Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 7, 2006 4:25:04 GMT
Prime Cut(1972/Michael Ritchie) [First Viewing] A mob enforcer travels to Kansas City to help settle the debt of a cattle rancher.Sleazy and dated, but so enjoyable and well made that you can't help but enjoy yourself. Lee Marvin is great as his usual tough guy self, and Gene Hackman is in rare form as the colorful gut-eating villain. The final fight sequence within the sunflower field is just beautiful.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 7, 2006 12:50:58 GMT
I have Prime Cut back home. I return a week tomorrow for Christmas.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 7, 2006 13:45:57 GMT
Sedotta e abbandonata Seduced and Abandoned Pietro Germi 1964 Italy 1st time; DVD In 1950s Sicily, a father of five's honour comes under threat when he finds out one of his daughters has lost her virginity to her sister's fiancé. This begins with a dramatic revelation and then, for the next two hours, concentrates on the desperation of its aftermath and consequences. It's a brilliant film, excessive and exhaustive, and often rather funny; Germi shows a fierce confidence in his writing, and admirable control of cinematic form. Highly stylised stuff, it's visually exciting and superbly edited... He knows when to cut and what to, and the shot-to-shot relations between the end of one scene and the beginning of the next (such as doors closing and opening, or dialogue mirrored across different spaces in time) creates a sustained energy and tension, of events spiralling into one another. Seemingly, a massive influence on The Sopranos - there's a moment where a rumour escalates into scandal around town, which might have consciously been echoed in season five of the show, when rumous fly regarding Tony and Adriana's possible fling.This is available on Criterion DVD, so add it to your Netflix queues as soon as.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 7, 2006 15:30:52 GMT
I have Prime Cut back home. I return a week tomorrow for Christmas. Well, considering you love Hackman, I'd give it a watch. I'd love to hear your opinion on it.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Dec 7, 2006 20:51:59 GMT
Trop belle pour toi Too Beautiful for You Bertrand Blier 1989 France 1st time; 1 sitting [/color] Fantastic, fantastic film. Pretty much like a modern day adaptation of Last Year at Marienbad, although it does more with varying locations and includes more characters, more humor, and more music, and dabbles slightly more in a recognizable reality. In the vein of Marienbad, Blier experiments with characters acknowledging their own futures, verbalizing their own internal thoughts, as well as those of others, and moving in and out of various settings and time periods with little regard for the diegetic reality. Numerous instances of breaking the 4th wall, both for comedic and dramatic effect, the best classical soundtrack since 2001, and some great late 80's cinematography and set pieces all collectively make this perhaps one of the best films of that decade. The production values threw me off the fact that this film is relatively obscure. Also worthy of note, for whatever reason, I had the strange sensation while watching that this film reminded me of itself, so to speak. A sort of instant deja vu.[/quote] BTW, Capo, I think you'd really like this.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Dec 7, 2006 21:18:34 GMT
Geri's Game Jan Pinkava 1997 US [/size] 2nd time; 1 sitting Geri plays a game of chess in the park. With himself.[/color] Early Pixar animation, and a great display of what they can really do. We actually had a pretty legnthy discussion in my film class about how this seemingly innocent short has some fairly complex things going on with intertwining realistic and imaginary narratives and whatnot. Won the Oscar for animated short back in 97. Worth a look if you get a chance. La Passion de Jeanne d'Arc The Passion of Joan of Arc Carl Dreyer 1928 France[/color][/size] 1st time; 1 sitting The sufferings of a martyr, Jeanne D'Arc, from her trial to her execution[/color] Really surprised me again, I thought it'd be shot something like the dissappointing Tokyo Story or The Rules of the Game, but it was more like a Battleship Potemkin. TSP's list continues to confound me. A little bit repetitive for me, and the championed Falconetti performance wasn't much to speak of, but Dreyer's talent was clearly evident in my first film from him. Sadly, I feel as though I wouldn't like the film nearly as much if it weren't for the retroactively added, powerful musical score.
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Post by Valenti on Dec 8, 2006 20:35:16 GMT
Mulholland Dr. Now I really NEED to see more of Lynch's stuff. Blue Velvet, Lost Highway...I hope my local Suncoast carries them.
