[remote]

[skonrad]

I think it should've ended with a boat full of raptors.

Sorry to chime in late, but yeah, I hated Tideland. The fact that Gilliam prefaced the DVD edition we rented with an explanation of the movie was probably the stupidest thing he's ever done. And that girl. Good god. Everyone I was watching the movie with wanted to strangle her.

I just got my movie collection shipped from Toronto this afternoon. I'm looking forward to watching Fanny and Alexander to completion in one sitting this weekend. With beer. And sorrow.

[Tim]

[skonrad]

I was actually shocked when I saw the opening credits for Stranger than Fiction -- because I had no idea it was a Marc Forster movie. Not only was it a Marc Forster movie, but it was a Kevin Haug movie ( vfx supervisor for Fight Club, Panic Room, Stay etc. ), and I'm a little obsessed with Kevin Haug's persona/ politics / etc. His modus operandi is to use the medium of visual effects in such a way that studios he chooses are 'cast' for their strengths and those strengths end up influencing the direction of the scripts. And that part of the reason that so many visual effects suck is that studios aren't cast, aren't part of the planning process, and are treated as hindrances to the art of film creation.

I also have a thing about Marc Forster's movies being stylistically all over the place in a kind of interesting way and also the fact that his earnestness penetrates his films and makes them almost painful to watch in points but also powerful when he succeeds.

So yeah, I had no idea they were involved and I was all "YO".

I really liked it, though, and I felt less like I had to convince myself that it was a good movie than with Forster's other pieces. Will Ferrel playing guitar on the couch was one of my favorite movie moments from last year.

[chompers po pable]

the pacing of that scene is brilliant.

[rabite gets whacked!]

Regarding the Children of Men responses on the last page:
Was I the only one who didn't take it as a necessarily happy ending? I don't remember the uplifting music part, but the sound of children (rather than the vision of them) for me just served as punctuation to the story and world as a whole.

I was actually wondering if it was a reference to Michael Haneke's Cache, where it serves a similar purpose.
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[remote]

No, I think you're exactly right. Hence the "eerie" aspect, whereas the "hope" sort of came upon later reflection.

I'll have to add Cache to my Netflix queue (which I really ought to trim/reorganize).
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[rabite gets whacked!]

[chompers po pable]

good luck with that rabite! sounds painful. i like bergman, though yeah.

[rabite gets whacked!]

Not so far! Torment was a little silly (but he only wrote that, he didn't direct), but Crisis had fantastic characters and Port of Call had angsty young sapphists up to no good!

I'll probably skip Smiles of a Summer Night cause I just watched it a couple months ago, but I'm long overdue to rewatch Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries, and all his later material is new to me. I'm very excited!
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[tacotaskforce]

[Shapermc]

[skonrad]

Really? He did that in the theatrical release? :(


I normally like him talking, too. His interview on the 8 1/2 Criterion is excellent.

[remote]

I just finished watching Cache, and I'm somewhat unsure of what exactly to make of it. For one thing, I must admit that my patience with movies that indulge in takes virtually frozen in time, full of almost nothing but stillness and silence, grows ever thinner these days. [spoilers] The very first shot in the movie is one of these, and it's actually very, very cool when you realize that it's such a long and empty shot because it's the first mysterious videotape being watched by the two apparent victims of enigmatic voyeurism. This sort of technique works for most of the film, though there are a few parts that feel sort of cheap. It's weird, I suppose, how this seems to work well in so much Asian film (Tsai, Hou, etc.) -- perhaps because warmer aesthetics fill out the "empty" moments, while there's nothing but a cold distance here, and not enough is communicated. I think this may have been deliberate, because it's a film about communication or the lack thereof, as well as guilt and denial, and the distances between people caused by hidden pasts and emotions. Wherever the videos came from wasn't important, though the inaudible conversation at the end of the film seemed to imply that the two sons may have had something to do with it.

Hm. So I suppose that after just thinking this out and writing this little bit I feel a little more clear on how to appreciate this movie. I can't say that I enjoyed it immensely while viewing it (though Juliette Binoche was as lovely as always, even showing a little age by now), but it's certainly one to appreciate more upon reflection.
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[Wall of Beef]

Grindhouse, go see it.

But be aware, the two movies are WILDLY different. Planet Terror (rodriguez) is a non-stop fest of excess, while Death Proof (tarrentino) takes its time. Death Proof however is the second movie, so while you don't get a breath during Planet Terror because you are laughing and going "OHHH MAN!!!" the entire time, you might find yourself a little bit bored with how Death Proof starts off, but believe me, ultimatly Death Proof makes you sweat.

Both movies are fucking awesome, but I would say Death Proof is the better movie of the two, Planet Terror is much more what you would expect from the trailers and the basic idea of the whole project.
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[remote]

The Prestige: Good stuff! Metaphors of layers of deception, plots within plots, etc. I suppose I've largely ignored Christopher Nolan (aside from Batman Begins) since Memento became a cliche on hipster-friendly top 20 lists (LJ's theflickyoucrew was a blessing and a curse), but I'm gonna have to pay attention from now on. Following is now at the top of my Netflix queue.
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[rabite gets whacked!]

