The library I go to has the New Yorker DVD of L’Atalante. But they have plenty of silent films as well. Of course, I am in a city so there is enough appeal in the masses.
The thing that bothers me about libraries is when they start getting rid of older titles. Defeats the idea of a library to only have the newer titles.
True, both Goodbye Dragon Inn and Hugo are liked more by critics than the mainstream audiences. And they are love letters in their own way. Although Goodbye Dragon Inn is more about the demise of an old theatre while Hugo is about a young man discovering cinema [sort of]. But stylistically and aesthetically they are miles apart. And the subject matter isn’t enough to connect the two films for me.
Of course, there are plenty of movies about movies but even then I wouldn’t necessarily compare, say, Irma Vep with Hugo even though both have connections in silent film. Although you could compare My Favorite Year with Hugo or maybe Purple Rose of Cairo with Hugo.
But, I don’t know, maybe Goodbye Dragon Inn and Hugo is a unique double feature for some art house somewhere.
Fox Searchlight is actually a pretty good company that gives a lot of leeway to filmmakers. They know the business but they appreciated filmmaker films [auteurs if you will] and they know how to release and publicize a film. [In sort, they aren’t Miramax] So I am curious as to what REALLY happened to this film and why it was shelved and then eventually quietly released. I would not entirely blame Fox for this issue.
However, I WOULD like to see the director’s 3 hour cut. There is nothing to lose as this point so let’s see it.
Agreed Film Comment has an older base but the poll had 120 critics and journalists. Maybe it includes more people like David Bordwell and Phillip Lopate who are not typical film critics but more like historians.
The true test may be the placement of the movie DRIVE, which probably appeals more to younger critics. It was #4 on IW but #22 on FC. That is a big difference in ranking.
You mean the film that made $106 million in the US and managed to finish #4 on the IndieWire [150 critics] poll last year? Yeah, why get behind a film that will keep your company flush with funds and win awards and critical kudos? Ahem.
I think there is a reason Margaret didn’t get full support. But until we hear all sides of the dispute we can only guess. And, again, Fox Searchlight isn’t one to normally push good filmmaker’s work to the side.
Who says older = conservative?
We’re talking film critics mostly in the big cities, which are predomently liberal and defintely in favor of gay rights. This perhaps segues into another issue about conservative film critics. How many are there? I would say not many.
Note too a good number of liberal / progressive film critics are not Spielberg fans. I presume the WWII movie you mention is War Horse? Which, actually, is a WWI movie.
Poetry. Another devastating but brilliant film from Lee Chang-dong.
I wish more people would have seen it. It was a big award winner and critical favorite in South Korea.
Kino opened it in the US but few saw it. Netflix has it.
It’s too difficult to write in the dark. The notes end up looking like scribbled hieroglyphs. Although, I have on occassion taken notes while viewing a DVD.
However when I was reviewing they always supplied press notes, which gave me most of what I wanted in terms of facts, plot points and names. As far as opinion it is tough to fully form an opinion while watching the movie. But occassionally some pithy line would pop into my head that I felt would fit into the review so I would write those down on the press notes as a reminder.
At the end of the day who cares if a film is distributed by a subsidiary of a studio or by some fly-by-night company so long as you get to see it?
BTW a good many films that are distributed by fly-by-night or small distribution companies don’t get seen by many if at all. So maybe we ought to thank some of the studios for creating Fox Searchlight and Sony Picture Classics.
Also note it is rather humorous that you mention Peter Bart writer of The Gross because no matter what he may or may not say in his book Peter Bart is hook, line and sinker a Studio mainstream film supporter. Sure he has a past of supporting cool films in the 70’s but lately he’s been on record for knocking films that are too arty and too independent.
The film works a lot better if he’s human so that is how I choose to think of him.
I’d disagree with that. It is much more intriguing if he is a replicant who has to hunt replicants yet is unaware until the end that he is one himself. Also the director’s cut [if you happen to like it] would seem to have pointless and nonsensical scenes if he were only human – especially the unicorn and the unicorn origami scenes.
So if you like the original cut of the movie and prefer him as human then that works fine. But if you like most of the later cuts of the film then him being human works against what you are actually seeing on screen. Also, the motivation for running away with the replicant woman has less meaning if he is human. If he is a replicant then he is running away because he loves her and he is a replicant running. Double your pleasure.
And BTW [back to the main thread of the post] The Thing is not overrated. It’s a damn good genre movie. I suppose some may love it beyond the B movie that it is. But that is not Carpenter’s fault. He made a good guy movie that has stood the test of time.