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Post by Vercetti on Dec 9, 2006 5:22:49 GMT
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 9, 2006 6:34:14 GMT
Beerfest(2006/Jay Chandrasekhar) [First Viewing] After being humiliated by distant relatives, two American brothers form a beer drinking team to compete in Germany's secret Beerfest.My plot summary might be longer than my comments. Silly, bizarre, and just plain dumb comedy throughout, but there's a certain type of absurdity here that you hardly see in mainstream comedies these days. Maybe it's the camaraderie of the cast.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 9, 2006 19:42:25 GMT
The Limey(1999/Steven Soderbergh) [First Viewing] A British ex-con comes to the United States to avenge the death of his daughter.Provocative and moody crime thriller, inspired very much by John Boorman's "Point Blank", as well as many other films from that era. Soderbergh makes great use of California locations, and provides the film with an interesting and subtle tone, as well as a great soundtrack and score. Terence Stamp is phenomenal.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Dec 9, 2006 23:30:44 GMT
Glad you liked it. I'm beginning to feel more and more than Soderbergh is really THE director of the modern era. Yes, he's had his missteps along the way, and The Good German isn't getting the best reviews, but he's definitely made some of the best films of the past decade or so, and he's established a pretty varied collection of styles across his different films. I still need to see most of his stuff from the 90's unfortunately. And you definitely hit the nail on the head with "subtle" in reference to The Limey. Definitely a very subdued and kind of methodical style as I remember it, much like it's main character. I love Soderbergh's use of the flashback at the end, which is actually a clip from an old Terence Stamp movie. Nice peaceful way to end a fairly violent story. Rashomon Akira Kurosawa 1950 Japan[/color] 1st time; 1 sitting[/color] My 2nd Kurosawa after Seven Samurai. I enjoyed this much more. Kurosawa utilizes a fairly non-traditional storytelling format and takes advantage of the fact that this is cinema, not literature, because as Robert Altman explains in his introduction to the film, we've come to assume as film viewers that seeing is believing. Kurosawa attacks this notion by telling and showing us the same story 3 times, 3 different ways. I liked seeing all the familiar faces from Samurai, and the discussion segments in the Rashomon temple were well done. The ending felt a little forced, but overall, pretty good.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 9, 2006 23:38:30 GMT
I'm beginning to feel more and more that Soderbergh is really THE director of the modern era. I still need to see most of his stuff from the 90's unfortunately. I desperately need to see KAKFA.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Dec 10, 2006 0:58:09 GMT
Rashomon Akira Kurosawa 1950 Japan [/color] 1st time; 1 sitting[/color] My 2nd Kurosawa after Seven Samurai. I enjoyed this much more. Kurosawa utilizes a fairly non-traditional storytelling format and takes advantage of the fact that this is cinema, not literature, because as Robert Altman explains in his introduction to the film, we've come to assume as film viewers that seeing is believing. Kurosawa attacks this notion by telling and showing us the same story 3 times, 3 different ways. I liked seeing all the familiar faces from Samurai, and the discussion segments in the Rashomon temple were well done. The ending felt a little forced, but overall, pretty good.[/quote] You should see Yimou Zhang's Hero, it's kind of a "remake" of Rashomon, or pays heavy homage to it at least. I actually think it's better, though.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 11, 2006 0:28:22 GMT
Picnic at Hanging Rock(1975/Peter Weir) [First Viewing] Three female students and a teacher disappear from a picnic in turn-of-the-century Australia.A strange, eerie, and generally unsettling experience. The film is extremely well photographed and accompanied with a beautiful classical score. Weir does a remarkable job at provoking such a unique atmosphere, and providing no real answers or solutions. Will no doubt reward on further re-watches. The Last Wave(1977/Peter Weir) [First Viewing] An Australian lawyer takes on a mysterious murder case, just as the weather begins to act strange.Similar to "Picnic at Hanging Rock" in tone, but it certainly lacks the mesmerizing quality of Weir's previous film, and is too murky to develop a lot of interest. By the time the possibly apocalyptic finale arrives, it's hard to find the strength to care. Gallipoli(1981/Peter Weir) [First Viewing] Two young cross country athletes from the Australian Outback enlist in World Was One.Weir's war film is beautifully photographed, well acted, etc. The screenplay is reminiscent of something from a Lean film. The film's one major flaw though, which keeps it from being the masterpiece that it should have been, is the unpleasantly cheesy 80's synthesized score which plays during any of the running sequence. If it wasn't for this, the film would be a four.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 11, 2006 2:24:34 GMT
I'm really interested in Weir. I didn't know he directed Gallipoli.
