A few films recently watched.

  zaphod said:

  JohnTqs said:

you're saying no country sucks?

 

i think it's well crafted but empty and ultimately pointless.

Nihilistic for sure but empty and pointless, I disagree with. Did you like Millers Crossing, Zaphod?

Beatfanatic, I can't stand Ellen Page either.

Chinatown - 9/10

The Last Detail - 8/10

on a Nicholson kick, apparently

  zaphod said:

yeah my mom is pretty mental.

my sister only dates white guys apparently. it's like one of two extremes, they're either the san francisco bratty asian girl who only goes with white nerds or the super Asian girl who will only date guys who are specifically from her cultural background. i've personally dated a half japanese girl, who had major issues, and then a full blooded japanese chick who was just batshit insane. i feel bad for guys with yellow fever.

define insane. What did she do to seem insane?

  Mr Salads said:

  Awepittance said:

  Adjective said:

  Mr Salads said:

Surveillance - 10/10

 

Jennifer Lynch (daughter of David Lynch) makes a movie that is more fucked up and depraved than I ever thought possible. I saw Boxing Helena and found it creepy, but it was very predictable. This movie on the other hand is just something I expected to be totally bored with and was very surprised. It really did my head in.

 

been curious about that one, they were advertising the hell out of it on HDNET

was supposed to air on there soon / recently

 

i thought it was pretty average, with the 'surprise' ending being below a shamaylan level of cleverness

see my semi review previously in this thread

 

lol, pretty average. I dont get how you can say that considering I dont really know of any other movies quite like it. It gets really fucking evil at the end, bill pullman is absolutely crazy in it. Paste your review I dont want to hunt for it.

 

Nothing shyamalan ish about the ending either. Theres no "aha!" moment to it you just slowly realize it. Its good. Not even clever necessarily, just good structure.

  Quote

i just saw Surveillance a movie directed by the daughter of David Lynch. I saw Boxing Helena and thought it was terible (her other film) so i thought i would give her a chance again. This movie was better in a lot of ways, Bill Pullman played a character that was strangely and uncannily acting like David Lynch himself in some scenes. Overall not a terrible film but fell victim to the cheesy surprise endings (SAW, identity, Secret Window) all horror/thrillers seem to have these days.

  Awepittance said:

  Mr Salads said:

  Awepittance said:

  Adjective said:

  Mr Salads said:

Surveillance - 10/10

 

Jennifer Lynch (daughter of David Lynch) makes a movie that is more fucked up and depraved than I ever thought possible. I saw Boxing Helena and found it creepy, but it was very predictable. This movie on the other hand is just something I expected to be totally bored with and was very surprised. It really did my head in.

 

been curious about that one, they were advertising the hell out of it on HDNET

was supposed to air on there soon / recently

 

i thought it was pretty average, with the 'surprise' ending being below a shamaylan level of cleverness

see my semi review previously in this thread

 

lol, pretty average. I dont get how you can say that considering I dont really know of any other movies quite like it. It gets really fucking evil at the end, bill pullman is absolutely crazy in it. Paste your review I dont want to hunt for it.

 

Nothing shyamalan ish about the ending either. Theres no "aha!" moment to it you just slowly realize it. Its good. Not even clever necessarily, just good structure.

 

  Quote

i just saw Surveillance a movie directed by the daughter of David Lynch. I saw Boxing Helena and thought it was terible (her other film) so i thought i would give her a chance again. This movie was better in a lot of ways, Bill Pullman played a character that was strangely and uncannily acting like David Lynch himself in some scenes. Overall not a terrible film but fell victim to the cheesy surprise endings (SAW, identity, Secret Window) all horror/thrillers seem to have these days.

There is nothing comparable about this film to those films in any way, whatsoever.

  Mr Salads said:

There is nothing comparable about this film to those films in any way, whatsoever.

come on thats not true and you know it, i don't want to spoil exactly why you are not speaking the truth because then i would ruin the movie for someone who hasn't seen it yet

  Awepittance said:

  Mr Salads said:

There is nothing comparable about this film to those films in any way, whatsoever.

 

come on thats not true and you know it, i don't want to spoil exactly why you are not speaking the truth because then i would ruin the movie for someone who hasn't seen it yet

Speak to me in the darkness

JCVD -

I wasn't entirely clear how the self-reflexive component of JCVD was going to play out. I read some of the scattered reviews around WATMM and other internet forums, but I couldn't remember anything specific.

What I liked so much about JCVD is how well it showcases the actor's humble charms. This project was a bizarre gamble and I think the filmmaker was *barely* crafty enough to pull it off. It was a mess, after all, but a pretty remarkable one if only for the 6.5 minute continuous shot confessional.

I can remember seeing Van Damme on talk shows when I was in my teens. He was always very likable, gracious, funny, and self-effacing. JCVD should, if there's any justice, give Van Damme another crack at Hollywood stardom, but it will take the likes of a Tarantino or Aranofsky to make that happen. So don't count on it, because those are slim odds.

