YMDB Part Deux

Introductions

Stefan — 13:36: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: Stefan

Posted: 13:36: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

LostCunningham wrote:

Name: Eddie Williams
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 215 lbs
Year of Birth: 1986
Race: negro
Location: Utah

Just watched...

JakeA — 13:04: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: JakeA

Posted: 13:04: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Vers Mathilde (2005, Claire Denis) 66/100

Obviously, it's pretty much a given that an 80-minute documentary shot mostly on 8mm film about avant-garde choreographer Mathilde Monnier is not going to rank among Claire Denis' most impressive or major work by any means. That said, for what it's worth it's fairly interesting for what it is, and it's worth seeing if you're a Denis fan. If nothing else, Denis was certainly the right person to make this documentary, as her usual aesthetic fits very well with the dancing of Monnier and her students. It's actually remarkable to note how well Denis does manage to give this the same feel as her normal (barely) narrative films. Elliptical, intimate, a bit diffuse, with Agnes Godard's usual masterful camerawork intimately and very physically probing her subjects (her use of 8mm is particularly impressive). Perhaps not surprisingly, the footage of Monnier and her dancers often starts to resemble the scenes of the Legionnaires training in Bea travail. Also, Denis obviously feels a certain degree of kinship with Monnier and her extremely physical, expressive, and abstract dancing style (as her occasional off-screen comments seem to imply). All that said, i would be lying if i didn't admit that this is hardly the most interesting footage to watch. While i do think that it benefits from the way Denis and Godard film it, quite frankly watching a dance troupe practice without any real given context gets pretty old after a while. Part of Denis' style is of course that lack of context, that elliptical nature of what is being shown on screen. But here, in the context of a documentary, having to background information about what we are seeing makes it all more than a little tiring. It probably doesn't help any that a lot of the dancing comes across like awkward, formless noodling to me, though there are a few notable exceptions. It definitely has it's moments (the final performance scene is pretty amazing), but overall the film feels like a tossed-off sketch more than anything. I can't say i expected much more though, so for what it is it's fine.

viewing log

JakeA — 13:03: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: JakeA

Posted: 13:03: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

9/30/08:

Vers Mathilde (2005, Claire Denis) 66/100

Obviously, it's pretty much a given that an 80-minute documentary shot mostly on 8mm film about avant-garde choreographer Mathilde Monnier is not going to rank among Claire Denis' most impressive or major work by any means. That said, for what it's worth it's fairly interesting for what it is, and it's worth seeing if you're a Denis fan. If nothing else, Denis was certainly the right person to make this documentary, as her usual aesthetic fits very well with the dancing of Monnier and her students. It's actually remarkable to note how well Denis does manage to give this the same feel as her normal (barely) narrative films. Elliptical, intimate, a bit diffuse, with Agnes Godard's usual masterful camerawork intimately and very physically probing her subjects (her use of 8mm is particularly impressive). Perhaps not surprisingly, the footage of Monnier and her dancers often starts to resemble the scenes of the Legionnaires training in Bea travail. Also, Denis obviously feels a certain degree of kinship with Monnier and her extremely physical, expressive, and abstract dancing style (as her occasional off-screen comments seem to imply). All that said, i would be lying if i didn't admit that this is hardly the most interesting footage to watch. While i do think that it benefits from the way Denis and Godard film it, quite frankly watching a dance troupe practice without any real given context gets pretty old after a while. Part of Denis' style is of course that lack of context, that elliptical nature of what is being shown on screen. But here, in the context of a documentary, having to background information about what we are seeing makes it all more than a little tiring. It probably doesn't help any that a lot of the dancing comes across like awkward, formless noodling to me, though there are a few notable exceptions. It definitely has it's moments (the final performance scene is pretty amazing), but overall the film feels like a tossed-off sketch more than anything. I can't say i expected much more though, so for what it is it's fine.

