night.
Watched Drive last night. Good stuff. Nicolas Windig Refn never disappoint.
Except Valhalla Rising. What
Except Valhalla Rising. What on earth was that about?
Ah, I've not seen that one
Ah, I've not seen that one yet. My main experience is his Danish output.
Another reason I disliked
Another reason I disliked 'The Girl w/..." was that the punky girl getting it on w/ the middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual reminded me of some topics here about SWP and other 'rev parties' cadre taking advantage of newbies to the cause. That book must obviously have been written by a middle-aged, bespectacled intellectual male...
Melancholy of Resistance
Melancholy of Resistance
The author was as you might know a trot. He gave military training to some guerilla in africa when he was younger.
batswill wrote: 'Charlie
batswill
Charlie Brown?
Watched these recently; Tyrannosaur which defintely touched a nerve with me - pretty powerful stuff. Very much in the vein of My Name is Joe, although slightly darker/heavier subject matter. We need to talk about Kevin, which I thought was nonsense and probably reflects undertones in m/c sensebilities rather than anything else. And finally, Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy which was a decent stylish thriller, though it was not as good as I was led to believe.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/com
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/08/nick-cohen-stieg-larsson?INTCMP=SRCH
someone sent this article to my g/f's facebook about stieg larsson....haven't seen the film or read the book myself
Watched Hobo with a Shotgun
Watched Hobo with a Shotgun two days ago for the second time.
One of my most favorite movies of all time, I can hardly find anything I could criticize and that's not happening that often...
Though, there IS one thing. Not enough The Plague.
I really hope those guys get their own movie...
saw elephants for water. was
saw elephants for water. was really good, i recommend it.
dohball
dohball
Fuckin hell they've relied on someone from Axess for the Swedish insights.... thats like asking someone from the Rand Corporation to review Chomsky. Totally absurd.
comment is free
Wtf! I mean the guy was a trot with dubious politics but making it out as if him omitting islamic violence is somehow a sign of him supporting it is extraordinary. Quite a win for Axess to get this rubbish published.
It is comment is free though but they guy works for the Observer.
just to say i haven't even
just to say i haven't even read the article, okay... just posted it on cos it might be interesting for people who watched the film..
Choccy wrote: The first of
Choccy
NOOOOOOO!!!!11!! Speaking as a Conan-Doyle fan, that film is a fucking travesty - Sherlock Holmes Lite for thick twats who can't watch a flick without explosions and special effects.
wojtek
The Big Lebowski is the best film ever... but... um... that's like just my opinion... man. Freddy got fingered is utter shite - though my kids seem to like it.
Cooked
Haven't seen the films yet but I quite liked the books. But as I'm a bespectacled middle-aged half arsed intellectual, then I would say that. Anyway, I noticed they were flogging all three films in HMV or WH Smiffs - would these be the Swedish TV versions or the American flick? Should I bother either way or just stick with the books?
Quote: Freddy got fingered is
I DIDN'T FIGHT IN NARM FOR THIS MAN, YOU'RE ENTERING A WORLD OF PAIN!!!!
Do you watch Sherlock the tv programme... it's amazing!
wojtek wrote: YOU'RE ENTERING
wojtek
Yeah? Well I'm calmer than you are.
Nope. Haven't seen the Sherlock programme. Is that the 21st century version? If so, instead of cocaine and opium, is our Sherlock a crack head?
action_now wrote: saw
action_now
so i'd heard, thanks for reminding, it's back on the to-see list
Quote: is our Sherlock a
if by crack head you mean emotionally void, uber genius virgin then YES
Hey! You take my line I take you're rug!
[youtube]Y9w9EiLTZ_A[/youtube]
You pissed on my fucking rug
You pissed on my fucking rug :cry:
Actually I didn't know he was
Actually I didn't know he was an old Trot! (and I'm a soon to be middle-aged, already bespectacled, some would call intellectual)
Martyrs This is the second
Martyrs
This is the second movie from "The New French Extremity" (after Haute Tension) that I have now watched and loved instantly. Looks like I have to get more of this stuff.
The movie itself blew my mind. Several times. I think the professional term for that is "mind fuck".
