Movies (discuss, list, etc.)

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 4:25 pm

Haven't been to the theatre in a while. I think the last pic I saw there was Apocaplypto, which was quite good as a B-movie plot supported by Gibson's undeniable skill as a director. Pretty much kills any action movie released in recent memory in terms of intensity, and it looks real purdy. Looking forward to seeing a couple of current releases (Pan's Labrinth, Children of Men, Letters).
Just recently watched Videodrome, which I though was one of Cronenberg's better early films despite the nonsensical plot. I watched the second Pirates movie with some friends, and while thought the first one was enjoyable (mostly because of Johnny Depp) this one just came off as forced. I've just picked up the DVD for The Conformist, which I've been dying to see for a while now, so I'll write about it after I see it. As for my "favorites" (probobly not a difinitive list, but the best I can come up with off the top of my head):

Sansho the Bailiff
M
Apocalypse Now/Aguirre (love the both for diffrent reasons)
Casablanca
Mind Game
Ran
Le Samourai
The Searchers
Fireworks (Hana-bi)
Stalker
ET (yeah, screw you)
Haxan (just of the sheer facination I had while watching it)
Harakiri
Fantasia

I probobly left out a ton of stuff...

myanimelist profile · Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2007 5:59 pm

saw Mean Creek today
very good stuff, like a modern day Stand by Me. Excellent mood

myanimelist profile · Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:30 pm

2 movies on my plate today
A Scanner Darkly
which was shit
Igby Goes Down
which was okay

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 8:29 pm

Just saw Pan's Labyrinth. I was excited about it despite never really being a fan of Del Toro before, but I wasn't expecting to be totally blown away like I was. Just nails the menacing feel all the best fairy tails have, and the brutal real world sequences about the Spanish Civil war blend together perfectly with the fantastical elements. Powerful ending and great preformances seal the deal. In my mind its far above stuff like The Departed and Babel, which are going to get the Oscar nod anyways (I thought the Departed was quite good, but definitally not the film Scorsese should finally win with).

Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2007 3:35 pm

Recently saw Seven Swords. I'll watch pretty much anything by Tsui Hark because he's directed some of my all time favorite movies: Don't Play With Fire, Peking Opera Blues, Once Upon a Time in China and The Blade. This was good, my biggest complaint is that I would have liked more camera movement. I don't suppose it had the budget of something like Hero, but even after The Blade and especially Time and Tide the camera choreography in Seven Swords is a step backwards. It's a convoluted, chaotic movie so I'll have to watch it again to get a clearer impression.

re: Black Emperor, it was an interesting documentary. I haven't heard much by the band, and what I have heard is decent but didn't convince me that they were deserving of the name. Like in some paralel universe there's probably a truly awesome band called "Godspeed You Black Emperor". I also liked Yanagimachi's film, Himatsuri, though the main things I remember are that it has a beautiful setting and there's a pretty funny scene dancing scene that I don't want to give away.

Roadie Joined: 15 Jan 2004 Posts: 66

Got to see Pan's but I wasn't so impressed, while I loved the production design visuals and concept, the characters were hackneyed (a fascist evil dad who's evil because he's facist) didn't really make the real sequences real, and the fantasy sequences seemed taked on, like a little girl suddenly playing WoW off to the side of the movie... All and all overrated.

Borat - Again didn't like the hype, mildly amusing, but way overrated, storyline was a mess and many jokes were just shock value gross out humor with a slightly political edge to make it satire... The South Park guys do this stuff way better.

Passion of Joan of Arc - classic silent film, about the famous woman from french history and the events leading up to her buring at the stake. Very powerful acting and direction way ahead of its time make this a real treat. You won't even notice that its silent.

To add to anime worth watching:

Paprika: Satoshi Kon's newest film, saw it at a film festival. Lots of fun, while it covers a theme that Kon's done before (the blending of fantasy and reality) Kon's style has gotten a lot more polished than it was back when he did Perfect Blue, showing an surreal, fun, thoughtful and playful style that really left a good taste in my mouth. Highly recommended, I think the intro that sony posted on its official site captures the feeling perfectly, and is one of my favorite opening scenes in film.

Posted: Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:15 pm

Quote:

Got to see Pan's but I wasn't so impressed, while I loved the production design visuals and concept, the characters were hackneyed (a fascist evil dad who's evil because he's facist) didn't really make the real sequences real, and the fantasy sequences seemed taked on, like a little girl suddenly playing WoW off to the side of the movie... All and all overrated.

You, sir, are a philistine. Surprised

But I'm actually suprised that more people haven't expressed negative opinions about it (it's like 97% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) because I could see some people having problems with the mixture of the real and fantastic, but it managed to pull me in enough so none of that really mattered. The whole "facism is evil, communist gurrilas are good," overly black/white thing just lent to the fairly tale theme in my opinion (helped that the guy was an incredible actor).

