I was up to nearly 900 and hit the blu-wall. Now I’m just busy scrambling to replace my DVD’s with their hi-def counterparts. I’m up to about 70 BD’s. And for once in my life, can proudly gloat that I own every Criterion available on a specific format! (Though 4 isn’t a terribly impressive number)
I can’t stand it when they speed up the film in (mostly pre-eighties) movies to try and rev up the chase scenes. It just looks ridiculous, and really mars some great flicks (I’m looking at you, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL).
I’m sorry, I just didn’t get it. Is this what we’re calling “original” these days? This nightmare would end up costing Disney more money in royalty settlements than PAUL’S BOUTIQUE, if they didn’t already own all the bloody properties they’re hijacking. And what was the message there? Just screw up the earth, let technology clean it up, take a government-funded space cruise and come back just when signs of healing begin to show? What did I miss? And why isn’t Fred Willard animated? Am I to assume that the humans devolved into bloated, rubbery cartoons? Was that supposed to be the clever part of the whole sledgehammer social commentary or was PIXAR cutting corners again (kind of like they did for the entire running time of MONSTERS, INC. and CARS)? And I know this one’s been pointed out before, but a lesson about consumerism from Disney? Are you kidding me?
Pure Drivel.
… in a beautiful package, mind you, but nevertheless…
I’m gonna have to go with Galvin on Le Samourai, Alanedit. While unconventional and certainly part Neo-noir gangster flick, Melville himself has implied (if not outright stated) that this is a samurai picture. I’ve always viewed it as such, and fail to see any errant departures from the genre.
Well, other than the fact Delon doesn’t keep a sword under that trenchcoat.
However, I can certainly appreciate your perspective, as Le Samourai is structurally a lot closer to, say, This Gun for Hire than your standard Chanbara fare.
I agree with David on Brown Bunny. I’m usually pretty hip to my boy Ebert, but he really put his thumb up his ass on that one. Probably the best film about America this decade.
I’m gonna go ahead and throw Gerry into the ring as well.
It’s hard to believe that there are so many posters in here that have the patience to reflect on films by Tarkovsky or Antonioni, but not Richard Kelly’s unique vision. Donnie Darko is the cinematic equivalent of a Rubix Cube; it’s extremely challenging, even to the point of frustration. However, it’s all in there (especially in the DC), and if you’ll just dedicate a little thought to it (ok, a lot of thought), the answers will come. Personally, I’ve seldom felt so rewarded for investing so much time into a film.
Don’t be afraid to over-analyze the shit out of Donnie Darko, or you’ll miss essential clues: from the phoenix (a bird that rises from fire and death) briefly glimpsed on the hood of Frank’s Trans-Am, to the miniscule variations of the scene where Donnie’s sister leaves the house and a horn honks from outside. The bulk of modern films have not equipped us to view movies that demand this much of our attention, so it’s understandable that a lot of people might dismiss this brilliantly-crafted puzzle as a failure.
Extraterrestrials, superheroes, and re-animated zombies await the adventurous.
…for the rest of you, I’d recommend tossing the DVD into the back of your closet with that unsolved Rubix Cube.
Gotta disagree with ya there, Mikey B. I fail to see a single frame of film where a very specific decision wasn’t made. And while it’s often looked upon as an abstract experiment, begging for various interpretations, I believe Donnie Darko is anything but. True, several themes can be extrapolated from the material, but there is very little room for ambiguous musings once the viewer understands how all the pieces fit together.
RETURN OF THE KING. The audience I originally saw it with appeared to be doing the wave for the last half hour of the film. “Is it over? Should we get up? Oh wait, there’s more. Quick, sit down!”
And don’t give me this “it’s true to the book” stuff. As the first two movies showed us, Walsh, Boyen, and Jackson were more interested (and rightly so) in a filmic translation than a page-for-page adaptation. They just kept drawing it out until all of the grandeur had been fully deflated. This was our first real peek at what was in store for us in KING KONG.
Bloody tragic. And all the more so, considering the great heights that had preceded it.
This one wasn’t only memorable, but traumatic, as well.