There are twists, and I really mean twists, not some half-assed predictable stuff, that will make you go "what the hell just happened" and "no fucking way" left, right and center. In the end, the whole plot falls into place but at the very beginning you're only fed tiny shreds that will leave you wondering whether what's happening is real or just some kind of nightmare flashbacks.
All the while, the movie is unbearably hard to watch, and I say that as a horror nut. The whole thing just makes you uneasy, and the sheer incredibility (in the most literal sense) of the physical and psychological torture coupled with the great acting and outstanding make-up really made an impression on me, though I am sure there are "worse" movies in that regard (I've yet to see one of those though)
Recommended to all fans of horror that love plot twists. 9/10
Weekend (1967) Godard's
Weekend (1967) Godard's transitional film from nouvelle vague to Maoism. The satire/critique of consumer capitalism is a trenchant and funny as ever, and it was a treat to see it on the big screen.
Shame unbelievably loathsome
Shame unbelievably loathsome main character, tons of non-erotic sex, and yet still quite a good flick
Silent Running (1972) It's
Silent Running (1972)
It's about a bloke aboard a space craft that, after earth has been irradiated by nuclear war, contains the last living forest. Then he receives the order from US command to destroy the forest so the ship can be reused for commercial purposes, and goes all eco-vigilante.
The lead comes across a bit like the unabomber, but despite that it's still a good concept and film. Sort of like Moon (2009), but not quite as good. Moon (which took a lot of cues from Silent Running) is more relevant to wage labour, profit and alienation, while Silent Running is about eco stuff.
I think I'll try to get hold
I think I'll try to get hold of a copy of Silent Running. I loved Moon so would be interesting to watch one of the infleuces. Sort of how like La Jetee influences 12 Monkeys, though in this case La Jetee is better.
Contagion Meh (aka bland)
Contagion
Meh (aka bland) movie, the star actors were totally superfluous. Not fatalist enough for my taste. Have seen few films as banal as this one.
Paranormal Activity 3
First two were definitely better, this one mainly recycled the tried-and-true shock formulas like banging doors, footsteps and moving stuff. Didn't really tie into the other two as much as I hoped. Did not live up to the hype.
-----
Considering those two scored pretty high with critics, I think I'm just not mainstream enough to get them.
Martyrs haunts me to this
Martyrs haunts me to this day...
@ Harrison considering that
@ Harrison considering that was directed by the special effect fella on 2001, it's not a bad film. It does look like a product of its time which makes it novel. Moon is miles better though, yeah.
I just saw Kafka, sooo good.
I just saw Kafka, sooo good.
I'm looking forward to
I'm looking forward to whatever Duncan Jones is directing next... Source Code was pretty good, although i preferred Moon. Also Silent Running is one of the best film names ever.
Is Logan's Run any good?
He said it's going to be like
He said it's going to be like Blade Runner but set in Berlin. So that'll be AMAZING then. I haven't seen that yet actually but the remake looks like it'll be good. Refn directing and Gosling to swoon at.
I just saw 400 Blows by Truffant which was charming.
Hostel Hobo With A Shotgun
Hostel
Hobo With A Shotgun
petey wrote: i know it as
petey
Might be the release name in the US also the file name on KG ;)
Inbetweeners - not bad but not as good as the TV show
Limitless - a bit anti-climactic and silly but generally fun
Midnight in Paris - absolutely shit, if Woody Allen was ever funny he certainly isn't now.I actually started this sentence with 'Absolute shit' before realising I was repeating myself but I still think it stands.
So i did watch Hunger by
So i did watch Hunger by steve mqueen. i think its one of the most amazing films i've seen. i had reservations because he was a war artist for the british state but for whatever, doubtless complex, reasons this hasn't limited his ability to make an indictment of its violence during the 'troubles'.
the bobby sands tribute site has it up as a recommended watch.
a few thoughts
*clear your evening because the violence is depicted in a very visceral and upsetting way. the film remains in my mind even a few days after watching
*some of his shot composition/cinematography/placement of sound is so fucking amazing & he really uses it and the layout of the film to show the relentless routine of prison life
* i feared a descent into sentimentality at one or two points later in the film but it just remains really poignant
could write more, but i definetly recommnd it.