Saw Sopyonje, which is kind of a modern Korean classic. The director is know as the father of modern Korean cinema, and he definitally has plenty of skill to show for it. A good film, but the man is a bit too obsessed with Korean pride and tradition (not just this film; supposidly EVERY movie he makes is about how modernism sucks) to the point where he sympathetically portrays a man who blinds and rapes (only suggested at) his step-daughter simply because he does it for the sake of preserving a traditional Korean art (I'd have to go into the plot to explain it). Definitally worthly of viewing, but it kind of felt overly-artsy to me.
I also thought Children of Men was quite good, if only as a brilliant action film. They do a very good job creating the world from a visual point of view, but the whole plot (why women are infertile) is really just a Mcguffin and the collapse of the world outside of England is only briefly covered with vague hints at Islamic terrorism (real creative huh?) Most of the political commentary is devoted to the rise of anti-immagration in America and Europe, but the real appeal of the film is as a madcap thriller. Really never lets up in intensity, and even throws plenty of humor in the mix. It also features what might be the most insane uninturrupted-take I've ever seen. Sometimes it gets a bit sentimental, but even those parts come off fairly well. Solid cast too, the standout being Michael Caine's goofy stoner rather than one of the principle players.

Scoundrel Joined: 17 Feb 2003 Posts: 403

SLC punk

myanimelist profile · Posted: Fri Feb 16, 2007 4:09 pm

I saw Pan's Labyrinth today. I liked it. I don't know if I'd ever watch it again, but that's a rarity for me anyway.

myanimelist profile · Posted: Sat Feb 17, 2007 3:42 pm

Wolf Creek
Decent horror movie, but honestly nothing that hasn't been done before. Then again, what is original nowadays...

Pornostar
Directed by the guy who did the Blue Spring movie. I liked it a lot, very gritty and moody, low key.

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 9:16 pm

watched two movies last night: 1st was an early movie by emir kusturica called 'time of the gypsies', then came 'don't come knocking', by wim wenders and sam shepard. don't come knocking was something that my grandparents, who i was visiting, had with them. not something i would have chosen to watch on my own, but can't complain, it was pretty good. time of the gypsies was really excellent though. it's about a gypsy from serbia who gets suckered into traveling to italy with some shady local mafia types, in order to pay for an operation for his sister (who has one leg that's shorter than the other). the guy has a completely useless pychic power that's portrayed in the most low budget fashion (magnets and strings moving things around). really great film with a cast who're all non-actors.

Posted: Sun Feb 18, 2007 11:54 pm

Watched Bokunchi today, based on the Rieko Saibara manga. It's been a little while since I read the books, but I felt like it turned out somewhat different in feel. I'm sure its not easy trying to capture the essence of such an unmistakable style. It was like they intentionally went for the most wooden performance possible, though I did like the eccentricity of the side characters. All in all it made for a really odd movie.

Street Musician Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 530

I snagged an R2 copy of Ping Pong at my local Book Off recently for cheap: it was a good movie, better than I remember it being. Not sure if I completely bought Shishido Nakaumra (Dragon)'s performance, but otherwise I found it to be fairly well-done. Helped that it had a pretty Supercar-heavy soundtrack.

I also bought Palm Pictures' Directors Label box set #2 (featuring the works of Anton Corbjin, Jonathan Glazer, Mark Romanek and Stephane Sedounai) but unforunately I must say that they look much cooler sitting on my bookshelf than they do playing on my TV.

myanimelist profile · Posted: Mon Feb 19, 2007 5:45 pm

Ping Pong was okay. I enjoyed it.

I watched Nine Souls yesterday, which is directed by Toshiaki Toyoda who did the Blue Spring movie. I simply love this guy's style, even though Nine Souls didnt right away impress me in a minimalistic way like his other works, it all came together quite well in the end. Which was a different, yet satisfying experience.

Street Musician Joined: 16 Feb 2003 Posts: 530

I quite enjoy Toshiaki Toyoda's movies as well: I own Pornostar (under its craptacular R1 title "Tokyo Rampage") and Nine Souls, and if/when Unchain comes out in North America (fuck, Zip.ca, you best not be lying to me) I will probably snag that as well.

In order of preference I would have to stay Pornostar>>>>>Nine Souls>Blue Spring>Hanging Garden. They're all good though. Hanging Garden, (which was sort of in limbo for a while because Toyoda got arrested for possession of methamphetamines) is quite a departure from his previous movies: it doesn't have the same intense, violent energy that Pornostar, Blue Spring or 9 Souls did, but it's still an interesting movie.

In fact I've loved all of the Little More-produced line of movies that I've managed to get my hands on (including the aforementioned Toyoda movies and Loved Gun): I wish they would license more of their earlier indie titles.