There Will Be Blood, by P.T. Anderson…most of my friends can’t stand it, I don’t know why…I think it’s one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Daniel Day-Lewis is of course an amazing actor, and Robert Elswit’s cinematography makes the film look like it has been sitting on a shelf in an empty warehouse for a century.
Also, call me crazy, but I actually liked The Brown Bunny by Vincent Gallo (the shorter version that he released after it bombed at Cannes). I thought Gallo’s performance was impressive; it was such a monumentally different role from Billy Brown in Buffalo ’66, but I think he was able to play both very convincingly.
Leslie Cheung in Wong Kar-Wai’s “Days of Being Wild” and “Happy Together” — I love actors that can play intolerable jerks. Leslie Cheung’s characters in both movies disgusted me, but that’s just a testament to how convincing an actor he was.
Björk in Lars von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” — People seem to either love or hate this movie and its performances, as they seem to love or hate Björk’s music. For me, though, this was probably the saddest film ever (until I watched “Boys Don’t Cry”).
Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie “Prince” Billy) in Kelly Reichardt’s “Old Joy” — Oldham’s character in this movie felt extremely awkward, like he was stuck in a place in life where he really shouldn’t have been, and it made me very uneasy because I know several people in real life that are just like him. That’s why I loved his performance so much — his discomfort feels very genuine and true to real life.
Roger Ebert is probably my favorite reviewer, but I’ll read the reviews of pretty much anyone except Peter Travers. His and my opinions are polar opposites most of the time.
Best—Javier Bardem (“Before Night Falls”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”), Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote,” “Boogie Nights,” everything else he’s in).
Worst—NICHOLAS CAGE (every bad movie ever made. ever).
Guillermo del Toro. Pan’s Labyrinth was most definitely not the greatest fantasy movie ever. It was sickeningly and gratuitously violent, however. Also, the whole fantasy part (the best part of the movie) was very downplayed to make way for fight scenes out in the woods.
Horror movies don’t really…work for me. I don’t find them frightening at all for some reason, I just end up laughing at them. However, there are a few exceptions. “Hard Candy” by David Slade is a must, for sure. Ellen Page’s performance is ridiculously intense. Also, David Lynch’s “Inland Empire” absolutely needs to be a Criterion release. It was one of the only convincingly scary movies I’ve ever seen.
The second section of “Mulholland Drive”—when the story shifts to Camilla Rhodes and Diane Selwyn’s dissolving relationship. I can’t remember every single shot in order, since the order becomes so scattered. David Lynch begins to pull in all the loose threads from the first half of the movie and tie them up here, making…a big ball of loose threads, essentially, but it’s so compelling and strange that you don’t really need to understand what’s happened. Mostly, I remember one shot that affected me strongly. It shows Diane lying on the bed, with thick smoke billowing into the room and clouding the shot. I couldn’t get that out of my head for days after I saw the movie for the first time.
Also, the ballroom scene of Sokurov’s “Russian Ark” is ingrained in my memory. The fantastic costumes and the sheer complexity of the scene, let alone the whole movie, was shocking. Most of all, the last five minutes of the film stick out, as the camera follows all of the hundreds of partygoers down the stairs and through the hallway, and finally ducks out a side door into some supernatural haze. Beautiful.
“Have you seen the chicken walk?” (Jeffrey then proceeds to walk in a circle, imitating a chicken)
That’s paraphrasing, I can’t remember the exact quote. That movie was so horrible that I refuse to go back and check what it really was. In fact, it was chock full of stupid lines. This one struck me as especially brainless, though.
Movies you love, but everyone else hates. over 4 years ago
There Will Be Blood, by P.T. Anderson…most of my friends can’t stand it, I don’t know why…I think it’s one of the most powerful films I’ve ever seen. Daniel Day-Lewis is of course an amazing actor, and Robert Elswit’s cinematography makes the film look like it has been sitting on a shelf in an empty warehouse for a century.
Also, call me crazy, but I actually liked The Brown Bunny by Vincent Gallo (the shorter version that he released after it bombed at Cannes). I thought Gallo’s performance was impressive; it was such a monumentally different role from Billy Brown in Buffalo ’66, but I think he was able to play both very convincingly.
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Best Musicians Turned "Actors" over 4 years ago
Leslie Cheung in Wong Kar-Wai’s “Days of Being Wild” and “Happy Together” — I love actors that can play intolerable jerks. Leslie Cheung’s characters in both movies disgusted me, but that’s just a testament to how convincing an actor he was.