...and holy fucking shit, I'm so gay for Van Damme. Can you imagine being that ripped in your late 40's? Good lord. he's only a couple years younger than Mickey Rourke! lol

Waltz With Bashir

Review:

:ermm: :dizzy: :pinch: :undecided: :sick: :cry2:

public enemies

it was humid and looked it was going to rain all day so i drove down to the local shitty multiplex and saw that this was out. hadn't seen a preview or anything, just knew it was michael mann. first, this thing is all digital video, and it looks fucking weird most of the time, gorgeous at other points. the action sequences look like something from a bbc tv movie, crystal clear and hyperreal looking, and movement looks sped up because it's so clearly captured. it's a weird criticism and might not make a lot of sense, but it bothers me. maybe i'll get over this kind of thing as dv like this becomes the norm, and there's certainly potential for really beautiful shots, especially during night sequences.

the bigger issue is simply: why did you bother, michael mann? it's like you've been working toward some kind of critical mass of indifference with each successive movie. i didn't care about anyone in the film, i didn't know anything about dillinger's motivations. it was like an abstract version of heat without any of the operatic intensity of that movie. just one giant two and half hour "meh". moderately entertaining and certainly well made, but soulless.

7/10

Crash Dive - a dumb patriotic WW2 film from 1943. Very enjoyable, probably highly unrealistic portrayal of life on a submarine with slightly dodgy racial elements and lots of men. Lots of men indeed. Would have persuaded me to join the navy if I didn't already want to - I think that was this film's main intention anyway.

  On 7/1/2009 at 11:50 PM, Iain C said:

[content missing] lots of men. Lots of men indeed. Would have persuaded me to join the navy if I didn't already want to [content missing]

  On 7/1/2009 at 11:42 PM, zaphod said:

public enemies

 

it was humid and looked it was going to rain all day so i drove down to the local shitty multiplex and saw that this was out. hadn't seen a preview or anything, just knew it was michael mann. first, this thing is all digital video, and it looks fucking weird most of the time, gorgeous at other points. the action sequences look like something from a bbc tv movie, crystal clear and hyperreal looking, and movement looks sped up because it's so clearly captured. it's a weird criticism and might not make a lot of sense, but it bothers me. maybe i'll get over this kind of thing as dv like this becomes the norm, and there's certainly potential for really beautiful shots, especially during night sequences.

the bigger issue is simply: why did you bother, michael mann? it's like you've been working toward some kind of critical mass of indifference with each successive movie. i didn't care about anyone in the film, i didn't know anything about dillinger's motivations. it was like an abstract version of heat without any of the operatic intensity of that movie. just one giant two and half hour "meh". moderately entertaining and certainly well made, but soulless.

7/10

Miami Vice was a vapid affair too. Looked really sweet, the night stuff was well executed. I understood why it was interesting to him to try and take that look into a "period" movie. That idea sounds cool to me. Apparently the result is basically like all the rest of his recent movies. Barring Collateral I cant think of any movie of his I really enjoyed after Heat.

Michael Mann needs to remake The Keep

  On 7/2/2009 at 6:00 AM, Adjective said:

Michael Mann needs to remake The Keep

what's wrong with the old one?

(i have the laserdisc rip btw, just sayin)

i don't know, i couldn't sit through it. it was a while back when i saw it and it left zero impression on me, i can't even remember anything to criticize. it was a vhs rip though, it might suck me in more if i could see what was going on. i just remember thinking the plot sounded awesome and then putting it on... fast forwarding ... skipping.. turning it off.

  On 7/2/2009 at 6:09 AM, Adjective said:

i don't know, i couldn't sit through it. it was a while back when i saw it and it left zero impression on me, i can't even remember anything to criticize. it was a vhs rip though, it might suck me in more if i could see what was going on. i just remember thinking the plot sounded awesome and then putting it on... fast forwarding ... skipping.. turning it off.

yeah i was joking, it's awful.

it's awesome if you treat it simply as a visual and audio "experience" rather than a film though. you would have missed out on a lot with the lo fi sound/picture.

i'm having a film night at my place soon and we're showing The Keep and Exorcist II in a "films that look and sound great but are shit" double feature

alien 10/10

aliens 11/10

i just watched Alien³ the other day, it's become my favorite.

each one feels so different and they are all good*. the 3-pack dvd set at best buy for $20 was one of my greatest investments, ever.

*except everyone after the 3rd

alien 3 is underrated

i like when charles s dutton goes hand to hand with the xenomorph at the end

it's not charles s dutton, it's Roc, forever.

whenever they dump the bodies into the forge and Roc starts that speech and they cut back and forth between the speech and the birth of the alien.. i almost tear up.

Toy Story: 9/10

oh that alien birth is so gross. where all the shit slides across the floor from the dog's stomach. blech. awesome movie.

i also love when the guy is singing "in the year 2525" in front of that giant fan.

seven pounds:

figured out the ending a few minutes into the film. oops. after that, it just kind of dragged on. and the plot has some serious holes. not terrible, but not good.

  On 7/2/2009 at 2:28 AM, Mr Salads said:

Miami Vice was a vapid affair too. Looked really sweet, the night stuff was well executed. I understood why it was interesting to him to try and take that look into a "period" movie. That idea sounds cool to me. Apparently the result is basically like all the rest of his recent movies. Barring Collateral I cant think of any movie of his I really enjoyed after Heat.

  On 7/3/2009 at 10:00 AM, Glitchy said:

you didnt like Ali? I think thats my favourite of his. Havent watched Heat since it came out though.

Yea I liked Ali. I saw it at the theater and remember enjoying it quite a bit. i own it actually.