Toronto International Film Festival

GotThatWMD — 10:38: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: GotThatWMD

Posted: 10:38: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

nonfiction wrote:

haha yeah my list's actually in alphabetical order

in order my list would probably look something like this:
Tokyo Sonata - Kiyoshi Kurosawa
Still Walking - Hirokazu Kore-eda
Plastic City - Yu Lik-wai
Winds of September - Tom Shu-Yu Lin
Ashes of Time Redux - Wong Kar Wai
Achilles and the Tortoise - Takeshi Kitano
All Around Us - Ryosuke Hashiguchi
The Good, the Bad, the Weird - Kim Jee-woon
Ocean Flame - Liu Fendou

Yea, I am dying to see 'Tokyo Sonata"

"What should I watch?" - a thread for everyone

JakeA — 8:25: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: JakeA

Posted: 8:25: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

LostCunningham wrote:

sidehacker wrote:

Winchester '73 definitely needs to be seen and appreciated by more people here.

Why is that Jake-chan?

Because it's old?

viewing log

Leo — 8:19: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: Leo

Posted: 8:19: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

the cook, the thief, his wife and her lover (1989)
i've heard so many varying opinions on this that i had no clue what to expect before seeing it. a bit let down that it wasn't something wild and controversial! basically just seemed like a fairly average film, not worthy so much discussion. i liked the scenes with michael gambon making speeches, very funny stuff. all the scenes outside the restaurant however were pretty lame. the restaurant set would have been perfect without the annoying matching colours garbage that keeps coming up. middle of the road sort of stuff really.

in the realm of the senses (1976)
now here's a film that's wild and raw. liked the relationship between the characters, the surreal sex scenes - love the one with the egg - and the ending, excluding the annoying voice-over part. sometimes a bit tiresome and dull, but mostly awesome. really need to see more oshima.

morvern callar (2002)
well i saw this film against jake a's warning. i actually enjoyed some of this, it started off very well with the stuff in england with the boyfriend's body in the apartment, but as it went on i became pretty bored. jake was right, the "existential" stuff really did turn me off a bit. also these bloody british accents are unbearable.

spring summer autumn winter...and spring (2003)
i loved this. slow and beautiful but still very enjoyable and enganging. it's seemingly so simple, but never boring at all. not a minute wasted at all. a true pleasure.

tropic thunder (2008)
everyone involved minus jack black did a good job here. pretty funny, stiller's best film since zoolander - although that certainly wouldn't be hard. a good sort of film to see with a group of friends.

mishima - a life in four chapters (1985)
i'm a big mishima fan so i had high hopes for this one. i was let down here, although i suppose i was expecting too much. the theatrical versions of the novels were pretty silly but the black and white scenes showing mishima's life were good. who knows why they put it black and white but it looks good so i'm not going to complain. alright film, nothing really special.

The Latest Food I have eaten/drunk/bought

LostCunningham — 8:16: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: LostCunningham

Posted: 8:16: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Perhaps such treats are only available at pretentious New York restaurants?

Viewings

wkw — 6:15: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: wkw

Posted: 6:15: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Day of Wrath (35mm) - /

A good bridge between Passion and Ordet, as elements from both can be seen here. Sexual freedom is perceived as witchcraft, though the film leaves as possible a supernatural interpretation. One of the reason this and Ordet work so well is that both can be interpreted in many ways.

short Review

wkw — 6:15: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

viewing log of sorts

dustin — 5:20: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: dustin

Posted: 5:20: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

August 29

Death for Five Voices (1995) - Herzog

Don Carlo Gesualdo in 16th Century Italy was a composer from a privileged upbringing, the prince with a penchant for sex and torture. Local rumor has it, he died of self flagellation, but not in religious sense. Obviously I can see why Herzog would be interested in the subject. The story goes, Gesualdo married Dona Maria, the most beautiful young widow Naples has ever known. But because of her beauty, she was pursued by several suitors. Gesualdo stabbed her 24 times to death and one of her lovers in bed. He also killed his second child, suspecting the kid might not be his, by hanging him on a swing for 3 days and 3 nights while choir playing Beauty of Death from his book of madrigals. He then cut down the forest around where Dona Maria was having an affair, all by himself.