(btw source code, sorry but dat was cheesily boring, you were guessing what was gonna happen nxt before it happened cos its happened a million times before)
re silent running - dark star is a classic losing it/not losing it on board a spaceship movie i'd also recommnd
flaneur wrote: He said it's
flaneur
sounds fantastic
400 Blows is also good from what i've heard
dohball
Still quite liked Source Code! Also Dark Star is great - hippies in space. Especially the bit where he teaches the bomb phenomenology.
Thanks Railyon for
Thanks Railyon for recommending Hobo with a Shotgun. That was much, much better than I expected!
I watched Ace Ventura Pet
I watched Ace Ventura Pet Detective yesterday wi' youngest breadsnapper. I'm working on a critique but will hold fire until I've seen the second film.
Melancholy of Resistance
Melancholy of Resistance
Same here! I thought it was gonna be another throw-away trash movie but it really raises the bar for b-movies (and turned out to be a minor milestone of the genre in my opinion). Really loved the enthusiasm of the crew, actors and film makers alike (clips of behind-the-scenes stuff is only on the blu-ray I think).
Yesterday I watched Captain America.
Politically a pretty appalling film, makes for good vegging out material though...
If you liked Hobo w/ a
If you liked Hobo w/ a Shotgun then you will likely appreciate the latest batch of Japanese exploitation flicks. Out of these I recommend Helldriver as it's wildly imaginative like Hobo. Machine Girl is okay too as well as Tokyo Gore Police.
Choccy wrote: Hostel
Choccy
:(
I watched all seven series of
I watched all seven series of Trailer Park Boys over the space of three days, it's the best tv series I've ever seen knowwhatimsayin BAAAAM!!
Btw Serge, have you seen this? :)
Ace. Will send that to
Ace. Will send that to Little Serge up in Manchester... he'll appreciate it as he's a right little urban achiever :D
Melancholy of Resistance
Melancholy of Resistance
I heard of them before but I never had the chance to watch em.
Incidentally, I have Tokyo Gore Police on my HDD. Will watch it this weekend.
In Time Interesting movie
In Time
Interesting movie from an anti-capitalist perspective; the movie itself was your average worn-out drama set in a pop dystopia (way too clean, too neat).
Gotta love the FULL COMMUNISM ending though.
Same pet peeve as with The Road however, not enough background information. Makes the movies feel ripped out of context.
(No subject)
[youtube]0lhzsPPHH7I[/youtube]
Super 8 Brilliant move -
Super 8
Brilliant move - until the end. Which kinda sucked, too abrupt and without a feeling of closure. In short, ending felt rushed.
Everything before that was high class stuff though... I liked that there were no ubermenschen in this one, just a bunch of kids doing their thing. For kid actors, I found the acting of the main cast to be exceptional, looking forward to what their future holds.
wojtek wrote: I watched all
wojtek
There are also two films and at least two short films.
wojtek wrote: I watched all
wojtek
I just watched all seven seasons recently, including the movies and christmas special (which was tight). Quite a good show, the first 5 seasons are so goddamn funny, seasons 6 and 7 are take or leave imo.
Yesterday I saw Strangers in Paradise. Jam Jarmusch is quite good.
Yeah, I've seen Countdown to
Yeah, I've seen Countdown to Liquor Day which was brilliant (I was so made up for Bubbles at the end :)), The Big Dirty which was a'ight and also the Christmas Special. Have you seen the pilot movie? I can't bring myself to watch it since it's in black and white...
Soapy wrote: Yesterday I saw
Soapy
I saw that last week as well. He hasnae made a bad film I don't think. The lass playing Screaming Jay Hawkins whilst walking down the street is cool as fuck.
Today I watched Shane and Neds.
The Call of Cthulhu
The Call of Cthulhu (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478988/)
Pleasant surprise of a movie, the crew certainly knew what they were doing, felt like a movie straight out of the 20s.
The Big Lebowski
Underwhelmed. Overall a mediocre movie with some funny parts strewn in.
Will never look at Nihilists the same ever again though...
Godards "Film Socialisme" I
Godards "Film Socialisme"
I reckon its best in the fast fwd trailer. See the trailer not the film.
