General Movie Thread

[JustNicole]

I just saw Precious. Thank God there are 9 more hours left in the day for me to un-depress myself.  That being said, I thought it was very well made and the performances were outstanding. 

[Chris L]

I went to a theatrical screening of Bela Tarr's "Werckmeister Harmonies" last night. I was pretty excited for it, mostly because a close friend with impeccable taste has been hyping it to me for about two years. And just generally, I've been in the mood for apocalyptic Eastern European weirdness lately, so I figured this would really scratch my itch.

Unfortunately, I unwisely put myself into an, er, altered state before the screening, and the result turned out to be a super-intense, disorienting, horrifying nightmare. Which I guess is what Bela Tarr was going for with that one, but still, mmmaybe not the smartest thing I've ever done.  What little of it I can remember that I don't think was purely in my mind seems pretty interesting, though. I'll have to rent it soon and watch it with nothing stronger than herbal tea in my system.

So I guess the point of all this is: kids, make sure to keep it straight edge when you're dealing with ultra-minimalist, apocalyptic, Eastern Bloc dread-fests.  I'm going to try to go see "Fantastic Mr Fox" this week - hopefully that can undo most of the lingering psychic damage.

Except for the opening scene and the riot in the hospital I didn't care for Werckmeister Harmonies.  I don't think watching a character walk from the foreground ALL THE WAY into the distance constitutes much of an idea.  I REALLY liked Tarr's 7-hour SATANTANGO though.  The walking in that movie felt more important.  

I recently watched an odd-ish 50's b-movie called MURDER BY CONTRACT, which just came out as part of a new Film Noir boxset.  Vince Edwards plays a fledgling New York hitman and sociopath who really loosens up when he's flown out to Los Angeles to kill a female nightclub singer in witness protection (similar, I guess, to how Dexter seemed to really like Miami in the one episode I saw).  There's a weird psychology behind the whole movie and Edwards' obnoxious character in particular.  When he finds out his target is a woman he tries to charge his "contractor" double because women are "unreliable," and "never stand in one place."  He regales the two goons assigned to tail him with precious insights ("women are descended from the monkey, and the monkey is a very curious animal..."), and there's a scene where he chews out a room service waiter at length and basically acts like a total cock after the guy brings him a smudged coffee cup.  The film's most memorable feature though is the moody electric guitar score, which sounds like a cross between The Third Man and Twin Peaks-like 50's licks.  There's also a brief dvd intro from Martin Scorsese, who talks about how foreign cinema was starting to influence movies like this and how the early scenes of Edwards compulsively exercising in his tiny apartment influenced similar moments in Taxi Driver.  

[Martin]

Haven't seen that one, Chris - sounds interesting. Will look it up.

[crumbum]

Caught The Road on Friday night. Like the book, which I found gripping and moving but also strangely unsatisfying, I had the feeling after I was done that there wasn't a whole lot going on beyond some emotional button-pushing on a very primitive level.

It did put me in mind, though, of a movie with very similar themes and tone that I think was far more well-developed: Kon Ichikawa's Fires On The Plain, made in 1959. I would recommend that one (it's on Criterion) above The Road anyday. Or, if you really liked The Road, you should definitely check out FOTP.

[Chris L]

Fantastic Mr. Fox is as fun as it gets.  No obnoxious, consumerist Hollywood bullshit; no betraying its own creative ideals.  So now both Wes Anderson AND Quentin Tarantino have returned to my good graces this year.  At least I can be certain that Avatar will be stupid. 

[masterofsparks]

I recently watched an odd-ish 50's b-movie called MURDER BY CONTRACT, which just came out as part of a new Film Noir boxset.  Vince Edwards plays a fledgling New York hitman and sociopath who really loosens up when he's flown out to Los Angeles to kill a female nightclub singer in witness protection (similar, I guess, to how Dexter seemed to really like Miami in the one episode I saw).  There's a weird psychology behind the whole movie and Edwards' obnoxious character in particular.  When he finds out his target is a woman he tries to charge his "contractor" double because women are "unreliable," and "never stand in one place."  He regales the two goons assigned to tail him with precious insights ("women are descended from the monkey, and the monkey is a very curious animal..."), and there's a scene where he chews out a room service waiter at length and basically acts like a total cock after the guy brings him a smudged coffee cup.  The film's most memorable feature though is the moody electric guitar score, which sounds like a cross between The Third Man and Twin Peaks-like 50's licks.  There's also a brief dvd intro from Martin Scorsese, who talks about how foreign cinema was starting to influence movies like this and how the early scenes of Edwards compulsively exercising in his tiny apartment influenced similar moments in Taxi Driver.  

I saw and liked this as well. I agree, the psychological aspects seemed out of place, or maybe ahead of their time.

[JustNicole]

I want to see Up in the Air.

[Pat K]

Except for the opening scene and the riot in the hospital I didn't care for Werckmeister Harmonies.  I don't think watching a character walk from the foreground ALL THE WAY into the distance constitutes much of an idea.  I REALLY liked Tarr's 7-hour SATANTANGO though.  The walking in that movie felt more important.  

That's the one with the opening shot that's like 8 minutes of cows grazing, right? I'll be watching it soon with my buddy. I can think of no better way to ring in the holiday season than with some pure uncut Hungarian bleakness.  I'll see if I can fortify the eggnog with Apocalypse-Whale blubber.

[DoodleJump!]

Watching Blue Velvet. Right now.
This is a really great movie, full of disturbingness, and I doubt I will ever watch it ever again after tonight.

[buffcoat]

Watching Blue Velvet. Right now.
This is a really great movie, full of disturbingness, and I doubt I will ever watch it ever again after tonight.

A human ear?


Have you seen the chicken walk?

[iAmBaronVonTito]

the mother-in-law invited me over for a movie last sunday.  she rented Whatever Works, which she didnt know was a Woody Allen film starring Larry David as the phoned in Woody Allen character.

i definitely chuckled, but hated the southern female character (and her mother!) the most. 

[buffcoat]

the mother-in-law invited me over for a movie last sunday.  she rented Whatever Works, which she didnt know was a Woody Allen film starring Larry David as the phoned in Woody Allen character.

i definitely chuckled, but hated the southern female character (and her mother!) the most. 

I watched Celebrity a couple of weeks ago, as I work my way through his lesser films.  Not great, not terrible.  The underappreciated film in the Allen Oeuvre is still Stardust Memories.  A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is all right, too.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

the mother-in-law invited me over for a movie last sunday.  she rented Whatever Works, which she didnt know was a Woody Allen film starring Larry David as the phoned in Woody Allen character.

i definitely chuckled, but hated the southern female character (and her mother!) the most. 

I watched Celebrity a couple of weeks ago, as I work my way through his lesser films.  Not great, not terrible.  The underappreciated film in the Allen Oeuvre is still Stardust Memories.  A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy is all right, too.

i love Stardust Memories.  although, it seems to be for more personal reasons than cinematic.

[Martin]

Stardust Memories is great! And definitely not regarded as one of the Woodster's lesser movies.

[masterofsparks]

I love Stardust Memories. As far as non-major Woody Allen stuff, Broadway Danny Rose is my favorite. It might be my favorite of all of his. I also really really love Bullets Over Broadway.

I absolutely hated Celebrity when I saw it in the theater and haven't watched it since. It was the first time I'd ever had that reaction to one of his movies (but I've had it a lot since - I either didn't like or couldn't even make it through Small Time Crooks, Sweet and Lowdown, The Curse of the Jade Scorpion, Melinda and Melinda, Match Point, and Scoop).