I was 7 when my dad took my brothers and I to see Twilight Zone: The Movie at the “Family Theatre” in Tribune, Kansas. We all began to feel a bit uneasy when one of the Blue’s Brothers turned out to be a hitch-hiking ghoul, but by the time that monster rabbit came out of the hat, we were bawling and begging for our dad to take us home. He shushed us dismissively and went back to his popcorn.
For years after, “I’ll pull this car over and show you something really scary” was a surefire way for my dad to get us to behave on car trips, and to this day I still go out of my way to avoid window seats on red-eye flights.
I completely agree that if watched (as I’m sure was ultimately intended) with the two previous installments, the ending is well-paced and rewarding. I suppose it’s not fair of me to fault the filmmakers for the audiences inability to book a 12-hour marathon every time they want to visit Middle-earth. Nevertheless, I think we could’ve shaved an easy 20 minutes out of that theatrical cut.
FRED O.:
I thought the “alien” ending (they were actually robots, the advanced ancestors of David, not aliens) led to one of the most haunting and heartbreaking finales in modern film. Cutting out that ending, which the entire film had been progressing toward, would’ve been akin to leaving out the last shot of CITIZEN KANE… in my (obviously a bit warped) opinion.
Ryan, I believe Elgz is refering to Criterion’s devious practice of enticing us with beautiful pre-release cover art, and then swapping it with an inferior design just before they go to print.
I couldn’t agree more. That first cover of My Own Private Idaho (River Phoenix alone on a desert highway) was brilliant. I was pretty disappointed when they ended up going with one of the most ubiquitous stills from the production. I guess they thought Keanu might help move more copies. I’m actually a bit surprised they didn’t opt to smear Richard Gere’s mug across the cover of Days of Heaven at the last minute.
The Thing with Two Heads (with it’s tongue planted firmly in cheek) actually delivers a pretty astute social commentary. That last scene, satirizing broad stereotypes, is priceless. Great double feature with Watermelon Man.
The Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver is brilliant. Nearly as good as that one in LA, around Sunset, down on the side closest to the Hollywood Bowl. Damn, what was that one called? I popped my Tarkovsky cherry there (Zerkalo and Offret back-to-back), and keenly remember stumbling out of the theatre unable to competently decipher a single frame of film. It completely changed the way I understood cinema… or, well… didn’t understand it, anyway.
And I’ve gotta mention (also in Vancouver) the annual Monsters in the Meadow event, where old monster movies (King Kong, Frankenstein, Godzilla) are played under the stars in Stanley Park.
I know it’s a bit trite, but those animal-killing scenes in “Cannibal Holocaust” were not cool. And “Last House on The Left” was hard to watch. The logic of some of the character’s was frustratingly AWOL, man. Why would you blow somebody for that long before doing them a mischief?
… and speaking of blowjobs, that final twist in “Brown Bunny” was gut-wrenching.
I really dig the critical pieces Stephen King does for Entertainment Weekly. And I like the personal angle Harry (love-him-or-loathe-him) Knowles uses in his reviews, focusing on the ambience and atmosphere of his specific experience.
Kael is pretty much God, though.
(and to Justin: Robert Hanssen can keep secrets better than David Denby.)
No Country, no contest. While certainly a clever picture, Blood generally adheres to conventions first explored in the 1940’s (Citizen Kane and Treasure of the Sierra Madre are most often cited), whereas, No Country creatively abandons formula and strives to employ a more innovative and unique structure.
That, in my book, is what defines greatness in modern film. Invention over homage.
I thought Jeremy Irons’ captured the melancholy of Humbert Humbert much more effectively. The character’s motivations for loving her seemed more clear in Lyne’s version, and, as in the novel, much more desperate than creepy.
I’d cite Irons’ underrated work alongside Heath Ledger’s re-imagining of The Joker. Jack Nicholson had defined the cinematic translation of the character (just as Sellers’ brilliant take had in Lolita’s case), but Ledger brought a gravity to the role that transcended my expectations.
