General Movie Thread

[dave from knoxville]

Yowz. I watched it about 2 months back and was shocked at how incompetent it seemed. Tell me what to like, I want to believe.

[wood and iron]

I will admit that the storyline and acting were pretty terrible. But just how impressionistic the bright color palette made the movie feel really made it stand out from most horror fare to me. Also, the soundtrack by Goblin I felt was pretty fantastic in its own way. It wasn't scary. But as a cult movie, it appealed to me.

[wood and iron]

Everyone else is going to leave me hanging about Suspiria? There's got to be at least one other FOT who likes that movie...

[cavorting with nudists]

I thought it was OK.  Never saw it, though.

[Chris L]

I've ended up seeing Suspiria 3 or 4 times (mostly trying to see it "the right way") despite not being a horror person and having very little interest in other Argento. I agree that the production design is so far beyond everything else going on in the film it makes  it worthwhile.  That and the awesome Goblin score.  It's filmed vividly enough that you can put up with the cheesiness of the plot and acting.

That said, my least favorite moment in the entire history of cinema is the way the girl running at the beginning of Suspiria doesn't swing her arms.

[JonFromMaplewood]

Everyone else is going to leave me hanging about Suspiria? There's got to be at least one other FOT who likes that movie...

Never saw the movie, but love the Goblin score.

[roubaix]

I like Suspiria but prefer Bird with the Crystal Plumage, which has superb contributions from both Storaro and Morricone.  The story is also more coherent, based in the "real world."

I've seen two other Argento movies, Tenebre and Profondo Rosso.  PR has a genius reveal at the beginning, but the movie itself is underwhelming (watching the longest cut didn't help).  The cinematography lacks depth of field and vibrant colors.  Tenebre is pretty good for cheap thrills.

[fish]

I've ended up seeing Suspiria 3 or 4 times (mostly trying to see it "the right way")

what's that?

[Sarah]

I tried to watch it one night years ago, but a bunch of drunk hooligans were rampaging in my house, so I gave up partway through.  I'll have to seek it out again.

[Chris L]

I've ended up seeing Suspiria 3 or 4 times (mostly trying to see it "the right way")

what's that?

That would be going from VHS, to shitty dvd, to ok dvd, to ok theater print.  I didn't mean any mind-altering substances.

[B_Buster]

I saw The Tree of Life yesterday, and I do indeed think it's a masterpiece, which is not to say it isn't also flawed. While most of the effects of the creation sequence were impressive enough (the volcanic explosions looked amazing, the dinosaurs more serviceable), I admired the boundless ambition of that section more than I really loved it.  What resonated for me was the family plotline set in 50's Waco that dominates the vast majority of the running time.  I can't say my childhood resembled the nuclear family dynamics and idyllic weather patterns depicted here, yet I can't think of too many other films that nail how we remember childhood like this one does, starting from when we are most vulnerable, to the rambunctiousness of boyhood, to when we first learn important lessons about compassion, death, sex, violence, etc.  Malick's frequently ground-level camera captures a child's fascination with both these harsh and gentle snapshots of life (keeping things from getting maudlin), as well as fantastic shots like the low-angle one of the kids throwing a baseball sky high (maybe subconsciously aiming for heaven, for all they know at the time). The film feels more like a series of these impressions rather than a progression of scenes, but the dramatic conflict between the young Sean Penn character and his parents and younger brother hardly suffers for it.  Brad Pitt gives his best performance that I've seen here, successfully embodying the larger-than-life father figure while scrubbed of any movie star aura; and the kid who plays the young Jack proves fully up to the challenge.

I can't say I was as impressed by the modern-day scenes with Sean Penn, even though Malick makes the skyscrapers of Houston look almost mythical. Mostly Penn just walks around looking bummed, and we could stand to learn more about how he changes from the child we see at the end of the 50s to the depressed adult, even considering the traumatic event he's dealing with.  Like plenty of others, I will also apparently never not cringe at some of Malick’s post-Thin Red Line voiceovers (I wish they were still as idiosyncratic as those in Badlands and Days of Heaven).  Then there’s the ending, which I’m still unsure about, but which I suspect will be even more  misread by those already suspicious of the film’s “Christian” overtones.  Still, for all the flaws this mostly lived up to the overwhelming experience it was hyped as, and is filled with an uncommon amount of images and themes that will stick with me. The comparatively paltry obsessions and ambitions of the current “indie” cinema (the preceding trailer for THE ART OF GETTING BY being exhibit A) look almost disgraceful in comparison.

Just saw this, Chris. Great review and I agree with all of your points. I actually thought the voiceovers in The Tree of Life worked better than in Thin Red Line because it illustrated how cutoff most people are from each other when it comes to the most important questions we all have about life.

[Paul DeLouisiana]

I watched Paul last night and I don't think I laughed once.

Tree of Life on the other hand lived up to my high expectations. Excellent!

[JonFromMaplewood]

Anyone here a fan of Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man"?  I love it.  One of my all-time favorites.

Just saw that it's available streaming on Netflix. Hoping to re-watch it tonight for the first time in years.

[masterofsparks]

Anyone here a fan of Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man"?  I love it.  One of my all-time favorites.

Just saw that it's available streaming on Netflix. Hoping to re-watch it tonight for the first time in years.

Me. I was huge into Jarmusch during my college years and I've found as I've rewatched that they don't hold up at all. Except Dead Man.

[Paul DeLouisiana]

Anyone here a fan of Jim Jarmusch's "Dead Man"?  I love it.  One of my all-time favorites.

Just saw that it's available streaming on Netflix. Hoping to re-watch it tonight for the first time in years.

Me. I was huge into Jarmusch during my college years and I've found as I've rewatched that they don't hold up at all. Except Dead Man.

They've all held up for me. In fact I used to hate Stranger Than Paradise til I rewatched it two years ago.