Lartigau "The Big Picture"
Sorta liked it, despite cliches and abrupt ending that didn't quite fit the film.
flaneur wrote: Soapy
flaneur
I often wonder about his movies though. Isn't there something individualistic in a bad way about the idea of loving a character because they look "cool" as fuck in a movie? This seems to be a common theme in his movies particularly, although this obviously applies to most movies. Jim Jarmusch is especially above all else good at making his characters look cool, the female leads sexy as hell. Isn't there something wrong with that?
Eh? What's wrong with that?
Eh? What's wrong with that?
flaneur wrote: Eh? What's
flaneur
Well my point is that you like the characters not for who they are but how they look. What actions they do engage in in these movies is only intended to add to their image. Image is everything. The spectacle etc.
Why isn't that enough? Cinema
Why isn't that enough? Cinema is first and foremost a thing of visuals. It can be more than that as it often is, but it doesn't have to be. Debord can do one. But I do think Jarmusch is capable of more than that, Down by Law is probably a good example.
Well yeah and that's why I
Well yeah and that's why I like Jarmusch and think he's a great director. I was just saying that I was made uncomfortable by the idea of liking a movie because its characters acted cool as hell. Down by Law does not have this same issue come up in quite the same way. In Down by Law the movie is not defined by the image of its characters. In Down by Law Jarmusch still puts a lot of effort into making certain characters look cool as hell, but unlike Stranger than Paradise the coolness of the characters is not the most defining element of the film.
Well he was a bit more
Well he was a bit more experienced when Down by Law was made. Tom DiCillo, who did cinematography on his early films, is a mint director too. He's all about things not being cool, you might like him.
[youtube]NWYbXsTqv4g[/youtube]
wojtek wrote: Yeah, I've seen
wojtek
The pilot movie is quite funny iirc, haven't seen it for ages though, it's a bit of a different mood than the series but it's worth a watch. There's a short film 'The Cart Boy' which is an early version of the bubbles charcters which is not great. Did you see 'Say goodnight to the bad guys'? that's the TV special that leads into Countdown to liquor day.
I know some people hated the last two seasons and some reckoned it went to shit after the third, but for the most part I liked the whole thing.
Soapy
The problem with Jim Jarmusch is that he is obsessed with cool but as far as I can tell he doesn't understand it. He did a loose remake of Le Samourai and managed to show that he had completely failed to understand why the film was good and the single good idea he added in (the friendship with the ice cream guy) was done completely wrong.
I watched smoke and blue, one wa sa film one is a mishmash shot with leftover film after the first one was done. Both were shit.
I would still quite like to watch Dead Man but I really doubt any of his films could ever be good.
Haywire - good to see Gina
Haywire - good to see Gina Carano beating up some Gardai in Dublin.
the artist - thought it was
the artist - thought it was really good. can't imagine anyone disliking it, but i know some people who were a bit disappointed it wasn't the masterpiece they expected after all the hype. didn't bother me.
Watched Shame. Reminded me of
Watched Shame. Reminded me of this meme - http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/first-world-problems
Great acting, directing and so on, though.
Also watched A Dangerous Method and that had no redeeming features whatsoever.
Planet of the Apes
Planet of the Apes (60s)
Classic movie, nuff said.
Cloverfield
Not a bad movie if you like Godzilla gone shaky cam. I loved the idea behind it but felt the monster wasn't really explained well in-movie.
Railyon
Railyon
I think that was the point, you were seeing what the camera guy was seeing, he had no idea what was going on either.
I think it was Vantage Point.
I think it was Vantage Point. I'd give 5/10.
The Rock. much better than
The Rock.
much better than working.
Peter wrote: Railyon
Peter
Yeah I understand that but it's just a pet peeve of mine... :|
I need stuff explained to me or I just can't enjoy it! :P
At Christmas I received a set
At Christmas I received a set of Theo Angelopoulos DVDs.
So far I’ve watched ‘The Hunters’ shot in 1977. It is described on the box as ‘Highly symbolic and at times surreal’. It is a great movie though you have to be patient and in the mood for 143 minutes of Greek history passing back and forth between 1949 and 1976.