Lyne must have known from the start that he was undertaking quite a task. Not only adapting such a challenging and controversial piece, but doing it in Kubrick’s gargantuan shadow. I think he had a lot of love for the source material, and I think that really came across onscreen.
Just caught “Night Shift” on TV the other night. Man, what an underrated gem, with Bacharach’s synth score as integral to capturing the milieu of the era as the time-capsule New York setting.
Your favorite title sequence over 3 years ago
Has anyone mentioned the Bond title sequences? Essential.
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How Big Is Your DVD Collection? over 3 years ago
I was up to nearly 900 and hit the blu-wall. Now I’m just busy scrambling to replace my DVD’s with their hi-def counterparts. I’m up to about 70 BD’s. And for once in my life, can proudly gloat that I own every Criterion available on a specific format! (Though 4 isn’t a terribly impressive number)
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What irritates you most about your favorite films? over 3 years ago
I can’t stand it when they speed up the film in (mostly pre-eighties) movies to try and rev up the chase scenes. It just looks ridiculous, and really mars some great flicks (I’m looking at you, THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL).
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What irritates you most about your favorite films? over 3 years ago
Oh, and what’s the deal with that “brother from another mother” line in THERE WILL BE BLOOD. Deadly.
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Last movie you saw and rate it over 3 years ago
WALL*E – Pure drivel.
I’m sorry, I just didn’t get it. Is this what we’re calling “original” these days? This nightmare would end up costing Disney more money in royalty settlements than PAUL’S BOUTIQUE, if they didn’t already own all the bloody properties they’re hijacking. And what was the message there? Just screw up the earth, let technology clean it up, take a government-funded space cruise and come back just when signs of healing begin to show? What did I miss? And why isn’t Fred Willard animated? Am I to assume that the humans devolved into bloated, rubbery cartoons? Was that supposed to be the clever part of the whole sledgehammer social commentary or was PIXAR cutting corners again (kind of like they did for the entire running time of MONSTERS, INC. and CARS)? And I know this one’s been pointed out before, but a lesson about consumerism from Disney? Are you kidding me?
Pure Drivel.
… in a beautiful package, mind you, but nevertheless…
Pure, unadulterated drivel.
Go to Comment
Greatest samurai film of all time? over 3 years ago
I’m gonna have to go with Galvin on Le Samourai, Alanedit. While unconventional and certainly part Neo-noir gangster flick, Melville himself has implied (if not outright stated) that this is a samurai picture. I’ve always viewed it as such, and fail to see any errant departures from the genre.
Well, other than the fact Delon doesn’t keep a sword under that trenchcoat.
However, I can certainly appreciate your perspective, as Le Samourai is structurally a lot closer to, say, This Gun for Hire than your standard Chanbara fare.
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Greatest samurai film of all time? over 3 years ago
… beat me to it, SHINICHI.
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Movies you love, but everyone else hates. over 3 years ago
Didn’t your mother tell you you’ll go blind watching that, Croonie. You’re right to be ashamed.
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MOVIES TO WATCH WHEN YOU'RE PISSED over 3 years ago
Wild at Heart.
Or pretty much anything with fight-dancing to speed metal.
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What film scenes really make you cry? over 3 years ago
Nice, Phil, but you gotta throw in that last shot of Melora Walters smiling. I’m a little verklempt just thinking about it.
Also, when Pocahontas chooses Rolfe in The New World.
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IS THERE SUCH A THING AS HIS AND HER MOVIES - ARE MOVIES GENDER-BIASED? over 3 years ago
Show me a man who liked The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, and I’ll show you a woman in drag.
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Movies you love, but everyone else hates. over 3 years ago
I agree with David on Brown Bunny. I’m usually pretty hip to my boy Ebert, but he really put his thumb up his ass on that one. Probably the best film about America this decade.
I’m gonna go ahead and throw Gerry into the ring as well.
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Most Memorable Villain over 3 years ago
Another shout-out for the incontestably iconic, Darth Vader.
And I realize I’m breaking from the flock, here, but after the prequels, I think he’s intensely more complex and tragic, as well.