Ashoka 2011: Perhaps the Worst Year for Cinema Since I Started Paying Attention
Then maybe you weren’t paying attention? Also, did you see every movie released this year? Yeah, didn’t think so. It was a very good year from what I saw. But then if you are paying attention EVERY year is a good year in cinema. Unless you don’t love cinema in which case there’s nothing that can be done except maybe have you rely on watching movies from your pick of the other 115 years [or so] of the cinema.
I see your point. I think the screenwriter said Deckard was human. And in the short story I believe he is human. Although I haven’t read it.
I always saw the rooftop scene as Roy giving up because he realized he was mortal and soon going to die. So in that sense it is the replicant who finally understands humanity. I suppose you could say he is forgiving Deckard whom he believes [or assumes] is human. If he assumes he is human and truly does not know then it doesn’t necessarily change the scene. Because only we [and the other cop] knows he is a replicant.
So you could actually have either the “Deckard is a human” scenario or the “Deckard is a replicant” scenario work with the rooftop scene and the movie still works out pretty well.
The stone statue hand floating over the water in Landscapes in The Mist refers, in some ways, to the term mort main which means in medieval french ‘dead hand’.
‘Mortmain’ is a legal term that historically was meant to circumscribe the church’s holding of property. Essentially prohibiting the ownership of the past.
This can be viewed metaphorically in regarding Greeks and their past. Or the grip that history has on Greece but which perhaps should be circumscribed.
Santino
[This is a few days after your response so who knows if you will read it.]
Yes, the few critics you named are mostly conservative – one is wildly so. But I am fairly certain they did not take part in the Film Comment poll. But even if they did these 4 critics are not enough to skew a poll that much. That is unless they all put the same movie in the #1 spot and not one else did.
For instance, I would argue that these critics and other somewhat old fashioned NY critics helped launch The Artist into the #1 spot on the NY Critics Circle poll.
Some of these surprise me but I guess as much as I like a number of these films they are often not [in my opinion] the best work by each director.
Shadow of Forgotten Ancestors is not Parajanov’s best – although it is a good film. Sansho the Bailiff is not Mizoguchi’s best – but lots of people think it is. Not sure why and I love Mizoguchi. And 3 Women [!!] is good but wow not Altman’s best. I must have missed the post to vote! Also Cloud Capped Star sort of fades on a second viewing – not that the first was great.
On the other hand, I love that Cameraman made it. That’s a terrific Keaton film that doesn’t get mentioned as much as some of his others. Celine and Julie Go Boating is great and A Man Escaped is a perfect movie.
Glad to at least see films that don’t normally make it on ‘the canon’.
I have not seen his first four films.
But I have seen everything after those.
These are, in my opinion, his best:
Matador [ This was the first Almodovar I saw and it is still great]
Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
All About My Mother
Talk To Her
Volver
If you like those then try his second tier films:
Law of Desire
Live Flesh
Bad Education
Broken Embraces
Third tier:
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
High Heels
Kika Kika
The Flower of My Secret
The Skin I Live – [All the ingredients are there but it doesn’t work. It’s sort of a boring film, actually].
I’m curious when you saw Women on The Verge and under what circumstances.
I saw it the year it came out [in the theatre] and loved it. It’s a pretty enjoyable film. I would say your view on it is nowhere near the consensus.
Did you maybe see it with high expectations?
I agree that Tie Me Up is weak.
Although I’ll disagree with you about Bad Education. Just didn’t work for me.
His views are unrealistic. Note that libertarianism is a political philosophy for people who claim not to believe in ‘isms’.
Even if Paul managed to become president there is not way Congress would go along with his view of things. Neither would most of the governors in the country. We can agree to disagree about federal spending but cutting it off completely in favor of some white shining horse of unfettered capitalism is crazy. Even the GOP wouldn’t go that far.
It might work in a small town of 1000 [upper middle class] people who all share the same political views but not in a country like ours in this day and age.
And it’s great he works for free in his practice but to expect other doctors to stop accepting medicare and then work for free is asking too much. Again, it’s an ideal that won’t work on a large scale.
Santino
Yeah the first experience with a director can have the biggest impact. I’ll have to go back and see Bad Education.
Jirin
Oh man, I forgot Broken Embraces. That’s a second tier one for me.
Truewonder
I’ll agree Almodovar’s style has changed through the years. Early films have a messy fun quality, while newer films [or certainly recent films] are very refined with high craftmenship. I love to just look at his later films for both their decor and narrative techniques / structures.