Björk in Lars von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” — People seem to either love or hate this movie and its performances, as they seem to love or hate Björk’s music. For me, though, this was probably the saddest film ever (until I watched “Boys Don’t Cry”).
Will Oldham (a.k.a. Bonnie “Prince” Billy) in Kelly Reichardt’s “Old Joy” — Oldham’s character in this movie felt extremely awkward, like he was stuck in a place in life where he really shouldn’t have been, and it made me very uneasy because I know several people in real life that are just like him. That’s why I loved his performance so much — his discomfort feels very genuine and true to real life.
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Which Film Critics Do You Read? over 4 years ago
Roger Ebert is probably my favorite reviewer, but I’ll read the reviews of pretty much anyone except Peter Travers. His and my opinions are polar opposites most of the time.
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Whats your favourite actor,and what actor is so bad you cant look at him over 4 years ago
Best—Javier Bardem (“Before Night Falls”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“There Will Be Blood”), Philip Seymour Hoffman (“Capote,” “Boogie Nights,” everything else he’s in).
Worst—NICHOLAS CAGE (every bad movie ever made. ever).
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TOP 5 Childhood Films over 4 years ago
1. Star Wars (Eps. 4-6, the original trilogy…I’ll count them as one big movie) — I think everybody loved these as a kid.
2. The Brave Little Toaster — Blanky was the man. Or rather, the blanket.
3. Kiki’s Delivery Service — The scene where Kiki can’t talk to her cat anymore made me cry so hard when I was little….
4. The Neverending Story — Atreyu was my first crush, when I was 5 years old or so!
5. Mrs. Doubtfire — I watched this every time I was sick, I guess because my mom loved it so much and we’d watch things together.
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Good Bad Films over 4 years ago
Why, I’m a so-bad-it’s-good movie enthusiast myself! Some of my favorites include….
“LASER MISSION” starring Brandon Lee — Ed Wood’s movies have nothing on this, honestly.
“ABRAXAS” starring Jesse Ventura — It has Jesse Ventura. ’Nuff said. I got this and “Laser Mission” as a double-feature disc at Wal-Mart for $1.
“DRUNKEN WU-TANG” (a.k.a. “Taoism Drunkard”) — Go to youtube and look for the “Watermelon Monster” clip…it sums up the quality of the whole picture.
“BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA” — Who doesn’t love Kurt Russell kicking some supernatural @$$?
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overrated over 4 years ago
Guillermo del Toro. Pan’s Labyrinth was most definitely not the greatest fantasy movie ever. It was sickeningly and gratuitously violent, however. Also, the whole fantasy part (the best part of the movie) was very downplayed to make way for fight scenes out in the woods.
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WHAT MODERN...AMERICAN...HORROR FILMS SHOULD BE ADDED TO THE CRITERION COLLECTION? over 4 years ago
Horror movies don’t really…work for me. I don’t find them frightening at all for some reason, I just end up laughing at them. However, there are a few exceptions. “Hard Candy” by David Slade is a must, for sure. Ellen Page’s performance is ridiculously intense. Also, David Lynch’s “Inland Empire” absolutely needs to be a Criterion release. It was one of the only convincingly scary movies I’ve ever seen.
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Scenes you remember without effort over 4 years ago
The second section of “Mulholland Drive”—when the story shifts to Camilla Rhodes and Diane Selwyn’s dissolving relationship. I can’t remember every single shot in order, since the order becomes so scattered. David Lynch begins to pull in all the loose threads from the first half of the movie and tie them up here, making…a big ball of loose threads, essentially, but it’s so compelling and strange that you don’t really need to understand what’s happened. Mostly, I remember one shot that affected me strongly. It shows Diane lying on the bed, with thick smoke billowing into the room and clouding the shot. I couldn’t get that out of my head for days after I saw the movie for the first time.
Also, the ballroom scene of Sokurov’s “Russian Ark” is ingrained in my memory. The fantastic costumes and the sheer complexity of the scene, let alone the whole movie, was shocking. Most of all, the last five minutes of the film stick out, as the camera follows all of the hundreds of partygoers down the stairs and through the hallway, and finally ducks out a side door into some supernatural haze. Beautiful.
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Criterion covers you don't like over 4 years ago
Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters. it’s just too shiny.
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stupidest things ever said in a movie over 4 years ago
Blue Velvet.
“Have you seen the chicken walk?” (Jeffrey then proceeds to walk in a circle, imitating a chicken)
That’s paraphrasing, I can’t remember the exact quote. That movie was so horrible that I refuse to go back and check what it really was. In fact, it was chock full of stupid lines. This one struck me as especially brainless, though.
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