What are you watching now?

[Chilli]

What exactly would you be testing for here? :wtf:

If I was too strange for said date or not. I'm guessing there are a lot of people out there that'd consider anyone that could enjoy this kind of movie a psycho. And I can't even say I disagree - I loved the movie, but felt entirely fucked up for enjoying it as much as I did.

I am one of the female fans of this movie (I suspect there are not as many of us as there are male fans). I don't normally like gratuitous violence, and violent sex acts, or giant marble penis statue weapons in my entertainment. But a few things make that tolerable to me in this movie.

First of all, I was in college at the time that I first saw the movie. I had also been drinking.

Second of all, there actually was a reason, a very necessary reason, for all of that violence and sexual perversion in all of those scenes. That movie had me where it wanted me emotionally every second: I hated the protagonist when I was supposed to, I was bewildered when I was supposed to be, I felt oddly confused about what to feel for him, then I felt weird for feeling sympathy for him, then.... a kind of "what the hell am I supposed to feel about it now?!" by the end.

I'd say all the sexual violence and the such made sense just because it made no sense. Me saying this is probably a sign that I should go to sleep. But it was cool to see a movie depict hideous actions without really trying to explain them. Not even with mental illnesses or anything. They're just doing it all because they can. Which isn't too bad a characterization of loads teenage violence - that I've been subject to myself, too. (being beaten up by gang .. just because. They didn't take my wallet or anything. They just did it because they could.)

Thirdly, as odd as it was for me at first, I loved the effect the modern slang had on the overall feel of the picture. I am not sure how to describe it. Made it feel even more "underground"? It seemed to put you into a world of gang mentality? I'm not sure.

Was just reading about the slang used in the movie, and the book - the reason the author chose to use bastardized Russian was mostly that he felt that if he'd try to write "standard" contemporary cool language, it'd feel dated awfully quickly. So it was a pragmatic choice, really.

It makes perfect sense, though. The slang used by the kids in the movie reminds me a lot of slang used by kids here, nowadays - throwing in English words at random places, usually incorrectly, mostly just to sound cool, with no practical reason whatsoever. If Russian was ever to be relevant in any way in England, it'd be absolutely realistic.

 

[GKarsEye]

Though I'd imagine it would be even more fun to use the movie as a litmus test for girls you're dating - see if they can sit through it without running away from you, screaming.

Some of my other cool test movies include American Psycho and Mullholland Drive.

What exactly would you be testing for here?

Coolness

I don't normally like gratuitous violence, and violent sex acts, or giant marble penis statue weapons in my entertainment.

That's OK, we still like you.

 

[darth_librarian]

I actually watched it sober a fair few years ago and was not very shocked. I actually found it a bit twee and forced, epsecially all the penis / rape stuff. I also prefered McDowell in The Cat People when we was eyeing up his sister. Not sure what that says about me. That is one of my favoruite 70's horror / weird films.

I'd like to get my fiancee to watch it (clockwork orange), as she is also arty but squeamish. That usually gets fun results.

 

[Galahad]

I also prefered McDowell in The Cat People when we was eyeing up his sister. Not sure what that says about me. That is one of my favoruite 70's horror / weird films.

I'll say what I think it says about you - I reckon you were transferring your own desires to McDowell's character because [FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Nastassja Kinski was pretty hot.

I don't think you need to worry about a subconscious incestuous streak just yet..
[/SIZE][/FONT]

 

[Sindatur]

I actually watched it sober a fair few years ago and was not very shocked. I actually found it a bit twee and forced, epsecially all the penis / rape stuff. I also prefered McDowell in The Cat People when we was eyeing up his sister. Not sure what that says about me. That is one of my favoruite 70's horror / weird films.

I'd like to get my fiancee to watch it (clockwork orange), as she is also arty but squeamish. That usually gets fun results.

There was a 1970s version of Cat People?

 

[hypatia]

There was a 1970s version of Cat People?

IMDb says it was 1982, but yes. I know of the film but have never gotten around to seeing it.

And Chilli: yes, I always figured that the point of all the gang violence/rape/beatings scenes in "A Clockwork Orange" was basically as you say: that there was no point to them. I saw it as an indication as to how vapid their whole scene was. As you say, they are not mugging someone for money, just to kill some time in a fun way. Malcom's character really shows how these are activities of pure joy to him the way he returns to his music to kind of finalize his night of pointless horrors.

It shows how the soul (if you will) has deteriorated. His gang isn't even unique. That's how much society has deteriorated. His parents are even a kind of vapid shell of parenthood.