There are many beautiful ‘sequence shots’. To quote David Thompson’s New Biographical Dictionary of Film:
‘This is engrossing cinema, not fast or fluent, yet compelling once its rhythm has been yielded to. Not that Angelopoulos is determined on naturalism. His movies are theatrical, and nearly Brechtian: they are lessons in which “real life” is imposed upon by schema, clearly labelled points of view, and the nearly abstract emphasis on wintry space, desolation, and time spent waiting.’
So it is defiantly not Hollywood, the politics I thought a little wooden (capitalists and their lackeys murderous - communists noble), but it is a feast for the senses.
Just saw Breathless...I'm
Just saw Breathless...I'm confused. Was the movie supposed to be a really clever parody of these sorts of movies or was I just stoned, or both?
This is a good Breathless.
This is a good Breathless. Obviously the Godard one is top. Can't comment on the Richard Gere remake yet.
flaneur wrote: This is a good
flaneur
Oh, i meant the Godard version
That was one of the first
That was one of the first French new wave films so there wasn't anything to parody at that point. Cue what your Grandad says about them not making films like that anymore, sigh.
flaneur wrote: That was one
flaneur
If the whole thing wasn't a subtle parody than I'm pretty disappointed. I guess some of the camera work was pretty good.
Eastern Promises - used to
Eastern Promises - used to get my bap chopped in the barbers
+1 still does, first I know
+1
still does, first I know of it being in the film though.
Pokemon 2000
Pokemon 2000
Pokemon 2000
Pokemon 2000
À l'intérieur Sick movie,
À l'intérieur
Sick movie, story is not as twisted as those of other French Extremity films like Haute Tension or Martyrs, pretty straightforward and gory as fuck though.
In hindsight not as good a movie as I hoped, but if you like buckets of blood and people getting stabbed in the face with scissors, go for it.
(No subject)
[youtube]w3uG8LLuVPQ[/youtube]
A town called panic is
A town called panic is amazing, and so bizarre.
Fishtank. Was a bit shitty.
Fishtank. Was a bit shitty. 'gritty' working class life an all
I'm SO gonna watch A Town
I'm SO gonna watch A Town Called Panic now, thanks for the hint!
Wanted to do that today but it's so late already (just got back from a union meeting...)
Trailer already looks pretty awesome, gotta love stuff that makes you wonder what kind of dope the creators were on haha...
tinker pinker sailor whatsit.
tinker pinker sailor whatsit. i have to admit i didn't quite realise everything had been wrapped up by the time the film ended. in other words i didn't get it. one i'll have to watch again.
also, i'd just like to note that i find this thread's placement in the history category amusing.
I loved Town Called Panic. 5
I loved Town Called Panic. 5 year old stream of consciousness for Grown Ups.
This is what the misanthropist in me is looking forward to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul4CZrnEFxU
"Loveless, jobless and possibly terminally ill, Frank has had enough of the downward spiral of America. With nothing left to lose, Frank takes his gun and decides to off the stupidest, cruelest and most repellent members of society with an unusual accomplice: 16-year-old Roxy, who shares his sense of rage and disenfranchisement. From stand-up comedian and director Bobcat Goldthwait comes a scathing and hilarious attack on all that is sacred in the United States of America."
Looking forward to me too
Looking forward to me too fnbrill. Looks pretty cool.
Just watched Tokyo Gore Police.
A rollercoaster of absurdity and what the fuck... bad actors, worse dubs (never heard more atrocious ones...), cheap effects, metric shit tons of fake blood, topped with subtle and not so subtle social commentary (I say all this in a laudatory way because I love trash movies).
Makes you think you're on some bad acid...
BEST OF THE BEST
BEST OF THE BEST
In Time. Was decent enough.
In Time. Was decent enough.
The Resurrection of Broncho
The Resurrection of Broncho BIlly.
It didn't seem that great but the absolutely shit awful quality of the video might have had something to do with that.
Watched Melancholia. Pretty
Watched Melancholia. Pretty good, especially if you like watching bourgeois being as decadent as we imagine them to be (or indeed are). Oh, and there's the end of the world, too.