So I'm in through the late '60s of Bergman Month (tm)- now something I never realized (or heard through the grapevine) was that there's a definite overlapping (dis)continuity to his stuff. I'd noticed in his '50s work a couple character names being reused from his '40s films, and an actor here and there, but I just chalked those up to common Swedish names and a smallish acting community, respectively. But starting with his faith trilogy (Through a Glass Darkly, Winter Light & The Silence) it starts to get obviously intentional, then really continues in Persona, and in Hour of the Wolf it breaks loose entirely.
From the opening, you're twisting in prior characters, actors, names, even scenes. Alma (name from one lead of Persona, and actress Liv Ullmann the co-star there), and husband Johan (name from child lead of The Silence, who then played Ullmann's son in Persona, actor Max Von Sydow from just about every Bergman movie ever) start off on a beach, referencing The Seventh Seal (the shot of them going up the beach in particular seems to be a reversal of an early Seal shot, perhaps even at the same location). We quickly see replays of the madness on display from Through a Glass darkly, and even Johan's ex-lover is named Vogler (Ullmann's character's name in Persona). As a whole, it share's Persona's disconnect from reality (stemming, I think, from both the New Wave movement and Bergman's breakdown in '65). It's all a massive incestuous meta-Bergman mindfuck, and it's fantastic.

EDIT, since finishing it: He's also got a better grip on horror than most working directors. Check the fishing scene (incidentally, preceded by Johan's tale of caning, and followed by the introduction of the gun for defense against "small game"; Bergman exercises this sort of disparate continuity in all aspects of his work here, really.), with its use of sound, stillness, sexuality and action. It's a more effective work of horror than all of, say, The Descent.
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[rabite gets whacked!]

Watched Stranger Than Fiction last night, and it was pretty good, which I guess was the point. It must be interesting from an artist's standpoint to admit you don't have greatness in you like Forster did here.

I liked the things he underplayed as well, like the flours gag, or more dramatically Eiffel's decision to rewrite the entire story, or Dave and Dustin Hoffman's character in general.

But on the whole it felt pretty reduced; I'm guessing the studio made them cut a considerable amount of film to keep things under 2 hours for a proper Will Farrell movie (notice its total marketing as a Will Farrell movie; I don't think any of the DVD box stills actually came from the film itself). I think I would have liked it more if the characters had had room to breath, cause this cut played a bit too much like a highlights reel, which means diminished personality and a final result of Kaufman-lite.
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[stotelheim]

[Winona Ghost Ryder]

[remote]

I saw Following the other night, and I think it's my favorite of Nolan's films even if he has "matured" as a director. He himself said that Memento was a far superior film, but I really can't agree --- probably because Following is far subtler with its camerawork and methods of exposition. It also has the advantage of the sheer impact of style and claustrophobic atmosphere that comes with saturated black and white set to a dark and evocative ambient score (check out "The Box", which sets the tone at the beginning of the film, and the main theme); it's a kind of modern noir.
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[Wall of Beef]

Hot Fuzz: Very funny. But maybe a bit too long.
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[Ebrey]

Hot Fuzz is great. During the first half, I wasn't sure if I liked it as much as Shaun of the Dead, as it wasn't clear that the creators had the same passion for cop movies as they obviously had for zombie flicks. But the second half kicks it up a knotch and is truly hilarious.

The chemistry between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost is amazing. I'm not sure how effective either actor would be by them self, but they're perfect at playing buddies.

[stotelheim]

Hi cocaine socialist. See, my granparents had a summer house on this pretty classy island where a lot of interesting people live. It's called Fårö, which translated to Sheep Island. I'm pretty sure Bergman shot a few scenes on it, although you shouldn't hold me to that.

Here's a shot of a pretty defining piece of what makes the island a nice place to live on:

Anyway, I'm not entirely sure of all the details, and since I've lost touch with my father's side of the family, it's not like I could easily ask. But let me tell you what I know. Bergman had a house on this particular island, and my grandmother was at the time rather attractive (or so I'm told!). He would sneak around the outside of our house, and suddenly pop his head up in front of one of the windows and try and scare the shit out of my grandmother. This went on for quite some time, I believe. And they more or less let him do it because he was a famous man.

Here's a text I found about Bergman and Fårö, by the way: http://www.ingmarbergman.se/page.asp?guid=C5DC7A29-41FB-4E93-8FD6-73FB4D8061B4
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go away extralife

[Ashura]

Everything I was iffy on during the beginning of Hot Fuzz pays off in the endgame. I was like.. why..is that.. oh.. nevermind. And then, BAM, it became awesome. They're the king of surprising callbacks.