It's all deteriorated into meaninglessness. If you get down to it, as horrible as the protagonist is, in some ways he seems deeper and more "philosophical" than the people around him. He savors the night's activities in a way that makes you face a horrible possibility: that he might be the deepest character in his world. That's even more horrifying in a way than his "crimes".

That's how I see it anyway.

 

[Cell]

As usual, full reviews can be found at,

Bill's Movie Emporium
http://billsmovieemporium.wordpress.com/

Rachel Getting Married (2008)
Great film from a film maker I love in Jonathan Demme. The documentary style camera work really added to the realism of the story, but the main factor in how believable the story became were the three leads- Dewitt, Hathaway and Irwin. Plus, it was cool as heck to see DA Mike Powers from Reno 911! as the quite charming best man, Keiran. This film was funny in parts, emotional and outside of one paper plate it stayed true to itself and never went for too much melodrama.

Mars Attacks! (1996)
Mars Attacks! is certainly an imaginative film and there are moments when it is very funny and the surreal moments and imagery work. Unfortunately those moments are few and far between, instead a lot of the hammy acting and comedic moments fall flat. I felt the cast was too large and they focused on the human characters too much without ever actually doing anything with them. More time with the Martians and their cool CGI would have been a better choice.

Chung Hing Sam Lam (1994)
My first exposure to Kar Wai Wong, and this is a movie that was on my to watch list for years so I'm happy to have finally seen it and don't know for the life of me why I ever out it off for so long. As much as I do love visually appealing movies I've never been a big fan of the visual style over story substance film making, but Chung Hing Sam Lam is such a visual treat and tells its story through its visuals that the depth was in its style and not in its story. Faye Wong is like the ultimate manic pixie dream girl, Tony Leung is amazing, this entire movie is amazing.

Hotaru No Haka (1988)
Devastating, utterly devastating. This film had me bawling at the end, and while I'm not some sort of tough guy I'm also not one for crying. There are moments of happiness in joy in this film, but they just serve to make it all the more depressing because it becomes obvious at some point that there is only one way for Hotaru to end. By the time you get there it has ripped your guts out and put a hot poker through your heart, it is that emotionally devastating, and in an honest way there isn't any manipulation on display here. Hotaru is also one of those rare beautifully disgusting film, because the animation is so wonderfully rendered and their are moments of actual beauty but then you realize that the disgusting moments are rendered just as marvelously and are just as beautiful and you are in for a world of hurt yet again.

Der Untergang (2004)
So yeah, WWII buff, realistic film about Hitler, me likey! The best element about Der Untergang is the one thing that most people complained about, the humanization of Adolf Hitler. Bruno Ganz turns in a great performance as Hitler, making sure we see the paranoia and the delusion, but most importantly that he was human and not some alien monster, and that makes him all the more evil. Otherwise a beautiful looking film with superb set design and cinematography.

Suchîmubôi (2004)
Suchîmubôi is just a tiny bit better than Otomo's most famous work, Akira, but that's not saying a lot. From an animation standpoint the first two thirds do look outstanding with incredible detail and design ideas. The use of steam was also quite intelligent and innovative, but that's where the fun stops. The story is nonsense, the final act is a long battle that means nothing, with terrible cuts all over the place, character turns that are ridiculous and a final message that is frankly idiotic. Yet another lackluster work from Otomo, if only he could reign in his great ideas he would be a fantastic film maker.

Das Boot (Director's Cut) (1981)
Das Boot was long, really long, but it never felt long. This was very much a horror thriller, with the sub representing the horrors of being trapped both physically and metaphorically. The action scenes and subsequent aftermaths were layered with suspense, the ending was ironic but not too melodramatic, all in all a great picture.

Solyaris (1972)
My major complaint with Solyaris was that the characters felt so distant because of how detached the story was and because of how long it took to get going. I enjoyed the various ruminations on life and man, but I didn't think what was presented was strong enough to make up for the lack of a cohesive story. Still, a good movie.

Gandhi (1982)
I recently watched My Left Foot, an example of how great a biopic can be when it steers away from going into exaltation mode. Gandhi does not avoid that pitfall and instead of presenting a portrayal of Gandhi the man it presents Gandhi the super being that no one can relate to. I found this far too sentimental and manipulative for my liking, but it ended up getting high marls because it moved along rather fast, was engaging and Ben Kingsley really nailed the look and physicality of the role.

