YMDB Part Deux

[sidehacker]

Sonja (Kirsi Liimatainen, 2006) - 7.75/10 - September 4th

This started out really great, got progressively worse and then was redeemed by a fairly powerful ending. The opening sequence is really a terrible representation for the rest of the film's style. Voiceover over a montage with a 'dream-like' post-rocky kind of music in the background. Basically, think David Gordon Green. All the hopes I had just based on the minute long opening sequence were never fulfilled. The rest of the film isn't anything like this. In fact, there's a bit less of a emphasis on visuals which in the case of film like this, isn't necessarily a bad thing. Really, I found more problems that these characters, who are highly interesting, were someone fitting into overly-familiar narratives. The lovers themselves seem to fit into conventions too. The main character, Sonja is passive and quiet while the other girl, Julia is bubbly and totally doesn't mind making out with three dudes in front of Sonja. In these two cases, it didn't really bother me since I definitely can relate (HA!) but it just seems too easy...if that makes sense.

[Ulveman]

I like the screeny you have for DUST IN THE WIND

[Kidsmoker]

You've been watching some interesting-looking contemporary films lately. Do you just take random stabs or is there a system for how you choose these films? I feel comfortable when choosing older films to watch but contemporary cinema feels overwhelming. There are just too many things going on right now.

[sidehacker]

Woman on the Beach (Hong Sang-soo, 2006) - 8.5/10 - September 7th

Renewed my interest in Hong but still a tad bit frustrating. There's moments in this where I totally understood why this was heavily regarded (particularly the scene Jung-rae and Min-suk talk about the stars) but I felt that the experience as a whole, was a little exhausting. Hong doesn't seem to be able to fill every shot with amazing beauty in the way a director like Hou or Tsai could, both of whom are very similar to Hong. Not to say the cinematography is bad but there's time where the camera is placed in most simple and boring way. This, I guess, is so we can focus on the conversations. This is another problem. Apparently, this is influenced by Rohmer so it's no surprise that I find the dialogue to be a bit too heavy and unrealistic. Fortunately, it's not as over the top as it is in My Night at Maud's. Hong also seems to use this really awkward zoom that seems to go completely against his otherwise strict pacing. Don't get me wrong, I love this movie but it seems to be missing something that would make me consider it as top 100 material.

[stack]

I'm glad you liked Woman on the Beach.

I've still only seen Goodbye Dragon Inn and I Don't Want to Sleep Alone. I need to check out more, for sure. It's just that every time I sit down to watch a movie I'm asleep within 15 minutes because work/going out is exhausting me.

However, I have managed to watch King of Kong, which was really great and That Most Important Thing: Love which is now one of my very favorite movies ever.

I have The Outfit and Pay Day rented, both should be really rad (and, thankfully, they're on VHS, so I'll try really hard to watch them because I don't have the technology to dub them).

Couldn't be more excited about the weekend. There is a masquerade tomorrow at midnight. I'm taking:



but 2 summer babes are gonna be there as well as this other gal, so it should be interesting.

(The girl in the picture has been the love of my life for over 2 years, we're just friends though)

[sidehacker]

The Wayward Cloud (Tsai Ming-Liang, 2005) - 10/10 - September 7th

Before I get started, I should mention that this is my new favorite movie ever. So expect a lot of overly-giddiness on my part. Anyway, what a fucking mindblowing cinematic experience. I can't even begin to explain how amazing the cinematography is. I'll just say it's like Bliss times ten which easily makes it's the best cinematography ever. There's a beauty to every image that just can't translated through simple snapshots. Basically, it's technically everything you could ask for in a movie. This would have gathered a lot of praise from me but as far as mood, feeling, emotions and whatnot going - I couldn't ask for anything more. Perhaps the film resonates so deeply with me because it has such a wide range of emotions, just like life. The musical numbers could be called goofy or whatever but they just feel so sincere that they only add to the film's amazing mood. The final sequence gets a lot of "what the fucks" apparently but I don't understand why. It's one of the most powerful things I've ever seen. Maybe that's because the rest of the movie is totally perfect but I think that the last ten minutes are as heartbreaking/poignant/whatever as any movie I've ever seen. Which makes me realize that I also love this because it reminds me of so many other movies I love. It's like Trash with the cinematic power of Lost in Translation.

[Meshuggeth]

Nice. Now I want to see it even more.

[JakeA]

Be prepared to be disappointed by Goodbye Dragon Inn after the greatness of The Wayward Cloud. Though at least the dvd of Dragon Inn has the short The Skywalk Is Gone on it, which is a cool bridge between What Time Is It There? and The Wayward Cloud.

[Kidsmoker]

[nonfiction]

!!!!!!!!!!