A Matter of Life and Death – Powell/Pressburger – Who knows if this was a hit back in 1946 but I have seen how audiences react to it today. Especially in the first 10 minutes, which pull you right in.
Croupier – Clive Owen film about gambling. Great fun. Hard not to like. No one saw it.
Il Sorpasso [aka The Easy Life] – Dino Risi – This Italian comedy / drama has rarely been seen in the US. It’s not on DVD. Yes it has subtitles and is from 1962. So maybe mainstream audiences may not attempt to see it. But it’s fast paced fun.
Hulu just added 36 Criterion titles to their site. 27 of them are not available on DVD or Blu-ray. Seven of the films are from Keisuke Kinoshita – who is unknown to most. Should be fun to explore these films.
Cloud Atlas – Wachowski Bros – Oct 2012
Cosmopolis – Cronenberg – Fall 2012
Django Unchained – Tarantino – Christmas 2012
Gangster Squad – Ruben Fleischer – Oct 2012
The Grandmasters – Kar-wai – TBA
Gravity – Cuarón – Nov 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Jackson – Dec 2012
Inside Llewyn Davis – Coen Bros – TBA
Like Someone in Love – Kiarostami – TBA
Lincoln – Spielberg – Christmas 2012
The Master – PT Anderson – Fall 2012
On The Road – Salles – Fall 2012
Only God Forgives – Refn – Fall 2012
Prometheus – Scott – June 2012
Rust and Bone – Audiard – Fall 2012
Stoker – Chan-wook – TBA
Untitled Terrence Malick Project – Malick – Who knows?
Titles at Sundance, Berlin and Cannes that we haven’t heard of yet.
I’ll say The Decendents.
The Artist is a nice film but it ends up feeling like a gimmick.
While The Decendents has all the elements that [I would think] Academy voters like; humor, sentiment and a universal theme about life and death.
But who knows how the voting numbers will shake out. Maybe Hugo or The Help will end up winning?
Par usual, none of these are truly the best films of the year.
I don’t see why some are confused when he writes: Anyone else got any recommendations for any films that are basically not American made.
Unless maybe they think he lives in Latin America or South America. But one can pretty much assume he means foreign films not made in the United States.
Anyway here’s a few:
Poetry
The Strange Case of Angelica
The Princess of Montpensier
Double Hour
Mysteries of Lisbon
Of God’s and Men
Le Havre
Le Quatro Volte
It’s ironic that we can speak of Scorsese’s ‘decline’ at a time when he is getting more awards and more projects made than ever. Sure, big award winning films are often mainstream compromised visions that are rarely better than other non-award winning films but from a filmmaker’s perspective winning awards and making money validates whatever they are doing.
So for Scorsese there is absolutely nothing, other than a few fans, telling him to change his ways. Frankly, I have found his films the last 20 years to be about 50/50. I like about as many as I dislike. Sometimes I equally like and dislike his work in the same film!
Foreign films at the library over 1 year ago
Maybe they have a new foreign film buyer?
The library I go to has the New Yorker DVD of L’Atalante. But they have plenty of silent films as well. Of course, I am in a city so there is enough appeal in the masses.
The thing that bothers me about libraries is when they start getting rid of older titles. Defeats the idea of a library to only have the newer titles.
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Predict What a Film Will be Like Before You See It over 1 year ago
Jazzaloha
True, both Goodbye Dragon Inn and Hugo are liked more by critics than the mainstream audiences. And they are love letters in their own way. Although Goodbye Dragon Inn is more about the demise of an old theatre while Hugo is about a young man discovering cinema [sort of]. But stylistically and aesthetically they are miles apart. And the subject matter isn’t enough to connect the two films for me.
Of course, there are plenty of movies about movies but even then I wouldn’t necessarily compare, say, Irma Vep with Hugo even though both have connections in silent film. Although you could compare My Favorite Year with Hugo or maybe Purple Rose of Cairo with Hugo.
But, I don’t know, maybe Goodbye Dragon Inn and Hugo is a unique double feature for some art house somewhere.
Go to Comment
Studio Vendetta: Fox vs. Kenneth Lonergan and Margaret over 1 year ago
Fox Searchlight is actually a pretty good company that gives a lot of leeway to filmmakers. They know the business but they appreciated filmmaker films [auteurs if you will] and they know how to release and publicize a film. [In sort, they aren’t Miramax] So I am curious as to what REALLY happened to this film and why it was shelved and then eventually quietly released. I would not entirely blame Fox for this issue.
