A few films recently watched.

I work night shifts, and I recently I've been on a Hitchcock binge, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, Vertigo, Psycho.

All amazing, think strangers on a train is my favorite so far.

 

Tonight/this mornings film is North by Northwest.

We Own the Night - 7.5 Joaquins/10. Wahlberg was decent, nice and understated for the most part so he didn't really get in the way. Really enjoye dthe first half of the film, where the story was dynamic and the characters were actual people. After the turning point it became just a tad cliched. Definitely worth a watch though. As a bonus, the score is really nice.

Irma Vep - 8.5/10

 

Maggie Cheung in latex. But yeah, added to that a very decent watch.

  On 7/4/2012 at 9:47 AM, Blue Peter Cheat said:

Maggie Cheung in latex.

 

yes please.

  On 7/4/2012 at 4:57 AM, phick123 said:

Tonight/this mornings film is North by Northwest.

 

i think this is the funniest hitchcock movie. like, it's not a comedy, but cary grant is really outdoing himself here. even if the movie gets a bit boring near the end.

c'mon Return to Oz freakiness!!!!

watched the 2010 Godard film "Film Socialisme" 2 times over the past 2 nights. instant favorite. I must see more Godard, with more interest on his experimental efforts.

  On 7/4/2012 at 10:22 PM, Atop said:

c'mon Return to Oz freakiness!!!!

They really did it. wow. FUCK YOU DISNEY. they just can't leave well enough alone can they.

no they can't. I am expecting Alice in Wonderland part 2: The Nightmare Continues.

  On 7/4/2012 at 10:40 PM, Atop said:

no they can't. I am expecting Alice in Wonderland part 2: The Nightmare Continues.

lol, no doubt its already in post-production

with Sam Raimi behind it and not Tim Burton there is a glimmer of hope.

  On 7/4/2012 at 10:55 PM, Atop said:

with Sam Raimi behind it and not Tim Burton there is a glimmer of hope.

i sure hope this is a joke and you mean that Raimi sucks ass and Tim Burton is a great director.

no, I mean fuck Tim Burton.

I have rewatched A Clockwork Orange yesterday. I have only seen it about 3 or 4 times, but my opinion of it has already progressed from astonishment and admiration to contempt and shame.

I have always admired the aesthetics of it, the way Kubrick achieved a really uncomfortable feeling to all of it, at least for me it is the only movie that makes me feel physically uncomfortable from begining to end, not only because of the characters, but mainly because of how they are dressed, where they live, where they walk. The way space is occupied and portrayed. Just think of all the unexpected, almost randomly chosen, textures and colors of the walls, the clothes, the way rooms are filmed, because we rarely get a glimpse of what's beyond the interiors, the relation between inside/outside is not revealed. For instance on The Shining the director's office is in a position within the building that doesn't allow any window to the outside, but in every scene filmed in the room you can see a window that brings quite a shiny sun to the inside. These disorientation in space, its transformation in a kind of puzzle-like challenge you need to decode besides everything else in the film, is a theme i have always particularly loved about Kubrick's work.

The music is another brilliant achievement on the film, and it actually took me all these viewings to think about it properly, and to consider the options. The use of classical music makes up for and instant idea of timelessness. This way it simply gets harder to place the story at any time. It also reinforces the satire, and i actually laugh my ass off always that the old Ludwig Van starts playing. The synthesizer passages on the other hand create a strong tension in the storytelling, and the contrast between these opposite choices of music really give the film it's cold feeling.

I despise everything that is beyond the aesthetics though, and that's my problem with the film. What do you find besides images: free ultraviolence, women hated, raped, disrespected, turned into table-like sculptures and milk gushing machines, nonsense followed by nonsense and so on.

There is no way i can accept the argument that its value resides on Kubrick achieving a cold, raw and impersonal perspective on the violent side of human beings. There is plenty of this outside already, there is no need for a film to show us, even though it looks wonderful and catchy. There is no background information on how all these people got to be so bad to others, which for me is far more important than the whole question of humans being able to chose between the good or bad. I have always felt distant from every character and everything else about the movie throughout the whole time. I can't relate to anything about it as a movie. The tendency towards violence against women for instance, seemed completely arbitrary and pointless, considering that no cultural, political or economical background is provided to us.