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Thoughts on 'Donnie Darko' over 3 years ago
It’s hard to believe that there are so many posters in here that have the patience to reflect on films by Tarkovsky or Antonioni, but not Richard Kelly’s unique vision. Donnie Darko is the cinematic equivalent of a Rubix Cube; it’s extremely challenging, even to the point of frustration. However, it’s all in there (especially in the DC), and if you’ll just dedicate a little thought to it (ok, a lot of thought), the answers will come. Personally, I’ve seldom felt so rewarded for investing so much time into a film.
Don’t be afraid to over-analyze the shit out of Donnie Darko, or you’ll miss essential clues: from the phoenix (a bird that rises from fire and death) briefly glimpsed on the hood of Frank’s Trans-Am, to the miniscule variations of the scene where Donnie’s sister leaves the house and a horn honks from outside. The bulk of modern films have not equipped us to view movies that demand this much of our attention, so it’s understandable that a lot of people might dismiss this brilliantly-crafted puzzle as a failure.
Extraterrestrials, superheroes, and re-animated zombies await the adventurous.
…for the rest of you, I’d recommend tossing the DVD into the back of your closet with that unsolved Rubix Cube.
Go to Comment
Films with brothers quarreling over 3 years ago
Um… Basket Case.
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Thoughts on 'Donnie Darko' over 3 years ago
Gotta disagree with ya there, Mikey B. I fail to see a single frame of film where a very specific decision wasn’t made. And while it’s often looked upon as an abstract experiment, begging for various interpretations, I believe Donnie Darko is anything but. True, several themes can be extrapolated from the material, but there is very little room for ambiguous musings once the viewer understands how all the pieces fit together.
Go to Comment
GREAT MOVIES WHERE THE ENDING (ALMOST) RUINS EVERYTHING over 3 years ago
RETURN OF THE KING. The audience I originally saw it with appeared to be doing the wave for the last half hour of the film. “Is it over? Should we get up? Oh wait, there’s more. Quick, sit down!”
And don’t give me this “it’s true to the book” stuff. As the first two movies showed us, Walsh, Boyen, and Jackson were more interested (and rightly so) in a filmic translation than a page-for-page adaptation. They just kept drawing it out until all of the grandeur had been fully deflated. This was our first real peek at what was in store for us in KING KONG.
Bloody tragic. And all the more so, considering the great heights that had preceded it.
Go to Comment
What is your most memorable film going experience? (Only one per post please!) over 3 years ago
This one wasn’t only memorable, but traumatic, as well.
I was 7 when my dad took my brothers and I to see Twilight Zone: The Movie at the “Family Theatre” in Tribune, Kansas. We all began to feel a bit uneasy when one of the Blue’s Brothers turned out to be a hitch-hiking ghoul, but by the time that monster rabbit came out of the hat, we were bawling and begging for our dad to take us home. He shushed us dismissively and went back to his popcorn.
For years after, “I’ll pull this car over and show you something really scary” was a surefire way for my dad to get us to behave on car trips, and to this day I still go out of my way to avoid window seats on red-eye flights.
Go to Comment
GREAT MOVIES WHERE THE ENDING (ALMOST) RUINS EVERYTHING over 3 years ago
LEWIS886:
I completely agree that if watched (as I’m sure was ultimately intended) with the two previous installments, the ending is well-paced and rewarding. I suppose it’s not fair of me to fault the filmmakers for the audiences inability to book a 12-hour marathon every time they want to visit Middle-earth. Nevertheless, I think we could’ve shaved an easy 20 minutes out of that theatrical cut.
FRED O.:
I thought the “alien” ending (they were actually robots, the advanced ancestors of David, not aliens) led to one of the most haunting and heartbreaking finales in modern film. Cutting out that ending, which the entire film had been progressing toward, would’ve been akin to leaving out the last shot of CITIZEN KANE… in my (obviously a bit warped) opinion.
Go to Comment
I'm starting to get tired and annoyed... over 3 years ago
Ryan, I believe Elgz is refering to Criterion’s devious practice of enticing us with beautiful pre-release cover art, and then swapping it with an inferior design just before they go to print.