Do The Right Thing (1989)
I have no problem with the ending, unlike a lot of people. I thought Lee did a well enough job of highlighting racial issues, although the absence of drugs in the landscape was very false. Still, for as colorful and splashy as the visual style was I felt it also left a lot to be desired. Too many characters and none of them are ever given enough time to develop, so the story never matches up to the themes. When Sal and his sons end up more developed than every "minority" character in a movie about race then I think Lee misfired along the way. Great music though, Public Enemy are still awesome, although playing Flava's 911 Is A Joke when the police arrive would have been choice.

 

[Alluveal]

Cat People is awesome. Good, cheesey, early 80's awesome goodness.

 

[GKarsEye]

Do The Right Thing (1989)
I have no problem with the ending, unlike a lot of people. I thought Lee did a well enough job of highlighting racial issues, although the absence of drugs in the landscape was very false. Still, for as colorful and splashy as the visual style was I felt it also left a lot to be desired. Too many characters and none of them are ever given enough time to develop, so the story never matches up to the themes. When Sal and his sons end up more developed than every "minority" character in a movie about race then I think Lee misfired along the way. Great music though, Public Enemy are still awesome, although playing Flava's 911 Is A Joke when the police arrive would have been choice.

I recommend finding a copy of the Criterion edition of this movie. I'm usually not one for extras, but given the impact this film had in pop culture and making Lee the icon he'd become, it's a movie worth looking into- how it was made, the reaction, etc. Lee addresses the criticism that drugs were not shown (basically he felt it was condescending to HAVE to show drugs with EVERY depiction of urban life, as if that's all there was to it. Not every can be about everything and the focus of DtRT was community).

I also disagree that the black characters weren't as developed. Lee's character was- the problem was Lee's acting. His gf and sister were as well. Those three, along with Ayelo's character, are the core of the story and therefore the most layered, while everybody represents embodies a characteristic of the neighborhood. So you get this mix of "real" people and slightly exaggerated archetypes.

I personally enjoy his very early movies- raw, jagged, amateurish, like DtRT and School Daze (his first and a really great film) over his later slick major productions.

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Meanwhile, I watched A Clockwork Orange for the first time.

I'm fucked up for life.

Next time you watch it, prop your eyes open with toothpicks...

 

[Jade Jaguar]

I also prefered McDowell in The Cat People when we was eyeing up his sister. Not sure what that says about me. That is one of my favoruite 70's horror / weird films.

Although Cat People isn't in the same class with A Clockwork Orange, I still think it is great, and vastly underrated. True, Natassia Kinski is hot, But I think Annette O'Toole is WAY hotter. But, I have a thing for red hair...

 

[darth_librarian]

The films are obviously leagues apart artistically and influentailly. i just liked the Cat People for its overt weirdness. Did not realise it was made in 1982 though.

 

[GKarsEye]

I watched Olver's Stone 'W' recently.

I was really expecting to enjoy it. Of course w/ Stone I was expecting something kooky, wild exaggerations, simplistic character studies, delivered with high stylization and oodles of camp. Then I heard that he took a somewhat sympathetic perspective towards Bush as a person and figured well that might be fun, too.

Instead, what I saw was a pointless, easy collection of famous Bush quotes and moments presented in out-of-context collage form and a bunch of impersonations of various effectiveness. It was basically if you take our charicatures of these people and film them, you have this movie, and it wasn't done with enough style to make it interesting.

 

[darth_librarian]

Infamous (2006)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0420609/

The other Capote movie, (the other one being Capote) that never got as much coverage. This one felt more like a traditional movie, the other felt more like acted out reportage. I also thought Toby Jones's performance was better than Hoffman's, although his was more extrovert and possibly more of a charicature. Was more sympathetic to Capote and the two killers, with great turn from Daniel Craig as Perry. Sandra Bullock was rather good as Harper Lee. She is quite underrated, and I still have a thing for her.

My other half is a massive Capote nut, and has read In Cold Blood about 20 times, not to mention numberous essays.

 

[Alluveal]

Although Cat People isn't in the same class with A Clockwork Orange, I still think it is great, and vastly underrated. True, Natassia Kinski is hot, But I think Annette O'Toole is WAY hotter. But, I have a thing for red hair...

She is hot. When I started watching Smallville, I went "Doh! It's Annette O'Toole. Yesssss." Then I realized she was married to Bo Duke. In the end, that was ok too because he actually was pretty good in that role.

 

[Cell]

As usual full reviews can be found at,

Bill's Movie Emporium
http://billsmovieemporium.wordpress.com/

Fanny Och Alexander (1982)
To start, the only real problem I had with Fanny Och Alexander was that it is obvious that it has been edited down from the TV mini-series, because there are moments and scenes that are clearly missing. Outside of that, a great Bergman picture. I'm not willing to call it his best, because i don't think much separates his top work. This is much more accessible than his earlier work, and while it still meditates on life and involves the supernatural, it also has a much more conventional narrative. The final theatrical film of a great director.