However, I WOULD like to see the director’s 3 hour cut. There is nothing to lose as this point so let’s see it.
Go to Comment
IndieWire vs Film Comment Best Films of the Year 2011 over 1 year ago
Agreed Film Comment has an older base but the poll had 120 critics and journalists. Maybe it includes more people like David Bordwell and Phillip Lopate who are not typical film critics but more like historians.
The true test may be the placement of the movie DRIVE, which probably appeals more to younger critics. It was #4 on IW but #22 on FC. That is a big difference in ranking.
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Studio Vendetta: Fox vs. Kenneth Lonergan and Margaret over 1 year ago
Tommy
that horrid Black Swan.
You mean the film that made $106 million in the US and managed to finish #4 on the IndieWire [150 critics] poll last year? Yeah, why get behind a film that will keep your company flush with funds and win awards and critical kudos? Ahem.
I think there is a reason Margaret didn’t get full support. But until we hear all sides of the dispute we can only guess. And, again, Fox Searchlight isn’t one to normally push good filmmaker’s work to the side.
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IndieWire vs Film Comment Best Films of the Year 2011 over 1 year ago
Santino
Who says older = conservative?
We’re talking film critics mostly in the big cities, which are predomently liberal and defintely in favor of gay rights. This perhaps segues into another issue about conservative film critics. How many are there? I would say not many.
Note too a good number of liberal / progressive film critics are not Spielberg fans. I presume the WWII movie you mention is War Horse? Which, actually, is a WWI movie.
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Your favourite film of the year over 1 year ago
Poetry. Another devastating but brilliant film from Lee Chang-dong.
I wish more people would have seen it. It was a big award winner and critical favorite in South Korea.
Kino opened it in the US but few saw it. Netflix has it.
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Notes over 1 year ago
It’s too difficult to write in the dark. The notes end up looking like scribbled hieroglyphs. Although, I have on occassion taken notes while viewing a DVD.
However when I was reviewing they always supplied press notes, which gave me most of what I wanted in terms of facts, plot points and names. As far as opinion it is tough to fully form an opinion while watching the movie. But occassionally some pithy line would pop into my head that I felt would fit into the review so I would write those down on the press notes as a reminder.
Go to Comment
Studio Vendetta: Fox vs. Kenneth Lonergan and Margaret over 1 year ago
Uli³Cain
At the end of the day who cares if a film is distributed by a subsidiary of a studio or by some fly-by-night company so long as you get to see it?
BTW a good many films that are distributed by fly-by-night or small distribution companies don’t get seen by many if at all. So maybe we ought to thank some of the studios for creating Fox Searchlight and Sony Picture Classics.
Also note it is rather humorous that you mention Peter Bart writer of The Gross because no matter what he may or may not say in his book Peter Bart is hook, line and sinker a Studio mainstream film supporter. Sure he has a past of supporting cool films in the 70’s but lately he’s been on record for knocking films that are too arty and too independent.
Go to Comment
Why does everyone on this site love John Carpenter's "The Thing" It's so overrated over 1 year ago
Hellshocked
The film works a lot better if he’s human so that is how I choose to think of him.
I’d disagree with that. It is much more intriguing if he is a replicant who has to hunt replicants yet is unaware until the end that he is one himself. Also the director’s cut [if you happen to like it] would seem to have pointless and nonsensical scenes if he were only human – especially the unicorn and the unicorn origami scenes.
So if you like the original cut of the movie and prefer him as human then that works fine. But if you like most of the later cuts of the film then him being human works against what you are actually seeing on screen. Also, the motivation for running away with the replicant woman has less meaning if he is human. If he is a replicant then he is running away because he loves her and he is a replicant running. Double your pleasure.
And BTW [back to the main thread of the post] The Thing is not overrated. It’s a damn good genre movie. I suppose some may love it beyond the B movie that it is. But that is not Carpenter’s fault. He made a good guy movie that has stood the test of time.
Go to Comment
2011: Perhaps the Worst Year for Cinema Since I Started Paying Attention over 1 year ago
Ashoka
2011: Perhaps the Worst Year for Cinema Since I Started Paying Attention
Then maybe you weren’t paying attention? Also, did you see every movie released this year? Yeah, didn’t think so. It was a very good year from what I saw. But then if you are paying attention EVERY year is a good year in cinema. Unless you don’t love cinema in which case there’s nothing that can be done except maybe have you rely on watching movies from your pick of the other 115 years [or so] of the cinema.
But come on….