If you've never seen it, watch Spaced. It's like the prototype for their movies. Simon Pegg also isn't always with Nick Frost in it. There's also a full episode inspired by the mania of playing Resident Evil 2 all night in it. If you want to see some Simon Pegg alone completely, though, you should check out Mission Impossible 3, or, uh, the Doctor Who ep he was in.

[wpham]

Le Samourai is pitch-perfect: a clockwork noir where every element, every piece, cooperates incredibly well.
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[elvis.shrugged]

Yeah, anyone who likes Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz should seriously check out Spaced. The Resident Evil 2 episode (I think it was called "Art") gets my vote for best episode. Followed closely by that one with the finger gunfights.
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[Dracko]

[shrugtheironteacup]

Hot Fuzz is a pitch-perfect aping of a certain kind of action direction that annoys the hell out of me.

But when it's combined with middle aged/elderly foes it's at least amusing.

Also finding it amusing that Le Samourai comes up just as Jarmusch and with it Ghost Dog raises its head in the axe!


...

The former being a personal favorite of mine as well.
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[rabite gets whacked!]

[stotelheim]

Hey rabite, that doesn't actually surprise me to hear! I just, you know, wanted to underestimate rather than the opposite since getting away with that is a lot easier than the opposite.

And thanks for appreciating our L's even though I basically try to eradicate them from my english and whatever else language I feel like talking or learning at any particular time.
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go away extralife

[elvis.shrugged]

I just watched Fight Club for the first time in three and a half years tonight.

I have also made a promise to myself never to let that happen again.
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[remote]

Last time I tried to watch Fight Club I promised to myself never to let that happen again, too.

Don't mind me; I just hate David Fincher outside of Alien 3. I also hate Chuck Palahniuk. I actually did like Fight Club back when it came out and I hadn't seen very many movies, but then, well, I saw more movies. And read a few of Palahniuk's books. They're all pretty much the same.
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[elvis.shrugged]

I don't mind! You just made me curious. I understand the Palahniuk hate, but why do you hate Fincher outside of Alien 3?
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[slipstream]

Fight Club would have been better if it was Green Street Hooligans.
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[remote]

[elvis.shrugged]

Ah, I see where you're coming from. That sort of aesthetic doesn't bother me in Fincher's films (or in SH2--good call), but it drove me out of my mind in Saw. It literally felt like every ten minutes the film stumbled into a NIN video. Not to mention the rest of the movie was a lesser rip-off of Seven.
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[Dracko]

Whatev, faggots.

Palahniuk's non-fiction is generally more worthwhile than his fiction, the only books of which are worth the time being Fight Club and Survivor.
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[rabite gets whacked!]

Fincher's general mediocrity aside, I've heard enough interesting stuff about Zodiac that I may watch it at some point.

Oh, I watched Volver last night too. Really fantastic stuff! I think one of my favorite things about Almodovar is the way his cities can feel so abandoned. Like he shoots a scene here with Cruz and Maura sitting on a park bench at night, and instead of a some picturesque fountain behind them it's a wall filled with brilliant graffiti. But he pulls back and it's just the two of them, not another soul around, and the park is so clean and orderly it nearly looks like a soundstage (it may well be, but you can't quite tell).
Anyway, the plot is ridiculous, overstated and overdramatic (it's kind of a send-up of Spanish daytime TV, as well as just generally being Almodovar), but the characters and acting are fantastic. I think it makes a nice pair with The Bad Education, that being a focus on men and this on women.
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[Dracko]

Saw Sunshine today.

Great ambience, stunning visuals, cool, natural dialogue, characters who genuinely sit down and think sometimes, solid, credible science, beautiful soundtrack, engaging story.

Boyle's best direction in years. But Garland still doesn't know how to write an ending. He starts off most of his stories with an intriguing premise, but never manages to push them far enough to be insightful, it seems.
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[remote]

MEIN HERZ BRENNT

Respect to Lukas Moodysson for making a Rammstein song work in a film (something I felt only marred Lynch's Lost Highway). Lilya 4-Ever is only the second of his films I've seen, after Fucking Åmål, but having given them both five out of five stars on Netflix I'd say he's on his way to being a favorite director, or at least one that I'll be paying attention to.

About the titular main character, though, good god. I think it was only once the movie was over and I was trying to find out what else Oksana Akinshina had been in (she had a small role in The Bourne Supremacy and her latest film is one called Moscow Zero (which I have read is not very good)) that I fully realized she was not actually Lilya, and Lilya was in fact only a character. Her acting was absolutely perfect. When she was running [spoiler] at the beginning and end of the film, with that song playing (fucking Rammstein), my heart really did burn for her. Moodysson's great at making movies that will crush you and make you ache. They're flawed, yes, mostly due to their soundtracks and the oddly conflicting, mostly immature happy moments amid the raw pain and isolation, but the performances transcend that. Here in particular.



I love images like that --- just like Faye Wong crouching by her reflection in Chungking Express, or Irène Jacob sitting near the window on a bus in The Double Life of Véronique.
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