Martha Marcey May Marlene -
Martha Marcey May Marlene - the young Olsen sister's acting debut. Really great; about a girl who has recently left a cult.
Tower Heist - class war comedy with Eddie Murphy and Ben Stiller about a group of workers getting back at their boss who stole their pensions. Good fun.
Beautiful Lies - Audrey
Beautiful Lies - Audrey Tautou and Jeunet reunite after Amelie to make a film that is a bit like Amelie but shit.
Incendies - Gave up after ten minutes due to fucked up subs and quebecois accent. Will have another go sooner or later.
Kill the Pig - weird pointless cuban short film.
L'armee du crime - bought from the 99p shop (they have some surprisingly good films at times). A very good film that portrayed the resistance very well although it took a few liberties it was still well shot and managed to portray a lot of it. Some of the exposition for people who didn't know the history might have been a touch clunky according to the native french speaker I watched it with but I didn't pick up on it too much. It really brought the people to life and although a couple of points stretched belief and a few details were omitted and changed it was good. The fact that most of the parents were card-carrying PCF members wa ignored or removed, as was the stalinist nature of the communists at this point (one even says he won't obey 'stalinists'), although Stalinism at this point didn't really exist as we know it now. It made us both want to learn more about the group.
Margin Call - Lehman Brothers
Margin Call - Lehman Brothers the movie. Better than it sounds.
Russia 88 - not shocking at
Russia 88 - not shocking at all or very good. Glad the protagonist killed himself.
101 Reykjavik (2000) - it was a'ight, basically what the review says.[youtube]xlBR-T8gdFo[/youtube] boss film
The Tree of
The Tree of Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXRYA1dxP_0
I didn't know what the fuck was going on. There's a middle class abusive father, oedipal sentiments from one of the kids, dinosaurs, planets colliding, red suns and Sean Penn.
It was only after reading the synopsis on wiki that I understood what I'd just seen.
Ethos, I thought The Tree of
Ethos, I thought The Tree of Life was absolute wank.
IN TIME - revol made me and
IN TIME - revol made me and Partybucket watch it, actually really good
I had to explain the metaphor to Revol cos he was really struggling to work out what the film was about
'Why do they keep running around and swapping time and everything?', he said.
snipfool wrote: Ethos, I
snipfool
I'm glad to hear that. While I was watching it I kept thinking that the film tried very hard to appear "deep" and instead turned out incomprehensible.
By far the best scene in
By far the best scene in Observe and Report, which was awesome![youtube]3a1XCXkR0do[/youtube]
Film Socialisme, I enjoy
Film Socialisme, I enjoy Godard, but I just couldn't get through that one.
I've just watched Βουdυ Saνed
I've just watched Βουdυ Saνed frοm Drοwning (1932). There's been a couple of modern remakes of the film. It's about an aimless tramp called Boudu who jumps into a river only to be 'rescued' by a bourgeois bookseller. The latter's constant attempts to 'civilise' Boudu fail as he has no interest in 'bettering himself', rather he just lies around the house poking fun at middle-class sensibilities. I can't say I liked it even though there are some fantastic moments in it and it rejects the working-class = victim narrative. I just found Boudu so odd and annoying, I couldn't relate to him at all and how the hell is Emma all smiles after Boudu rapes her?? There's a great write up and discussion of the film here if anyone's interested.
Lol. As a PS, there seems to
Lol. As a PS, there seems to be a consensus on the first page of the discussion I linked to that Boudu has schizophrenia/ a mental illness. Now this may well be an accurate depiction, but I've met some pretty friendly hobos, whilst drunk I hasten to add. And I'm not at all comfortable with automatically medicalising behaviour which happens to differ from the norm...
Rampart. Woody Harrelson as a
Rampart. Woody Harrelson as a corrupt cop in late 90s LA. Generally pretty good, he was excellent, as were most of the actors. A bit over directed in places; a couple of scenes were a bit gimicky and could have been toned down, but otherwise well shot. Another film with a non-ending (see also Martha Marcy May Marlene), but it kind of worked for me, and I prefer that to films that drag out forever and feel the need to wrap up and explain everything.
no.25 wrote: Film Socialisme,
no.25
Did you see the ffwd trailers? I only found out about them after seeing the film. But it made more sense at superspeed, the rythm and imagery as well as the film as a sort of collection of references made more sense this way.