Go to Comment
Why does everyone on this site love John Carpenter's "The Thing" It's so overrated over 1 year ago
Hellshocked
I see your point. I think the screenwriter said Deckard was human. And in the short story I believe he is human. Although I haven’t read it.
I always saw the rooftop scene as Roy giving up because he realized he was mortal and soon going to die. So in that sense it is the replicant who finally understands humanity. I suppose you could say he is forgiving Deckard whom he believes [or assumes] is human. If he assumes he is human and truly does not know then it doesn’t necessarily change the scene. Because only we [and the other cop] knows he is a replicant.
So you could actually have either the “Deckard is a human” scenario or the “Deckard is a replicant” scenario work with the rooftop scene and the movie still works out pretty well.
It’s a good debate topic no doubt.
Go to Comment
Ulysses' Staring Contest. Too Long or too short? over 1 year ago
The stone statue hand floating over the water in Landscapes in The Mist refers, in some ways, to the term mort main which means in medieval french ‘dead hand’.
‘Mortmain’ is a legal term that historically was meant to circumscribe the church’s holding of property. Essentially prohibiting the ownership of the past.
This can be viewed metaphorically in regarding Greeks and their past. Or the grip that history has on Greece but which perhaps should be circumscribed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortmain
Go to Comment
IndieWire vs Film Comment Best Films of the Year 2011 over 1 year ago
Santino
[This is a few days after your response so who knows if you will read it.]
Yes, the few critics you named are mostly conservative – one is wildly so. But I am fairly certain they did not take part in the Film Comment poll. But even if they did these 4 critics are not enough to skew a poll that much. That is unless they all put the same movie in the #1 spot and not one else did.
For instance, I would argue that these critics and other somewhat old fashioned NY critics helped launch The Artist into the #1 spot on the NY Critics Circle poll.
Go to Comment
The Mubi Forum User's Top 20 Movie List -- 2012 ed. over 1 year ago
Some of these surprise me but I guess as much as I like a number of these films they are often not [in my opinion] the best work by each director.
Shadow of Forgotten Ancestors is not Parajanov’s best – although it is a good film. Sansho the Bailiff is not Mizoguchi’s best – but lots of people think it is. Not sure why and I love Mizoguchi. And 3 Women [!!] is good but wow not Altman’s best. I must have missed the post to vote! Also Cloud Capped Star sort of fades on a second viewing – not that the first was great.
On the other hand, I love that Cameraman made it. That’s a terrific Keaton film that doesn’t get mentioned as much as some of his others. Celine and Julie Go Boating is great and A Man Escaped is a perfect movie.
Glad to at least see films that don’t normally make it on ‘the canon’.
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How many Palme D'Or winners have you seen? over 1 year ago
48
But wow a lot I have not seen.
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Almodóvar: Where to Begin? over 1 year ago
I have not seen his first four films.
But I have seen everything after those.
These are, in my opinion, his best:
Matador [ This was the first Almodovar I saw and it is still great]
Women on The Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
All About My Mother
Talk To Her
Volver
If you like those then try his second tier films:
Law of Desire
Live Flesh
Bad Education
Broken Embraces
Third tier:
Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
High Heels
Kika Kika
The Flower of My Secret
The Skin I Live – [All the ingredients are there but it doesn’t work. It’s sort of a boring film, actually].
Go to Comment
Top Ten Documentaries of 2011 over 1 year ago
Senna is an outstanding documentary. It was the best documentary I saw in 2011.
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Wuthering Heights - Andrea Arnold over 1 year ago
Wuthering Heights opens in the US in March or April 2012. In case someone wants to know.
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Why would great cinematographers choose to become mediocre directors? over 1 year ago
Nathan M…
Some people think Nicholas Roeg was a great director.
Some people are right….
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Almodóvar: Where to Begin? over 1 year ago
Santino
I’m curious when you saw Women on The Verge and under what circumstances.
I saw it the year it came out [in the theatre] and loved it. It’s a pretty enjoyable film. I would say your view on it is nowhere near the consensus.
Did you maybe see it with high expectations?
I agree that Tie Me Up is weak.
Although I’ll disagree with you about Bad Education. Just didn’t work for me.
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Don't mean to open up a can of worms, but... Why don't people like Ron Paul? over 1 year ago
His views are unrealistic. Note that libertarianism is a political philosophy for people who claim not to believe in ‘isms’.
Even if Paul managed to become president there is not way Congress would go along with his view of things. Neither would most of the governors in the country. We can agree to disagree about federal spending but cutting it off completely in favor of some white shining horse of unfettered capitalism is crazy. Even the GOP wouldn’t go that far.