I couldn’t agree more. That first cover of My Own Private Idaho (River Phoenix alone on a desert highway) was brilliant. I was pretty disappointed when they ended up going with one of the most ubiquitous stills from the production. I guess they thought Keanu might help move more copies. I’m actually a bit surprised they didn’t opt to smear Richard Gere’s mug across the cover of Days of Heaven at the last minute.
Go to Comment
blaxploitation over 3 years ago
The Thing with Two Heads (with it’s tongue planted firmly in cheek) actually delivers a pretty astute social commentary. That last scene, satirizing broad stereotypes, is priceless. Great double feature with Watermelon Man.
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I'm starting to get tired and annoyed... over 3 years ago
True that, Ryan. At the end of the day, I’ll take the movies in a paper bag if they keep putting out such beautiful discs.
… and incidentally, that’s pretty much what we’re getting with the blu-ray line.
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A List of Good Repertory/Specialty Theatres in Your Various Cities over 3 years ago
The Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver is brilliant. Nearly as good as that one in LA, around Sunset, down on the side closest to the Hollywood Bowl. Damn, what was that one called? I popped my Tarkovsky cherry there (Zerkalo and Offret back-to-back), and keenly remember stumbling out of the theatre unable to competently decipher a single frame of film. It completely changed the way I understood cinema… or, well… didn’t understand it, anyway.
And I’ve gotta mention (also in Vancouver) the annual Monsters in the Meadow event, where old monster movies (King Kong, Frankenstein, Godzilla) are played under the stars in Stanley Park.
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A Character Just Like You over 3 years ago
Man, who knew all the bad motherfuckers of the world spent so much time in movie forums?
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The scariest or most disturbing film you have EVER seen. over 3 years ago
I know it’s a bit trite, but those animal-killing scenes in “Cannibal Holocaust” were not cool. And “Last House on The Left” was hard to watch. The logic of some of the character’s was frustratingly AWOL, man. Why would you blow somebody for that long before doing them a mischief?
… and speaking of blowjobs, that final twist in “Brown Bunny” was gut-wrenching.
Go to Comment
What makes a good film review? over 3 years ago
I really dig the critical pieces Stephen King does for Entertainment Weekly. And I like the personal angle Harry (love-him-or-loathe-him) Knowles uses in his reviews, focusing on the ambience and atmosphere of his specific experience.
Kael is pretty much God, though.
(and to Justin: Robert Hanssen can keep secrets better than David Denby.)
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Films you hated at first but then... over 3 years ago
The Third Man. I’d like to go back and smack my younger self for ever uttering a disparaging word against Reed’s masterpiece. What an ignorant dolt!
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There Will Be Blood or No Country For Old Men, which is the better film? over 3 years ago
No Country, no contest. While certainly a clever picture, Blood generally adheres to conventions first explored in the 1940’s (Citizen Kane and Treasure of the Sierra Madre are most often cited), whereas, No Country creatively abandons formula and strives to employ a more innovative and unique structure.
That, in my book, is what defines greatness in modern film. Invention over homage.
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Lolita over 3 years ago
I thought Jeremy Irons’ captured the melancholy of Humbert Humbert much more effectively. The character’s motivations for loving her seemed more clear in Lyne’s version, and, as in the novel, much more desperate than creepy.
I’d cite Irons’ underrated work alongside Heath Ledger’s re-imagining of The Joker. Jack Nicholson had defined the cinematic translation of the character (just as Sellers’ brilliant take had in Lolita’s case), but Ledger brought a gravity to the role that transcended my expectations.
Lyne must have known from the start that he was undertaking quite a task. Not only adapting such a challenging and controversial piece, but doing it in Kubrick’s gargantuan shadow. I think he had a lot of love for the source material, and I think that really came across onscreen.
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THE TIMELESS MELODIES OF BURT BACHARACH over 3 years ago
Just caught “Night Shift” on TV the other night. Man, what an underrated gem, with Bacharach’s synth score as integral to capturing the milieu of the era as the time-capsule New York setting.
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