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Omar
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Post by Omar on Dec 11, 2006 3:12:52 GMT
I'm really interested in Weir. I didn't know he directed Gallipoli. As am I. This time, however, I'm not exploring his entire career, at the moment. Just little pieces. "Witness" should be here tomorrow, and "Fearless" later in the week.
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 11, 2006 18:20:44 GMT
I've tried to hold out on Proviewing films the past week or so. I only have three to catch up on, one being a short, but already I'm struggling to think of what to say. So I'm going back to my system of Proviewing as soon as I can after a viewing. Geri's Game Jan Pinkava 1997 US 1st time; YouTube An old man plays himself at Chess, almost loses, then has a "heart attack". Funny, gaining from a likeable old chap who outwits his own alter ego. It's got that usual Pixar feel, from the very beginning, with an accordion soundtrack and lovely to look at visuals. The sound of the chess pieces slamming on and scraping along the board is nice and crisp, too.Zidane, un portrait du 21e siècle Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait Douglas Gordon / Philippe Parreno 2005 France/Iceland 1st time; big screen April 23, 2005: Real Madrid take on Villareal at home in the Spanish football league; the cameras follow playmaker Zinedine Zidane for the entire match. That's the selling point, but it is slightly misleading: there is, now and then, a detracting, rather unnecessary cut-away to the empty corridors of the stadium while the match goes on, and it is often caught at the awkward mid-way point between concentrating on Zidane alone, and placing him in the context of the match itself - the original televised coverage is mixed in too, and POV shots are even attempted at one point, with cut-aways to the scoreboard edited into Zidane looking at it. So it's imbalanced to begin with, and the half-time interval, a newsreel of events which happened around the world on that day, tries to give it a sort of existential weight it probably already had anyway. But this is fascinating. It might help to follow football as a sport, but Zidane is treated very much like a Herzogian genius, enigmatic and brooding, so that the film is very much a character study of loneliness, of being under pressure as an athlete, of being in and out of a game as part of a team. Its best moments are those in which the filmmakers refrain from cutting and let the camera watch in long-shot as Zidane stands and watches the game, in his own world, his white jersey contrasting against the green pitch, and thousands of fans watching on behind him; Mogwai's soundtrack compliments these moments greatly. It's one of those experiences that you only remember in fragmented images and tones, with a very weird, lingering feel of wanting to see it again. [The screening I saw missed an integral part of the film, which is Zidane's actual voice-over, or running commentary, at points in the match. The subtitles were there still, but for whatever reason, be it projection, speakers or print, the version I saw was devoid.]Hard Candy David Slade 2005 US 1st time; DVD A 14-year-old girl meets up with a thirtysomething guy she met in an Internet chatroom, and, suspecting he is a paedophile, turns the tables on him. Daring, challenging, certainly interesting film which must be admired - perhaps seen - for deciding to tackle such a difficult subject by grabbing it by the balls. That is not to say, however, that it does it particularly well, and it is interesting to see the limitations of representing paedophilia in Film; it is drastically miscast, for starters, and the script early on is interesting but possibly in the wrong way: we're cheering for the bad guy, because not only is the kid extremely annoying, but her acting and the lines she has to play with are flat. The camera is often static and the framing symmetrical, with its middle-class suburban house allowing characters to be shot against block solid colours - red, grey, white, pink, and so on. Besides visual sumptuousness, it's nothing less than ludicrous when you're watching; but upon reflection, it is probably worth revisiting again.See the latter two films and get back to me. I'd love to re-edit Zidane, and I'd love to re-write Hard Candy.
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Boz
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Post by Boz on Dec 11, 2006 19:04:36 GMT
You brits and your crazy spelling decisions. The camera is often static ...I've seen this term used in reference to a few other films, most memorably Tokyo Story. What exactly is meant by this?
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Capo
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Post by Capo on Dec 11, 2006 20:43:19 GMT
Well, considering we pronounce paedophile "peed-o-file" and you guys pronounce it "peda-file", how come you don't pronounce encyclopaedia "en-sike-lo- ped-ee-ah? Don't bother answering; the question itself is enough to expose the deep contradictions on which your entire nation is founded. Static camera is unmoving. In this context it means a lot of thought has gone into framing and shot composition, because basically it takes more to hold the attention when the gaze is unchanging. In fact, visually, I was reminded of Soderbergh's Solaris.
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RNL
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Post by RNL on Dec 11, 2006 21:05:13 GMT
Mogwai's soundtrack to that movie is fantastic. I just downloaded it last week, along with the Fountain score, which I've vowed to not listen to until after I've seen the film.
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