It might work in a small town of 1000 [upper middle class] people who all share the same political views but not in a country like ours in this day and age.
And it’s great he works for free in his practice but to expect other doctors to stop accepting medicare and then work for free is asking too much. Again, it’s an ideal that won’t work on a large scale.
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Top Ten Documentaries of 2011 over 1 year ago
marcorenton
I didn’t like “Life In a Day” because they didn’t use the short I submitted. # : ^ )
I looked up “Senna” on IMDB and it was released in 2011 almost everywhere. The two countries where it was released in 2010 were Japan and Brazil.
[grammar edit!]Go to Comment
Almodóvar: Where to Begin? over 1 year ago
Santino
Yeah the first experience with a director can have the biggest impact. I’ll have to go back and see Bad Education.
Jirin
Oh man, I forgot Broken Embraces. That’s a second tier one for me.
Truewonder
I’ll agree Almodovar’s style has changed through the years. Early films have a messy fun quality, while newer films [or certainly recent films] are very refined with high craftmenship. I love to just look at his later films for both their decor and narrative techniques / structures.
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Name One Seldom Seen Film that Mainstream Audiences Would Love over 1 year ago
A Matter of Life and Death – Powell/Pressburger – Who knows if this was a hit back in 1946 but I have seen how audiences react to it today. Especially in the first 10 minutes, which pull you right in.
Croupier – Clive Owen film about gambling. Great fun. Hard not to like. No one saw it.
Il Sorpasso [aka The Easy Life] – Dino Risi – This Italian comedy / drama has rarely been seen in the US. It’s not on DVD. Yes it has subtitles and is from 1962. So maybe mainstream audiences may not attempt to see it. But it’s fast paced fun.
Go to Comment
The Official Hulu Thread over 1 year ago
Hulu just added 36 Criterion titles to their site. 27 of them are not available on DVD or Blu-ray. Seven of the films are from Keisuke Kinoshita – who is unknown to most. Should be fun to explore these films.
Go to Comment
Most Anticipated Movies of 2012 over 1 year ago
Cloud Atlas – Wachowski Bros – Oct 2012
Cosmopolis – Cronenberg – Fall 2012
Django Unchained – Tarantino – Christmas 2012
Gangster Squad – Ruben Fleischer – Oct 2012
The Grandmasters – Kar-wai – TBA
Gravity – Cuarón – Nov 2012
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – Jackson – Dec 2012
Inside Llewyn Davis – Coen Bros – TBA
Like Someone in Love – Kiarostami – TBA
Lincoln – Spielberg – Christmas 2012
The Master – PT Anderson – Fall 2012
On The Road – Salles – Fall 2012
Only God Forgives – Refn – Fall 2012
Prometheus – Scott – June 2012
Rust and Bone – Audiard – Fall 2012
Stoker – Chan-wook – TBA
Untitled Terrence Malick Project – Malick – Who knows?
Titles at Sundance, Berlin and Cannes that we haven’t heard of yet.
Go to Comment
What will win Best Picture, The Artist or The Descendants? over 1 year ago
I’ll say The Decendents.
The Artist is a nice film but it ends up feeling like a gimmick.
While The Decendents has all the elements that [I would think] Academy voters like; humor, sentiment and a universal theme about life and death.
But who knows how the voting numbers will shake out. Maybe Hugo or The Help will end up winning?
Par usual, none of these are truly the best films of the year.
Go to Comment
Great foreign films from 2011 over 1 year ago
I don’t see why some are confused when he writes:
Anyone else got any recommendations for any films that are basically not American made.
Unless maybe they think he lives in Latin America or South America. But one can pretty much assume he means foreign films not made in the United States.
Anyway here’s a few:
Poetry
The Strange Case of Angelica
The Princess of Montpensier
Double Hour
Mysteries of Lisbon
Of God’s and Men
Le Havre
Le Quatro Volte
Go to Comment
Scorsese: A Decade of Decline about 1 year ago
It’s ironic that we can speak of Scorsese’s ‘decline’ at a time when he is getting more awards and more projects made than ever. Sure, big award winning films are often mainstream compromised visions that are rarely better than other non-award winning films but from a filmmaker’s perspective winning awards and making money validates whatever they are doing.
So for Scorsese there is absolutely nothing, other than a few fans, telling him to change his ways. Frankly, I have found his films the last 20 years to be about 50/50. I like about as many as I dislike. Sometimes I equally like and dislike his work in the same film!
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