Apparently Gesualdo was a very talented composer, way ahead of his time, his music having relevance to 19th century music than Mozart. Stravinsky made a pilgrimage to Gesualdo's Venosa home. For a Herzog doc, this one lacks certain cinematic bravado. Of course there are running down inside decrepit castles scenes and mummified bodies and what not, but not visually interesting. Some really beautiful music it does have:

Viewing Log

Godzilla — 4:11: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Author: Godzilla

Posted: 4:11: Sat 30 of Aug - 08

Just got back from Tropic Thunder (2008). It's by far the best comedy I've seen this year. Robert Downey Jr.'s role was awesome, you completely forget he's acting. I think they could have gone without Jack Black though, he didn't serve much a purpose, just a little bit of comedy now and again. It was a little offensive at some parts, especially to mentally challenged people, so it could have gone without that. In all, a great comedy, superb acting and didn't need a few things, but those don't hinder its outcome by much. 8/10.

Command Performance (2009)

Ben U. — 23:24: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

Author: Ben U.

Posted: 23:24: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

I wouldn't be doing this kind of thing but my buddy who runs a Dolph Lundgren site - and is making the official site for the movie - has this teaser for the movie up that was made based off of his idea, and so it is just really exciting and wanted to share, even if no one cares. But it will be some old school 80s action I promise you that.

http://www.dolph-ultimate.com/

Just Read

JimmyChanga — 23:16: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

Author: JimmyChanga

Posted: 23:16: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Though it had some really well-written passages, I couldn't really connect with it. I know the point isn't the minimal plot, but that the plot is almost a jumping off point for Mann's theories about beauty, youth, art and erotics. But this "point" somehow seems heavyhanded to me, and not very interesting, especially near the end.

Film Journal - what am I watching?

jewellrunner — 17:19: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

Author: jewellrunner

Posted: 17:19: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

8/28/08 - Victory (John Huston, 1981) - Oh Mr. Huston, what a silly little movie. John Huston has never been a favorite director of mine, but I did enjoy the three other films I've seen of his, and consider him to be a good director. Victory, though, was just plain bad. The film begins with a nearly silent, hand-held, dimly-lit opening. It felt low-key, and even a bit artistic. Unfortunately, it was only a tease. The rest of the film (outside of a scene later in the film designed to mirror this opening) is as generic as movies get - style-wise. For example, the music is generally there to 'inspire' as opposed to accompany the movie, the cinematography is bland, and the acting is bad. The cast includes Max Von Sydow, Michael Caine, Pele (yes, the soccer player), and Sylvester Stallone. Needless to say, Stallone is horrible, and sadly Caine and Von Sydow aren't much better.

Of course, none of this is as bad as the screenplay and script, especially during the second half of the film. The main plotline that drives the film is that POWs of WWII form a soccer team to take on the best German soccer team in an exhibition match. Officers in the POW camp forge a plan to help the soccer team escape during halftime of the game. As ridiculous as this sounds, you'd think a director of Huston's caliber could turn it into something respectable. Alas, the second half of the film is nothing but a giant sports movie clich�, including slow motion action shots, *spoilers* an injured player making an inspired reappearance, a dramatic second-half comeback victory (technically a draw, let me get to this in a bit), and a Rocky/Adrienne moment at the end, involving a completely undeveloped female character who existed only to be Sly's love interest (even though her character gets maybe 10 minutes of total screen time).

Now, this second-half comeback draw is only possible because the POWs chose not to escape during halftime, but to go out and try to defeat the Germans in their soccer game. I believe it is Pele who says, "If we leave now, we lose more than a game." Really? Escaping to save your life and get back safely to your family didn't cross your mind? Just a completely asinine plotline, although it really did not surprise me at all.

I will say the setup of the film was decent, as for a moment I thought they were heading down a Bridge on the River Kwai path by having Michael Caine's character choose between duty and personal desire to succeed. But when they abandoned that theme, all was lost. While I haven't seen all of Huston's work, surely this is his worst. 4.25/10

Recipes - Fast, Cheap, Easy

Chaco Salvaje — 15:49: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

Author: Chaco Salvaje

Posted: 15:49: Fri 29 of Aug - 08

what am I missing with Cous Cous?