True Romance (Director's Cut) (1993)
It's no secret that I am not a Tarantino fan , and like most I find Scott passable at best. For those reasons I was surprised to love True Romance as much as I did. It's a fun fantasy tale, with great dialogue and over the top nature that works and a really nice cast. The blood flows, Gary Oldman tries to steal the show, just an overall great, energetic experience.

Dark City (Director's Cut) (1998)
I'm a huge sci-fi fan, but I generally find the dystopia based stories hit or miss. Dark City is definitely in the hit category, as I found every facet of this film pretty great and a far superior version of many of its followers. A tremendous look, I liked the effects, Sewell and Connelly were great like usual, and a film that made you think, even after the supposedly happy ending.

Hôhokekyo Tonari No Yamada-kun (1999)
Tremendous fun, but not in a slapstick sort of way, although there is a lot of slapstick humor. This was a heartfelt and cheerful film, that had its tender moments but always kept an air of sweetness and comedy about it. Isao Takahata is a great filmmaker, and this is but another entry in his diverse collection of films.

Jigokumon (1953)
Some really bad acting in this one, especially from Machiko Kyo who is usually stellar. All the battle scenes were far too chaotic and you never had any idea what was going on or who was who. The story itself was okay, but not all that deep and pretty standard stuff.

Rebecca (1940)
All the typical Hitchcock flair is present, although he is more reserved with his camera work. But, Hitchcock left two important things behind, emotion and humor. Because of the omission of any humor and emotion Rebecca ends up feeling more mechanical than anything else. I could tell a fine movie was being made, but it never gave me any reason to acre, if I'm making any sense.

My Left Foot: The True Story Of Christy Brown (1989)
For the most part this avoids the typical biopic pitfalls, although it does veer towards forced sentimentality on a few occasions. But, it remains a great movie because of the great performances of the cast as a whole, the much known stellar job by Daniel Day-Lewis and the never given enough credit portrayal of young Christy by Hugh O'Conor.

Anatomy Of A Murder (1959)
It's Jimmy Stewart letting loose in court, opposed by George C. Scott, that's more than enough right there. But, outside of a few lulls in the story, Anatomy is the best deconstruction of what the judicial system is all about ever put to screen. It's why lawyers need their egos and why star power in the court room matters more than the truth, brilliant material.

La Battaglia Di Algei (1966)
When watching this I was initially impressed with what was being shown to me. The raw, documentary style is always impressive and Battaglia ends up a finely crafted film, but it took a stance and ended up being too uneven in its want to support that stance. The actions of the French are always played so as too be terrible atrocious acts, but when the FLN commit atrocities of their own they are played silently and with no emotion in an attempt to get us not to associate the FLN with the deaths and to rally in their cause against the French. This started off great, but it ended up very uneven.

Hook (1991)
There is so much that is wrong with this film, yet I still had a lot of fun with it. That's really all it comes down to with me, despite its many flaws I had a lot of fun and enjoyed it more than enough to make up for its many faults.

Dracula (1992)
So yeah, Coppola is big on romance, and illicit sex and lush scenery and whimsical ideas. Not so much on the story, or actually giving me a Dracula I want to see or a John Harkens that doesn't sound like a surfer dude with a German accent in his attempt to sound British. I liked a lot of this film, but I have a feeling that was more due to my general "I heart you" feelings towards the entire Dracula mythos. Hey, it's Tom Waits, he's just as insane as I thought he would be, and oh my, Ms. Bellucci you can turn me into a vampire any day of the week!

Burakku Jakku (1996)
I liked the idea of the medical mystery, but it slowly loses steam as the movie devolves into a bland action film with cheesiness and shoot outs galore. I also wasn't a huge fan of the still style animation and the character of Black Jack was way too underdeveloped. Still, I did enjoy the first thirty or so minutes.

 

[Cell]

As usual, full reviews can be found at,

Bill's Movie Emporium
http://billsmovieemporium.wordpress.com/

Jumanji (1995)
This movie was a lot of fun, that's what it came down to for me. I enjoyed where they went with the story, the fact that it was really out there didn't bother me at all, i enjoyed the action, the humor and had a good time watching it.

Boogie Nights (1997)
My favorite PT Anderson and the best of his works that I have seen, I have yet to see Punch-Drunk Love. The only problem I had in the film was Hollywood's inability to film fellatio scenes that don't come across as comical, but other than that it was crafted tremendously well. I've always felt Anderson's greatest achievement was convincing the rest of Hollywood that Marky Mark could actually act.