 

I find it relevant in two ways though: it can be a great starting point for the old discussion about l'art pour l'art, and the autonomization of the aesthetics and it can provide a good scientific experience, in which a person is submited to its viewing (exactly in the same conditions as Alex was submited to the film torture) the brain being analysed in realtime and after, to determine how that person reacted to everything. In a way it can be a test to one's reaction against violence. I kept thinking this while watching it because i was wondering how some of my friends would react to it, and which side they would take.

 

  On 7/4/2012 at 10:22 PM, Atop said:

c'mon Return to Oz freakiness!!!!

 

i have rewatched it this week and it is so perfect after all these decades! i keep losing my hope on cinema at an alarming rate these days. There is no way these people can mess with legacy so easily

Edited July 4, 2012 by ruiagnelo

I really hate the original and somehow enjoy watching return to oz. there must be something wrong with me.

  On 7/4/2012 at 11:07 PM, Atop said:

no, I mean fuck Tim Burton.

then im sorry but we cant be friends then. Tim Burton is a fucking genius. Other than a couple of his earlier films Raimi is horrible. Spiderman, Sucked. 1 is just watchable the other two, awful. Drag me to Hell, don't get me started. granted Tim Burtons Charlie and the Chocolate factory sucked and so did Alice. but he has more good movies than raimi has even directed.

name one.

yes, name one.

 

Sure, Sam Raimi has made some shit films, Drag Me to Hell not being one of them...

 

you apparently didn't get the film. 50% Horror 50% Comedy.

 

But even in his shit films there are still great qualities. B films are fun to watch.

 

Tim Burton's films are awash with his cum driven aesthetic nightmares.

 

Yes, I enjoyed his films in the 80's. I was a child then.

 

Now it is a different story. With exceptions like Beetlejuice and Pee Wee's Big Adventure, still both have many flaws.

 

Anyhow fuck Tim Burton....Sam Raimi is much more awesome. I enjoyed Spider Man 2. Fuck part 3 though, one of the worst film experiences I will ever have in a theatre.

 

Nothing will compare to my hatred of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory. One of my top three worst film experiences.

name one good Tim Burton film? K. Beetlejuice, Pee-wee, Batman, Edward scissor hands, Nightmare before Christmas, and Sweeney Todd. there's 6. All of them are great films. just cause you don't like them doesn't mean they're bad movies.

 

i do agree though with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. that movie was fucking horrible.

batman 2

ed wood, guys. ed wood.

ed wood is an acceptable answer.

 

 

I agree with liking the other ones. Some of them, but I do like more Sam Raimi films than I do Burton films.

 

 

Yes we are all allowed to our own opinions.

 

 

AMURUCUH FUCK YEAH!

  On 7/5/2012 at 1:43 AM, Atop said:

ed wood is an acceptable answer.

 

 

I agree with liking the other ones. Some of them, but I do like more Sam Raimi films than I do Burton films.

 

 

Yes we are all allowed to our own opinions.

 

 

AMURUCUH FUCK YEAH!

yeah, its fine for you to like him better than Burton. and i love The Evil dead movies by the way. but let me present you with this. Oz is a musical. and to my knowledge Raimi doesn't have any experience in that field. while Burton does. even if you don't like him, wouldn't you rather someone who has experience in that area? (its a Disney movie so i'd figure it have music this time around) on top of that the movie is supposed to be dark and depressing. not funny. once again not Raimi's field. Edited July 5, 2012 by Frankie5fingers

Beyond the Black Rainbow.

 

Crazy movie. Love the music and cinematography. Super trippy stuff.

 

8/10.

yes very trippy. I can overlook the lack of story for this lies within pure nightmarish moments surrounded by awkward ones, making it very dream like.

 

 

I had no idea that this Oz is going to be a musical.

 

I am out.

 

Raimi vs Burton vs MUSICAL = I will no longer be giving two shits about this Disney garbage.

 

Alas poor Baum.

 

So many fantasy writers getting shit on by Disney lately.

 

That is truly evil.

 

But they have been doing that for years.

 

Miyazaki is still keeping it real.

 

I haven't seen Brave yet but for the most part Pixar is usually awesome.

 

Disney will destroy them as well in the end.

 

Disney gets what Disney wants.

 

VURLD DOMINASHUN!