Cooked wrote: no.25
Cooked
Nah, I might try to watch it again though.
Watched Days of Heaven (1978)
Watched Days of Heaven (1978) last week. Really good. One of the first scenes is (young) Richard Gere offing his boss at the steel factory, and then it takes off from there. Terrence Malick is awesome, and I thought Tree of Life was beautiful. Didn't see any problem with it trying to be deep, because it was.
I saw American Gigolo not
I saw American Gigolo not long ago, which came out a couple of years later, and man, Richard Gere was at his peak. I wonder where it all went wrong?
Today I watched half of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre when the sound cut out. FUCK. Book is miles better even without Bogey.
The Acountant - A bit silly
The Acountant - A bit silly in a rather serious way. A little surreal with a few bits about debt and money but not developed too far, still quite enjoyable.
"If a man builds a machine and that machine conspires with a machine built by another man, are those men conspiring?"
Mainly watched it because it had Walt Goggins in it.
Debbie Does Dallas. I thought
Debbie Does Dallas. I thought the script was somewhat lacking but the acting was superb.
Ooh, edgy, push those
Ooh, edgy, push those boundaries.
Alasdair
Woody was amazing, but Jesus fuck, the same fucking ending in every Hollywood film that reckons itself a bit arty. Needs to be a new rule that only Hanneke can do that, and if in doubt, all other films must end with an explosion.
edgy as in...dufus....? In
edgy as in...dufus....?
In any case. I watched Animal Kingdom. Not a bad film really, but the lead role only ever pulls 2 facial expressions. Yu only see one of them for about 2 minutes when he cries loads. But i would say it is worth watching (if you can;t watch Attack The Block, which is great).
Oh man, Animal Kingdom is
Oh man, Animal Kingdom is amazing! I told myself the main character was in fact an amazing actor by managing to capture the passive, disconnected and bewildered reality of his hideous situation where everyone else was a different version of highly strung, reality denying mental. But it may just have been bad acting. How amazing is the raid scene?
Follow it up with Down Terrace,similar in ways and fucking awesome
edited to remove something that seemed like a spoiler but wasn't
Animal Kingdom is right on,
Animal Kingdom is right on, and aye, I thought the same about the main fella, Ramona. I think Chopper would be more of a similar mood though, plus it's not half as shite as Down Terrace is.
I saw The Longest Summer, HK film about ex British soldiers committing a bank robbery during the handover and nearly all of Bonnie and Clyde. Beatty and Dunaway, :groucho:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gc66fs5fZY0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00d65ieEsr8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw0pFiECzLY
Really liked this short series
thanks for the links HH, was
thanks for the links HH, was wondering where i could find the zeitgeist trilogy.
Durch die nacht mit: a tv
Durch die nacht mit: a tv programme. John Carpenter and Franka Potente hang out for an evening. A bit surreal but enjoyable, might look for some other episodes.
Harrison wrote: thanks for
Harrison
I'm missing the joke...
Son of Rambow - not too bad
Son of Rambow - not too bad and on iplayer for another day or two.
Didier Revol:
maybe one of them posts here :)
jef costello wrote: Durch die
jef costello
I loved Franka Potente in Lola rennt. One of the best German films I've seen...
Oenomaus wrote: jef costello
Oenomaus
I stil haven't watched her, but I've seen her in other stuff, she's a good actress. She also seemed really nice in the programme.
Kill List Bit fucked up like
Kill List
Bit fucked up like innit :eek:
Just watched a film called
Just watched a film called Chromophobia, about public school upper middle class types tearing themselves to bits whilst also closing ranks. Sort of. Best film I've seen for a while. Also Beautiful Kate, Aussie film about incest and its consequences.
Not a film, but I watched
Not a film, but I watched this really good lecture by Tricia Rose on hip hop:[youtube]Tf8db7ZGGBk[/youtube]Such a great speaker!
A Prophet and The Beat My
A Prophet and The Beat My Heart Skipped again. Magnifique.
What a hottie.