Sophie Scholl - Die Letzten Tage (2005)
A bit too on the nose, and it loses itself when it decides to go for heavy dramatics near the end. But, I thought the initial interrogation scenes were gripping and well done while the laid back matter of fact non-drama style employed for the majority of the film worked for me.

The Graduate (1967)
I will never get the love for this film. It wasn't funny, it didn't speak to me, nor did it speak to any child of the 60's who I have known through the years. This rang really false to me, with underdeveloped and dead to life characters everywhere, and the only character who actually wants to experience life is punished for it. Not a good film, yet somehow people still keep on loving it.

Pinocchio (1940)
As much as I did like Pinocchio, it never felt like a whole movie to me. Compared to say, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, this was a lesser picture for its inability to come together as one cohesive film. Still, it has individual set pieces that are as great as anything you'll find on other animated adventures. So, despite the fractured nature of the story I still liked this a lot.

Gone With The Wind (1939)
Like most epics, this has moments where it works and moments where it doesn't. Of course the obvious rug sweeping of the racial issues is a knock against it, as is the final hour of the film where it drags on and becomes a completely different film than the first three hours. Still, it looked gorgeous, has tremendous set design and cinematography and was engaging for the first couple of hours.

Les Quatre Cents Coups (1959)
I was underwhelmed by my experience with Jules Et Jim, so when finally delving back into the work of François Truffaut I gave this one a go. Smart decision on my part, because the only word I can think of to describe Les Quatre Cents Coups is breathtaking. It's raw and real, but it's never heavy handed or on the nose. It makes you believe in the disenfranchisement of Antoine and the French youth around this period, and it has moments of true joy. The ending may be the bets part, because it perfectly leaves everything in your own hands, what happens to Antoine next is up to you. Of course the character would return again, but that doesn't affect the singular experience of this film.

Chinatown (1974)
I loved the way this played with noir conventions, such as the character of Jake who is just like every noir detective, but not like them at all, if that makes any sense. The dialogue was different, because a lot of what would have been implied in the 40's was shown on screen, so now it had to be slick in other areas and make other implications. My only real reserve is that at times I thought it was bathed in too much light, as that was the one subversion of the genre that I didn't fully get behind.

Doctor Zhivago (1965)
This looks pretty, with amazing visuals, the ice house is one of the best set designs I have ever seen. Outside of that it's a whole lot of fluff and nonsense, but it sure does look amazing.

American Beauty (1999)
I really do love this film. I know a lot of people for some reason have turned on it over the years, but I'm the opposite, as time has gone by I like it more and more. Kevin Spacey is amazing, Annette Benning acts again, Chris Cooper is his usual great self and I loved the mixture of storytelling styles. I had no problems at all with this film, especially since I didn't find it heavy handed or cliche like most.

Rocky (1976)
An inspirational tale, and a well constructed tale at that. I had serious problems with the boxing scenes, morseo the training ones than the fights themselves, because of how unrealistic they were. But, that was really my only major problem with the film, otherwise I felt this worked fine as the inspirational sports tale that would become the standard for almost every sports movie to come.

 

[Alluveal]

I've always been an American Beauty fan. I'll never forget the first time I saw it in the theater. My heart was pounding by the end. It was relentless and perfect (insofar as a movie, imho.)

 

[Jade Jaguar]

Cell, glad you liked The 400 Blows, it is one of my favorites. It blew me away the first time I saw it. I think I was 20 then.

I think you are spot on about Dr. Zhivago. I would just add that Julie Christie can't act, but probably comes closer to acting in this film than any other.

I'm somewhat harsher on Gone With The Wind. I think it is perhaps the most over-rated film of all time. It is Over-wrought, ludicrous, and often unintentionally funny. Okay, the burning of Atlanta looks good, for the day.

Where I have to disagree is on The Graduate. I graduated from HS in 1966, and it certainly spoke to me, and many of my friends. It was about how the "establishment" had your life all laid out for you, and was as seductive, and transitory, as Mrs. Robinson's come-on. I suggest you listen to Frank Zappa's Freak Out album to understand the double meaning of "plastics..."

 

[GKarsEye]

I don't care how corny this makes me look, but where other people put Citizen Kane and Chinatown and The Godfather in their pantheons of movie greats, I put Rocky. It hits me in an emotional way like some dramas and romances hit women. Just a perfect, perfect movie, so good it excuses most of the nonsense Stallone did later on.