[Adam Wiseman]

I was wondering what you would make of The Wayward Cloud. I watched this about six months ago, for the first seventy or so minutes I was wondering where to put it on my top twenty, but I didn't really know what to think of the ending... Can't help but feel it accidentally comes off as mysogynistic. Still, having seen two Tsai films, I want to see all the others.

[Meshuggeth]

[sidehacker]

Guernsey (Nanouk Leopold, 2005) - 7.5/10 - September 14th

Definitely missing something important, otherwise I would be talking about how perfect it is. The cinematography is really nice. Really hard to group it into any sort of category but I'd say it's like a cross between the visual style of Bruno Dumont and 21 Grams. The problem is, despite the rather fast-paced editing style, a majority of the shots reflect something you'd see in a film from Tsai Ming-Liang. Perhaps it's because I've been watching too many films with long takes but I was constantly being disappointed by how short a majority of the takes are. I also found that the film seemed to lack a purpose. Don't get me me wrong, I love when people basically do nothing but this is like the same sort of mood applied to a far more plot-driven narrative. Some lady sees a suicide and so now she spies on her husband? And guess what? Is he having an affair? No! We only see him doing completely harmless things like watching birds fly which fortunately is another opportunity for some very nice shots. But then we cut to them having a conversation in which she interrogates him as though she thinks he is having an affair. But he's not....I think. I'm not sure really sure. If this was just a sincere attempt on the main character's part to just see her husband then that's find. It just doesn't change the fact that despite how interesting the characters may appear, they don't provide anything. I mean, I like films with passive characters but never was I immersed in these people's lives or at the very least, in their motivations.



Sound of the Mountain (Mikio Naruse, 1954) - 8/10 - September 14th

Not quite as good as When a Woman Ascends the Stairs but still really great. There's melodramatic turns and really dated symbolsim but I somehow I found myself completely immersed in this. Sometimes, too many characters come into play but I don't think Naruse loses focuses of the important characters. Unfortunately, the characterization in this is closer to that of an Ozu film where as the characterization in Woman was far closer to Antonioni. On the good side, the performances are all great (though again, not as great as the performances in Woman...specifically Hideko Takamine's) and there's a certain understanding of human behavior, on Naruse's part, that just makes this so great to watch. It gets better with every passing second.



Summer at Grandpa's (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 1984) - 8.5/10 - September 14th

I could complain that this doesn't really go anywhere, it's about as inconsequential as they come. Even when the film tries to be a really gripping human drama, it isn't too engaging. This works mostly as Hou's version of Stand By Me and/or Over the Edge. Even among Hou's technical achievements this seems really minor. Not only does the camera move in this movie, I'd go as far to say that the camera moves at least in every shot. This doesn't really feel like one of his films and light-hearted content definitely supports that. If I wouldn't have known better, I'd have guess that this was John Woo's attempt at a human drama which I suppose can be interrupted as an insult but I'm really just commenting on how light the film feels. Maybe it's more like a very 80s version of George Washington? Whatever, it's a lot of fun.

[sidehacker]

The Time to Live and The Time to Die (Hou Hsiao-Hsien, 1985) - 8.25/10 - September 15th

Pretty great, though right up there with Cafe Lumiere as Hou's slowest. I feel sort of bad giving this a lower score than Summer at Grandpa's because this is so much more "Hou-ish" where that film is anything but. This is far more meditative and visually-driven but the problem is, it looks sort of bland at times. Perhaps "empty" is a better word because the visual appear so washed out. I suppose maybe Hou was implying a more gritty atmosphere but it seems to be more of a result of the DVD. Where as Dust in the Wind looks like it could have come out in this decade, this has definitely dated and for the worst. This isn't to say the film is bad, in fact if it were any other director I would consider this a triumph, but it's just that it feels slightly less important considering how Hou would top himself. I think the "dirty" life (god that sounds corny...) he was trying to portray here is perfected in latter films such as Dust in the Wind and Millennium Mambo.

[sidehacker]

Spacked Out (Lawrence Ah Mon, 2000) - 9.25/10 - September 15th

Woah, this was really great. Like Millennium Mambo directed by Larry Clark. Which basically means it's the same sort of thing with a more active camera. The use of wide-angle lense also brings to mind Fallen Angels-era Wong Kar-Wai. I'm usually not a fan of that who sloppy editing during drug sequences as I think it presents an incredibly lazy interpretation of what taking drugs is like, but there's still so much energy and atmosphere here that I was able to ignore such flashy flourishes. Anyway, outside of the final five minutes where the film becomes some weird cross between Repulsion and the most violent pro-choice commercial ever, it's really great.

I wish Lawrence Ah Mon's other films were easily available but so far, I can't find anything else other than My Name is Fame....never mind/edit - Netflix appears to have quite a lot. I guess the negligence on KG made me forget about it.