They've the same director so
They've the same director so you should dig it. It's one remake I can think of that's better than the original, Fingers. Think he was just having argie bargie in a club there. Lads eh?
Poultrygeist - gets a
Poultrygeist - gets a straight 10/10 from me, recommended to all fans of actually good trash movies.
Atlas Shrugged Part 1 - Could only bear 30 minutes of it, then I had to quit. Boring as fuck,and if I ever wanted to see bourgies wanking into each other's face, I'd watch the news.
Full Metal Alchemist the gate
Full Metal Alchemist the gate to something or another
Beautiful Sunshine of a
Beautiful Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. Thought it was alright, but couldn't take Jim Carey seriously
^ That film would probably be
^ That film would probably be up there somewhere in my favorites.
Leaves of Grass with Ed Norton, pretty decent stuff. Before that it was Eccentricities of a Blonde-haired Girl, which just made me angry due to the bourgeois-as-hell nature of the plot and its characters.
Bomb the System Seemed a bit
Bomb the System
Seemed a bit more for those who are 'into' graffiti. Too sentimental about it all for me.
no.25 wrote: Before that it
no.25
Makes sense considering the director is part of the rich, landed bourgeoisie of Northern Portugal and is old enough to have lived through all of fascist period in Portugal while benefiting from it.
Saw The Aristocrats last
Saw The Aristocrats last night. Very funny. It's basically a joke about a man, his wife, their two young children and the unspeakable sexual and violent activity that they get up to while covered in piss, shit, blood, vomit and other bodily fluids. A dog, cat and a donkey are optional extras as is the Grandfather and a Grandmother who is sometimes dead. The punchline is not particularly funny but it's the telling of the joke. There's a mime artist that mines the joke in public which is hilarious. There's some great scenes in it including one that takes place in a New York comedy club reconstituted three weeks after 9/11. No-one wanted to hear a joke about "sorry I'm late, my plane was diverted to the Empire State" so the guy told the aristocrats joke. Filmed at the time it hit such a spot that one guy said the audience were "coughing up lungs". It's a great exploration of humour which goes beyond the sexual aspects, into race and politics and at one stage from a joke comes up with the punchline "nigger cunts".
Now you're starting to sound
Now you're starting to sound like Jackie Mason, whose show I saw last week. Politically correct? Not me! Fearless I am!
As for films, I would certainly recommend Troll Hunter, although my lurking nordic nationalism is outraged that Hollywood and co. are about to do an English language version. I've heard that the American version of The Killing was truly bad, but Trolls are pretty much native to the North of Europe, so it would be far worse.
The Rum Diaries. A film where
The Rum Diaries. A film where absolutely nothing happens.
The Last Temptation of Christ. The last 40 or so minutes are the best part of this movie. Not that anything prior to that was bad per se, just mundane Christianity (bits not found in the bible aside). Also, William Dafoe is probably the smuggest Jesus to ever appear in a movie.
Night of the Living Dead and
Night of the Living Dead and Hour of the Wolf. Romero can do creepy better than Bergman, though in some parts it looks awfully tired like Barbara the classic damsel in catatonia. Funnily enough both 1968 films. I've always wondered if Night was influenced by the defeat of May 68, the sense of doom that followed (and carries on?).
Once Upon a Time in
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia
Amazing. 24 hours later and it's still very vivid in my head. Warning: has some somewhat likeable cops and authority figures!
21 Jump Street, actually
21 Jump Street, actually pretty funny.
dp -see below
dp -see below
Melancholy of Resistance
Melancholy of Resistance
Saw this last night - beautifully shot and softly spoken, the antithesis of hollywood films where, most nearly, everything has to spelt out for the audience and explained. Relations, secrets, feelings and emotions slowly surface and hint at the difficulties and sadness underpinning most peoples lives. The only downside was that I could only get a seat in the front row and so had to constantly crane my head to take in the stunning cinematography. Definitely a film better seen on the big screen.
(No subject)
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I watched The Immortals the
I watched The Immortals the other night. was fucking shit. utterly forgettable.
Arbeiten wrote: I watched The
Arbeiten
You mean you didn't like looking at glistening pecs and Zeus with an ironic mustache-soul patch combo for an hour and some change?